Friday | 15 August 2025 | sometime before lunch

In just a couple of weeks, Aaron Jones would be starting his final year at Hogwarts. After graduation, he (and all his classmates, for that matter) would be expected to get a job and work for the rest of his life. If he had any say in the matter, though, he would be having fun with his career. Becoming a professional trick rider wasn't going to be an easy path, but it was a goal he'd been working on for years. That's why, even though this was his final summer camp, he was regularly practicing his routines and working out. Yes, it's hard work, but it's something he truly loves and has fun with.

Maybe too much fun, though. Crap, I'm late!

As he rushed across the London Quidditch stadium grounds, he hoped his sister Gemma wouldn't be too annoyed with him. His hair was still damp from the rushed shower he'd just taken, and he'd barely put any thought into the outfit he was wearing - a plain white T-shirt, silver chain around his neck, and black jeans. The bit of cologne he wore was a necessary touch. All in all, he was only running fifteen minutes late, so she couldn't be too mad. Right?

As he got closer to the massive Ferris wheel, he started looking out for her. Scanning faces that he passed and looking for a beret in the crowd (she was going through a beret phase). When he did finally spot a tan beret and recognized the girl wearing it as Gemma, he smiled in relief. At least she hadn't ditched him entirely. She was talking to someone, but his eyes were focused on his sister as he made his way through the crowd, not wanting to get thrown off course.

"Gem, I'm-" his apology died in his throat when his gaze lifted to the girl she was talking to. @Aly Salinger. He had to do a quick double take when he saw her, checking that he wasn't just imagining it. But no, it was her. His ex-girlfriend and current tentmate. The same tentmate he'd been avoiding for the last few days. Knowing he couldn't just straight up ignore her - talk about rude, especially in front of his sister - he put on a small smile.

"Hey, Aly. I see you've met my little sister Gemma," he said, his eyes avoiding direct contact with the curly-haired beauty's. "I'm sorry I'm late," his eyes were now focused on the younger girl, whose mouth had dropped into a little "o" upon hearing the name Aly. She had no poker face, so Aaron knew her mind was wondering if this was the Aly. Aaron had to put in effort to not shoot her a death glare, but she caught on quickly enough and wiped her face clear. Aly probably still would've noticed.

"Er- that's okay," she said, "But, well, since you didn't show up, my friends asked me to ride the wheel with them and they're at the front of the line now," Gemma explained, gesturing over her shoulder to some of her tentmates standing closer to the Ferris wheel. It was almost their turn. "Can we meetup in a bit for lunch at the food court?"

"Yeah, 'course, sorry again for being late," he said, offering an understanding nod.

"Nice meeting you, Aly," Gemma would say with a genuine smile before excusing herself and running off to join her friends.

And thus, Aaron Jones and Aly Salinger were alone. Standing awkwardly off to the side of the carnival crowd, in their own little private area. After only half a second, Aaron couldn't take the quiet. "So," he looked over at her, though still avoiding direct eye contact. "How've you been?" Argh, that was stupid. What a stupid question. What the hell was he supposed to say though? He couldn't exactly excuse himself without making some small talk without coming off as a real jerk. And- well, he was kinda curious what her life was looking like these days. Was she dating Peri-? Nope, cut that train of thought off. It didn't matter if she was.

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.

Aaron is a Lovely Creature.

You are so incredibly beautiful, it is hard to take ones eyes off of you.

It was getting pretty old, this frustration Aly Salinger had about the firsties being her height or taller than her. Trust me, if you're tired of reading about it, I'm tired of writing about it, but they just KEEP GETTING BIGGER. The pretty Ravenclaw was going into her seventh year at Hogwarts, and yet she still was one of the smaller among the student population there. At least here at summer camp, there was a wider variety of folks from all sorts of different countries, everyone looking vastly different, and Aly could more easily blend into the crowd... even if the hulking brutes from Durmstrang did make her feel like a goblin amongst giants.

Some of the littles were still quite small, though. As Aly wandered on the outskirts of the crowd on the fourth full day of camp - the events were still just beginning to ramp up, but she was already beginning to plan a booth for the exposition with her pen pal and tentmate Manu's help, had taken the brunt of that same friend's duelling practice before her duel tomorrow, and had attended the petting zoo the day before with only a minimal amount of animal hair found on her clothing afterwards - she found herself being tapped on the arm by one such youngin, who was clad in a very cute little tan beret and outfit. Aly looked up at the massive Ferris wheel behind the kid - perhaps she had a question about camp or the giant Muggle contraption of a ride, and though Aly was not an organiser this year, she was certainly mates with many of them, so she cocked her head to the side and gave the young girl a smile. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"I just wanted to say I really liked your outfit," the girl, who had silky black hair under her beret and was beaming one of the most genuine smiles Aly had seen in days, chirped at her. She gestured to Aly's clothing, then back up at her shirt: "Especially the butterflies."

