Climbing, for Beginners Finished

𓅆 notes:

❀ Hex code: #5b6a50

@Skylar Blue @Paul Turner Word Count: 492/200

At her side, Ellaine hears Paul cast a Reparo – presumably at his shirt – just as she turns to him. Curious, but unwilling to be too nosy, she sends him a small smile. It is a delightful feeling, to have magic dance at the tips of your fingers, after all. Instead, they turn to watch the people down below.

“…like ants!” he says, and she agrees with a hum. People-watching is fun, but only if they don’t know it. And the whole thing is fun, too. Like an adventure – her first at Hogwarts – and she finds she really does like going out to the grounds.

“Mhm... amen to that. Never flown so fast, nor so high before. But it seems you two - and you specially, Sky - weren't doing it for the first time.”

She turns to look at Paul, making faux eye contact with his eyebrows, and listens as he asks about their broom racing.

“Quidditch?” she repeats, then shakes her head. “No, not really, but— I guess I practiced a bit at home. Mum lent me her old one.” Her brother also likes brooms, and she just happens to have been bothered one too many times to go practice with him.

Speaking of brothers, this cookie is really, really lovely, she thinks, and tries to eat slowly, in a vain attempt to make it last longer…

“Don't be silly, you can have as many as you like.” Well. Say no more, she supposes. Ellaine smiles in thanks, and proceeds to nab another one “secretly” once she’s finished her first. The last one, she sternly promises herself.

"Goryhell, tell your grandma to adopt me, too! These cookies can be my only meal for a whole day if I could."

“No, no, no… More grandchildren would mean less cookies for me! And I can't have that!”

Huffing a little, she snorts softly as they bicker, and wipes her hands against her trousers. She looks up when Skylar speaks, and watches with a dazed smile as the air around them fills with bubbles and snow. The light travels through, and she wonders at the play of colours before her eyes, smiling brightly as she clasps her hands together. “Pretty!”

She squints, and feels like she should cast something – but what?

After a moment, she opens her mouth and casts Verdimillious, almost a whisper, concentrating as she makes a forward slash. A small shower of green sparks shoots from her wand, carefully aimed away from the trio sitting on the edge, which she thinks goes nicely with the impenetrable bubbles and snow in the air.

She looks at her two friends and laughs lightly. A sense of giddiness envelops her, and she pats Skylar’s shoulder. “Snow, bubbles, and sparks…” she says, and looks at the two of them as she raises her eyebrows. An odd combination, she thinks lightheartedly, but certainly not unwelcome. Not unlike them, she muses pleasedly.

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

Mentions: @Paul Turner, @Ellaine Weatherby

WC: 362

Hex code: #0050b4

OOC note: This RP might end soon... It was really fun though!

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

x

“No, no, no… More grandchildren would mean less cookies for me! And I can't have that!” Skylar sticks out her tongue at that, jabbing Paul playfully in the side. "Just you wait, Turner. I will get your grandma's cookies, one way or the other." As if proving her point, she reaches her hand into the box to grab more. Beside her, Ellaine lets out a huff of amusement at their bickering. "How often do you fly? Do you both do Quidditch or broom racing?" Paul asks as he turns to them again. Skylar shakes her head, her mouth still filled with cookies. She swallows her bite before answering. "Well, I would like to, but I'm still on the waitlist. I do practice flying a lot on my free time, though!" “Quidditch? No, not really, but— I guess I practiced a bit at home. Mum lent me her old one.” More chatter continues as the three lie on their backs, staring up at the sky. A small smile rests on Skylar's face as she listens to her friends next her, feeling content. Not long after she casted the Bubble-Producing Charm, Paul also casts the Snowflake-Creating Spell. Skylar lets out a laugh of delight has snowflakes fall on the tip of her nose and hair. Snowing during the summer... She thinks to herself, amused. Laying next to her, Ellaine quietly casts the Green Sparks Charm. Skylar's eyes follow the sparks, a soft gasp leaving her lips. It was interesting sight, really. Three students laying on a roof, surrounded by bubbles, snow, and green sparks. Skylar hums as the sky slowly darkens, turning into a darker purple now the sun is setting. The sun's warm glow slowly disappears behind the mountains as the torches around Hogwarts begin to light up. Getting up from her laying position, Skylar dusts herself off and offers a hand to her friends. "We should probably get going to soon. It looks like dinner may be starting now." With that, Skylar grabs her broom and settles herself comfortably on the flying vehicle. She looks over at Paul and Ellaine, shooting them a light-hearted grin. "Ready to fly back to the castle?"

