The Easter after Christmas (PV: Novalie Moon)

This particular morning was rather hectic.
Not that any of Novalie’s mornings could ever be called quiet or relaxed, she was always running around in some way, already halfway into the day before she’d even brushed the sleep from her eyes. Her thoughts tended to scatter in every direction, and today, they were firmly fixed on the fact that she’d be leaving Hogwarts for about two weeks to visit home.
With Eric.
The girl wasn’t entirely sure how it had come about though. One moment, they were laying in the grass, laughing over how they’d redecorate the Great Hall to their own tastes, and the next, they were agreeing, without much forethought, to spend the holidays together again at Novalies. She had assured him, with every ounce of her sunny confidence, that it would be absolutely fine, no problemo. Her family adored Eric after all. Especially Liam - he was always so eager to hover around when Eric visited.
However, the redhead might have forgotten to send the owl home, letting them know a visitor would be arriving. But to her defence, they’d only decided on this two days ago, so the owl probably wouldn’t have even made it anyway, right? And besides, her family had always been up for a bit of spontaneity.

Novalie had agreed to meet Eric at the station, because she still wanted time to say goodbye to her friends, of which first in her list was Oliver.
The thought of two whole weeks without the Slytherin made her heart sink, and she was sure he felt exactly the same. When she’d flung her arms around his neck, he hadn’t even managed to return the hug, his face locked in a stubborn struggle against tears - or at least that's what it had looked like to the Metamorph. She’d pinky-promised him she’d bring back something special, a souvenir to make him smile again. After all, Novalie knew best what would cheer him up.
After hugging every last friend goodbye, stuffing her things into her battered suitcase, and tucking Caviar into her hoodie, she finally made her way through the bustle of the station.
It didn’t take long to spot her best friend among all of the students. Maybe it was coincidence that the crowd seemed to part just as she glanced his way, or maybe he just had a way of standing out to her, always. The Ravenclaw couldn’t remember a time she hadn’t been able to pick him out of a crowd in almost an instant.
Before she could even wave, Emris, his adorable little ferret, came bounding toward her, making these cute sounds... what did Eric call them again? Dooking?
Novalie caught him without effort, as by now, she was already used to the routine.
“Hey there, little Emri.”, she cooed, deliberately drawing out the last letter because she thought it sounded cuter that way.

As she stepped forward to hug her best friend, the Ravenclaw felt the familiar tickle of eight fluffy legs skittering away from her hoodie - which was Caviar transferring himself to Eric’s clothes as if claiming his second home.
“Same goes for you.”, Novalie laughed when the Gryffindor remarked that Emris was quite attached to her.
Sure enough, Caviar was already wedging himself into one of Eric’s pockets, spindly legs sticking out at odd angles as though he’d been stuffed there against his will. Emris, meanwhile, curled around her neck, disappearing beneath her red curls whenever he wasn’t leaping onto her head, her luggage, or anything else that looked interesting. In Novalie’s opinion, little Emri was the cutest creature alive.

The train ride in itself was as lively as she’d hoped.
Novalie, true to herself, chattered nonstop, recounting every detail of her morning: the way the toothpaste had tasted funny, the glorious pancakes the house-elves had prepared this time, and her earnest wish to throw them a big thank-you party one day. Eventually, she circled back around to Oliver.
“And then he, like, I could literally see him tearing up!”, the redhead gasped, eyes wide as she leaned in, “I swear I heard him choke when I hugged him, like he was about to fall apart crying or something. Poor Ollie.”
Novalie clasped her hands over her heart, as though reliving the tragedy, “And so I hugged him extra hard to comfort him. And I promised I’d bring him a souvenir. He said no, because, you know, he never wants to be a bother, he's really so mindful, but I’m definitely doing it anyway. What should we get him?”
Without waiting for an answer, she tugged Eric deeper into her scheme, throwing him into the same boat, “We could craft something! Like, something Easter-y? Oh - what if we collect Emri’s fur and make a plush bunny out of it? He’d so love it!”
She grinned, imagining brushing little Emri until they had enough fur for the project.
The rest of the ride, Eric humored her with indulgent amusement, feeding Emris treats and coaxing him into little tricks every ten minutes while Caviar snuggled himself inside a chocolate frog box, looking absurdly proud of his disguise.