"Oh!" Aly's hand flew to her mouth, which couldn't quite decide between an adoring O of surprise or a smiling aww of some sort, so it luckily covered the odd shape her pink-shaded lips made in her split second of indecision. "Aww, that's so darling of you!" In truth, she'd been hoping someone would compliment it - after all, she had put quite a bit of thought into each of her outfits for the various days of camp, but this one in particular she was quite proud of; the star piece was a black-and-white t-shirt, cropped just above her bellybutton and featuring two panels down the middle with one being white and the other, obviously, black. Each panel also featured a simple butterfly design in the other colour - a symbol which Aly had taken to incorporating into much of her clothing since her Patronus had turned out to be a blue morpho some time before, though which she feared she'd have to change soon whenever she managed to find a lightning storm occurring and complete her Animagus ritual. Hopefully it would come quick. (Spoiler: it would.) The statement piece of a tee had been paired with a white wrap mini-skirt with a wavy black pattern on its edge and across its front - at least, it appeared to be a mini-skirt, for it was really shorts - and, of course, various accessories: mismatched black-and-white heart earrings with a different color on top on each side, a black-and-gold pendant with the white phases of the moon etched on its circular enamel surface, braided black sandals, and a simple black headband to tame her wild curls and tie together what was truly a quite eclectic, but somehow thoroughly, a well-thought-out outfit.

She pointed to the butterfly on her left shoulder, reaching her wand arm across to gesture to it. "It's my Patronus, you know. I'd show you, but I think casting the spell might make some folks think there are Dementors here. Don't want to cause mass panic!" She offered the girl a warm smile. "But really, thank you very much - how kind of you to say. I like your beret, too. It's quite dashing."

After a moment of discussing fashions with the young girl, sans asking her name - showing her that the skirt was actually shorts with a front wrap panel, explaining the phases of the moon on her necklace, asking about various pieces of the obvious incoming first-year's outfit too - Aly realised that they'd been standing there simply chattering away for some moments indeed, and she raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Oh, I didn't mean to while away your time. Look at me go!" she said with a self-teasing laugh. "Just talking on. Were you waiting for someone? I'm just taking a stroll, myself - must remember that not everyone has the minutes to spare." That last bit was said more under her breath, more to herself, than to the kid.

And yet, the girl waved her off. "No, it's okay! I stopped you! I'm just waiting for my brother so we can ride the Ferris wheel together, but I'm not sure if he's coming. I have some friends in line, so I might go join them. Oh! Wait, no, there he is!" And she piped up a little hand to wave above the crowd.

Aly turned to welcome the brother into their conversation, to say a quick hello and how-are-you before she wandered off herself to find her own mates, but her voice didn't even make it past her lips when she saw the man in front of her. The very one, all muscular and tan and altogether infuriating, she'd been trying to avoid for the last four days: Aaron Jones himself was here, standing there and greeting the girl - Gemma, he said - as if she wasn't even there. The fact that his words petered out when they did make eye contact was only a bit satisfying. After all, he was still there. And to make matters worse, Gemma skipped off to join her friends in line without a care in the world, leaving the two exes standing in the middle of a raging river with nowhere to swim.

He'd gotten tall, since she'd last really seen him. Sure, there had been that brief - and not altogether pleasant - interaction in their shared tent at the beginning of camp, and every night since they'd both made points of avoiding each other, averting their gazes, and not existing in the same space as much as possible whilst getting ready for bed, but to be quite honest she hadn't been this close to Aaron since before they'd broken up. And for good reason. She had left any love she'd held for him behind so long ago, had vowed to leave anger behind too - she'd even befriended his girlfriend last summer, before the pair had broken up as well - but that never made meeting up with one's ex any less awkward, now, did it? Even funnier more horrifying, they seemed to be matching, a pair as black and white as their personalities had grown to be.

He was the first to break the silence.

"So. How've you been?"

As if nothing had ever happened between them. As if they had grown apart naturally, rather than been torn so by the world and each other and everyone and everything. As if they were just two old mates, meeting up over a cuppa for a friendly chat. And though Aly knew that they weren't, that they were anything but, really, he was still just the same old Aaron he had always been. Calming, despite it all. His voice like soothing honey. Though there was no longer interest there, she still understood why the girls fell all over him in the corridors. After all, she had been one of them. Once.

"Fine, I suppose," came out perhaps a bit more bitterly than intended. Single, her heart wanted to say. Since you. Unlike you. But she didn't; her brain took over, the more practical of the two. "Just... taking a look at the carnival," she said softly, once again glancing up to the tall Ferris wheel nearby, as if he had just been asking about how she'd been the last few hours rather than the last few years. The silence stretched between them like the Drooble's Best Blowing Gum she had taken lately to chewing, though she wished she had some now to alleviate how awkward it was getting with a solid pop. Instead, she was forced to speak - all of her social skills, her easy charm, feeling somewhat out the window with this interaction. "What about you? It's been... quite a while."

@Aaron Jones | August 15^th, 2025 | hair, crop t, skorts, sandals, jewelry 1, 2 | #C47DDB
paragon allies: dee, gemma | lovely creature & charmer affect everyone