Back to where I began (Room One). on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Alicia Bauer

April 25, 2014 9:20 PM

Back to where I began (Room One). by Alicia Bauer

Two weeks before, Alicia would have passed over the small apple in front of her in favor of a larger, fresher-looking one. Today, she held it between her hands for a long moment before biting into it, closing her eyes so she could concentrate totally on the taste and smell and feel of the first piece of fruit and its juice as she took them into her mouth, the nicest thing she thought she’d eaten in days.

If things went on until they really did start to run out of food, it occurred to her when her will proved too weak to keep her from taking a second bite immediately after she swallowed the first, then she really was going to be ever so dead. She had never really enjoyed eating, she thought, until this month; as Head Girl, she felt it was not only her responsibility to try to out-work everyone else – that was just a given – but to do it with less than everyone else had and more cheerfully than everyone else did anyway, and frankly, after a week of that and subsisting on at least slightly smaller-than-usual portions of less than desirable foods and utterly undesirable weak coffee (she was only permitting herself a single cup of tea a day, hoping to stretch it a bit further in case she really needed it later) in the hopes of providing a good example to everyone else, her temper was threatening to slip away from her at the slightest provocation, and there was always plenty of provocation.

She could say just about anything she wanted, now, if Thad didn’t contradict it, but seeing it enforced was harder. Jade Owen was proving invaluable in keeping a watch on the Pitch - she made a mental note to commend her for it sometime, later; it was important to reinforce desirable behaviors – but Alicia had wanted to confine everyone without a very good reason to be outside to the building, only allowing flying in the MARS room dedicated for that purpose. She did a bit of everything on top of doing her best to badger others into giving her regular and reliable reports to study and make recommendations from, but people still moved around far too freely, and at this point, trying to stop them would cause more problems and disorder than it would solve. The problem with that, though, was that eventually, they’d go too far, and she’d have another problem.

After this, she thought she’d never teach unless it was that or starving to death and that she’d never consider the prospect of raising children daunting again. All that, though, was in a future that might not even happen. Right now, she had half an apple left, had broken out a small amount of the good tea she’d brought from home at the beginning of the year, and had had a pastry for breakfast, all to celebrate the fact that she was now, give or take a few hours, eighteen years old.

It felt very naughty, but she had arranged an hour of personal time this afternoon just so she could come to the Water Room and celebrate. Before the world started ending, she had planned to have a nice teatime with her friends – her mother was supposed to have sent her some of those lovely spice cakes from Nancy Alice’s, the ones with the vanilla cream cheese frosting, which she had wanted to share with them, and the kitchens could have provided more fruit, better apples, and grapes and raisins, and those dried apricots they had sometimes, and…she cut the line of thought off as quickly as she could, and sandwiches, and it would have all been lovely – but she had to admit, there was a certain symmetry to this. She had spent her free time on her first birthday at school here, too, sniveling and miserable because she hadn’t felt like the most important girl in the world in the hubbub of school. If she’d known being the most important girl in the world on her last birthday (there was a chance, she supposed, that she’d have to repeat seventh year if they were trapped for too long, which she wouldn’t object to, but it seemed more likely that she'd be somewhere else next September, one way or another) at school meant all of this, she thought she might have been more careful what she wished for.

Really, if she could have just tossed about…ten, maybe fifteen people out, and if they hadn’t had to worry about the effects of purple clouds on such agriculture as they were capable of, it might not have been so bad. The clouds, though, were the problem. Alicia had assisted both field and library research teams trying to figure it out, but so far, if anyone had found something likely, they hadn't told her about it. That wasn’t a surprise to her, since research took time even when one knew where to start, but the younger ones, who didn't understand, no doubt thought the lack of progress made her look incompetent, and the longer that went on, the worse things would be even if plants could be persuaded to grow without normal sunlight and with rain from purple clouds – if they did, in fact, produce water, which she wasn’t at all sure of. She had spent some time researching agriculturally-oriented charms, slowing progress on getting out yet further, and that did make her feel a bit better, but not knowing what the sky was made of anymore or what those unknown substances might gradually do to them were problems she wasn’t sure anyone else had thought of yet.

At least she thought she now had evidence that they weren’t all going to disappear, one by one. That was something. Giving up gnawing on the core of her apple, she took out her wand to begin making the tea, deciding not to worry about adding the new data to the list of things they knew about the phenomenon until after midnight, once she was completely sure of her fact and had had more time to decide if still being here was really a good or a bad thing. Until then, she was basically okay and determined to enjoy a cup of tea and a view of the ocean (could we use this water, in these rooms, somehow...?) without thinking about anything else for a few minutes.

16 Alicia Bauer Back to where I began (Room One). 210 Alicia Bauer 1 5

Cepheus Princeton

May 04, 2014 11:57 PM

I've always been a bit sentimental myself. by Cepheus Princeton

The water room was by far Cepheus' favourite place at Sonora. Part of it had to do with the calming sensation being near water brought to him. Another reminded him of the lakes on his estate. There was also a small, sentimental part of him that regarded this place with some meaning, having met his best mate here on a gloomy first year for the both of them. There was nothing to do here, nowhere to go, and Cepheus hated feeling trapped. He walked aimlessly through the corridors, needing to move but having no direction. He walked through the gardens, but they reminded him too much of home.

