Finished Snails and Songs PV Sage Willows, Brookline Quinn

place: Herbology, Hogwarts
date: May 30th, 2024
time: midday, afterclasses
mentioning: @Emily Shephard, @Brookline Quinn
ooc note: yes, it looks very nice, Emily!

Sage, for one, was conflicted about exams being over. She'd spent almost a whole school year at Hogwarts, and now it was to be over soon. It didn't feel real.

Sure, Sage didn't like exams as much as the next person, but this time it was different. This time it was really like the year would be over soon. And she wasn't sure she was ready for that. How are you supposed to prepare to leave the home you've made away from home?

There was one place Sage knew she could find comfort, outside near the Herbology greenrooms. Sage loved Herbology; it was her favorite class. What better way to cheer up than to take a calming breath outside?

Sage paced around for a bit, glaring up at the stormy sky. Her first year was almost over, and the sky thought it'd be best to be angry? Nonsense. It should have been smiling down on them, the feeling Sage wanted to have for herself.

There was a girl ahead, one Sage hadn't noticed before. She didn't know who she was, the unfamiliar girl. Sage couldn't quite see her face with the way her body was angled, so she ventured a bit closer to the girl to see what she was doing.

The climate wasn't the greatest to be outside in. Wet grass and prosthetic legs didn't mix, Sage had figured out quickly after a rainstorm back home in Kent. The damp grass became a quick tripping hazard, and Sage found herself trying harder to distribute her weight properly so her knee would bend right. The grass nearly caused her to fall twice, but Sage stayed up.

When she reached the girl she had noticed, she stepped next to her and said, "What are you doing?"

Getting Friendly with @Sage Willows
@Brookline Quinn

Emily's head swiftly spun around to see her fellow Hufflepuff behind her, giving her the most bewildered look she hadn't seen in a while. A look of pure confusion. Not that it was unjustified. When Emily went to push a strand of her brown hair behind her ear some of the dirt from the flower bed managed to get caught in her brow. Briefly looking down she could see her hands were already covered in dirt and grass. She laughed it off before finally addressing the girl who continued to stand over her.

"I'm playing with a baby snail...!" She finally responded. There was a beat of silence, probably more awkward for the girl than it was for Emily. After all Emily only went and told the truth - she wasn't wrong. She was very much in a contentious mood, happily admiring the tiny snail before her which was basking in the never-ending drizzle of the rain as it landed softly onto the soil.

She gently picked up the snail on the leaf as soft as picking up a Jenga tower and showed it to the girl. "See? Just look how cute he is...!"

She held the snail under the girl's nose where she could get a look at it, though Emily figured not to hold it so close that she would be repulsed by it. At the same time how could this girl be repulsed by such a cutie? The snail retracted back into its shell when it realised when it was being moved by the godly hands holding it. Emily pouted a little before setting it back down on the ground.

"Sorry about that, little buddy..." she said softly. She tucked the snail and the leaf under a small gathering of daisies before turning back to face the Hufflepuff.

"I'm sure we must've seen each other before, but in case I never introduced myself... I'm Emily!" the tree hugger greeted brightly.

_{Word Count: 351}

Stats: Stamina: 6|Evasion: 5|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 7|Arcane Power: 5|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast

Interacting ~ @Emily Shephard | @Sage Willows • Mentioning • @Simon Kincaid | @Elodie Norman	Outfit ~ Reducio Ravenclaw robes and cloak over it, with a black hoodie and leggings underneath with a hairstyle of a one large thick braid	Key ~ speech • thoughts • rp
Location ~ Herblogy	wc ~ 273	date ~ May 30

┍━━━━━»•» «•«━┑

𝓔xams. They were finally over. Brooke thought they would never stop. She practically rejoiced the minute the stinkin’ exams ended. After days of studying and doing them, it felt like the end of the earth to Brooke.

Brooke decided to go take a walk outside. Slipping out of the Ravenclaw Common Room, she walked Grounds to just walk. To get some quietness and light fun. But it was raining.

Thankful for that older Hufflepuff boy and her fellow Ravenclaw first year for encouraging / inviting her to dance in the rain, Brooke took a step out into the rain. It soaked her foot. She cringed but kept walking, pulling her hood over her brunette hair.

Seeing two small feminine shapes in the dark sweet smelling haze, Brooke walked over to them, hoping to gain new friends.

In the gloomy sky, she trudged through the muddy grass. Stopping after her shoe was completely covered in mud, she cursed dirty swears and tried to wipe the brown mess with biggest puddle that she could see. (which the puddle wasn't that big).

