Headmaster Brockert
September 24, 2016 3:56 AM
Opening Feast by Headmaster Brockert
This year, Mortimer felt slightly different about the Opening Feast. For the first time, there was a student he genuinely cared about being Sorted. Okay, maybe he had been slightly been interested over Owen and Angelique, but those were just his brother's grandchildren. This year it was his granddaughter Emerald who would be attending for her first time.And while he kept his unemotional neutral expression-Mortimer's face only made about three different expressions, his Everyday Perpertual Scowl that his older brother Zachariah insisted that Mortimer was born with, his Death Glare for when someone really annoyed him, and the School Event Face, which was an attempt to look pleasant and cheerful but mostly still looked like a scowl. Oh and of course there was the Bit Too Much Whiskey face or the Got Too Close To Cousin Frank face that happened at parties sometimes where he genuinely did look somewhat happy-as the students filed in, he still couldn't help but wonder about how Emerald had fared at Orientation. The other students had better have been nice to her. Zachariah had mentioned Angelique constantly complaining that she didn't fit in with her classmates. Of course, since he didn't actually know much about the students as people, as far as Mortimer was concerned, Angelique was a spoiled child who was used to getting her way and complained when she didn't. Fortunately, Mortimer had enough sense to not tell his brother this. After all, he wouldn't like it if Zachariah insinuated not so nice things about his grandchildren.
Now though, it was time for Emerald and the other first years to be Sorted. He stood to greet the assembled mass and explain the process to them. "Welcome to Sonora for the new first years and welcome back for all older students. In just a minute,first years will be receiving a goblet distributed by Deputy Headmistress Skies, in order to sort you into your houses. You will turn the color representing your house which are blue for Aladren, yellow for Teppenpaw, red for Crotalus, and brown for Pecari. Afterwards, you may join your house table."
Unlike previous years where he just patiently waited for the Sorting to be done so he could finish off what he had to do for it and just sit and eat and ignore everyone, he watched expectantly. He knew where he expected Emerald to go, and more than that where he wanted her, his first grandchild to go.
The student next to Emerald handed her the goblet and....for a moment, just a moment before anyone could notice him showing an emotion other than annoyance, a new expression washed over Mortimer's face, that of Proud Grandfather, before quickly switching back to School Event Face, though his usually forced smile did look a bit more genuine now.
Once the Sorting had finished, it was time to announce prefects and Head Students. "Would Jacob Manger and Chaslyn Brockert please come up and get your Head Student badges? In addition I'd like to call up John Spencer, Jemima Wolseithcrafte, Kelsey Atwater, and Gia Donovan to recieve their prefect badges. Congratulations." Wow, back to back Head Girls for the Brockert family as a whole and his cousin Corrine's daughter was the prefect for Crotalus. Utterly utterly shocking.
He went on. "Just a few more announcements before we begin the feast." Which I hate about a million times more than any of you. He silently added to himself. "First of all, our Groundskeeper, Nathan Xavier, is now our fulltime Herbology professor. Congratualations, Professor Xavier. I'd also like to introduce Professor Ammon, who will be teaching Muggle Studies, which is a newly offered elective, unlike Herbology which is required." Mortimer was going to have to make sure to check over the new professor's lessons to ensure that he didn't just teach the "good" stuff with gadgets and games. He wanted to make sure that Professor Ammon taught the good, the bad and the ugly with regards to Muggles. They could play fun games and read Muggle literature or whatever, but Mortimer in no way wanted the class to be propaganda that idealized the Muggle world. He wanted students taught about human slavery,genocide, and most importantly the witch trials, even if they did follow it up with a friendly Muggle card game of Yuckker or whatever it was that they played.
Actually, maybe he should keep an eye on Herbology too, come to think of it. Mortimer was all too familiar with certain herbs that could be grown, even though he himself preferred the liquid method of intoxication. Then again, he didn't really think Nathan would teach the students such things. The man had worked here for years and he was even the Teppenpaw Head of House. He'd earned some trust. Besides, Mortimer had a hard time imagining Nathan doing that himself in the first place. The thought was almost laughable.
And it wasn't necessarily Professor Ammon that Mortimer distrusted, or at least no more so than he distrusted most people, it was the discipline of Muggle Studies itself. In his eyes, even Divination was better, and he thought was all a bunch of well, bullcrap. The Muggle world was not this perfectly nice place, not some utopia, certainly not better than the magical one. They were both flawed, they even had some of the same flaws.People could say the magical world was prejudiced for example-and it was, he wasn't denying it-but so was the Muggle world from what he understood. Including, at one time before the Statute of Secrecy came into effect, against witches. Certain groups of them still believed in witchcraft and felt about it the way the people of Salem felt about it back in 1692. People were just horrible no matter what world, what time or what place one lived in. In a way, it was almost comforting in it's consistency.
Still there was one last announcement to be made and tradition to be carried out before he could sit down and enjoy a nice juicy cut of prime rib and a bourbon laced drink-it was nobody's blasted business what he had in his cup, he was the Headmaster and he was a Brockert. Besides, he was pretty sure certain other staff members imbibed quite often-and Mortimer didn't fault them a bit, if he had to actually deal with the students on a more regular basis, he'd drink too. Well, more.
So he pushed aside thoughts of Emerald and witch burning and staff members who drank and said "This year, our midsummer event will be the fair. Details to come later. We will now sing our school song."
Every day we strive
Learning to survive
Life’s hardships and to solve its mystery.
Learning to defend
Our honour and our friends,
Flying high to meet our destiny
We will stand and face those who want to harm us.
We won’t let the world transfigure, jinx or charm us
I won’t fight alone, as long as you are with me.
