21 Oct 2023, 18:44
Sky's the Limit
IC Date: October 8, 2023
Interacting with: Ren Willow-Saito @Qrowley Beithir
Elias signing: #84774d
Elias writing: #6591ad
Thoughts: Italics
Others: BoldElias had not expected to go to the U.K. anytime soon, let alone stay there for more than a few days. It's not like his family was rich, nor could his parents take enough time off from their jobs for such a vacation.
But here he was. So many new things had happened this year, evidenced by several things. For starters, there was a wand in Elias' pocket. Practically useless since he didn't speak, but he was working hard to learn basic spells. He knew it would take a long time, but the boy was nothing if not determined.
Another new thing: the pencil behind his ear and the notebook in his satchel, as well as the little green quill that wrote down whatever it heard. Magnificent and mind-boggling.
The presence of his interpreter, Lance, was gone too. Elias missed the young man who had become almost like a way older sibling, perhaps a cousin, in the years they had spent together. Often, Elias would forget and panic for a moment when he didn't sense Lance nearby.
It wasn't the smartest idea, you could say, to go wandering around a Gothic castle historically full of dangers without the ability to hear or speak. Actually, scratch that. Elias knew how to scream. Parker and Brenden had made sure of that.
He found himself going up and up some winding stairs, his steps quick and excited. The adrenaline of exploration was something the young Thunderbird never tired of.
When he reached the top, he was met with a large but homey-looking room with all sorts of science-y instruments around. It was slightly chilly. Elias almost regretted not bringing his coat. It was red, though, a color Elias disliked strongly.
Otherwise, the room intrigued him, and so did the view. He figured he was in Hogwarts' tallest tower for what he could see. Sunlight shimmered on the lake and he was faced with the memory of his first ball. Such an... Interesting experience. He smiled at the thought of his newfound friend, the girl who could sign. Ruby. I need to make a sign name for her.
While he was lost in thought, he would sense a presence, a person either joining him or simply someone he didn't notice was there before. They had white hair. Their eyes were much like Elias', expressive. Hello, Elias signed, in BSL, that particular sign very similar to ASL. He was starting to learn BSL, having owled Parker about the new development before leaving for Hogwarts. She had promptly sent him a book about BSL and he was frantically trying to gain fluency as fast as he could. Nice day.
22 Oct 2023, 12:31
Sky's the Limit
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𝕀 ℕ ℙ ℂMahoutokoro─▪────────────────────────▪─
ReducioInteracting with @Astra Norrick ad iNPC Elias Travers
Sign Language | #70bfef | Communication Cards | #ef70df
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Coming to the UK so early into second year had been a bit of a surprise, though not a bad one.
It wasn’t as if Ren hadn’t been there before; his mum was born here, and so he had been going every summer at least, every year since he had been adopted. Despite that fact, it was debatable as to whether the boy would ever get used to the cold climate of Scotland; how did Qrowley deal with it?
Qrowley…
Ren had barely seen their cousin since getting here and despite the white haired boy's constant wanderings, he could not for the life of him find where the Slytherin common room was…
It wasn’t even as if he was going to go in; he doubted he was allowed, even if his redheaded cousin was with him; all he wanted to do was find it, wait for some random passerby in Hogwarts robes accented with green, and kindly ask them to fetch his cousin.
He had actually been searching for the room when he ended up in the Astronomy Tower, despite believing he had ever left the first floor.
He was looking for the dungeons - notorious for being lower down in the school - how did he end up all the way up here without noticing he had gone up any stairs?
This school had to be messing with him…
It was quite likely the highest point of Hogwarts and located in its own tower. Ren had heard their cousins from Hogwarts complain many a time about how much effort it was to climb the stairs, made ever worse by the fact that the Astronomy lessons took place late into the night. Personally, those memories just made him more confused as to how on earth he had managed to get up here without realising it…
The room was rather pretty; open and uncluttered, with dark drapes and glittering silver tapestries on the few and far between stone walls, with the remaining areas of a clear, glassy quality, and shaped like a dome. If he looked up, he could see the sky; it was still daylight outside, so no stars, but it would be rather nice to sit and watch the clouds; there was also quite the view of the grounds from the outward windows that leadway to the balcony. A few orreries hung overhead, in the same, condensed patterns as the actual planets, and for a moment, Ren wondered why his older cousins had ever complained; he could imagine laying on the floor at night and watching the stars until they disappeared one by one as the sun rose.
There was a large pile of cushions in the lecture area, some with various patterns, mostly alluding to astronomical imagery, though some were also inspired by the houses; they were likely for the students of Hogwarts to sit on during their lessons.
Bookshelves lined the remaining walls neatly, littered with many of the volumes of Astronomy texts, books, or charts. Among the books many knick knacks had also been stashed; mini figurines of all sorts and a few bins that lined the bottom of the bookshelves closest to where the students sat. One of which had been labelled ‘Fidget Toys’, another, ‘Extra Blankets’ another, ‘Colouring Books & Utensils’, and lastly one that had the label ‘Pieces of Encouragement’.
