Interrupted Introspection PV Tatiana Closed

Tatiana woke before her cabin, as she usually did, and sat up on her bottom bunk. It was unlikely that she'd be able to fall back asleep, but she was tired of just waiting around in the dark until her cabin mates were awake every morning. Opening her trunk as quietly as she could, she changed into a basic linen shorts and shirt combination, and left the dormitories in silence. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and the morning was just beginning. There was little to no movement on the grounds yet as she made her way down the dock and onto the lake shore.

The sand was still cool beneath her feet as she walked along the water, shoes in hand. Thankfully, it wasn't hot yet, and therefore the perfect time to take a stroll. A nice wind was blowing from across the water, ruffling the blades of grass in the fields as it went. Early morning was maybe her favorite time of day. She liked the quietness, the calm before everyone else was up and about. And though most people preferred to watch it setting, there was something special about rising with the sun.

She hadn't walked very far before she looked up, surprised to see someone else had already been awake and enjoying the silence at daybreak. A small distance from where she stood beside the water was a young, blonde haired girl sitting on top of a rock, her knees pulled tight to her chest. Her eyes were staring forward, and though Tatiana wasn't close enough to really see her face, her posture alone was enough to figure she was feeling down about something. She seemed rather lost in thought, maybe feeling introspective in these early hours out here all alone.

Tatiana made her way over the the rock and, after several long strides through the sand, was standing just a few feet away from the girl. She hoped she wasn't interrupting anything, but figured she might just need a little company. And even if she preferred to be alone, there was no harm in asking. "Hi," she said in a low tone, hoping not to startle her. She took a few more steps until she was standing in front of the rock, moving from behind her to be more in the girl's eyesight.

She looked familiar, but Tatiana was pretty sure they'd never met before. Maybe in her common room, a Ravenclaw in her year perhaps? She figured she must have had a class with her or something at least, but couldn't recall her name. Tatiana didn't consider herself a mind reader, by any means, but had observed people long enough to determine when they were bothered. And besides, it would hardly take a genius to deduce this girl wasn't feeling particularly bright that day. She could see her face better now, and something definitely seemed to be worrying her. Her skin was light and porcelain like, and she had crystal blue eyes and platinum white hair. She was rather very pretty, and perhaps too much so to be out here alone while she was quite clearly distressed about something or other. "I hope I'm not intruding, but I saw you sitting out here all by yourself. Are you alright?" She realized it was sort of a blunt question, having not even introduced herself yet, and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry." She gave her remorseful look and extended her hand towards her, "I'm Tatiana."

Introspection was something Angellica lived off of. It often superseded things like meals and social interaction. She'd missed the Blossom Ball between all the studying and constant attempts to be, well, perfect. Anything less wouldn't be see properly in her father's eyes, not that she ever spoke of such things. Family matters were held behind closed doors, and she seldom spoke of her experience back home. People saw the family owl peacocking with baskets of goods, it seemed silly to counter the picture perfect intention behind it. Sometimes she felt if she told herself enough that her family was perfect, she too would believe it.

So lost in her own thoughts, considering her failures, and trying to ensure a change for the second year, she didn't hear the footsteps of another coming her way. Then there was a single word that tugged her away from her reveries, a slight crescendo in her heart's beat as she realized she was no longer alone. Slowly she untangled herself, allowing her thing legs to sprout forward and hang over the rock she was perched on, her arms falling to her side to ensure balance as she settled into a more sat position.

"Hi," she responded with a shy smile, tucking a stray strand of blonde behind her ear.

A hmm of a sound escaped the young Ravenclaw as she bobbed her head in respond to whether or not she was okay. "Just enjoying the morning," she said carefully, not wanting to appear weak or anything like that. Now with a better view of the other girl, she felt a bit of heat rise in her cheeks. Hadn't she just been thinking about the epic failure that had been the prank held by her cabin on this girls. She didn't know her, it wasn't personal. Heck she doubted she knew any of the girls they'd aimed for. In fact, she barely knew those in her own house given how much more time she spent with books over people.

