Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
July 29, 2020 9:37 AM
Welcoming the newest little duckling. [Baby shower for staff!] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
OOC - This party takes place before students arrive back to campus from break but (obviously) after staff do. BIC -Everything was set. Plants and growth were thematic in everything from the choice of green decor and glass orbs with flowers floating inside, designed to sparkle and shimmer when people drew near, to the rows of plates with the cutest fuzzy ducklings Mary had ever seen, courtesy of Selina's handiwork. Teddy bear-shaped sandwiches (another of Selina's artistries) were available alongside a variety of drinks, small finger foods, cookies, and other snack items on one table, and another table was ready for gifts. Several were already there, indicating Mary and her co-planner's early arrival, and while most of the tags showed that the gifts were for the new baby, there were also several for Dora and even a few for mom and dad.
Near the center of the room, a smaller, square table was sleet up with a cauldron of bubbling potion, tossing and turning in blues and pinks and golds. It was a variation on the sorting potion and Mary was excited to see it in action. When Isis dropped a strand of hair into it (or dove in if she really wanted, it only required some biological material to work), it would erupt into a very safe display of fireworks in gendered colors (because wooo sex assigned at birth) and Mary was eager to see it happen. She'd been sure to brew the potion to erupt in multiple colors if Isis was having multiples, although she wasn't about to explain that to the pregnant mom as that was usually not something she suspected they liked being reminded was possible.
The whole of the staff was invited for this party and Mary was feeling a bit bubbly herself. They had some games planned, also courtesy of Selina. One of the challenge groups a few years previously had been assigned a baby shower and had had a race with shrunken clothes (since they hadn't had baby clothes, Mary assumed) to have people use folding charms to see who could get through their pile the fastest. It was definitely a skill Mary suspected Isis could use and she applauded Selina's memory. The headmistress had also done the legwork of asking staff for baby pictures of themselves, which always made it fun to guess at who was who. It was decidedly not very difficult as there was, for example, only one picture of a smiling little girl of Polish and Indian descent. Mary had insisted on the age-old 'don't say baby' game, and she was excited to hear people ask about 'the little duckling' all day instead, or whatever they came up with. People were given diaper pins as they came in and the person with the most diaper pins at the end of the party would win a prize - an incense-style mixture like the Mary had used for her wedding, where there was just enough amortentia to leave a lingering smell in the room of whatever the smeller loved.
When all was good and ready, Mary grinned at Selina. They'd managed it with a few minutes to spare and it was nice to take a deep breath and admire their shared handiwork. Only for a moment, though. Soon, the party would begin. On one hand, Mary sort of hoped Isis got here first so that she could see the whole of it in all its unfettered glory. At the same time, she sort of hoped her very pregnant colleague took all the time she needed and only came if/when she wanted to at all.
The first guests began arriving and Mary grinned. It was time.
OOC - Party and such was Isis' idea. Decorations and Selina's work was by her author. Clothes folding game was also by that author, courtesy of Kir on Team 5, SA33.
Subthreads: In my experience, Children are different from Ducks by Lawrence Marsh with Grayson Wright, Dora Xavier
I might need healing. [Katey] by Killian Row with Katey Willow
Why am I here? by Osvaldo Alamilla with Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Hen or drake? The results are in! by Isis Carter-Xavier
22
Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Welcoming the newest little duckling. [Baby shower for staff!]
1424
1
5
Lawrence Marsh
July 29, 2020 2:29 PM
In my experience, Children are different from Ducks by Lawrence Marsh
Not his strength. Lawrence looked down at the wrapped gift in his hand. This was not even close to a strength. He’d rather be with one of his coworkers at a time or around animals. All of them, all at once, and games. No… this was not something he was going to fully enjoy. Still, Isis had been so kind to cover for him so much, and a new creature in the world always deserved to be celebrated, be it a dragon, a puffskein or a human. Lawrence took a deep breath. Find an individual and talk. Individually people are ok, as a whole though… they could be pretty terrible.Lawrence walked in and got a handful of diaper pins and looked down at them. Games? And he'd have to call the baby a duckling? Children were nothing like ducklings in Lawrence's experience. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Was this really his flock? Had he been mistaken?
He opened his eyes and saw the wall of baby photos. He flinched momentarily and then looked closer. His was fairly easy to pick out, being the only person of fully South Asian descent on the staff. Still, there was a baby he was certain was Killian and one he thought was maybe Gray but wasn’t sure.
