25 Apr 2023, 09:55
On Pointe
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Despite being a family of purebloods, Hephaestus Beithir, Qrow's dad, made certain that his family was well educated in Muggle activities. Every summer their family would attend a performance at the theatre, and upon witnessing a dance by the name of Swan Lake, Qrow fell head over heels in love with the art of ballet.
ReducioInteracting with @Alyssea Brown
In the eyes of Qrow Beithir, ballet was noble. The strength and discipline required to excel in such a demanding form of art were admirable, and the ability each dancer had to hide their pain and hide themselves behind masquerades of delicate, fragile beauty was brilliant. Ballet was painful, yes; however, the power and grace in each movement were beautiful, and it was that summer performance that fueled the child's burning passion to dance.
It was freeing.
You could dance your love, your joy, and your pain. To dance was to express oneself without the use of words but through movements of the body.
Upon starting Hogwarts, the redhead was afraid of losing such an enjoyable hobby; however, these fears were quickly put to rest when they discovered the rehearsal room on the fourth floor.
Years of blood, sweat, and tears invisible on the floorboards, the rehearsal room was a sanctuary for those who devoted their souls to the performing arts. Large, arched windows beckoned light into the room even on the dullest of days, reflecting off the polished floorboards and brightening the dark stone walls. The ceiling was high and domed, catching the whispers of the simplest melodies and reverberating them around the room. Spread across the floor from the centre was the Hogwarts crest, magically painted onto the wood to ensure that no dancer tripped on any odd bumps. A bar stuck to the stone provided support to the best of the dancers through their hardships.
In the centre of the domed ceiling hung a decorative chandelier. Little silver birds perched on its many branches, and the candles on their backs stretched proudly towards the ceiling. By night, mysterious wing-shaped shadows were cast upon the walls, creating a flickering spotlight in the centre of the floor for any talented student willing to take the stage. The candles always remained lit, even when the corridors were quiet and the teachers were sleeping soundly in their beds. Qrow had discovered that as long as they could get past the heavy oak door, they were free to create a spectacle. One simply had to look at the silhouettes of wings on the walls to be reminded that they, too, could fly.
Watching these students take flight were the curtained portraits that were evenly spaced along the curved walls. While the odd snide remark was not uncommon, these paintings could always be counted on to give a performer a hearty round of applause. Their lips were sealed when it came to the doings of the room’s previous occupant, but somehow they always had something to say to a visitor. If a particularly shy student entered the room, the curtains framing the paintings would flap closed in disappointed respect, leaving the paintings’ occupants listening avidly until the door shut once again. The paintings applauded no matter the situation.
The rehearsal room provided an escape for those who needed it, and it was on tiresome nights such as this that the young Slytherin found themselves needing a welcome distraction such as the brutal beauty in the monotony of dancing.
It was past curfew. If the Slytherin was caught out of bounds at this hour, they’d certainly receive a detention, not that they could find it in themselves to care.
Niamh Beithir wasn’t getting any better.
Their mother was sick, and the bubbling worry that was steadily threatening to drown them, combined with the restlessness that came with insomnia, was beginning to drive them crazy. They needed to move, and dancing felt like the safest option.
Equipped with a pair of forest green leather shoes, soft and supple, with worn pads on the bottom where the material gathered in from the top. Ballet slippers were tied to Qrow's feet with a criss-cross of ribbon and elastic bands, which pulled the two sides of the shoe together.
The pull of their limbs as they stretched felt nice, warm, and stretchy like toffee as their muscles loosened. Soon they were dancing, their silent feet gracefully gliding and soaring across the wood floor. Their worries had been shut out, left on the other side of the door.
Their freedom was short-lived.
The door opened.
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26 Apr 2023, 09:58
On Pointe
Normally, Alyssea was a good child who understood the word 'curfew' and would never sneak out past the designated time. The curfew usually wasn't an issue, anyway, with the amount of work piling up not long after she started Hogwarts. She would spend countless hours at her desk by lamplight, scribbling essays furiously in hopes of at least an A on her report card.interacting with @Qrow Beithir
The first essay was always the hardest and sure enough, she had disappointed herself. She wanted better.
But tonight, the anxiety and stress were finally getting to her. She hadn't been to the Rehearsal Room in a long time since homework began to pile up. There was no time, she convinced herself. No time allowed for singing or dancing or reliving old musical theatre memories.
Desperate to relieve herself of the stress (and her desk), she ventured out into the halls. As a theatre student, you learn to tread lightly on your feet or else people hear only your footsteps and not your lines. Getting to the fourth floor was not an issue.
She missed this. Why did she ever think she couldn't save time to do this during her day?
When she arrived at the large oak doors, she pushed them open and snuck in, closing the doors closely behind her. She expected the room to be empty as it always had been. She'd see the occasional student come in to play an instrument since the acoustics in the room were top-tier. But especially at this hour she expected nobody to be here.
