Valentine's Tea Errand Finished

@Atlas Reid

"Eh, true." She giggled softly to both of the comments. "It's really good." She said, a little sheepish. Blue eyes gazed at Atlas curiously, happy that the conversation seemed to be flowing rather well.

"I prefer to eat at home. We hardly went out to restaurants partly because of my younger sisters. They're twins, almost 5 years old." She gave a soft smile, before adding. "So it's a little hard to take them to restaurants. We do go to the boulangerie often. I prefer at home- I could help take care of the twins and my mom's a good cook." She shrugged. It had been mainly about quick and simple meals, since her father had had to leave rather quickly. Meals were always with the entire family, however. Schools had allowed the older years to go back home for an hour, before they have their afternoon classes.

"Cool! Ah, no. My mom's French, but she moved to the Americas when she was little. My father lived in Wales, and they met up on some trip. Mom convinced my dad to move to France, and they've been there since. It's why I can switch, really, since I grew up with both." Her head bobbed, hair finally escaping its cage. She gave Atlas a lop-sided smile, before shaking her head forcefully. They fully untangled themselves like rope unfurling. "Straight hair benefits." She said simply, a small blush.

"That's really cool. Crazy how much experiences can change or shape your opinion." She smiled softly, wondering what had caused her to have the beliefs that she had currently. "But that makes sense. There's certainly a lot to explore around here, so hopefully it doesn't make you feel restless." She gave a polite sympathetic smile. She felt a little awkward about having such a short reply, but her mind couldn't think of anything to respond with.

"Oh yeah. I don't really like spiders either. Especially when they're inside the house. I'm okay if they're outside, but I don't know how I'd feel about giant spiders." Teiki paused to consider, taking in both questions. "My favorite creature is probably a Phoenix, simply because of the idea of rebirth and new beginnings that surrounds them. I don't know all that much about kneazles, but they seem cool." She gave a small shrug.

"Well, for one, I'm okay with blood. Two, I think my outgoingness would probably help. So, I could be a therapist, I guess, but I'm also interested in magic in general. I feel like a lot more charms and potions would be used as a mediwizard than a therapist."

Sorry for the wait!

Interactions: @Saskia Nicholson
Mentions: Lamik Fillestar

Professor Bercegeay had left the room along her trouble-making charges, which could be argued as either a good thing or a bad thing. Honestly, Thora had half a mind to think that leaving the students to their own devices was a better choice, given that that was what happened throughout just a normal day at the school. At least the strange girl who liked hurting people with scalding tea as her choice weapon was out of the story. Maybe, just maybe, people who actually looking to enjoy a date could have it peacefully. And in Thora's case, maybe she could just make a friend she'd been looking out for ever since the ball.

Thora kept her eyes trained on her almost-friend as they paused in their progress down an aisle. "Sure, that works," she answered as Saskia pointed out a table towards a quieter end of the hall. Well, at least, it was one that didn't yet have lovey-dovey couples plaguing the seats or, Merlin forbid, crazy first years finding delight in leaving permanent burns on people. 

Years of keeping to the shadows for fear of being bullied or simply ignored had quickly taught the girl the art of stalking attention to detail. Thora was observant. Scary observant. So she didn't miss it when Saskia tore her gaze from a certain direction her hazel eyes had been glued to for a while. Although Thora certainly couldn't be sure, only one person--one anything, in fact--that was remotely noticeable in that direction. True, empty tables carelessly pushed off to a side and gaudy pink chairs were the first thing that met the girl's eyes, but it didn't take her long for her to be swept up in a wave of confusion.

Lamik was a boy Thora actually knew, which was something she couldn't say about literally 99% of the population. They'd been in the same Summer Camp cabin just the past summer, in fact along with Saskia and Katrina, and while the Slytherin certainly couldn't claim to know the boy well, he seemed nice enough. But while Saskia might've simply known Lamik better, Thora felt like there was something else going on here.

Not at all a master at anything social, she couldn't claim expertise on this subject. Merlin, if something so simple as friendship was hard for her, anything romantic was definitely far, far beyond her knowledge. When someone stared at someone else for a bit too long, it didn't necessarily mean anything, did it? Thora was most definitely overthinking things.

"Wait, was that Lamik?" The words spilled out of Thora's mouth before she could stop them, and the little girl bit the inside of her mouth. The last thing she meant to do was to put Saskia in an awkward position, but apparently, she'd done just that. To be fair, it was more a question of curiosity than an attempt to pry, so if the Hufflepuff wanted to change the subject, she was most certainly welcome to do so. But still, Thora'd started this, set it into motion, so wasn't it her duty to do so?

