Professor Kijewski
June 30, 2011 9:22 PM
Beginner's Lesson 1 by Professor Kijewski
Kiva remembered how much she had enjoyed teaching, but out of all the years that she had taught, the first and second years usually held a special spot for her. This was mainly because they were still young and opened to the idea of Care of Magical Creatures. The older students had already at this point in their educational careers decided on their thoughts and opinions of this class. No matter what Kiva did from their fourth year or on, their minds were formed. It was a bit sad, but she had accepted it a long time ago. But with the first and second years (and maybe even the third years), Kiva still had time to convince them that these creatures could actually be fun and amazing. Sure they had to first learn of the docile creatures before they can learn of the large terrifying ones, but she didn’t find that to be so bad. Sometimes. Well, she’s definitely learned her lesson from past experience. No boring creatures allowed.She smiled at her students as they made their way down to her clearing. “Hello everyone! Good to see you all, I hope your week is going well.” Kiva greeted. Behind her on the table were two crates, each covered by different blankets. The beginners were a little difficult to select proper animals. She never knew if third years should still be with the beginners or with the intermediates. It was a rough age to be at and really the maturity level varied so greatly between each of them. For now, she’d keep them at the beginner level, but it was possible that in future years (if she was still around since this was only a temporary thing currently) she might decide it was better to move them into intermediate level.
“Today we will be having a practical day instead of just lecture.” Her last time teaching, Kiva had just sort of thrown them into studying the creatures, but this time around, she was having them do research on creatures and then supply the creatures if possible. These two they had already done some reading on, but Kiva wanted them to see them up front so that they can understand that not all magical creatures were totally noticeable.
With a wave of her wand, the blankets were lifted from the crates to reveal a crup in one crate and a kneazle in the other. Neither animal looked at one another, but that was because they were raised together and didn’t give an inkling for each other. Fighting would not occur. “In front of you, you will a crup and a kneazle. These two creatures resemble non-magical creatures so much that often muggles mistake them for non-magical creatures.” Kiva explained to them, releasing the crup first and holding him gently to show him off to the students.
“Crups, like Noedi here, look just like Jack Russell terriers except for one minor little thing…” Kiva turned him so that the students could see his tail. “He has a fork tail. Once witches and wizards obtain a Crup for pets, they must remove the fork tail. This is to protect the Crup as much as it is to protect the secrecy of our society.” Kiva advised them. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt them. Now, a very important fact about Crups is that they hate Muggles. They will attack if they are near any. So, if you ever plan on having one for your pet, you cannot live near muggles.” She wanted to make that very clear to them. Her first spell with a Crup and a student ended terribly, she was not going to let that happen again. “Other than that, Crups are loyal to their owners and eat pretty much anything you give to them.”
Next, she pulled out the kneazle and held it. “Cinder is a pure kneazle, so the variations to a cat are more noticeable, but mixed kneazles are able to blend in perfectly.” Kiva pointed out the ears, “Kneazles have larger ears than normal cats – think of bobcats- spotted fur much like leopards, and tails that look like lion tails.” It was very much like a kneazle might have been creature from mating those three cats together. “But aside from their physical appearance, kneazles are incredible creatures. They are extremely intelligent and can detect suspicious persons. If they do detect someone who is insalubrious, kneazles will react poorly to them. If you see a kneazle reacting, trust them. Also like a crup, if a kneazle takes a liking to a witch or wizard, they are loyal and make excellent pets.”
Now that she had completed the lecture portion of the class, it was time for the students to have some fun. “Okay, everyone now that you know how amazing these creatures are, have some fun with them. They are young and enjoy playing with people. Their crates have toys in them that they favor, so go ahead and grab them.” Before releasing them completely though, Kiva added, “Do not harm these creatures. If any of you poke, pull, or injury them, you will fail this class.” She didn’t think any of them would, but she wanted them to know that she would not stand for cruelty.
OOC: Site rules apply. Please provide at least 200 word posts. Remember that the more detailed and lengthy posts get more posts. Be creative and have fun with the creatures! If you need Kiva, just tag her in the subject line.