After cleaning her shoe somewhat, she swore that she would clean it up more later, and Brooke walked closer to the two shapes.

Reaching the two girls by a gorgeous flowerbed, Brooke noticed that the girls were Hufflepuff based on their uniforms. Underneath some pretty daisies was a leaf snuggling a small snail. It was pretty cute.

Brooke saw the two girls ask each other things. After the girls stopped talking she found her voice and she spoke, “H-hi, is Herbolgy one of your favorite class? Its one of mine. Oh, my name’s Brookline,”

place: Herbology, Hogwarts
date: May 30th, 2024
time: midday, afterclasses
mentioning: @Emily Shephard, @Brookline Quinn
ooc note:

Sage wasn't quite sure why the girl was laughing. Had she done something to humor her? Before Sage could ask what she was laughing about, the girl explained she was playing with a snail.
"A... snail?" Sage repeated. "Why? Aren't they slimy and... ugh." Sage wasn't a huge fan of snails. Bugs, like roaches and spiders, freaked her out. She categorized snails to fit that description of other creepy crawlies.

Naturally, Sage did all she could to stop herself from freaking out when the girl put the snail under her nose. "Oh! Um..." She tensed, trying to silence her shriek. She really, really, really didn't like bugs or slimy stuff like snails. "Yeah," she squeaked. "So, so... cute."

Thankfully, before Sage could get too freaked out, the girl set the snail down. When she wasn't looking, Sage exhaled and recovered from the snail that had been so close to her face. The girl turned back and introduced herself as Emily.

"Nice to meet you, Emily. Are you, um, a big fan of snails then?" Sage motioned towards the general area where Emily had placed the snail.

Before Sage could go on about how she was definitely not a fan of snails, a voice spoke behind her.

"Huh?" She turned to face another girl she hadn't met before, and it took her a moment to recognize she had asked her a question. "Oh, Herbology? Yeah, I love it! It's my favorite class!"

It was true. The young Hufflepuff first year cherished her time in Herbology. She loved nature in general, just not snails and bugs, but mostly plants. It could be difficult sometimes to get her out of the greenhouses!

The girl introduced herself as Brookline, an interesting name, Sage thought. She had never met someone named Brookline before.

"I'm Sage."

Chatting with @Sage Willows and @Brookline Quinn

Sage and Brookline. Nice names for nice people. At least going by their vibes, Emily assumed. Upon being questioned about her frivolous activity with her wildlife buddies, Emily bent down where the snail was still relaxing among the grass. With her gentle fingers, she lifted it back up to showcase it to their new Ravenclaw associate whilst appealing to Sage.

"Snails aren't so bad!" She explained optimistically. "They're omnivorous and are really good for getting rid of garden waste! They eat the dead cells found in plants and soil... So the next time you find holes in leaves, that's just these little cuties getting rid of all the old cells and keeping the plants fresh!"

Her pinky finger gently ran along the edge of the snail's shell. "Besides who could be grossed out by something so adorable...!"

Emily grabbed another small leaf and placed it softly in front of the snail. "These poor little guys... They're so small and are the base diet for nearly every creature bigger than them. It's people like me that try and make them as comfortable as possible..."

She tucked the snail back into the ground before her eyes caught the sight of some field mushrooms by the trees ahead of her.

"Cool, look at this!" She hurried over to the mushrooms and ran a thumb over the white tops. "I think they're nearly ready for picking... Come take a feel! They're so smooth...!"

_{Word Count: 268}

Stats: Stamina: 6|Evasion: 5|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 7|Arcane Power: 5|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast

place: Herbology, Hogwarts
date: May 30th, 2024
time: midday, afterclasses
mentioning: @Emily Shephard, @Brookline Quinn
ooc note:

While Emily optimistically explained about snails and how they were apparently great for gardens, Sage tried to swallow down her fear of ever potentially finding a snail in her garden back home. She'd surely freak out and go running to Cassie!

"Uh, yeah. I guess." Sage looked away from the snail Emily was now admiring. "I mean, I guess it's great they do good for gardens. I'll have to tell my step-mum about them; she loves anything that can help plants."

When Emily admitted she felt bad for the snails, Sage was almost surprised. How could you feel bad for such a creature? Sure, they might do some good things, but they were so repulsive! It took until Emily acknowledged they were at the bottom of the food chain that Sage started to recognize why she felt so bad for them.

Being the creature that only existed to lift others up was a hard job.

"That's sad. What do you do to help them?" Sage glanced at Brookline to see how she might have been feeling about the poor snails.

