Leap of Fear Fin.

date: 1st october time: 1pm location: the courtyard

mentions: @Pericles Dralt The event Estelle is recalling can be found here

languages english: #490085 spanish: #0b0085 thoughts: italics

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

Estelle was having a good day. Frankly, she usually was, what with her optimistic personality and general enthusiasm for life. She was absolutely brimming with excitement for the Fall Ball, an event she had been helping to plan. She hoped it would be as enjoyable as they had planned. Estelle walked across the Courtyard, attempting to assemble a lantern. She was testing to see how easily they could be assembled - whether they should be pre-made or built by the students themselves. So far she had managed to get her arm stuck through it, open it backwards and at one point had even got a wire twisted around her elbow. To conclude, she would be advocating for pre-made lanterns. She walked past a boy, making her way towards the lunch hall. Noticing something fall out of the boy's bag, Estelle turned to pick whatever it was and return it to its owner. But when she looked at the cobbles there was nothing there. She felt a something climb onto her leg and looked down. It was a huge spider. Estelle froze, unable to move or even cry for help. She was back in Artie's room again, the tarantula creeping up her leg, Damien laughing silently. Tears streamed down her face, her heart beating fast in her chest, louder and louder. She couldn't breathe. Almost silently, she managed to choke out the words to the boy she had passed. She hoped he could hear her plea. "Help me"

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✮ ✭ ✬ ✫ ✩ ✦ ☆ ★

@Estelle Nyx

As lost in the clouds as Peri presented, the tiny "help me" was heard, stopping the Ravenclaw mid-step. He frowned quizzically as he turned in search of the source. His eyes eventually found Estelle's: wide with fear and streaming tears. At first, the boy looked stunned, startled by the sight of a poor younger-year clearly going through something. But as he glanced her over, the big black creature climbing her clothes was inevitably noticed. "Oh!" He doubled back, raising both hands in a placating gesture. Pericles spoke gently, voice laced with sympathy, hoping he sounded convincingly reassuring. "There there, don't cry. They're quite harmless. It's only a Black Webber...."

But as he approached, key details of the thing became apparent. It was especially large, with a balding spot on its back, close to molting. His pet was close to molting. Recognition clicked, and his frown grew firmer as Peri realized out loud, "...My Webber. Filos, what are you doing outside of your jar?" He dropped to a knee and dug into his satchel, shaking his head with a sigh of disappointment. "Awfully sorry about this. He isn't aggressive, only too curious for his own good. Hold still please." Pericles produced a large, lidless glass jar, inching closer with the intention of scooping Filos back into it. He tried to distract the girl as he did so, hoping to talk her down with casual conversation. "His name is Filos. Mine is Pericles. What's yours?" Slow. Steady. Careful, or it would leap again....

date: 1st october time: 1pm location: the courtyard

mentions: @Pericles Dralt The event Estelle is recalling can be found here

languages english: #490085 spanish: #0b0085 thoughts: italics

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

The boy turned to her and Estelle felt a wash of relief - a small drop of hope in her crushing fear. She forced herself to focus on his words, not on the creature that clung tightly to her leg. She needed to get over this fear; had to get over it if she was to be a magiczoologist. It was her dream. She wasn't going to let a little spider get in the way of her life goal. She was meant to be helping all creatures indiscriminately, even if they were small, and furry, and could probably kill her with a single bite. Ay, Dios mío.Oh my god She felt her chest begin to tighten as a new wave of fear washed over her. The create seemed harmless, but often the things that were the most harmless were the most deadly. What if she moved and it bit her? What if it killed her? No, Es, you can't think like that. You're meant to be optimistic. The spider is most likely harmless - why would a boy be allowed to carry around a poisonous spider? That was a fair point. If the spider was deadly, he would most definately not be allowed to have it. Es zoned back in to hear the last thing that the boy said. He had asked her name. "I'm, um, Estelle. Estelle Nyx." She froze, realising she had said her last name. Most of the time people didn't know it but occasionally, people would recognise it and assume she was some sort of muggle-hating purist. The Nyx family, although the kids were more open, was quite a close-minded family within pureblood society and although they lived in Spain, some people here knew of them. She just hoped that this boy wouldn't be one of them.