Sonora be my home, my tutor and my spirit
Vasita quoque floeat; Even the desert blooms.
OOC-The card game Mortimer speaks of,"Yuckker", is actually Euchre.
Subthreads: I'm really not hungry... by Kellen Mormont with Farrah Welsh
New Aladren by Kit Reid with Lina McCarthy
Teppenpaw, here I come! by Sawyer Matheson with Natalie Varth, Tepp
Another year older by Louis Valois with Jack Spencer
Red's a pretty cool colour! by Victor Callahan with Winston Pierce, Simon Mordue
A little blue about being yellow by Ayla Tremaine with Gwen Fintoc
Strange Things by Arianna Valenti with Madeleine Dautin & Flora Deschamps
Fourth Magnus, First Pecari by Magnus Graphorn IV with Isaac Song
Wait, what? I'm.... what? by Gia Donovan with Diana Carey, Diana
Some things never change by Gabriel Valenti with Joseph Umland
What a bounty! (I'm referring here to my fair schoolmates) by Cassandra King, Pecari with Ingrid Wolsiethcrafte
Making small talk by Aiden O'Neil
That's certainly a warm welcome back! by Jake Manger
Strangely happy [Araceli] by Makenzie Newell with Araceli Arbon
Glad to have some form of normalcy back in my life. by Lily Spencer with Cameron Dempsey
Round 3: begin! by Nevaeh Reed
Furious by Dustin Newell
Notice me, please! by Florence Newell with Amelia Layne, Emerald Brockert
And we're back! [Tag: Juniper] by Finn Scott with Juniper Brockert
Adults can have fun summers too! by Rory Taransay with Sophie O'Malley
Once more unto the breach by Tess Whittaker with Ben Pierce
This . . . was not how I expected this feast to go by Clark Dill with John Umland
Time to make more friends by Sébastien Évreux
Another year... by Aislinn Nicolls
Is it over? by Sutton Nicolls
I am finally here!! [New Aladren] by Conrad Helms
I feel like I was just here... by Professor Liam Ammon
Relief by Chaslyn Brockert
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Headmaster Brockert
Opening Feast
6
Headmaster Brockert
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Kellen Mormont
September 24, 2016 11:22 AM
I'm really not hungry... by Kellen Mormont
Kellen had initially been hopeful about his second year. Sonora had been a kind of sanctuary to him during his first, and while he still disliked being so far from his mother, it was definitely preferable to being with his father's family. The wagon ride, though thoroughly jostling and crowded, wasn't terrible since he'd at least been friendly with Jozua last term and the two could talk about books. It was still draining for the 12 year old though, being around so many people trying to talk over each other and squealing as they reunited with friends.When he finally arrived at school, Kellen decided to try and center himself with some tai chi, which he'd learned over the summer as a coping mechanism. That REALLY blew up in his face. Or rather, he blew up in Arianna V.’s face. That was a huge step backwards as far as he was concerned, and he was still reeling from the rush of adrenaline. He was, after all, trying to control his newly discovered anger, not intensify it.
As he walked into the hall for the opening feast, Kellen kept an eye out for Arianna, hoping to avoid her at all costs. That was going to be a difficult feat considering they shared a house and classes. At least she wasn't his roommate.
He picked an empty seat near the middle of the Aladren table. He wanted to sit by the door so he could escape quickly after the feast, but that also gave him an increased likelihood of being spotted by Arianna. The thought of another encounter with her so soon tied the second year's stomach into knots. There was one upside to the feast, despite Kellen’s awful mood--Farrah.
Farrah was kind, nerdy like him, and didn't speak to him with an air of disdain. Plus he found her pleasing to look at. She'd written him over the summer, and they'd exchanged letters a few times. After the incident, however, Kellen wasn't allowed to leave the house, so sending mail was out of the question. He was looking forward to seeing her, and telling her about everything that had happened. Hopefully she'd find him before Arianna could. He'd learned somewhere that there was strength in numbers, and maybe with Farrah by his side he would feel less anxious about the other girl.
He'd zoned out somewhere in the middle of sorting, and maybe caught some words about new professors. He was relieved to hear there wasn't another ball on the agenda though, and mumbled through the school song. Kellen’s stomach lurched as food began to appear in front of them. Since the incident, he'd been on an ovolactovegetarian diet. It was his mom's idea-- maybe he was angry because he was eating the pain and rage of slaughtered animals. He couldn't even stomach the sight of blood anymore.
So naturally, most of the food on the table surrounding him was meat. It was just one of those days.
((ooc: references to other characters used with permission from their authors.))
5
Kellen Mormont
I'm really not hungry...
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Kellen Mormont
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Farrah Welsh
September 24, 2016 1:34 PM
Me neither, but for different reasons. by Farrah Welsh
The wagon ride had taken more out of Farrah than she would have thought. Normally she could handle rides but today the wagon had done her in. She wasn’t sure if it was because the group that Arianna sat with invited her over and Farrah was too quiet and awkward to tell them no thanks and so she had tensely sat with them feeling more and more like an outcast and feeling rather like they pitied her rather than actually want her company. Plus, Arianna was with them and Farrah was certain that the other Aladren did not want her encroaching on her territory. Not that Arianna said or did anything to suggest it, but considering how she had been last year to Farrah, it was only the right thing to assume.Even though she had wanted to get caught up with Georgia, Killian, and Kellen when she got off the wagon, her head and stomach refused to allow her to do anything other than lay in bed until the sick feeling left her. Which it did, after a rather long nap. Farrah awoke with only a half hour to go before the feast. She had spent that time trying to fix her hair and her clothes before throwing her school robe on and running out of her dorm to get to the hall.