"I uh," she began unsure how to word the rest. "I'm Angellica," she introduced instead. Perhaps the other girl had no idea that they'd been on opposing ends of a prank gone horrible wrong barely two days prior. It was still odd, a whole year and she often felt like she had no idea how to interact with people. They were more complicated than tomes, but she still felt the least she could do was not make it as awkward for the brunette as she herself felt.

"You're not prying," she added, though in some sense she guessed the other was indeed prying. "Do you want to sit with me? It's a beautiful morning, and well we're both out here," she offered lamely. Honestly, she wasn't about to win any popularity contests that was for damn sure.

Angellica. She thought about it hard, but the name didn't seem familiar. Tatiana wasn't the best with names, but it was a skill she was working on. Recognizing faces though, was a piece of cake, no different to her than identifying plant specimens on the forest floor. And even still, it took her several moments to recall where she'd seen the girl before. Maybe it had just been in passing, or in a class, but something about her seemed a little more familiar, and recently so. She seemed a little timid in her original response, perhaps startled by Tatiana's blunt approach, but had removed herself from the compact position she was in and even asked if she'd like to join her. Tatiana felt relieved that she hadn't felt put off by her question, being basically a complete stranger and all, and graciously accepted the invite for company. She took a seat near her, on the opposite side of the rock, and leaned back on the palms of her hands. Angellica had been right, it was a beautiful morning, and the sun was leisurely making it's way into the sky.

Sitting back, she was just far enough out of the girl direct line of view, she risked turning to look at her face a moment. Trying to see if she was still looking down, and in an effort to determine whether she knew her or not. It wasn't long that she sat silently watching her, with her pale hair and pensive sky blue eyes, before the memory flashed before her. Their cabin had recently been hit with water balloons on their way out the dorms one morning. It had all happened so quickly, and seemed so out of the blue, she'd hardly remembered. One minute they were walking to meet other students on the lake, when Tatiana noticed a group of girls standing and looking at them, water balloons in hand. It felt like barely a second or so later, one water balloon was heading their way, and then another. She'd managed to stay pretty dry, as they mostly splattered across the four of them. But the girls had run off just as quickly as they'd thrown the first balloon, and Tatiana never really saw their faces. But Angellica's was memorable, and she realized it had been her who had thrown the first balloon.

She laughed, silently, as she didn't want to come off as mocking, though it had all been rather amusing. She still wasn't sure if it had just been an effort to start a water balloon battle with the students at summer camp, or a premeditated prank gone wrong. She didn't want to embarrass the other girl, by any means, but her curiosity was too strong not to ask. "Hey, uhm," she sat up a little, a playful smile on her cheeks. "Was that... you, the other day? With the water balloons?" If it had been a prank, intended for their cabin, she felt a little sorry for having noticed it. She hadn't intended to spoil the fun, and would have gotten quite a laugh out of being caught in a water balloon fire storm. Besides, it had been so hot lately, it would have felt like a nice reprieve. Either way, it was just the kind of amusing antics she was secretly hoping to be more involved in during the break. She had put off going home for the holidays to try and make a few more friends before the new term started, as she'd made some particularly poor efforts to do so in the last year. And while it was positively not her favorite type of environment to do so in, she had made a promise to her parents that she would at least try. And, knowing how much it would hurt her to disappoint them, intended to do just that.

The sun's rays were still bearable, the wind enough to keep it pleasant and chill, a state that would surely change by midday. Sat near the other girl, she remained there for a spell, quietly soaking in the rising sun. Of course it was short lived. It didn't help that she had felt that gaze on her, as though the other tried to place who she was and where she knew her from. She knew. She had to know. Wasn't that why she had opted to sit beside her? It was eating her inside and with two syllables, Angellica was preparing a response, an apology, something. Though her exterior was fairly stoic, the laugh and the tone had her cheeks dusting with a deeper pink. Lips pressing together she measured her words, tried to think of an appropriate response. One that wouldn't sound dumb, though the entire thing had been exactly that.

"I...well..." she wasn't sure what to say, how to say it. Where she was more than verbose when it came to her classes, she was speechless and dumb struck for a few seconds. The blonde blinked and then finally, she managed to find her tongue again. Although it might not have sounded as though the other was angry about the ordeal, the blonde had already imagined a scenario where she was, and it made things complicated to say the least.