Glancing down at the slip of paper she clutched in a small, sweaty hand, Thora felt a slight blush creep onto her cheeks. For Merlin's sake, why couldn't she do anything right? She was supposed to ask Saskia the question, rather than answering it herself. Well, that was… Embarrassing. "Oh, um, I was answering my own question here," the girl mumbled with a sheepish smile. "Well, I suppose I could ask you too, though. So if you could get on an airplane or broom right now, where would you go?"

WC: 606 + 1988 = 2594 | Posts: 3

Interacting With:
@Teiki Laurent
Mentioning: @Ethen Emrys

Interacting with @Quinn Healy

It was a hard and scary question. It was inevitable that it would pull repressed thoughts from deep within the subconciousness. Everyone had their regrets. Even tall giants who seem indestructable. That idea melted away as soon as she saw his adorable flushed cheeks turn blank. His warm, loving smile slid down. Almost similar to the time at the Library. He tried to cover up certain feelings. She had a suspision he did, and that suspision got confirmed.

For a long while, he didn't say anything. His face revealed that he had to be careful about whatever he was going to say next. Nico felt sorry for asking this so casually. She never thought he would be struck down this bad. Carefully, she slid her hand onto one finger of his.
And then he said those horrible words...

"...My biggest regret. Heh its simple I regret ever being born."

'H-Huh?...' Nico was stunned. That's the last thing she'd ever expect him to say. Her eyes widened slightly. Did he really just say that? Did he mean it? How? All these questions were to be answered soon. With every sentence he spitted out, with ever horrible reason being brought to light, ... Nico's heart sunk more and more. She didn't notice, but her body lifted her hand from his finger. She wasn't sure if he was attacking her or trying to make her feel guilty. She had never seen this side of him before. It honestly scared her abit but mostly overwhelmed her.

"I didn't fucking asked to be born the way I was. I didn't ask to be born a goddamn monster!" A monster. That word struck her. It felt so real. She too had heard it so many times in the Muggle school she attended. She never truly fit in. Sure, after a long time her classmates learned to tollerate her and mostly left her alone. However, after school, when she waited for her parents to pick her up, the nastiest kids usually found their way to her. They'd call her names. Shove her. Pull her red hair.
Nico sniffled softly. Quinn didn't notice. He was upset. He was angry. He was devastated and... depressed even.

"People are scared of me Nico and because of my mother that damned Harlin and Aeron exist!"
His voice. It usually was so gently and warm. Like a honeycomb, covered with warm chocolate. It was so cold and sharp. Almost like a knife. An ice cold knife. Except, the person who was holding that blade, was shaking.

"Because if I was never born I would never have to experience nearly drowning, losing Brannigan, having this...this...damned mental disease, and worst of all I would never have to see those ashamed eyes of my mother...."

How could he say those words? How could he hate himself so much? The tears that welled up in her eyes, started to roll down. Crimson red drops of blood, slid down her pale, porcelain cheeks. Her iceblue eyes looking away. Was it because she knew how he felt that made her react this way? She loved her parents. And they loved her. But a voice in her head always told her that people hated her. That they knew a dhampir was a bloodsucking monster. That she could never be like a human. No matter how much she had of her moms DNA, she'd always be only a part human. Quickly, she covered her mouth, trying not to wail. This wasn't even about her...

Quinn, soon realising he might've gone too far, tried to lighten the mood with his usual jokes. He'd always try to smooth out whichever wrinkle he made but this time, it was too late. Nico tried to calm down, her face probably looked horrible. Red smudges on her pale hands and cheeks. Her makeup was slightly ruined aswell. To him, it would probably look as if she had patches of dead skin on her face. Her foundation usually couldn't withstand the tears of blood. Quickly, she pulled up a hankerchief and covered the exposed spots on her cheek.

She finally felt ready to speak to him even though her voice still quivered. 'Q-Quinn.. You're an idiot.' The dhampir sniffled. She meant what she said. Not in the way he thought. 'H-How can you.. sniff... hate yourself...sniff. I-I mean I get it... I do. Really.' Gently, she placed her free hand once more on his finger. Gently squeezing it every so often. 'I-...I'm glad you felt comfortable to share this with me.' Through all her red tears, Nico smiled warmly at him. 'I..I like you just the way you are. N-No one is perfect, you know? It's... ' His words had overwhelmed her so much, she forgot to blush. 'Honestly, I kinda.. noticed you tried to cover up things. That you tried to be a happy-go-lucky giant. But everytime I noticed how your smile looked more painful than genuine,... I wondered why.' Her gaze turned to his. 'Now,.. Now I do. And.. W-Well I won't look at you in the same way. I'll finally know how to actually look at you.' Realising her words were rather straight forward, her reasoning returned. 'I-If that.. makes any sense at all..' She quickly looked down, blushing. Her hand, gently keeping the hankerchief on her cheek.