Subthreads: Any rules against Crup-Abductions? by David Kim [Aladren] with Jenny Owens, David Kim, Michael Grosvenor
Awww, look at the kitty by Katrina (Kitty) McLevy - Aladren with Arthur Carey, Aladren, Kitty
Waiting my turn by Derry Four, Teppenpaw with Jhonice Trevear - Pecari
Contemplating the future by Arnold Carey, Aladren with Fae Sinclair, Fae
Not so sure about this by Paul Bennett, Crotalus with Sullivan Quincy, Pecari, Paul, Sully
Photography Subject - Kneazle by Alice Adair, Crotalus with Leon Loffredo, Pecari
Nice puppy... by Eliza Bennett, Crotalus with James Owen, Eliza
Not the puppy I wanted. by Cherry Bosko with Linus Macaulay
Hey, Cat. by David Wilkes, Aladren with Jordan Adair, Crotalus
Observing by Nora Dobson, Aladren with Russell Layne, Aladren
0
Professor Kijewski
Beginner's Lesson 1
0
Professor Kijewski
1
5
Arnold Carey, Aladren
July 04, 2011 5:23 PM
Contemplating the future by Arnold Carey, Aladren
Professor Cohen, at least in Arnold's opinion, whatever that counted for, had been all right. Classes had been pretty low-stress and not boring, and he had, accordingly, done well in them without going through too many of the grueling study sessions he needed for some classes and which made him understand why Arthur had some of his headaches, if not why his brother hadn't already sworn off reading for the rest of his life unless it was a matter of life and death. Art might feel that way about classes, that they were life and death, but he knew Arnold would read him the lessons if it came to that, didn't he? He'd been persuaded to read to him from things that didn't matter for anything when he was sick before, after all.Professor Cohen had left over the summer, but the new lady was all right, too. They read a lot - Father, writing to Arthur because was Arthur was the one who thought to ask certain kinds of questions, had said he'd found out that she'd been the Head of Aladren like ten years ago or something - but Professor Kijewski seemed like she, too, was sort of relaxed and okay with things and herself, making him wonder if it was something that went with the subject. The notion wasn't enough for him to think he was going to want to make a career out of magical creatures in a hands on way, he had a feeling that Arthur announcing he was going to be a Potions professor or a Classics tutor would go over much better with even their parents than him announcing he was going to teach CoMC, and he didn't think he'd be a good teacher anyway, but it was interesting to consider.
He didn't consider it long, though, because that made him think about what he was going to do when he grew up, and he had been unable to answer that question for as long as he could remember. The best plan he could come up with was going to college to give himself more time to think, because he just couldn't think of anything right now.
He'd thought of asking Arthur about it, if he was already sure about things, but for some reason, even though people had asked Arnold what he'd like to do someday all the time since he was six or seven, no one ever asked Arthur that, and he didn't know what kind of reaction he would get if he tried. He had asked Jay, but his cousin's response had started out in a mumble and then switched to a joke. The only other people he really had on hand were Terry and Diana, who knew what they were going to do, and Henry and Brandon, and one of them didn't know while the other was too little still to bother asking. Until something changed, then, he was on his own when it came to finding answers for people who thought he should have his whole life planned out before his thirteenth birthday.
Maybe they'll be happy if I decide whether or not I want a crup or a kneazle someday today, he thought as Professor Kijewski showed off the day's creatures. They were pretty cool, he guessed. The crowd was pretty big to get to play with them, though, since the third years were here, too, so Arnold decided to hold back and let it thin out a little. He might not have another time, but he hadn't quite finished his Transfiguration problems last night, and was wondering if he could get away with scribbling a few answers while he waited if he was in the general vicinity of the animals....
0
Arnold Carey, Aladren
Contemplating the future
181
Arnold Carey, Aladren
0
5
Fae Sinclair
July 12, 2011 9:27 PM
Is it a good one for you? by Fae Sinclair
Of all the classes at Sonora, Fae felt she disliked Care of Magical Creatures the most. Not because she didn’t like animals. The truth was, she’d love a fluffy kitten someday. Something to snuggle with at night or on days when Fae was feeling extremely lonely. It was a terribly selfish reason for a pet, but Fae couldn’t help but yearn for one just the same. No, the animals definitely were not why she disliked this class (although, she would never deny that some creatures really were creepy and terrifying). She disliked this class because it was outdoors and could potentially be completely chaotic that could lead to her getting lost outside or something dangerous attacking her.Honestly, if this class was indoors, she probably wouldn’t dislike it so much.