"Yea."

It was such a lame response. She couldn't just leave things there. It was more complicated than she had anticipated to say, and yet, less than she might have normally stated. Usually one for excuses and answers, the blonde was drawing long blanks in her mind.

"I was there," she nodded. "But I panicked and the balloon burst against my leg," she admitted in a rushed statement as though she had something else to say and yet there was nothing more to add. No that was even worse. Did she really have nothing better to say? Was it worse to have failed, or to have been a part of it? To be honest, Angellica had no idea.

"I ran." Angellica pinched the bridge of her nose, and breathed. "I'm sorry about that," though what she was apologizing for was something she couldn't quite explain. If she were honest, she hadn't hit the girls and it wasn't like she really knew how to prank. This had been new to her, and she was still unsure whether she would do so again. Practical jokes obviously weren't her strong suit.

She seemed to be struggling with her response, waiting a moment before she answered Tatiana's question. Perhaps she shouldn't have brought it up, and immediately began feeling regret for doing so. Even so, she could hardly stifle a fit of giggles as Angellica recounted the water balloon bursting against her leg. She tried her hardest, covering her mouth with her hand as it happened, but the thought of a prank going wrong due to a rogue water balloon was very amusing. By the time Tatiana had seen the group of girls standing there, they all seemed a bit startled. She figured it had been from her noticing them, at least originally, but now wondered if it was due to their prank's false start.

She quickly cut her laughs short as she watched her, seemingly embarrassed, apologize for the ordeal. "Oh no," she said, waving her hands in front of her and shaking her head. "Absolutely no need to apologize." She tried to sound reassuring, hoping to ease her concerns over the whole thing. She couldn't imagine why she'd feel sorry over something so harmless. If anything, it had all just been a little bit odd, maybe confusing, as they rushed off after the first throw of balloons. "If anything, I'm sorry," she laughed again. "If I hadn't noticed you lot standing there, maybe I wouldn't have spoiled the fun." A light hearted prank done in good fun is just that, fun. But her perception had cut the fun short, and now that she knew exactly what had happened, she really wished she hadn't.

She vaguely remembered Maggie mentioning something at the beginning of the summer about initiating a prank war amongst themselves and the other cabins, but they hadn't really talked about it much since. And until they were attacked, or rather almost attacked, with water balloons, Tatiana had completely forgotten it was happening. While she wasn't big on pranking herself, the bubbly Gryffindor in her cabin most certainly was. She rarely broke the rules, and humor wasn't her strong suit, but she liked Maggie and had agreed to take part in the holiday fun before she returned home. She wasn't sure how her cabin was planning to retaliate, but was glad she was getting a chance to at least meet one of the girls in their opposing cabin beforehand. At least this way, it would feel like a game among friends, and less like awkward encounters between strangers.

Laughter did nothing for the pink deepening in the blonde's pale cheeks. If she hadn't lacked make up all together, she might have appeared as a child that had abused her mother's beauty kit. It took a moment for Angellica to realize that her companion wasn't angry by the prank, if anything she was apologetic of having ruined the prank. Slowly, the young girl blinked in response, mouth opening to speak a few times before actually managing any form of sound of the intelligible variety. Honestly, she was confused. Wouldn't they be angry to have been pranked? Granted they had all essentially signed up for it, but it seemed odd. Perhaps it was the result of her upbringing, neither of her parents truly appreciating anything to go against their pride, and though Angellica was still being molded into the person she would become, pride wasn't her worst character flaw yet.

"You're..." she began changing her sentence as she spoke. "My cabin nearly got yours with water balloons and you're....apologizing to me?" she asked, the incredulity of the statement clear as day on her features. Was this a trap? Her gaze couldn't help but scan their surroundings in case this was a prank or some form of retaliation. Would she be looking forward to cruel taunting for the rest of the summer? Or worse, school year? There were no others around, it was early morning most of the kids still slept, and there she was sat with a young girl that seemed genuinely okay with being pranked. Though still a little on edge, she felt herself calm slightly. She just wanted to recoil and hide, but growing up meant going through things that might be uncomfortable, or so she'd been told.

