Candle, Candle, Burning Bright

@Gem Stuart

"I most certainly did not spam you with owls. It was a perfectly sane amount of owls," Catriona said, grinning at Gem. "As for the process..." she trailed off. She'd assumed there would be instructions or something, but it seemed they were being left to their own devices for this one, which was worrying to say the least. Catriona wasn't exactly the best at "just winging it." She'd tried it once, with a Christmas gift. She'd bought Will a book (of course), but she couldn't figure out something for Freddie. So, she did something she'd never done before. She procrastinated. It was probably the worst feeling in the world. Instead of putting it off like a normal person, she just stressed about it constantly, to the point where she just wanted to get it over with rather than draw out her suffering. (She ended up making Freddie cookies that she, surprisingly, didn't hate, which was a win in Catriona's book).

That was the one and only time she'd ever tried doing something without planning it beforehand and it had almost ended in a crisis (batch 1.0 of Freddie's cookies was a burning dumpster fire of a failure, quite literally).

So "winging it" really really wasn't an option. She'd probably end up doing something idiotically incorrect if she even tried that. How many ways were there to mess up candle making? Probably more than a dozen, including (but not limited to) burning oneself, burning your partner, ending up with a mangled blob of wax, accidentally spilling the wax, and dropping the wick into the wax and having to fish it out with something (preferably not an appendage). "Maybe we should as the professor?" She wasn't quite sure who the new professor was, but clearly they liked candles. "Do we even know their name yet? I haven't seen them around..." she trailed off. They were probably busy, but it couldn't hurt to ask, could it?

"Worst case, we can always just try dipping the wicks into the wax like you said. If there's a spell for it, I doubt we've learned it," she said, frowning. She wasn't sure how useful a candle-making spell would be, but clearly the new professor would like it. Maybe she could make one...

Though, spell making was an odd, nebulous concept Catriona couldn't quite wrap her head around. How did one make a spell? There had to be something about the words that made them special, something that made them easier to use as a conduit for magic. How had they even used magic before language was invented? Wandless casting was something Catriona had heard about, but it was very difficult.

Oh right, candle making. That was probably more important than Catriona's weird theorizing. She made a note to ask a professor about it later, when she had time.

WC: 472
Total WC: 735

@Catriona Staverly

Gem knew the process to candle making wasn't very tricky, he just wasn't always sure if there was a different process. It was just... dipping a wick over and over again-- were there instructions anywhere? He'd wring 's neck if she went into this without knowing anything like him, way to end a day.
He sucked his cheeks in between his teeth, wandering around the room, looking at the various items in full reach.

"Is she... here?" He asked, looking at the small crumples of assorted herbs; sweetgrass, frankincense, myrrh, and lavender-- those were the ones he recognized, anyhow. He was tempted, for a moment, to look behind the desk and see if she was hidden there. He decided against it at the very last second, though, turning to look at with a flimsy, confused look on his face.

"I fink I know who e' teacher is, Miss... Miss sumfin'. I dunno, but maybeh we should call for her. T-to ask for help, I mean. Because she probableh knows wot she's doin'. Because she's the teacher and she has the instructions." It was a nervous habit of his, to stumble over his words in a repetitive way. "Because if she didn't know wot she was doin', then maybe she shouldn't be the teacher- but I think she does know, cos' she's the teacher and teachers usually know wot they teach. So let's call her, see if she's in here." He exhaled, giving the room a once-over before he called for her in a painfully awkward attempt. It was sort of dark, maybe he should just wait.

"How about we joost start dippin' the wicks, then?" He looked at his friend for conformation, reaching behind himself to get a wick and drag himself towards a cauldron that smelled heavily of fresh air-- grass? Sweetgrass? He relished in it for a bit, holding the tip of the wick between his thumb and index finger, plopping it into the cauldron until he felt it was good enough, waited for it to dry, and then repeated it. In a way, it was sort of therapeutic, just one thing at a time, quick and easy.

"Right, this inn't so bad, I could probableh be a candle maker when I get older! How's tha' for a career choice?" He felt more comfortable, now. The sweet smells in the air, mixed with the comfort of his friend, he was basically home. "You know, me aunt, she loved ta make candles. She never showed me how, but-- OW," He squeaked, cringing when he really felt just how hot the wax was when it made contact with the tip of his thumb, his eyes watering up instinctually. "Fook, that hurt. Um... anyweh, she never taught me how ta do it, but I can see why she did... it's very calming, this is."

WC: 474
TOTAL: 1,209

@Gem Stuart

Catriona found herself shaking her head. "No, it might be better if we just do it ourselves. I don't want to bother her or anything..." She trailed off, suddenly fascinated by the bubbling wax. It was milky, almost, like a semi-mixed bowl of meringue. She shook her head, looking back up at Gem just in time to catch his next words (and his finger mishap).

"Oh Merlin," she said, frowning at the tip of Gem's thumb. "Hang on a moment, I'll get you some cold water." She made for the door, pausing to snag a spare jar filled with some herb. "I don't think candle making is a viable career option," she said over her shoulder, wincing mentally at how flippant she sounded.

