Errand Sign away!

Interacting with: @Maisie Gemmell, @Minnie Duke, + open to interactions

Date: 9/23/25

Speech: #3CB371 | Thoughts: italics

Outfit: A sunflower dress with black low-heeled sandals, pigtail braids

As the third-year Slytherin pulled a colored pencil toward her with her dainty fingertips, a soft smile formed on her lips. ‘We are in the ballroom … I wonder if dancing in here is alright? Although it would be quite hard to hold a conversation … not because of my shyness, but more so because trying to sign while dancing would be kind of impossible … eh, it’s probably not a good idea. Why make it even harder for myself? I’m barely confident to sign anything with my hands for now.’

The shape of a flower started to form on the sheet of paper Kaitlyn was using to make a friendly sign. Her blue eyes danced around the room at the other students, many of whom she didn’t know. Not too much time passed before a girl walked over to her … a familiar girl from the summer camp. Carefully, she waved her hand in the British sign language rendition of “Hello.” She stayed quiet as she watched the girl write out her thoughts.

Kaitlyn smiled at Maisie and held out a finger for a moment as she glanced at the paper with the symbols. She furrowed her brows as she tried to sign very slowly. ‘Hi, Maisie. It’s nice to see you again, I’m Kaitlyn.’ Her fingers danced through the signs, despite her slowness. As much as she’d love to continue trying her best … she knew they’d be there forever, as she tried to learn the signs. She took a pencil and wrote in her script handwriting, ‘Yes, I remember about the booths. I liked your sewing. They looked cool. I wish I knew how to do those.’

Moving her paper, she showed Maisie what she was drawing. ‘For now, it’s only a flower. I was going to make a welcoming sign to help me talk to others.’ A light blush bloomed on her cheeks. She wasn’t normally forthcoming about her lack of socialization skills. Continuing with her script, ‘Oh yes, that sounds fun!’

Before she could continue, Kaitlyn felt a tap on her shoulder. Glancing over her shoulder, a light blush formed on her cheeks when she spotted Minnie. ‘Hi, Minnie,’ she slowly signed. Taking another glance at the paper for the crafting station, she gestured to the paper. ‘If we need it,’ she signed to the Hufflepuff girl. She then turned to Maisie and smiled at her. Slowly, but surely, she signed out a greeting between Maisie and Minnie. ‘Maisie, this is Minnie. And Minnie, this is Maise.’ Despite her slowness, she didn’t feel embarrassed yet.

Word Count: 430 words

Note: Any speech indicated here is signed in BSL, unless otherwise indicated. Kaitlyn intends not to speak. For roleplaying purposes, Kaitlyn is slow at signing words and checks the sheet of paper with the alphabet to follow along.

Students filled the room far quicker than Draven had expected, though he supposed that was a good thing. Clumsy signs surrounded him, some barely intelligible as letters. It made his head hurt a little, watching the first years loiter about. They brought a great deal of enthusiasm, he supposed. Some gave up on signing rather quickly, retreating to the corners of the room and pulling out notebooks- clearly deflated.

Returning his attention to Mylo, who'd gotten caught up in a fragmented conversation with another student, Draven watched with a faint smile. His father would have certainly gotten a kick out of this one, had he managed to drag himself out of bed.

It wasn't long before Mylo was turning back to him, his eyes hanging off of Deimos. Draven looked up, though he couldn't exactly see the spider. Always the center of attention, wasn't he? The bug preened, giving Mylo a coy smile.

Introductions- Draven paused. It had been a long time since he'd signed his name, though it wasn't a hard one. The letter D, followed by the signs for 'bird' and 'black'. Deimos was a bit trickier. The signs for 'god' and 'fear' took shape in the air between them, followed by 'spider', for clarification's sake.

The room was starting to get suffocating. Although it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, the hustle and bustle of bodies filling the space had Draven's heart starting to race at an uncomfortable pace. 'Sorry, ' he signed, brows furrowing. 'Fear', 'Trap', and 'Box'. A polite 'goodbye' followed. He knew better than to hang about when a panic attack was looming.

Giving Mylo a somewhat ironic salute, Draven ducked out of the room.

date	place	tags	wc	speech	outfits
23/09/25	the Ballroom	@Leo Noxley	569/200	#36563c	xxx

Rosaline heard there was an event about learning sign language the other day. She first saw the poster around the corridors, the classrooms, and the Great Hall; basically, everywhere in the castle. Sign language was intriguing to her; she knew it from the books and films, but hadn’t had a chance to learn it. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity, so she was excited about the activity. She didn’t ask anyone to come with her, she had no idea who would be there. Meeting some new people was always good, she thought, pushing aside her little worry.

