Face Painting Booth Open

"Wow!" Dee read out loud, a delighted smile spreading on her face. She crossed her arms, cocked her head, and skimmed the other signs. "One-Time Only?" She turned on her feet to peek into the booth, the smile morphing into a grin when she recognised the booth's owner. "You're saying this is my only chance - ever - to get my face painted by the Aaron Jones?" She stepped under the canopy, eyes sparkling with amusement, and glanced at the boldy proclaimed FACE PAINT MENU, put up on a chalkboard. "Say less, I'm in."

After helping the last of the kids set up their stalls, Dee had finally found some time to go around and actually visit the booths offered. The whole thing was a resounding success, if you asked her - there was a wide variety of booths ranging from cute, fun, to frankly incredibly impressive. Giving all the students a chance to showcase their hidden talents had definitely been the right choice, she would never have guessed what some of her peers had to offer.

Among them, apparently, Aaron. Dee's smile widened as she skimmed the menu. "Gemma?" she asked, glancing up, then glancing around for the face that name might belong to. "Your sister?" she guessed. It suggested itself, from the matching last name and the fact that this didn't look like Aaron's handwriting. "This is really cute," she observed while she flopped down in the chair across from Aaron. "Never knew you had this secret superpower. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a bunch of new admirers out of this~" Another glance at the menu. "Um... dragon scales, please. In blue and bronze, if that's possible?"

She stilled when Aaron began to work his magic, eyes following his hands whenever he brought out a new colour or tool. She'd always liked Aaron, even though they'd hit a sort of rough patch a few years ago. They'd bonded over Aly's disappearance during their fourth year, but Aaron had been less forgiving than Dee when Aly had returned, and had felt betrayed when Dee had reacted differently. Which, looking back, she couldn't really blame him for. They'd both been hurt, but for Dee, missing Aly had hurt worse than forgiving her. And then she'd been legally obligated to take Aly's side in the ugly after-breakup phase - best friend code and all - so they hadn't really had much contact in the past few years, before he'd shown up in their tent with Amina.

Dee thought about that now, glancing up at Aaron's face while she turned her head to the other side. "We should hang out again some time," she said softly. "Catch up? If you want."

No matter his response, she'd get up when he was done, and admire her face in the mirror. Turn her face to both side to admire the way the light caught on the metallic face paint. "You're good at this!" she said, maybe with a touch more surprise than necessary. "Thanks Aaron." A quick smile and a wave, and she headed back out to visit the next booth. "See you in our tent later!"

Thread left!

Interaction with: @Novalie Moon

"Otis?" Aaron repeated, his eyebrows shooting up, but with an amused grin on his face. This young girl's energy was really something! He soon learned that Otis was an orange cat, and that the girl herself was a metamorphmagus! "Very cool," he complimented after she turned her hair orange. In all his time at Hogwarts, he had never befriended a metamorphmagus. So as he began the task of giving the young girl a cat face, he asked a couple of questions, like if it took a lot of concentration to do changes like that? Could she grow whiskers or should he paint some on?

But Aaron soon let Novalie take over the conversation, letting her ramble off different topics as she pleased, and even asking a question here and there. Honestly her energy struck him as familiar - and it only took a few minutes of painting to realize why. Her hyperactive questioning and conversation style reminded him of himself when he was her age. He had found a calm over the years, but the recognition of his own hyperactivity in this younger girl was surprising. It really emphasized how much he had changed since being a wee first year. Or - second year, he soon learned about her.

"Woah, really?! Congrats, that's a tough one," Aaron said, his dark eyes lighting up when she relayed that she had tried a handstand on her broom recently. "The trick is really mastering it on solid ground first, so make sure you put in plenty of practice there." Her desire to join the circus made him grin in amusement. "I want to do it professionally - trick riding. There are competitions and leagues forming in the last few years, so it's not the biggest sport in the world yet, but I'll be the best there is and make sure everyone knows about it."

With that said, Aaron did a final flourish on the cat face and proudly presented Novalie with a mirror. He turned to her friend next, and when they were both done, he would wave back, "Nice meeting you, Novalie!"

Interaction with: @Eric Kim

"Of course," Aaron responded to the request for dragon scales. After confirming a color, the Hufflepuff got to work. The difference between the two friends was so evident, it was comical. Aaron had to keep from chuckling to himself as he thought about how this kid must worry over his friend. "Do you know the softening charm yet? Spongify? It'll probably come in handy if you're helping her practice," Aaron advised, his demeanor much calmer with Eric.

