31 Jan 2021, 23:10
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Sunday 14th February 2021, 7PM
@Haley Rose -- @Simon KinkaidToday was a special day, a chance for a bit of romance or platonic love. It was an opportunity to have a little bit of fun and make room for love in your heart, whether that was a new blossoming relationship or to help grow an old one. Love was a powerful emotion, capable of achieving great things. This event was the push that was required to help those in need to make that first step, to find a bond that they could treasure for the years to come. Maybe people will find their childhood sweethearts here or build the foundation of a bond that only grows.
Perhaps that was too optimistic. Nonetheless, this was a way to escape from the drama and angst, a chance to just have a little bit of fun and have a cute date. And what better location to spend with someone than under the stars?
Entering the Astronomy Tower, students would see the familiar staircase decorated with floating paper hearts that gently spun around in the sky. Following the trail of hearts up the staircase, they would enter into the Astronomy classroom at the top of the tower. The entrance to the classroom had a large arch made from paper flower roses in different shades of pink and red around it.
Walking through the arch, people will be greeted by a very different decor than they were likely used to seeing at the astronomy tower. Heart garlands were draped on the edge of the tables and paper hearts floating in the room randomly. There was a sign on the side, saying "please take one". In smaller text, it also said, "You may take up to one of each if you would like".
By the sign, people would see three main options. The first was a vase of pink roses. If anyone looked carefully, they would notice that the thorns had been cut off from the stems. Taking out a rose, they would notice a small label attached to the stem. The second choice was little bags of sweets. A transparent bag holding a small variety of heart-shaped chocolates or sweets. There was ribbon around the bag that tied it shut and a blank label on each bag. The third choice was an eggless cupcake, with glitter icing on it that looked like a rose. On the cupcake case, there was a blank sticker label here too.
When someone took one of the items (or multiple), the blank labels would start to change immediately. They would see words start to form on them. It would give them a number. That was it. A number.
Looking up, they would likely spot a room full of picnic blankets scattered around the area. There was also a foil heart-shaped balloon that came in white, pink or red. They had a small weight on the bottom of the strings to prevent them from flying away. On either side of the balloon itself, they would see a number.
It was clear that they were supposed to go to the respective number to meet their blind date.
On finding their matching balloon, they would look down to see there were two cushions on top of the picnic blanket, with a hamper in the middle. The hamper itself contained a variety of snacks: biscuits, chocolates, scones, cream, jam and cake. There were also some small sandwiches, in case anyone wanted something a little heavier. For drinks, there was a small teapot of hot water that was magically kept hot in the hamper. They would find a small selection of teas, as well as hot chocolate powder in the hamper too - with sugar and milk. For those who preferred a cold drink, there was also water and juice available.
It was definitely on the colder side up in the tower. Being wrapped up in a coat and some gloves would probably be ideal. Hats and scarves would be a decent idea too. After all, the sun had set and it was the middle of winter. However, the sheer number of people around as well as the fireplaces helped to add a bit of warmth to it that prevented it from being freezing. People would not need to wear snow boats as it was not freezing by any means. However, it was definitely suggested that people dressed up warm for the evening.
Sitting down and looking up, they would see the beautiful starry night sky showering over them. Anyone who was good at Astronomy might be able to name some of what they see.
There is something about ambition, how it not only propels you but also defines you.
1 Feb 2021, 02:07
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Waiting for his date and thinking of @Haley Rose
The Astronomy Tower was one of his favorite places within Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. How could some place of magic seem so much more magical? It did. The way it was so open as to allow the heavens to shine above the Scottish Highlands was breathtaking.
If able, Simon would love to spend more time up there. On this particular night, he was going to get his chance. He saw the flyer posted about it weeks ago - a Valentine's Day Tea in the Astronomy Tower. All one had to do was sign up, either listing their crush or letting the organizer roll the dice and see who they ended up with. It just so happened that Simon Kincaid had a crush and so he wrote it down on the paper along with his name before submitting it.
Now that evening, he dressed warm. Whenever students had Astronomy, especially around this time of year, the Tower was quite chilly as the winds danced around the stone walls of space. He wore a black shirt under a cream colored cardigan, with a jean jacket still for some extra warmth if needed.
Up the stairs, he stopped to poke at one of the floating hearts, causing it to spin a little faster at his touch. He smiled and kept going until he got to the table with the 'favors' of sorts. There he picked up a flower and a number appeared. He looked around the decorated space. Pink and red was everywhere!
He finally came to the space with the same number on his label and sat down. What if he would be there with someone else? He never actually asked Haley if she planned to do this activity because he was afraid back then of admitting feelings and now that they were closer - he didn't want it to seem awkward if she hadn't. He'd sit there and sort of hope that they were on the same page here, as they often were, but truthfully he didn't know.