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[quote]"Just you wait, Turner. I will get your grandma's cookies, one way or the other"[/quote]
Paul flicked his eyebrows at his blue-haired companion challengingly, the tips of his lips twitching up. "Alright... challenge accepted, Blue! You've gotta meet my grandmas first though. Now, how do you wanna make that happen, hm?" Paul put his hands akimbo, leaning his head to a side in an enquiring manner. His tone was still playful though. Bickering, that was the right word to be used, yes, Ellaine.

"Oh. Nice. You've trained well, young Padawan." Paul showed her a thumb-up, and gave a grin with the nickname, when Ellaine told them her mum lent her an old broomstick.

Paul, just like the girls, was chewing on his cookies, when Sky spoke about Broom Racing. Paul nodded. "Whoa... that's cool. Don't worry, you'll get there soon! It'd be mistake not to let you in, a person whose ground is the air." To Paul, his last sentence made utmost sense. To the others though... who knew? It didn't occur to him that it could possibly not. "Anyway, we could join the spectators in the next race, El, what do you think?" The boy nudged his Hufflepuff companion in the side gently, waiting for her answer. "I've been meaning to see all the sports matches. I think I might choose Duelling, but I haven't given it much thought yet."

At some point, he bent one of his legs in the knee, and lifted a hand to put it under his head, instead of a pillow. All that to lie more comfortably, while reflecting on the beauty of their charms, as well as colours of the sky. My, the sky is so beautiful, even when it's getting dark. I mean, the purple? Awesome... The boy let out a quiet, short, and purely positive laugh of awe at the changing colours.

"Guys, look!" Paul called, pointing somewhere ahead, probably at the sky. "It's as if... a bunch of really good painters mounted brooms and flew up to paint it. That would be hilarious." Absurd idea, perhaps, but it had the power to amuse the boy.

Ellaine joined him and Sky with Verdimillious, providing for a solid fireworks and making it a solid window into the variety of first-year's spells. "Woohoo! Happy New Year!" Joked the boy, when Ellaine's green sparks, his snowflakes, and Sky's bubbles combination reminded him of New Year's Eve. "Cheers!" Instead of a glass with non-alcoholic champagne to cheer with, he used his cookie, bumping it softly against Ellaine's, then against Skylar's, if they let him. Meanwhile, he started giggling.

Hm, I wonder how many more spells we're gonna learn this year. It's only our first month, after all. But even these alone are fun, and it's not even duelling spells! "Whoa! I can't wait to learn more spells! Magic is so cool..." Exhaled the boy, full of emotion, out of which excitement was the strongest at that moment.

Then, Sky said they should be heading back, so he slowly sat up, stretching his neck and torso, before he hopped onto his broom and nodded.

"Yeah! Wonder what the elves prepared for dinner today!" Smiled the boy, hanging near Sky, waiting for the last crew member.

𓅆 notes:

❀ Hex code: #5b6a50

@Skylar Blue @Paul Turner Word Count: 686

"Well, I would like to, but I'm still on the waitlist. I do practice flying a lot on my free time, though!"

“It'd be mistake not to let you in, a person whose ground is the air."

Ellaine nodded vigorously. Truly, it was hard to imagine Skylar without the skies. How she managed to get out of the forest unscathed, Ellaine didn’t know, but it was definitely broom-racer material.

“Quidditch? No, not really, but— I guess I practiced a bit at home. Mum lent me her old one.”

"Oh. Nice. You've trained well, young Padawan."

Ellaine paused, eyes taking in his grin. Padawan? A reference to something, maybe? A questioning look briefly took hold before she shrugged it off in favour of a smile. “Of course,” she nodded mock-gravely. “There’s no such thing as too much training, after all.”

"Anyway, we could join the spectators in the next race, El, what do you think?" Paul continued on, and Ellaine blinked as she realised the question had been directed at her. "I've been meaning to see all the sports matches. I think I might choose Duelling, but I haven't given it much thought yet."

“Perhaps,” Ellaine responded, happy enough to trail along, though she found herself wondering whether she’d end up a floating mess, lost in the crowds somehow.

They continued to lie on their backs, staring at the sky above, as the trio cast various charms into the air. Impenetrable bubbles, courtesy of Skylar, prompted falling snowflakes from Paul, and then green sparks, after Ellaine had contemplated her own arsenal of spells.

“Cheers!”

Ellaine shook her head, but echoed him nevertheless, a little late as she took a bite of her own cookie.

"Whoa! I can't wait to learn more spells! Magic is so cool..."