Time blurred pleasantly by, and before she knew it, the train was slowing to an halt.
They stepped onto the familiar platform to find her oldest brother, Malic, waiting to guide them to the same battered red Toyota Corolla he’d sworn for years was perfectly safe despite sounding like it might explode at any moment.
When Malic caught sight of them, he arched an eyebrow, though he quickly smoothed his expression into a smile.
“Oh?”, he said, voice deep and edged with playful curiosity, “Had such a blast you’re crashing again?”
“Yeah!”, Novalie beamed, radiating unrepentant cheer, “You said yourself he’s always welcome, right?”
Malic let out a soft chuckle at her remark and took their luggage, hauling it into the back seat as soon as they've arrived at the car. The ride home was a bit bumpy, filled with the Corolla’s ominous groans and the occasional squeak of the tires, but Novalie wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
Half an hour later, they pulled into the familiar, gritty street.
An older couple was arguing loudly the street down, dogs were barking agressivly somewhere and two men in worn jackets were murmuring conspiratorially in a dead-end alley. Just a normal day in the neighbourhood.
Malic led the way up the cracked steps, unlocking the door with a practiced rattle.

“Nova!”
Liam’s voice rang out and Malic was barely able to step aside as the youngest brother launched into the hallway and threw his arms around his sister, squeezing her tight.
“For real, every time I see you after so long it feels like-”
His eyes landed on Eric behind her. The warmth drained from his face in an instant.
“You have to be fucking kidding me.”
“Watch your mouth.”, Malic chided, though without much heat.
Novalie felt a flicker of déjà vu - something like this had definitely happened before.
“Isn’t it great?”, she then said brightly, not really registering Liam’s glare, “Eric’s visiting us for the holidays! It’ll be so much fun.”
“Yeah.”, Liam mimicked the upbeat demenour, his smile forced as he looked down at her, then scowled past her at Eric, “So much fun.”

Not long after, their mother appeared in the doorway, red curls tumbling over her shoulders.
“Ah, there she is, my little sunshine.”
The woman pulled her daughter into a hug, her smile soft and luminous - the very same Novalie had inherited.
“Oh, Eric, you’ve come too?”, she said warmly, pressing a short kiss on the top of his head as if he were her own son, “It’s lovely to have you here.”
“So fucking lovely.”, you could hear Liam in the background.

“How have you been? Novalie has written so much about you in her letters these last past weeks. It's almost like she's in love with you.”, Adeline kept smiling, making the room go quiet.
While Novalie only tilted her head in puzzled confusion, Malic froze mid-step with their luggage in hand, and Liam’s unsettling stare at Eric grew more intense.

As they reached the familiar neighborhood, he kept close to Malic and Nova. It was still something he was just starting to get used to...and he was trying to be as subtle about it as possible as not to upset anyone, but yeah, it was a bit of a difference from the area he was living in normally. As they stepped into the house, he moved out of the way in time to have a canonball of happiness (that would drain very quickly), tackling Nova. Eric let them reunite and discuss it, remaining silent a bit as even the pets felt the tension. The same tension Nova seemed not to register, the animals switching back to their respective owners. "Hi.." The whole... "lack of enthusiasm" was a bit two-way from him towards Liam too, but well, at the end of the day, they both put up with each other because of not upsetting Nova. And sure, Eric was in their house and was behaving because of that, too. The tension did seem to ease a bit once Novalie's mother showed up, as he put on a smile and greeted her politely before receiving a kiss on the forehead, blinking a few times. Ok, he still needed to get used to that too- One more thing to add to the ever-growing list now. "I have been doing great." Oh, Nova wrote a lot about him...well, that checked out because of how much time they spent together. He gave Emris a treat before getting some water for himself and starting to drink, only to almost choke and pause in his drinking as the last words registered. It's almost like she loves you. Was it? Well then again, what would kids like them know of loving each other beyond friendship? Right...?Right?? He just chuckled a bit awkwardly. Liam's gaze on him and the otherwise drop-pin silence was not helping here either. He was hoping that Nova would just drag him away and disengage from this conversation that had taken a turn for the awkward.

