CYUT Errand Group 8 PV

23rd November 2021 | Rehearsal Room, 6pm | Outfit

[font=Corbel Light]Annie kept the owl she’d received from Professor Irons in her small hand, reading and re-reading the location, the time, and her group. She’d been to the Rehearsal Room before with Simon, but Antoinette did not have much faith in her sense of direction, especially in a castle like Hogwarts. Still, she liked to think she was slowly getting the hang of it. Things were slowly becoming more recognisable, and she was marking classrooms and corridors by the various trinkets and artefacts dotted about. There was even an old Girl’s Lavatory that Annie knew was on the second floor. No one ever went in there, or at least, Annie never saw anyone go in.

”6pm…” She mumbled, checking her watch. It was five minutes to. She’d given herself plenty of time to get here in case she got lost, having wolfed down some shepherd's pie for dinner and then a few spoonful's of sticky toffee pudding. Annie didn’t want to eat too much when she knew she’d be dancing soon. Her bag was hitched over her shoulder, and she’d neatly tucked her ballet shoes inside. She was already wearing her outfit, which was hidden underneath her cloak.

She didn’t have her tutu on her (and that would have been too embarrassing to wear anyway), so instead she wore her black leotard with a cropped jumper over the top, along with her white tights and black leg warmers. It was far too cold in the castle to wear just her leotard. Still, Annie couldn't help but feel hot and anxious. She wasn’t sure what to expect.

Turning onto a corridor, she let out a sigh of relief as she saw the familiar door to the Rehearsal Room and stood outside was Professor Irons, along with a small bubble of students. ”Hello, Professor,” Annie said happily, glad to finally be here. She stepped inside with the rest of her group and looked around. She let out a gasp. It looked beautiful in here. Everything was twinkling and there was a warm, cosy feel to the place.

Putting down her bag, Annie took off her cloak and placed it neatly on top of her bag. Well, here goes nothing. Crouching down, she began to tie on her ballet shoes and gave her toes and ankles a little wiggle to make sure they were comfortable. She straightened up and went over to the rest of the group.

”Hi,” she said to one of the students with a smile, trying her best to sound confident. ”What is your talent? Would you like to see mine?”

It was time, and Seren was a mess. Oh, not in a physical sense, she was not messily clothed, nor dirty, and her hair was as close to perfectly brushed and neat as a human COULD get it, but in the mental sense. She was internally screaming at herself for having signed up for this... This 'talent show' of sorts, because she did not know who she was going to meet, or interact with, and she was absolutely sure that she was about to make a complete and total idiot of herself.

That said, she had agreed to do this, she had signed up, and therefore she was going to GO do it, she was not going to skip out and pretend that she missed the memo (so to speak), and so she was here, walking into the Rehearsal room, a place she had never been before. She had almost gotten lost a few times on the way here, but she had... arrived.

Why had she signed up?

She took a few deep breaths, and then stepped inside the door, looking around to see who all was here, and who she would be interacting with... Had she met any of them, save the Professor? So far, there was one young woman of around Seren's own age here, but unknown to the Ravenclaw, and the Professor. She bit her lip and slipped forwards, just in time to hear the other girl greet the Professor, and turn to her. Seren gave Professor Irons a shy smile, and said "Hello, sir. It's good to see you.."

She turned back to the other girl, and blinked at the question, sans introduction. There was a moment of confused mental dissonance where she was uncertain as to how to respond, and then she finally said "I am Seren Yong... What is your name, if I might ask? And my talent... I am a metamorphmagus, and while I am still learning a lot about my abilities and skills, I have gotten REALLY good at hair transformations." She brushed a hand along a lock framing her face, which was currently her natural color and style of straight black, and smiled a little. "What is yours? And do you think we should wait for the others to arrive?"

She glanced around, curiously, before looking back at the other. "I am sure there are supposed to be others, after all..."

23rd November 2021 | Rehearsal Room, 6pm | Outfit

[font=Corbel Light]The girl blinked at Annie, making Annie feel those familiar pangs of social anxiety. She hated introductions, she hated meeting new people. Still, she’d made a promise to push herself, to be more open and confident at Hogwarts. For the first time, she was on her own, away from her parents and family home. There was no one to hide behind here. So, here she was, branching out and attempting to come out of her very tight shell. Growing up as an only child was probably part of her introverted nature. She’d grown up alone, with no one of a similar age around her, except for those friends she’d made in school. She’d grown up content with her own company. Now, however, she was surrounded by students of all ages, along with Professors, Ghosts, and even Elves. It was a lot to get used to, but she really was trying.