So imagine Alyssea's surprise when she found another student dancing in the room. They had a pair of dark green ballet slippers, and while Alyssea wasn't one to assume, she could guess they were Slytherin. Or they just liked the colour green.
(The shoes were gorgeous.)
When the other student took notice of her, Alyssea cleared her throat and placed her arms behind her back. "Hi! Sorry if I'm interrupting. I can leave, if you'd like the space to yourself. I don't mind."
Alyssea offered them a smile. "I'm Alyssea."
“I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
26 Apr 2023, 14:55
On Pointe
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Qrow looked at the student, who cleared her throat and placed her arms behind her back.
ReducioInteracting with @Alyssea Brown
"Hi! Sorry if I'm interrupting. I can leave, if you'd like the space to yourself. I don't mind."
She offered them a smile. "I'm Alyssea."
They Slytherin hadn’t expected anyone else to be here this late at night, and, whilst she had offered to leave if Qrow wished to be alone, they didn’t trust her not to go and tell a teacher about another student being out of bed, should she get caught on her way back to her common room.
“You can stay.” They replied, having stopped in the midst of their improvised routine to peer at the girl. She was much shorter than the redhead, about 4 feet 6, with wavy brown hair with lighter highlights and brown eyes.
Alyssea.
Qrow didn’t recognise her as a fellow snake, and they couldn’t imagine a Ravenclaw being reckless enough to risk getting into trouble with a teacher or prefect for something as simple as breaking curfew. That left Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, and the girls' offer to leave for Qrow's own comfort felt much more like a Hufflepuff trait.
They went back to dancing and were beginning to work their way through a few high arabesque moves. The first year was greatly thankful that they had received this new pair of pointe shoes for Christmas. Their old ones had practically been falling apart and wouldn’t have lasted much longer, especially as Qrow's stress only seemed to have doubled since the holidays, and they had been dancing even more in order to burn off the excess anxious energy.
This wasn’t the first time they had snuck out of their dorm room past curfew to dance here, and it likely wasn’t going to be the last.
Thinking of Christmas only brought back images of their mother. She had been paler than usual and sickly thin, with dark circles under her eyes. During their holiday parties, she always took over the role of ‘gracious host,’ but this year she hadn’t been herself, barely speaking to their extended family and often being lost in her own thoughts.
Qrow's fathers, Daemon and Hephaestus, had tried desperately to fill her role; however, it was to no avail; neither of the men were as attuned to the needs of their guests, and the child knew they weren’t the only family member that was worrying about the health of Niamh Beithir.
She would hate that her only child was dwelling on her ill health and breaking rules, but dancing was the one healthy way that the child felt comfortable expressing their emotions. Each graceful movement, each soundless step, and each pirouette expressed the sorrow that they felt for their mother and the anger they felt at their own helplessness in aiding her condition.
Finally, they finished, if only to take a breather, and bask in the moonlight that shone in through the uncovered window.
They observed the other student with curious eyes for a moment before they spoke.
“I’m Qrow. Qrow Beithir.”
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27 Apr 2023, 08:57
On Pointe
"You can stay," they said.interacting with @Qrow Beithir
Alyssea nodded and took to the walls, settling on the stone floor and holding her knees close to her. The floor was cold, which wasn't a surprise, of course. She watched as they danced throughout the hall, raising her back leg in a graceful pose. When she took a closer look at the shoes, they weren't just soft ballet slippers. They were pointe shoes.
Alyssea never took ballet. She did musical theatre! But the dance style of musical theatre was quite simple so that anyone could perform. She knew a few elements of a good-looking dance, but the technical terms? She didn't know, and she certainly didn't know anything about ballet.
Still, she watched them dance with grace. The sight enticed her. She loved watching people dance, but there was the particular sort who knew how to dance. She couldn't describe it; they were the ones who could dance 'prettily', who could look attractive while dancing. Though, that didn't make any sense, did it? Everyone had their own style of dancing so it was only a matter of how they performed it to an audience.
Either way, this person was exactly what Alyssea would describe as 'someone who dances prettily'. Perhaps it was the ballet routine they were doing that naturally demanded care and elegance, or it was a natural instinct of the person.
When they stopped, Alyssea clapped almost silently and smiled. It was nice to see someone else enjoy the space; Alyssea loved it here.
They looked to Alyssea and introduced themselves. Alyssea raised her eyebrows. "Qrow? Like the crow bird? Or something else?"
Qrow Beithir. What an interesting person to meet this late at night.
“I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
29 Apr 2023, 12:22
On Pointe
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When they stopped, Alyssea clapped almost silently and smiled. They tried desperately not to bask in the quiet show of praise, but the redhead was known to occasionally enjoy being the centre of attention.