That saving would come with Novalie taking him away from the group with the idea that they needed to unpack and not lose precious time that can be used otherwise more efficiently, something he agreed to, only that the definitions of "efficient" were very different between the two. Still, it was a holiday so...

When reaching the room, Emris climbed down him before going to explore every place as if he hadn't been there last time too. Eric was starting to think of a way to break the slight silence that was formed, not that he was hating it, but it was an awkward one at least from his end. The conversation from the train about Oliver came to mind. He was starting to feel bad for Oliver, which was something. Well, not that he hated the Slytherin boy, just...there was an odd competition between the two in everything class-related. They were not full-on friends either; they were just...well...rivals in grades or something. But hearing what Oliver went through at Nova's hands...look, she could be the best friend, but she was a bit naive to think Oliver needed an "extra hard hug". And that was coming from someone who didn't know him that well either. Still....thinkin back on the gift suggestion. Great ice breaker too in this situation to shift the conversation a bit. "About Oliver's gift...I don't see why not doing the bunny plushie, and what could go wrong.."Couln't he now... "I am sure he will love it, Emris is changing his fur anyways for the warmer temperatures, so we can make use of it at least." Ok maybe he was a bit of an enabler of chaos with the Ravenclaw at times. But it would be hilarious to be there when this gift was being given. Just to see Oliver's reaction.
It was clear as soon as they started plotting this "secret gift" that would SURELY be received well...that it was quite obvious the Gryffindor boy was getting quite comfortable when it was just him and Nova talking. And of course, the ferret was all for this plan because he loved being pampered, and he didn't care much for what they did with the fur after he had a spa day.

As Eric unpacked everything, he looked at where the spray cans were before. "Can we go spray painting again? It was fun last time." He had brought some board games that he knew Muggles were playing too. Hey, he did his homework in terms of what to bring or do for....future visits...yeah....not that he expected this one to be so soon, but yes....future....mhm... "We have Monopoly and Scrabble, I don't know how either is played but looks fun" At least he made an attempt to...well...learn something he was not even remotely raised around with. More significant attempt than the ferret, who was taking these boxes as perfect hiding spots as soon as they were opened, kicking everything out of them to play in the box. "And we have gobstones too." he concluded after unpacking his luggage, throwing some treats in the lair his ferret chose, hearing it munch there like it was some sort of monster hiding and being given offerings.

𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰

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@Novalie Moon
Mentioning @Oliver Armani

𝓞𝓞𝓒 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷

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Thoughts: italics
Speech: #6e0003

𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓼

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STAMINA - 7
EVASION - 8
STRENGTH - 1
WISDOM - 7
ARCANE POWER - 6
ACCURACY - 6
FREE SPACE
FREE SPACE
𝒜𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈: Seer, Sixth Sense

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876

𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼

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Obtained OOC approval to slightly godmod Novalie.

Her mother’s words had left the Metamorph thinking.
In love? When she had written about Eric and all the time they had spent together - which had been quite a lot, since they saw each other in class as well as outside of it on a daily basis - she had rather thought of it as deep friendship. But.. was it actually love?
Novalie’s thoughts swirled, oblivious to Eric choking on his water and the awkward silence settling over the room.
“Ah, did I put my foot in it now? Haha, come now, it’s nothing to be ashamed of -”, Adeline teased gently, smiling with innocent warmth, but she was quickly cut off by Malic.
“Why don’t you two go unpack? Mom and I will grab some groceries before dinner. You can take a moment to unwind from the trip.”
“Oh, yeah, good idea!”, the Ravenclaw nodded, snapping back to the present and flashing her best friend a bright smile, “Come!”