When the younger boy asked about other sports, Aaron confirmed that he used to play Quidditch. "I was a Chaser - a Captain too - back in second year. I loved Quidditch a lot, I think the best part of it is that you get a whole community of friends in your teammates," he shared, offering an encouraging smile at Eric's interest. He didn't want to dampen the boy's spirits with the story of how he had fallen out of love with Quidditch over time, because that wasn't everyone's experience. "Seeker is a really important role, you should go for it!"

"Yeah, this is Chae-rin, she loves treats and can do tricks, too!" If Eric or Novalie showed any interest in the tricks aspect, he would show them a simple hand gesture that would make Chae-rin fly in a circle upside down (an inverted loop). And then he let them give her treats. The conversation that followed on advice and places to go to in Hogsmeade garnered no suspicion or hestitation from Aaron (he would definitely slip in a "Honestly, some rules are made to be broken" somewhere in there).

Aaron was a bit faster with the dragon scales than with the full face cat, so it was only a few minutes later that he presented Eric with the mirror too. "Glad you like it! Have a fun rest of your day, guys!"

Interaction with: @Aodhan Shaw

The next boy to approach made Aaron laugh out loud. "Chadler?" he repeated, not angry but genuinely amused. Where had that even come from? "Yeah, sure, dude," he chuckled at the fact that the "please" had clearly been an afterthought. And "dude" seemed an appropriate term for a kid that had approached with a "wassup."

The Hufflepuff got to work and found that Aodhan was easy to talk to - his whole vibe meshed well with Aaron's. The two had no trouble keeping up a lighthearted conversation, quickly connecting over the muggle-born heritage they shared. Aaron also shared his own experience in Quidditch during his first years at Hogwarts.

When the topic of trick riding came up, Aodhan seemed almost disappointed by the idea? His next words revealed that he knew doing tricks was a thing, just not a professional thing. "I mean, it's not the most popular sport, but it is a thing! It's really difficult to do, so not many do it," he was hoping the second part of that reassured the kid a little. It was an impressive feat for anyone to do tricks. The professional leagues that did exist were still small and growing, but Aaron intended to make it big.

"If you want to work your tricks into Quidditch, that's probably even more difficult than just doing trick riding on its own. I never tried combining the two," Aaron admitted, hoping that the boy took this as both a compliment and a challenge. "But my advice if you want it? Work them into each other from the very start. Some will say to perfect the tricks separately from your seeker training, and only combine them when you're confident in both, but that'll just make you a beginner all over again. You'll have to combine two separate skillsets and mindsets into one. In my opinion, it'd be way easier to work on them both from the start. Seekers have to go incredible speeds when you spot the snitch, so maybe figure out some high speed tricks. Barrel rolls you can work into your high speed snitch training, and then maybe one-handed rolls. Or high speed surfing, that's a tough one, but a seeker who does that chasing after a snitch? That'd be a crazy signature move. You can add flair and be effective all at once." Aaron scratched the back of his neck after saying all of that though. "But, that's just my opinion. I'm not a pro yet," he reminded.

Not long after those words of advice, Aaron put the finishing touches on the custom request. He returned the high five with gusto, a giant and genuine smile on his lips. "Thanks, Aodhan! I don't think I'll be doing this professionally, but I certainly don't mind you spreading the word of my many talents," he laughed, getting to his feet so he could stretch a bit before the next person. "Enjoy the rest of camp!"

Interaction with: @Dealla Prince

His next visitor was a familiar face, popping her head in with a joke that made Aaron smile. "I'm sure you can tell the decoration was all me," he joked back, reclaiming his seat. He nodded when she guessed that Gemma was his sister, "She's around here somewhere, I'll introduce you if she shows up again."

Dealla Prince was a friend. Sorta. Well, no - er, yes, they were friends, and he would introduce her as such if his sister did appear. It was just weird with the whole Aly situation. Sure, he and Aly had kinda buried the hatchet a couple days ago, but it's not like he and Dee had hung out since then, so things still felt a bit off. But as the brunette took a seat across from Aaron, he offered her a small and genuine smile nonetheless.

"New admirers are the goal, of course. I'll be needing a fan club to support me once I've graduated, and now seems like the perfect time to get the ball rolling," his smile morphed into a grin, finding the banter pretty easy to fall into. Dealla had a good sense of humor. "Blue and bronze dragon scales, coming up," he added with a nod at her request.

