Meeting Face-to-Face PV Robert Toukmond Closed

Robert walked up the steps to the Owlery, lost in thought. He had been exchanging owls with Callista Lovis since the beginning of the school year, and her letters had become something to look forward to reading and responding every day. In fact, he was holding his latest reply in his hand, bringing it up to the Owlery to send off.

Callista and Robert had just recently decided they were going to meet face-to-face for the first time for a study session in the library. He was both excited and nervous for this meeting. Excited because he wanted to know what she would be in in person, but also a bit nervous that the meeting could ruin the friendship they'd built over letters. Robert felt that a relation in which you never see the other person's face could sometimes be the most pure type of relation there is. When the only interaction you have with someone is over paper, you just see their personality. When you talk in person, there are so many other factors that have an indirect influence, no matter how hard you try to ignore them. Things like looks and age suddenly don't matter when you can't see the other person.

As he reached the top of the tower, he saw a Hufflepuff girl sprawled out on the steps, seemingly having just tripped over the top stair. However, he realized this a second too late, and promptly tripped over the girl himself. Luckily, he didn't seem be hurt, but he could see that the girl had already scraped her hands on the stone floor. "Oh man, I'm really sorry about that," he said as he gently tried to remove himself from the pile of robes and limbs. "Are you okay?" he asked. As he was standing up, he saw that the girl had dropped her letter, and bent down to give it back to her. However, as he picked it up, he recognized the last name on the letter. "Wait, Lovis? As in, Callista Lovis?"

The person climbing the stairs appeared to be a Ravenclaw boy, who then promptly tripped over her, making her let out a slight “Oof” in response. However, the boy apologized profusely, and stood up, asking if she was alright, making her smile a little. She really did appreciate that.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she replied. She stood up, brushing her hands off gingerly on her slightly dusty robes. She didn’t think that she needed a trip to the Infirmary, after all, it was just a slight scrape. She lifted her head, surprised, when they boy asked if her name was Callista Lovis. She spotted her letter in his hand and realized he had probably read her last name off the end of the letter. But... she was pretty sure that she was the only “Lovis” in the entire school - it wasn’t a common name, and neither was “Callista”. How did he know her name..? She was sure she had never seen him before. Unless... something in her mind clicked as she looked at the boy with short red hair in Ravenclaw - Ravenclaw! - robes. Could he be... Robert?

“Um, yes. I’m Callista... are you... are you Robert Toukmond?” she really hoped she had pronounced his last name right. Took-mond? (If it’s not, please tell me because I want to get it right...) She blushed profusely as she realized that he was most likely Robert. She had come to really like him as they exchanged letters, but she knew that it would probably be different when they meet face-to-face. After all, there are other factors. It’s easier to say what you really think in a letter, but it’s also easier to lie. There’s no tone, so you need to write it in a way that helps the reader understand, and even then it’s easy to mistake the intent. Also, in ink there is no face, no expression, no movement. You can’t mess up, trip over your words, and you can take back something just by crossing it out. And... she didn’t know if he liked her as well.

"I'm fine, thank you," said the girl with a small smile. Robert still felt really bad about literally hitting someone when they were already down, (even if it was on accident,) but after a closer look, it did seem that the girl's only injuries were a couple scrapes on her hands.

"Um, yes. I’m Callista... are you... are you Robert Toukmond?" She mispronounced his last name, saying "took-mond" instead of "tuck-mund," but, as Robert didn't want his first real interaction with the person he'd been writing to since arriving at Hogwarts to start with him correcting her, he let it slide. I'll say something out loud eventually, but not right now. Of course, he also hadn't wanted their first interaction to start off in a dog-pile, but that ship had already sailed.

Robert noticed that Callista was blushing a bit. She'd sort of hinted in her letters that she had feelings for him, but as Robert thought he was just reading into it too far (pardon the pun), he hadn't said anything. He also wasn't totally sure how he felt about her. She was the first real friend he'd had in almost three years! He couldn't quite tell if what he was feeling was friendship or something more, so, in typical boy fashion, he just ignored it and hoped everything would resolve itself.

"That's me!" Robert replied with a bit of a grin. "I guess I can probably just give this to you," he said, reaching out to give her the letter he'd written. He paused a second, and then remembered the letter in his other hand. "You'll probably want this one back as well, right?" as the second letter joined the first in his outstretched hand.

“That's me!" Robert replied to her question, grinning. Then he gave him the letter he had brought with him to the owlery, which Callista assumed was the latest response to their letters. Then he also gave her the letter she had wrote to her family.

Okay, I actually meant to tell me OOC, sorry for the confusion.

“Oh, thanks,” Callista responded, taking the outstretched letters. She slipped Robert’s letter into her bag and redid the binding of her letter, which had unraveled a bit when she had tripped, with fumbling hands. Funny, she had done them so confidently back in the common room. Finally she got it done, although it wasn’t quite as neat as it was the first time. Callista looked up at Robert. He was taller than her, which she hadn’t realized when she had saw him on the train. Then again, he was sitting down. It was a little disconcerting because she hadn’t really talked to anyone taller than her, except adults, obviously. His eyes were brown-green - hazel, and he had a few freckles, which made her smile a little. She wiped her slightly sweaty hands on her robes and stuck out her hand hesitantly, as if to shake hands.

“I guess... hi,” Callista said. She smothered a giggle as she realized that their first face-to-face meeting was basically a dog - or cat - pile. She looked at her hand, waiting to see how he would react.

"Oh, thanks," said Callista as she took the two letters from Robert. She fiddled a bit with the binding on the letter to her family, even though Robert couldn't see any difference with the finished product. Robert took that time to look at the person he'd been exchanging letters with since the start of school. She was a bit shorter than him, but had very long legs. Her eyes were focused on the letter in her hand, but he could tell that they were dark brown. Her brown hair was in two braids that reached down to her back, although they had gotten a bit messy after the tumble.

After she finished fixing the binding on her letter, she looked up at Robert, making him realize he'd been staring. He quickly shifted his gaze to one of the owls, which cocked its head and looked straight back at him. The Great Horned Owl seemed to be accusing him of something. Robert didn't know what, but he was pretty sure he hadn't done anything wrong. He looked back at Callista, hoping she at least would believe in his innocence. Realizing the absurdity of his thoughts, he shook his head a bit as if to dislodge them from his brain.

"I guess... hi," Callista said as she put out her hand. She smiled a bit, as if she knew what he was thinking. Robert shook the outstretched hand, reminding himself that even if mind-reading was possible, there was little to no chance that a first-year could do it. Callista's hand felt that it was a bit clammy, but Robert couldn't complain as his hands were pretty sweaty as well. His encounter with the owl hadn't helped with his already shaken nerves from literally running into Callista.

"Erm, hi," he said with about the same amount of grace as an elephant that was dancing the cha-cha. He pointed at the accusatory bird. "Um, if you're going to mail that letter, I would not recommend using that owl, it seems a bit judgy." He immedietly regretting saying that as soon as the words had left his mouth, but by then it was too late. I miss writing letters, he thought to himself. Also, if you can in fact hear this, welcome to my head, Callista!