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✮ ✭ ✬ ✫ ✩ ✦ ☆ ★

@Estelle Nyx

The instant Estelle dropped her surname, there came a curious change over the odd boy. He hesitated in the midst of scooping up his spider, pausing to glance up, that combination of care and concern gone. Though he managed to hide any expression, the look itself suggested recognition. Pericles knew that name, and while it was perfectly possible that she was from some different branch of Nyx, he couldn't help but wonder whether or not she was related to a particular set of purists. Purebloods were more prone to introduce themselves by full name, he'd noticed, and while he had omitted his in an effort to keep things casual, the heir decided some transparency was necessary. "Pericles Dralt." The full name was reiterated with a thin smile, which disappeared as soon as he went back to tarantula wrangling.

The Dralt clan carried a name of some infamy: his father Isaac had been an auror renown for placing many a dark wizard behind Azkaban bars. Yet when a mission for the Ministry resulted in his turn to vampirism, he was released from the line of duty, falling back on the family shipping business. Some wizarding purists were adamantly opposed to doing trade with an undead, and Estelle's grandmother had been among them. Pericles' aunt on the Dralt side had married a warlock living in Spain. Some of their oldest allies resided there, making the matter of expanding their clientele easy enough. Yet it was a Nyx who had broken any and all arrangements once Isaac was turned, and they would be the first of many, making for a less than pleasant reason to remember their name.

The Ravenclaw had been soft-spoken, originally wearing an expression of reassurance tinged with guilt. Now his features had hardened, with a faint furrow to the forehead and a light squint to his eyes, trading compassion for cold concentration. Back on task. With the jar blocking the black webber's path, he coaxed it forward with a tap from two fingers, causing the creature to scuttle into its container. Pericles placed his hand over the opening and drew to a stand, cradling the glass against his chest. His eyes were hooded and mouth bowed in a faint frown as he resumed his height, considering the younger duellist with a blend of curiosity and subtle scrutiny. "There we are. No harm done." Filos, who had scuttled around in startled circles, seemed to settle down once he recognized who was holding him. He tapped two tiny claws against the glass and peered out at Estelle with eight shiny black eyes.

date: 1st october time: 1pm location: the courtyard

mentions: @Pericles Dralt

languages english: #490085 spanish: #0b0085 thoughts: italics translation: Abuela = Grandmother

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

Estelle, empathetic as always, noticed the subtle change in the boy's behaviour as she spoke her name. He clearly recognised who that half of her family was, and not in a good way. Shoot. Estelle wracked her brains. The name Dralt definately rang a bell, but her Abuela had run through so many families in the week that she'd been there that her memories of the Pureblood houses were a tangled mess. Still, Estelle wasn't going to give up on the idea of a new friendship that easily. "Whatever my family has done to yours, I am sorry. Although I bear the Nyx name, I am not fully of that family - my father was disowned from the family before I was born and I have only met them once, however I know that they are purists who believe in the supremacy of the pureblood families. I am a half-blood and grew up in a muggle school. I don't believe that any race has supremacy over others. Not purebloods, not humans. But the Nyx family does and for that I apologise." She looked up at Pericles, hoping that he wouldn't hold her name against her. Somehow this was nearly as terrifying as the spider that lay on her leg moments ago.

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✮ ✭ ✬ ✫ ✩ ✦ ☆ ★

@Estelle Nyx

There was suddenly no need to wonder: not only had Estelle confirmed she was from that Nyx family, she got directly to the point of apologizing for whatever they must have done. Pericles stared back down at her with a look of mute shock, two blinks and a slow lift of the eyebrows, lips thinning into a startled line. Her response was so succinct that it almost sounded rehearsed, addressing possible offences and incidentally identifying exactly what had happened. The Nyx family wouldn't do business with a vampire, pure-blooded ex-auror or otherwise. In the silence that followed, the Ravenclaw managed an apologetic smile and a weak crack at humor. "You interpreted all of that from a look. You must get this often." He met her eye and the smile faded.

