12 Dec 2019, 19:34
Set the Spider Free!
There were certainly a variety of shops in Diagon Alley. Although he had only returned to replenish his supplies for potions and other classes, Jack felt like he could browse their goods and windowshop all day. He had spent a great deal of time wandering because, as a muggle-born, everything was amazing and new to him. Even the most mundane of objects or methods of doing a task were different for wizards and witches. Even better was the fact that his parents weren't around to tell him not to go there or not to do that. The possibilities were endless.@Emile Yorke
While he understood he had a limited allowance, the fact that he had any sort of income at all was a source of great joy for the 11-year-old. To him, it meant that if he saved up properly and played his cards right, anything he wanted could be his. The sign-up for Secret Santas had asked for a wishlist, but Jack had had trouble thinking of anything tangible; something that could be bought. Now, however, that was changing very quickly.
There were a number of trick sweets and gag items he was interested in, but after much perusing, Jack came to a more practical goal. If he was going to spend his money, it seemed smarter to save up first for one expensive item rather than buy numerous, petty things. He wanted to save for something useful that could last a long time, but what would be best? A broom? A self-inking quill? A pet?
As enticing as pets were, they seemed more trouble than they were worth. What were they supposed to provide in exchange for being cleaned and fed? Animal companionship? As if he needed that. Furthermore, the student imagined they were a lot of work to train. But as he looked around, there was a shop selling owls that could supposedly already send and deliver mail. They were jaw-droppingly expensive, but what did Jack know? Maybe that was just because he was a first-year. To a wizard or witch adult, the price might have been chump change.
The boy set his things down off to the side of a path, opening his bag to check how much currency he had with him and how much more he would require to obtain a mailing owl. As he did so, he blinked, then grinned.
"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about you," Jack told his bag. Reaching in, he slowly and carefully brought out a large, hairy tarantula that was almost bigger than his hand. Admiring the creature for a moment, he then glanced around. "Hmm...can't let you go here or you might get stepped on...but then where should I drop you off?"
Last edited by Jack Burnett on 19 Dec 2019, 07:16, edited 1 time in total.
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori
14 Dec 2019, 20:24
Set the Spider Free!
Emile walked in, looking like he had a purpose. This was extremely right, as he was here to look at a possible pet. He had decided quite a long time ago that he was going to have a pet, and after his time being alone in his room for all those weeks, he thought it was extremely necessary to have one at the point. He would probably become socially isolated without anyone or anything with him if that were ever to happen again.
Emile decided he wanted a cat. A tiger looking cat, or a very hair one. It reminded him of himself in some ways. Especially on nights with full moons. That was a bad thought though, so Emile pushed it out of his mind and continued to look around. The entire store was wall-to-wall cages, filled with animals Emile hadn't dreamed of being real. It wasn't his first time in the store, but he felt like every time he came back there was always some new, freakishly cool pet for sale. There were purple frogs, rats, frogs, ravens, owls, cats, and some animals Emile could not classify. For some of these pets were simply too unreal for Emile to even take a guess.
The room was noisy. It was filled with people and pets. Both of those groups were squeaking. Pets squeaking because their animals, and occasionally the wail of a child saying they hate their parents for not getting them a new cat. Emile sighed and tried to block out the noise, searching for a cat he thought would suit him. He wasn't searching for a loud or beautiful one. It was one of those things that were just a gut feeling, and that was the philosophy Emile was using for his purchase.
He looked at some of the cats and stuck his fingers through a majority of the cages, petting their heads and scratching their chins. He knew that this was probably absolutely not allowed, but he decided he would rather pet a cat than follow the rules. How could one not? With them purring and meowing it was like not eating your favorite food after not eating for the entire day. Emile noticed this feeling and quickly took out his notebook, scribbling all that was happening down. He did this in a couple of minutes then turned to go look at more parts of the store or talk to the clerk.
Though, in the midst of all of this, Emile felt..detatched. He didn't feel ready yet for being in such a huge place with such a huge amount of people. He quickly made his way outside of the store for a breath of fresh air.
As he was doing this, out of the corner of his eye he saw a suspicious-looking...thing. He couldn't tell if it was an adult or a child or maybe even a pet. With all the bustling outside the store, it was hard to tell. The screeching of some owls and the people looking at them were extremely distracting. Even though in horror movies you are never supposed to go towards something you are a bit frightened of, Emile did it anyway and walked over to the thing. At this point, he could tell it was a student and narrowed his eyes a bit. Did he have a bag? Was he talking to that bag? This doesn't seem good. Emile thought.