After the class, she went back to her dorm, changing her school robe. She wore a soft black sweater, a nice, pleated long khaki skirt, and a pair of loafers. The outfit was comfortable and suitable for the early autumn weather. Bringing all her essentials in her grey tote bag, she went out of her dorm and headed toward the Ballroom. She descended the stairs with a lightness. Imagining she wouldn’t be able to talk in the Ballroom later, like the Little Mermaid, she mused, though she wouldn’t become bubbles or lose her tail. It was hard for her to picture sacrificing so much for love. She shook her head, knowing her thoughts had wandered off again.

When she reached the fourth floor, the corridor used to be filled with many students chatting and talking around, but now it was pretty quiet. As she got closer to the door, she noticed a sign that said ‘No verbal communication, be creative!’ She knew she wasn’t lost this time. Before she went in, she pretended to zip her lips shut and smiled, ready to attend the event.

She pushed the door open and saw that there were quite a lot of people already in it, some she had met before, others she hadn’t. The entire space had been arranged to be very comfortable, full of beanbags and soft cushions. She noticed there were some papers on a table near the door, and she curiously came closer to take a look. There were some instructions on how to sign. She only knew a few simple gestures like ‘Love’, ‘I’, and ‘Eat’, which she learned from the Internet. Recalling the memory, she tried to sign ‘Love’, her flat hands across the left side of her chest. And she tried to do another one, ‘eat’ by bunching her fingers and thumb together and tapping her mouth twice. She was quite happy she remembered all these, though it was only two words.

She leafed through the sheet on how to sign the fingerspelling, and she then practiced spelling her name. The first few times weren’t really smooth, yet she gradually got the hang of it. She smiled as she successfully and fluently signed her own name. It was time to find someone to practice with, she thought. Turning around to observe the room, she spotted Leo, whom she had met at the summer camp, and they were friends now. He was a first-year Ravenclaw, and they shared some classes together. He was signing with a girl with brown hair, about their age, maybe slightly older. Maybe a second year? Rosaline tilted her head and thought. She worried that she’d interrupt them, so she decided to just go over and say hello. She approached Leo and tapped his shoulder, signing ‘Hello’ to him with a warm smile.

Reducio ooc notes

Reducio stats stamina: 6 | evasion: 5 | strength: 5 wisdom: 8 | arcane Power: 7 |accuracy: 4 Lovely Creature

Isabella watched them both, delighted. She leaned over and peeked at the note Violence had written. A small, fond smile tugged at her lips at the words. She picked up her quill and scribbled a dramatic, mock-offended: “How dare you even ask! Of course I’ll teach you!” Underneath that, she added with a wink. “But only if you sit through me being really bossy about it.”

Then, without missing a beat, she reached into her bag again and pulled out another folded BSL alphabet sheet. Just as she had done for Maddy. She handed it over to Violence with a flourish, like she was unveiling a rare magical artifact, then gestured for her to scoot her beanbag a little closer.

As Violence shifted her beanbag nearer, Isabella glanced between the two of them. An unfamiliar warmth spread in her chest. She wasn’t sure this trio would work. They were all so different. Maddy was sharp and grounded and loud in her expressions but soft in how deeply she cared. Violence was bold in a quieter way, the kind of person who looked like she might throw a snowball at you in a library but also somehow get away with it. And Isabella... Well, she was somewhere in between. Always sketching or reading, her heart usually tucked in a book or behind a pencil. And yet, here they were. Together. Willing to learn.

She reached over and gently turned Violence’s hand palm out, holding it with the same steady touch she had used with Maddy earlier. “Alright.” she mouthed, “You’re starting too.” She glanced at Maddy and gave her a knowing look, as if to say you’re in charge of catching her up when I inevitably get distracted by sketching again.

They started again. A, B, C. Isabella would sign the letter herself, then help each of them shape their fingers, nudging their hands this way or that. Maddy was a little quicker now, her muscle memory kicking in. Violence was newer to it, but incredibly focused. She didn't mess around. Her hands were precise, her eyes sharp, like she was decoding a spell. Isabella smiled. “This is the best kind of magic!” she wrote and showed them both.

She glanced at the unfinished sketch on her lap and then at the two girls beside her. Maybe she’d finish it later, or maybe not. Maybe she’d just draw this moment. Three very different girls, shoulder to shoulder. Laughing without sound as their hands danced through an alphabet they were only just beginning to understand.

Isabella picked up her quill and wrote on the parchment between them, drawing a messy little heart underneath: “I’m really glad you both came.”

The soft hum of the room faded into the background as the three of them sat close. Hands moving, eyes bright. Isabella didn’t need noise to feel connected. Here, with ink-stained parchment, tangled fingers, and shared smiles, everything just fit. It wasn’t just learning. It was something gentler. Something like friendship.

OOC Info: Outfit, tote bag and sktechbook
OOC notes: Permission granted to slightly godmodd
Pings: @Madeline Tomlinson and @Violence Bloodthorn

By Lily Bell

WC:285

Speech -- Thoughts

International sign language day.

Pam had been unsure about if she wanted to attend the event. Mainly because she wasn't feeling very social.