Case in point, when the girl replied, Antoinette visibly relaxed and gave her a smile. ”Hi Seren,” she replied. ”I’m Antoinette Asteria, but everyone just calls me Annie.” Seren looked nervous, making Annie feel less alone in her feelings. She felt exactly the same and glanced to Professor Irons, who was watching them encouragingly.

Seren looked around Annie’s own age, but she couldn’t recall seeing Seren in any of her classes. Then again, Annie tended to be so focused on the lesson, she didn’t always pay a lot of attention to her classmates. Those first few lessons had been overwhelming, to say the least! Or maybe she couldn't remember seeing Seren before because Seren had changed her appearance so often!

”Wow!!” Annie breathed, her eyes suddenly very wide. She gazed at Seren with wonder and excitement. ”My Mum has a friend who’s a metamorphmagus – she used to make me laugh by changing her features.” Annie chuckled. ”What’s your favourite hairstyle and colour?? Can you do it now?!” Antoinette was so enthralled, she felt her talent paled considerably in comparison. ”Oh, mine is just ballet,” she added, waving a hand dismissively. ”Nothing cool like yours!”

She gave a funny little shrug and grinned. ”Honestly? I hope too many don’t turn up. I don’t like meeting a whole bunch of people at once; it makes me nervous.” She took a couple of steps into the centre of the room. ”I can go first, if you like? Nothing fancy, just a plié or maybe I could show you a couple of positions? There’s 6 in all. As far as I know, anyway. I started when I was six.”

It may not have been the most intelligent thing in the world to sign up for a talent show without any idea of what one’s talents were. But Nicholas had seen the rewards for showing one’s talent and had put his name down without even bothering to actually list what that alleged talent would be. He’d thought that he’d outsmarted the system, after all, it wasn’t even a competition per se. It was a quite literal show of talent, the rewards would be granted regardless of the overall talent of one’s performance. So it had seemed a foolproof scheme, sign up without a particular talent, figure out some skill that would be easy to demonstrate in the span of a few minutes, and then profit. Of course, such a plan required that Nicholas actually figure out some skill prior to actually attending the event. He had failed spectacularly in that regard.

Thoughts of what he was supposed to do, desperate pleadings and explorations of solutions ran through his mind as he tried to finagle some sort of solution from the depths of his intellect. As he approached the rehearsal room, deliberately walking slower than he needed to, the boy could not help but run through the few things that made him stand out from the crowd over and over in his head. He could find nothing.

A hiss of frustration escaped from between his teeth as the door came up far sooner than he had expected, the most fashionable professor at the school opening it and gesturing for the children to enter at around the same time that Nicholas approached. Was having impeccable timing a talent? Obviously not, for a couple of students had clearly arrived before him and were discussing their own talents prior to the show. There was still time before others arrived, at least, still time to figure out something to demonstrate.

Nicholas gave the two girls a wave, and what he hoped looked like a smile. Although, given his rather sour disposition and the evident grumpiness upon his face, it was almost certain that it would seem more like a grimace. The boy made his way into the room, being careful to stand as far away from the crowd or table as he could as he desperately tried to come up with a solution to the problem of his own making. Unfortunately, the obvious effort that the professors had put into the decorations and refreshments were therefore lost on the boy as he turned inwards, his thoughts not ceasing in their desperate attempts to find a solution.

He could just get up there and say that his talent was standing completely still? He could do that for a brief moment, at least, and he would have technically met the brief. However, it was almost certain that Professor Irons would see that as absolutely taking the piss. The American was relaxed, Nicholas knew that much, but he was still an authority figure and such a blatant play of disrespect was unlikely to go over well.

What if, alternatively, he just pretended that he had a talent but was really bad at it? Maybe he could take a dive on a dance or something? The only flaws with such a plan were that he would need to dance, and Nicholas did not dance, ever, no, never, and he wasn’t about to humiliate himself by allowing others to think that he wasn’t good at something. That would defeat the entire purpose of what he was here to do. Hardly appropriate.

Those sullen thoughts accompanied Nicholas the entire time, the boy sulking rather than paying attention to the other performances. He knew it was rude, and entirely unfair to those with actual talents, but he had to figure out some sort of solution to his problem, and he was desperately running out of time.

When said time did eventually end, the last grain of sand falling to the bottom of the proverbial hourglass, the Gryffindor knew that he was screwed.