"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about you. Hmm...can't let you go here or you might get stepped on...but then where should I drop you off?" Emile heard him say. He peered around a random person and saw that the student was carrying a... "Tarantula?!" Hearing himself say that didn't sound too smart. They were in a pet store, afterall. "Are you..purchasing a tarantula?" He asked the person. (Jack) Though, Emile thought that since they were outside it was a bit strange to have a pet. Maybe he had already bought it?...
16 Dec 2019, 15:14
Set the Spider Free!
@Emile Yorke
The sudden exclamation caused the first-year’s head to whip up in surprise. Instinctively, he put the hand with the spider behind his back, realizing as he did so that this was stupid because someone had already seen it. However, he decided to keep it there to keep any other prying eyes from noticing as well as to protect the delicate creature as best he could.
“Um…no,” the boy admitted, regarding the Gryffindor student addressing him, “But I don’t know what business it is of yours.” Jack prided himself on never lying, but he wasn’t keen on spilling his guts to this random kid he’d never met before. “Kind of nosy, aren’t you?” he asked with a crooked half-smile – as if he himself wasn’t.
While he spoke, the Slytherin boy studied his fellow schoolmate. Pale complexion, forest green eyes set in an oval face, fluffy black hair that was stark against his skin like Selim’s...and slightly taller than him. From his demeanor, Jack guessed the kid might have been slightly older than him, but it couldn’t have been by more than a year. He didn’t seem to wear any prefect badge, either, nor did he radiate any sense of authority, which put the redhead at ease somewhat. Still, he could never be too cautious.
The sudden exclamation caused the first-year’s head to whip up in surprise. Instinctively, he put the hand with the spider behind his back, realizing as he did so that this was stupid because someone had already seen it. However, he decided to keep it there to keep any other prying eyes from noticing as well as to protect the delicate creature as best he could.
“Um…no,” the boy admitted, regarding the Gryffindor student addressing him, “But I don’t know what business it is of yours.” Jack prided himself on never lying, but he wasn’t keen on spilling his guts to this random kid he’d never met before. “Kind of nosy, aren’t you?” he asked with a crooked half-smile – as if he himself wasn’t.
While he spoke, the Slytherin boy studied his fellow schoolmate. Pale complexion, forest green eyes set in an oval face, fluffy black hair that was stark against his skin like Selim’s...and slightly taller than him. From his demeanor, Jack guessed the kid might have been slightly older than him, but it couldn’t have been by more than a year. He didn’t seem to wear any prefect badge, either, nor did he radiate any sense of authority, which put the redhead at ease somewhat. Still, he could never be too cautious.
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori
20 Dec 2019, 23:11
Set the Spider Free!
@Jack Burnett sorry for the late response!!
For a second, it hadn't set in that there was a giant spider in front of him. It was extremely coward like for him not to like bugs, but on the other hand, why would anyone like them?! They were creepy and crawly and all things bad. He cringed at the thought of him. With this happening, Emile hoped there wouldn't be any thunder as well. He might as well pee in his pants at that point. He tried to stiffen up and not look at the spider for the conversation they were going to have. Emile hoped it would be a short exchange. Something like: Why are you holding a spider? And then he would say something like: Not sure. And then Emile would say: Okay. And he would leave and never see the spider again. He turned his attention back to the boy once more after making that decision in his head.
Emile noticed the boy jump a bit. Had he scared him? Well..to be honest, he wasn't extremely guilty about it. He didn't have a good feeling about a boy with a tarantula in the middle of one of the busiest places in the world. His thoughts were correct when he noticed the boy put his tarantula behind his back. If it was a good spider, what was the use of putting it behind your back? Emile sighed. This wasn't this first rodeo, for lack of a better word. The kids on his street use to play tricks on him involving spiders, but he didn't feel like thinking about that right now.
Emile was too curious and frightened about the spider and the boy that he didn't even think about pulling his notebook out to write everything down. He kind of just stood there, his eyes fixated on the boy. He studied him. He seemed to be younger than him, or maybe Emile just felt old. He looked at the crest on the robes of the student and saw it was a snake. Slytherin. He noted that in his head.
“Um…no,” He said, with a somewhat rude tone. Emile responded with a vile facial expression. “But I don’t know what business it is of yours. Kind of nosy, aren’t you?” The Slytherin said, showing his crooked smile. Emile took a deep breath and rolled his eyes slightly. He wasn't fond of the way the boy was speaking.
"Uhm..I am in the area in which you have a very large, and possibly vicious, tarantula. I'd say it is me and everyone else's business now. So no. I am not nosy. I'm simply worried about the well being of myself and the others around me." He retorted, his words filled slightly with venom. He wasn't fond of this person. Was he trying to say he wouldn't be worried if someone brought in a spider to a public place? A spider with nothing holding it back? Emile couldn't help but scoff. He did this mentally, though. He didn't want to get too vivid with his emotions.
