Selina Skies
May 23, 2020 12:02 AM
Beginners - Cheers! by Selina Skies
“Good morning,” Selina greeted the beginners. Usually, they looked awfully small in their first few days, both because this was the smallest size Sonora students came in and also as they adjusted to the world around them. However, as she’d spent part of the summer setting up a nursery, and spent yesterday meeting Zeus, eleven-year-olds suddenly seemed on the bigger and more capable side of things.“Welcome to Transfiguration. In short, this class is all about turning one thing into another. There are some things which may seem like small exceptions to that. We cover switching spells – instantaneously swapping the positions of two objects,” she demonstrated with a quick flick of her wand making the photo frame and the pen pot on her desk instantly reappear in each other’s space, before switching them back, “along with vanishing and conjuring – making objects disappear and appear.
“We will also look into a number of theory elements, such as how Transfiguration works, the types of spells and how they are constructed, and why various things fall into this category of magic as opposed to charms.
“We will be starting simply today. Transfiguration can be slow to learn. It can take time to achieve results. That said, we’ve stepped things down enough that everyone should have something to show at the end of today’s lesson,” she stated. She’d heard of curriculums where they set matchsticks to needles as the first class of the year, with the result being that barely anyone got anywhere. Perhaps it hammered home how difficult the subject was, but that didn’t seem to her to be a great way to engage students in learning it.
“The goal of this lesson is for everyone to make a drinking glass. You will be starting with these,” she held up a stack of bright plastic rainbow cups, suitable for picnics or small children. She kept one on her desk, and the remainder began making their way around the room, handing themselves out to the students. “For first years, you need only to change the material to glass. Glass can, of course, be many different colours. Whilst you are welcome to aim for clear glass if that is easier for you to visualise, you can also keep the colour the same as your existing cup.
“Two key elements of Transfiguration are what similarities you can work with as well as what differences you’re having to make, and how well you can visualise your end result. I’d like you to think about how that balances out with changing or not changing the glass’s colour, and discuss your experiences with your neighbours.
“For second years, I would like you to choose a different way to stretch yourselves – perhaps alter the shape, such as making a goblet, perhaps include more intricate designs. If you get done quickly, you can look into spells for other drinking vessels and have a go at making some of those.
“The spell for this is verrus, with a gentle, curving wand motion,” she demonstrated, turning one of the plastic cups into a smart cut class tumbler with much squarer edges.
“Please raise your hand if you need help. You may talk quietly with your neighbours as you work. Please begin.”
OOC - welcome to Transfiguration. Posting here can earn you house points! Posts should be a minimum of 200 words and will be graded on length, realism, relevance (how well you deal with the class content) and creativity.
Posts are marked out of character, based on the quality of the writing, so a character who says they are doing badly but does so in a well-written and detailed way can still score full points. Remember that Hermione, the best witch of her age, struggled with Transfiguration at first, so please keep your character’s ability level realistic. That said, I feel I’ve given you an easier task, as your objects are already more similar to each other, so there’s a little more scope for differing results. You are also free to make up relevant information that your character is reading in their textbook.
You are being supervised, so if things are going wrong, Selina would step in before anything got terribly out of hand. Please tag me in the subject line if there’s something that needs my attention.
Have fun, have a go, if you’re unsure about anything, ask on the OOC or in chatzy.
Subthreads: ¡Arriba! ¡Abajo! ¡Al centro! .... y pa'dentro! by Leonor De Matteo with Josephine Clyde
Time for a change! by Valentine Duell with Alexander Pierce-Beales
Taking a scientific approach. by Mara Morales with Quincy Wright
What's wrong with plastic anyway? by Mab with Aelia Astley
No alibi by Sadie-Lake Chalmers with Janis Rosemary Silver
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Selina Skies
Beginners - Cheers!