Simon glanced in the basket to see all that there was to offer but opted for a drink of water while he waited for his date.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
1 Feb 2021, 11:25
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
arriving and happily smiling at @Simon Kincaid
Haley stood in front of the mirror, giving one last look at her appearance before she would make her way to the astronomy tower. She wore her wavy red hair in a high ponytail, pulling out a few strands that lightly framed her face. As it was February and still very cold, especially in the evenings, she wore a grey headband to protect her ears from the cold. She had put on black trousers and white shoes, a thick jumper, a grey scarf and a warm coat. She was happy with her appearance and went on her way to her unknown date.
When Haley saw the notice a few weeks ago, she knew she was going to sign up and with any luck, Simon would have. She had gathered all her courage then and wrote him down as her crush. But until now, she couldn't muster up enough courage to tell him in person. But she didn't know if he had even signed up for it, because they had never talked about it and it was his birthday, after all.
And even if Simon had signed up, it didn't mean he would be her date. Haley tried not to think about it any further, after all, she was excited enough, but she was only moderately successful. But she knew that even if her date wasn't Simon, she would have a nice evening and maybe even make a new friend. The evening would certainly be half as nice as with Simon, but she didn't want to speculate further.
When she reached the stairs to the tower, a big smile formed on her lips. Little paper hearts flew everywhere and immediately a Valentine's Day mood set in. With enthusiasm in her eyes, she went up the stairs and greeted a familiar face every now and then. A number of students had signed up and Haley was surprised at the number of people attending the event.
At the top of the stairs she read the sign and did as she was told. She took one of the roses and looked at the small label on which a number suddenly appeared. Magic She thought to herself and smiled. The staff had really gone all out for today and they had succeeded. Everything looked wonderful and they had managed to create an incredible feeling.
Haley walked past many of the already occupied seats looking for her number and after a few more steps she could see a white balloon with the same number as her label and she made her way to her destination.
She quickly realised that one seat was already taken and a huge smile formed on Haley's face when she saw that it was none other than Simon Kincaid. She could hardly believe it and her pace quickened. She had tunnel vision focused only on her crush and blanked out the world around her. And after a few metres she had arrived at her destination.
She was still smiling broadly with her mouth, her eyes and her whole charisma. Haley was incredibly happy to see Simon here. Although they had already seen each other yesterday at the ball and had already spent a wonderful evening there, then saw each other again today at his surprise party, Haley still couldn't get enough of this boy. She would spend every spare minute with him if she could.
She gave him a playfully challenging look and raised an eyebrow, "I guess you really can't get enough of me." She greeted him and winked. She sat down and quickly surveyed the picnic and was once again amazed at how much effort the staff had put in. But her eyes quickly turned back to Simon and she smiled warmly at him. "It's nice to be here with you."
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
3 Feb 2021, 03:19
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Seen by his stalker, @Haley Rose
He had gotten paired up, but with who? Granted, the sign up had you place down a crush but were they even going to pair up students that way? The other day he hinted to Haley about it and was pretty sure she had signed up. Surely she put his name down, right? ...But what if others put his name down?
This could be bad.
Simon watched as others entered the Astronomy Tower and began to find their places. One was a girl from his Charms class who sat near him and stared at him all day long. There she was, taking a bag of chocolates and then marching straight towards him with a big smile on her face. Oh no. She came closer and closer but when she saw the number on the balloon near him, the smile fell. Simon actually felt kind of bad but the girl perked up as she found her own number.
Moments later, another girl he recognized came in and it was none other than Haley Rose. He watched until she came to the blanket, stating he couldn't get enough of him. He shook his head and smiled. "I don't know, Hales. To be honest...I'm starting to think you're stalking me."
But wouldn't that be great? Having someone like Haley for your stalker?
He then tapped the blanket, encouraging her to sit down next to him. He had brought his gift and his valentine and his guitar. He had planned on having this evening with Haley Rose and he wasn't going to blow this opportunity to make this a great experience - it was, after all, their first Valentine's Day together.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
3 Feb 2021, 09:06
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
I'm a nice stalker @Simon Kincaid
Haley almost couldn't believe it, the universe was playing tricks on her, because now she was really sitting here and it really was Simon who was her date tonight. This could no longer be a mere coincidence, the two of them must have registered each other as Crush. Didn't they? Were the stars so good for Haley that she just happened to be paired with Simon? No, she just couldn't imagine that. But she didn't want to keep racking her brains with all kinds of possibilities. She wanted to enjoy this moment, this evening together with him.
