Roleplaying as Casey Stone from Ilvermorny (Bop!)

July 7th 2024

@Haime Yoon

The bags sat upstairs by the beds when Casey and his parents went downstairs for dinner later that day. After a long and exhausting train ride across America to reach the UK, the family knew they needed to rest before even going another mile towards their destination. The Leaky Cauldron was as good as it was going to get and with it's reputation, they knew they would be well rested after a night there.

Well, Celeste and Declan did. Their son Casey on the other hand was indifferent. Before joining his parents at the table he took the time to wander about the bustling scene. He couldn't care less about where he would be staying for the night so long as he didn't have to rest rough on a moving vehicle. Despite that, his curiosity had him pace about the pub as he took in the new scenery, the strange but refreshing mix of accents and the smell of food that was admittedly pleasant.

Not bad. At least London has one special feature...

Though the overabundance of people in the room was starting to get overwhelming. Starting to get annoyed with being sandwiched between the commuting patrons, Casey slunk to the far side of the room where he wouldn't get pushed about. He kept his head down and minded his own business. He could see his parents sitting at the other side of the room. He instantly recognised the concerned look his mother always gave whenever she was thinking about something - him more specifically.

Casey rolled his eyes and scoffed.

She never stops worrying.

So what if he had been thinking about Nick even after all this time? He was his brother for crissakes. His other half. Casey never got star struck but his brother may as well have been his idol with how much he loved and admired him.

Now that he had his brother in his head, Casey's mind began to wonder. All of a sudden the noise of the Leaky Cauldron died out and Nick dominated the world around him. Casey didn't even realise he was staring off into space until he finally blinked where the world resumed in motion.

Nick...

_{Word Count: 411}

Stats: Stamina: 8 | Strength: 7 | Evasion: 7 | Wisdom: 6 | Arc Power: 6 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Fearless| Poison Resistance

Interacting with: @Emily Shephard as Casey Stone

Haime had just returned from South Korea with her parents (Shreya, mother and Soo-man, father), sister (Sophie), cousin (Jinyoung), and Jinyoung's parents, who Haime had never bothered to learn the names of. It was a family tradition for each summer Haime and her family to go to either India or South Korea rotating each year. This year was different though because Haime's cousin and her parents would be staying in London for a week. Right now the family was out driving around London to look at the muggle landmarks.

Haime had decided to stay behind at the Leaky Cauldron, while everyone else went out to explore the city. Her father was a part-time tour guide in London and took great pride in his tours, but after sitting on his tour buss when she was young listening to the same or similar speech over and over about how amazing this city was; as well as all the tourists asking the same stupid questions that a quick internet search would answer, Haime didn't think could she could survive it again. So, instead she would wander around Diagon Alley until they were finished. Haime needed to restock a few school supplies and wanted to try the ice cream place in Diagon Alley. This was the perfect time to complete these tasks without being distracted by her family.

Noise cancelling headphones on she entered the pub, with one goal; get through the crowd and into Diagon Alley without anyone bumping into her. About five seconds after entering the Leaky Cauldron she failed at reaching her goal, but that's what it's like to be short. Sometimes it felt like she was invisible, which had its benefits, being ignored in a crowd was not one of them. "Okay Haime just get through the crowd," she thought. Wait!

Haime stopped. There was a boy about her age alone in the crowd. He seemed to be either lost or deep in thought, she couldn't tell. Haime couldn't place it, but something about him also looked foreign. "Hey," she said, trying to get his attention. "You look lost. Are you lost?" She took her headphones off to hear his reply.

Roleplaying as Casey Stone from Ilvermorny (Bop!)

Meeting @Haime Yoon

Slightly mentioning iNPC Artemis Delroisers Alexandria Clark

Sorry it took me a few days to get this to you!

Casey was very much a guy that had his head in the clouds an awful lot of the time, so much so that his mother had at one point joked that he could live there. However, instead of the happy-go-lucky daydream lands that everyone often referred to, Casey was living rent free in a blank space, one that was slowly going darker and darker without him even realising it.

He stared out aimlessly out into the open space as the people around him kept moving past him like he wasn't even there. That was until someone managed to grab his attention. He followed the direction of the voice that was addressing him, leading him to looking into the eyes of a girl. What was with him and attracting girls whenever he was standing and staring off into nothing? He remembered that happening with that Ilvermorny chick earlier in the year. Arla? Arnie? Whatever her name was...

Her question was innocent enough but Casey still partially dismissed her like it was nothing.

"Nah I'm fine. Not lost."

_{Word Count: 241}

Stats: Stamina: 8 | Strength: 7 | Evasion: 7 | Wisdom: 6 | Arc Power: 6 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Fearless | Poison Resistance

Interacting with: @Emily Shephard as Casey Stone
"Words" | "Thoughts"
Sorry this reply took me forever

Okay so he wasn't lost. Just staring into space and probably in deep thought. His reply felt kind of rude and dismissive, but maybe that was just how he talked. Haime wouldn't assume anything; perceptions and assumptions were never good things so, Haime tried to avoid letting them affect her judgement of people. "Sorry for bothering you," Haime said backing away.