20 Dec 2019, 23:41
Set the Spider Free!
@Emile Yorke (You're perfectly fine! XD)
The older boy's expression in response to his tone almost made Jack want to laugh, but he knew it wasn't likely to have done him any favors. Instead, he bit his lip to keep from doing so and fought to maintain a relatively straight face while he listened, attempting to depict the portrayal of an attentive, model underclassman. When he started talking about the 'well-being of himself and the others around him', however, Jack failed to stay in character.
"Okay, worrying about yourself I get, since it's human instinct to want to survive. But don't give me that altruistic crap about 'the others around you'. You probably don't know the large majority of them, and if you did, you'd probably hope they got poisoned and died," the first-year answered matter-of-factly, sounding unimpressed.
"Secondly," he continued, "if you knew anything about tarantulas, you'd know that they only attack in the face of a perceived threat like most other reasonable creatures. To do otherwise would be a waste of their resources. And even to muggles, a tarantula can't cause lasting damage; just soft tissue or eye irritation at most. I'm sure if a wizard encountered one, the tarantula would be the one that ended up worse off. So don't be a baby.
"And finally, I'm not going to let it free around all these people! It could end up hurt, or worse!" Freeing one hand from behind his back, he used the other to support the spider so he could gesture toward Knockturn Alley. Though no less heated, his voice lowered drastically in volume so he was whisper-yelling at the Gryffindor. "Do you know what they were doing to the tarantulas in the store down that way? It was awful!"
The older boy's expression in response to his tone almost made Jack want to laugh, but he knew it wasn't likely to have done him any favors. Instead, he bit his lip to keep from doing so and fought to maintain a relatively straight face while he listened, attempting to depict the portrayal of an attentive, model underclassman. When he started talking about the 'well-being of himself and the others around him', however, Jack failed to stay in character.
"Okay, worrying about yourself I get, since it's human instinct to want to survive. But don't give me that altruistic crap about 'the others around you'. You probably don't know the large majority of them, and if you did, you'd probably hope they got poisoned and died," the first-year answered matter-of-factly, sounding unimpressed.
"Secondly," he continued, "if you knew anything about tarantulas, you'd know that they only attack in the face of a perceived threat like most other reasonable creatures. To do otherwise would be a waste of their resources. And even to muggles, a tarantula can't cause lasting damage; just soft tissue or eye irritation at most. I'm sure if a wizard encountered one, the tarantula would be the one that ended up worse off. So don't be a baby.
"And finally, I'm not going to let it free around all these people! It could end up hurt, or worse!" Freeing one hand from behind his back, he used the other to support the spider so he could gesture toward Knockturn Alley. Though no less heated, his voice lowered drastically in volume so he was whisper-yelling at the Gryffindor. "Do you know what they were doing to the tarantulas in the store down that way? It was awful!"
Last edited by Jack Burnett on 26 Dec 2019, 06:22, edited 1 time in total.
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori
23 Dec 2019, 23:42
Set the Spider Free!
Emile felt his face redden when he knew this person was making fun of him in some way. At this point, Emile wasn't sure it was a person. Maybe it was some blob of disgustingness that God sent down to torture him. Wait a second. That's not a bad idea. Emile thought, pulling out his notebook on instinct. Though he wasn't fond of this person, he wouldn't let impoliteness get the best of him. "Pardon me. Let me just write something down quickly." He explained, his pen scribbling down all that he could think of. Maybe it would turn into a romance. The person being tortured falls in love! Or a horror..constantly being frightened by this being's attempts to torture them. He nodded to himself. Maybe one good thing had come out of this conversation. He decided to push that thought out of his head though. He was going against the idea of "the benefit of the doubt."
"Okay, worrying about yourself I get, since it's human instinct to want to survive. But don't give me that altruistic crap about 'the others around you'. You probably don't know the large majority of them, and if you did, you'd probably hope they got poisoned and died," The underclassmen said his tone monotone. Emile sighed. He was also quite unimpressed. He shook his head slightly and slipped his notebook back into the pocket of his robes. He wore an elderly looking smile. "That's such a sad way of looking at things, don't you think? And as a matter of fact, to me, it doesn't matter if I know them or not. I'd want to save anyone in this place over myself if I could. Even..you." He said, being completely honest. Though his last phrase seemed like he might have just vomited it. "And why would I want these people to die? You're not making much sense here." Emile retorted, getting a bit fired up.
All Emile heard out of the second statement was "Don't be a baby." He rolled his eyes. Why did it matter how they would deal with it? Either way, any unsuspecting person dealing with a tarantula was in for an unpleasant time. Emile wasn't being a baby. He didn't think he was. Was he? He looked at his shoes quickly then back at Jack.