Today was Alicia's birthday, but he hadn't seen her around. It was more difficult to get in touch with her now that she was the Head Girl in the midst of a crisis. Cepheus didn't blame her, but he hoped he could catch her sometime during the day. Thinking of Alicia and how they'd met seven years ago today, making her birthday also the anniversary of their long friendship, made Cepheus decide to try the water room. He knew Alicia could be as sentimental as other witches, though perhaps she was less inclined to say so, but perhaps she was too busy to celebrate even her own birthday. Even if she wasn't there, he'd lose nothing if he checked.

Luckily she was there and Cepheus smiled upon entering. Memories rushed over him, but he refused to be consumed by them and walked over to her. "Here's the birthday girl," he said with a broad smile, "hiding from the rest of the school for a few precious minutes."

When he reached her, he sat down next to her with his legs out in front of him and one knee bent. "How does it feel being the most wanted witch of our year?" He nudged her teasingly. "Happy birthday. I'm not sure if I should be offended that you didn't tell me you were here so I could celebrate with you or glad that you finally found some time alone." If anyone needed any alone time, it was her. Thad seemed to deal well under the pressure to perform, and whilst Cepheus had faith that Alicia could do the same, he knew her better. She liked order and currently there was chaos; it was only natural for one to desire solitude once in awhile to escape the stress of it all. In fact, Ceph was more than glad he hadn't been voted Head Boy. It was admirable how well Alicia looked under pressure.

Alicia didn't look particularly joyful to be turning eighteen; at least she hadn't when he'd entered. "Feeling all right? Sorry I couldn't bring you cake or make it any more special. I would have brought your gift with me if I'd known I'd find you here." It wasn't anything special; a carefully constructed snow globe made with loads of magic, glitter and a charmed, painted figurine of the two of them with linked arms. If one looked often enough, they skipped. It wasn't very realistic as he couldn't think of a time when he and Alicia had ever linked arms or skipped as such, but it was the easiest way to shape two figures on the same piece of wax. Carving candle wax would have taken much longer anyway if not for magic.

"If it's any consolation for my lack, you've been brilliant these past few weeks. I don't know how you do it, but you're a natural at it, you know." Cepheus stood up. "I'm sure you're sick of talking about it, though. We can talk about whatever you wish. I am yours to command." He bowed. Ceph knew he was being silly, but he wanted to cheer her up and help her relax.

40 Cepheus Princeton I've always been a bit sentimental myself. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Alicia

May 07, 2014 8:24 PM

I won't tell anyone else if you don't. by Alicia

When she heard the door open, Alicia tried quickly to think of an excuse for her presence and to remember where everyone else was supposed to be so she could turn it all around on the intruder, but she smiled when she saw Cepheus.

“Caught me,” she said cheerily. “Tea? It’s some of mine, so it actually tastes good, if you like Darjeeling.” Not one of her usual flavored greens, but she did like it every now and then.

The most wanted witch in their year. Well, that was a statement that could be taken two ways – or even three, though she doubted she could even make a joke about suddenly becoming the most desired witch in seventh year with a straight face. “Simply marvelous,” she deadpanned. His ‘conflict’ made her laugh. “I wanted to see how sentimental you were,” she said, taking her opportunity to return the nudge. “I win a bet with myself now, by the way, so thanks for that.”

She was never quite sure if Ceph was really sentimental, too, or if he just humored her occasional inclinations that way, but she appreciated it. “Your company’s present enough,” she said. “Though I’ll be happy to have another one later,” she added quickly. She liked presents, especially when she liked the people giving them to her. “I was planning to give you - and the others – cake, but….” She shrugged. “My favorite bakery has great service, but I guess it has its limits.”

And so her family would know something was wrong with her, that she was in unusual circumstances, either because something was wrong with her, something was wrong at Sonora, or – Jeremy might think of this one – because she’d been arrested on suspicion of Dark magic and denied the right to accept mail (he’d always underestimated her. She did what she could to hide what she read even now, with no librarians around, and she had much better sense than to try anything here). She didn’t, she found, really care one way or another. They couldn’t help or hurt her at the moment, so she found it difficult to think of much about them at all.

“Command, hm? I’ll have to think about what to do with that,” she said, making a show of tapping a finger against her lips before smiling. “As nice as the compliments are, I’m almost sick enough of all this to reconsider my career goals,” she admitted. “It’s not much fun, being a paper tiger. But I’m focusing on being happy I’m not dead today.” Alicia shrugged. “I kind of wondered…you know, what would happen, once I was over seventeen.” She forced a laugh at her fears, feeling a bit better for saying them aloud. “I think I would have lost my mind if your birthday had come first,” she added. “You’ve been – all right, I mean, as much as any of us are all right in this, yeah?” she asked.

