Treasure Hunt PV: EMMI!

Colin listened intently as Emily explained in greater detail what it is her mother actually did. Occasionally, when she said something particularly unfathomable, his gaze would flick over the waters of the lake, his brows knitting in concentration. More often than not, he just watched Emmi's face. I mean!, who wouldn't want to look at Emily? he thought. She was really a beautiful girl. He wasn't sure how to say that to her without, as Casey put it, scaring her off. But he did try to show it as best he could.

He tried to make sense of everything Emily was saying. She finished off her description almost with a question. Colin pondered her words carefully. He scritched Greebo between his ears. He wondered if magical cats and muggle cats had to deal with these kinds of mysteries; but at last he nodded slightly. Yes, Emily's explanation made sense! "I see! So, it's not so much about actual gardening per se, what yer Ma does, but it's really more about the sorts of clothes Muggles wear when their out on their boats! Aye, lass, that all makes sense! I reckon even Muggles would want to keep dry when its wet out, right? I mean! I've always wondered about that! So, that's why, like, ye see Muggles in London carrying those wee fold-up nappies on a stick everywhere! Huh! Brilliant! I bet those nappies are super absorbent and all! Keeps the Muggles snug and dry!" Colin paused for a moment. "And yer Ma fashions the nappy on a stick designs --- wait. What were they called? Oh! Ender Drummer Brawlers!" Colin clicked his fingers with a bright smile. "That's awesome Emmi! I mean. It's not awesome that yer Ma kind of ignores ye and all; but awesome that Muggles out on their boats in the Thames, and even smaller streams, will be wearing Under Bummer Brawlers and trews and things that yer Ma fashioned the design of!"

Colin sighed. "Muggles are so complicated! Honestly Em, like, why do they worry about the rain so much that yer Ma actually has to make nappies on a stick for them? I don't mind the rain! If it started pouring with rain as we're sat here sitting; I'd just get up and dance in the rain with ye!"

Colin noticed that Emily was watching him intently. Colin smiled brightly. Emily kept looking. Colin bopped to some inner music briefly. He was, quite understandably, proud that he'd actually understood five whole minutes of what AngelFyre called "Muggle Malarkey"! As he put his arm around his girl, he said: "See Em? I can understand loads of Muggle things!"

It was just tragic that something as trivial as a nappy on a stick took precedence over such a beautiful and smart girl as Emily Shephard!

That was when Colin thought it would be brilliant to show Emily what life in the wizarding world was really all about! He was determined. He loved Emily. Liam loved Emily as a sister; Aoife and even Cursa seemed to like her as well! He knew his parents and especially his seanmamó would love her to pieces! And of course, their house elves would adore her! He was certain that those gits Alex and Angus would hate her, as well as cousin Hamish and his gang of absolute tossers.

"My friend... Do you mean to say that--?" she asked.

Colin's eyes widened! Was Emily thinking what Colin was thinking? He blurted out: "Of course I mean it lass!" He gestured towards the castle. "Ye're the absolute best girl in this whole school! I'll duel any lad who says otherwise." And that was that. Colin thought for a minute. He wasn't quite sure if Emily was thinking what he was thinking --- but he was certain that, after what he'd said, she'd figure it out!

Oof. There was that 'brother' word again. Colin winced almost imperceptibly. Maybe Emmi didn't think what he was thinking after all. But then his heart rose up again! She said more than a brother. Colin knew brothers. He only had like six or eight of them! Was hard to keep track! Her own voice was soft and tender, almost trembling as she went on. Colin knew, somehow, that Emily was opening up some deeply hidden, something very precious.

Her words went straight from his ears and lodged themselves in his heart. He knew this would be one of those moments with Emily that would be forever made part of the very structure of his own soul. He held the girl closer as she talked. He rested his head on hers. Tears flowed as she spoke of actually begging her own parents for attention. Those words broke his heart. All he had ever known his entire life was parents and aunts and uncles and elders who loved him. He was never starved for attention. It wasn't like he had what the Muggleborns called heliocentric coppers for parents or anything; but they were well balanced.