But that would never be the case. For some reason, this class would always be performed outside. And Fae would have to suffer through it and hope against all hope that nothing terrible happened while she was attending the lessons.
After the misshape that occurred in Potions (ie: wearing an outfit that was unfit for the lesson), Fae kept her outfits to a basic ballet flats at all times. She would wear her better clothes on the weekend when she didn’t have to wear her robes over them anyway. It made much better sense and then she wouldn’t have to worry about a heel getting stuck somewhere that it shouldn’t.
Fae pulled her hair back and out of her face as she walked down to the clearing where the class was held with the rest of her classmates. She didn’t have feelings one way or another towards the professors. They seemed to come and go a lot. Although, her mother had written to her when Fae had explained the changes and said the Kijewski had taught in the past, so Fae wasn’t nervous about her teaching capabilities, as she had been with Crosby. Of course, since all they have been doing is lectures, Fae wasn’t sure she was enjoying her too much.
However, at the sight of the crates, it was obvious that today would be a practical day. Fae was okay with that since the crates were small and the animals weren’t digging themselves out of the ground to perform a creepy dance. Still, Fae hung back, nervous of the possibilities of what was under the sheets.
And then they were lifted.
A crup and a kneazle. Not scary at all. Okay. Fae could do this lesson just fine. She watched as the other students moved forward to play with the creatures. Fae did not want to overwhelm or over-stimulate the animals, so she stayed back to wait for a better opportunity to see them. Standing where she was, she noticed Arnold. It had been awhile since she was able to speak with him. She moved closer to him and gave him a smile and a wave to get his attention, “Hi Arnold. Do you not like the creatures today? They’re less disturbing than the Mooncalves.”
6
Fae Sinclair
Is it a good one for you?
194
Fae Sinclair
0
5
Arnold
July 13, 2011 5:18 PM
The immediate future doesn't look too bad by Arnold
Arnold looked away from his thoughts on homework, surprised and a little guilty, when he heard his name, but smiled when he realized who’d said it. Maybe Fae had somehow, mother-like, read what he was thinking all over his face, but he didn’t’ think she was going to try to get him in trouble or anything like that.He thought of trying to make a joking reply, to make her laugh or maybe even impress her a little with his wit – that seemed like a good idea, somehow, impressing her – but he didn’t, because it seemed a lot more likely that he would just make himself sound really stupid instead. Sounding like a moron was something he usually tried to avoid, tried to avoid a whole lot, though he knew he didn’t always succeed in avoiding it. It was sort of the opposite of how people always eventually noticed that Arthur was super smart and a little weird. Dissembling could only work so far and so long.
Still, though. If he had to list the people at Sonora he would least like to look like an idiot in front of, Fae Sinclair was pretty high on the list, so he was going to try really hard not to stray into sounding dumb.
“Guess not,” he said, replacing the line about how he didn’t know about the crup. “But the crowd around the mooncalves wasn’t as….” He nodded toward the masses. “Crowded? I thought I’d let them start. My grandfather still keeps one of my great aunt’s kneazles, I know about them.” It didn’t like him or Grandmother, either, though it and Arnold got along okay. He’d always wondered how it and Arthur would get on, but his twin spent as little time as possible around Grandfather, never mind Grandfather’s pets.
He looked for Arthur, wondering if his brother was getting along with the examples here, and felt a sense of foreboding that made him wonder for a minute if he had the Sight when he realized who Arthur was talking to. “That’s not – “ he started to mutter under his breath, then shook his head. “And it looks like they have interesting company anyway.” He smiled at her. “What about you? What do you think of them?”