Ellaine privately agreed. It mightn’t have been news to her, but magic had never lost its wonder… She was quite looking forward to telling her brothers the spells she’d learnt, never mind the fact that she wouldn’t be able to actually practice them at home.

The sun was setting beyond the horizon as they spoke, bathing the cotton-candy clouds in a glow of purples and oranges, complimenting the red hues the sun had become… It was a beautiful sight, at least to Ellaine, who thoughtfully flicked her eyes over to Paul’s attire. He’d been running before they’d flown together, hadn’t he? Perhaps she’d start her morning runs again – the sight of the sun’s rise and set was truly incentive enough.

"It's as if... a bunch of really good painters mounted brooms and flew up to paint it. That would be hilarious."

Tilting her head towards him, Ellaine laughed, shaken out of her reverie, marvelling over beautiful skies. She said, “Well, they must be very fond of purples and reds, then.” Wizards and witches, and painters on brooms, buckets of paint splattered across the sky… She marvelled at his imagination, and thought of the colourful mess at home.

Eventually, after a while, Skylar got up, offering them both a hand. It was clear that she was beckoning them to stand, and Ellaine immediately accepted it, confused but compliant all the same.

“We should probably get going to soon. It looks like dinner may be starting now.”

Huh. Ellaine nodded. That made sense. The sun was setting, and there was no sense in skipping dinner.

"Ready to fly back to the castle?”

"Yeah! Wonder what the elves prepared for dinner today!”

“Ready!” Ellaine shot to her feet, and just managed to remember the broom that had lain at her side. “Well,” she said, “here’s to hoping they’d have warm soups at the ready!”

Climbing onto her broom, she soon found herself beside the others, ready to fly back to school. She was, to put it bluntly, still quite hungry, and the prospect of dinner was very appealing. Just as they were about to take off, a stray thought entered her mind.

She blurted out the question without much thought, transferring the words from her mind into reality. “When should we return the broom?” she asked, uncertain of the rules regarding broom-borrowing. “Tomorrow?”

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

Mentions: @Paul Turner, @Ellaine Weatherby

WC: 368

Hex code: #0050b4

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

x

“When should we return the broom? Tomorrow?” Skylar hums as she remembers they had to return the brooms. "Well, we just have to return it by sundown — which by the looks of it — is now." She gestures to the nearly set sun. "Looks like we are just going to speed our way back to Professor Ruckus's shed..." However, given their last broom race fiasco, the blue-haired girl is still slightly on the fence about racing back. Her eyes scan the grounds for a safer route back to the castle, tracing a relatively clear and nicely lit path. "How about we head in that direction? There is barely any obstacles, so we can reach our max speed without having to dodge. The torches along the castle walls are also lit now, so we can actually see." Once she is sure she is steady on the broom, Skylar kicks off from the roof and floats a few feet away from the tower, her legs swinging in the air. Her friends join her in the air as they settle on their brooms, the three of them ready to go. "Last one to the shed owes the rest of us dessert!" Skylar calls out playfully before flying straight down towards the ground. Similar to how they had to do a sharp upwards flight to the top of the tower, the Gryffindor girl is now letting gravity carry her as she aims for the ground below. She is basically parallel to the tower wall as she shoots forward like a meteor, the free-falling sensation making her cackle with joy. The ground below her gets closer and closer, until at the very last second, Skylar does a sharp upward jerk with her broom. Now speeding ahead and properly seated, Skylar pushes forward as fast as the rickety school broom will allow. "Well, I do not know who it is, but someone owes me desert!" Skylar calls out, the wind carrying her voice. Gradually, she slows as she reaches the path down to Professor Ruckus's shed. Dismounting from her broom, Skylar turns to watch her Ellaine and Paul's progress, cheering them on as they near the path. "You guys are almost there! You all got it!"

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Broom-racer material, indeed. Both of them! Ran through Paul's mind. It was impossible not to see their spontainety and sort of natural instinct when they were avoiding the obstacles in the form of trees, dancing between the blows of the air as ballerinas of the grand theatre over the stage. With the ballerinas' long legs straightened and lifted elegantly, and their motion accelerating according to the pace of the song that the orchestra played, the wizarding version of ballet, Paul thought, was flying. The stage was the sky, the pointe shoes were the brooms in this scenario.