Suddenly the boy realised exactly why Qrow loved this class
Ren watched as another person entered, seemingly unaware of his existence as they looked around, before eyes fell onto him.
Was there a lecture here today? Was this part of the castle even used for classes during the day? Shit, was he about to get in trouble?
He reached for the communication cards that hung on on the lanyard around his neck, ready to find one to help him explain himself, when the person before him began signing.
Ren paused.
Hello, Nice day.
He hadn’t met somebody outside of his own family that knew sign language yet and the prospect of a new friend had him uncharacteristically excited.
A small smile graced his face, as he let his cards drop and signed back.
‘Hello’ he replied, before nodding in agreement to the others' comment.
‘I’m Ren.’
He added, deciding to forgo his sign name (His mothers had rather fittingly being referring to him as ‘little mouse’ since he had begun living with them; a nickname that stuck when he later learned sign language), and instead spelling out his actual name to avoid any confusion; he wasn’t yet sure the extent of his new companions BSL...
‘Who are you?’
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24 Oct 2023, 00:45
Sky's the Limit
IC Date: October 8, 2023
Interacting with: Ren Willow-Saito @Qrowley Beithir
Elias signing: #84774d
Elias writing: #6591ad
Thoughts: Italics
Others: BoldElias concentrated for a moment, hard, trying to remember the BSL alphabet. Oh, come on, I just reviewed this.
E-l-i-a-s he signed, slowly, pausing between each letter. It was so hard not to revert to ASL, but he had to remember that he was in the UK now. It would be impolite to expect other people to learn his language when he wasn't willing to learn theirs. You?
After his companion would answer, Elias would take out his notebook and write down the name, making sure it was correct. He would note in quick strokes of his pencil that he wasn't fluent in BSL, only in ASL, and that he was sorry for the inconvenience.
Deaf? he would write, while studying his companion further. The boy was very pale, with large dark eyes a similar shade to Elias' own. His hair was white as paper. Elias noticed the boy had a distinct oriental air, the corners of his eyes slightly slanted.
What was the, the Japanese school, I think? What's it called... Maha something? Mahoukora? Wait, no, Mahoutokoro! Just to make sure, he wrote What school do you go to?
30 Oct 2023, 19:36
Sky's the Limit
· · ─▪───────────── ·𝕀 ℕ ℙ ℂMahoutokoro─▪────────────────────────▪─
ReducioInteracting with @Astra Norrick
Sign Language | #70bfef | Communication Cards | #ef70df
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Ren had been rather excited at the prospect of knowing somebody outside his own family that also knew BSL, however that excitement disappeared rather quickly when the boy, Elias as he had slowly and somewhat painstakingly signed in answer to Ren's earlier question, took out a quill and began writing.
So he wasn’t fluent.
With the boys apparent lack of knowledge on BSL and his assumed deafness - or that’s what Ren was assuming based on the fact that he had asked if he was deaf - the white haired boy safely assessed that this other student was from the states; an Ilvermorny student, he imagined based on appearance, that had travelled to Hogwarts for the fall ball.
The boy’s question troubled him. Was Ren supposed to take the quill and parchment and write his answer, or should he sign it?
No, if he wasn’t fluent he wouldn’t know what he was saying.
Ren shoved his hand in his pocket, desperately trying to find his cards.
Suddenly his hands landed on its target and out came a bound collection of cards, attached to a lanyard.
Ren knew which card he was looking for, and it didn’t take long to find it. He had gone through and sorted them based on which ones he was likely to use the most and least, not long after his mother had made them for him, the former of which were closer to the front, while the latter, closer to the back of the pile. Each card had two translations; English and Japanese, and cute little doodles that matched whatever the boy was trying to get across.
Finally he pulled out two cards, flipped them to face their current companion and waited with a small smile on his face.
‘I’m mute’
‘I go to Mahoutokoro in Japan’
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31 Oct 2023, 17:33
Sky's the Limit
IC Date: October 8, 2023
Interacting with: Ren Willow-Saito @Qrowley Beithir
Elias signing: #84774d
Elias writing: #6591ad
Thoughts: Italics
Others: BoldElias could see the disappointment on Ren's face as he rummaged in his pocket for something. Elias cocked his head to the side and peered at the cards curiously when his companion brought them out. They were quite nice, versatile with both Japanese and English on them. And those drawings are fun! Mom would like those.
Ok, so he's mute, not deaf. Elias made note of this curious fact, he had never met someone who could talk who didn't. His parents talked when they signed, Cara talked when she signed, Lance was a professional and even he talked while signing. Even the people at school who didn't talk often and supposedly didn't like it didn't learn sign or revert to writing for all their communication. Then again, he could be like me and have never been able to speak.
Sorry I'm not fluent in BSL yet. Just started learning last week. He wrote quickly. I go to Ilvermorny in the States. After a second, he asked something he had never gotten the chance to ask. Any deaf friends he had had been like himself, born deaf. Their inner monologues were all sign. Lance and his parents all had vocal inner monologues despite knowing how to sign. This is going to seem weird, but do you talk or sign in your head when you think? he wrote with a curious expression on his face. He hoped his message was coming across as clear.