0
Arnold
The immediate future doesn't look too bad
181
Arnold
0
5
Fae
July 14, 2011 6:34 PM
Well, that's a positive thing by Fae
Fae was not quite sure what to consider Arnold. She had met him during one of their earlier Care of Magical Creature lessons and had somehow gotten him to promise to help her out whenever they were outside or around dangerous things that could potentially injure Fae. Although, she had yet to actually hold him to that promise.There were plenty of time since that first encounter where Fae could have used Arnold’s assistance. Like the bonfire last year. She had ended up with Arthur instead. Not that she was bothered by that. Arthur was peculiar but not in any way that worried Fae. She could be just as odd. Besides, Arthur reminded Fae of Alice and Alice was someone with whom Fae did consider a friend.
Arnold was different though. She had never just ‘hung out’ with him unless you counted her party and that was something she wished to forget. So, he was placed in acquaintance until she knew for sure he considered her a friend as well.
She refrained from shuddering at the idea of the mooncalves. They were just disturbing on many levels.
She refrained from shuddering at the idea of the mooncalves. They were just disturbing on many levels. “That’s true. I don’t think anyone wanted to play with the Mooncalves like they do with these two.” Fae commented, looking into the crowd to sneak a look at the creatures. She looked at Arnold when he muttered something, and then looked over where Arthur was. “Oh, he’s with Kitty.” Odd pairing. But then, Kitty was as strange as Arthur was but in a completely different way.
“I know of crups, I have relatives that own a few to keep Muggles at bay or something.” She shrugged. She never really understood the necessity of it considering her relatives were never anywhere where Muggles would be as it was. “I think having a kneazle would be nice, but that’s probably because I’d always wanted a cat. Mother and Father are less agreeable to that though. They dislike disorder and they feel animals would bring that.”
Fae pouted for a moment as she thought about it. There was a possibility that her parents would allow her a cat if she proves that she’s been doing a good job while here at Sonora. Thus far, nothing embarrassing. No one has to mention her smashing into a statue and scratching up her arms and no one had to tell them how she face planted into a pus filled foul smelling plant. All in all, she’s done very well. "Do you have animals?" Fae asked curiously.
0
Fae
Well, that's a positive thing
0
Fae
0
5
Arnold
July 20, 2011 12:18 AM
How's yours looking? by Arnold
“He is,” Arnold said glumly when Fae noted that Arthur was with Kitty. “I really hope they’re talking about the weather.”Arthur was hard to embarrass or offend, at least where it showed. He would flush a little, most of the time, but for the main part looked at things normal people were embarrassed or offended by with an expression behind the red like he was looking at a slightly dull book, and if someone started talking about it to show off and make everyone else uncomfortable, Arthur would just speak in clinical terms on the subject, detached as a Healer who’d spent too much time with the scholars, sounding more like a textbook than a person. He was flustered, sure, but getting a real rise out of him took a lot. That was why most people didn’t bother to try anymore, and why Arnold had no idea how his brother would react to the girl who’d been put on the planet to offend everyone she came into contact with.
“I hope she hasn’t bothered you, Miss Fae,” he added. “I’m not sure if it’ll do any good, but I can try to tell her about not offending people again if she’s – “ he realized he was going to repeat a word, it was going to sound clumsy – “offended you.”
Fae had relatives with crups, but she wanted a kneazle or a cat, but her parents hated the disorder. He expected that line would be the first thing that popped into his head if there was a question on his CATS about crups or kneazles, even if he couldn’t remember anything the examiners were actually interested in. That was how it went a lot of the time. He thought, after listening to his brother talk sometimes, that he and Arthur didn’t really remember things differently, as some people thought they did, he just didn’t remember as much as Arthur did. He shook his head when asked if they had any animals.
“Not that I can remember,” he said. “Except the owls. I think everyone talked about getting Arthur a cat – one time, but that never happened. Maybe if Anthony wanted something….” Anthony was the youngest and mildest of them, and was in a way more trusted, as strange as that seemed. Arthur told him he wasn’t crazy, though, that it was real and he’d seen it, too, so he was sure of it now. They said pets were good for stress, too, and Anthony had a lot of that, especially since they had really begun training him as the next heir last year. Arthur could have managed it all easily except for the five or six languages they were making Anthony study, but Anthony struggled with it sometimes. He was a quick study, and liked to learn, but he also, very sensibly to Arnold’s mind, also liked to go outside every once and a while, or go play with Henry, or even indulge that odd habit he had of building strange structures with little toy logs all over his rooms.
