5 Apr 2023, 15:56
20/3/2023 | To Romeo
As soon as Romeo awoke, he found Amet perched at his bedside with something in his beak: a small white silk bag detailed with silver arabesque curls. For once, Amet didn’t have far to go, but with all the flying lately, his nest daddy thought the little one deserved an easy job on this special day. Valentin hadn’t yet left the tower, having climbed back into his bunk to stare out the window as he lost himself in thought. A scroll held in Amet’s talons was also clearly for Romeo, which the white ural owl would happily transfer to (only) Romeo.
Romeva,
Regrettably, I just couldn't figure out your original birthdate and related details from the new investigator I hired, but I hope you will accept this gift today anyway, on the Spring Equinox, in a similar spirit. It is a special day for my people which celebrates the beginning of a new year with the arrival of Spring -- we call it Yılgayakh and celebrate it with a festival called Novruz. Tradition says that on this date, the entire universe falls asleep for one instant, and then reawakens anew. However you wish to take it, I wanted to give you something both practical and sentimental.
Lately, having lost a portion of my estate in Kazan and after just seeing my ruined childhood home in Germany, I have been thinking a lot about what “home” means. Certainly familiar places can bring comfort and a sense of stability, but then… however this might sound… the places where I grew up, and even Durmstrang, just don’t feel like home if I’m not with whom really matters to me. When I’m alone, such structures are little more than nostalgic architecture.
You told me before that you’re tired of traveling and just want to settle down and call one place a home, but that you didn’t know where you’re from, or from whom. Please keep up your quest until you find your answers, and it’s not my place to tell you where your heart should be, but lately I… just don’t believe that locations can really be homes anymore, not like convention says that they are. I can’t help but wonder if you grew so strong during your vagabond past because, so long as you were near your brother, home was not far no matter where you went. When you got separated, I saw this hit you both really hard. Of course the difficulty with people is that they need to move around and are not as predictable as the location of a house. That’s life.
In this pouch you will find a broom compass, but this one is special. It is an item I inherited. As you know, portkeys are quite rare, so please take good care of it. I have also added an enchantment so that the compass needle will always point to a lodestone located at the center of the blackthorn rose garden at my place. This is in case its original function somehow fails you. To activate it, you need only press down on the glass and rotate it 90 degrees in any direction. It's easy so that it can be used even in an emergency. If you’re ever in trouble and you just need to get away, somewhere you can get help, please use this.
Now, as I’ve just explained, my gift is useless in helping you find “home.” My estate is just another point on the curve of the planet. All I can do is try to make it a place where you can reliably get whatever it can provide you – food, materials, healing, refuge – any resource I can possibly get for you. Please just take what you need freely without having to even ask.
After everything I… just have to tell you the truth. There’s no structure on Earth where I belong, at least not anymore. The only time I feel at home is when I’m with you.
-Val
Written by Valentin's User @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood;
permission given for me to Post & mutual Godmod agreed upon.
Last edited by Piérre Marchonné on 20 Apr 2023, 17:05, edited 2 times in total.
Jesters do oft prove prophets. 𓀚
I am the brother account to Romeo Marchonné & Zyva Hel Fae Skógrwight
20 Apr 2023, 04:28
20/3/2023 | To Romeo
"Now Kostroma; you are to give this to Valentin, and you are NOT allowed to steal away any packages from any of the other owls on your way there." The large European eagle owl that I was fastening the letter to let out an angry screech and snapped her beak once before fixing me with vibrantly intelligent reddish eyes. I pointed a finger back at that beak as firmly as a parent refusing their child sweets before they ate their vegetables. "Don't give me beak. I know how you are and I'm telling you that you are not allowed to steal from the other owls trying to do their jobs!" I scolded again before being satisfied with the quality of the message attached to Kostroma's leg. Larger than her brother Kupalo, Kostroma liked to make good of her almost brutish strength when compared to the small owls that she happened to run across over the course of her deliveries. This usually resulted in the recipient of her letters receiving more than just their letters, particularly if there had been an interesting-looking package in the claws of another owl.