It was so crowded in there with all the bobbing heads. Farrah’s small frame weaved between the people until she found the Aladren table. Kellen was sitting by himself towards the middle but there were already some people around him, so she found a close seat as she could near him and would move when she could. He didn’t seem to be paying too much attention though and the Headmaster was already standing up to speak, so Farrah didn’t dare call out of fear of calling attention to herself. The announcements were similar to last year. New Head and Prefects, people she sort of heard of or had clubs with but didn’t know very well, but she clapped for them because that was the polite thing to do. And she clapped for the new professors as well (she’d have to have a laugh with Kellen over the Professor Xavier…). The midsummer event was a Fair this year that could be really fun!
The song was over and the food appeared. People began to scatter to different tables to east with their friends, so Farrah took the opportunity to grab a freed up seat next to Kellen. “Hi Kellen!” Farrah greeted cheerfully with a smile. “Did you hear that we’ll have a real X-Men in our midst? Top dog too.” Farrah joked. “Let’s hope this Professor X can’t read our minds like the other one can.” She added, could the magic read minds? She probably ought to look that up. What creeps they would be if they could do it. It’d be basically the same as being able to see through a person’s clothes.
Farrah’s stomach still wasn’t feeling the best, but she knew she would have to eat something or else she’d wake up starving, so she picked up some bread and began to tear it up to munch on it. “How was your wagon ride over? Or the rest of your summer?” She asked him, looking curiously at him. She thought about hugging him because she knew that she’d hug Georgia and Killian when she got a chance to see them, but she felt like that moment had already passed when she started talking and now she felt bad about it. “I’ve missed you guys.” Farrah said in lieu of being able to hug him.
OOC: Wagon was discussed with chatzy with the other authors being Nat, Ben, and Valenti. Farrah’s thoughts regarding their reasons are her own and may not be the true reason.
6
Farrah Welsh
Me neither, but for different reasons.
344
Farrah Welsh
0
5
Kellen
September 24, 2016 3:50 PM
I'm starting to feel a little better now. by Kellen
Kellen lit up with Farrah’s greeting. As much as someone who felt ill and was naturally pale could light up. “Hey Farrah.” He said with a smile. How had he missed the part about Professor Xavier?! “That’s amazing! I wasn’t listening super closely at that point, but whatever he teaches, I’m in! I doubt he is an occlumens, but he could be. He should be! I wonder what his office hours are. Someone needs to tell him.” He sighed, this was the first time he felt normal and was able to be himself since he left for his dad’s house. He could have hugged Farrah if he wasn’t feeling so gross because of the meat smells.His smile faded a little at the mention of his summer. He wanted to tell her everything, about how his Bruce Banner turned Hulk and then the whole thing with Arianna. He was interested on what her take on things would be, he just wasn’t stoked about telling her in the middle of the feast. He looked around them, and it seemed like no one was paying attention to them. They were two second year nerds after all.
“My summer was, insane. I hulked out on my half brother. He was talking crap about my mom and I dunno. Something like, snapped, and I just went crazy.” His stomach turned again at the memory of how Adam’s nose crunched under his fist. He wasn’t that person, and he was afraid of being so outwardly violent. He clenched his fists from their position under the table, and he almost felt like he wanted to cry. “There was blood, everywhere, and dad yelled and it broke me out of it, but like...I don’t recognize myself now. I am glad he got his face punched in, I just never would have thought that I’d be the one to do it.” He lowered his voice at the last part and looked to Farrah for her reaction.
“Am I a bad person?” He asked, more of himself than of Farrah. “I had to sit down with all the parents and have a talk about my sanity and whether or not I deserved to come back to school or be sent to military school, or worse. And HE, he gets treated like nothing he does is wrong!” He felt his blood began to boil again, and took a four second deep breath before slowly letting it go. “I feel like a crazy person...like Jekyl and Hyde. I’m Bizzaro Kellen.” The Aladren boy shook his head and ran a hand through his messy dark hair. “And none of this includes what happened before the feast today, but I’m just getting myself worked up. How was the rest of your summer and your wagon ride? Hopefully better than mine.”
5
Kellen
I'm starting to feel a little better now.
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Kellen
0
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Farrah
September 24, 2016 8:23 PM
Good, I'm glad :) by Farrah
Kellen was suddenly saying things to her that she did not quite understand, but his enthusiasm at the idea of there being an X-Men at the school was at least equal to her own, so she was right in believing that much about their friendship. It was nice having someone who was equally nerdy about things as she was. She loved her friendships with Georgia and Killian as they were the first friends she had made here. She could be a girl with Georgia, be a Muggle with Killian, and be a nerd with Kellen. She may not have been popular as some of the other students, but she thought she was doing pretty well on the friend front.“So… magic does have the ability to read minds?” Farrah asked slowly. “That’s the occu-whatever you mentioned?” Farrah looked perplexed for a moment. “Why does it have to have a creep factor with it? Do I have to worry about someone being inside my head now?” She asked him. How common were these people? Could anyone do it? Could anyone do it accidentally? What if she accidentally read someone else’s mind? She would feel so terrible about that! Would she have to tell them that she did it? Oh man, that would be so embarrassing!
She listened intently as Kellen began to describe his summer. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly as his story sucked her in. His brother sounded like a bully. Farrah dealt with those too. At least it wasn’t her sister, but she was too young for any of that anyway. At least the girls who used to bully Farrah don’t do it quite as much anymore. That was mostly due to the fact that Farrah wasn’t home as often anymore so she didn’t see them, but also because Middle School seemed to change things a bit. Her friends were telling her about the different cliques, so the bully wasn’t as opposing as she once was.