He smiled, though, not lingering on Anthony. “I think no one’s ever had anything because Father and Grandfather were both the eldest of families of five, and Father’s brother has six, and Mother's just gotten used to it." At least, if his mother had brothers and sisters, he'd never heard about it. "They don’t really think of only having three of us.”
He felt they might have exhausted that topic a little, so he hurriedly thought up another. "Did you, ah, do anything fun this summer?"
0
Arnold
How's yours looking?
181
Arnold
0
5
Fae
July 24, 2011 3:51 PM
At the moment, pretty good. by Fae
Fae gave Arnold an odd look when he made his comment. Why did he hope for such a bland conversation? Fae wondered if Arthur was in a terrible mood and Arnold was worried about him saying something peculiar around Kitty. That could be the reason for Arnold’s comment. Except it wasn’t. Apparently Arnold was more worried about what Kitty might do than his twin. That was strange. Of course, they were both in Aladren so Fae could only believe that something had happened between Arnold and Kitty to make him worry about her interactions with others.“Ah, no, she’s hasn’t offended me in anyway.” Fae assured him. “Actually, back when term first started I went into the gardens to …” Fae wasn’t sure how to explain the reasons for her adventure in the Labyrinth. “Prove that I could do it by myself, I guess. Anyway, I ended up getting lost in it and scared. I ran into a statue and hurt myself. Kitty happened to be there and helped me.” Fae shrugged feeling a little embarrassed. “She’s a little odd and doesn’t understand how the Magical World runs, but I suppose that’s to be expected with a Muggleborn.” Fae knew that if she was forced into the Muggle world, she would have no idea what to do or what anything meant. She could understand why Kitty felt that this world was above normal and that magic made them special, but she failed to understand that for families like Fae’s where magic had always been there, this was just life. Nothing extraordinary. Or, at least, Fae didn’t see it.
She never even considered owls for pets. Probably because they were just there and often were used as helpers to their owners. A pet to Fae was something she could cuddle with and possibly play with. Owls just didn’t come into the equation for her. “Arthur might do well with an animal.” Fae said quietly before glancing back and him and Kitty to find them looking rather intense. Kitty, to Fae, seemed like this naïve but loyal little person who sort of reminded her of a loyal pet and to see Arthur and her full of tension didn’t fit right. “Or not.”
She smiled a little helplessly to Arnold, unsure as to what might be going on, but instead of commenting on it, she moved forward in the conversation. “I did what my parents think is fun.” She told him. “They took me to a few formals that our extended families like to have. Met new people and I was able to see the Scotland family home. It’s quite lavish.” When the adults were talking, Fae would sneak off to have a look at it. She couldn’t believe her Great Grandfather grew up there. It was just too beautiful for such a sour man. “And Alice came to stay with me for a week. It was nice to have her. As weird as it sounds, having her around made it feel normal.”
It took the summer for Fae to realize how lonely she was at home and how much she relied on her roommate and others like Arnold or even Topher. “How about you? Was your summer pleasant?”
0
Fae
At the moment, pretty good.
0
Fae
0
5
Arnold
July 26, 2011 8:53 PM
Excellent! by Arnold
“I suppose it is,” Arnold agreed when Fae said much of Kitty’s oddity was likely to be expected. “I think she’s just trying to learn, she doesn’t seem unfriendly, but…it would be easy to take some of what she says the wrong way?” Articulating this kind of thing wasn’t really Arnold’s area of expertise. Not much, he thought, was.“I’m glad she was there to help you, though. Sorry I…wasn’t.”
He did not have to feel guilty about that. He did not. He’d said he’d look out for her outside, but he couldn’t very well help it if he didn’t know she was going outside, could he? And Fae had said the point had been to see if she could go out on her own, so his assistance might not have even been wanted.
But still. He felt…bad about it. He had to stop doing that.