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Valentine Duell
May 25, 2020 5:21 PM
Time for a change! by Valentine Duell
Valentine was humming to herself quietly as she strolled through the halls, moving from Charms class to Transfiguration with the beginners that had chosen to take the direct route. So far it was turning out to be a great day, Charms had been a fun class and Professor Wright was as nice as he had been during orientation. Now they were going to Transfiguration, this should be a fun class as well. Papa had told her it was his best class.She arrived and found a seat near the front of the classroom. Once there, she dutifully got out her class materials and waited for class to begin. There was just the slightest tremor of nervous anticipation in her stomach. Would she live up to Papa's legacy? Would he be disappointed if she didn't? She didn't have long to worry though. Professor Skies began addressing the class.
The first year listened intently, but not much of the information was new to her. Other than the position swapping thing, that was pretty neat and she hadn't realized that was a thing that fell under the category of transfiguration. She did however take note of the wand movement and incantation for today's project. So, by the end of the professor's talk she had a blue plastic cup setting in front of her and a task before her.
'Okay, time to turn this cup into a glass' she thought to herself. Simple. She picked up her wand, executed the gentle curve and uttered "Verrus" in a calm, confident tone. Nothing had happened. Had the cup not heard her? She swooshed her wand about a bit, maybe her movement hadn't been quite right and she needed to limber her wrist up a little bit.
"Now," she stated simply, addressing her cup, "You will turn into glass." She moved her wand in a gentle curve once more, and spoke "Verrus" so that it could not misunderstand her. Still the cup sat obstinately before her, still plastic, mocking her. She glared at the stubborn inanimate object for a moment. She really didn't want to disappoint Papa, there was only one thing left to do. She sighed and turned to her neighbor, "Excuse me, I'm not doing something right. Do you have any suggestions for me?"
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Valentine Duell
Time for a change!
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
May 26, 2020 1:45 AM
That was my first year, too. by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alexander had forgotten how hard academics were. Like . . . they were great. But Sonora was a small school and the risks of failing to achieve a certain level of education and proficiency were dire. As such, there was no slipping through the cracks or flying under the radar here, much as Alexander would normally have preferred to do. Even so, he enjoyed himself most of the time. Things were weird and he was stressed but everything was so much better than it had been a year previous that it was hard to be that upset about those things. Besides, he couldn't do anything but wait for Nathaniel to get back to him at this point.Transfiguration was not necessarily one of Alexander's better classes, but it was one that he enjoyed more. More than any other class, this was the one that made him sure this whole magic thing was real. Charms was cool that way, too, but charms always seemed like the sort of stuff that mechanical engineering and good CGI could accomplish. Transfiguration . . . well, this was no trick of the eye. Plus, Alexander could do few things so well as make visualizations and that helped tremendously.
That wasn't to say he got it to work so well, but he was a second year now. As such, he'd gotten this spell to work before, he should be able to do it again, right? And even more than before. He thought that magic was probably a bit like learning to draw. He'd seen stuff online where people did the same sort of drawing once every year and they could compare how well they drew an eyeball or a person or a landscape or whatever over the years. He was a bit excited to see how much better he could do this year than he could before.
This was particularly evident since he took a seat next to a first year, who promptly began talking to her cup. He watched her out of the corner of his eye - seriously, were all the girls at Sonora just super pretty? - but didn't say anything until she addressed him. He'd learned his lesson with Ellie that bumbling was not a good way to get through such conversations, so he just blinked, surprised, instead.
"I'm not sure I can answer that," he said a little wryly. "Although I wish I could." He hadn't yet attempted the spell for today, and he was a little nervous that now that he'd been put on the spot, he wouldn't be able to get any success with it. What had he been doing anyway? Oh, yeah, he'd been thinking about life. That. "You were talking to your cup, right? Trying to tell it to change? I don't know very much about magic, but I think you're the one doing the changing, not the cup. Maybe you have to tell your magic to do the changing instead of the cup." He blushed a little, wondering if he sounded crazy. "Does that . . . make any sense at all?"
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
That was my first year, too.
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Valentine Duell
May 26, 2020 6:11 PM
Did it work out for you? by Valentine Duell
Valentine almost thought the boy looked surprised when she had asked him for help. He wasn't at orientation, so if he is in the beginners class, he must be a second year (more people to meet! Yay!). That made him more of an expert than she was on the subject. He did look familiar though... but then he began to talk again and she tried to follow his line of reasoning.She should be the one doing the changing, or rather her magic. As in her magic should be enacting the change upon the cup. The cup is just an inanimate object waiting to get it's molecules rearranged by her applying magic to it. That made sense, she smiled at the boy. "Yes, that makes sense." She blushed a bit, "I guess I was just trying to..." she paused for a moment trying to find the right words, "psych myself up, maybe?" Then she shrugged.
"I guess the real question I have," she continued, "is how do I summon up and direct my magic? Other than to wave the wand and say the words." She tacked on quickly. Obviously that was how you started, but it felt like there was something missing. "I was doing okay in charms class." She waved her hand around in a gesture of ambiguousness, "This just feels... different, like I'm a rogue trying to convince the scroll that I'm a wizard and the spell should work."
She sighed and looked back at her cup, gave it her best attempt at 'The Look', then turned back to the boy. "What's your methodology? Maybe I should just watch you do it and see if I can pick up on anything." Oh! He had been in the common room this morning! He was a Teppenpaw as well! That's where she recognized him from. She grinned wide, "You're one of my housemates!" Then she let out a little squeak, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Valentine."
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Valentine Duell
Did it work out for you?
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
May 26, 2020 8:28 PM
Nope. But other things did. by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alexander really wanted to have the answer. He wanted to be able to help. But he just wasn't that smart. But . . . he was a good visualizer . . . was that the sort of advice that could help this girl? He thought her image of a rogue wizard with a scroll was pretty accurate, so that was good. "I feel like that, too," he promised. "There's an artist-- uh, a muggle artist, named Michelangelo. He did sculptures and stuff. He always said that he wasn't sculpting anything into the marble, but only freeing the form that was already there. That helps me with magic sometimes. If I think of it as just . . . sort of taking off the illusion. Letting the cup be what it already is. But that's a little . . . wibbly." He probably sounded like a crazy person. Was this going to be thematic for him?She wanted him to do the spell and while he had had some luck the year before, he wasn't sure he'd be able to make anything work in front of her. Before he could say anything, she was very excited to be recognizing him, and he actually managed a small smile. "Yes," he said. "It's good to meet you officially. I'm Alexander." Every time he introduced himself now, he sort of wondered what it would be like to introduce as Alexander Stones. That was not an appropriate thing to do though, so he did not. Her squeak sort of threw him off because he wasn't sure if she was broken. Were girls supposed to squeak? He was pretty sure Mab had never squeaked a day in her life, even as a baby if he had to guess, and she was about his only real experience with girls. Also, this girl's name was Valentine and if there wasn't a God then it was the universe with a sense of humor, and it was laughing at him.
"I can give it a shot," he mumbled, reaching for his wand. He wasn't really sure what he wanted to make the cup look like, though. Maybe just going for glass and getting it to be square would work? No, he couldn't picture a square cup that easy. Perhaps he should focus on color, not shape? Maybe he could do Teppenpaw colors. Alright, yellow cup made of glass, and maybe square. Yellow cup. Glass. Maybe square.
"Verrus," he said sharply, matching the professor's motion with some success since he'd done it before. The cup, to his pleasure, did turn yellow, and did turn into glass, but apparently it was thin glass, which did not appreciate being forced into a square shape, and it promptly shattered. His face turned a bright red at the same time.
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
Nope. But other things did.
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Valentine Duell
May 28, 2020 6:00 PM
That's good to hear, all is well then? by Valentine Duell
Val grinned. 'Wibbly' that was a fun word, she liked it. It felt very appropriate, to much of what was going on around here. His explanation was a good one, but she wasn't quite sure how to apply it. But then she would have her answer maybe. Alexander, that was his name and she would remember it because remembering names was important. People liked it when you remembered their names. Anyway, Alexander was going to show her how it was done. Professor Skies had as well, but that was the professor.She watched Alexander intently as he went through the process. He took up his wand, good. The he paused and looked at the cup? He was thinking something. Something important? Finally he executed the motion as he spoke the word. Before her very eyes, Alexander's cup transformed. One moment it was a plastic cup like hers, and the next it was a yellow glass! Then it shattered and small pieces scattered across the desk.
Valentine looked at the boy wide-eyed for a moment. Then she blurted out, "That was great Alexander! You did it!" She began to use the sleeve of her robe to sweep the glass shards onto a pile, "How did you do that? I saw you pause and look at the cup a moment before casting the spell, what were you thinking? Were you summoning up power to channel into the cup?"
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Valentine Duell
That's good to hear, all is well then?
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
May 28, 2020 9:04 PM
Well-ish. by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alexander looked at Valentine with wide eyes, surprised at her excitement. It was contagious though, and he couldn't help smiling a little, despite his embarrassment. In a weird way, he also sort of believed it. Sure, his cup had shattered, but he had transformed it. "Be careful," he said, sucking in a breath of nerves through his teeth. At the same time, Professor Skies came by to replace his cup, and he thanked her quietly, flushing redder than ever.Then Valentine had questions and Alexander was about a thousand percent sure he wasn't going to be able to provide any sort of satisfactory answer. "I was trying to think about what I wanted to make," he said, thinking hard about what he'd done. "I visualized it, and then I thought about what it was I was changing. Like I pictured a yellow, square, glass cup--" He grimaced again at the mess that had made. "--and then tried to focus on that bit? Because when I visualized it, I also think about like . . . well, glass is shiny, and cups are round, and all those other things. So I didn't wanna focus on that? I just kept thinking 'yellow, glass, square' and then it sort of worked-ish. The square bit was too hard, I think."
Desperate to get the focus off himself - after all, what could he possibly have to teach someone like Valentine about magic? - he angled himself towards her and gestured. "Do you want to try again? You can talk out loud if that helps or I can just watch. Or I can not watch if you don't want me to."
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
Well-ish.
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Valentine Duell
May 29, 2020 6:22 PM
You sound a bit uncertain by Valentine Duell
"You visualized it?" She thought for a moment, and then stated, "That's the part that I must be missing." She had been relying on the wand and the word to do all of the work, but that wasn't how this was supposed to work, was it? Alexander had been right, she needed to tell the magic to work for her, and how to work. This sounded like an idea that needed to get bounced off of someone. Good think Alexander seemed like a bouncy sort of boy."Okay, so if I'm thinking about this right," She started off a bit slowly, "The wand motion and the spell word are the generalized 'turn an object into a glass drinking object' spell, right? Maybe even more general than that..." she paused just a moment to consider what exactly the effects the spell could have on something. Did it only work on things that were already cups? Could it turn things into any sort of glass thing? She tossed the idea into the 'investigate sometime later if you think about it again bin' in her mind and moved back to the present.
"Regardless, this is the spell that will turn a plastic cup into a drinking glass of some form. According to the professor, it could be any color or shape. That means the spell itself does need much more direction than just a wand wave and a single word to work." She paused to collect her thoughts again, "I was just trying to have the wand and word do it all, but I wasn't giving the magic anything to do, I wasn't picturing how I wanted it to change, so I guess it couldn't." She looked at Alexander, "Does that make sense?"
"I'll give it another try now that you've unlocked the secret." She smiled at him and turned back to her cup. "Okay cup, I hope you like being glass." She stared at the cup for a long moment, the word 'glass' ran through her head. She tried to visualize what the cup would look like if it was just made out of glass. Just a round, blue, shiny glass cup. But, she couldn't. The words swirled around in her head, 'round, blue, glass', but she just couldn't 'see' an image of it in her mind.
"Verrus!"she called out with the wave, trying desperately to still form a picture. The cup seemed to shimmer as it very briefly shifted toward a glass state, but promptly turned back to plastic. "I... I can't do it." she voice with an edge of sad frustration. "I can't visualize it." She was going to let Papa down after all.