Face painting younger kids and people he was unfamiliar with never really fazed Aaron. But being so close and personal with a friend - touching her face, and making occasional eye contact just from proximity - was unexpectedly intimate. Not that his mind was in the gutter or anything - it was just that he'd never had the reason or opportunity to notice those freckles on her nose before. And he's certainly never held her face before (not that he was doing it now in any way that wasn't necessary for the painting).

Having done the dragon scales for a couple of people now, he made surprisingly quick work of Dealla's request. Or maybe he was rushing for some reason? Nonetheless, it was a good result he showed her in a mirror a few minutes later. "Uhh, yeah, we should," Aaron agreed, mildly caught off guard by her request. He almost expected that they would continue in a weird limbo of her being his ex's best friend, but maybe they could get back to just being friends. "That's a good idea."

He brushed off the surprise in her voice at his talent, instead letting it feed his ego and allowing a small smirk to appear. "I'm good at a lot of things," he responded, winking at her as he said it. Wait - why had he done that? Was he- What the fuck is wrong with you, don't FLIRT with her! Her boyfriend is literally your tentmate! Maybe he was just so used to flirting with his friends these days - Amina, specifically - that it was bleeding into other friends, too. But he had no idea if Dealla was okay with that, and he didn't wait to find out. Internally kicking himself but still grinning on the outside, "See ya!" He turned away and started interacting with Chae-rin at the back of the booth as Dealla left.

Malcolm had lingered just outside the entrance of the face painting booth, his wheelchair parked off to the side so he was out of the way. The idle chatter and laughter had sounded inviting and drew him to the booth, but he'd paused, not wanting to intrude.

Instead, he'd settled in quietly, wearing the well-worn jeans and slightly baggy tee he'd inherited from one of his half-blood cousins earlier this year. The shirt was from some muggle band he'd never even listened to, but it was still one he liked. Mostly because they were called Imagine Dragons and imagining dragons was always fun.

While he'd waited, Malcolm ran his fingers through the soft golden fur of his bunny, Custard, who was nestled comfortably in his lap. The young rabbit twitched his nose against Malcolm's fingers, a moment of calm solitude amidst the slightly overwhelming nature of camp. It all felt worlds away from the quiet wooded hideaways he preferred.

He swallowed around a lump in his throat, giving Aaron time with his snowy owl, before cautiously pushing his way forward, looking up at the other boy. He must be going into one of the older years. Sixth. Maybe even seventh. Malcolm wasn't quite sure, but Aaron's relaxed demeanor and easygoing confidence definitely marked him as someone well beyond first year jitters, in any case.

He cleared his throat quietly. "If it's not too much trouble... would ya mind paintin' my face ta look like my bunny's? His name's Custard." He asked, gently lifting the young rabbit into view to give the other boy a better view.

As Aaron worked his magic with the paint, Malcolm found that somehow the simple act of being around him was calming in and of itself. "Would ya happen ta have any pointers fer someone just startin' out at Hogwarts? Besides the usual 'study hard' and 'don't lose yer wand'? And maybe some stories of what ya've gotten up to?"

He listened to Aaron patiently, hanging on every word of advice and anecdote. Malcolm found himself opening up in kind, sharing his hopes of getting sorted into Hufflepuff like most of his family has been, his dreams of getting onto the duelling team, and even his worries about the moving staircases. Listening to someone who'd already lived it made it all seem a little less daunting.

The brushstrokes were soft and they tickled a bit, but Malcolm tried his best to sit perfectly still, imagining the colors blooming across his face. By the time Aaron stepped back and handed him a little mirror, Malcolm's eyes lit up with delight. His smile was immediate and lit up the booth with how widely he was beaming. He was overjoyed at how well he'd translated the rabbit's face onto his own features, and was pleased that his own messy blond hair looked a bit like the lionlike mane Custard has going on himself "Oh wow... it's perfect." He said, a quiet laugh bubbling out of him before he could help himself, his earlier nerves forgotten. "Thanks fer this. Hopefully I'll be seein' ya in the Hufflepuff common room sometime, aye?" He added with a small wave, his voice full of hope.

With that, he wheeled his way over to offer Chae-rin a treat before navigating out into the afternoon sun, ready for whatever little adventure came next.

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Stats: sta 6 ⊹ eva 8 ⊹ str 7 ⊹ wis 7 ⊹ arc 7 ⊹ acc 7 | Time: A Sunny Afternoon | CC:#2E8B57
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Siobhan had been immediatley drawn to the prospect of getting her face painted but she worried that the skin around her eyes would be difficult to work with because of the scarring that hadn't been fully resected just yet. Still she approached the booth with a soft smile and a polite question. When the student, Aaron, had explained that he was able to do so despite the scarring, she had all but jumped excitedly and began pouring over the options.