He looked with her back toward their mutual acquaintances when she speculated about whether Arthur would do well with a cat and wondered what was being discussed over there for a second before deciding he really didn’t want to know. If he did, he could most likely get the gist of it from one or the other of them later. Kitty was talkative, and he usually knew how to make Arthur talk. He hoped they didn’t end up with a lasting problem, though, for the Quidditch team’s sake.
“That’s good,” he said about Alice’s visit going well. He didn’t know Alice Adair well, just that she was Fae’s roommate, was the girl with the camera, and that Arthur thought a lot of her, but it was still good.
“We had our family reunion,” was all he could really think to say about his summer. “It’s only once every five years. It wasn’t too bad. We lost the first Quidditch game against the Virginia cousins because I got hit by two hexes at once when we were racing for the Snitch, but then we won the rematch.” Of course, she wouldn’t be very interested in that, though. “And one of our cousins from Louisiana nearly died, but Arthur saved her. I guess it had to be good one time that he never sleeps.” Technically an exaggeration, but Arthur hadn’t slept well for as long as Arnold could remember. All he ever got in trouble for was being up too late, reading.
0
Arnold
Excellent!
181
Arnold
0
5
Fae
July 31, 2011 9:03 PM
But, it's also not something I like to think about. by Fae
Fae giggled and then tried to hide it behind a hand. She hadn’t meant to laugh. It just sort of escaped without her realizing it was happening. She couldn’t help it though; Arnold’s comment on Kitty just seemed so odd. Kitty was the friendliest person Fae had ever met. To friendly, really. That might get the girl in weird situations if she wasn’t careful. “Sorry.” Fae apologized, looking slightly embarrassed by her behavior. “We didn’t really talk about anything that she could twist in a negative way.” Fae said, looking thoughtful, trying to remember their conversation from the garden.“She couldn’t grasp how we work, you know?” Fae said, looking at Arnold through burrowed blonde brows, finding it difficult to explain their conversation. “She has a weird look on this world. Like, she’s in a bubble. I tried to explain it to her, but I still think she’s in her bubble.” Fae looked at the girl again and then back at Arnold with a small smile. “She is quite exhausting though.” That was an understatement, but Fae couldn’t say that she didn’t enjoy the time she spent with the girl. She certainly was different.
“Oh, it’s alright, Arnold.” Fae reassured him, lightly putting a hand on his arm to make sure he knew that he was not at fault for her clumsiness. “I didn’t want to always bother you with my …fear.” Was it okay to call it a fear? Or did that make her look weak? Was she allowed to look weak? Too many uncertainties.
Removing her hand, Fae rolled up her sleeves. “They seem to be healing alright.” Fae commented, the long scratches visible now. “I have ointment, so they seem to be healing nicely. Anyway, I survived, which I suppose is a good thing, but I will not going into the gardens ever again without you. It was much too much for me.” Fae explained to him, rolling her sleeves back down again. She wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but by now he ought to be used to it.
Fae was rather impressed that they had a reunion that was large enough to hold Quidditch match against the branches. If Fae knew her extended family the way the Careys did, there might be enough Sinclairs to have such matches, but she only knew Great Grandfather’s descendants and there didn’t seem to be enough boys for that to happen.
“Wait, I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Fae asked, trying to wrap her head around what he had just told her. “You have a cousin who nearly died but Arthur saved her? How did it happen and what did Arthur do? Is your cousin alright? Is Arthur alright?” Fae had to take a breath before she ended up suffocating Arnold in questions. She had never heard of anyone nearly dying or knew anyone who was a Hero for having saved a life.
0
Fae
But, it's also not something I like to think about.
0
Fae
0
5
Arnold
August 04, 2011 11:40 AM
It can be scary to consider by Arnold
“That’s a good way to describe it,” Arnold agreed about Kitty being in a bubble, with a quick smile to let her know he wasn’t bothered by her giggling. “Yeah, the questions can be a little…overwhelming, something.” Though it would be better if she could just ask questions and not try to present her opinions on the matter while she still didn’t have a clue what was going on.Though, looking over there again, it occurred to Arnold that right now, he didn’t have a clue what was going on, either. A moment ago, he could have sworn things were going sour between her and Arthur very quickly, but now she seemed bouncy again and Arthur was actually smiling. Sure, Arthur could put on when he needed to, but why would he, for someone who had seemed to be getting on his nerves? He didn’t have any good reason to suck up to Kitty McLevy, so why was he smiling? Arthur was so unfamiliar with the world of natural facial expressions that, when he wasn’t putting on and really was showing emotion, they never quite looked right on his face.