She meant well... but I couldn't abide theft by my own owl... Even as endearing as it was. Kostroma just wanted to shower gifts, just like another certain someone that I happened to know. Hiring an investigator on me just to try and determine my birthday? It was something I had lightly chuckled at the first time I had read it. It really wasn't a big deal to me, were I to be honest. A birthday was just like any other day of the year... I didn't really mind whether or not I knew the exact day. I cared about the fact that I was technically one year older and wiser. My twin and I had already decided a date of birth for ourselves, even if we never celebrated it past our seventh birthdays. I suppose I had grown out of it, and when I had my brother had. Perhaps such a thought was tragic... a child watching their peers celebrate birthdays around them while they didn't. Ah well...
I suppose the tragedy was only in the eye of the beholder. I was quite used to not celebrating my birthday by this point... so it really did come as a surprise when Valentin had gone out of his way to try and discover my birthdate. It wasn't something I was used to... but it wasn't disliked. Truthfully, he had been the very first person who had tried, heck, who had even cared enough to mention and ask me what it was. Perhaps everyone else believed that everyone else's birthdays were a given as well.
It did take me a while to come up with the right things to say in my returning letter, but I did try my best out of the seven drafts that I had crumpled, torn, or burned up in the process. All the while that golden snitch buzzed quite loudly in its jar that held down all previous letter correspondence from Valentin as I worked, a rather cheap and dull-looking heart-shaped locket leaned up against it as well. In the end, this is what I wrote and then sent back to Valentin:
Valentin,
Happy Novruz to you as well, and a merry 'Yılgayakh' was it? Even the name itself sounds incredibly intriguing. I sure wish that I could snatch a few more seconds of sleep, so I'm glad that even the universe itself is on my side on this matter. It sounds not terribly unlike the way that my twin and I view New Year's Eve and staying up until midnight so that we can experience the first few moments of the following day and start the year off right. I figured out pretty quickly that our parents actually set the clocks forward by a few hours so that they could get us off to bed at a sooner time, but that didn't really change the magic of the moment. I still try to stay up late on New Year's Eve just so that I can have a fresh view of the new year and let as many of the stresses of the previous year go as possible. The past is in the past; there is no use trying to change it, only trying to adapt to the future that came from it.
You really didn't have to go out of your way to try and discover my birthdate, truthfully you can rely on the one that is still on Piérre's and my records; June 6th, 2008. It was the day that we were found and the day we always celebrated when we were younger. Were I a betting man, I'd guess that our true birth month is closer to February or March. Who knows, maybe I'll eventually discover it with all the continued help you've given me so far; I've already made so much progress. You know that we now at last have a lead, this Gitano Luca Vero; we just have to find him and then we'll get some straight answers or further clues when we do.
And of course, this does brings to mind the definition of a home and what its barebones elements are. I am so thankful for having a brother to begin with for sure, even as much as he irritates me on a daily basis when it comes down to it... I did miss him so much when we separated, and I thought so deeply that I had done the right thing. I doubt myself every day over that choice; maybe it would have been better if I hadn't elected to attend Durmstrang to begin with, but then I see how much he's able to stand on his own. He's so much bolder than he used to be, much more comfortable in his skin... He doesn't seem like he runs as easily, or if he doesn't immediately run he holds his ground just as bravely as I. He doesn't seem to need me anymore. Maybe it's because of all of this, but I can't imagine what it must have been like to be a single child. I just hope that we haven't fallen away altogether; God knows how many things and how many mistakes I've made with trying to protect him for so long and so religiously as I have in the past. Have I stunted his sociality? Have I made him too reliant on me? Or maybe I've grown too reliant on him, the thing I spent years trying to protect from the things that I should have known would make him strong enough to face them alone.
The portkey compass is already on your Firebolt, Valentin; it matches the dark design so beautifully. I can't wait to use it on a casual cruise. I don't try my ability to keep it safe during a game of course, I don't want to risk breaking such a beautiful gift with so much significance to both you and me. I would be so honored for you to have me at Kazan whenever it is most convenient for you. Whenever you need company as well, let me know; I'm sure Maddie would be happy to know that I've finally made some close friends here and would be more than willing to find an excuse to quite literally kick me out of her house for a few days. Maybe I could help you rebuild or do paperwork with Sergei if he could use any of my help. It's the least I can do to help repay you for all the help you've given to me in the past year alone.
And, of course, if you need a change of scenery... you can come to London as well. We can meet somewhere safe and I can take you to Maddie's house. Just so that we can avoid anyone who wants to try to mess with you again. Piérre would be... delighted to say the least and I'm sure that Maddie would take a shining to you simply because you do possess such a beautiful character and so many incredible talents and knowledge. Just mind that she can sometimes come off a little hawkish at first, so take warning now, hey?