His feet were like lead as he made his way to the front. It was entirely certain that he didn’t want to be there, at all, not in the least, and nowhere was that more evident than upon his face. The glower did not dissipate for a moment as he tried desperately to think of what to do.

Buy for time.

“Hello,” He started, “Name’s McCowan, and my talent is…” He hadn’t actually thought of that just yet, “Scots,” He spoke quickly, desperately.

Ok, a language wasn't a talent, but it was something at least. Besides, chances were that the gathered students wouldn’t speak it, and he highly doubted that the American professor would. All he would have to do was prattle off about nothing for a few moments, bow, and it could be said that he put the bare minimum effort in. With luck, that effort would be enough to reward him with not only escaping from trouble, but also with the actual rewards from the show.

He started, the switch to his native tongue easy and natural, the words flowing quickly and fluidly, the stream of consciousness flowing like a river, “Look, truth be told I didn’t actually plan anything so this is me absolutely buying time. Pleasure to meet you all and so-on and so-forth. Uh, what else? I’ve got a lizard, his name is George, and he’s quite a sweet little thing. Dumb as a bag of rocks, though, but I suppose that’s to be expected? I don’t think lizards are particularly renowned for their intellect. But maybe they are? Who am I to know? Also, have any of you tried flying on a silver arrow? Who am I kidding, I know at least a couple of you do quidditch. Anyway, the thing is bloody fast, ay? Very nice. Well, I suppose that’s time bought. Really regret signing up, really did not at all think this through. Uh, red, green, blue, white, that’s sufficient language, I reckon.”

With his tirade of nonsense finished, Nicholas bowed promptly, shot a grin filled with naught but false confidence to the professor and returned to his little spot away from the rest.

Ok. It could have gone worse.

Stats: STA: 12 | EVA: 6 | STR: 8 | WIS: 6 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 6
Abilities: Foulplay | Statistically Relevant
1,038 Words

23rd November 2021 | Rehearsal Room, 6pm | Outfit

[font=Corbel Light]Annie’s eyes flickered over as the door opened and another boy walked in. He also looked a little unsure about being here, making her think that everyone had signed up on a whim, and were now all having second thoughts. Well, it was scary demonstrating your own skill to your peers, especially when Annie had no idea if she was any good. She’d gotten a few compliments in class from her teacher, sure, but she was nothing special.

She smiled and waved back at the boy, expecting to him to walk over but he didn’t. Instead, he stood to the side looking rather sullen. Annie hoped he was alright and almost wondered whether she should go over and make sure nothing was wrong. However, she thought it best to carry on with the task at hand and waited to see what Seren would like to see first.

Maybe positions would be best, and she automatically put her heels together so that her feet were pointing outwards, making sure to keep her legs straight and knees locked together. Beautiful, straight legs were essential. Then, she performed a small dance that she'd prepared; first, she did some assemblés, then a grande jeté and finally finished off with two pirouettes and a plié. Her arms moved from first, to second, then fourth and finishing in six, making sure to keep a continuous flow as she danced, and gently dropping them back to Demi-seconde. She was still not quite experienced enough to dance with her toes funny en pointe, so remained mostly on her tiptoes instead. Annie didn't look at anyone the entire time, straightening up slowly. "What do you think?" She asked uncertainly.

The boy in the corner didn’t seem to want to participate, and instead waited until he was practically forced to show his talent. Annie stopped to watch, curious to see what he’d do. Her eyebrows shot up her forehead as he spoke, and her lips slightly parted as she listened. He spoke very fast and with such ease, making Annie wish she was bilingual. As soon as he’d finished, she plucked up the courage to beckon him over to her and Seren.

”Where did you learn that?” She asked curiously. ”You spoke very well.”

OOC NOTICE

Players do not need to wait for another person's character to finish their talent before performing their own. For example, if someone else's character is playing the violin and no conclusion to the performance was mentioned, you may still post that your own character performed a dance. IC, if it doesn't make sense that two talents would be done at the same time, then you might write out your character reacting to another's talent, then showing their own once that talent is finished. There simply isn't enough time before the deadline for everyone's talents to [OOC] be performed at separate times.

This also serves as a reminder that the errand deadline is December 14th, barely over a week after the time of this notice. Please be certain to meet the word count requirement and detail your character performing their talent before that time. You may continue to role play in this thread following that date, but if the requirements are not met by then, you will receive no rewards for the errand.