She put her headphones on and took a couple steps heading towards Diagon Alley. "What a strange interaction," Haime thought. People were so weird and complicated. Oh well, it wasn't like odd interactions were new to Haime.

On second thought maybe he was going through something; people don't usually stare into space for no reason. She turned around, took her headphones off again, "Is something bothering you?" Haime asked, then paused. "Do you want to talk about it?" Curiosity had gotten the best of her, again.

Now this would go one of three ways. Either he'd continue to be a dismissive wall viewer and Haime would resume her original plans. He could also open up slightly, this would be the best case scenario. Or completely trauma dump and Haime would say something that would be offensive in an attempt to play therapist. Whatever was going to happen Haime's plans had already been interrupted.

Roleplaying as Casey Stone from Ilvermorny (Bop!)

Small Talk with @Haime Yoon

Casey didn't even need to look at this girl in the eye to tell what was going to happen next. Was this a thing that happened in London? If there's one guy standing about and minding his own business, someone made it theirs to make sure they didn't look like a lost dog? However, Casey still had the rationality to realise that good intentions were behind it. At the same time though, he wasn't really in the mood for someone else to take the place of their predecessor and go all "counselling" mode on him. It always seemed that once he managed to deter one person from the role, someone else would come along and take their place.

"Nah, you ain't bothering me." In fact after all this time he was very much used to this by now. "And it ain't nothin' for you to worry about either. Just stuff as all."

Hopefully that was vague enough not for this girl to dig deeper. There's only so many times someone will want to spill about a missing family member before they start becoming more bitter than they're capable of managing. Casey hated acting like a twat but after nearly a year of being pestered about his feelings by other people, it was hard to keep a positive face a lot of the time.

"Just don't worry about it."

He gave a nod to her before stuffing his hands back in his pockets before attempting to venture back out across the bar where his folks were still waiting for him.

_{Word Count: 306}

Stats: Stamina: 8 | Strength: 7 | Evasion: 7 | Wisdom: 6 | Arc Power: 6 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Fearless | Poison Resistance

Interacting with: @Emily Shephard as Casey Stone
"Words" | "Thoughts"

That was enough of that, Haime got the message, if he wanted to sit in a corner and brood, who was she to stop him? She had plenty of wandering Diagon Alley to accomplish anyways. "Well, bye." Haime said, not sure how to end this clearly unwelcome interaction. "Oh, and just a word of advice," Haime added before she left, "If you want people to leave you alone in public places, put headphones on. Everyone will ignore you because they will think you are busy or can't hear them." While Haime usually had headphones on due to noise sensitivity, she had realized that when wearing them people almost always gave little attention to or ignored her.

Haime put her headphones back on and wove her way through the crowd, towards the bathroom. After being in a crowd that long and talking to someone she needed a moment away from people to process what just happened, and unfortunately in public places the bathroom was the only place that this was possible.

When Haime got in there she made a list of what she would do and buy while in Diagon Alley and then checked the time before heading back into the crowd. That boy was certainly odd and probably going through something, but that something or whether it existed was none of her concern. Haime had plenty to do today and Diagon Alley awaited her. Thoughts and speculations on strangers could wait until later.

Roleplaying as Casey Stone from Ilvermorny (Bop!)

On The Flip-Side with @Haime Yoon

Casey gave a wry smile at the girl's mention of headphones. Had his mother not been a muggle enthusiast, he probably would've been clueless and been taken down several pegs right then and there to be made a right tool.

"Touché" He said sincerely. "Maybe I would, but I ain't that much of a loner to be completely antisocial. Just going through the 'motions as all."

That was the understatement of the century. For the last year he had gone from upset to empty, lonely, to anger, and now from rage to silent, hollow frustration. Remarkable what a missing brother and nosy neighbours will do to someone. Then again, was it not justified when Casey was experiencing all of this as a young lad? But sooner or later he would have to find a good enough excuse that would stop all the needless pestering.

"If you really wanna be given food for thought then I'll leave ya on a hint, sister," he said. "If you wanna hang on to that thread of happiness everybody needs, then cling to it like your life depends on it, 'cause you don't know when you're gonna wake up without your comfort blanket and end up feeling lost."

In that moment he spotted his father gesturing him to return to the table, food now placed in front of him and his mother. With an acknowledging nod, Casey began to walk off.

"Hope that explains it. See ya around."

Not that it explained anything, but Casey was somewhat relieved to get something off his chest. The best part was that it took minimal effort to chase someone away this time. It's not like she'd want to hang on to this conversation for long. With any luck, she'll forget she ran into him in the first place.

_{Word Count: 357}

Casey Stone has now left the thread

Stats: Stamina: 8 | Strength: 7 | Evasion: 7 | Wisdom: 6 | Arc Power: 6 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Fearless | Poison Resistance