Haley had to laugh at Simon's counter. She hadn't expected that, but he was always quick-witted. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. You'll never know." She looked at him playfully and gave him a smile as she sat down beside him. But could anyone blame her if she really stalked him? Sure, it would be creepy but if someone really knew Simon then they would be able to understand why one did it. But of course she didn't, she had no reason to. After all, they spent a lot of time together.
Since it was Valentine's Day and Haley wanted to give her Valentine's Day date a little present, she had prepared a little something. Of course, she had always hoped Simon would be her valentine and now that played into her cards. She did have a backup in case her date wasn't Simon, but that wasn't necessary now. She had taken her Polaroid with her and placed it on the picnic blanket while she looked for something else in her bag. A few seconds later, she took out an envelope and placed it next to her.
She moved closer to Simon and she grinned at him. She leaned back and took the camera, letting him know what she was about to do. She turned a little towards him and rested her head very lightly on his upper body and pressed the shutter release. She moved away again a little and took the picture out of the camera and waited until it had developed. "As a stalker, of course I need a picture of you." She joked now.
It took a few minutes for the picture to develop completely, but when it was ready, she noted something with a pen, slipped it into the envelope and gave this to Simon, saying, "But I'm a nice stalker."
Inside the envelope was a card with a saying on it.
"The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart."
But that was not all. Haley wanted to give Simon something special and so there were four more letters in the envelope. Each of these letters was sealed and had something written on it.
1. open when you're sad
2. open when you can't sleep
3. open when you have something to celebrate
4. open when you miss me
Picture
Reducio
Card
Reducio
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
7 Feb 2021, 20:57
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Gift exchanges with @Haley Rose
Simon took all that Haley had given him, the card, the letters, and the photo. It all brought a smile to his face. He looked at the photo first since that's what had his attention since she had written upon it. It was a cute picture and he was glad to have one of the two of them. He could show his aunt the next time they went on holiday - even if he would never hear the end of it.
"Thank you," he said to her, reading over the note written on the other four notes and would keep those for another day but he really liked the card and the photograph. It was something he could set on his bedside stand in his dormitory and look at on those late nights that he couldn't find sleep.
"You know what, Hales? You're not so slick. You might think you are...and sometimes you might appear to be...but no. Sorry. I've been onto you for awhile. In fact, I've known you've been stalking me for awhile and figured that if I wasn't your date for this evening then you would use your sorcery to rig it to where I would be your date anyway so I came prepared," he smiled widely.
He didn't have a valentine for her. It wasn't for lack of an attempt. He had made a few cards - sketching out a heart on the front or tried his hand at drawing the two of them but nothing seemed to be right. Then when he might have an attempt at the art on the front of the card, he couldn't find the words he wanted to say.
He had however been able to think of what kind of present he wanted to give her for Valentine's Day and was able to order it within enough time for it to be delivered by the post. He had it wrapped in simple brown paper and handed her the small box. "Happy Valentine's Day," he whispered, starting to feel a little nervous.
Reducio
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
7 Feb 2021, 21:44
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
speechless @Simon Kincaid
Haley wasn't sure if her gifts were appropriate or if it was too much or too silly or just weird. She loved to give gifts to people she cared about and especially to personalise them. She was a little nervous about giving the gifts but hoped Simon would like them. And from his smile, he was. Still, Haley wasn't sure.
Haley started laughing out loud and noticed a few heads turning to look at the two of them, some a little confused, some a little angry and others with smiles on their lips. She looked at Simon with wide eyes and tried to laugh a little more quietly. "Mr. Kincaid, you are right, of course. My whole plan was perfect, but I forgot one little thing. I forgot to take into account that you are so clever. But yet now you are sitting across from me, so maybe I did calculate everything right after all." She finished her sentence with a big smile and winked at him.
Simon always managed to do it, often consciously but often unconsciously, but he always made her laugh. He managed to cheer her up quickly if she wasn't in a good mood. He managed to trigger a feeling of security in her and above all he managed to make her think of him all the time and want to be near him. And now they had the chance to spend this evening together under the stars and she couldn't have imagined it more beautiful.
Haley accepted the small gift from Simon and looked at him a little surprised but not in a negative way. She carefully took the gift in her hand and began unwrapping the brown paper. When she had removed the paper, she carefully placed it on the blanket and now held a small box in her hand. She opened this too and her eyes widened a little. At that moment she felt bad that she didn't have something so special for Simon, but her excitement took over. She took the necklace out of the box and now looked at Simon with a big smile. "Thank you." She fell silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. "Honestly thank you. I love it." She now said again with all sincerity.