Her facial expression changed when Kellen started questioning himself and whether or not he was the same person anymore because of the reaction he had had to his tormentor. Farrah placed a hand on his arm to soothe him. “I don’t think you’re a bad person.” She answered. “You were being picked on and you reacted. Sure, it was a bit violent, but, I don’t know, I think that’s bound to happen if you get constantly pushed around.” Farrah always felt like attacking her bullies after a while, but she never did because she knew she couldn't win.
He changed the topic onto her but not before she caught his last statement which only made her frown all the more. “The wagon ride was awful. I got sick from the bumps, so when I got here, I just went to sleep, so I feel better now but I don’t want to take a chance on eating too much.” Farrah told him. “As for my summer...I’m not going to lie, my summer was pretty cool.” Farrah commented. “Our family trip was to England this year, so I was able to see like Big Ben and stuff. Not as fun as going on like a cruise, but we still had a good time.” Farrah explained. She shrugged. She had enjoyed the trip, but if people didn’t like sight-seeing as much as roller coasters, swimming pools, and dolphins, then it wasn’t for them.
“So, what did you mean about something happening before the feast?” She asked, looking at him curiously.
6
Farrah
Good, I'm glad :)
344
Farrah
0
5
Kellen
September 25, 2016 6:34 AM
I am too. by Kellen
Kellen couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he watched Farrah try to wrap her head around mind reading being a real thing. Magic was fun like that. It wasn’t until she attempted to repeat the word occlumens to him when he’d realized his mistake. He scowled a little at his error and quickly set the record straight.“I got it backwards. Legilimency is what you use to read minds. Like legible is readable, that’s how to remember which is which. And then occlumency is what you use to guard against it. It’s crazy old magic, and I have no idea how you go about learning either. This weird old wizard was talking about it to my mom at the apothecary one day and I overheard.” He shrugged. “I don’t think it’s something most people use, so I doubt you need to worry. It’s kind of fascinating though.”
A wave of relief washed over the second year as his friend expressed her thoughts on his summer. She got it. It definitely helped to have someone else on your team. His mom was on his side too, but she was supposed to be no matter what, right?
“I’ve been working on different ways to cope when I’m feeling pushed to the edge, but everything has just felt so surreal since then. Like I watched someone else doing it and not me. I don’t know how else to explain it, but thank you. For being my friend and understanding. I feel like most people around me don’t.“
The boy was happy to hear that Farrah’s summer went much better than his was, even if her wagon ride went a bit awry. “Yuck. I'm sorry you had a rough ride. The wagons don't really agree with me either. Peppermint tea, or a bit of ginger will help next time. I can owl mom for some so you have it for break.” He commented, making a mental note to pen a message to her right away. She should probably hear about the MARS thing too.
“Honestly, a cruise is my worst nightmare. I'd choose England any day. I'm so jealous!” He said, leaning forward to make sure no detail was drown out by the feast noise. “Did you go to Buckingham palace and get a photo with the guards? Any TARDIS sightings?! Did you get to see any of the magical parts?” Kellen was so enraptured by Farrah’s trip that he'd almost forgot what kind of day he was having. Until of course she mentioned his pre-feast fiasco.
Kellen rubbed the back of his neck and sat back, slouching a little as he recalled the situation. “So, my mom and I started doing tai chi this summer to help with the...stress. Side bar, if you haven't tried it, we should do it together sometime. It's a lot of fun if you pretend that you're a waterbender while doing it. After I got off the wagon, I went to the sports room to re-center before the feast. The gardens were packed with first years, and I should have just gone to the water room because of my whole water bending fantasy, but no. I chose the sports room.” He paused and looked down the table in both directions to see where Arianna was in relation to the two of them. His pulse quickened when he spotted her and he immediately turned his attention back to Farrah and his tale.
“So I walk in and Arianna is in there levitating these big blocks. I don't need much space to practice, so I asked if I could share the space with her. I asked nicely too, because I don't really do people, you know?” The young Aladren sighed and continued. “So she turns around with this super aggressive Arianna face, and says ‘what would you do if I did mind?’” Kellen said in a very snotty, mocking tone which was nothing like how their house mate actually sounded, but was definitely a reflection of how he felt. He even tossed in the head tilt she'd done. Mean? Maybe, but Kellen wanted to make sure Farrah understood how he felt. “It was just so... unnecessarily hostile and rude.” He shook his head, still in disbelief of what had happened.
“So then, having the magical summer that I did, and being basically denied my ability to use the stupid coping tools I've developed, I just lost it.” He placed an elbow on the table and pressed his palm against his forehead, his fingers thrust into his messy dark hair. “I was like Banshee in X-men number 28. I yelled at her, and said some really awful things.” He sighed again, and lifted his gaze to meet Farrah’s. “I was pretty high on adrenaline, but I think I asked her why she was so unpleasant, mentioned something about her ego filling the whole room…”
His stomach turned again as he thought about the way it felt to spew such hateful words. “I definitely remember telling her not to let me interrupt because she clearly had more important things to do than be a decent human being.” He had both elbows on the table now. “My mom raised me to be better than that. I let weeks worth of trying to control my anger just...slip away. It's frustrating. I can't even look at her without this overwhelming feeling of dread.” He buried his face in his hands and tried to remember his breathing exercises. “I'm sorry dumping all my drama on you.”
5
Kellen
I am too.
