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
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Welcoming the newest little duckling. [Baby shower for staff!]
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Osvaldo Alamilla
July 30, 2020 6:14 PM
Why am I here? by Osvaldo Alamilla
Osvaldo stood before the door to the staff lounge. He could hear noises inside, people talking, interacting... socializing. He wanted to be not here, maybe back in the shed working on... things. Things were going slowly, but that was fine. Good things took time. Honestly there wasn't much more he could do on such matters at the moment though. He didn't even have any groundskeeping work as an excuse to not be here. The place was in order, not having children running about all the time messing things up made the job a lot easier, and as such over break the place was back in decent shape once more.Manola had insisted that he go to this absurd party. Frankly, he suspected she just wanted him out of their rooms for some peace and quiet. She had gotten him a present to bring, she had wrapped it and everything. Fine. He would do this. He opened the door and instantly regretted the decision, but he had been seen and it was to late to turn and leave now. He steeled himself and strode into the ridiculous looking room. Everything was just so.... garishly cute. It made his stomach turn.
He found a table for the present, and left it with the others. He had no idea what was in it, hopefully something sensible, but he severely doubted it. He found himself in possession of some diaper pins and informed that there were to be games. Lovely. He also was not to say the word 'baby' for some reason.
There was a table with food on it which tempted him, but he couldn't bring himself to pick up one of those absurd plates to collect any food. So, he collected a beverage and satisfied himself with that. There were people socializing as he looked about the room again. That looked.... tedious.
Then something did catch his eye. There was a cauldron bubbling away in the center of the room. He'd been focused on the tables along the walls that he had missed it. What was that for? He moved closer to investigate. A look into it and a few whiffs of it's odor told him it was a variation of the inane sorting potion used for new students.
It was an interesting concoction despite it's base. The colors swirling about suggested a purpose, but what that was he could not guess. Was it here for one of the games? Would they drink it and turn into babies? No... not with those ingredients. Somewhere in the scent hinted of... an explosive property? What was this doing here?
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Osvaldo Alamilla
Why am I here?
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
July 30, 2020 6:31 PM
Checking out my handiwork, apparently! by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary was satisfied that things were going well and it was confirmed when even Osvaldo made an appearance. She had long suspected the groundskeeper of making even Tabitha look social and it felt like a sort of bitter victory to have him come. Almost immediately, he began to show interest in the anatomy reveal potion Mary had made, and she grinned, proud of herself. Also, she had just found out that they shared a common interest, and now she had something real to talk to him about! She crossed the room, grabbing her own drink and a few small snacks on her way so she wouldn't be empty-handed, and took up space nearby him."Smells alright?" she confirmed playfully. "I'm proud of this one. Are you much of a potions master yourself?"
She held out a hand to offer him any one of a number of snacks, raising her eyebrows to make sure he knew it was a real, sincere offer. "It's great to see you at a social event. I don't feel like I've gotten the chance to know you too well! We have such beautiful grounds at Sonora and I can't imagine how much work it must be for you to keep them that way," she smiled. "You have a family nearby? Not your first rodeo, then." With another sweet smile, she gestured around at the madness and glory that was a baby shower, wondering what Osvaldo's experience with them was.
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Checking out my handiwork, apparently!
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Osvaldo Alamilla
July 31, 2020 9:27 PM
At least it isn't covered in ducks. by Osvaldo Alamilla
Osvaldo nearly jumped when the potions professor started talking right next to him. Nearly jumped, he did not actually jump, that is not a thing that he does. He did straighten up and give the woman a curious look. A potions master? He had nearly been a potions master when he had graduated this place as a young man. He'd breezed through the higher level academics on that ages ago, and had been doing teaching and independent research for the past thirty odd years. He'd surpassed simple potion making and delved into the field of Alchemy searching for one of the great mysteries of the wizarding world. He held his tongue however. He was just a simple groundskeeper, that was all."It smells, a little strange." he replied, "I have done some work in the potions area." He did not want to raise suspicions, but he also did long to talk 'shop' with someone. "What is the purpose of this creation of yours?" He looked around the room and inwardly shuddered at the decor once again, "It seems.. out of place here."
He declined the offered snacks, "Thank-you, but no." Then she began talking about other things, and he just smiled his best and nodded along. "Honestly," he commented at the mention of the groundskeeping work, "The elves naturally do all of the 'heavy lifting', however, they do need quite a bit of oversight. I hope they were helpful in whatever arrangements you needed them to do for this." He gestured around the room. "Also, it is much easier to keep the place in order when the chi... students are not present." he sighed. That situation was soon about to end.