She didn't want anything super flashy- nothing that clashed with the colors of her dress or with her hair. Not that she was vain but more so to keep to her aesthetic. Whimiscal but unassuming. The sparkles looked cute, and so did the idea of a unicorn inspired drawings. However she was drawn towards the color and style of the enchanted vines. Plants were her passion, they were the only things that really understood her aside from Toaster when he wasn't being a greedy little tub.

She gently pointed at the greenery and the vines and followed up her initial question with "Do you know how to draw lotus flowers? Would it be okay if you added a couple to this design?"

It seemed it was easy enough as Siobhan took her seat on the stool and closed her eyes. Despite the assuration that her eyes wouldn't be a problem, she couldn't help but worry that he wouldn't be able to paint around her. The cool swipe of the paintbrush touched her face and she relaxed almost immediately as something calming washed over her.

She kept her eyes closed and her face as relaxed as she could while Aaron did his work. The art she had seen on the faces of other students looked amazing and she was excited to see what he would come up with for her in terms of greenery and lotus flowers.

"I would have picked daffodils- but I have plenty on my Granian Derby hat and in my tent. Daffodils are my favorite but I wanted the paint to signify something else. Thank you for this." She spoke even though the work was only partly done. Something about the being in his prescence was just calming and she couldn't help the motor her mouth was running on as she talked. Lotus flowers were a beautiful symbol of rebirth, reknewing and hope. Something she was still learning to walk with hand in hand. Everyday was a new beginning for her and she was learning to guide herself along this path.

When all was said and done, Siobhan looked at the work done in the mirror. It was blurry to see but she could make out the general aspect of colors and some line work. The glowing paints were a beautiful touch and it helped her to discern where her nose and eyes were. For the first time in a few months, it was easy to see the lines of where her eyes would be.

Siobhan smiled and sniffled slightly. The older student probably didn't realize it but this was the prettiest she had felt in a while. To do something that made her look as though she was a normal student, participating in normal activities felt so freeing to her. She wasn't the weirdo hippy kid with the messed up eyes right now. She was just Siobhan.

She was beaming with a radient smile as she profusely thanked the older boy. He had done such a wonderful job which excited her and made her want to finally show her face off to the world once more.

[colo=#2E8B57]"Thank you- Thank you so much. I look so beautiful"[/color] Siobhan said with the beginnings of what must have been something like tears forming in her eyes. She hadn't cried real ones in a while btu she tried not to wipe the beautiful artwork as she patted her tears dry.

She left with the largest smile she possibly could have as she felt the sun on her face, letting her bloom a little more.
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| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: | 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Aaron Jones|
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At one (unspecified) point in the day during the booths festival, when Aly was feeling slightly dizzy from having taken so many fast laps around the stadium carrying various Snitch-catching hopefuls on the back of her Oakshaft, she hung a "Be Back Soon" sign on her booth and took to wandering around the others' just to see what they offered. There were over a dozen different options, and probably even more, but she managed to narrow it down to just a few as she walked by them on the way to grab some food. On her way back, just finishing up munching on a spinach pasty, she took a slightly different route and saw one booth she'd missed on her first sweep: sky blue and walled in, with a colourful and exclamation-laden "FACE PAINTING" sign hung above it. An eyebrow quirked, the idea of a design on her face no different from the design she had gotten tattooed on her left shoulder back in early July - several small, moving blue morpho butterflies that flittered and flapped their way over and around the shoulder as they so pleased. Well, perhaps paint would be less painful. Aly took an instinctive step forward before her eyes dropped to the person in the tent - just finishing up a floral design on a younger girl, it was none other than her ex-boyfriend Aaron Jones. He seemed comfortable here, despite Aly seeming to remember he had very few artistic bones in his body; perhaps he'd gotten better at the talent since they had known each other.

Whereas five days ago Aly might have immediately turned and fled in the opposite direction, determined to avoid Aaron in any and every which way possible, they had recently entered a sort of mildly uneasy truce. What had happened to them had been a miscommunication borne out of accidents and good intentions that had paved the road to their own personal hell - two and a half years of discomfort, dodging, and disturbances. Having had a conversation a few days before had eased some of it, had seen them agreeing that just because they had dated once for a few months several years ago didn't mean that they needed to make everyone else around them uncomfortable. It was no longer a war, forcing their year to take sides. And thus, Aly didn't run away; instead, this time, she steeled herself and walked over to the tent, brushing crumbs from the pasty off of the pants of her Quidditch uniform. Aly leaned hesitantly on one of the tent walls, crossing one ankle over her other leg, and when Aaron had finished with his previous customer, Aly gave him a tentative wave and even the beginnings of a true smile. "...Hey."