341
Kellen
0
5
Farrah
September 25, 2016 8:05 PM
This is what friends are for by Farrah
Farrah felt like her mind was going to explode because Kellen was telling her that there was a type of magic someone could use to read a mind and a type of magic a person could do to protect themselves against it. Did that mean that someone could feel another person attempting to read their mind so that they knew that they had to start practicing the occu-whatever? Or was it something that they just had to constantly do at all times because they could never really know what someone was trying to read her mind? Ugh, there were so many questions that Farrah needed answers to! But she didn’t want to bombard Kellen with all of her questions this evening. She would just have to go to the library and see what she could find on the subject of mind reading and learn what she could that way.As much as she really loved magic and everything that it had brought to her life in recent years, she found it quite bizarre and sometimes rather gross and creepy. She didn’t understand why they had to do half the things that they did or why it had to be so strange (like the animal parts in potions or even the effect of some of the potions!). She was sure there was some explanation to it all and she was simply just waiting to be told about it.
She nodded as he explained that he had been working on coping methods for his anger. She thought that was probably best. She had heard people say that they would count to ten if they need to calm down or take some deep breaths. Farrah guessed that a lot of people dealt with coping from stressful or angry environments so she could at least understand it from that perspective. “Of course! You don’t have to thank me for that. We’re friends!” She thought it was weird that he felt the need to thank her for being understanding; why wouldn’t she have been?
“Oh, thanks! That would be really cool if you did!” Farrah commented. She hadn’t thought to ask her parents about any sort of motion sickness medicine before she left because it wasn’t really something that she had felt before. She probably could have just asked her mom to send her some herself, but since Kellen offered, she didn’t see the harm in taking it.
“You don’t like cruises?” Farrah asked, her brow furrowing. She had been one before and it had been alright. She was much younger back then though so she might feel differently about them now. She just remembered being able to do a lot of stuff all day long and had never been bored over it. She laughed when he started asking her about London. “We did see the palace, but we didn’t get any pictures with the guards. There were a lot of people around, so my parents didn’t want to wait around.” Farrah explained. “No TARDIS sightings, unfortunately, but probably for the best because I’m not sure I’d want to be around for whatever reason it was that the Doctor was there for.” Farrah said with a grin.
Farrah listened in as Kellen started telling her about what happened before the feast. “Oh…” She managed to say with polite interest at the idea of doing Tai Chi (she had heard of it before but had never done anything like it before) and how doing it could replicate someone attempting to bend the elements. That would be fun to do, she thought. He continued though and as he went on he mentioned Arianna. It could have been the other Arianna, but even so, Farrah’s stomach dropped. She could only imagine where this was going.
As he went on to explain the encounter with possibly her roommate (and Farrah could not deny that it felt an awfully lot like something she would have said and one), her green eyes were wide as she listened with rapture. But the more he spoke, the more he seemed to be filled with self-loathing because of his actions. Farrah frowned and hugged him briefly when he finished. “It’s alright, people sometimes let emotions get the better of them.” Farrah said, trying to be helpful. “If it was my roommate Arianna, she does have a way about her that sets people off in all the wrong ways. She did that to me the first time we spoke too.” Farrah admitted. “I’ve never met anyone who was just so rude to me after just like introducing myself. I don’t know. I think it’s more her than you. I mean, maybe you reacted not in the best way, but you can’t take all the blame for that.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to apologize? We’re friends. Vent all you want, I’ll be doing it to you someday, I’m sure.” She said, giving him a reassuring smile.
6
Farrah
This is what friends are for
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Farrah
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5
Kellen
September 26, 2016 1:02 PM
Well, thanks for being mine. by Kellen
He didn’t doubt their friendship, but somehow just having Farrah confirm it made Kellen feel a little bit better. Terrible people generally weren’t generally friends with people as nice as Farrah, so that had to say something, right?“I’m glad we’re friends.” He added, just in case she didn’t realize how grateful he was for her. He was also glad that she accepted his offer of stomach soothing remedies. Ever since he could remember, he’d been helping out around his mother’s shop, so some of the information about the different ingredients, potions, and tinctures stuck with him. He liked feeling useful, so he was happy that some of his knowledge could be used to help Farrah feel better.
“It’s not so much the cruise itself, because I hear that you don’t really feel like you’re on a boat because they are so big, but...I really hate water. Like, any water outside of the bath. I can just picture going on a cruise, everyone else having a good time, and me sitting in a lifeboat to ensure I have a spot, while wearing a life jacket the entire time. I guess I just worry too much about weird things.” He admitted, rubbing his neck. “Like deep, dark, open water.” He shuttered at the idea of it, but pressed on in hopes of explaining himself. “I don’t like not knowing what’s lurking just beneath the surface, and drowning sounds like the worst death. I admire those who can go and have fun in it though. I actually willingly got into our pool this summer, which was a huge step.”
Kellen probably didn’t need to explain all of that, but he had, and it’s not like he could just put the words back in his mouth. He had a problem with over explaining things, but that was just how his brain worked. He nodded as Farrah explained that she didn’t get any guard photos, and why not seeing a TARDIS was probably a good thing.
“I guess that is a pretty touristy thing to do, I can see why that would be kind of a crazy wait. Too bad about the blue box though. Who knows, maybe he could have picked you as the next companion. A timelord and a witch. Kind of an interesting combo.” He said with a smile. This was one of his favorite things about his friendship with Farrah. His nerdy muggle culture references weren’t lost on her.
As Farrah hugged him, even briefly, Kellen’s large ears reddened slightly. He was both happy it was over quickly, and sad that he hadn’t expected it enough to hug her back properly. He hoped he didn’t seem to stiff or unappreciative, he’d only ever been hugged by his mom or her parents. Well, sometimes Mrs. Bailey who owned the coffee shop next to the apothecary would hug him, but he could count the number of people he’d hugged on one hand. As she explained her initial interaction with Arianna, he started to feel better about his own encounter, but also a little unhappy that she’d been rude to Farrah too.