“And now they get along,” he commented, more to himself than Fae, though she was there and undoubtedly heard. “Sometimes I don’t know which one of them I get less.”
Any lingering thought of that, though, was dismissed by Fae touching his arm. He could tell he was a bit redder than he had been a moment ago and tried to imitate his brother’s ability to act as though nothing out of the ordinary were happening, hoping to pass that off as the weather or something. It could be warm in fall. “It’s all right,” he said, hoping this was the correct response to her deeming something too much for her. “But you’re right, those don’t look very bad.” He had grown up being…him, with Arthur for a twin brother and a mediwitch for a mother, so he thought he was decently qualified to notice that kind of thing. “But any time you want to go out, that’s…fine, you know.”
He was a little surprised, at first, by the barrage of questions about the mess with Arthur and Alexandra, but then thought about it and realized how dramatic that statement must have sounded. “Sure, they’re fine,” he said. Arthur had gotten a migraine from it, but that wasn’t unusual. Mother predicted they’d get worse for a few years, then start getting milder and less frequent, the way Father’s had. “I think Arthur’s kind of embarrassed by it all, but Alexandra couldn’t stop telling everyone the whole story.”
He decided to go with a somewhat more condensed version than she had over the remainder of that week. “Someone had left one of the big windows open at night, no one knows how that happened, the elves in that section swore they’d closed everything, and she was sleepwalking or something and ended up nearly falling out of it. Arthur was having to share a room with me and our brother, so he was walking in the halls when he couldn’t sleep, and he passed through there and saw that and grabbed her and then she started screaming the house down and woke everyone up.” At first, it had just been the people in the vicinity, but it hadn’t been long before the news had spread and half the family had turned up, all tripping over each other while half-awake and generally being in the way. “Then she followed him around for the rest of the week. He didn’t know what to do.” He couldn’t help but sound slightly amused as he said that part. Girls might have been the one topic Arthur knew even less about than Arnold did. He thought Arthur might have been ready to push her out a window himself by the time they all went home.
“She’s Louisiana branch, though, so we might not see her again for five years,” he added. “I think everyone will have forgotten about it by then. One of the other branches will do something and they’ll talk about that all week instead of us.” His branch tried not to be talked about too much. The Georgia and North Carolina branches did a perfectly adequate job of supplying the family with its fair share of embarrassments, there was no reason for South Carolina to get involved. That was what the Fourth said, anyway, despite his friendship with his first cousin Edwin, the oldest of the Georgia Careys and, because of one of the minor scandals, great-grandfather of all the North Carolina Careys. Edwin was maybe an exception to the rule about how those branches’ members ended, because while Arnold wasn’t sure about it, he looked even older than Thomas and the Fourth did.
0
Arnold
It can be scary to consider
181
Arnold
0
5
Fae
August 07, 2011 8:23 PM
A lot of things are scary to me. by Fae
“Yes, they can definitely be overwhelming.” Fae agreed. Actually, the more she thought about it, the more she realized how much Kitty’s behaviors mimicked those of her younger cousins. Sasha was the next in line to come to Sonora, but he was only six and over the summer when she had seen the family, Sasha and his little brother had bombarded Fae and her siblings with questions. They mainly bothered Jaiden about it because they seemed to love him, but because Fae was the younger one and still new to school, they bothered her from time to time too. The feeling had been overwhelming, so she knew what Arnold was talking about. “Arnold, can I ask what Kitty said to make you worry?” Fae looked curiously at Arnold. She couldn’t imagine anyone working him up.“It seems that they do.” Fae agreed, looking over to Arnold and Kitty again. They were both odd, so she doubted she’d figure them out any better than she could figure out her roommate.
