Valentine Duell
October 21, 2020 5:33 PM
The time has come [Killian Row] by Valentine Duell
Valentine had set up an appointment with Mr. Row as soon as she was able to once she'd gotten back to school. She'd made sure it was the earliest appointment she could get with the guidance councilor as well. This was important and they were running out of time, she hoped it wasn't already to late. As such, she made her way to Mr. Row's office a little early for the appointment. She double checked her notebook that she had brought along, everything still looked like it was in order. She calmed herself, took a deep breath and knocked on his door.She entered the office upon his invitation and gave him a smile. They had a lot of work to do so she sat down in the chair and flipped open her notebook. "Thank-you for seeing me Mr. Row. I'm really excited to get started on this project. I just hope we're not starting things to late already." She looked over her notes again, "I've starting working on some preliminary ideas, but I'm not sure if any of them will work, or at least measure up to what we are aiming for." She looked at Mr. Row hopefully. "I'm not sure if you've had time to do any preliminary work yet, but you are free to look over what I have so far and we'll see what we can come up with." She handed over her notebook for his inspection.
The open page was decorated with hand drawn balloons and streamers, clearly titled 'Bonabelle's 13th Birthday Plans'. After that were a number of ideas ranging from 'Room filled entirely with balloons' to 'Giant stuffed animal tea party'. She smiled at Mr. Row again, "We've only got about a month and a half to get this figured out."
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Valentine Duell
The time has come [Killian Row]
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Killian Row
October 22, 2020 8:16 PM
It's time to come clean. by Killian Row
Killian was going to talk to Bonabelle. Ema said to do it, his conscience said to do it, and Lorcan had said not to do it which might have been the most compelling reason. However, their first weekly tea meeting wasn't until later in the week and Valentine Duell had really jumped at his office hours, booking a time first. Since he and Bonabelle had hardly spoken since she'd returned from her friend's house, and since she'd looked a bit more awkward about everything than usual (he didn't mean to be rude to the kid but she was a little awkward around family for sure) and certainly more distant, he wasn't sure what to think about that. In any case, Val was definitely not the one he wanted telling Bonny about her father, so it made him nervous that she was calling on him so quickly. Also, her aunt was an expert with divination apparently, so that was always a bit intimidating (assuming it was true).When Val took a seat and jumped into what seemed like a lot more preparation than most of the kids at school ever did for anything, Killian went with it. He was surprised, sure, but he had learned with students like Mara Morales that this was a generally a pretty good approach. At the same time, Valentine was twelve. "I'm sure you're not too late," he murmured, not sure what to think of whatever sorts of social or academic pressures made her think that. "I-- Oh." He stopped as he noticed some of the items in her project file, and a grin spread across his face.
He examined the ideas she'd written down and then looked over the top of the papers at her. "You're a wee sound lass," he beamed. "Also, you've got a grown wizard on your side, so I think most of these ideas are possible with a month and a half of planning," he pointed out. He was pretty sure that he could conjure a room full of balloons even if MARS couldn't make it work on its own. There was a question that had to be addressed though, and he put the project information down. "The problem is, she's expecting it now, isn't she? How do we make it a surprise?"
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Killian Row
It's time to come clean.
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Valentine Duell
October 23, 2020 8:11 PM
With what? by Valentine Duell
Well, she shouldn't be surprised. Mr. Row had hit the nail on the head. "She is and we can't let her down." She made sure she conveyed her determination on this front with her voice and expression. This was important, and failure was not an option. However, she was very relieved to hear that he was going to be helping and that nothing so far seemed impossible. "She knows that we will be throwing her a party," she paused and gave Killian an earnest look, "A better one than last year's." Last year's party had been a blast with the silly string battle in the forest and the picnic, topping that might be tricky.She sighed and sat back in the chair again. "That was one of the reasons I thought we may need some time to plan things. The best idea I've been able to come up with so far on that front is to let her help plan the party." Then her face broke out in a fierce grin, "At least she'll help plan some of the party, the basics and maybe a special bit or two. We'll all work together on that part, but all the while, we'll be working on a grander scheme, something that fits around that core party that she is helping with. Something that we can unveil soon after her 'party' begins!" There was a distinct gleam in Valentine's eye as she expanded upon her idea.
Then she seemed to deflate. "I'm just not sure what that 'something' could be. She knew it had to be something that Bonabelle would love and would work around a traditional standardized birthday party. To the best of her knowledge though Bonabelle loved bows, books and not interacting with people. Silly string had been a winner, but they couldn't do that again unless they somehow expanded upon it? She gave Mr. Row a timid smile, "I'm open to suggestions."
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Valentine Duell
With what?
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Killian Row
October 26, 2020 7:18 PM
Uhhh soap and water. by Killian Row
Killian pressed his lips into a smile, highly amused by Valentine. "I have to ask," he began, speaking slowly, "and you know her better than I do, but do you think that 'better' means 'bigger' for Bonny? I wonder if 'better' might mean quieter?" He wasn't sure, but he thought that Bonabelle had probably enjoyed the silly string fiasco on a one-off basis, but would generally prefer classical music and a warm library on most days, especially if she had the whole of it to share with only her friend. "I'll help either way," he added for reassurance. "I trust your judgment."He laughed heartily as Valentine suggested Bonabelle help plan her own party, only to be tricked. It was short-lived though, as his thoughts only kept circling back to how sad most of her birthdays would have been before this. "I . . . think she's probably planned most of her own birthday parties," he pointed out carefully. "What if we surprised her by doing it a day or a few days early? Then she would know it's coming but not when it's coming," he pointed out, smiling with his best facsimile of the sort of mischief that only small girls were capable of.
Killian sat back in his chair, contemplating for a moment when Val asked for suggestions. He wished he knew his niece better. He wished he knew what she'd like best upon receiving the bad news she was going to be receiving later this week. But he couldn't tell Valentine that. He also wasn't entirely sure whether Bonabelle would take the intentional absence of her father as good or bad anyway, and he wouldn't know until he spoke with her at their tea time later this week. At least, assuming he could work up the nerve to tell her. He hadn't received a letter back from Ema with her opinions on whether or not he should yet, but he suspected she'd vouch for transparency.
"We had sort of a rough summer with some family stuff," he said cautiously, looking at Valentine with a guarded expression and eyes that he hoped underscored how important discretion was. "And I'll be talking to her more about that when we have tea next. I think that maybe what Bonabelle needs most right now is the opportunity to relax. Can you do like . . . a spa day or something?" he suggested, feeling a little lame and stereotypical for having the idea at all.
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Killian Row
Uhhh soap and water.
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Valentine Duell
October 28, 2020 6:08 PM
Well, that makes sense by Valentine Duell
Mr. Row's question struck Val like a ton of bricks. She was dumbfounded, she was speechless, she was terribly confused. Her eyes were wide as she stared off into space somewhere far beyond Mr. Row. "You..." she finally whispered quietly, "you're right." Her face fell into one of distraught misery, "I'm a terrible friend!" she blurted out, almost as a wail. "This whole time I wasn't thinking about what sort of party she'd actually like, just what would be a 'bigger' and 'better' one!" Her expression shifted into one of horrified anguish as he told her that she'd had to plan most of her own birthday parties. "She has!? That's.. that's terrible! And I was thinking...." her voice cut off as her soul twisted somewhere deep inside her and tears began to well up in her eyes. "I... I don't know that I'm qualified for this now." she sniffed and tried to wipe her eyes with her sleeve. "But I have to... I promised, and.. and she needs a good birthday." The statement came out with more resolve, Bonabelle was her friend and she was not going to let her down.Valentine nodded solemnly to Mr. Row when he told her about 'rough family stuff'. She was no stranger to rough family stuff after all. Fortunately her own bout with it had turned out great. Hopefully Bonabelle's would work out fine as well. "Relaxing," she vocalized the made a mental note. Then she considered his suggestion of a spa day. Honestly, she didn't entirely knew what all that involved, she'd never gone on one herself. "Maybe?" she replied "Do you think that could work around the school?" She began to wrack her brain to think of the things that her friend liked to do, read? tea? homework? They'd done a fair amount of tea, and the other two options didn't seem very party like. She couldn't just ask Bonabelle what she wanted to do for her party, that wouldn't be much of a surprise. Then a thought struck her, she could ask Aunt Giselle!
With a bit of a gleam in her eye, she gave Mr. Row a hopeful look. "Do you think we could ask the new Divinations professor what the perfect party would be?"
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Valentine Duell
Well, that makes sense
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Killian Row
October 28, 2020 6:58 PM
No, no, not SALT water!! by Killian Row
There was something basically horrific about watching a child have a tantrum, but it was infinitely worse watching a child breakdown blaming themselves for something they couldn't have thought to think of.Not like you'd know anything about being a father.
Killian swallowed hard and just tried to focus. Valentine seemed to mostly recover herself on her own but it wasn't as if the whole thing could go unaddressed. "You're not a bad friend," he promised. "Bonabelle admires you a lot. And hey, you're trying to think of what the best birthday ever would be, right? It's not your fault if you start with what you know. Besides, that's why you're asking for ideas, right? You're already branching out." He smiled kindly at her, wanting very much to make everything okay for all the little girls in the world, and also the boys, and also the other people, and also the not little people.