“I’m glad I don’t have roommates. I’m sorry yours is awful.” He said, confirming that it had been Arianna the Aladren and not the other one who he’d had the misfortune of meeting. She was right, it didn’t justify his actions, but at least he knew that he wasn’t the only offended by the way Arianna chose to treat people. “I guess dwelling on it won’t really help anything, all I can do is let it go, and do better next time.” He said resolutely. “I’m bad about apologizing. Probably a byproduct of my weird family life, so I’m apologizing for apologizing too much, you know, in advance. But I’m all ears, no pun intended, if you need me to be.”
5
Kellen
Well, thanks for being mine.
341
Kellen
0
5
Farrah
September 27, 2016 9:52 PM
You're welcome! Thank you for being mine too! by Farrah
Farrah was rather surprised to hear that Kellen was scared of water. She thought that was really quite sad because there was so much fun a person could have when it came to water. There was swimming, of course, snorkeling, water skiing, rafting, tubing, and she had heard scuba diving was fun. Plus there were like tourist things she had done like swimming with dolphins and meeting with stingrays. Did his fear also translate into things like aquariums? Farrah loved aquariums! She found the various sea creatures and coral reefs to be quite beautiful. She knew that she got her love of creatures from her father as he had exposed her to such things at a young age with his clinic. It always threw her when someone didn’t also like the same things as she did.“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you were afraid of water.” She replied. “Are you also afraid of ice rinks?” She asked. Farrah’s favorite thing in the whole wide world was ice skating. She was thinking of asking her friends if maybe they’d like to join her in the water room some time to have a little fun on the ice but if Kellen was afraid of water than there was also the chance that he was afraid of ice and then he wouldn’t want to join and so it would be pointless because she would want to hang out with all of her friends.
“I guess I didn’t think about the fact that I could have been made a companion…” Farrah replied, her eyes drifting slightly as she thought about what it would be like to be his companion. Perhaps not the Twelfth Doctor’s companion because she wasn’t as big of a fan as she was to the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Doctors. There was just something about him that she didn’t quite like. But she had also not really liked the Eleventh doctor for the first few episodes, but she had to require adapting to the personality after the sorrowful loss of the Tenth Doctor. Farrah shook herself out of her thoughts and back to Kellen. “Only if it’s a different Doctor would I consider being a Companion.” Farrah said after a moment and then smiled to him as though that made complete sense to Kellen even though he hadn’t been privy to her train of thought. “Although I don’t think I’d make half a decent companion as Amy and Rory did. I still miss them.”
Farrah laughed lightly, “Only the one is.” She assured him. Madeleine might have seemed a little strange to Farrah, but she mostly written that off to be a different cultural thing. Madeleine was otherwise nice to Farrah, which was definitely a huge improvement than Arianna. “Madeleine and I exchanged some letters over the summer, so I think that means that we’re moving closer to being friends? Or something? I don’t know, but I’m hoping it means that anyway.” Farrah admitted, looking a little sheepish at the admittance. She really would have liked to get along well with at least one of her roommates.
“Apology accepted.” She said with a grin, not wanting him to feel any worse just because he kept saying he was sorry for simply talking to her about his problems. “What’s done is done, so try not to let what happened get you down and I’ll make sure to hold you to your word should she be nasty to me in the future. Deal?”
6
Farrah
You're welcome! Thank you for being mine too!
344
Farrah
0
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Kellen
September 29, 2016 7:45 PM
Super friends! by Kellen
“It's not like it's a super normal thing, let alone a common conversation topic.” Kellen said with a shrug. Usually when people found out about it, they'd ask why, try to pick apart how someone could possibly be aquaphobic, and tell him how ridiculous he was. Farrah just seemed to accept it and move on, externally anyway. He liked that. It wasn't so much that he didn't like talking about it, it was kind of a weird quirk, so curiosity was to be expected. It was the assumed judgement that bothered him.“It depends. If it's a natural deep spooky lake with naturally occurring ice, no way. If it's like a hockey rink where it's a standard floor covered in ice, then I’d be good.” He'd only been ice skating once. The Lloyd Center mall in Portland had an indoor ice rink for some reason. Kellen and his mom went, and he imagined he looked as graceful as a giraffe on roller skates.
“You know, the more that I think about you, you likely can't be a companion until you're of age. Otherwise I think it's kidnapping.” He couldn't help but laugh at her comment about Twelve. “Aw, what's wrong with Capaldi! Too angry and Scottish?” He'd taken a while to warm up to the latest incarnation of the character. It wasn't until the first part of the finale that he really got on board. Nine was fine, most everyone loved Ten, and there was just something about Eleven that Kellen really liked. His favorite though was the 50th Anniversary episode. “I miss the Ponds too, but I think my favorite companion is Donna Noble. The tragedy of it all makes it sooo good! And don't get me started on River.” It was awesome to be able to nerd out like this. He knew he had a unique upbringing, so being able to share his fandoms at a wizarding school of all places was surprising, but very welcome. He was definitely glad for that fateful day in the library.
Kellen listened intently as Farrah told him about Madeleine. He hadn't met her yet, so he didn't have much of an opinion, but he was happy that it didn't seem like he'd have to watch out for her as well. He could only handle so much rude at one time.
“It's definitely something!” He said with a grin as his stomach finally began to settle enough for him to fill hungry. He grabbed a roll and started to eat it as Farrah accepted his apology for apologizing and encased their friendship in carbonite.
“Deal.” He agreed as he finished his roll.
5
Kellen
Super friends!
341
Kellen
0
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Farrah
October 02, 2016 3:38 PM
Like the Avengers! by Farrah
Farrah gave a moment of thought when he pointed out that talking about ones phobias wasn’t typical for a conversation nor was his all that common. He had a point. They certainly hadn’t gone around discussing what they were afraid of, but she thought that it might have come up in conversation in the past. And she was fairly certain that being terrified of the water was more common than he might otherwise think. Farrah grew up in Vermont and there were plenty of bodies of water around for her to simply accept the fact that water was wonderful. She had never had any sort of scare to make her feel otherwise. Her sister had taken a bit longer to warm up to water, but as far as Farrah could remember, everyone she grew up with enjoyed water. Perhaps it was because ice skating and other water based things was so normal to do?“Oh.” Farrah said with a frown. He wouldn’t like her pond then if he didn’t like naturally occurring ice. Her pond, the one she used in the water room to mimic the one she skated on at home, was her safe place here at Sonora. The library was also safe, but since she had seen Arianna in there a couple of times, Farrah was less inclined to just hang out there unless she was working or doing homework. “Ice skating is like my favorite thing to do.” Farrah told him. “There’s a pond near my house that freezes over in the winter and we ice skate on it. The water room will change to that pond for me so that I can practice. I was hoping that you and Georgia, and Killian would maybe want to go to the pond with me to ice skate, but I think we could change it to an ice rink instead if that will make you more comfortable.” Farrah explained. “If you wanted to come that is. You don’t have to of course.” Farrah added quickly, feeling suddenly dumb for even mentioning it at all. Georgia hadn’t seemed excited about ice skating when they had first met, so really, Farrah had no idea why she thought that anyone else would want to join her.
She shrugged at his question. “I don’t know what it is. Like he has his good moments that I think ‘yeah, okay, he’s not that bad’ but then he is just him again and I’m like ‘can we have a new one now?’ I can’t explain it.” Farrah replied, giving him an amused smile. “I just really loved Matt Smith. Not at first, it took a couple of episodes for me to really like him, but then I did and it’s just hard to go from him to Capaldi.” Her face lit up when he mentioned River Song. “Donna was a great Companion, much more than Clara, and it was so sad to see how she had to end her time as his companion. But River, once it all came together and you really understand who she is and what she means to The Doctor and knowing where she ended up…. I can just cry thinking about it now.”
Farrah really enjoyed talking about Doctor Who with Kellen. When she was first sent to Sonora last year, Farrah thought that everything would be so new and different for her. That she’ll never find anyone who would really get her and she’ll lose that part of herself while she was here. But then she met her friends and she felt like she had a solid place to belong.
It was a relief to know that Kellen felt the same. Farrah didn’t want to read too much into anything at this point, but Madeleine had smiled at her in a friendly way after she had woken her up to make sure she wouldn’t miss the feast, so that was also making Farrah feel like she wasn’t completely wrong in believing that they could be friends.
Now that they had all that nonsense put behind them, Farrah took a couple of pieces of bread and popped them into her mouth. Her stomach was still achy but it might feel better with something in it. “Are you ready for some more magic? Oh…” Farrah paused and then laughed. “Nevermind, you have it all the time. Are you at least ready to try some new spells?”
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Farrah
Like the Avengers!
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Farrah
0
5
Kellen
October 04, 2016 1:12 PM
Or the Justice League by Kellen
Kellen had never considered how he'd feel about ice skating on a magical body of water. Plus, if the room made it ice, it should be solid, right? He also couldn't imagine anything scary or dangerous occurring inside the school, so maybe he'd be ok. He noticed the shift in Farrah’s demeanor and somehow it made him feel almost brave. He didn't want to see her sad, and the way she spoke about her ice skating idea made him feel like it he needed to do what he could to make it happen, even if it meant going out of his comfort zone.“The water room should be ok, I think. Frozen by magic seems more trustworthy than frozen by temperature to me. And it likely won't have anything crazy living in it since it's a simulation, you know?” He was trying his best to logic himself into it, even though the thought of it made his anxiety flare up. “I know that I won't be any good, but I'll go. I'd like to ice skate with you. And Georgia and Killian, of course.” He offered, hoping to cheer Farrah up a little. It wasn't completely untrue either. He could have done without the ice skating, but he liked the idea of hanging out with Farrah and Georgia more. The jury was still out when it came to the other boy.
“Matt was definitely going to be a tough act to follow for anyone, unless they decided to bring Tenant back. At least Capaldi is a fan of the show, you know? He may not be great, but he at least has been invested in it. I’m really worried about the new companion...Capaldi and this, Bill...it’s going to be a rough season I think. Please don’t cry though, I don’t think I’m emotionally prepared for that.”
Kellen laughed when Farrah brought up magic. He’d been so surprised to find out that her father had kept that side of himself from her mother for as long as he had. Granted, Kellen’s father didn’t know his own son was a wizard, but he felt like his situation was a little different. His parents weren’t married, and were only co-parenting because his father felt like he needed to. He and Kellen’s mother didn’t really have a relationship outside of being parents to Kellen, so there were many things they didn’t know about each other, magic was just the biggest.
“Half of the time. My dad’s house is a non magic zone. I’m definitely ready though. I read up on wand work and theory and stuff, so I think this year should be better. I’m looking forward to actually trying spells though, instead of just reading about them. How about you? Are you going to be a library helper again too?”