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Valentine Duell
You sound a bit uncertain
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
May 30, 2020 12:18 AM
Best not get too optimistic. by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Valentine caught on fast, but she also sort of seemed to give up fast. Alexander always wondered at that in people. Sometimes, it meant that someone had faced too many hard things to face even one more. Sometimes, it meant they had never faced any hard things and didn't know how to persevere. Other times, it meant they were facing different hard things and really wanted to find something that it was okay to give up on. Unfortunately for Valentine, transfiguration class was not the thing to give up on."That's not the same thing," he told her when she said she couldn't do it, and then that she couldn't visualize. "You can do it, because it started to work. That means all that's left is to learn to visualize." He was patient but he was helpful, and he had found that being direct was usually the most helpful. "Would it help to draw it out? Or here . . . tell me what you wanted it to be. I'll see if I can visualize it, and then you can see my cup and try to make yours look the same."
He raised his wand, ready for instructions, and then looked over at her again, a little uncertain. "That sounded really bossy," he said awkwardly. "Sorry about that. I know you can do it and I'm trying to help . . . but I probably should ask you how you want to be helped first, eh?" He ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head. "Or if you want my help at all. Or if I'm being helpful at all . . ." He had skipped a lot of important check-ins. "I'm sorry about that."
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
Best not get too optimistic.
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Valentine Duell
May 30, 2020 11:10 AM
The glass appears that it might be possibly close to about half-full? by Valentine Duell
Alexander was being nice. Val had started it to change, so she supposed it was potentially possible. Could she learn to visualize things? She hadn't really ever noticed that it had been a problem before, but she also couldn't recall any time previously that she had needed to make a clear mental image of something. Was that really something that people did or could do? Was it something that she could do as well?She gave him a weak smile at his suggestions, then nearly giggled as he went through the string of helpfulness levels. "Of course you're being helpful, thank-you." she responded before thinking about his ideas, "Drawing it out may help, but I'm not much of an artist. I was just trying to just change it into glass, keep the shape and the color. I don't know if I could draw well enough to show the difference," she admitted a bit shyly. "And I would love some more help, thank-you for offering. My dad was really good at this class, so I'd like to be really good at it as well. Or at least good enough to not make him disappointed." Her face had fallen a bit as she talked, but then it brightened up again, "Not that he would ever say anything like that, but I still want to make him proud."
"If you're willing," she gestured at his new cup, "Please, see if you can make a round, blue glass. Then I'll see if looking at that helps me do the same to mine."
OOC: Val suffers from Aphantasia
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Valentine Duell
The glass appears that it might be possibly close to about half-full?
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
May 31, 2020 12:28 PM
Or only half-glass! by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alexander waited for the usual rush of resentment and anger that came with hearing about other people's dads, especially their magical ones, but it didn't happen. He was feeling good with his family and he was content enough not to think that he was missing out so much for not having a dad. The only one he sort of had at all sounded terrible anyway, so he was better off with a Bel than with a Mom or Dad."I'm sure he's proud of you," Alexander said softly. "Just because you're trying."
He nodded, happy to help and happy that he hadn't overstepped anywhere, and then readied himself to try this spell. He was a bit surprised that Valentine wanted to try for a round blue class, instead of a plastic-cup shaped, plastic-cup colored, glass glass, but that was her prerogative. he thought about it for a moment, thinking about those funny round glasses that looked like raindrops with the top cut off, and how they looked sort of clearish bluish from the side, but if you look at the edge of the glass, it looks a lot bluer. And he thought about how glass reflects light and the whole thing just looks like a perfect water droplet.
Satisfied that he knew what he wanted to do, he focused on Valentine's description again: round, blue, glass.
"Verrus," he said, more softly this time than before. He wasn't trying to force anything. This cup wanted to be that shape anyway, so he didn't have to be stern about it. Just let it happen, and make it happen, all at the same time. He grinned when the cup changed into almost exactly what he'd been thinking of. Round, it turned out, was easier than square. It was a bit taller than he'd been going for, a remnant of the plastic cup's greater height than a round cup had, but he was satisfied nonetheless.
"You don't have to do all of that," he reminded her as he moved the glass to sit where she could see it a bit more directly. "First years only have to do glass." He flicked the glass lightly with his nail, making it reverberate with glass' signature ting! sound. "Shiny, and it goes tink-tink," he told her playfully.