Sage was reasonably surprised when Emily darted away and started pointing at some mushrooms in the grass. Emily announced that they might be ripe for picking soon and Sage stared at her puzzled. Who picked mushrooms? No one that Sage had ever known.

"Careful!" she called, walking over to the excited girl. "They could be poisonous!"

Rambling About Mushrooms with @Sage Willows and @Brookline Quinn

Emily's head peered back around when she heard Sage call out to her with her tone laced with worry. Not that she could blame her with how common it was to find poisonous herbs and mushrooms even back home. However Emily shot back a relaxed and unbothered smile towards her and Brookline. "Don't worry! These are perfectly safe! Here, take a look...!"

She gently plucked one and brought it over to show the girls. "See here? These are smooth and brightly coloured. These are Agaricus Campestris mushrooms... They're easily confused with Amanita mushrooms, which are much more poisonous."

She pointed to the spores on the mushrooms. "See these here? These are dark brown. These are the easiest ways to decipher the difference between Agaricacea mushrooms and the Amanita species. Amanita mushrooms have white or off-white spores for comparison."

Emily ran a finger across the stem and underneath the base. "All bright and smooth... They're edible! Well, usually these kinds of mushrooms are found in grocery stores anyway! So there's nothing to worry about...! They're perfectly safe!"

A quick sniff of the mushroom helped confirm it. She pocketed it in her robes. "Later we could get them washed and try them out!"

_{Word Count: 232}

Stats: Stamina: 6|Evasion: 5|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 7|Arcane Power: 5|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast

place: Herbology, Hogwarts
date: May 30th, 2024
time: midday, afterclasses
mentioning: @Emily Shephard, @Brookline Quinn
ooc note: sorry this took a while to reply to!

And Sage thought she was a Herbology nerd!

Emily knew everything about the types of mushrooms and about which were poisonous and which weren't. Sage was fascinated instantly. As a huge fan of Herbology, she was also a fan of anyone who loved the same topic as her.

"Please tell me you're a Herbology nerd and not just obsessed with mushrooms. And I mean that in the best way possible- I'm also a huge Herbology nerd."

Sage was growing even more comfortable with Emily and Brookline considering they seemed to enjoy Herbology, but she wasn't so sure about Brookline yet. But then Emily suggested eating the mushrooms and Sage tripped backwards.

"EDIBLE?" she cried, losing her balance out of shock and falling backwards onto the slick grass. Sage had heard many crazy things in her life, but never had she heard of someone eating mushrooms.

The grass was damp from the rain, but Sage stayed down there for a moment, giving Emily a look like she was crazy. "They're mushrooms- why on Earth would you eat them?"

She climbed back up to stand, evening out her weight so she could bend her knee slightly. "Brookline, you've never heard of people eating mushrooms, right?" she asked, looking at the more quiet girl. She couldn't be the only one that had never heard of eating mushrooms... right?

Sage looked up to hear a crack of thunder echoing through the world. "Sounds like it's going to start raining again..." She made no effort to move inside or make it seem like she was done talking to the girls. She found them interesting, even if one of them liked snails and eating mushrooms.

Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
Mushroom Meltdown with @Sage Willows and @Brookline Quinn

A nerd? Emily was well-read and absolutely adored Herbology but she had never been called a nerd before... Much less so for mushrooms. Though that didn't mean she was offended. If anything she laughed at Sage's comment, taking it as a compliment instead. She even felt excited when Sage admitted herself that she held the subject in the same high regard that Emily did.

And then all of a sudden, it appeared that Emily struck a nerve in Sage.

"Wh-ehh? What about mushrooms? Do you not like them?" Though Emily was hardly going to protest. She wasn't a big mushroom eater herself. Truthfully, she couldn't stand them. Too bland. Unless they were carefully disguised in a sauce or a curry, she wouldn't go near them. In fact, she remembered a time when she was no older than five - maybe six - sitting in a restaurant with "Auntie" for lunch one day. She found mushrooms in her food and openly picked them out to put them on "Auntie's" plate in public. It was worth it to get the slices off her food.

Though she wasn't keen on mushrooms, she tolerated them much better than fish. Fish was just... Eww. No.

But the thought of eating mushrooms alone had sent Sage tumbling backwards in flabbergasted shock. Emily was about to grab her before she would slip but alas, the Hufflepuff was just a tad too slow and Sage was on the ground in a blink of an eye.

As she was about to bend down and offer a hand to her, thunder rippled above them. The clouds got darker, the threat of rain imminent. Emily stared at the clouds. "Oh my..."

_{Word Count: 308}

Stats: Stamina: 6|Evasion: 5|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 7|Arcane Power: 5|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast