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Writing as approved Durmstrang iNPC Vyacheslav Preobrazhensky

August 2023
Slava’s location: Russia
Private to @Alan Vanes as Nichlas Forsberg

After leaving summer camp, the holidays had been mostly uneventful and peaceful for Slava, all things considered. But the sixteen year old had never quite been content to just leave things at peaceful. No, there had to be more than that, and he was happy to stir things up. Contemplating what could have the biggest impact, Slava’s thoughts had continually returned to his newest Quidditch teammates. One of them he had found a particular hatred for, the cruel racist, and he had already decided on a way to deal with him. But the other? Well, he still wasn’t quite sure what to make of Nichlas. Truthfully, the older boy scared him. He was incredibly strange, and Slava had never met anyone quite like him. He had no clue how to behave around one so calculating and reserved. All the Russian knew was that Nichlas made him uncomfortable, and yet he couldn’t help the curiosity that had been sparked regardless of that fact. What was he like beyond those creepy, composed smiles? What made him tick, the one so apt to watch others for reactions?

Well, Slava couldn’t let Nichlas have all the fun being the one to elicit said reactions—he wanted to do some prodding of his own. He would do it in the way he knew best: pranking. Nothing harmful, just a bit of fun. He would just be keeping things interesting. Lying in the field the afternoon of August 22nd, lazily plucking at the pieces of grass next to him, he had settled on his method. What better prank for someone so ordered and distant than to force him to indulge in some of Slava’s trademark glitter? It was one of the first things to come to mind, of course, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was perfect. Nichlas was remarkably neat and tidy, from what Slava had gathered. Slava knew those types, at least—careful with their appearances, obsessed with perfection. So boring. If there was one thing that could easily mess that up, it was glitter. The stuff tended to linger for far longer than it was wanted, little specks always remaining and popping up again at the most inopportune times. It was sure to irritate orderly types like Nichlas.

Fancying himself a mastermind with this plan, a self-satisfied smirk danced on his lips. He closed his eyes, feeling the sun warm his face. Nichlas’s terrifying aura couldn’t touch him here. But Slava’s glitter most certainly could touch the Swede. He practically danced into the pub moments later, putting his plan into action as soon as possible. A gleeful smile had set in as he wrote the note. Payback.

Dearest Nichlas,
I thought you deserved a little gift for the lovely conversation on the bench back at the Quidditch game. I hope this brightens your day. I look forward to seeing you at practice in a few weeks.
Your most treasured teammate,
Slava

He snickered. It was written with far too much familiarity for their current relationship, the pleasant words very much sarcastic but hopefully still just enough to cause a little confusion. Undoubtedly, Slava’s confidence was bolstered by the current physical distance between them, and he was very unlikely to use such words with Nichlas in person. But who knows, maybe with the new school year, he’d find it in him to flip the switch and start actually annoying Nichlas back. He finished up, addressing it to “Nichlas Forsberg, somewhere in Sweden”, which would hopefully be enough for the owl to go off of. And the result of what he had prepared? A most dastardly glitter bomb that would hopefully coat Nichlas and his immediate surroundings when he opened the letter. Whatever the future consequences, Slava had a firm belief in “no regrets.” It would undoubtedly be so worth it.

Hex: #465c67 | English | Russian | Swedish

There was something to be said about playing with fire or getting what's coming for someone. it was the early evening of the 28th day of August and Nichlas had long begun with preparations for returning to Durmstrang Institute soon. The Swede had just been sitting at the dinner table with his parents and little sister when irritation first bloomed. They had just about started eating when the family could hear a soft chink that grew increasingly impatient within but seconds. His gaze drifted to the kitchen window and his parents too looked over in mild surprise at the unfamiliar owl. It was quite the odd timing for any sort of owl, they most often flew at night and thus arrived in the mornings at least when it came to usual owls. Nothing about this situation however seemed usual and so Nichlas watched almost tensely as his mom got up and went to open the kitchen window of their home to invite the feathered creature inside. Once more Nichlas became keenly aware that he wasn't familiar with this specific owl and neither seemed his mother or father as they regarded the foreign owl with skepticism. Even more surprised seemed his mother when she managed to convince the avian nuisance to let her take the letter from it and that was even more curious. "Nichlas dear, were you expecting something?" she asked as she almost absentmindedly fed the owl some treats and offered it some water from a dish. Before the owl could take off, his mother had made his way over to him and placed the letter on the counter and that piqued his curiosity. The letter was for him? He had already received any information regarding to school he needed and if the owl had been from Disa he would have recognized the owl surely. He doubted that the owl belonged to anyone he knew and that lack of knowing gnawed at him and he had half a mind to get up and read it right away, but he felt stubbornness rise in him. He wouldn't let a letter take such hold of his reactions.

With an almost strained smile he regarded his mother. "Thank you, mother. Let us eat now before the food gets cold," he muttered. Dinner was a mostly silent ordeal. Aside from the few questions asked and attempts to initiate conversation by either his parents or Ella. But the existence of the letter on the counter gnawed at Nichlas' attention on the her and now as he found himself wondering who, aside from his friends, would write him in the middle of the summer break. It was the first time that such a thing occurred to him and it was simply... curious. With a small smile he found himself eating the food and looking up only when his mother asked him something. With a glance at his sister Nichlas would reply. Once they were done he would leave his parents to the task of cleaning up with the help of their plenty house elves and excusing himself from the table. On the way out of the dining room he grasped the letter and finally gave a glance at the writing on the envelope, which... didn't help. The writing was as unfamiliar as the situation itself, but it confirmed that it must have been a letter from someone he was not close to as they had to almost guess where the letter had to be addressed to. So what could be urgent enough to require a message less than two weeks before the start of school? It looked like it could have been sent from school due to it being a tawny owl, which appeared to be most school owls were too but he had already received his information about the coming school year. Nichlas sighed.