She now put the box on her side and moved a little closer to Simon again. She opened the necklace and held it out to Simon. "Would you?" she asked, waiting for him to take the necklace from her. Then she turned her back to him and held her hair out of the way so that he could help her put the necklace on.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
7 Feb 2021, 22:12
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Contellation lecture to @Haley Rose
Simon took the necklace from her into his hands and came behind her, feeling the closeness between them. She had him rather captivated at any given moment but in times like these that he could even smell her shampoo he just realized how much closer he wanted to get, how he just sort of gravitated toward her as if magnetized.
He brought it around her and closed the clasp of the necklace. "We can see Cygnus from where we are," he said. When her green eyes came to look to his he smiled. "The constellation," he whispered, trying to stay on track although that girl was distracting! In all good ways.
Simon came back to sit beside her, almost as if how they were in the card she had given him only her head wasn't resting on him...yet. "Right there. Cygnus. Have you ever heard of the Chinese myth? There's two lovers, Niu Lang and Zhi Nu and they are separated by the Goddess of Heaven because Zhi Nu is a fairy and not allowed to be with a mortal man. When the Goddess learns that the two are secretly married, she takes Zhi Nu with her and creates a river in the sky to keep the lovers separated. The river is represented by the Milky Way in the legend. Zhi Nu's husband, Niu Lang takes their two children to Heaven so they can be together but the Goddess still does not relent. Still, once a year, all the magpies in the world assemble to help the lovers be together by forming an enormous bridge over the wide river. The constellation represents the magpie bridge in the story."
That was just one of so many other constellation stories but how perfect was it for Valentine's Day? "Love. I might not understand all of its complexities but I've got to admit it's a pretty powerful thing."
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
7 Feb 2021, 22:40
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
learning some new stuff @Simon Kincaid
Haley felt Simon move a little closer to her and she could have sat in that position for the next few hours, just for the reason of having him so close. She could feel his hands as he closed the necklace and his breath on her neck and it was as if she couldn't concentrate on anything else. This boy was driving her crazy but she loved it.
His words brought her back to the reality and she turned her head to face him, not understanding what he meant. But it seemed that Simon understood her confusion when he explained that he meant the stars. She still had her eyes on him and did not want to avert them. But she forced herself to do so and now looked up at the stars. Into the wonderful dark sky with the many luminous points that, in combination with others, formed a star picture.
They were now sitting very close to each other and both had their eyes fixed on the sky, but the closeness to Simon made it difficult for her to concentrate on anything but him. She followed his gaze as she listened to his further explanation. She didn't know the myth Simon told her but it was beautiful in a strange way. To help the lovers she repeated in her mind and had to smile at how fitting it was for today. "I didn't know this myth but it is sad and beautiful in its own way."
Her gaze was still directed towards the sky and she was surprised at what Simon had just said. She had never heard a boy say such a thing about love. She thought it was beautiful because most would be embarrassed or uncomfortable but not him because it didn't have to be. Not for any boy. And that's what made Simon so special.
"You said that beautifully." She replied, smiling to herself. She slid a little more in his direction so that there was no more space between them. "Experience teaches us that love is not about looking at each other, but about looking together in the same direction." She said softly but so that Simon could hear and rested her head on his shoulder as she continued to gaze at the stars.
At that moment there were a thousand things she would like to say to Simon but at the same time there was nothing she wanted to say. Because this moment was perfect even without words. This boy always managed to make her nervous. To make her stomach tingle and leave her at a loss for words. Simon deserved to hear so many beautiful words, but Haley couldn't find the words and put them into a sentence like he deserved. So she sat there, leaning her head against him, and said nothing.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
8 Feb 2021, 14:57
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
What is Valentine's Day without music with @Haley Rose
There were a couple other constellations that he recognized as he looked out into the sky of the Scottish Highlands that landscaped Hogwarts. He wished that they didn't have such early curfews and could come out and enjoy the view like this throughout the nights and not just on those in which they had Astronomy class. Apparently it was to keep all safe - even if they did have quidditch as a sport where kids were on brooms hundreds of feet in the air or participating in duels where they set each other on fire. Each had their own definition of safe, apparently.
"I brought my guitar but since we've been at Hogwarts I haven't been able to brush up on my Queen." He remembered her saying that was one of her favorite groups. "I probably know Crazy Little Thing Called Love though and it's pretty fitting for Valentine's Day and all."
He didn't want to fill the entire evening with astronomy talk because after all, when they were there in the Astronomy Tower, that's what they did - listen to the professor talk about astronomy. No, he was hoping to make some more memories there. Like the time he got signed up to the Valentine's Day Tea with Haley Rose and they got to sing together in the Astronomy Tower.
If she'd go along with it, of course.
He watched her and smiled, hoping to silently convince her to go along with it. It wasn't as if others would probably be listening. There was already some laughter among them from other couples and some girl tossing her tea on another boy. ...Simon could only hope that it wasn't too hot.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)