Honestly, Angellica didn't know what to make of it. She was too trusting at times, that was for certain, but she was at a genuine loss. "Are you being serious?" she had to ask. "Like, you would be okay with getting into a one sided water balloon fight?" she asked. Sure, the water had felt nice in the heat of that day, and the heat of the day to come. "I mean, I'd totally understand it if our cabins both had balloons and made a game of it, but..." Angellica scratched the back of her neck as she tried to figure out what it was she was trying to say. This was definitely one more new experience to add to her ever growing list of firsts.

Tatiana watched as a little color rose in Angellica's cheeks as she laughed, realizing she probably could have reacted in a little more thoughtful manner. Shaming her new acquaintance wasn't her intention, and she tried to make a mental note to be more conscious of it. Clearly not her proudest moment, duly noted. But even if she had been feeling embarrassed, her expression quickly turned to one of bewilderment at Tatiana's apology. The blonde turned briefly from side to side, as if she were worried she was soon to be the unsuspecting victim of a retaliatory action from their cabin.

Her suspicious tone was warranted, as they had signed up for prank wars. But Tatiana smirked at the idea that she could have been devious enough to orchestrate something like that, much less in advance, and in such a deceptive manner. She wasn't really a well practiced prankster, and a terrible liar at that- she never would have been able to hold a straight face and conversation with the girl for so long without giving away any sort of sneaky plans. Besides, her cabin mates probably weren't even awake yet, and their resident prankster was so busy planning other group activities, she'd fallen behind on suggesting any type of pranking revenge.

"I mean," she trailed off, fidgeting with a loose thread hanging from the cuff of her shorts. "At least, I don't think I would have been upset." Seeing their group staring at them had felt a bit strange, and the water balloons were kind of a shock, but Tatiana was pretty cool tempered. "I guess I can't speak for everyone else, but I feel like I would have quickly realized it was a game, ya know? Maybe we would have run back inside, soaking wet, and tried to fill up our own balloons to come after you." She shrugged, she couldn't know for certain how the rest of the day would have transpired had their plan been followed through successfully. But she did know the other girls in her cabin, and they were all pretty light hearted and fun, everyone sort of just laughed off getting splashed and went on with their day.

She knew she was being a little wordy and confusing, and other people in her circumstances may have been agitated at the whole ordeal, but she could see it obviously gave the girl a bit of stress that Tatiana felt just wasn't necessary. "What I guess I mean is, me noticing you removed the possibility that the prank would have gone off without a hitch, and while I don't know for certain that my cabin would have found it as amusing as I do, I at least assume they would, from what I know about them." She turned to her with a reassuring smile, giving her a light pat on the shoulder and a wink. "And don't worry, we haven't planned any sort of battle response- at least not yet."

Sometimes discussing a topic brought light to the subject, but in this case, the blonde was quite unsure of what exactly was going on. Part of her still thought it was a ruse, and the last statement made by the other Ravenclaw told her she should probably sleep with an eye open, as there would be a ploy meant to retaliate from the failure that had been their prank. How could their not be? She would probably have done the same in the other girls shoes. In part, she hoped to be able to un-sign up from the pranks all together. It hadn't been fun to cast, and she was certain it wouldn't be entertaining to receive.

"I guess," she nodded in response to the rational argument in favour of the prank. Perhaps it would have been fun, if that was the right word to be used. Angellica still wasn't convinced. In any event, it was done, and what was to come wasn't exactly something they were about to discuss she was certain of that. "I'm not exactly knowledgeable in pranks," she admitted to the other girl. "I mean I've read about it, and they are dependent on the element of surprise, but definitely not my strong suit," she added with a chuckle.

With a shrug she tried to shift her mindset from the failed prank, and all the mess it had left behind. Pausing for a moment, she pondered her next words. "I guess I'm too much of a Ravenclaw for pranks. Or rather the tightly wound variety thereof," she spoke lamely. Honestly, as much as she swore she would definitely speak to others, and make connections the following year, perhaps books were still a safer option in the end. "How's Summer camp for you? I mean other than the whole prank thing," she tried to create a conversation on a different note. Something to take away from the elephant in the room or outdoors. Did it still work as a quote? She tried not to overthink it.