Soon, they were in Novalie and Liam’s shared room. Unsurprisingly, Liam’s side looked far from guest-ready - blankets and pillows tangled in a heap, papers strewn across his desk, and his phone abandoned in the middle of the chaos. For once, he hadn’t followed them, his voice carried from the living room instead, raised in what sounded suspiciously like complaints, though Novalie barely paid attention. Her mind was still caught on her mother’s words.
Love...
In a way, she supposed it was true. She did love Eric, didn’t she? But if that was the case.. then she must also be in love with Oliver. And Evpraksiya. And Aodhan and - well, practically all of her friends.
Then, she froze mid-thought, realization dawning on her.
Was... she one of those people who could love more than one person at once? Oh god, did that mean she might want to marry multiple people when she grew up or something? Would she have to change religions for that to even be possible? Novalie had no idea, but the image of standing at an altar with all her friends, vowing a life of laughter, adventure, and companionship together - it thrilled her!
Her utopian musings were however abruptly derailed when Eric mentioned Oliver’s present. And just like that, every notion of love and its complicated ways fluttered out of her mind.

“That’s perfect!”, the redhead beamed when he explained that Emris was shedding, making it the perfect chance to collect fur for a bunny-shaped gift, “You know, sometimes I wish Caviar shed, too. But for some reason, he never loses a single hair. Isn’t that weird? I mean, all animals are supposed to, right? Even humans lose hair every day.”
Her eyes drifted to her spider, now leisurely climbing the wall and spinning a web in the corner as though he wasn't interested in what she was saying.
Shrugging it off, Novalie began to unpack her suitcase as well, listening as the Gryffindor suggested activities such as spray painting, board games and Gobstones.
She paused, emerald eyes gazing toward his dark chocolate ones.
“Huh? Where’d you get Monopoly and Scrabble?”
Wizards weren’t exactly known for those games now, were they? And since Eric had admitted he didn’t even know how they worked, her confusion only deepened. Her best friend was full of mysteries sometimes. Chuckling, she shook her head,
“I’ve never played Scrabble either, but I’d be down to learn. As for Monopoly...”, she wrinkled her nose, “It’s rumored to end friendships. I mean, it hasn’t ended one of mine, but honestly, I’ve never finished a full game. It drags on, like, forever - it's really so slow and boring. Oh, but like, maybe if we add our own rules it could be fun! I know!”
Abandoning her half-unpacked clothes, she planted both hands on her suitcase and leaned toward him,
“Like, every time you land in jail, you have to do ten push-ups! And every time you buy a house, you have to climb out the window, get on the roof, and do a handstand up there!”
She jabbed a finger at the window, her expression electrified by the idea.

“But yes, we should definitely go spray painting again! Last time was so amazing!”
Memories of their winter escapade lit up her mind: sneaking to an urban London train station after Christmas, slipping into a wagon storage yard with her brothers and Eric in tow, spray cans hissing onto the frosty metal! They had nearly been caught by security once or twice, but her brothers were far too quick to let that happen. Malic had guided their hands to show them better techniques, while Samuel scrawled political criticism instead of painting and Liam had hogged an entire wagon to himself, gleefully caricaturing his teachers. She still giggled at the memory of her own ode to Zach the Demon - a lopsided attempt at his face, immortalized in neon paint.
“I’ll ask Liam if we can borrow his cans!”, the girl said, already plotting, “I know a tunnel where we can practice before going out with my brothers again, you know, to enhance our skills.”
And while they were at it, she could show him the skatepark near the tunnel. Which made her wonder -
“Have you ever ridden a skateboard?”

While he was indeed a bit confused himself on what Novalie's mother meant by love, he was not at all having the same existential crisis of a possibility of a harem of all things. If anything, the way he saw the situation, there was care and friendship, and there could be love between friends too...right? It didn't need to be romantic exactly, but there was "love". Platonic love...mhm. There was care for others too, it was not like they had something special, even if they spent most of first year together Novalie was a very social person anyway, so may as well assume she was like that with everyone she encountered, or well...at least most other students.