"Definitely," he said of the spa day working with the school, almost laughing. "I don't know what day of the week her birthday falls on this year, but we've had students dye their hair in the MARS room because they set up the water room to be a salon. You can definitely pull something like that off," he grinned, imagining Bonabelle's face when introduced to a mud bath.
Asking Giselle seemed like a basically terrible idea, but Killian wasn't about to shoot poor Val down again. For one, her aunt, sweet as she was, didn't seem like she'd had a lot of girls' days out in her life. For two, Val was a lot and Giselle seemed like everyone was a lot even if they weren't Val. At the same time, who was he to deny these people their adventures? "I'm not sure she'd be able to divine that," he laughed lightheartedly. "But she may have some ideas. And who knows, maybe she could divine it." He thought of the hints she'd dropped at the Opening Feast and wasn't sure at all that Bonabelle would want any more divinations made about her. "I trust you," he smiled at Val, really really meaning it. The Teppenpaw was certainly kind, and he suspected she'd only ever get herself in trouble by caring a bit blindly. Bonabelle - and Giselle for that matter - could probably do with a little blind care.
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Killian Row
No, no, not SALT water!!
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Valentine Duell
October 30, 2020 8:50 PM
Ooops... my mistake by Valentine Duell
"I'm not?" She looked up at Mr. Row with a bit of uncertainty as he continued to reassure her. He was right. She was trying, and she had messed up, but she would learn and be an even better friend! She smiled hopefully back at him. "Yeah," she agreed with him. Then his one statement struck her, and she looked at him a bit incredulously. "Bonabelle admires me?" Bonabelle was smart and responsible and a wonderful person, "Why?" She was just Val, no one wonderfully special, just Bonabelle's friend."That is something we will need to figure out." Val pointed out as he said he wasn't sure which day of the week her birthday fell upon. "I don't really have a calendar handy, so we'll just put that down as a 'Mr. Row' task." She scribbled a note in her notebook. See, Bonabelle was even teaching her how to be responsible and organized and stuff. "Hmm... water room salon..." she murmured to herself as she wrote it down on her list of possibilities. "What color hair do you think she would like?" She asked a bit absentmindedly as she tried to figure out that potential party. It would need to have someone other than just her and Bonabelle, unless they just did their own hair stuff and things to each other. Which could be fun, but she'd have to figure out what all was involved in an official spa day. She could write Mama, Mama would know.
Valentine's first instinct was to defend her aunt's honor and professional abilities. So she did, "I'm sure she could if she tried. She..." logical thoughts started to get in the way of her devotion. "hmm... that is an awful specific thing, isn't it?" She looked at her one hand. "Not something that would show up in a palm reading, would it?" Val gave him a bit of an embarrassed smile. It turned into deeper embarrassment when he said he trusted her. She wasn't quite sure what to do with that. "Trust me? With the party?" she asked.
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Valentine Duell
Ooops... my mistake
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Killian Row
November 07, 2020 10:22 PM
NO no it's fine it's fine it was me I'm sorry. by Killian Row
Killian smiled a little as Valentine recovered. She looked happy at the idea that Bonabelle cared about her although she also seemed surprised, which was weird to him. "You're a lot different than she is and you don't push her to be different too much," he said with a shrug, mostly extrapolating from what he'd seen than from anything Bonabelle had actually said. She always talked about Bonabelle with a sort of gushing positivity that she didn't use for others, but it wasn't like he was about to get into that with her friend. That seemed personal. "But you get her to try things and I think that's good too," he added, not wanting Valentine to think she shouldn't ever encourage her friend to stop out of the box.He definitely had a calendar nearby but just nodded, happy to be given a task and give her the chance to delegate. He even made a note of it on his own pad just so she knew he took it seriously. At the top, he wrote "Valentine's Master Plan." Then he considered, crossed out 'master' and wrote 'secret'.
He blinked, opening his mouth without having any words at all when Val asked about dying Bonabelle's hair. He was pretty sure there were magic dyes that could manage that, even with dark hair, but he had no idea if his parents would mind. But eh, the girl could use some fun. "Maybe blue?" he suggested, knowing it was his niece's favorite color. "Or if you do temporary ones, you could try a bunch of different ones." Then they'd disappear when they left the room maybe too. Whew.
"You could ask. She'd know those sorts of limits better than me," Killian said, putting his hands up to show innocence in the matter. "And yeah, of course I trust you. You're a good friend to Bonabelle and you've always been as far as I know. And you seem like you like these sorts of things so you know what you're doing. Or you'll figure it out," he grinned.
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Killian Row
NO no it's fine it's fine it was me I'm sorry.
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