A meeting with a quill pal PV Ayuna Baudelaire closed

Date: sep 9. 2022 | Time: 7:35 | Outfit: ✕ | CC: #222f5b

This autumn breeze blew in from the tall windows and into the Owlery. It has a way of moving her hair, of tousling it into buoyant curls. It carries with it the fragrance of earth, soft after the washing of the rain and a sweet and steady sense of joy.

Ayuna scurried up the stairs, panting, finally arriving at an open room with hundreds of owls nestled inside. Why, oh why couldn't wizards use elevators! she thought and rested for a moment, sweat dripping off her forehead. There was no elevators or escalators in the wizarding world whatsoever, and that could really emphasize the true value of elevators. She would give anything to not climb all the stairs weaving in and out of Hogwarts. And if that wasn't enough, the owlery is on the top floor! Eight floors perhaps? She wasn't very sure but it did seem like an extremely looooooooong way! Still, the sight still amazes her, despite all the times when she had tied a letter onto an owl and delivered it to her quill pal.

Today was different. The girl didn't tie any letters to an owls legs or receive any, instead felt her heart beat loudly in her chest, her hopes up. There was cheerfulness in the air, a quiet kind of 'cheerful', the soft kind that comes as a quiet river on a sunny day. Looking around, Ayuna examined the blue watch on her wrist. 7:35 am, She should be here now, she thought and walked closer to a humungous birdbath beside her, But where is she?

Suddenly, a girl with dark milk-chocolate-brown skin, emerald green eyes and short, messy and fluffy dark brown hair caught her eye. The girl was leaning on one of the walls, wearing a Slytherin uniform. Slytherin! Ayuna thought, her mind doing cartwheels, That must be her! She walked a bit closer, her footsteps quiet and barely making a sound, "Ozzie!" she suddenly shouted, attempting to scare her, "Remember me?" she asked with a wide smile.

interacting with: @Mahlioz Evethisawe
word count: 336

Mahlioz flinched at the sudden loud noise, looking up with a start. The shout had apparently also startled some of the nearby owls who flew away - quite indignantly - with a fluff of their feathers and a small cluck. Mahlioz shyed away slightly from the seemingly very excited person in front of her. It could only be Ayuna - she was the only one who used that nickname. Ozzie. It made her blush a little. What a childish nickname; if Reltyl heard of this they'd be making fun of her for years onward. But they were not, and Mahlioz secretly kind of enjoyed the nickname.
Composing herself from both the fright and the embarrassment, she finally got a good look at her quill pal. Yuri was a fit girl with chesnut brown straight hair, aqua blue eyes, and, at the moment, a giant grin on her face. She was wearing typical Ravenclaw attire - the black and blue jacket with the crest. Mahlioz felt a very light pang as she saw the colors, a hint of jealousy, but it was gone in an instant. She'd gotten better over the past week at her Slytherin pride, and the sight of a Ravenclaw no longer affected her as much as it had used to.
She gave a tentative smile to the first year in front of her. "Of course I remember you, you're the reason I'm here this morning." She wasn't sure what to do with herself. Wave, shake hands, leap right into a hug? The first seemed distant, the second too formal, and she was not really a hugger, especially with someone she hadn't met in person before. She went with sticking her hands into her green hoodie pocket, and grinned a little. It was weird, finally meeting Yuri. The young Slytherin felt like she already knew her, but now she was attaching a face to the personality. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. But it felt weird to think this was the same girl who had been so proud of her first O, who had gone to a muggle school like her, who loved going to the library. This was, well, Yuri, and Mahlioz was finally talking to her. "How are you?"

Ayuna smiled excitedly, for she knew Ozzie had recognized her. She was the only one who called her Ozzie and the nickname was real cute. "Good morning!" she grinned and gave Ozzie a friendly pat on the shoulder, then leaned beside her on the wall, You know, I reckon these wizards have some sort of problem." she smirked and pursed her lips, "Why on earth do they still use stairs? It's not the medieval times anymore, it's the time of technology!"

Just an hour ago, Ayuna had been feeling so nervous about meeting her quill pal. Thinking of an opening speech, trying on clothes, even brainstorming how her quill pal would look like. Never knew it would be this easy. Grams would be satisfied, if she knew her granddaughter was making friends and socializing without much of a problem. "I'm good!" she smiled tentatively, "How about you?" This was 100 percent true. Ayuna had gotten a lot of Outstandings in her past week and was more energetic than before.