Again, Happy Novruz. May your new year be fresh and rife with opportunities, and may I be there to help you carry the load; you need only ask.
Text Translation:Amet was such a sweet bird, I reflected as I gently rubbed the fabric of the silky bag between my thumb and forefinger. In my other hand, I lightly tapped the glass covering of the broom compass, deathly curious of what it was like to travel by Portkey. I had never used that method of transport before, and I wanted somewhat to try using it once were it not for the fact that if I did use it I would be sent miles and miles away from Durmstrang's castle and would then subsequently have to try to find a way back.
Perhaps it would be better saved for a different occasion... Yet the offer in inked words that I would be given whatever I needed clashed strangely in the recesses of my mind; I couldn't really seem to come to grips with such a thought. To be given everything that I needed without any work on my behalf somehow seemed wrong and greedy. It was so strange for me to simply receive gifts... and it was similarly difficult for me to give them because of the same extension of that thought. somehow I felt that whatever I received in my life was somehow built upon the things that I had done in the past; every action and everything I did. Ergo... perhaps it was natural for me to think that I didn't deserve anything. Surely I could be happy without much to my name. So long as I had a way to make it through the day, that was all I needed, right?
Maybe that's why I kept anything that I was given close to my chest, relationship or otherwise. Maybe that's why it hurt so much whenever they were compromised. It was something I prized, something that I loved, now suddenly torn away from me; one less thing to my name. The few things I had were precious. I would do anything to keep them that way.
'There’s no structure on Earth where I belong, at least not anymore. The only time I feel at home is when I’m with you.' These words clung with me, and it was these words that continued to swirl in my mind, even as I turned in for the night and gradually allowed the universe to sleep with me for one second before it awoke anew the next moment later; enormous and unknown, and I a single small figure located in it. Almost insignificant... except for those words that dared to claim otherwise.
Reducio
Valentin,
Happy Novruz to you as well, and a merry 'Yılgayakh' was it? Even the name itself sounds incredibly intriguing. I sure wish that I could snatch a few more seconds of sleep, so I'm glad that even the universe itself is on my side on this matter. It sounds not terribly unlike the way that my twin and I view New Year's Eve and staying up until midnight so that we can experience the first few moments of the following day and start the year off right. I figured out pretty quickly that our parents actually set the clocks forward by a few hours so that they could get us off to bed at a sooner time, but that didn't really change the magic of the moment. I still try to stay up late on New Year's Eve just so that I can have a fresh view of the new year and let as many of the stresses of the previous year go as possible. The past is in the past; there is no use trying to change it, only trying to adapt to the future that came from it.
You really didn't have to go out of your way to try and discover my birthdate, truthfully you can rely on the one that is still on Piérre's and my records; June 6th, 2008. It was the day that we were found and the day we always celebrated when we were younger. Were I a betting man, I'd guess that our true birth month is closer to February or March. Who knows, maybe I'll eventually discover it with all the continued help you've given me so far; I've already made so much progress. You know that we now at last have a lead, this Gitano Luca Vero; we just have to find him and then we'll get some straight answers or further clues when we do.
And of course, this does brings to mind the definition of a home and what its barebones elements are. I am so thankful for having a brother to begin with for sure, even as much as he irritates me on a daily basis when it comes down to it... I did miss him so much when we separated, and I thought so deeply that I had done the right thing. I doubt myself every day over that choice; maybe it would have been better if I hadn't elected to attend Durmstrang to begin with, but then I see how much he's able to stand on his own. He's so much bolder than he used to be, much more comfortable in his skin... He doesn't seem like he runs as easily, or if he doesn't immediately run he holds his ground just as bravely as I. He doesn't seem to need me anymore. Maybe it's because of all of this, but I can't imagine what it must have been like to be a single child. I just hope that we haven't fallen away altogether; God knows how many things and how many mistakes I've made with trying to protect him for so long and so religiously as I have in the past. Have I stunted his sociality? Have I made him too reliant on me? Or maybe I've grown too reliant on him, the thing I spent years trying to protect from the things that I should have known would make him strong enough to face them alone.