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
Or only half-glass!
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Valentine Duell
June 02, 2020 7:16 PM
Cautious Optimisim is the way to go then? by Valentine Duell
Val sighed at looked at Alexander, he was being very nice. She tried to smile at him, "Thanks. That is what he would say." Papa would just want her to do her best. He had told her that many times growing up, so she would. She would try her best to turn this cup into glass.She moved her blue plastic cup so it was right next to the blue glass one that Alexander had very kindly transfigured for her. "It looks really good." She giggled when he tinked the glass. "Maybe I should make a list?" She pulled out her notebook and wrote down 'Plastic - dull, rough, thunk noise.' 'Glass - shiny, smooth, transparent, tink noise.'
"Okay, let's give this a try." She took a deep breath and tried to be calm and focused. She looked over her list and let those words swirl about head. Once she had them in place, she looked at the two drinking vessels and extended her wand. "Verrus!" she called out with just a hint of desperation in her voice as she moved the wand. The cup shimmered, and slowly transformed. It had turned to glass! For two whole seconds. Then it was instantly plastic again. Val slumped to the table.
"Well," she said a little weakly, "That is progress I guess. What are the chances my best will get better?" She could do it, she would make Papa proud. "Thanks for the encouragement," she said to Alexander, "Are those the kind of things your Dad tells you?"
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Valentine Duell
Cautious Optimisim is the way to go then?
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
June 02, 2020 7:40 PM
Well when you put it like that . . . by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alexander would not have really thought of making a list unless he was consciously trying to come up with ideas. Words were much less helpful to him. But, they seemed to work for Valentine, so that was good enough for him. She improved tremendously very fast, and that was fun. He smiled for a real moment then, his eyes widening with excitement even when his mouth fell back to a more neutral expression. "That was great!" he told her. "One hundred percent chances," he added. "If your best tops out in your first year of school, then something is terribly wrong. Even if you didn't try at all, you'd get better. And you seem like you try really hard."He surprised himself a bit because he don't usually talk this much or this easily. The last time he'd found someone to chat with like this, he'd gone home with her. Which sounded not like how he meant it. But he wasn't sure what to do with a new person now, and he almost thought to cut it off just for that reason. He didn't really want to, though. She was nice and easy to talk to and their conversation seemed to be good for them both. Or at least, it had been.
Blinking, surprised, Alexander shook his head. "I don't have a dad," he replied in a hollow voice. It wasn't hard to say that now, which was odd since it was sort of less true now than before. But really, he'd never had a dad. Were dads supposed to say this kind of nice stuff? It didn't sound like his said anything of the sort to Evelyn, so he doubted that would be likely even if he'd grown up with him. "Or a mom," he added before she could change her guess. "Well, I sort of have a mom now." He wrinkled his nose with some amusement, trying to imagine Bel's face if she heard him saying that. "I have a family--" man, that felt good to say "--just not a mom or dad."
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
Well when you put it like that . . .
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Valentine Duell
June 05, 2020 8:12 AM
Is there a better way to put it? by Valentine Duell
Valentine blushed bright red at Alexander's compliment. She was trying really hard. This was tough and she wanted to succeed at it so badly. Alexander was being really nice and supportive, "Thanks," she said a little on the quiet side, "But I couldn't have done it without your help."She looked back at her once again plastic cup, trying to figure out her next approach when Alexander made a statement that horrified her. Her face drained completely of color and all the thoughts in her mind crashed solidly against the solid wall that his words had made. No Dad? She started to open her mouth, not quite sure what to say, but he continued. No Mom? A shiver of horror ran through every nerve in her body. What had she done?
Her eyes were wide and on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't..." She wanted to hug him, but some corner of her mind still registered that he didn't look quite as distressed as she felt. She couldn't imagine not having parents that loved you. To not have Mama and Papa... to have no one at all... what sort of life had he led? Was it a recent thing? Was he okay?
He looked okay. He said he had a family, and Val gave a faint smile at that. "Families are important."
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Valentine Duell
Is there a better way to put it?
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