And was missing her bed.

But curiosity got the better of her and she soon found herself outside the ballroom, in front of a sign which read "No verbal communication, be creative!" Ooh, that means silence. The pleasant realisation encouraged Pam to slip into the ballroom, the silence a stark contrast to the amount of people actually in the ballroom. Impressive really.

Sign language.

Pam knew absolutely nothing about that whatsoever. She'd never actually felt the need to learn it, since she'd never met anyone who couldn't hear or couldn't talk. Did someone like that exist in the school? With its size, Pam had to assume somewhere, someone like that must exist. Probably. Right? Or did the magical world have some kind of spell which could heal people's ability to speak or hear?

Man, that's something the non-magical world could totally do with.

Pam curiously scanned the paper she was given, studying over the letters and their shapes. Don't some words also have separate signs? Pam turned over the paper even as she realised that making a list of words in sign language would be much harder than a list of letters.

Although if you have to spell out every letter in a sentence with five words.... wouldn't charades be a better communication skill?

Pam headed over to the table with what seemed to be art supplies and games. Pam frowned; she wasn't really a fan of art and games were hard to play when you were avoiding all kinds of human interactions.

Okay then, change of plans.

Pam made her way over to the nearest mirror, and stood in front of it, staring at the BSL sheet in her hand. It was a whole different type of language, unique in a way which set it distinctly apart from all other languages. It was to be expected, Pam supposed, considering the target audience. Do languages have target audiences?

That was a matter for later. She started to sign her name at the mirror, reading off the sheet. P-A-M. She stopped for a moment, and then continued. P-A-M-E-L-A. The girl had been called Pam so many times that she sometimes forgot the rest of her name. She wondered in how many assignments she had written Pam instead of Pamela.

Then came her last name. G-R-A-H-A-M. Pam blinked at her reflection in the mirror, her movements clumsy and generally uncertain. It's fine, practice makes perfect after all. She sighed, practicing till she could do it decently without her fingers tripping over one another. Huh, maybe I'll tell my dad I learnt to sign my name in BSL. She shrugged, before starting to learn her father's name too. He'll be happy, I think. Although most of the letters were the same, the change in arrangement totally messed up the efficiency which had come out of mechanically signing her own name for the past five minutes. Wow this is hard. A-S-H-E-R G-R-A-H-A-M.

This did serve as a pretty good way to spend time without being cooped up in her room. She was lucky that she had chosen to come here after all.

Wc: 540

Aly's conversation partner, who just moments before had been full of opinions and outlooks on their new Editor-in-Chief and Secretary being six full years their younger, hushed alongside the Ravenclaw as the two realised exactly what they'd just walked into. Aly had known there was an event celebrating language here today, but language made exclusively from hand signals? Seemed useful if you couldn't hear or speak, but - well, Aly was certainly used to being a chatterbox far more than she was to being silent.

@Evelynn Decipio, though, was off like a rocket, grabbing an instruction card of her own and making a beeline for an empty pair of chairs nearby. Aly dutifully followed, her eyes glued to the symbols on the card so much so that she nearly tripped headlong over a seat when she arrived to Eve's chosen space; she fell into one of the open chairs more so than she sat in it and glanced up at her lion friend with a stifled giggle. The unfortunate curse of clumsiness had always followed the eaglet everywhere she went.

Aly watched as Eve's deft hands spelled something out via the alphabet that was listed on their instructional cards, having to glance down at her own paper every few seconds to scan the symbols and mentally note the specific letter. A finger to the pinky was U; two pinkies hooked were S; index to index was E... oh, useful. The Ravenclaw herself shrugged; for all that her House was that supposed to be obsessed with learning, she had never had much interest in linguistics. I suppose, she wanted to say, but that seemed so complicated to spell out. Instead, she carefully spelled out S-U-R-E with her hands, her green gaze still glued to the alphabet rather than Eve's eyes of stormy grey in front of her. Yikes. How did one maintain eye contact when communicating this way?

The two girls continued to communicate back and forth in rather basic words, trying to figure out their names, and the like for several more minutes of silence that to the redhead was probably blissful but that to Aly was nothing short of pure torture. Eventually, Aly had figured out a decent memorisation of her name: index to thumb for A, then moving the pointer finger down to her palm for L, and finally flipping over her hand to point at the slight webbing between her index and thumb for Y. It wasn't too difficult - not like Evelynn's full name, at least, though E-V-E (two indexes touching, then index and middle to palm, then back to the two indexes touching) and a point at her friend wasn't that hard either. In the end, the eaglet would leave with some slight satisfaction from having learned something new - even if she hadn't necessarily been intending to do so today.

Closed to other interactions | September 23^rd, 2025 | hair, outfit, shoes | #C47DDB
lovely creature & charmer affect everyone | sta 10, eva 14, str 5, wis 19, arc 7, acc 16