Lark didn't follow her and Jake around the bend. That was okay. She obviously had things to discuss with Dale. Ru didn't know the Slytherin well, but seemed like Lark cared about him and besides she had wanted to attend this event unlike Ruthie who was desperate to escape. She deserved the chance to experience it.

In this way, Ruthie stayed close to Jake, hoping to find their way to the exit swiftly. Jorah's suggestion to hang with the two of them caught her off-guard. She'd been so focused on her mission to leave that she might have accomplices in that task. Jake seemed to shyly, even proudly, accept Jorah's fist bump while leaning back against her. Her body wiggled slightly in surprise while she kept a steady hand on his shoulder. She'd been teaching him for several weeks now and she had to admit, she did care about the boy. And that was when she recalled the flying professors' pairings: Jake and Aurelia. The Ravenclaw didn't know Aurelia well or really know her at all except for the SWAG matches, but there was something about her that was kind of unnerving. There seemed to be an arrogance in how she held herself; it was almost like she was constantly hunting. Ruthie was never going to let her hunt an innocent kid like Jake. So, if Jorah was going to follow, he may as well be useful. "We have keep him away from Aurelia," she whispered, "she'll scare him."

While Jorah seemed more occupied in the delicacies of afternoon tea, Ruthie was determined to find the door. Who knew the damn thing could get lost so easy in the small hall, which suddenly seemed not to small. Jorah didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation and even more strangely, he seemed to enjoy this tea party. He took out a card from his pocket and gave it to her. It was quite unexpected. After all, they'd been a bit estranged since the Ball. Still, she took it with a smile and held it up to her face, reading the message. "That's lovely. Thank you, Jorah!" she beamed, "It smells like the ocean and oak trees. That'd certainly make the Sycamore Dorm smell better." Nothing quite excited her like the natural world, especially the ocean, so these scents were a natural fit. At least one good thing had come out of Lark dragging her to this event: the repairing of an important friendship.

Next, Jorah started to talk to Jake, which probably wasn't such a bad idea--anything to distract him from Aurelia. A big group event was tough enough for Jake, not to mention all the chaos that had already unfolded. What Jake needed was some sense of normal. And Merlin knew how much Ruthie knew that was important. Her friends had been her greatest support in the aftermath of the trauma from the Ball. People like Thora, Lark and Dymph had engaged her in simple, ordinary tasks and conversation, which had made all the difference. Now, it seemed it was time to repay the favor. So she piggybacked on Jorah's comments, "That's right; Jorah does have a stuffed phoenix. And I have a stuffed plushie too. Her name is Blair and she's a puffin. Maybe one day our plushies can have a playdate." She smiled at Jake, hoping her companion would help protect the boy from what was clearly a difficult situation.

Pulling the question she had been given from the flying professor out from her pocket, she addressed Jake, "So what would Freddie take to a desert island then?" She was paraphrasing partly because she didn't care about Valentine's and this event, and partly because she just wanted to get to the point and give Jake something to focus on that wasn't the chaos. Besides the question was a bit like Desert Island Discs, a muggle radio program her father listened to. She recalled Jake had some muggle in him too based on their previous flying conversations, so maybe to him this would be a more normal question, familiar. Perhaps it would be enough to calm him down, keep his mind off his date, and give Ruthie time to properly locate the door and get them out--or at least get herself out.

Interacting with @Jake Morris & @Jorah Moussa. Mentioning @Lark Flaer & @Aurelia Notrésvace.

She really did sympathize with Andy and how he felt upset that he was unable to tell his muggle friends about the truth.

"Maybe eventually the world will reach a state again where muggles and wizards can live in harmony without repercussions. My mother's ancestors used to serve as spirit guides to members of their community back in the Viking era and there was no problems between muggles and magical intermingling. The only problems arose once magical folk were persecuted."

He became more enthusiastic after Tyr asked about animals, discussing his pet rat Penelope that he has here at school. He even invited her to a birthday party for his rat on Leap Year. She hadn't been invited out by another student for anything before. She made note of the date to add to her calendar back in her room. Listening intently, Tyranni felt the positive energy that radiated from Andy's aura. Her momma always mentioned reading energy as the first step towards controlling Seer talents. It was nice to find someone in the school who radiated that welcoming energy.