The portkey compass is already on your Firebolt, Valentin; it matches the dark design so beautifully. I can't wait to use it on a casual cruise. I don't try my ability to keep it safe during a game of course, I don't want to risk breaking such a beautiful gift with so much significance to both you and me. I would be so honored for you to have me at Kazan whenever it is most convenient for you. Whenever you need company as well, let me know; I'm sure Maddie would be happy to know that I've finally made some close friends here and would be more than willing to find an excuse to quite literally kick me out of her house for a few days. Maybe I could help you rebuild or do paperwork with Sergei if he could use any of my help. It's the least I can do to help repay you for all the help you've given to me in the past year alone.
And, of course, if you need a change of scenery... you can come to London as well. We can meet somewhere safe and I can take you to Maddie's house. Just so that we can avoid anyone who wants to try to mess with you again. Piérre would be... delighted to say the least and I'm sure that Maddie would take a shining to you simply because you do possess such a beautiful character and so many incredible talents and knowledge. Just mind that she can sometimes come off a little hawkish at first, so take warning now, hey?
Again, Happy Novruz. May your new year be fresh and rife with opportunities, and may I be there to help you carry the load; you need only ask.
Happy Novruz to you as well, and a merry 'Yılgayakh' was it? Even the name itself sounds incredibly intriguing. I sure wish that I could snatch a few more seconds of sleep, so I'm glad that even the universe itself is on my side on this matter. It sounds not terribly unlike the way that my twin and I view New Year's Eve and staying up until midnight so that we can experience the first few moments of the following day and start the year off right. I figured out pretty quickly that our parents actually set the clocks forward by a few hours so that they could get us off to bed at a sooner time, but that didn't really change the magic of the moment. I still try to stay up late on New Year's Eve just so that I can have a fresh view of the new year and let as many of the stresses of the previous year go as possible. The past is in the past; there is no use trying to change it, only trying to adapt to the future that came from it.
You really didn't have to go out of your way to try and discover my birthdate, truthfully you can rely on the one that is still on Piérre's and my records; June 6th, 2008. It was the day that we were found and the day we always celebrated when we were younger. Were I a betting man, I'd guess that our true birth month is closer to February or March. Who knows, maybe I'll eventually discover it with all the continued help you've given me so far; I've already made so much progress. You know that we now at last have a lead, this Gitano Luca Vero; we just have to find him and then we'll get some straight answers or further clues when we do.
And of course, this does brings to mind the definition of a home and what its barebones elements are. I am so thankful for having a brother to begin with for sure, even as much as he irritates me on a daily basis when it comes down to it... I did miss him so much when we separated, and I thought so deeply that I had done the right thing. I doubt myself every day over that choice; maybe it would have been better if I hadn't elected to attend Durmstrang to begin with, but then I see how much he's able to stand on his own. He's so much bolder than he used to be, much more comfortable in his skin... He doesn't seem like he runs as easily, or if he doesn't immediately run he holds his ground just as bravely as I. He doesn't seem to need me anymore. Maybe it's because of all of this, but I can't imagine what it must have been like to be a single child. I just hope that we haven't fallen away altogether; God knows how many things and how many mistakes I've made with trying to protect him for so long and so religiously as I have in the past. Have I stunted his sociality? Have I made him too reliant on me? Or maybe I've grown too reliant on him, the thing I spent years trying to protect from the things that I should have known would make him strong enough to face them alone.
The portkey compass is already on your Firebolt, Valentin; it matches the dark design so beautifully. I can't wait to use it on a casual cruise. I don't try my ability to keep it safe during a game of course, I don't want to risk breaking such a beautiful gift with so much significance to both you and me. I would be so honored for you to have me at Kazan whenever it is most convenient for you. Whenever you need company as well, let me know; I'm sure Maddie would be happy to know that I've finally made some close friends here and would be more than willing to find an excuse to quite literally kick me out of her house for a few days. Maybe I could help you rebuild or do paperwork with Sergei if he could use any of my help. It's the least I can do to help repay you for all the help you've given to me in the past year alone.
And, of course, if you need a change of scenery... you can come to London as well. We can meet somewhere safe and I can take you to Maddie's house. Just so that we can avoid anyone who wants to try to mess with you again. Piérre would be... delighted to say the least and I'm sure that Maddie would take a shining to you simply because you do possess such a beautiful character and so many incredible talents and knowledge. Just mind that she can sometimes come off a little hawkish at first, so take warning now, hey?
Again, Happy Novruz. May your new year be fresh and rife with opportunities, and may I be there to help you carry the load; you need only ask.