"I'm sorry you have to carry their baggage. Pure-blood culture can be... malignant, and difficult to get away from, even with generational gaps between you and purists." He sounded as if he was speaking from experience, though his thoughts had also wandered to one of his closer friends, a half-blood whose own "pure side" seemed set on roping her back into their twisted schemes. Knowing her story made it easier to imagine Estelle's, and what little flicker of wariness he'd felt was snuffed out in full. Pericles glanced down at the jar in his hands, mouth twitching with a sympathetic smile for his spider as it was stowed in the satchel. "It doesn't seem fair for you to apologize on behalf of people you've only met once in your life. The Nyx's interaction with the Dralt clan was..." he gestured vaguely, reluctant to share, "...brief, and more insult than injury. No harm done, like I said. In fact," he pointed between her and the bag holding his tarantula, drawling "I think we could call it even."

date: 1st october time: 1pm location: the courtyard

mentions: @Pericles Dralt

languages english: #490085 spanish: #0b0085 thoughts: italics translation: Abuela = Grandmother

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

Estelle saw the look on Pericles' face change from annoyance to shock as she talked. He clearly hadn't expected her to apologise, or maybe was surprised at how routine her answer seemed. She'd had to say it enough that it had stuck in her head, especially as it was nerve-wracking to say. Estelle smiled at Pericles. Maybe he had experience or maybe he just knew, but Estelle felt he understood her. "Thank you for trusting me. Some people don't trust me or refuse to hear me out, and sometimes, though I try, it's a potential friendship lost." Estelle agreed with Pericles. It would be nice not to have to explain all of this every time someone heard her surname. It was weird - in the muggle world, as far as she knew, there was prejudice, but it was never as extreme as some pureblood families in the wizarding world, as far as she had experienced. Maybe one day, someone would be able to change that for the better. Estelle hoped so. "Why leave it at even - we could be friends? It'd be nice to have a friend who gets this stuff - most of my friends either don't have pureblood families or have pureblood families that are genuinely nice. Not to mention the fact that I'll need to get over my fear of spiders if I'm ever going to be a magiczoologist."

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✮ ✭ ✬ ✫ ✩ ✦ ☆ ★

@Estelle Nyx

Pericles gave a gracious tilt of his head when thanked. The heir had the bearings of a pureblood, though he had seen the light and dark sides of the lifestyle, and chose to reside in the grey of it all. He righted himself and mused with a wink, "Well if we weren't willing to change our opinions, we wouldn't be much better than they are. Would we?" The Ravenclaw was at ease again. When it came to talking with other upper-class, affronts could be fixed with an eloquent back-and-forth, smooth as butter. Even if that affront was traumatizing someone with a spider!

At the offer of friendship however, he paused. Pericles wasn't someone who made friends easily or often. He was someone who had spent the majority of his fourth year actively avoiding his friends. Looking like a deer in headlights, he took a worryingly long time to decide, tilting his head in a birdish way. Maybe he was overthinking it, and making friends could be easy. Maybe it wasn't all that serious. "I don't... see... why not?" His tone was tentative, but hopeful. Blatantly redirecting the subject from himself, Pericles patted the side of his satchel, continuing more confidently: "Not to brag, but Fílos is an excellent spider to start with if you're looking to acclimate. I raised him from an egg. If you'd like, I could show you his terrarium some time. I think you'll find them a little less intimidating once you've seen how pampered they like to live."

date: 1st october time: 1pm location: the courtyard

mentions: @Pericles Dralt

languages english: #490085 spanish: #0b0085 thoughts: italics

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

Estelle stood nervously, waiting for her answer. She was begging to have doubts - Pericles seemed to be thinking for an eternity. Had she made things awkward by asking to be friends? Was this too soon? She'd messed up before, coming on too strong and ruining a potential friendship. Estelle just had to hope that this would not be the same. Luckily, before she could panic fully and take it all back, Pericles replied. He seemed a bit nervous, but that didn't faze Estelle. She would gladly take a yes, even a tentative one. "Brilliant! I'm so glad to have made another friend!" Estelle listened to Pericles. Hopefully he'd be able to help her get over her fear. She doubted that seeing the cage would help, but she'd be willing to try even so. It probably also would help that Pericles raised his spider from an egg - it would be better trained. If spiders could be trained. Can you train a spider?. Still, Estelle would say yes for now. She might still be a bit reluctant, but she trusted Pericles. "Ok. Not today, but I'd definitely like to at some point. Anyway, I gotta go, but thank you for all of this. I'm glad to call you my friend."

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✮ ✭ ✬ ✫ ✩ ✦ ☆ ★