She eyed the girl. The Slytherin girl whom she called Ozzie. She was cute, and nice, but just seems so distant. Perhaps it was putting a face onto the girl you've never met but talked through letters. She was still the girl Ayuna talked through letters, the same girl who hated stereotypes and was just as nice as any other student.

@Mahlioz Evethisawe

Mahlioz grinned - although shyly - at Yuri's comment. "I was thinking the same thing, coming up here. Wizards are sometimes rule sticklers, not wanting to mix with muggles and their elevator inventions." She nodded. What a coincidence that they'd both be thinking the same thing, getting here! ...Then again, not really - six floors of stairs was exhausting, and they both came from families with muggles. So it made sense that the thought came to both of their minds.

"I'm pretty good too, thanks," Mahlioz said in answer to Yuri's question. Although she missed her family and her home - it'd only been a week and two days, but still - Hogwarts was amazing. "It's so cool to be able to learn so much about magic, and legends, and where everything comes from... I know lots of people don't like History of Magic, but I find it quite interesting." She was surprised at how much she was talking. Usually she was quiet, stayed in the corner somewhere, out of earshot and outside the rings of conversation others strung together. But today apparently her brain had decided to get out of its comfort zone, for some reason. She wasn't sure whether she liked it, but it was a nice change.

"It's... nice to finally meet you," the first year added with a smile. She had been wrong - it wasn't like talking to a completely new person at all. The more she stood here, the more her brain seemed to tell her that this girl and Yuri from the letters were exactly the same person. They seemed to fit together like a puzzle. And now Mahlioz felt like she could talk to her as freely as she had when they'd been writing to each other, just like old friends did after having not seen each other in a long time.

"Sometimes wizards just don't know the magic of technology." smirked Ayuna, nodding at Ozzie's comment about rule-sticking wizards not mixing with muggle stuff. It seemed as if the two girls had the same thoughts on wizards and how tiring the stairs are. They are both muggle-born and familiar with muggle inventions, after all. "I wish I had a broom and could zoom on to any floor I want." she laughed, "It will be much less tiring!" The girl was quickly getting familiar to Ozzie and can see the same personality she talked through letters behind the face.

"Good to hear that!" she grinned, "I'm just a bit homesick, miss Grams." The girl smiled bittersweetly. She indeed missed her grandmother, missed sneaking up the fire escape, and missed her pets the most. Still, Hogwarts was amazing, so why should she complain? "You're probably the first person I've ever met who loves History." The Ravenclaw eyed Ozzie curiously, "Personally, History is quite boring to me, I can sleep through the class." A small grin appeared upon the lips and she stuffed her hands into the two pockets.

It's nice to meet you too!" Ayuna replied with a wide grin. She found it easy to speak aloud her thoughts to Ozzie and open up. Perhaps it was their friendship between letters. Either way, the Ravenclaw was hoping to be friends with the Snake.

@Mahlioz Evethisawe

"Agreed," Mahlioz replied with a laugh. "Quite ironic, really, since they like magic so much. They just can't accept that muggles can be just as smart as them sometimes." She, too, was glad the two had muggle culture in common. Mahlioz's childhood had been a confusing one, half-magical and half-electrical, but she'd gotten used to both sides of her family. "Honestly, I would be terrified to, but if it gets me out of running up six flights of stairs, I'll take it."

Mahlioz smiled back at her friend sympathetically at the mention of homesickness. It was one more thing that brought them together - it'd only been nine days, but Mahlioz missed her family so much already. She could just imagine Reltyl, her sibling, having to walk to school every day on their own... three years ago Hyltwis and Mahlioz would have accompanied them, but everything was different now. Whether that was a good thing was yet to be discovered - Hogwarts was pretty awesome. "I understand that. As great as this school can be, it doesn't make home any less great." She laughed again at the Ravenclaw's note. "I don't know why I like it, I get that it can be boring but to me it just feels like listening to stories. And since it's a history of magic and not muggles, there are a lot more interesting stories."

She grinned back at her friend. She couldn't even voice how happy she was to have found someone like Yuri - they were so similar, and yet they had those differences that made them interesting. "I'm glad! Hey, do you think we're allowed to eat breakfast at different tables than our house ones? It'd be cool if we could eat breakfast together."