My. Flying painters in the sky, ballerinas on brooms... you've eaten an entire pot of crazy images today, haven't ya, Turner? He let out a joyful, quiet laugh, as he shook his head and looked to the person by his side. El. She looked pretty startled. Right. What were they speaking about? Hm... her flying skills. He might have mentioned Star Wars. Paul waved it of. "Eh, no one important, just a character from a famous Muggle film series. Star Wars... any of ya seen it?"

Perhaps - that was El's answer to his offer. Paul huffed a muffled laugh. The fact that she's a girl of few words, he had slowly been getting used to. At that point though, it seemed... well, kinda funny that his own, colourful description of their possible future adventure was replied to with mere one word.

"Awesome! Will count on ya." Said the boy made a playful gesture in which he pointed his index finger at her and at the same time, lifted his thumb and winked.

As she spoke about the favourite colours of the imaginary painters, Paul nodded eagerly, sighing nostalgically. "Just like my sister! This would be seventh heaven for Pippa. She goes crazy on pink. She even had our parents buy her a pink bike, would ya believe it?" Paul shook his head over the memory, grimacing. "What an embarrassment..."

Ellaine said she'd prefer soup for dinner. Paul let the idea roll in his brain for a little longer. "Hm, not much of a soup person. It would heavily depend on the kind. Tomato, or pea, yes. Noodle, maybe. But onion or carrot or... hm, lentil... ew!

Stated the boy, waiting for them to launch forward.

Then though, the talk came to the time of the returning of the brooms, which dragged Paul's attention. They were supposed to be returned today. Oh well... I would bet no one ever checks the list of those who borrow the brooms from the shed...

That thought calmed Paul down a little. At least, he started not to be nervous and restless about the time they had left.

"Last one to the shed owes the rest of us dessert!"

"Uh... huh!" As the girl the yelled, the boy turned surprised, out of which he was paralysed for a few seconds. Then though, when both girls started moving, the Gryffindor understood and attempted to launch forward to keep up with El. Sky apparently flew up then turned down in an extremely dangerous motion, similar to free fall.

The boy stopped for a moment, watching her with his mouth open. Whoa... so cool... No. Paul. Focus! You have to go, not to be the last one again! Off you fly! Shoo!

So he went. Leaning forward, pressing his chest against the handle of his broom, he sped up as much as he could.

When Skylar calls out to them, he can hear her but barely. As the path to the shed appears under him, he looks back, not taking an account of Ellaine till then. He gradually slows down, then lands and dismounts too, right next to the shed.

Holding the broom in one hand, he looks at the wall, then at Sky. A grin appears on his face, as he stretches his hand to the wall but doesn't touch it yet, keeping his fingers a centimetre or two away.

"Hm... looks like we're gonna have a Blue-berry cupcake for dessert this week, El..." Teasing, Paul grinned mischievously, with an emphasis on blue. Then he touched the shed, hoping to be the first one.

𓅆 notes: holy cheese tacos

❀ Hex code: #5b6a50

@Skylar Blue @Paul Turner Word Count: 269/200

"You guys are almost there! You all got it!”

Groaning, she urged her broom to go faster – a losing battle, she knew, but some effort made was still better than giving up. Again, she moulded herself to the broom, leaning forwards and squinting her eyes almost shut against the whipping winds.

The winds became stronger, if that was even possible, while the ground approached at a dizzying pace. She clutched the handle tighter, and raised her upper half to increase the drag, slowing down as she carefully scanned the land.

Her eyes noted two undeniable facts: that Skylar was already dismounted, standing on the path to the broom shed, while Paul was already crossing the finish line! She squinted at his figure and could’ve sworn that he’d said something, but it was lost to the wind and her less-than-stellar hearing.

Shaking her head, Ellaine finally touched down, her feet greeting the ground with a cheerful sense of belonging. Skylar was not far from her, and so she dismounted and carried the broom at her side. It was an awkward task, considering that it was easily as long as it was her height.

“I suppose this means that I owe you two desserts?” she said, raising her voice enough to hope that it reached Paul. A sheepish smile graced her face as she looked to Paul. “Well, I hope you don’t mind deformed, alien cupcakes. I’ve never made one before.

“And, well— It can’t be that hard to make blueberry cupcakes…” she said, a joking smile on her face, knowing full well that she was hopeless without a recipe.

As they met at the shed, Paul leaned his hand against its wall, as well as a good half of his weight. The reason was to look nonchalantly confident, spiced with a tad bit of carelessness and the infamous, crooked, mischievous smirk on his face. Although at present, it might have looked like an expression of pure, childish competitiveness, in a few years, it might look very different, as well as the motivation behind the pose and the smirk.