16 Alicia I won't tell anyone else if you don't. 210 Alicia 0 5

Cepheus

May 14, 2014 12:16 PM

Quid pro quo. by Cepheus

"I can never turn down tea. What sort of Brit would I be?" Ceph smiled and sat down next to her. He had never been a big fan of green teas, but a hot beverage sounded lovely right about now. Her deadpan made him smile. "Blast, you've got me," he said, pretending to be bashful at being caught as a sentimentalist. "Suppose I wasn't as discreet as I'd thought." It was charming that Alicia was sentimental at all and Ceph would never admit it, but he did tend to wallow in memories every so often. Mostly about the days in his childhood.

The school had its own Baking Club, but Cepheus didn't think mentioning that to Alicia would help much. If Rupert had shaped his skills any better in that club Ceph would have offered his brother's services as a baker. Alas, Rup was not nearly skilled enough to attempt a cake. "Sonora is the one with the limits as of now." His mum would be nervous, but his aunt would be dreadful. Cepheus was glad for his mother's level-headedness. Other witches were just so high-strung and Ceph didn't think he could live in his house with such a temperamental witch. His grandmum was certainly more dramatic, but Cepheus rarely spent much time with her.

As lovely as school was, Cepheus really didn't enjoy being stuck here with nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was almost suffocating. In situations like these, he was almost glad for classes to attend daily; a good break, of course, but whenever all this was fixed - as he was certain it would be soon - there would be loads of work to catch up on for his RATS. It wasn't a good situation any way he looked at it. At least he was thankful for the current lack of chaos.

The moments where Alicia was completely open and honest always reminded Cepheus how much he appreciated her, and he put his hands into his pockets as he stood in front of her and listened. He wondered at first what she meant by not being dead, but he remembered only the adults had been whisked away to an aforementioned place. That was a worry he hadn't thought about, and he was glad to see Alicia was still here, alive and breathing.

"You've no idea how happy I am that you're not dead today either," he said seriously. "I didn't even think of that, but that is valid. I'm glad to see that nothing's happened to you." He sat down next to her again. "I've been all right, yes. Bored out of my mind, but I suppose that's better than being dead. Though being dead would probably be boring as well." Cepheus shrugged and lay on his back and put his hands behind his head. "It's lovely having the entire room to ourselves. We can do whatever we want. Within reason, I suppose." He smiled up at her.

0 Cepheus Quid pro quo. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Alicia

May 19, 2014 11:58 PM

One good turn deserves another. by Alicia

“No reason to defy a perfectly good stereotype,” said Alicia, smiling at her friend and pouring another cup of the light brown tea. “I don’t know what my excuse is. Maybe I should move.”

She amused herself for a moment with the mental image of Cepheus trying to pass her off as his long-lost illegitimate American sister or something and utterly failing, not least because of how very little alike they looked, to convince anyone that she wasn’t in fact his mistress, but she had considered such a move more seriously before. It had worked pretty well for Aunt Helena, and at the very least, she would still have one of her friends after this year, without the chance of things getting complicated or political or otherwise way too messy and ending in post-school break-ups. It would be simpler, too, in a lot of ways, if Cepheus would introduce her to the right people: fewer American genealogy books and enthusiasts, a clean break with her family, since Helena was hardly likely to own her or interfere with her, and a historically higher tolerance for educated and assertive witches. Lots of ancient magical sites in traditions Alicia was familiar enough with to consider meddling with, and the manuscripts weren't to be missed. Other complications did exist, but she was far from taking it off her list of things she wouldn't mind doing if it started to look like whatever she was doing at some point wasn't going to work.

“You’re very discreet,” she assured him. “I’m just amazingly perceptive.”

Alicia laughed softly at Sonora being the one with limits, since she thought the place was mostly meant for teaching them theirs. Not a lesson she had taken well to, she thought ruefully. The best way for Sonora to get her to do something was to tell her that she shouldn’t do it, that it was too hard or overstepping her place or just shouldn’t be done at all. “I suppose it can’t help it, poor old thing,” she said.

She couldn’t help smiling when Cepheus seconded the idea that her continued existence was desirable. “I really have no idea,” she said. She had never imagined being conscious in it. Her father was the only person in her family who identified strongly enough with any religion for her to know he did so, and she had never asked his opinion of what happened in the afterlife. Alicia just imagined the big dark. “But if you’re too bored, rest assured I can find you something to do.”

If it had been uttered any other male on the planet who wasn’t a close biological relative, Alicia would have interpreted the remark about having the room to themselves as suggestive, but with Cepheus, she remembered their first year. “I thought about trying to blast my way through the clouds, but since you’re so pleased I’m alive, I’ll leave them alone for now,” she said. “And I suppose it wouldn’t be very good for morale if we went skipping down the halls, transfiguring random people’s heads…want to go swimming?” she asked. The climbing wall was her preferred form of exercise, but she would be merciful today.

16 Alicia One good turn deserves another. 210 Alicia 0 5