"I'm so sorry, Emmi," he whispered, his face buried in her hair. He whimpered softly. "I don't understand it. So many kids either get no attention at all or the wrong kind of attention from their parents. I--- I know my folks will love you! And. I also know that I- I need you too Emmi. Y- Ye've probably heard stories about me. Er." Colin cleared his throat softly. "Snogging and all." He sighed. "It's weird, really. I couldn't get enough of it! I really think it was the hag slugs, Emmi. And that dratted potion. And Liam being gone. Those years were so dark Emmi. And then. And then you came --- just at the right time. I mean that. I want nothing more than to be near you too, and to figure all this out. I- We can do this together, Emmi."

@Emily Shephard | @Scout Fu-Hai

June 2025
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
@Colin McCoire
Mentioning @AngelFyre McCubbin

Whatever melancholic and bitter tension Emily was feeling had near enough gone out the window. Honestly, how was Colin the only one in the world to be so emphatically understanding but so incredibly dense at the same time?

Gardening? Boats?? Nappies??!

Emily huffed out an incredulous laugh, almost bordering on frustration. "Colin McCoire... You are absolutely barking mad! Insane! Bonkers! Completely out of your gourd!" Honestly, were all Purebloods this aberrant? Emily would have to ask AngelFyre for tips on how to convey Muggle culture into Pureblood understanding. If anyone knew Colin well, it was her, and Emily had quite frankly run out of ideas and patience on how to get the mad dog to understand a lick of Muggle lifestyle. She'd be damned to figure out how AngelFyre put up with it.

Emily took a long intake of breath before funnelling it out of her. Colin's brain must really teeter on a very fine line that divides grounded resourcefulness and imaginative insanity. Definitely sounded like a reoccurring Pureblood trait.

Next time I'll just show him one of mum's magazines or something...

Even still, for all of Colin's... Erm... Creative understanding, if there was a hidden talent to file under his name that balanced it out, it was his ability to connect instantly with someone else's feelings. It was nothing that Emily didn't know already and was by no accounts no wonder she felt so at ease when she poured out her bittersweet feelings to him. Even as she spoke, she was silently berating her for not being able to figure out why Colin was held so royally in the Huffie's heart. It wasn't like with Scout, whom was glued to her side at all times in the best way possible. Emily never had a best friend until she came along. Emily wouldn't give her up for anything else but with Colin... He was his own breed of intrigue.

Colin looked at Emily like he secretly worshipped her or something. Even right now, Colin was staring, searing his presence into her. With an intense look like that, Emily thought she might invoke some kind of wrath if she ever looked away, even for a split second.

Then the boy abruptly pulled her into the warmest hug they ever shared. Emily had no shame in immediately resting her noggin in the crook between Colin's neck and shoulder. He was a cuddly creature, Colin, on par with the other two that were begging for attention from their humans.

"You don't need to be sorry for anything, Colin," she said, smiling weakly. "Families are just... Strange. Following us, for good and for bad, and no matter what we try to do to change them when we want to, it just gets more complicated. It's no known secret now that my family is as complicated as it gets. The only thing that makes sense is Auntie, and she's not even related to me at all through blood. Only on paper, when she signed the contract to accept the job of looking after me".

Emily puffed out a long, defeated sigh. Then Colin spoke up again. Snogging. Yeah, that all sounded familiar. At first, Emily thought Colin was one of those boys who just... Liked a lot of girls. Not once did she think Colin was influenced by some weird slug thingies. Well, that was the Wizarding World in a nutshell - bizarre plant this, freaky-deaky bug thing that. Even honking daffodils were a thing! What next, tea that causes you to hallucinate sounds of the ocean when you drink it?

"I don't know much about snogging. Not my thing, really. But I do like this--" She rubbed Colin's nose with her own, her smile stretching wider as a fresh wave of fuzzies tickled at her heartstrings. "Auntie did that all the time with me when I was little. She said they're as soothing as the most softest rain. That's kind of what you're like, Colin. Soft rain. Like a gentle drizzle to wash away a bad day...!"

_{Word Count: 672}

Stats: Stamina: 8 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 7 | Wisdom: 9 | Arc Power: 8 | Accuracy: 8
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace