Professor Kijewski

December 05, 2006 6:24 PM
Kiva had had a very amusing and somewhat awkward start of the day. But it was definitely a break in her usual routine that Kiva had apparently needed. With life back at her parent's house getting steadily worse, any break from reality was a nice one to have for Kiva. After her seemingly random conversation with Simon, Kiva went back to setting up her class materials before eventually waiting for her class to arrive. As usual, it didn't take long for her to hear the little padded feet of her first and second years.

There were times (pretty much since the disaster of her first year teaching here at Sonora) when Kiva wondered whether or not it was a good idea to teach her class outside. But, after awhile, she realized that this was the only class, aside from flying, where the students were allowed outside for a breath of fresh air and the freedom to move around. Plus, with some of the things she would be teaching the older students, Kiva would need the space.

When the last of the students arrived and settled in, Kiva began her lesson. “Good morning, Everyone!” Kiva greeted them with a smile. “Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures. For those of you who don’t know me, I am Professor Kijewski. However, most people just call me Professor K.” Kiva introduced herself. The crate directly behind her made a soft whining sound, but Kiva ignored it. “This class is less formal than your other classes. The only rule I have is to not talk while I or one of your peers are talking. Other than that, feel free to get as comfortable as you’d like. Go ahead and remove your robes if you'd like, I know it's hot out and I want you all to be as comfortable as possible." Kiva said as she paced infront of her students. She waited a moment just incase there were a few students who decided to take her words literally and get comfortable.

She went behind her and opened the container, pulling something out before replacing the lid. She held up the custard-colored fur spherical shaped animal in her hands and showed it to the class, "Today we will be discussing these. This is called a puffskein." Kiva said raising her arm a bit higher for everyone could see it. "These are scavengers and very easy to care for. They usually make the best sort of pets for beginners or when parents feel that the responsibillities of any other pet may be too great." Kiva paused here to make sure everyone was paying attention to her.

"What's really cool about these creatures is that they don't mind being roughly handled. You can toss them, squeeze them, do whatever you like and you'll usually get a happy purring response from them." Kiva tossed the puffskein in her hand high into the air, caught it and gave it a squeeze. The result was a loud purring sound, much like the sound one would get from a content cat. "What I have in this pin are a bunch of puffskeins. I thought that since this is our first lesson, we might as well make it as fun as possible. If everyone could just stand up and grab one puffskein, you may take the rest of class and play with them or toss them between one another." Kiva said, opening the container and moving so that the students would have better access at getting to the puffskein.

"There are plenty for everyone and you all have to participate, remember you are earning your house points here." Kiva called out to everyone. In the past, she had always had a student or two who would do nothing during the lesson. After the blowout last year, Kiva was going to nip that habit in the butt as early as possible. "If everyone enjoys their puffskein, I'll consider having you all take care of them and name them. These are babies, and because there are an abundance of these creatures in the shops, most never find a home. So, whether or not you guys can keep them as house pets or class pets, it's entirely up to you." Kiva said, smiling at her students. She was hoping that the idea of being able to call one their own was enough to really inspire them. Though, she knew there would always be a handful that would want nothing to do with the creatures. Such a shame too, considering how easy they were to care for.

OOC: Okay everyone, I'm looking for how well you write your reponses (make sure they are at least 2 paragraphs, 5 sentences each), grammar, and how well you develop your character. Take your time and have fun! Also, because this was an issue in the past, I will write a post indicating that this lesson is completed and everyone is dismissed. Until that post is written, continue to post here. Thank you!\n\n
Subthreads:
0 Professor Kijewski Years 1 and 2, Lesson 1 0 Professor Kijewski 1 5


Mika

December 07, 2006 1:28 AM
Mika had gotten up well before anyone in his dorm. Mornings were very slow for him and he knew that. He got up and went through his morning routine, which involved showering, an unusual level of concern over appearance and hygiene for someone his age. He was dressed neatly and in his wheel chair, making his way down for breakfast, around the time the other boys in his dorm had probably been getting up.

He made his way to where COMC was meeting, again, allowing himself lots of time, unsure what sort of terrain he should be expecting. He managed to get himself there, and a little bit early too. When he arrived, he folded his hands in his lap and waited in the shade. The heat didn't seem to bother him, despite the heavy robes and long pants underneath them.

Mika watched as his classmates started to congregate, then turned his full attention to the professor as she began to speak, listening closely to all she said. Puffskeins. He could deal with that. He had never owned one, but he had known others who had them as pets. They weren't the most exciting animals, but Mika was very okay with that. He wanted two weeks to get his schedule down and his body use to all of this before he had anything 'exciting' happen. He smiled a bit when the Professor told him they might be able to keep the creatures. That would be nice. Mika rather liked animals, though he had never had any. He did shrug out of his robes, draping them carefully over the back of his chair. He was dressed, he realized, far more formally than any of his classmates. He wore black cargo pants that were nice enough to almost qualify as slacks, and a blue button down shirt. Some concession had been made to the summer weather, and he had rolled up the sleeves to his elbows. The shirt was at least made of a very light cotton.

The boy waited patiently as all the other students got their puffskeins before he wheeled over to the box. He parked his chair in front of it, and pulled one of his arm canes from its resting place at the underside of his wheelchair. Like his wheelchair, these two were enchanted to shrink when he put them away, and expand when he took them out, so they were less cumbersome. The crutch lengthened in his hand through no magic of his own and he gripped the hand-grip, placing the rubber end firmly on the ground. He put both feet on the ground next, and gripped the side of the crate with a free hand.

He gathered his strength, then drew himself to his feet, leaning on the crutch and the crate, using the strength in his arms, though his feet did shift to take his weight as well. Mika stood for a moment, just to be sure he had his balance, then took a small step closer to the crate. He was actually rather tall when standing. He took a moment to push his glasses up on his nose, before he leaned down and fished out a puffskein with the hand not holding on to his armcane. He made a bit off a face as he tried to pick the thing up, as it almost over balanced him head first into the crate. It would figure he would end up with the fattest one.

After readjusting his grip, he lifted the puffskein out of the box. It was indeed quite fat for a puffskein, a very very pale cream color. He tucked the critter under his arm, and took the step or two back to his wheelchair, and eased himself down into it once again. The armcane was tucked away, and he set the puffskein on his lap, wheeling back to his place in the shade.

The professor had said they didn't mind rough treatment, but Mika was rather shocked to see how some of his classmates were treating the creatures. He picked his up with both hands and brought it to eye level, turning it over in his hands as he looked at it.

The puffskein quivered a bit in his hands, and a long pink tongue appeared, heading straight for Mika's nose. Mika recalled a bit belatedly what it was that puffskein's liked to eat. He made a startled sound and dropped it back into his lap, clamping a hand over his nose. A laugh was surprised out of him, and he giggled quietly.

"Nyet! Neh Vibeeritee moy noess!" He laughed, smiling a full smile for the first time since he had arrived in the US.

((OOC: "nyet! neh vibeeritee moy noess!" = "No! Do not pick my nose!"\n\n
0 Mika Better Than a Flobberworm 0 Mika 0 5


Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

December 07, 2006 5:39 AM
Jaeven Dimitri had arrived on time, although practically robeless. He had tried to get the thing on properly, but it didn't work. Consequently, the school robe that everybody else was wearing had ended up being put on slightly backwards and rather sideways. But it was all okay, because he got to Comec all by himself. Saul had told him that it was called Comec at the Opening Feast, and that it was about animals. That was good, because Jae liked animals. They were fun. And some people were almost as good as animals to be with, too. Other people weren't very nice, though, and Jae didn't like that.

He had been a little nervous when he had found out that the Deputy Head taught Comec. Deputy Heads didn't usually like Jae very much, but Professor K seemed cool. And then she showed them puffballs! They were smallish and fuzzyish and they were madcooler than even the pictures in the library! Jae jumped up happily and skipped over to the Puffskein pen. He picked out a good sized, creamy brown puffball, and hugged it. It purred at him!

This was better than a cat, even! Aunt Cheri had said that he could have a kitty for his birthday this year, but kitties didn't like being hugged much. Jae decided to name his puffball Todd. Todd was a good name for a puffball. Todd sounded like he was a happy puffball too, since whenever Jae hugged him, he purred.

Todd was probably getting lonely, without other puffballs to play with, though. So when he saw another boy in a wheelchair, he decided to take Todd over to play with him and his puffball. Jae thought wheelchairs were pretty cool. He had gotten a ride in one after he swallowed a quarter last year, and had taken a trip to the hospital so they could get it out. It had been fun. So he skipped over to the boy, nestling Todd in the biggest pocket of his tan cargo pants for the ride. He could feel him purring against his leg, too, so Jae thought Todd probably liked skipping.

"Hi! I'm Jae!" he grinned widely at the other boy. His blond dreadlocks quivered a bit from the trip as he fished Todd out and hugged him. "This is Todd. He's my puffball. What's your puffball's name? And what's your name? And what did you just say? And why do you get a wheelchair? I think wheelchairs are fun, 'cause you get to spin them. My aunt doesn't like it when I do that, though. Did you know that the hospital lets you borrow a wheelchair for free sometimes?\n\n
0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri Much, I think 0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri 0 5


Mika

December 07, 2006 8:42 AM
Mika stared at the boy who skipped over to him, his dark eyes wide behind his glasses, making them look even bigger. The boy spoke so fast Mika could hardly keep up. His English was good, but this kid talked like he had to pay by the minute, and Mika just stared at him after he stopped talking for long moments, as he tried to run all of that back through his mind. There had been a lot of questions, at least he was pretty sure there had been, it seemed like the boy's voice had gone up alot. Of course, some Americans seemed to talk like that all the time, like everything was a question.

Slowly Mika's brows knitted and he frowned, the other boy appeared to have a letter for a name, and a puffskein with a person name. When he was fairly certain he had sorted out all that the kid had just thrown at him he finally spoke.

"Preevyet," he paused a moment, there was no 'j' sound in either Russian or Hebrew, and considering that the kids name was nothing but that letter, Mika knew he wasn't going to say it right. "- Yae. My name is Mika'el. It is o-kay if you call me Mika. I think that these are called puffskeins, not puffballs?" He was almost positive of that, but hey, Yae was the one who spoke the language natively, maybe Mika had misheard. "I have not yet named my... Sloyka." That was what they were called in Russian.

"A moment ago I said 'do not pick my nose'." he paused again, realizing that sounded very odd out of context. "Sloyka like to eat..." crud, he didn't know that word in English. After another long pause, he settled on the closest he could get "...snot. It was hungry, I guess."

"I have a wheelchair because my legs do not work properly. I suppose they might be fun one could stand up and walk whenever it became less convenient." Mika didn't mean to sound snobby, and was in fact unaware that he did, not realizing that his careful and rather formal way of speaking made him sound that way. "I am know that hospitals may allow one to borrow a wheelchair, da, but this one is not borrowed. It is made just for me."

Mika's accent was a little thicker then usual, as he was working very hard to keep up with this other boy, it sounded Eastern European mostly. He shifted in his wheelchair a bit, caressing his puffskein a bit nervously, finding Yae very overwhelming, but was trying very hard to be friendly.


((OOC: I do know his name is Jae, but lol, there isn't a 'J' sound in either Russian or Hebrew, so Mika doesn't know how to see his j's very well, hence the Yae ;) ))\n\n
0 Mika Wishing for a Translator 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

December 07, 2006 5:52 PM
OOC: 'tis cool. I like it, actually. ^_^

BIC:

Wheelchair kid looked like he was thinking. That was okay. Jae could play with Todd while he waited. So he scratched Todd's tummy, and Todd made a funny gurgle noise. So Jae did it again. Todd sounded happy. That was good, because Jae was happy too. And then Wheelchair kid talked, and said something weird that started with a P. And then Wheelchair kid called him Yae. Which was a weird nickname, but it was kind of cool. Yae. Like, YAY! That was fun. And then Wheelchair kid said his name was Micka-ell, but to call him Mika.

But Mika seemed to have trouble talking. And he was confused about what to call the puffballs. Jae wasn't sure either, because he hadn't really been listening to Professor K when she explained what they were called. When Mika decided to call them Sloyka, Jae decided that he would go with what Mika said. He seemed pretty smart, especially since Jae was pretty sure that some of the words he was saying weren't English. Plus, Mika sounded weird too. He was saying some words differently than most people Jae knew. Maybe he was speaking in Spanish, like Jae's neighbor, Nina? Nina was fun, and sometimes they rode horses together. He liked horses. Maybe Mika got to ride horses too? Even though he said his legs didn't work right.

"Do you get to ride horses, since your legs don't work right? I like horses. They're fun, and sometimes my aunts let me give them carrots. I don't like carrots too much, but the horses do! It's cool that you get your own wheelchair. When Nina broke her ankle, she let me borrow her crutches sometimes, and that was fun. Do you talk Spanish like Nina does? I don't understand some of the words you say, but that's cool too."

Jae dug in one of his pants pockets, came up with the wandstick, and stuck it behind his pierced ear. Then he held Todd up to his face to see if he would do what Mika's Sloyka did, but Todd squirmed away, so Jae put him down next to Mika's. They would play together and have fun. Him and Mika could have fun too. Jae had seen some kids flying around on brooms, too. Maybe Mika did that. Maybe Mika would teach him! He liked his new school. He liked Mika, and Todd, and Professor K, too. So Jae hugged Mika and grinned and sat down on the ground. Happy was fun.\n\n
0 Jae Not sure how much that would help 0 Jae 0 5


Mika

December 07, 2006 7:04 PM
Mika was starting to wonder if this boy was quite right in the head. Maybe his parents were hippies. the blond dreadlocks suggested that was a possibility. Really he had no idea what to even think at the moment, he had never encountered anyone quite like this before. His mother was a very serious woman, and Mika had never been able to play quite like other children, so he too tended to be very serious and unused to play. He had also gone to school at one of the best yeshivas in the world, which also contributed to his miniature adult personality. To meet someone who was so carefree, and open... it was surreal to Mika.

Another barrage of questions was hurled at him, but this time he kept up a little better, getting used to the boy's voice and manner of speech.

"I have ridden horses before." He nodded, "They call it equine therapy. Horses are nice, but not very common where I am from." He considered the next several statements that Yae made, nodding a little. Mika rather liked carrots himself, but to each his own. "I do not speak Spanish,I speak Paroosky...er... Russian. Those are probably the words you are not understanding. I also speak Hebrew. English is my third language. I am starting to learn Japanese as well. I would like to learn Spanish as well. I like to speak many languages."

And then, all of a sudden, the strange boy had his arms around Mika and was hugging him. Mika froze like a deer in the headlights, his eyes going even rounder. He was somewhat used to others handling his person, it was a fact of life when you were disabled, but being hugged, spontaneously, but a strange boy, was as surprising to him as if a six legged donkey came walking down a rainbow and granted him three wishes and a puppy.

Mika patted the other boy's back awkwardly, and was happy when he was released, and the boy sat down. He pushed his glasses up on his face again, nervously.

"Ah..." Mika thought he should try and make conversation. Yae was nice enough, just very, very overwhelming. "I have crutches too." He offered, suspecting his crutches were very different than the ones this Nina had used. "You can try them if you want." Mika offered, pulling them out from under his wheelchair, they expanded to the right length in his hand. They weren't the typical kind of crutches, but instead, arm canes, with a hand-grip and a band that went around the forearm. He held them out to Yae.\n\n
0 Mika ...Did You Just Hug Me? 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

December 08, 2006 6:08 AM
Mika said he rode horses sometimes! That was great! Maybe he could ask Professor K to let them ride horses during class. Horses were cool. And he spoke Russian! And Japanese! That was really, really madcool. Maybe he would teach Jae. And then they could communicate like...like...secret agents or something, with code. That would be fun. And they could battle evil and stuff, just like on TV. Nina had been teaching him a little Spanish before he left. He missed Nina sometimes. She would probably like Todd a lot. Except, she had a cat, and maybe Todd wouldn't like the cat very much. Nina's cat didn't like his aunt's dog very much. Cats didn't seem to be friends with very many things except people.

Mika had crutches too!! Except, they were different from Nina's crutches. Jae hadn't ever seen anything like them before, and they GREW! All by themselves, the got longer, and longer! Madcoolness! Jae jumped up and took the crutches with a huge grin on his face, then paused for a moment. He looked at Mika seriously.

"You'll take very good care of Todd while I'm playing, right?" His aunt called that responsibility. She said he would have to have responsibility before he got a cat. Jae wasn't sure he still wanted a cat, since he had Todd now, but he thought it probably was the same for Sloyka as cats. Except maybe not, since Sloyka were more puffy, and they didn't eat mice. It always made Jae sad when Nina's cat ate mice, because mice were really cute too. Todd was blinking at Mika's Sloyka and making bubbley question noises. He didn't seem upset, but what if Todd didn't get on with Mika's Sloyka? Jae wanted Todd to be happy. Mika looked like he had a lot of responsibility, though. He probably had a cat, or maybe even a dog!

Jae fiddled with his earring while holding the supercool crutches in one hand. He was really very torn, and his features showed it.\n\n
0 Jae *checks* Yes, I believe I did... 0 Jae 0 5


Mika

December 08, 2006 8:28 AM
Yae seemed extrodinarily excited over the crutches. Mika was partial to them as well, but like his wheel chair, they were custom made, just for him, measured prefectly to his height. The might be a little long for Yae, Mika was rather lanky.

When asked if he would take good care of Todd, Mika looked down at the two sloyka, who weren't doing much of anything, and nodded, leaning down to pick them both up, setting them in his lap to prove he would keep a close eye on them.

"I will watch them, da." He nodded, "I will take care of Todd." They were rather nice critters after all, and two was hardly any more work than one. He caressed both of the sloyka, one with each hand, patting them gently. "He will be fine."\n\n
0 Mika Of Course 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

December 11, 2006 7:43 PM
Assured that Mika would take good care of Todd, Jae decided to play with the crutches. But when he put them down on the ground, he realised that they were really, really big! Mika must be super tall when he wasn't in his wheelchair. Or at least taller than Jae. At 4'4", he wasn't the biggest kid around. A little bit disappointed, Jae gave up on the crutches and returned them to Mika. Todd was still there, though, and looking at Mika's Sloyka.

"The crutches are too big. But that's okay! Hey, are you going to name your Sloy-ka? And what house are you in? Saul says that I'm a Pecari. I don't really get what that means, except that I turned brown at the Feast. Oh, and I get to be in Saul's House. Saul is cool. He told me not to play with my wandstick, and what me turning brown meant. And then we ate. Did you have fun at the feast?"

Jae had fun at the feast. He had learned stuff too. And then he had gotten to go to his House, even though you had to talk to a suit of armor to get in. And you had to say really weird things about mess removers. Except, that changed sometimes, at least according to his Hoho, who was also the Potions teacher. Potions didn't have cool acronyms, like Dayda and Comec, so that wasn't fun. But Saul said there was a fifth year called Stephen that made Corridor Rides, too. Jae wanted to find him so he could see what that was.\n\n
0 Jae Sorry for the delay 0 Jae 0 5


Mika

December 12, 2006 12:13 AM
Mika took back his crutches, and they shrunk down again and he stowed them under his wheelchair. "Sorry, I guess I am taller than you." He said. Mika sometimes forgot he was on the tallish side, since he was sitting most of the time.

"I will name him if we get to keep them." He nodded. His sloyka was chirping at Todd, making odd little cooing noises that was sloyka-speak. "I do not know what though. I am in Aladren. Houses, I think, are sorted by personality types. I don't know what Pecari's traits are supposed to be like. Aladren's like to read, and problem solve. My mother also told me not to play with my... wandstick..." He raised an eyebrow, finding that particular choice of word rather odd, but hey, what did he know, Mika didn't speak English natively. Mika pulled his 'wandstick' out from his sleeve showing it to Yae. It was a rather unique wand, and looked black, it was made of Yew.

"I know some spells already, my mother taught me." he tucked his wand back into his sleeve again "I did not have fun at the feast." He shook his head a bit, "Nobody would speak to me." He shrugged. \n\n
0 Mika It's Groovy 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

December 14, 2006 5:42 PM
OOC: Right. Sorry for the delay...again. I was wrapping up some Scouting stuff that took altogether too much of my time, but life is returning to the relative semblance of normal now.

BIC:

His old Principal had used that word a lot. Problem solve. Jae didn't like the word very much, but he did like Mika, so he couldn't be that good at this problem solving stuff. People that were usually did things like complain to the Principal about him. And hang out in libraries and boring stuff like that. They didn't know about Sloykas, and they didn't have awesome wheelchairs and crutches that could shrink and grow all by themselves. So Mika was okay, even though he was in a House with people who were problem solvers. Jae didn't like to read very much either, because the words didn't make sense a lot of the time. They just looked like a bunch of shapes on the page that made sense sometimes. Jae liked pictures. He could sit and draw pictures for hours and hours with Nina. Sometimes his Aunt Marla read to him before he went to bed, and that was fun. Maybe Mika would read to him sometimes too, since he could probably read all by himself. That was what these Aladren people did, right?

Mika's mom had told him not to play with his wandstick, too, so maybe there was a reason. There was usually a reason if grownups said not to do something. Sometimes the reason didn't make sense, though, and that wasn't fun because then Jae got confused and his head hurt. Mika's wandstick was black, which was cool. And he said he knew something called 'spells'. Maybe Mika could show him those, too.

When Mika said nobody would talk to him at the Feast, Jae frowned. That didn't make sense. Mika was fun to talk to! And he knew about Sloykas, which was fun. "Why wouldn't anybody talk to you?" Jae asked, going over to Mika and giving him a big hug. Hugs made everybody feel better! Except for grumpy old principals. But they were just grumpy grownups. "I like talking to you," he said seriously, releasing Mika and meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry you didn't have fun at the feast. Maybe you can sit with me next time! That will be fun, right? Especially if Saul sits with me again, because then he can explain stuff. Or maybe a big kid named Stephen. Saul said that he invented the Corridor Ride, which sounds like a lot of fun, except I'm not sure what it is yet. But we could find out!"

Todd was blinking and making more bubbly, squeaky noises at Mika's Sloyka. They looked happy.

\n\n
0 Jae Grooviness! 0 Jae 0 5


Mika

December 16, 2006 12:39 PM
Mika blinked as the other boy hugged him... for a second time. Was that normal? Did American boys hug like that? Russian boys didn't. Israelii boys sometimes put their arms around each other, but not Mika. No one Mika's own age touched him. It was the wheelchair. Mika supposed that there was no harm in it. It was just very odd to him. He patted Yae's back again. It was a bit of a start that he realized Yae might be trying to comfort him, because no one had spoken to him at the feast. That was very nice of him. Hmm.

"I do not know why they did not talk to me. Sometimes people are unsure how to deal with people in wheelchairs. Especially wizarding people. It is very unusual for wizards." he said with a bit of a shrug. It was one thing Mika really didn't like about having inherreted his parents' magic abilities. If he hadn't been a highly driven child who wanted to excell at everything, he would have almost wished to be a squib. Of course, then people would assume that the magical disabilty was related to the physical one. And Mika would have hated that even more then how a lot of wizards already treated him. He had resolved to become a very talented wizard himself. It just seemed a natural extension of his academic pursuits of perfection.

"I do not know what this 'corridore ride' is either." Mika shook his head, filing that away with the list of things that he didn't understand but needed to look into. Like what a 'sloyka' was called in English. He had his COMC book with him, but he didn't want to take it out, a little afraid Yae would think he wanted to study and would stop talking to him. Yae was odd, but friends were friends. "It would be fun to sit together, yes." Mika nodded a bit, wondering if they were allowed to not sit with their houses, he wasn't sure. He added that to the list of things he didn't know but should find out.

Mika's sloyka rolled around a bit, doing whatever sloyka's did to interact with other sloykas. Mika lifted a booted foot from its foot peddle and nudged his sloyka gently, It cooed, and rolled over, so Mika rolled it around with his foot a bit. He was being gentle with the little guy, just tussling around with it like you would with a puppy or a kitten.\n\n
0 Mika Another Hug? 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

December 17, 2006 9:14 AM
People didn't talk to Mika 'cause he was in a wheelchair? That didn't make sense. Wheelchairs and crutches and stuff were FUN! Especially if you were friends with somebody who had crutches or something, and then you got to play with them sometimes. Except teachers and parents didn't like that very much. But Mika said something about a wizard. Like in the movie, with King Arthur and Merlin? Merlin was a wizard, except he had a long white beard and stuff. Mika didn't have a beard, but he said he was a wizard. That didn't make sense. Maybe wizard meant something different in Mika's language?

"What does wizard mean?" Jae asked Mika, playing with his wandstick, then remembering he wasn't supposed to and sticking it behind his ear again. "And why don't wizardpeople get wheelchairs? That's not fair. They should get to play too, right? Nina says there are some wheelchairs that move all by themselves. Isn't that madcool? Do you think that Professor K will let us ride horses here? Do you think she maybe does have horses? Aunt Marla said that I couldn't bring my horse here, so Nina's taking care of him. Aunt Cheri said I could have a kitty for my birthday, though. Do you think Todd will get along with a kitty?"

Mika was playing with his Sloyka with his foot. Jae decided to copy him, except it didn't work quite so well because Jae was standing up. So when he tried to play with Todd with his foot, he lost balance and fell down. But that was OK because he wasn't hurt. Jae started to roll Todd around with his hands. The Sloyka made a purring noise, and Jae laughed.\n\n
0 Jae Hugs are <i>happy</i> 0 Jae 0 5


Mika

December 17, 2006 12:34 PM
What does wizard mean? Mika cocked his head. How had this strange, strange boy end up at a wizarding school and not know what it was to be a wizard. Even if he was muggle born. How was that possible? He blinked a few times, remaining quiet, trying to formulate an answer. Finally, with a sigh, he realized this needed a dictionary. He left his sloyka alone for a moment, reaching into his backpack and pulling out his English dictionary. His backpack had a lot of books in it. His class books, yes, but also an English dictionary, an Russian/English dictionary, a Hebrew/English dictionary, and a small thesaurus. Over kill? Maybe. But there was nothing Mika hated more than not having the right word for something. He opened his English dictionary to 'W', and looked for the definition.

"Wizard is a noun. It means 'a man with magical powers." Mika recited from his dictionary, then put it away again. "Sometimes, though, I think magic people say 'wizards' to mean any magic persons or group of magic people. Like one might use the word 'guys' to refer to a group of people, even though they may be of mixed gender." Mika explained patiently. "You are a wizard. That is why you are here at this school. That is what your wandstick is for. Magic."

HE thought about the rest of the questions a moment before answering. "Magical people don't often use wheelchairs because there aren't many wizards or witches with disabilities." He cocked his head again, Yae didn't seem to understand that Mika wasn't 'playing'. He would trade the 'fun' of his wheelchair for a decent set of legs any day. "And only people who are hurt or disabled use wheelchairs." He shrugged. "There are wheelchairs that move by themselves. But they use electricity, or magic." He was sure the ones Yae had seen had all been electric though. "And I think they are boring. They are slow. And all you do is sit there." Madcool, eh? Mika knew something that was madcool. Which he presumed to mean 'exceptionally cool'. He picked up his sloyka, tossing it up in the air. When it purred, he decided it was okay to treat it a little bit like a soccer ball.

"Electric wheelchairs can't do... madcool... things like this." He tossed his sloyka up in the air, then with a shift of weight, he leaned his chair back so that his front wheels were off the ground. Using his hands on his wheels to balance as he was tilted back, and maneuver his chair, when the sloyka came down, he bounced it off his feet on the footbar, like a soccer ball. With some minor adjustments of his wheels, tilted back as he was, he was able to bounce the soccerball off his feet repeatedly, almost like he was playing hackie sack with it. His mom hated when he did that, always afraid he was going to flip over backwards, but he never did.

After a few bounces, he dropped his front wheels to the ground again, and caught the purring sloyka, caressing its fur. He offered Yae a grin, a real and rather wide smile. Probably the first time he had really smiled today. He nudged his glasses up on his nose.

"See, you can not do that with an electric wheelchair, they are too heavy." Not to mention if you were using one of those you were way most disabled then Mika was. \n\n
0 Mika Time for a Dictionary 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

December 19, 2006 3:48 PM
That was what his wandstick was for? Magic? Jae thought that was pretty cool. Aunt Cheri had always said magic wasn't real, but Aunt Marla had always told her to hush and sometimes she would say something about not 'ruining Jaeven's childhood', but Jae never understood what that meant, so he ignored it. Just like he really didn't understand much about the dictionary definition of wizard. He was very impressed that Mika had all those books, though.

Mika started explaining about wheelchairs and saying how only people who were hurt or disabled had wheelchairs. And he thought that the ones that moved by themselves were boring! Jae thought they were pretty cool. There were some at Safeway, when he went grocery shopping with his aunts, but they never let him play with them. Sometimes they gave him some money and he got to ride the electric horse up behind the cash registers, though, and that was fun. Not as fun as riding an electric wheelchair, but still fun. And definitely not as fun as riding a real horse. Maybe Mika could come over this summer and he could meet Nina and they could ride horses together! That would be madcoolamazingness.

Speaking of madcoolamazingnes....

Jae's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he watched Mika wheel back in his chair and bounce his Sloyka, just like the really cool soccerplayers did. WOW! And then he caught his Sloyka! Jae's mouth was open, and he was grinning in amazement. Mika was SUPERAWESOMEMADCOOL!!! He couldn't wait to tell Nina, and Aunt Marla, and Aunt Cheri, and...and...and...Saul about Mika! And maybe his Hoho, too, if he saw her. Mika was definitely amazing. Jae decided that he agreed with Mika about electric wheelchairs. Regular ones were much, much cooler than the other ones.

"Wow! That was amazingcool! You're good at that! Do you play soccer? I played soccer when I was little, but the coach didn't like me very much, so Aunt Marla and Aunt Cheri decided that I could join horseback riding with Nina instead." \n\n
0 Jae Not <i>quite</i> as fun as hugs, but I suppose it'll do 0 Jae 0 5


Mika

December 30, 2006 11:15 PM
Mika grinned at how impressed Yae was. Mika wasn't a show off, but it was nice to get admiring looks instead of pitying ones. That was part of the reason he wanted to play quiddich so badly. Because he just KNEW he would be good. Maybe not great, but good. He shook his head a bit when Yae asked about soccer though.

"Sometimes, but not often. The other kids did not like to let me play with them, because you don't play soccer the same when you are in a wheelchair, and the other kids did not think I was fun to play with. I am hoping to play quiddich though! I think that will be ... madcool." He still wasn't sure he was using that word right, but he thought he probably was.

Mika caressed his Sloyka a bit apologetically. "I wish we had real balls to play with. I do not like to kick my sloyka around, I know the Professor said they don't mind, and it purrs when I do, but it still is not very nice. Besides, cats purr both when they are happy, and when they are in pain. That is why a cat purrs when it is having kittens, because it hurts." Mika was full of useless trivia like that. "So maybe the reason sloykas purr when you kick them is because it hurts." he looked down at his sloyka, frowning a bit. "I do not think I will play football, er, soccer, with him any more."

Mika paused, then lifted his sloyka up and looked underneath it, trying to determine the fat thing's gender. He found no indicator though, and shrugged. "Or her, if it is female. I cannot tell."\n\n
0 Mika Whoohoo for Madcool 0 Mika 0 5


Gwyneth Aquillon

December 31, 2006 1:58 PM
After hurriedly excusing herself from Rachel and Cole, Gwyneth had picked up her puffskein, robe and bag, gave her auburn ponytail an annoyed flick of the head and headed off in the general direction of two different groups of boys. She didn't know which group she would yell at first for the way they were mistreating the puffskeins!

The hackeysack group was kicking their fuzzy puffskein around between a couple of kids. But as she neared that group, she heard one of the other boys begin to remind them of the animals' rights and the game seemed to stop. Okay, that left group number two and she veered off in that direction.

One boy in a wheelchair practically rolled over his puffskein, then he was showing off for the other one by balancing on just the wheels and popping the puffskein up into the air and back down again on his legs. 'Typical show-off!' she thought. 'Just wait until I get there and remind him of how that poor puffskein must feel.'

Fortunately for Gwyneth, as she approached the two boys she overheard the boy in the wheelchair say I wish we had real balls to play with. I do not like to kick my sloyka around,. . . I do not think I will play football, er, soccer, with him any more.

Like being doused with a bucket of cold water, she stopped in her tracks and quickly rethought what she was about to do. 'Gwyneth Aquillon, you were just saved from making a complete fool of yourself! Who do you think you are anyway? If there was a problem, the teacher would handle it, just like Mom or Dad would in their classes,' she silently yelled at herself.

Unfortunately for Gwyneth, she was now standing fairly near the two boys and was pretty certain that her approach had probably not gone unnoticed, so it would be difficult to just slink quietly away. No choice but to introduce herself, she quickly decided.

"Hi, I was watching you play with your puffskein. You are pretty good at 'two-wheel juggling'!" she said to the boy in the wheelchair as she finished her approach. "I gotta tell you that I originally came over to stop you from hurting your puffskein when I saw your juggling act from where I was sitting. But then, as I got closer I heard what you just said to your friend here about not liking to kick your puffskein around. Sorry, that I was being nosy. I was just worried about these little furry guys. My name is Gwyneth Aquillon, first year Teppenpaw, by the way. And what is a 'sloyka'?"
\n\n
0 Gwyneth Aquillon Operation Puffskein Rescue Aborted 0 Gwyneth Aquillon 0 5


Mika

January 07, 2007 1:11 AM
Mika saw the girl hurrying over out of the corner of his eye, and adjusted his chair as she approached to he could see both her and his new friend? Yae. He listened as she spoke, seeming a bastion of rationality compared to Yae. Not that Mika didn't like Yae, but he was radically different than anyone Mika had ever met. This Gwyneth, as she had introduced herself, was more familiar, in personality.

"Thank you." He acknowledged the compliment she prefaced with with a nod of his head. "I have had much practice. I am Mika'el. This is Yae." he indicated the fair haired boy. "And this is a sloyka." he held up his puffskein. "Yae's sloyka is named Todd." He also indicated the sloyka in question. "I do not think it is a good idea to be roughly playing with the Sloykas. But, I think maybe they are rather tough creatures too. I do not think the professor would have told us to play with them as such, if they were too easily hurt. I still do not like to kick mine." He paused, pretty sure some other information had been relayed that he needed to respond to. When he recalled, he continued.

"And I am a first year Aladren. Yae is also a Teppenpaw, I believe." He glanced at Yae for confirmation.\n\n
0 Mika People for the Equal Treatment of Sloykas 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

January 07, 2007 3:39 PM
There was a girl standing by them.

A mad girl.

Jae knew what mad girls looked like. Nina got mad sometimes. Not at him, but at other people. And she was scary then. Nina wasn't usually scary, but when she was mad it was really, really, really scary.

The girl was scary.

Jae's eyes widened and he looked over at Mika as the scary girl introduced herself. She was looking a little less scary, but that didn't mean she wasn't mad anymore. It just meant that she decided to do a weird girlthing. There were loads of weird girlthings that girls did. Like his Aunt Marla could be yelling at him, except then someone would call, and she would pick up the phone and be all nice.

That was scary too. Especially since she went back to being mad after she hung up the phone.

Jae began to sort of edge sideways to hide behind Mika. Mika was smart, so Mika could help get rid of scarygirl. Except, she was called Gwyneth. When Mika introduced him to scarygirl, Jae sort of nodded and scooted backwards some more. And while Mika was explaining about Sloykas and stuff that was fine, but then he said that Jae was a Teppenpaw.

Except, Jae wasn't a Teppenpaw.

Jae was a Pecari.

Which meant he had to say something.

"Um...noI'mnotI'mPecariwithSaul," he said quickly, with one breath, then went back to hiding behind Mika with Todd. Todd wasn't purring anymore. Instead, he was looking up at Jae with big, confused eyes. Jae rubbed Todd's head and concentrated on staying as inconspicuous as possible.\n\n
0 Jae Person for the Eradication of Multi-Syllabic Words 0 Jae 0 5


Gwyneth

January 07, 2007 4:59 PM
Gwyneth was completely unprepared for the two boys who were now before her. The first boy, who had introduced himself as Mika'el, spoke in a slow, thoughtful way. His accent was distinctly not American, but his English was very good. He appeared to be thoughtful, polite and well mannered; 'his mother must be sooo proud,' Gwyneth thought tangentially.

Now the other boy was a completely different story, beginning with his improbable name - YAY! What the heck kind of name was that anyway?? First, this boy seemed to be pathelogically shy as he tried to hide behind Mika'el. Gwyneth wondered briefly if they were related, which could explain YAY's dependence on Mika'el. Secondly, this boy stared at her like she had just sprouted a second head with horns and snakes for hair! Then there was his speech. When he finally spoke, it all ran together so that she couldn't understand a single thing he said. 'Maybe this boy is "Special Ed" like that girl back home who was in my grade in elementary school,' Gwyneth thought. 'I guess even magically types have learning disabilities.'

Mika'el and YAY were the most unlikely pair to be partners, Gwyneth thought. "Well, it is nice to meet you, Mika'el . . .and you, too, YAY," she added. "Mika'el, your English is good. Where do you come from and how did you end up here at Sonora?"

She dropped her robe and bag while talking with Mika'el and began to pet her calico puffskein. Gwyneth noticed how upset YAY and his puffskein still seemed to be. She started to reach out to pet YAY's puffskein on the head, but stopped. She wasn't sure how this strange boy might react. She didn't want him to misinterpret her gesture as an invasion of personal space or as an attack. So she quickly caught his eye and asked, "May I?"
\n\n
0 Gwyneth Operation Save Face 0 Gwyneth 0 5


Jae

January 08, 2007 5:32 AM
Gwyneth was calling him Yae too. Jae didn't mind though. Yae was a cool nickname. Not quite madcool, but cool enough. And Mika called him Yae, which almost made it madcool, because Mika was definitely madcool. Not madcool people didn't play soccer in a wheelchair. It just...didn't happen. Not madcool people usually didn't have wheelchairs to begin with, or supermagic crutches either. Even if they were weird and too long.

And now the girl was trying to pet Todd. She was weird, too, because she didn't look like she was mad anymore. Not Aunt Marla notmad, but more like Nina. Except Nina had black hair and prettier eyes. Except, Nina said you didn't tell girls that. She was happy when Jae told her, he thought, because she smiled a lot. He kind of couldn't see because it was her turn to ride Chester though. But when Nina was notmad, she usually had to talk about why she was mad for a long time first. Maybe things were different with tall people. Gywneth was taller than him. And so was Mika. But Nina was almost his size, after he grew so much over the summer. She was just a teeny bit taller. So since Mika and Gwyneth were different, maybe it was just a tall person thing.

So Jae nodded when she asked to pet Todd, and Todd started purring again. He poked her Sloyka too, and it was a little bit strange coloured, but that was okay because it was a Sloyka, and so it couldn't look all that different from Todd. And since Gwyneth was notmad, it was probably okay to talk too. Right?

"Do you ride horses?" he chirped. "I have a quarter horse. His name is Chester. Well, he's part Nina's horse, but he's part mine too. And Mika rides sometimes too, except for him they call it equine therapy. I think the Sloykas are like horses, because if you get scared around a horse it gets scared too, and Todd was scared when I was." Uh-oh. He didn't think that you were supposed to tell people when you were scared of them. "Except, I'm not scared anymore because you're notmad. See?" Jae looked to Mika for confirmation.\n\n
0 Jae Operation has four syllables, you know. 0 Jae 0 5


Mika

January 08, 2007 12:35 PM
Yae had been so out going with him, Mika was surprised that suddenly he was being used as a human shield, he craned his neck around to watch Yae behind him. When Yae corrected him about what house Yae was in, Mika clamped a hand over his forehead (his own forehead) and mutter D'oh! He turned back to Gwyneth.

"Er, Yae is in Percardi ((ooc: sorry if I spelled that wrong. BIC)), I'm sorry Yae." He apologized for his incorrect statement. Mika hadn't actually caught all of Yae's words, but he had caught the house name and 'Saul'. Mika wanted to meet this guy so he at least had some clue who his new friend was talking about.

"Thank you," he said solemnly in response to her complimenting of his English. "I try hard, but it does not always come out as well as I wish it did." He smiled slightly. "I am from Roosia," That was another word in English he never seemed to be able to quite get out right. It wasn't that there was no 'sh' sound in Russian, there was. It was just that the Russian word for itself was pronounced differently. "I lived in Roosia until I was seven, almost eight, years old. I have been living in Israel for the past three years."

Mika felt like he was practically giving a speech, but he hadn't finished answering the girls questions yet. He supposed he hadn't needed to say that part about Israel, but since she was asking because of his accent, he felt he needed to add it, since it had diluted his native Russian accent a bit.

"My mother is a Healer. We moved to the United States so that she could attend some special Healer education. It is very revolutionary, integrating aspects of muggle medicine into magical Healing. My mother decided this school would be best for me." Mika didn't look 100% thrilled at that. His mother was in New York, for one thing. For two, this was NOT a Jewish Yeshiva, which is where he had attended school as long as he had been attending school. That alone had made life awkward. Mika rather thought when he was older he would be glad not to be attending a religious school, but right now it was rather uncomfortable for him.

His mother also hadn't wanted to send him somewhere as prestigious and competitive as Mier Yeshiva, which is where he had been attending school in Israel. She wanted him to 'spend more time making friends'. He had very specific orders to write her about everyone he met and spoke to formally, at least, those that were other students. She was worried that he was going to grow up to be 'poorly socialized' with 'no people skills'. Which, his mother said, was almost as bad as being stupid and/or poorly educated. He believed her. He still wished he had gone to a slightly better school. Not that Sonora was a bad school, it was a great school, but it was sort of like... U.C.L.A. when compared to Harvard.

He looked at Yae as he spoke of horses again. That was okay, horses were pretty cool, Mika supposed. He liked animals, but hadn't been exposed to all that many. His own sloyka sat quietly in his lap. It was hugely fat for a sloyka, and took up most of Mika's lap. He caressed it absently, still not having named it.

"Yae likes horses." Mika nodded a bit when Yae was finished, glancing to Gwyneth to see how she took to this odd boy. Mika was finding that Yae was growing on him. A bit like a fungus. He was very odd, but Mika knew he himself was very odd as well, so who was he to judge?

"Where are you from, Gwyneth? And," Mika smiled another small smile. "How do you feel about horses?"

\n\n
0 Mika Antidisestablishmentarianism 0 Mika 0 5


Gwyneth

January 09, 2007 11:48 AM
The differences between the two boys continued to amaze her. YAY seemed to come out of hiding as they talked but she still wasn't sure he was normal. Whil Mika'el seemed to be the epitomy of normalcy. But one thing she had picked up on was that these two, for all their apparent differences, seemed to be friends. 'Well, if Mika'el can handle YAY, then I guess I can, too,' Gwyneth thought.

After hearing Mika'el tell his background, Gwyneth felt positively provincial. She had guessed, from the accent, that he was from somewhere in Eastern Europe, but that was as close as she came. She had only guessed that much from having met a visiting scholar who had come to lecture at the college where her father taught. Gwyneth shared her mother's interest in history and different cultures and envied Mika'el his background.

In response to his question about her home, she wanted to sigh. "I'm from Maryland, a small state on the eastern coast of America, south of New York. My life is not nearly as exciting as yours! My mom is a middle school history teacher and my dad teaches biology at the college in town. Until a few months ago, I thought I was normal . . . er, Muggle. I didn't even know my mom and grandmom were witches! So all of this," and she waved her hand broadly indicating all of Sonora specifically and the wizarding world in general, "is pretty new to me."

Not wanting to leave YAY out of the conversation, she turned toward him and answered the question both he and Mika'el had asked about horses. "I really don't know much about horses. I've ridden once, but you really can't count that time. It was a trail ride on horses that were trained to follow the leader. Mostly I think horses are big and kinda scary." She pondered the thought a bit longer. "But I guess taking riding lessons might be fun. And riding horses would be better than riding brooms! The horse, at least, doesn't leave the ground."\n\n
0 Gwyneth Supercalifragilistic Expealidocious (sp??) 0 Gwyneth 0 5


Mika

January 12, 2007 3:02 AM
Mika smiled slightly at what Gwyneth said. His life? Exciting? Well, he supposed so, but not the kind of exciting he'd wish on anyone. His father, for example, made life all kinds of 'exciting'. It was an 'excitement' Mika could live without. Moving half way around the world, twice, was 'exciting', and although Mika was happy to learn all kinds of new things in new places, moving ever couple years was bad enough, switching languages every couple years? A bit extreme. Then there was the kind of 'excitement' that went with living in Israel in general. The Gaza strip was also all kinds of 'exciting'.

"Ah, but, I think your life sounds very fun too. Two parents who are both teachers?" it sounded like heaven to him, actually. "And how fun, to have all magic be so new. It would be as wonderful as..." Mika paused, trying to think of something as equally wonderful as magic being a new experience. What he thought was wonderful was probably not the same as most of his age peers, and you just couldn't say things like 'as wonderful as being able to walk', it made people feel bad. "As wonderful as getting the entire Chronicles of Narnia in hardcover!" after a moment of thought, he added "And in Hebrew!" Now THAT would be wonderful. He actually got a rather whimsical look for a moment and sighed, visions of unabridged dictionaries too heavy for him to lift and entire bookshelves of encyclopedias dancing through his head.

He glanced at Yae, wondering if he knew the Chronicles of Narnia... probably not, he didn't seem to be someone to read much. "The Chronicles of Narnia have an entire book about talking horses, and there are all kinds of other talking animals too, including a lion." He added for Yae's benefit. "Actually, I know a lot of books about horses, and I brought some with me, I could lend them to you, they are story books though."

He had actually wanted to say 'fiction', but wasn't sure Yae knew what that was. He glanced at Gwyneth, including her in the offer to loan books from his personal stash. Maybe, maybe she'd read some, and then they would have read the same books, and then they could TALK about them!

That would be SUPERMADCOOL

apparently Yae was contagious.
\n\n
0 Mika No More Big Words, I Promise 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

January 12, 2007 5:55 AM
OOC: *snickers* Oh, gods, Jae contagious? That's a scary thought....

BIC:

Brooms? Why would someone want to ride a broom? Jae had tried it once with Nina and it didn't work too well. They had been playing up in the barn loft, and decided to try. She had fallen off the broom and broken her ankle. The broom had broken too, and Jae had hit his head. That was his second concussion, but Aunt Marla said it could've been worse, and plus, he got to stay home and listen to music and stories all day, so it was okay.

Then Mika started talking about the Chronicles of Narnia. Jae didn't know what those were. He didn't really know what Hebrew was, except that it was maybe a language. So Jae was happy when Mika decided to explain. And the explanation was almost as madcool as the soccer stuff, 'cause they sounded AMAZINGLYAWESOMELYCOOL!!!

"Really? About talking lions and horses? Do they have pictures? There's books in the library with madawesomecool pictures. They moved all by themselves, and they talked to me in a weird language. I didn't understand what they were saying, though, 'cause I only speak English. I like books with pictures. I don't read books without pictures too good. I guess I could try, though," Jae said. He really, really wanted to find out about the talking horses and lions. Horses were awesome. Talking horses were awesomely cool. Talking lions were, like, BEYOND that.\n\n
0 Jae pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicavolcanoconiosis 0 Jae 0 5


Gwyneth

January 13, 2007 10:05 AM
So it sounded like Mika'el was another reader just like she and Meri were! "I've only read a couple of the Narnia books. I would love to borrow some of yours sometime to read, if classes give us any free time, that is. My favorite author is Anne McCaffrey and the Dragons of Pern series. Have you ever read her books? I brought the entire series with me. I could exchange with you, if you're interested," she said to Mika'el.

Like an indulgent older sister, even though they were the same age, she smiled at YAY's enthusiastic remarks about the talking animals. She wondered what the other "talking books" were that he mentioned. Did he mean books on tape like she used to get from the library back home sometimes? She thought about asking him, but refrained. The way YAY talked, rambled, babbled, skipped around was hard to follow sometimes. She thought she would just check out the Library herself. "YAY, if you have time after class, could you show me where the Library is? I haven't explored Sonora too much yet and don't know where it is."

As they were talking, Professor K. had walked toward the puffskein pen and began to talk about students keeping their puffskeins, with parent permission of course. Gwyneth would really like to keep her Tribbles and bounced it up in the air to hear it purr loudly, but wasn't sure that would be possible for a lot of reasons. She continued to bounce Tibbles gently while she pondered the wisdom of keeping the adorable, fuzzy creature.\n\n
0 Gwyneth Re: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicavolcanoconiosis 0 Gwyneth 0 5


Mika

January 14, 2007 1:02 AM
Mika smiled when Yae got excited about the Chronicles of Narnia. "They do not have too many pictures, but they have some. I can read them in English, so I'm sure you can be able." Mika said with assurance. Yae was special, but he wasn't in like, wizarding special ed, so, he had to be able to read. Mika couldn't imagine anyone not being able to read. "I can help you with the hard words. If you read more, you will get better at it."

"I would be very happy to exchange books with you. I will write my mother, and have her send more of my English books." He had at least two copies of his very favorite books, one copy in Russian, the other usually in English, but sometimes in Hebrew. It was how his mother got him to learn his languages. He even had two in Japanese. They were very very easy books, manga, actually, so there were pictures to help him learn. He had the exact same books in English, so he could see the translations. He only spoke a very little Japanese. Maybe Yae would like those?

"I have only read one book by Anne McCaffrey. I liked it, but I had to read it in English, and it was a small while ago. I should like to read more, though, and my English is much better. Have you read anything by Mercedes Lackey? They have talking horses too, Yae, and they are also magic." He really needed to get Yae a hobby other than horses. Horses were good, but the conversation was a bit limited.

He had some books in Arabic too, they were also very easy, but not as easy as his Japanese books. He couldn't read the Japanese books with out looking up well over half the words. He had the first three Lemony Snicket books in Arabic, and he could get through those and only have to look up a word or two per page.

And in case that wasn't enough, his mother had packed a French text book in his trunk. Obviously she wanted him to learn that too. Mika sighed a bit at that thought. His mother sent him here because she didn't want him to focus all his energy on studying, she wanted him to make friends. Yet, she was asking him to learn a sixth language? Yes, three or four was typical in the rest of the world, and yes, French was important, but, if he tried to cram any more language in his brain, he rather thought he'd start speaking in gibberish. Well, he would just have to write his mother and tell her that the French would have to wait. Japanese first, after English of course. Russian was his native language, and he was already fluent in Hebrew, really, he had been raised bilingual. And After Japanese was planted more firmly in his brain, THEN maybe more Arabic, or French.

Somewhere in the midst of his spinning thoughts on language, which to make matters more confusing was happening in sort of a pidgin of Russian, Hebrew, and English, the Prof had started talking about the Sloykas... Puffskeins! Aha! He knew they had an English name! Oooh, and they COULD keep them. How wonderful. His mother would say yes. He was sure of that.

An actual grin lit his face, a very very rare expression on his solemn continence. "Now I can name mine." He said to Yae, as he had told the boy earlier that he would not name it until he knew he could keep it. "I know my Mother will give me permission."\n\n
0 Mika Libraries are Madcool 0 Mika 0 5


Jae

January 15, 2007 8:44 AM
Oh. The Narnia books didn't have very many pictures. That wasn't good. Nina had been helping him a lot, but Jae still couldn't read very well, or write that well either. He would probably need Mika's help with a lot of the words. Mika and Gwyneth were talking about other books, some about talking horses, but they probably didn't have very many pictures either. Feeling left out, he bounced Todd around a bit. But then, Gwyneth asked him to show her the library!

"Yeah!" he said enthusiastically. "I can show you! And then Mika can come too! And you can see the madcool talking book, too! And Todd and the other sloyka can come!"

Professor K started talking again, then, and Jae drooped. They would have to bring their sloykas up. And leave them until they had permission from their parents to keep them. Aunt Marla and Aunt Cheri would probably let him keep Todd, but he wasn't sure. And he wasn't sure how to send a letter to them to ask either, because Sonora didn't have a mailbox that he could see. Or a telephone.

"What're you going to name your Sloyka?" Jae asked Mika. "And how is your mom going to give you permission?"\n\n
0 Jae So are Field Trips 0 Jae 0 5