Ignoring the coloring of Arnold’s face out of fear of having upset him for touching him, she instead focused on his comment. Grinning, Fae was happy that he was okay with the current situation. “Good. I’ll come find you or owl you if I decide to be adventurous again.”
Fae listened intently as Arnold told her of the story between Arthur and their cousin. It wasn’t as dramatic as she had originally thought, but it was still a really great story to tell. Fae sort of wished she had a fun story to tell people. Not so much with her being involved, but just to tell a tale of someone in her family doing something heroic. It would be a completely fun thing to retell.
Listening to Arnold though, made her realize how large and important his family was in America. Fae’s family was branched by country and was still far too new in America to have branches throughout the states. Actually, they probably weren’t likely to have branches throughout the states until long after she had left this world. There just weren’t enough of them. Of course, this was only Great Grandfather’s branch of the family that she was thinking of. She didn’t know anything about his siblings to know where they were all placed. As far as she was aware, they were still in Europe.
“I can understand why Arthur’s a little embarrassed. I’m sure I wouldn’t want to be spoken about, even if it was for rescuing someone.” Fae commented, smiling. “That’s still really remarkable about what Arthur did. He’s not the sort who would brag, but he should still feel very proud of himself.” Fae wasn’t sure if her family had reunions. They usually got together for family ‘parties’ at least once a year. But then, maybe it wasn’t a reunion unless Great Grandfather’s siblings and their families came. That rarely ever happened.
“You have a very large family.” Fae commented lightly. “How can you remember all of them? I think I’d just be exhausted trying to remember each of them.”
0
Fae
A lot of things are scary to me.
0
Fae
0
5
Arnold
August 12, 2011 1:37 AM
Don't worry, I'll protect you by Arnold
Arnold shrugged when Fae asked what Kitty had said that he’d been worried about. “She doesn’t…understand about families,” he said. “She was asking me how things are, so I told her, and she started talking about how it should be different.” He wished he could remember the exact words of the conversation better, but he couldn’t. “She doesn’t like how the families are organized – you know, one person in charge….” Fae had a great-grandfather, he knew. Arthur had regaled him with every single boring fact of the families of half the people in their year. “I was just shocked, but some people could…get annoyed, with people saying that’s not how things should be. Anyone like my grandfather.”He supposed that was the peril of a numeral. When you were Somebody the Fifteenth, it was hard to take a good view of the idea of system reforms which would make that unimportant. If everyone could just go off and do whatever they wanted – something he was sure Arthur, at least, was going to do anyway, but he expected Jay and Henry, at least, to stay in line – without the family structure in place, then his brother being Anthony VIII would mean absolutely nothing. It would just be a name.
He smiled at the idea of Fae being adventurous, wandering across the great unknown lands of the Gardens. Which might be possible. There was a lot of a lot out there. It seemed possible to him that even in a hundred and fifty-odd years, there might be parts no one had ever set foot in before. The only thing worse than thinking something could never happen was assuming too confidently that it never had. “Any time,” he assured her, once again wondering how this had come to be.
He also wondered why he was mildly perturbed by her apparent admiration for Arthur, but since there didn’t seem to be a logical reason, he dismissed it. “That’s what Father said,” he said. “Arthur just said they could all be proud of him when he published his second book.” That was Arthur, always being ambitious; he couldn’t think of anyone in the family who’d ever succeeded in publishing one book. They were all, for the most part, decently educated, even the girls, the family would provide for that even if an individual set of parents couldn’t, but proper scholars didn’t happen often. Merlin knew Arnold would never be one.
Which didn’t mean, as Fae made him think, it hadn’t happened. “I’ve never tried,” he said. “I know the names from the family trees, but I don’t know who more than a handful of the adults are.” He grinned, then, and lowered his voice as though he were sharing a secret with her. “I don’t really think anyone does,” he admitted. “Everything’s really planned at the Reunions, so you sort of get to know the people you’re sorted with, the ones your age, but other than that…” Arnold shrugged. “You do the best you can.”
0
Arnold
Don't worry, I'll protect you
181
Arnold
0
5