He turned around from the wall and raised his eyebrows. They had really gone all out for this. Lawrence realized he hadn’t been there for any other major events, be it babys, weddings, funerals the like. So maybe this was how it was done in this flock. It was a bit over the top and… was that a gendered sorting cauldron?
Lawrence slowly shook his head. He definitely felt he was a he, but he worked with enough creatures to know that some changed genders, some were both genders and some were none. Why shouldn’t that apply to humans as well? Seriously, breeders could be so oddly picky about things like that. He saw the other Brooding-Hawthorne and smiled. He wondered if her wife was going to be here. He did enjoy his chats with her.
He put his gift down on a table. It was a magical stuffed Sphinx that would give the child age appropriate riddles till the age of 12. A perfect gift for any gender identity. It also made the child think and could distract them for hours at a time (once older).
Now , thought Lawrence as he put on his “mingling” smile, where can I get something to put in my mouth so I don’t have to play these games?
41
Lawrence Marsh
In my experience, Children are different from Ducks
1462
0
5
Grayson Wright
July 29, 2020 6:37 PM
I don't know, toddlers have some behavioral similarities. by Grayson Wright
Gray knew what a baby shower was, of course – it was a broadly enough understood concept in his culture that he thought it would be difficult to avoid picking up on the concept. Logically (despite the cultural precedent he had been pretty sure existed against it), he even saw why men would be invited – men could also go to shops or use the owl order service and buy things, which meant they could, therefore, buy things for the parents-to-be. These things, put together, meant there was no reason at all why he should feel horrifically out of place at such an event.No reason. None. No reason at all.
He supposed he had some grounds for a defense. Logic aside, there was some cultural precedence for the idea (at least, he was pretty sure there was? He couldn’t really say where he’d gotten the idea from, which meant it could easily be wrong) that baby showers were mostly intended for women, and he was…well, not one. Classic masculinity might never have been his strong suit, but he was definitely not a woman. He also didn’t know that many women simultaneously in the right age bracket and temperament type to have many babies, so the problem rarely had arisen in his life before now. He had seriously, in light of all that, considered simply sending a gift and a card and hiding in his room to write during the party itself.
It had, however, been a surprisingly long first bit of the term. The staff was stressed at best. Aside from the issues they were all dealing with this term, he was worried about the situation with Evelyn – what was going to happen, how far he ought interfere in it, and so forth. It was important for them to all stick together to a point, as a staff, keep up morale amongst themselves and whatnot. So he (somewhat reluctantly) handed over a photograph of himself at about a year old – a round-faced, black-haired thing in hideous teal corduroy overalls, perched on the knee of a pretty, round-faced woman with long dark hair and wary eyes - and bought the impending child several board books and proceeded to march into the party…and into a world of confusion.
Why were they doing things with diaper pins when the child was still a future diaper-wearer, not a present-day occupant of the things? It was a baby shower, so why was the word baby forbidden? He obligingly adapted his vocabulary to ‘miniature human,’ but wondered why, since he had enough social awareness to suspect he ought not refer to said miniature human as ‘the fetus.’
At least, he thought, this was good research material. Pity he couldn’t take notes in a corner without seeming very odd, and possibly being called out on it. As a second, he wandered into the proximity of someone he suspected might be equally, if not more, clueless about all this.
“Why do I have a feeling you feel as out of place here as I do?” he asked Marsh, also adopting an attempt at a bland social smile.
16
Grayson Wright
I don't know, toddlers have some behavioral similarities.
113
0
5
Dora Xavier
August 05, 2020 12:32 PM
Quack Quack! by Dora Xavier
Dora was sooooo excited about the party today. She'd gotten her Christmas presents on Christmas, but her baby was still stuck inside Mommy's belly, so Baby wasn't getting their presents until today. Baby was still stuck in Mommy's belly, so Dora wasn't quite sure what the point of waiting was, but Baby was getting presents today, and that she was sure of. Dora loved presents and Daddy said she could help open them because Baby couldn't do it yet, but she had to remember that these were Baby's presents and not hers, and she could totally do that. Opening presents was super fun! Especially toys! She hoped there was lots of toys. She had promised she would share with Baby so that means it is only fair that Baby needs to share with her, too. Baby didn't have a lot to share yet, but when she came into the room with Mommy and Daddy, she saw that might be changing soon. There was a table with a bunch of presents on it!And everything was sooooo cute! Dora clapped and squealed and ran about looking at everything. Zeus' Mommy told her that she couldn't say Baby, which just seemed silly to her, so she put the necklace with the pin on it around her neck and promptly forgot the instruction.