5
Kellen
Or the Justice League
341
Kellen
0
5
Farrah
October 08, 2016 8:33 PM
Or Legends of Tomorrow by Farrah
Farrah gave Kellen a sweet smile when he offered to still do the ice skating in the MARS room with her despite his fear of water. She appreciated his gesture, she really did, but she didn’t feel comfortable having him ice skate in a pond that mimicked her home’s pond when it was clearly something that upset him. She would feel terrible about that and would be more concerned about whether or not he was feeling okay than enjoying herself or have fun with everyone. She knew that he was probably just being a good sport about it, she would have done the same, but she wouldn’t put him through that. “That’s nice of you to offer, but we’ll just do an ice rink instead or just figure something else out. Just because I like to ice skate doesn’t mean that I should expect everyone else to want to do it with me.” Farrah replied with a slight shrug of her slender shoulders.“Anyway, I’m sure we can find something for the four of us to do together. Or whoever would want to.” Farrah didn’t want to assume that any one of them would actually want to hang out with her or together because she wasn’t exactly sure of everyone’s dynamics. She was friends with the three of them but that did not mean that they were friends with each other and she didn’t want to force anything on anyone either. That didn’t seem very nice to do.
“Yeah, that’s true.” Farrah replied thinking about the fan in Capaldi. She had read in magazines about actors or actresses who get this really awesome role from a book that had a huge fan base but never picked up and read the actual book to really understand the character that they were portraying. Farrah thought that made them real frauds. Their reasoning was because they didn’t want to copy the character in the book but make the character their own. She didn’t understand that. They were literally playing the character from the book, why wouldn’t they portray the character exactly as they were written? Farrah laughed, “Okay, I won’t get emotional so that you can be spared the tears.” She teased. “I honestly haven’t read much on the new season, why are you worried about it?” She asked, interested in his opinion of it.
“Most definitely!” Farrah said. “I’ll sign up for other clubs too, but the Library is like normal? You know? Even with the magic, it’s still normal. But I’m really excited to learn more. I’ve been reading up on things and even though we’re low on the totem pole here, some of the spells look really interesting.”
6
Farrah
Or Legends of Tomorrow
344
Farrah
0
5
Kellen
October 11, 2016 2:56 PM
Or the X-men by Kellen
“I’ll make you a deal. Ice rink this year, and then next year we’ll do the pond. I feel like by 13 I should be able to conquer my fears.” That seemed like a good compromise to Kellen. Granted, he was asking her to wait an entire year for ice skating on her pond, but she was willing to forgo it for him entirely. Farrah was a really good friend, and he wanted to do that for her. Plus it would be more incentive to challenge himself. The idea still made him a little anxious, but Farrah was worth it.Kellen sighed a little when Farrah asked about the new season, not because he didn’t want to talk about it, but just because he’d been so unimpressed with the teaser used to reveal Bill, the new companion. “I just don’t know about Bill, the new companion. In the video they released that introduced her...the Doctor kept telling her to be quiet and she just couldn’t keep her mouth shut while they are being chased by daleks. It was annoying. I guess maybe I’m just expecting too much out of her. It’s not like she knows what daleks are. I just found her annoying. I guess she’s supposed to be nerdy though, so maybe I need to cut her some slack.”
The Aladren boy had arrived at Sonora halfway through last term, so he hadn't really had the chance to sign up for any clubs. He didn't have the most diverse interests, so aside from book club, he wasn't positive he'd be joining anything else.
“I know exactly what you mean. Libraries will always be weirdly comforting to me too.” He smiled when she revealed that she'd been reading up on spells over the summer too. He never thought he'd have so much in common with a girl. “Magic is pretty amazing. If you want, when you don't have clubs or library duty, and if you aren't busy with your other friends, maybe we could practice together more? Or try some of the simpler ones?” Kellen offered, though his heart was racing a little. He didn't think Farrah would actually turn him down, but there was always that nagging voice of self doubt in his mind.
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Kellen
Or the X-men
341
Kellen
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Farrah
October 16, 2016 4:35 PM
And the Teen Titans! by Farrah
Farrah thought over his deal for a moment. She really didn’t want him to feel obligated to ice skate on a pond (real or fake) if that wasn’t something he found comfortable or any enjoyment from. She appreciated that fact that he was willing to put himself out there for it as it showed to her the kind of person that he was and how far he would go to make a friend happy, but she didn’t want to be that friend to make him do that. She felt like that meant that she was not a good friend for putting him through that. If he did it on his own, she would follow through with it, but if he just did it because of this conversation and he was still scared of the water, then she wouldn’t force him to follow through with the deal.“Alright…deal, but I’m only going to have it as the pond if, and only if, you have actually conquered your fear.” Farrah stated firmly to him. “I don’t want any pretending from you.” She would hate to have to go through with something that she was terrified of simply because a friend wanted her to. She didn’t think that would be fair at all and she definitely didn’t want her friends to feel like they absolutely had to do this with her. She just thought it would be fun. But this was also a past time that everyone in her town did. It never really considered the fact that other people might not ice skate.
Farrah frowned as Kellen began to discuss his feeling regarding the new season. She liked the idea of having a nerdy companion (although, weren’t they all just a little bit nerdy in some way) but the chatting sort of reminded her of Martha and Farrah didn’t really like Martha all that much. She knew that she should because Martha was a doctor and everything, but she didn’t. “She’s not going to be another Martha, is she? Because that would be lame.” She hoped that Kellen didn’t like Martha (or at least, liked her less than the other companions) because she didn’t want to feel awkward after admitting she wasn’t a huge fan of hers.
Kellen made Farrah feel less self-conscious about her attachment to libraries. She felt that the majority of Aladrens probably felt the same way as her (she saw a lot of them in there while she worked as a helper) but it wasn’t necessarily something that she openly admitted to. Especially since she didn’t think either of her roommates were necessarily book lovers in the way that she was. “Of course!” Farrah exclaimed, her face lighting up at the prospect of practicing magic with him. “It’ll be fun having someone else there to practice with and help if I’m doing something wrong.”
6
Farrah
And the Teen Titans!
344
Farrah
0
5