"And finally, I'm not going to let it free around all these people! It could end up hurt, or worse!" Emile squinted eyes. This person..could be worried about something?! "No way! You actually care?!" He interrupted. "Well, it may be only about the spider, but that's something!" He smiled sarcastically then lowered his eyes. "Do you know what they were doing to the tarantulas in the store down that way? It was awful!" He asked, pointing down the road. Emile was suddenly curious. It was like all his annoyance disappeared, but he wanted to know. Was someone hurting innocent animals? "No? What did they do to the spiders?!" He asked, his voice filled with worry. Yes. He was scared of them, but he wasn't about to let abuse happen!
"Also, I still don't know your name. I'm Emile. Excuse my manners." He said, still somewhat sarcastic.
26 Dec 2019, 06:51
Set the Spider Free!
At being told to 'pardon' the young man before him because he he needed to 'just write something down quickly', Jack blinked a number of times in bewilderment. Then he laughed aloud. "Uh...okay," the Slytherin answered, watching as the Gryffindor took out his notebook to jot his ideas. Curious hazel eyes studied the notebook, committing it to memory for the near future. And then the older boy was nodding to himself. What a strange, intriguing guy.
Observing the placement of the notebook into the robe pocket, Jack smirked slightly at his upperclassman's response to his comment. "Sad?" he repeated. "Just seems like life to me. Survival of the fittest and all that. Less competition means greater chances of survival. Not to mention most people are too stupid to warrant living..." By the end of his sentence, however, his voice had trailed off and he was staring at the Gryffindor with wide, fearful eyes, his mouth slightly agape in unspoken horror.
"You...you what?!" he managed after a moment, seemingly forgetting the 'whisper' part of his whisper-yelling.
The first-year appeared to be incapable of processing much else Emile said after that. After a few more seconds of staring, he opened his bag wider, dumped the tarantula back in, closed the top of it, and carefully picked up his cargo.
It was ironic that the second-year noted Jack's concern for the spider, because it was the second-year's concern in general that scared Jack. Save anyone in this place over himself? Including Jack? Jack, who went out of his way to be unpleasant specifically to deter people like this?!
Oh, but deep down, the redhead knew there wasn't really any way of stopping these people. Kind, self-sacrificing people were the most dangerous beings of all, both to themselves and others, whether they knew it or not. He had to fix this kid before things got any worse with him.
Jack's mouth was a grave, thin line and his eyes were hard as he reached for the Gryffindor's hand with the arm that wasn't cradling his bag. "Come with me," he demanded, serious as death. There was only a moment of hesitation when he paused to glance back once he was given Emile's name. "...Jack," he answered eventually, disliking being indebted to people, even if it was only in the trading of names. "You and I have to talk, Lion. In private."
If the Gryffindor permitted him, Jack would have attempted to tug the other Hogwarts student into a small alley on the other side of the menagerie where they could be mostly alone and largely unheard.
@Emile Yorke
Observing the placement of the notebook into the robe pocket, Jack smirked slightly at his upperclassman's response to his comment. "Sad?" he repeated. "Just seems like life to me. Survival of the fittest and all that. Less competition means greater chances of survival. Not to mention most people are too stupid to warrant living..." By the end of his sentence, however, his voice had trailed off and he was staring at the Gryffindor with wide, fearful eyes, his mouth slightly agape in unspoken horror.
"You...you what?!" he managed after a moment, seemingly forgetting the 'whisper' part of his whisper-yelling.
The first-year appeared to be incapable of processing much else Emile said after that. After a few more seconds of staring, he opened his bag wider, dumped the tarantula back in, closed the top of it, and carefully picked up his cargo.
It was ironic that the second-year noted Jack's concern for the spider, because it was the second-year's concern in general that scared Jack. Save anyone in this place over himself? Including Jack? Jack, who went out of his way to be unpleasant specifically to deter people like this?!
Oh, but deep down, the redhead knew there wasn't really any way of stopping these people. Kind, self-sacrificing people were the most dangerous beings of all, both to themselves and others, whether they knew it or not. He had to fix this kid before things got any worse with him.
Jack's mouth was a grave, thin line and his eyes were hard as he reached for the Gryffindor's hand with the arm that wasn't cradling his bag. "Come with me," he demanded, serious as death. There was only a moment of hesitation when he paused to glance back once he was given Emile's name. "...Jack," he answered eventually, disliking being indebted to people, even if it was only in the trading of names. "You and I have to talk, Lion. In private."
If the Gryffindor permitted him, Jack would have attempted to tug the other Hogwarts student into a small alley on the other side of the menagerie where they could be mostly alone and largely unheard.
@Emile Yorke
PC: Jack Burnett | iNPC: Ginyami Midorimori