As she went on a tangent about the gift for Oliver...yeah, never mind... She was like that with everyone. Even towards the Slytherin boy that was not really the most "friendly" of the bunch - or at least at the beginning hadn't been too friendly (and that coming from Eric was something indeed), Nova was as always. As she delved into the details on the pets, Emris was finding the boxes ever more comfortable going in and out, like it was some sort of obstacle course. Shedding was a bit of an understatement if one gave even the closest look at Eric's clothes, covered a bit in fur from the ferret. Even the Ravenclaw was covered a bit on the shoulder area of her clothes, with how Emris climbed on her and stayed sprawled just not too long ago.
Spiders, in the meantime, didn't really shed...sure...but they were making silk, so...talk about a possible idea for a Halloween gift for next year for Oliver. No...If he said that, Novalie would take it seriously and actually do something with that. It may turn out great, chaotic, or not so great. Or a mix of all.
"About the board games..." He took a look at the pawns for monopoly laying around the floor, board there too, everything really was taken out to provide a kingdom for Emris (because otherwise the boards will become his playground - and they still needed to at least TRY to play the games before they would become ferret toys).
"I asked around..." he started a bit...throwback to him trying to get any sort of information on what games muggles played from Aodhan. Well..at least he managed to secure the games themselves, now finding out how to play them was another story altogether. "Aodhan told me this is really popular, so I thought since gobstones is the wizards' game of choice, at least in Hogwarts, we may as well have something from both parts." Mhm, that is why he got 2 board games alongside those gobstones. Right... "Worst comes to worst-..." he wanted to continue before Novalie's next words jarred him out a bit. "Handstand on the roof?!" Alright, not doing "worst comes to worst" anymore, huh... Maybe enabling her to be that chaotic was starting to backfire on him a bit. "Let's...maybe not...at least until I learn how to play things." So he wouldn't be at a big disadvantage here. Hey, she already knew the rules, it was not too fair a competition!

Board games like board games, but the spray painting was something he was at least more accustomed to, something he had done last time with her too, and it was almost... comforting in a sense? Yeah, maybe that's the right way to call it despite the few...situations they got into while spraypainting before-. Better not to think too much about that part. "We could get some spray cans...I mean...I don't want to cause too much of a bother for your brothers." One of whom already hated him. In short, he didn't want to seem like he was scrounging or something.

For a few moments, he turned to unpack his luggage a bit, or at least take out what was more important for now. The question the red-haired Ravenclaw gave next, though, made him pause a bit. "I didn't. I know about it, though, just not something I've tried yet. Have you?" The quickest assumption was that yes, she had. Especially as she asked and started this conversation. But well, it was not something wizard families grow up with, regardless, if anything, the "closest" while still being a wayyyy away were brooms, racing, tricks, etc. "Can't be that difficult, right?" Surely flying was way more complicated than riding a skateboard. Oh, how wrong he would be proven. How far from reality that was...at least brooms were something he was accustomed to...

He took out a few chocolate frog packets next before giving Novalie some too. "I am collecting them at this point..." Yeah, that was his excuse at this point as he opened a few, having the chocolate frogs go everywhere, including the windows, before looking a bit at the cards. Most were duplicates...Well, so much for the excitement of opening these. At least someone was having fun as Emris was chasing around the poor frogs. "Don't eat them!" Actually was it even-...no. Not a good idea. It was, after all, just chocolate that was enchanted to move like a frog.

10 minutes of catching the enchanted frogs later...

"At least we have snacks now." Somehow the room seemed more haphazard than before.

𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰

Reducio

@Novalie Moon
Mentioning @Oliver Armani,@Aodhan Shaw

𝓞𝓞𝓒 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷

Reducio

Thoughts: italics
Speech: #6e0003

𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓼

Reducio

STAMINA - 7
EVASION - 8
STRENGTH - 1
WISDOM - 7
ARCANE POWER - 6
ACCURACY - 6
FREE SPACE
FREE SPACE
𝒜𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈: Seer, Sixth Sense

𝓦𝓒

Reducio

882

𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼

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Obtained approval from Aodhan to assume he is the one that taught Eric what muggle board games are XD. Thank you Aodhan!