"No, this is actually my first 'rodeo'," he responded as she gestured around the room. "My wife, Manola and I are fairly recently married, more out of convenience then anything else. However, there are levels of fondness that have grown since then." There was a hint of a smile playing about Osvaldo's mouth, but nothing solid. "Her son was already beyond this stage at that point, and before Manola, I had led a bachelor's life."
He had answered her questions, however she seemed invested in this conversation and he suspected she would ask more. He wasn't sure if he wanted to continue answering questions, he would need to go on the offense instead. "How about yourself? How many rodeos have you attended?"
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Osvaldo Alamilla
At least it isn't covered in ducks.
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
August 06, 2020 10:29 AM
I'll give you that much. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary beamed at Osvaldo. Most of her colleagues were pretty good at potions but not many were as excited about them as she was. Of course, not many people were as excited about anything that Mary was excited about as she was. Osvaldo certainly wasn't, but he did at least seem curious and Mary was happy to indulge them both in a conversation about this particular brew."When Isis puts a strand of hair in - or any biological matter, but I figured asking her to gash her hand open or something was a bit macabre - it will erupt into fireworks in either pink or blue, meant to show whether she's having a boy or girl baby," Mary smiled. "Oh, rats!" She passed him a diaper pin and continued. "It's based on the sorting potion we use at the start of the year," she added.
She smiled, appreciating both Osvaldo's humility and his willingness to acknowledge the work that the elves did around campus. "They do work very hard," she agreed. "But I know you do as well. They helped with much of the food for this, although Selina transfigured a lot of the shapes, and most of the dishes."
That, Mary decided, was a very odd way to talk about your wife. She supposed she shouldn't judge. There were obviously things she didn't understand about the arrangement Osvaldo and Manola - she committed the name to memory - had together and he seemed happy enough. Manola probably did as well. Marriage was not, however, a thing Mary would call "convenient" most of the time. Still, she nodded along, glad that Osvaldo at least seemed relatively content and it sounded like he was stepping into a family dynamic that he hadn't been used to before, so that was always a challenge. "Oh, congratulations," Mary said of their recent marriage. "This is my first rodeo as well," she smiled. "My wife and I recently adopted a son--" she resisted the urge to wiggle or twirl happily at that phrase, which was now one of her favorites "--and he was already a toddler by the time we adopted him, so no baby shower, although I know Selina would have been willing. She did a lot to change our quarters and include a room for him. The circumstances of his adoption weren't ideal and it didn't seem right to celebrate at the time."
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
I'll give you that much.
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Osvaldo Alamilla
August 07, 2020 7:42 PM
Should I give you something then? by Osvaldo Alamilla
Osvaldo nodded along as the potions professor talked about her creation. He was appalled at the inanity of the purpose of the potion. Why would someone go to such lengths for such a ridiculous reason? He briefly wondered if Muggles did similar things, but then decided that he'd really rather not know.Despite the purpose of the potion, it's construction was something altogether different. Creating the the sympathetic link from the mother to the unborn child certainly wasn't unheard of, but it was still a tricky bit to make work. He was about to ask something along those lines when for some unfathomable reason she handed him one of her diaper pins and continued talking. What was he supposed to do with it? Put it with the others he supposed.
"Interesting, does it use the same breakdown components as the polyjuice potion does upon adding the biological material?" The sorting potion was a basis. Of course it would be. A brief look of displeasure crossed his face at it's mention. "Tell me, what.." wait. He would need to phrase this properly so as to not give himself away. "I had heard that the school here had used a different sorting potion in the past." He still recalled the way that potion had turned his skin blue when he was a child, it had instilled in him a certain sense of wonder at the potion. "Why was it changed to the current version?" Dunking badges... ridiculous.
He nodded when the topic swung back to his duties. "Professor Xavier was doing well with them, but his oversight of them was..." what was the polite word? Manola said he had to be polite. "limited, due to his other duties." That should be well enough. "Hopefully they're performance will continue to improve." He glanced down at the cup he was holding, trying to hide the ducks with his hands. "Yes, the deputy-headmistress is quite... skilled in that field."
Right, this was the woman who had a wife. He had been told growing up that it was a strange thing, and something that shouldn't happen. He frankly had never seen the point in caring about anyone else's relationship. What did it matter to him? He nodded in thanks for the 'congratulations' although he assumed she didn't suspect how much of a congratulations that event had actually warranted. If he was fortunate and didn't slip, none would need to know either. That would certainly be for the best. Otherwise, he and Manola would need to leave.
"I have learned," he continued in his efforts to keep the conversation away from him as a subject, "that young boys can be a handful to manage. I trust you are managing well?"
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Osvaldo Alamilla
Should I give you something then?
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