Seren looked between Antoinette and Professor Irons, then blinked as another person, an older boy, came in. She turned back to Anni and smiled shyly. "I like doing really really long hair, with unnatural colors! I can show you, give me a moment." She stepped back, to give herself room (she sometimes found that hair growth was a little bit... Sudden, and it might accidentally smack the other girl in the face.), but paused when the girl said she did Ballet. "Oh Ballet? I have never had a chance to see anyone do any ballet before! I look forwards to seeing what you can do. I have read about it, in books from my Grandmother's house, and the pictures were very pretty, but I do want to see what it is like in person!"

She then finished adjusting herself, and focused, her expression going a little strange, almost as if she was uncomfortable... But then her hair began to grow, very quickly, until it was as long as Seren herself was tall, almost... It stopped JUST shy of the floor. Once the growth had finished, the color began to shift rapidly, becoming first a sunshiney yellow, which shifted to a mid-orange shade, and then to a brighter orange. After this, it became a lovely pink, then a gorgeous purple that shifted from a pinkish shade to a deep indigo, and then finally her hair became dark, night sky blue.

She paused there for a moment, her expression getting more focused, and then the colors all reappeared, in an ombre going from yellow at the tip to a deep blue at the top, resembling a night's sky. She looked like she was having to focus VERY hard on this, as if this one was more challenging for her. After about thirty seconds, she relaxed... And the color shifted back to her natural black. "That's my favorite thing to do, but right now I have trouble keeping it like that! I want to be able to have my hair like that all the time, but I think I need more practice. Beyond this, I can do all kinds of lengths and colors, though I can't seem to go shorter than ear length... I think that's because I think I'd look bad, so I'm accidentally stopping myself."

She then turned and focused on Annie again, eyes bright as she watched the other girl show off her Ballet skills. "Oh that is WONDERFUL! I bet if you keep it up, you will be an amazing dancer."

She turned to the boy, 'McCowan,' and listened to him speak at length in a language that was not familiar to her ears. It was fascinating to hear, and interesting, but she DID wonder what on earth he had been saying that entire time. "Oh I've never heard anyone speak Scots before. Is it common in Scotland, or not?"

Job done, all he had to do now was wait for the all-clear and he could leave, it didn’t seem like he had entirely botched his ‘performance’ so there wasn’t much in the way of danger of being called out by the professor. At least, that was his assumption, and he hoped by all that was holy that he wasn’t mistaken in that belief. Regardless, that was the only interaction that he had anticipated, maybe a passing nod or greeting by one of his dormmates. He hadn’t expected to be approached by one of the younger girls.

Nicholas blinked for a moment, processing the words as she spoke. Had she truly been impressed with his speech? It had been nonsensical, a childish ploy to get out of not preparing at all. Still, he couldn’t help but feel flattered, the desperate desire to impress that seemed to form such a core part of his very spiritual essence flaring as his ego inflated.

“Oh, thanks,” He answered the brunette sheepishly, her face familiar from the Gryffindor common room, but her name not, “I, uh, didn’t really learn it. Just kinda grew up with it, s’my dad’s language.”

His sheepishness only increased tenfold when the other first year asked after his talent. A Ravenclaw who was entirely unknown to him. Had his expression of a foreign tongue really caught their attention? God, he wasn’t good with dealing with attention. He may have craved it more than a fish craved water, but the more apt metaphor was certainly that of a dog chasing cars. Once he had it, he had no clue what to do with it. Worse yet, was that he didn’t actually know the answer to the question she posed.

“I think so?” Was his response, the question made explicit by the raising of his tone as the sentence concluded, “I’m from Ulster so not really sure.” He rubbed the back of his head, pulling at his mess of curls as he did so.

Suddenly finding himself on the backfoot, Nicholas attempted desperately to shift the conversation topic away from his own lack of knowledge in his heritage, “Both your talents were fantastic as well. Your dance was graceful and your hair changing was amazing,” he offered in turn, speaking rather hastily and with the sort of tone that betrayed his lack of social graces.

Nicholas may not have signed up with a talent, but if he had, small talk would certainly not be it.

Stats: STA: 12 | EVA: 6 | STR: 8 | WIS: 6 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 6
Abilities: Foulplay | Statistically Relevant
Interacting with: @Seren Yong & @Antoinette Asteria

D E A D L I N E

The word and errand requirements were met by the following students:
@Seren Yong | @Antoinette Asteria | @Nicholas McCowan

Rewards should be handed out before the end of the day. If you have any questions please feel free to owl me. I encourage all of you to continue roleplaying in this thread as I will not be locking it. Have fun, everyone!