When the seat was open, she moved not into it at first but past it, ducking into the snowy owl's vision and giving her a little wave. She had no treats to give, but hopefully the owl would still remember her and react positively. "Good to see you, Chae-rin. You've really grown into your feathers, mate." Turning back, she took her spot in the paintee's chair, ducking her head somewhat embarrassedly at Aaron. "And, er, you too," she said awkwardly, as if they hadn't woken up in the same tent earlier that morning. "Erm, the good to see you bit, not the feathers, of course. Quite an operation you've got here. Mind if I jump in next?" She had spent a moment looking at the menu Aaron had written out on his large chalkboard, and addressed her desired look: "The constellation crown looks just my style. Though if you'd know how to paint a blue morpho butterfly - you know, like these-" Aly pulled aside the collar of her uniform, showing a few of the butterfly tattoos flapping their wings happily at the base of her neck- "those would be nice, too. You know what?" She leaned forward enough for Aaron to have her face within reach, if he were to reach a bit, too. "Surprise me. Just don't paint HATER across my nose, yeah?"

When he was done, Aly admired her new look in the mirror and turned back to really smile at Aaron for the first time in quite a while. "It's wonderful. You've really gotten quite good at this," she told him, the genuine compliment falling from her lips without even so much as a second thought. "If anyone at my booth asks where I got it, I'll be sure to direct them your way. Thanks for..." She trailed off momentarily. "For this. I'll, er, see you later." And with that, she was out of the tent, heading towards her next stop.

August 19^th, 2025 | Ravenclaw Quidditch uniform | #C47DDB | paragon allies: chae-rin, gemma
lovely creature & charmer affect everyone | @Aaron Jones

Emilie had seen so many kids and adults running around with magical face paints and she had been dragging one of the older kids around trying to find the right booth. She finally saw the blue tent and the sign proclaiming the face painting. She tried to get the older kids attention but when they didn't seem to have any plan to listen to the little girl, she left the group and ran straight for the line. She vaguely heard someone shout out they would be right back and that Emilie was to stay put but Emilie's focus was on the ideas of face paint she wanted. She had seen someone with sparkles and a unicorn but she hadn't set her heart on anything just yet.

The little girl was full of energy on a normal day, but today she was practically vibrating with excitement, and she was bouncing on her heels the entire time she stood in line. As she got to the front of the line, she noticed the snowy owl. Emilie was smart and knew she shouldn't pet unknown animals, especially owls, but when she noticed the treats, she gently picked on up and offered it to the owl. 'Oh, you're so sweet' she cooed as she slowly reached out and gave a small pet and some little scratches. She giggled as the owl seemed more than happy to let her offer some gentle love and offered her a second treat.

Finally, it was her turn, and she walked up to the nice-looking gentleman doing the painting. 'Hi.' She said softly as she looked back at the owl. She hadn't even thought of what she could get. 'I guess a unicorn' she mumbled.

The teen must have noticed her hesitation and offered a reminder that she didn't have to pick from the list but could come up with her own idea. Emilie looked up at him, smiling broadly 'Do you think you could paint her?' she said, pointing at the owl.

Emilie giggled as the paint touched her cheek, but tried her best to sit still. She found chatting with the man easy, which made it harder. 'I'm going to Hogwarts in September' she stated excitedly. They made small conversation about the house, when asked Emilie offered up, 'I don't know really what house I'll be in, my mom was a Hufflepuff, so maybe there? But gran is a Gryffindor and she says I'm brave'[/color]. They talked about Quidditch and some of the clubs at the school before he sat straighter and announced he was done.

He said as he finished up her face paint. Emilie smiled as she looked in the mirror and forced herself not to hug the stranger. She was fairly certain her grandmother would have added 'no hugging strangers' to the list of rules if she weren't in a whirlwind trying to keep up with Emilie.

'It's perfect,' the little 11-year-old said as she hopped off. She turned and gave the painter a wave, but before leaving the booth, she smiled, took an owl treat, and handed it to the bird. 'Thank you!' she shot back as she skipped off to find her group.