"I do have some pets! But none here. I really wish I could have brought them with, but instead my parents are taking care of them while I am here. I have a bearded dragon named Vincent, and a Giberian Shepky named Mav. He is a cross between a Siberian Husky and German Shepherd. We rescued Mav when he was about 1 years old. He loves to go with me when I wander through the woods. He has to smell everything! And Vincent just lies around at home. Sometimes I take him out and let him sit on the couch with me when I am reading. That's all the animals we have right now. Mum and dad only let me keep non-magical creatures because of my muggle friends, but my dad is a dragonologist and had studied magizoology, so there were a few times growing up when we had a baby dragon he was hand-rearing, usually because it was injured or abandoned too early. We also had a niffler once! She stole so many things and we usually found them hiding in a nest she made under the guest bed. I guess she and Penelope have that in common!"

She could talk for hours about animals, having a love and respect for all creatures instilled in her at a young age, but having rambled on for a while, Tyranni figured she better address the original question about her family that was written on the paper handed to her after the pairing by the professor.

"I'm an only child. My dad comes from a bigger family, with three other siblings, but my mom only has one brother so I guess they decided to stick with a smaller family as well. Although I'm from Ireland, like I said, my dads family is from England and my mom's family dates back for centuries to Norway. For the most part, my entire family has married other magical people, except my uncle Lothar. He is my mom's brother. When he was studying in Spain he met Auntie Nadia. She's a muggle. They eventually got married and had my cousin Lillian. She hasn't shown any magical abilities yet, but it would be fun to have her come to Hogwarts! I guess it all depends on where they are living at the time since they travel a lot. She is closest to me in age. I have two other cousins, twins Judas and Dalton, but they are still babies. It's hard being so spread out from everyone, but our family is fairly close. We see a lot more of my Grandma Shaina after Grandpa Nicholi died two years ago. It's been nice to see my dad's side more. Auntie Octavia was a Slytherin alumni also, so she's super proud of me."

Realizing that she had been speaking for a while...again, she paused. "I'm sorry. I normally don't talk this much. You said your sister Stacey is horse-crazy? You didn't mention having horses, but do you ride often? I always wanted a horse but dad said it was too much work with him and mom being busy with work. Sometimes when I go to my Nan and Bumpa's farm in Norway, we all go out on trails with their horses."

interacting with @Ethen Emrys

_@

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_{The day of the Valentine tea finally came. Ariana wore a pale pink skater dress and she had taken her hair down from its usual messy bun so that it fell gracefully around her shoulders in light natural curls. She nervously peaked round the corner and felt her heart beat faster. She didn’t want to go in. What if everyone laughed at her? What if she looked silly? The feeling of her walking into a room full of new people made her a bit uncomfortable. She pulled herself together and straightened up, she was a Gryffindor after all wasn't she? She was brave and daring. Yes, she was gonna do it. Holding her breath and bracing herself, she stepped into the small hall and walked down the steps, a few people smiled at her and stared, but Ariana didn’t mind. The room was decorated beautifully, though very pink. She giggled slightly at the sight of all the puffy chairs and pink tablecloths. Maybe she'd find someone who she could talk to and really get to know, she thought enthusiastically. She was kinda excited but scared at the same time. Her head filled with anxiety as she scanned the room for anyone that she knew. Was Janet not here yet? Where was that girl? Janet surely didnt need to spend so much time getting ready, she was gorgeous naturally anyways and she was so confident and funny that she attracted friends and boys like honey and bees. Ariana smiled to herself, glancing to the door in case Janet came in any second}

_{She spotted James (one of her best friends) and wandered over to the hufflepuff boy a small smile on her face. Poking him on the shoulder she giggled as he jumped slightly in shock and turned to smile at her. "Ariiii!!" he said excitedly. I didn’t think you would come!" Ariana laughed. " I changed my mind" She said with a smirk. "Thought I might meet some new people" She poked him in the chest, and smiled up at her best friend. "Sometimes you are too boring" She teased. James mocked offence. "How dare you?" He said,laughing "Obviously you can’t see my true qualities" Ariana laughed. Spotting Kara out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the girl looked a bit nervous or worried.  "Jam?" She said, interrupting him mid-sentence, I'm gonna go check if that girl is alright she looks a bit worried. "Oke doke" he replied. "Don't be long" He playfully flicked the side of her cheek and Ariana walked away in search of the slytherin girl. Her height was another problem in this situation, she could barely see above everyone's head. Confused, Ariana lifted her head and squinted her green eyes to try to find her in the crowd when she suddenly felt a light tap on her shoulder and jumped slightly, whirling around to see who it was.}

_{The dress Ariana wore:} 

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