With all the drama surrounding him this summer, George was happy to have one friend he could always count on. Cadmus, the snowy owl, was a crabby sort. He nipped and bit, did not like to cooperate in the shipping of larger parcels, and was prone to dive-bombing those who carried owl treats. Aside from all that, though, he was reliable. When George finished writing his first letter of the summer and stepped outside, there was a bitter sweetness to watching him flying away.

Cadmus soared, letter in... hand? Up into the sky, wings spread majestically... but he seemed to be lingering. The sweetness faded and left the bitter as he realized that Cadmus was not taking a direct route to Scotland, but rather making a detour to chase around another snowy owl that was soaring above the campgrounds.

"Cadmus!" George said. Bloody owl! They could turn letters into birds with magic, why couldn't they just get the letters to deliver themselves? They had to depend on owls, who were never professional post carriers. They all had little quirks like this. The telephone was one of the few muggle innovations that George truly missed in the wizarding world. George stamped his way through the campground, "Ugh! You awful bird..."

Following along on the ground with his nose in the air like an idiot, George followed the flight path of the pair of birds until the pair of them swooped down to land somewhere else in the camp. There he found Cadmus seated beside his new friend - another snowy owl who he seemed to enjoy sharing a perch with. Well, at least it was nice to confirm that Cadmus could be trusted around others' pets without killing them.

He couldn't help but smile a bit until he saw @Aaron Jones nearby. "Oh," George said, blinking as he recognized the boy. Oh, god. Acquaintances. He had completely forgotten about Aaron - it was strange how little the other boy came up in his mind, considering what he had done. And what George had done in return. This was not bound to be a happy reunion. "Um, is that your owl? Cadmus likes... them."

George's tongue pushed out against his cheek. He wished he could tie it in a knot and choke on it right about now. It would hardly make a difference anyway - it felt like it had gotten about ten degrees hotter and ten times as difficult to get a breath in regardless. "Hello, also. Uh... haven't seen you in a while."

Sunday | 7th August 2022

"Okay, Chae, let's go again," Aaron said, gripping a bright blue hula hoop in his hand as he prepared to launch it. "Three... two... one... go!" On his own mark, he threw the hoop high into the air and his beloved snowy owl Chae-rin flew threw it three times as it went up and fell back down. "Well done!" Aaron praised, catching the hoop once it was back at his level. He pulled out a treat and threw that into the air next, grinning as his owl caught it in midair and gobbled it happily. They had only been training for about five minutes now, and Aaron had a really neat trick idea in mind that he wanted to try next. As he went to grab his Moontrimmer that he'd leaned against a nearby tree, he heard Chae start hooting and the rustle of her wings.

"Chae-" As his brown eyes looked up for her, he saw her flying off! What was she doing? They were in the middle of training! "Chae-rin!" he called as he started to jog after her. His eyes firmly in the sky, he noticed the other snowy owl pretty quickly and developed a curious look on his face. Who was that? Chae's friend? He didn't recognize the other owl, which meant he had no idea who it belonged to. He followed their flight path to another area of camp where they seemed to have landed, only to find himself then face-to-face with @George Henry.

"Oh," Aaron said in response to George's "oh." Oh, indeed. They had not interacted much the last couple years, having left things on an interesting note. Acquaintances. And yet, Aaron had become good friends with Jack last year, which meant he had certainly seen George around a bit more, but still they had not actually talked. "Yeah, that's Chae-rin. Chae for short. And, uhm, yeah, seems like they get along," Aaron said, avoiding eye contact with the other Hufflepuff in favor of looking at the two birds. Aaron was holding his broom in one hand, and the blue hula hoop in the other, so he couldn't even mess with his hair as he liked to do in awkward situations. "We were training," he added suddenly, to explain the items he held so he didn't look insane. "She flies with me sometimes."

When George mentioned not seeing him in a while, Aaron finally looked over at him and took in the other boy's demeanor. He looked just as uncomfortable as Aaron was. "Yeah, summer and all," he agreed on the not seeing each other in a while, then momentarily pursing his lips after those words. A quick glance at the owls again - neither of them looked ready to move on anytime soon - then a decision to commit to a whole conversation with George. "So did you have a nice break so far? Back at home and now back at camp?"

Aaron has a Calming Presence.

Your presence simply puts others at ease, if it is your carefree personality or the trust others have in you, the result is still the same. With you there, perhaps through your encouragement, your allies are able to better focus.

George looked down, taking inventory of the strange collection of objects that Aaron had been using for owl training. "You train your owl to do tricks?" George asked. He'd never considered doing the same for Cadmus. Owls in the wizard world came pre-trained with the impressive trick of being able to deliver letters to any recipient you liked, and Cadmus already seemed to feel like that was too great of a demand. Letting out a thoughtful hum, George approached the pair of owls curiously, earning a cautionary glare from Cadmus.

"Chae-rin?" George repeated, glancing back to Aaron. He observed the other boy's owl with interest. An unfamiliar name, but Cadmus wasn't exactly normal, either. She seemed like she was much better behaved than George's own owl, if she was able to be trained so readily. Another hesitant glance was cast toward Aaron, and George considered his options. Simply taking his owl in hand like a football and walking off with it would undoubtedly end in George losing at least a finger to Cadmus. He would have to small talk it out until the owls decided it was over. Perhaps Chae could be bribed? "Can I give her a treat?"

The other Hufflepuff was valiantly moving forward with the small talk, hoping perhaps that they could force their way through the awkward tension. Ever the man of action, that Aaron. What a stupid fight that had been... it would be simple, if George would just say it, to apologize and clear the air. They could laugh it off - just a stupid thing that had happened years ago now.

George pushed his tongue forward against his teeth and noticed that his mouth was not moving. Not a word on the subject of apology. No diffusing the tension, just slipping deeper into it as George sort of stared through Aaron. "Um, yeah, nice break," George said. My best friend sort of hates me, and my family is broken, but besides that it was a total blast. "I was just sending a letter back home, but I guess Cadmus decided that could wait. It's fine, I guess. It's just me saying that camp's going fine..."

Carrying on a conversation was difficult when every thought that George could bring to mind was a complaint. Something had to be in there, some fading mote of positivity that he could throw at Aaron to carry across the idea that he did not still hate the other boy. He shrugged. "It's been better, I guess. I'm nervous. I'm the broom racing captain now, I don't know if you heard. I've got my first race in two weeks."