Daddy told her he was going to go around and thank people for coming to Baby's party (though he didn't call Baby 'Baby' for some reason), and Dora thought that thanking people was a super idea! She ran over to two guys and hugged each set of legs (this being what the three year old could reach). "Thank you coming to Baby's party!" she greeted them happily. "Baby love presents!" she told them, beaming up at the tall people, sure of her assertion because of course Baby would love presents! Who didn't love presents? Nobody, that's who. Presents were great!
And so were ducks. There was lots of ducks everywhere so she declared, "Quack! Quack!" and then ran off to hug somebody else and tell them that she was glad they came.
1
Dora Xavier
Quack Quack!
1507
0
5
Lawrence Marsh
August 05, 2020 1:00 PM
You sound like a duck... by Lawrence Marsh
The writer. Lawrence enjoyed his company almost as much as he enjoyed Killians. Though it was always unclear if the writer, Grayson, enjoyed his company as much in return. Judging from body language and engagement Lawrence was pretty sure Killian enjoyed his company, but Grayson was a bit of a … Gray patch. Lawrence winced inwardly at the thought and how truly bad it was. Then again, he wasn’t a writer like Grayson.But as soon as Professor Wright opened his mouth Lawrence’s smile turned real. Gray was definitely part of his flock.
“I am a bit out of my depth here to be sure. I am still not sure what this whole game is with not talking about the, “ Lawrence made a bump shape over his stomach, “in terms most would understand. As someone who has dealt with birth a fair bit, I think it is lovely that we as a species celebrate and give presents to those expecting, but I don’t understand the rest of it. Pageantry for pageantry sake seems...odd when not talking about feathers or visual spectacles.” Lawrence brought his cup up to his lips. He found he’d begun rambling and needed to stop abruptly.
“But how are you? Did you have a good…” suddenly he felt his body lurch a bit and his hand move instinctually to cover his cub. He looked down at a little head wrapping itself around Grayson’s knees after doing so to his.
“Thank you. You are a kind hostess, duck and I am sure will be a helpful older sister,” he said in his intro teacher voice and patted her head.
As she ran off he turned to Grayson, “Sometimes I’m glad I’m not a breeder, I wouldn’t be able to keep up lying to my children.”
41
Lawrence Marsh
You sound like a duck...
1462
0
5
Grayson Wright
August 05, 2020 2:08 PM
Stellar imitation, full marks. by Grayson Wright
“I require spectacles to have usable vision,” said Gray, punning on the double meaning of ‘spectacles’ before he even thought about the wisdom or lack thereof inherent in saying that out loud, “but I agree this is…interesting. Oh, and if you have to talk about it again, I came up with ‘miniature human’ and ‘future diaper wearer’ already,” he added, having correctly interpreted Lawrence’s miming but finding it somehow uncomfortable. He had no idea whether the general public would consider him or Lawrence more vaguely correct, so it was possible Lawrence’s way of avoiding of the term would be less awkward to the rest of their colleagues, but at least there were options.He was preparing a comment to respond to the question he thought he was about to be asked when Lawrence was abruptly interrupted by…a small child?
He smiled at Dora Xavier as she briefly attached herself to his knees as well, “I hope so,” he said when she crowed that ‘Baby’ (apparently she either didn’t know or didn’t care about the game) loved presents. Then she quacked and ran away.
He was glad he did not have anything in his mouth when Lawrence matter-of-factly talked about the trouble of lying to children, because he might have choked and ruined the party by dying, or at least causing a spectacle (non-glasses variety), if there had been. Instead, he laughed and then was able to continue speaking like a normal human.
“I’m told we’ll be awfully sorry about the no children thing when we’re decrepit,” he said (his parents were firmly of this opinion), “but you have a point about the advantages. “Whatever Nathan and Isis are doing, though, it must be working, she seems like a nice small child.” He suspected he would collapse from exhaustion if he had to keep her in some kind of order all day, but she did seem like a charming little thing, at least at the moment. “Do you think it’s possible to bring ‘em up without lying to them?” he asked, having occasionally wondered this.
16
Grayson Wright
Stellar imitation, full marks.
113
0
5