Having yet to open the letter and knowing he would have to if he wished to get more answers, Nichlas scowled as he made his way to his room. Clearly the letter must have been from someone who lacked the manners to leave their name on the outside of the envelope too. Then again what did he expect from someone not bothering to properly fill in the recipients details either. Once more he wished to at least recognize the handwriting, but it truly looked unfamiliar and almost chaotic as if written on a whim. This knowledge once more should have narrowed down the list of possible senders but truly it was the opposite. Most students he knew from school would mull over a letter and think of the writing before even putting it to paper. For whoever had send this letter to have down this with apparently little after- or forethought was a riddle of its own. Was it not someone from school? If so... his mind wandered back to the summer camp and he had to hope not. Was it someone from one of those other schools? He truly hoped not. What reason would they have to write him and why would they expect it acceptable to do so. It was bad enough he had to encounter them every summer and spend a month of time with them. Nichlas was almost sickened by the thought, but dreaded that it would explain why the sender didn't simply wait for two more weeks and deal with this in person. But surely not. Nichlas almost glared at the unopened letter.

Nichlas room was hardly like that of many teenagers. He wasn't one to have many keepsakes around and everything was arranged in an orderly fashion. His bed was neatly made with the pillows fluffed and the blanket flattened. His shelves lacked any personification as they housed school books among a few lighter and heavier reads, sorted and alphabetized by author and collection as one would find in a library. On his desk everything seemed to have its designated space. From the regularly replaced feather that was gingerly placed next to paper and an inkwell to the stack of school books he had stacked in order to pack for school. His suit case was placed opened in front of his ward robe already packed with some of the clothes he has been meaning to bring to school. The clothes still remaining in the wardrobe however were color coded by hue, were once more arranged neatly. His shoes, still in their shoe boxes to protect them from dust and weather, were stacked at the bottom. There were no photographs, posters or knickknacks adorning the walls. The only thing that seemed like someone had designed the room specifically for him were the icy blue paint accents that were painted on the wall and the choice for a almost white parquet flooring.

Finding himself in the safety of his own room, Nichlas set the letter down onto his desk momentarily. His room was rather functional and tidy. He made sure of that and valued his privacy. When leaving the house for a longer amount of time he always ensured to place some locking charms on his door just in case Ella felt a bit mischievous. However now he found himself pacing through his room still trying to jog his memory on who might have reason to write him at this time. A few names popped up as a possibility. Valentin, perhaps needing to confirm he would still be on the roster the upcoming school year. He doubted however that the messy writing could stem from Valentin's feather. Nicholas, as perhaps he had remembered his bet with Nichlas finally and dared to apologize for being a coward and not seeing it through. The messy hand writing wouldn't be surprising in that case.

Satisfied with having a possible clue who had written him, the Swede sat down at his desk and carefully opened the letter only for it to seemingly explode into trillions of glitter particles that immediately settled over all surrounding area and covering all of Nichlas' face, hair and shirt. But his surroundings weren't spared either due to a light breeze entering from a slantedly opened window, the glitter had been carried to the surrounding floor, his desk and most importantly his trunk that had been left opened by his closeby wardrobe. "You little-," he almost cursed under his breath as he glared firstly at the letter then picked at his clothing to investigate the damage that had already and completely irreversible been done. He had jumped up almost immediately in response to the glitter attack, which in hindsight, big mistake. All the glitter that had been pooled in the folds of his shirt and the strands of his hair was shaken and joined the other glitter on the floor, his desk and the stack of books. He wasn't silly and needed no telling from who this might have been and if he wasn't this baffled he would probably be upset at himself for not expecting such a retaliation. Clenching his hand around the letter he took in the damage with an uneasy breath as he watched what the other kid had done to Nichlas' room. Narrowed eyes and tightened lips regarded his things that were all covered in glitter. Luckily his bed seemed spared, as it was in a different corner of his room. But knowing the properties of glitter well enough that he knew he would not be getting rid of the glitter that covered him he knew it was only a question of time until he himself dragged it into the fabrics of his bed. Now that was cruel on another level.

In an immediate reaction he tried to pat off the glitter that clung to his arms and fingers, but it was stuck and impossible to remove and it didn't really help that it clung to his lashes too, causing a glittery distortion of his vision. He dropped the letter on his desk for now, the need to act bigger than to check for the slip of paper that had been left inside the envelope and found himself instead getting rid of his shirt in hopes just changing his clothes might do the trick, when quickly it became obvious that this pesky glitter had found its way through the nooks and crannies and onto his skin beyond the fabric. His body and room now seemed to glitter in a hot pink with tones of white and the glitter was there to stay. Well... not if he had anything to say about it! He tried it with a simple cleaning charm first but that did close to nothing. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the glitter was meant to be there or Slava sounded devious enough to choose a glitter found in a magical joke store for this, which in a way Nichlas could respect if it had not been directed at him!

A shower later and and attempt to get rid off the worst of it almost did nothing to help the situation. His usually blonde hair seemed to sparkle with pink undertones and his skin glittered. It was days until school would start which would at least give him some time to get rid off the worst or so he hoped. He knew his sister had worked with glitter in the past but there was no way he would go through the humiliation of asking her how to get rid off it, not without her asking a whole bunch of questions...

After mulling over it for a bit, he finally tucked out the actual written part of this letter and scowled unamused as he regarded the signature. For once he wasn't sure how, but glitter and sunshine incarnate would pay for this.