“Oh - you asked Aodhan?”
The moment his name left Eric’s lips, Novalie’s eyes widened and lighted up, unmistakably mirroring the admiration she felt toward the Gryffindor Quidditch player. Of course he’d know the most popular games, as after all, he was one of the most popular people around!
Though admittedly, she didn’t know Scrabble, and she found it slightly baffling that out of all possible games, Aodhan had suggested Monopoly too, but in the end, who was she to question the mighty Ice King? That alone was reason enough to play!
“Yeah, a handstand!”, the redhead nodded with full conviction when her best friend questioned it in a panic, what to her, however, seemed to be just pure excitement, “And if you really want to go all out, you could even do it on, like, the edge of the roof for extra points!”
But when the boy suggested waiting until he’d learned how to play, Novalie tilted her head, blinking at him as though he’d suddenly switched languages. Waiting for what now?
How were you supposed to learn something without just doing it? Without the rules that applied?
That was like saying you wanted to learn how to fly a broom but instead of actually flying, you just stood on the ground doing hobby horsing or something. That made no sense at all.
“Eric.”, her tone became unusually serious as she laid her hand softly onto his, looking directly into his brown eyes that never failed to remind her of hot cocoa, “I know it sounds scary to do things without magic, coming from a magical family and all, but trust - doing a handstand really isn’t that dangerous.”

Without hesitation, the Ravenclaw sprang up. Turning her back to him, she stretched her arms overhead and, in one smooth motion, tipped backward into a perfect handstand - a move she had spent years practicing without really noticing.
It was, of course, nothing new - Novalie did things like this all the time. Climbing, flipping, balancing in the most random situations. It was as natural to her as breathing. Still, she’d never seen Eric attempt anything like it, so it only made sense he might be hesitant.
Standing on the edge of a roof, though? That didn’t strike her as something he’d truly worry about. They’d been in far higher places at Hogwarts already. She very conveniently ignored that at least at Hogwarts, they could use magic to avoid getting hurt, which did not really apply at their current location.
Still balancing on her hands, blood rushing faintly into her cheeks, she continued,
“And don’t worry about Liam! He’ll totally let you use his spray cans. He, like, loves you so much! I can tell.”
Almost on cue, Liam’s voice rang from the living room, loudly complaining to someone else about how he’d be so pissed if their visitor so much as touched anything that belonged to him in that room.
Novalie, obviously, didn’t register a word of it. She simply dropped back onto her feet and accepted the chocolate frog packs Eric handed her with a delighted smile. This had become something of a tradition for them, sitting by a windowsill on a rainy day or under a tree if the weather was good enough, opening frog pack after frog pack just to see which cards they’d get. Novalie was absolutely down to help him get into a chocolate frog-opening frenzy, which to others might already have seemed like a worrying development of a gambling addiction.
As Eric tried to keep Emris from snacking the hopping chocolates, Novalie attempted to coax Caviar into action with words alongside,
'Why isn’t your killer instinct kicking in?' and 'Look, it’s moving! It's prey!'.
Caviar, unimpressed, continued minding his own business. Sad.

Within minutes, the room descended into a bit of chaos, chocolate frogs leaping everywhere, wrappers crinkling, bits of chocolate scattering across the floor and sheets leaving stains, and, surprisngly, mostly across Liam’s side of the room.
After every frog was caught, Novalie nodded in agreement with Eric’s suggestion that they’d had enough snacks for now.
“Let’s go skateboarding then!”, she declared.
The Metamorph dropped to her knees beside her bed and pulled out her board. It was well-worn, its once dark red paint chipped and dulled by years of rough use. The edges were frayed, with tiny nicks and gouges that spoke of countless scrapes across concrete, bars and whatever else Novalie had thought to have been an good idea. Neon spray paint streaks crisscrossed the deck in bright, haphazard lines, somehow giving it a playful, old-school charm. Then she reached under Liam’s bed and dragged out his board. It was far less battered, a bold yellow that still gleamed, though the edges had a few minor scratches. Black signatures scrawled across the deck, most likely from his friends, looping and sprawling in different handwriting styles, while colorful, hand-drawn caricatures showed between them - cartoonish faces with exaggerated expressions, stick figures attempting tricks, and some doodles that were difficult to decipher. It looked like a small piece of art, full of a lively personality.