She really needed someone to teach her how to socially interact, didn't she? Books were so much easier to understand. All the facts were laid out in place for Catriona to collect; all the puzzle pieces were there laid out in neat little piles, sorted and ready to be put together. People weren't like that. Trying to figure people out was like putting together a puzzle with a blindfold on while someone burns your fingertips one by one or like trying to sing underwater. Catriona couldn't stand it sometimes. After a while, her self-doubt felt like it was corroding her insides, fighting it's way out of the little bottle she stuffed it inside. She would sooner let it consume her than let anyone know.

The bathroom was empty and Catriona made quick work of washing out the jar and filling it with cold water. She didn't stop to think on the way back. She'd spent too much time on that already.

"Here, dunk your finger in there. The burning should let up." She was probably overstepping boundaries, wasn't she? Doing something dumb and messing up relationships like she always did.

Catriona turned quickly, not waiting for Gem's reply, and busied herself with grabbing wicks and dipping them gently in the wax. To her surprise, it dried within moments and she dipped it in again, appreciating the distraction.

After a couple moments, she spoke again. "What's your aunt like?"

WC: 361
Total WC: 1096

@Catriona Staverly

Gem sneered at her opinion on his particular career choice, going on with very calmly dipping his candle until it looked nice and completed. The wax laid on thick, it wasn't watery like he'd initially expected-- it would've taken forever if that were the case. The payment wouldn't have been worth it, unless it was at least three galleons. If it were less, he'd testify child labor.

He glanced at the water held up to him, smiling gratefully. He sunk his index finger in there, and while it felt a bit weird at first, it was very relaxing after another second had passed. He set it down, the jar of water, and went straight back to work, simmering in silence. The smell of the room was quite captivating, it was distracting from his thoughts-- an impressive feat for someone with a mind as loud as Gem. He kept dunking them, over and over, making a comfortable pile on a nearby table, propping them up nice and aligned. It made him smile, they reminded him of little soldiers lined up for a training or something of that ilk. He almost wanted to pluck them up and start to play with them.

"What's your aunt like?"
"Crazy," He responded flatly, "she's not even... me biological aunt, per se. She wos a friend of me mum's back then, they'd go to parties togever and all that... she just went to one too many parties, and messed up her brain a bit." He hoped would get the hint, and he felt she would. She wasn't an idiot. "So she focuses a lot on... Zen stuff. I don' see her as mooch as I used to, but I'm sure she's all e' same. I'm not one ta judge, but... I don't fink I'd ever want ta end up like her."

His face was straight while he spoke, dipping the wick he had in his hand over and over, occasionally sprinkling a few herbs in that were in arm's reach. He was mostly off in his own little world, thinking about Aunt Freckle. That had to be one of his biggest fears, ending up like someone like her. Jeff spoke so much trash about her, all the things she'd done in her youth that were pretty disgraceful. He didn't like to talk about it, though. He didn't even like to think about it. Instead of doing that, he dipped candles until the thought felt like a numbed out memory.

WC: 450
TOTAL: 1,546

@Gem Stuart

Catriona frowned, busying herself with dipping the wicks into the hot wax. One too many parties? Did he mean... oh. Will had told her about that before, mostly just to make sure she wasn't being coerced into anything (which was ironic considering Catriona had never wanted to go to a party before). Will was odd about these things (paranoid would probably be a better word for it). He had, after all, sent her to Hogwarts with several quilts and enough chocolate to feed a small country. She'd never really questioned why he was so worried about her all the time.

Freddie worried too, but in her own, weird way. She would send owls occasionally to make sure she was okay, but she would never admit she cared. Freddie really wasn't the type to say "I love you," but Catriona knew. They knew each other well enough to know these things. It was sort of an unspoken rule between the two of them. Catriona would never reveal the mischief Freddie got up to (most of which was masterminded by Catriona herself, usually because Freddie's plans left a lot to be desired) and Freddie would make sure Catriona was alright. Most things with Freddie tended to be tangled up in some convoluted trade, but Catriona knew most of it was just a farce.

Catriona, realizing she'd been absorbed in her thoughts for too long, spoke. "That's understandable." She wanted to say something about how she didn't quite want to be like her parents, but there was doubt clouding her mind and stopping her tongue. She settled for, "There are people I don't want to end up like either," as a nice medium.

"I don't really know my aunts and uncles very well..." She trailed off. "I've got siblings though," she said, trying to brighten the mood a little. "Will and Winifred." Winifred sounded odd and clunky in her mouth. Freddie had always been Freddie in her mind, and Winifred just seemed... superfluous. "Freddie. They're twins, both graduated. Freddie's a bit of a wild one." Wild was an understatement. "She's very chaotic. I think you'd like her though. People tend to like her. Will is more subdued, I guess? He's a bit of a mother hen, if I'm being honest," she said, laughing a little.

"I don't know Aunt Katherine very well, but Mother said she's having a baby soon, which is nice." Catriona wasn't sure how she felt about babies. They were cute, she supposed, but then again so were baby lions, and they could kill you.

Catriona paused her work to look at the growing pile of candles beside them. They looked close to finished. "I think we're just about done here!" she said, taking a step back and brushing some bits of wax off her fingers. "Want to go to the library with me? I'll show you that book about muggle magic tricks I found the other day." She grinned at Gem, offering him her hand.

WC: 499
Total WC: 1595