Apple turnover... mhm, can't imagine that, but anything with apples is usually amazing! Thought the boy, grinning at Sky and humming.

"Hm, if you know how to make it..." Paul shrugged. He wasn't really picky, regarding food. The Gryff would welcome anything. He preferred sweet stuff, as well as salty. Sour, less, and bitter the least. But he didn't mind fruit or vegetables, all kinds now, that he didn't have to wear braces anymore.

"I suppose this means that I owe you two desserts?"

Paul's eyebrows flicked up, and the boy nodded.

“Well, I hope you don’t mind deformed, alien cupcakes. I’ve never made one before. And, well— It can’t be that hard to make blueberry cupcakes…”

Shaking his head, the boy swayed his broom in his left hand, showing thumb up with his right one. The broom was long, which made the swaying more challenging, but it was nowhere near heavy. So, as a passtime in the meantime, he started drawing circles in the air with it. At some point, when he was trying to cross his fingers in order for the broom handle to turn around swiftly, he failed and dropped the broom to the ground. He blushed, checking the girls' reactions while reaching to the ground to grab it again as quickly as possible. Comical scene, really.

"Huh!"

Fortunately, the topic swiftly came to eating and ability to cook.

"Oh, do not worry. I eat anything that is remotely edible. After all, it is the true beauty inside that counts."

"Uh... me too!" Paul rised his free hand, likely to relate more to Sky's statement. "Can't even remember when was the last moment I wasn't hungry." Claimed the boy confidently, as if bragging about it.

"And if it makes you feel better, I cannot cook either. Or bake. Or do anything in the kitchen except for eat."

Paul stitched his eyebrows for a moment in a reflective manner. "And what if we, Sky, helped El make the sweets? It could be fun! Since none of us can do it, right?" Suggested the boy, looking at both of them. The boy's lips waved in a devilish image. "Besides, imagine all those lonely house elves in the kitchen... heart-breaking! I'm sure they'll be glad to see us 'ere!" Paul then theatrically pulled his heart out of his chest and broke it.

Paul let both girls enter the shed, before he entered it himself. Putting the broom back to approximately where it'd been, and signing in the book, the boy went outside as quickly as possible. Small'n'dark places... meh! Ran through his mind while he was waiting for the girls outside. He inserted his eyes into his pockets, and leaned his back against the shed's wall, leaning his foot against it and bending his leg in the knee.

Then, Skylar spoke about their possibilities for dinner, and Paul smirked. "Nah... if you want them, you'll have to make 'em, Blue." He gave her a small smile before he checked for El, and nodded when he saw her coming out of the shed. "Alright, lasses... time to go!" With that, he started walking towards the castle.

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Hex: #6a7246 Mentions: @Skylar Blue, @Paul Turner

Word Count: 289

Paul’s little stunt did not go unnoticed by her (odd enough, given how unobservant she could be), but Ellaine chose to ignore it. God knows how often she dropped things – her brother, too. Perhaps the clumsiness was a hereditary trait, perhaps it was not, but now she couldn’t help the small twitch of her mouth that betrayed the fond smile forming on her face.

"Besides, imagine all those lonely house elves in the kitchen... heart-breaking! I'm sure they'll be glad to see us 'ere!"

“Glad to see us not burn the kitchen down, maybe,” she joked, following Skylar into the shed. Her eyes immediately jumped to the spot where she’d probably took the broom from. She hastened to return it, before scrawling her signature across the parchment, then dutifully following Skylar like a duckling would its hen.

"Come on, I am starving! Maybe they will have blueberry muffins or apple turnovers at the dinner.”

"Nah... if you want them, you'll have to make 'em, Blue."

“Eh— I dunno… can’t we just wish it out loud? Maybe they’ll pop into existence—” she whispered, the last part catching her thoughts— “like magic.” The sheer irony in her statement prompted a chuckle. For all they knew, it might even work!

"Alright, lasses... time to go!”

She mouthed the word ‘lasses’ to herself, peering at Skylar beside her. It very much sounded like a Scottish-y thing to say, and she silently wondered where Paul came from, right as she followed him behind.

“Quick— before the Hall gets too noisy—“ a little skip in her steps— “actually, would we even be sitting together?” Her eyes flickered between her two friends. She had a sinking suspicion that they were both definitely not Hufflepuffs. Hmm.

“Eh. We’ll meet later anyway?” Try as she might to keep the uncertainty out of her voice, she could not help the questioning tilt to her words. A part of her fretted over whether they’ll all go out together again, but… she ignored that one, and smiled. Of course, she thought, whyever not?

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