ReducioInteracting with @Alyssea Brown
They half noted to themselves that dancing in their pyjamas probably wasn’t the best idea; they hadn’t wanted to risk getting caught by any of the other Slytherins. Non the less, it was sort of awkward to be standing before another student that had just watched them dance wearing an oversized t-shirt that says ‘I whisper what the fuck to myself almost fifty times a day’ and a pair of black and purple tie-dye sweatpants...
Fuck it.
"I’m Qrow. Qrow Beithir."
Alyssea raised her eyebrows. "Qrow? Like the crow bird? Or something else?"
The Slytherin snorted in amusement. It was always the first question anyone asked about their name.
"It’s Welsh, spelled Q- R - O - W. It means ‘Blessed white crow or raven’."
Though that wasn’t their given name, just a shortened version of it; Qrowley was their actual name. Of course, nobody outside of their family knew that; everybody simply referred to the child as Qrow, even their own parents unless they were in trouble. They could hardly understand why their parents would burden them with such a name; most people couldn’t spell it, and everyone always requested an explanation for it. Perhaps it was to seem unique?
They decided to change the subject.
"As much as I appreciate an audience, I can’t imagine you being here to watch me dance." The Slytherin joked as they pushed their mane of curls out of their face.
"So, why are you here?"
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17 May 2023, 05:30
On Pointe
As soon as the words left her lips, she mentally recoiled in shame. The question was stupid, but she couldn't help it. She had the habit of saying anything without thinking about it first which, right now, is an awful habit to have.interacting with @Qrow Beithir
Qrow snorted. "It’s Welsh, spelled Q- R - O - W."
Alyssea nodded. When she heard the meaning, her eyes widened with more curiosity. It was pretty. Did white crows exist? Alyssea had never seen one before. She imagined crows were always black, but genetics obviously has a role to play with feather colours. Not that she paid much attention to science class, though.
"So, why are you here?" Qrow asked.
"Oh! Uhm, you'd be right about not coming here to watch you dance," Alyssea chuckled nervously, "I wanted a break from my homework. Been spending nights just writing essays and I couldn't do it anymore." She fiddled her hands.
The thought of homework came back to her. God, they would absolutely take her if she didn't finish them soon. Beside her, her wrist went numb. And it was only part-way through the year; just imagine the workload by the time final exams come up!
She took her numb hand and rubbed circles into her skin. They did little to alleviate the pain, but it was mostly as a display of her work. "I didn't expect anyone to be here, that's all."
“I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
23 May 2023, 14:35
On Pointe
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ReducioInteracting with @Alyssea Brown
Qrow | #064107 | Qrow's Thoughts | #11a513
"Oh! Uhm, you'd be right about not coming here to watch you dance."
Alyssea chuckled nervously. "I wanted a break from my homework. "I've been spending nights just writing essays, and I couldn't do it anymore." She explained as she fiddled with her hands, rubbing circles into her skin. "I didn't expect anyone to be here, that's all."
Well, that much was obvious, the redhead thought as they watched the girl seemingly attempt to ease some sort of pain in her hands. Or at least that's what it looked like she was doing, and it was probably likely considering the amount of homework they seemed to be getting at the moment. To be honest, the only reason the redhead didn’t find themselves struggling with their own homework is because they had gotten into the habit of doing it as soon as they got it.
Qrow hadn’t really expected to be disturbed either, especially this late at night and on the same night as the dance club; alas, here they were, and they were going to make the best of it. Though the Slytherin had to admit that they were curious as to why the other student chose the rehearsal room of all things, It wasn’t as if there weren't plenty of rooms in Hogwarts, so why the rehearsal room in particular?
"So... you’re clearly in the rehearsal room for a reason," the Slytherin began. "Not only that, but you’ve likely been here before if you were confident enough to get here after curfew... What do you do? Dance, sing, act?"
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28 May 2023, 09:38
On Pointe
"What do you do? Dance, sing act?"interacting with @Qrow Beithir
Alyssea chuckled. "All three, actually. But not so much on the dancing. I did musical theatre and drama before Hogwarts."
She was more confident in her acting ability than her singing and dancing abilities combined. As her fellow theatre mates would say, she could dance well enough not to look like an absolute mess on stage but not as graceful and sharp as any of the trained actors that would be cast.
For one show, she borrowed a dancer's jazz shoes and, while the shoes were fantastic and felt great for the dance numbers, it felt like stepping into an expectation that she couldn't quite meet. Although Alyssea did have the energy to make up for it.
"I, uhh," Alyssea began, "I have been here before. Not long after the year started."
She remembered the awe when she first entered the room. The portraits were an unexpected, but not unwelcome, audience. The feeling of finding the room the first time felt so long ago. And while a few months could be classified as a 'long time ago', mathematically speaking, it really wasn't.
"It's like a second home here." Alyssea smiled. "I miss the theatres I used to perform at back home."
“I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby