Alexander Pierce-Beales
June 08, 2021 10:39 AM
Empty and full. [anyone] by Alexander Pierce-Beales
The common room no longer featured a stoic perfect with photos in his eyes but Alexander found that he couldn't quite give up the table where he might once have found his mentor. The older boy had left a mark there, although Alexander suspected Nathaniel Mordue would sooner perish than leave an actual mark in the table, and it was good to feel close. It was usually here that he sat to write the letters he exchanged with the older boy, although he also sat here to draw when he wasn't drawing anything too private or embarrassing to do in public.Today, he was almost hoping to socialize. It was late enough that he couldn't just go hang out with Mab, but not late enough for him to be properly tired. At least here, in the common room, he might find that Valentine or another of his housemates were interested in spending time with him. As such, he'd brought enough of his drawing supplies to keep him occupied for several hours if there was no one interested (just in case) but nothing that would make him look too busy to interrupt. He also made a point of looking up when someone got close enough to perhaps interact, offering a polite nod when it was someone just walking by. He'd also brought some homework but that sure as heck wasn't getting done.
He was halfway through a drawing of his his adoptive mothers - a gift he was hoping to have ready for them by their first anniversary this summer - when someone actually approached! He looked up, wondering whether they had come to ask a quick question or actually come to chat.
22
Alexander Pierce-Beales
Empty and full. [anyone]
1475
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Valentine Duell
June 08, 2021 3:35 PM
I know the feeling by Valentine Duell
Valentine was trudging her way back to the common room. It was getting pretty late, and she still had some more homework to get done. She really, really didn't like to admit it, but she might be getting to the point where she was going to have to drop something. Between all the clubs and then study time at the library it was just getting to be to much. Something was going to have to give soon, and she really didn't want it to be her grades... not that they were spectacular to start with, but she really didn't want them to go any lower. As she approached the common room door she adjusted her bag, and despite the level of weariness she felt, she smiled. Every time she got here she was reminded of Professor Xavier showing the first years how to get into their new home. He could easily enough have one of the prefects show the first years, but he did it himself. He was a good professor.Executing the jig herself, the door opened and she made her way inside. The common room was a second home as always and it felt good to get back here again. The room had a few folk about, and one of them caught her eye. Alexander was sitting at his table, but it didn't look like he was working on whatever it was that he had in front of him to hard. He looked up whenever someone walked close by. Her Teppenpaw senses said he was looking for company. Well, that was good, she could use some non-work related company as well. Plus, maybe he could help with some of that homework that they both had and she really didn't want to work on alone.
To that end she shuffled over to his table. Unsurprisingly, he looked up at her as she approached. She smiled, perhaps showing a bit of the weariness that plagued her at the moment and dropped her bag next to the empty chair at the table. "Hi! Mind some company?"
2
Valentine Duell
I know the feeling
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5
Alexander Pierce-Beales
June 10, 2021 8:45 AM
What do I do now? by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alexander's eyes probably got a little wide and he probably nodded a little too fast when Valentine asked if he minded company. Her company. If they did, he didn't notice because he was distracted by very quickly clearing room at the table even though he hadn't really been using that much of it anyway. He kept his eyes on Valentine in case she suddenly disappeared because that did make a bit more sense than that she'd want to sit with him. He supposed they maybe were friends though? It wasn't the first time she'd ever sat with him, he just couldn't quite believe that she'd do it on purpose without the need to work together for class or something like that."Not at all," he said when he realized he hadn't answered her question. He was proud of himself for managing to actually answer what she'd asked instead of just saying yes or something. His eyes on Valentine's face did mean that he had the chance to notice more than just his own stupid fuzzy brain though and he cocked his head at his follow Teppenpaw. "Are you alright?" he asked. "You look tired. Not tired! You look great. Fine. You look fine. But are you alright? . . . You look tired."
Nailing it.
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
What do I do now?
1475
0
5
Valentine Duell
June 12, 2021 8:02 AM
I'm not sure, go with your gut? by Valentine Duell
At Alexander's indication, she flopped into the chair as gracefully as she could. Which wasn't terribly graceful. It did feel good to just sit down and relax for a few moments. She closed her eyes and let out a big sigh. When she opened her eyes again, Alexander was looking at her with.. concern? Then he started talking and she had to keep herself from giggling. Alexander was so sweet and caring, but she noticed he had never been great with words. She gave him a kind smile."Yeah... a little tired maybe." She let just a touch of weariness touch her voice, "It's been bin a bit of a long day. Between doing things for art club, quidditch practice, gardening duties, homework, extra transfigurations practice..." her voice drifted off with another sigh. "I still have the potions and divinations essays to do yet." She sat and just relaxed for a moment, "But just sitting here and not worrying about it feels kinda nice for the moment."
Val looked over the things he had in front of him on the table. "Are you working on some more drawings?" She asked with interest. He was a really good artist, and it always amazed her how he could bring things to life on the page. Her own attempts in that field were woefully pathetic.
2
Valentine Duell
I'm not sure, go with your gut?
1490
0
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
June 16, 2021 7:37 PM
My gut says to scream and also maybe touch your hair. by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Valentine smiled when he got done bumbling and Alexander took it to mean she didn't mind him taking the time to disengage his foot from his mouth while she answered. Why was this so stinking difficult?"That's a lot," he agreed, suddenly feeling like he was badly underdoing it in the extracurriculars department. He'd have to ask Mr. Row how important those were for his post-school life. He was about to offer Valentine help if she wanted it but stopped himself when she said she wanted to not worry about it. He could do that. Well, he could not worry on the outside at least; he wouldn't make any promises about what his insides were doing. "It's good not to worry if you can manage it," he said softly.
She turned her attention to his drawings and Alexander resisted the urge to projectile vomit across the room. "No. Uh, yes," he said, a bit strangled. "Yeah, I am." He had just finished the sketch of Bel and Deidre, the details outlined but nothing yet inked, and turned it to Val with a hesitant grimace. "My foster mom got married and they adopted us this summer," he explained quietly. "So I wanted to make them an anniversary present."
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
My gut says to scream and also maybe touch your hair.
1475
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Valentine Duell
June 17, 2021 7:06 PM
Hmm.. that could get interesting by Valentine Duell
"Yeah," she sighed, "It is... I really should drop something." There was hesitation in her voice, "But I just don't know that I can. "I love doing all of it, and then I might not get to see everyone as much." She glanced at Alexander with a thoughtful look, he wasn't involved in much. If she did drop some stuff, she might get to see some other people more often. Ooo... she might have more time to spend with Bonabelle as well, and for fun things, not just study sessions. That thought met with mixed emotions, she loved Bonabelle but she loved spending time with other people as well. Had that been some of the problem with Stanley? She had spent a lot of extra time with him and missed out a bit on being with some other people that she liked.Alexander encouraged her to not worry about things, and she smiled warmly back at him. He was so nice as well. She liked spending time with him, he was a bit quiet like Bonabelle, but very different on other fronts. He had a cute smile as well when he showed it.
He was also cute when he was being overly modest about his drawing skills. She gave him an encouraging smile as he turned his picture so that she could see it. It looked fantastic! "That's great!" She exclaimed sitting up to get a better look at the drawing. "I hadn't heard that! Congratulations! It looks wonderful." As she examined the picture she couldn't help but notice that either of the two people in the picture could have been Alexander's foster mom. Something in her stomach squirmed a bit again, and a feeling similar to the one that had come upon her at the feast when she'd been talking to Bonabelle and 'noticed' the Professors Brooding-Hawthrone.
She hadn't thought that 'dating' Bonabelle was wrong, but she thought it was perhaps a little unusual. Now, maybe not? She'd always figured she'd find her one true love, some prince and such from the traditional storybook stories, but... maybe not? She didn't know. She had definitely felt something that one time at Quidditch practice, though she hadn't really know what it was at the time, and still wasn't entirely sure. So, once again she made the decision to worry about such things when she was older and wiser. "How is that going?" She asked Alexander to distract her from that line of thought.
2
Valentine Duell
Hmm.. that could get interesting
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
June 18, 2021 1:01 PM
Which one? by Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alexander nodded, although he didn't really understand. There weren't really many people he was excited to see around campus, especially since Nathaniel had graduated. It wasn't that he hated people, he just wasn't sociable enough to want to spend time with them. Sometimes he thought that made him a bad Teppenpaw, but he supposed he was diplomatic or something and maybe that's what got him here. Did a good Teppenpaw mean wanting friends and a big social circle? Or caring about people's happiness whether or not they were in your social circle? Perhaps it was something else altogether. What was Alexander to know about the BuzzFeed-esque potion that had sorted them by personality anyway?"It is a small school," he pointed out a little slowly just in case she got mad at him for playing devil's advocate. "You could probably see everyone you wanted to just by hopping tables at meals if you wanted. Breakfast at Crotalus, lunch at Pecari, dinner at Aladren, evenings in the Teppenpaw common room? You could make it work." He smiled a little at Val because he was pretty sure she was one of the only people who could indeed make that work. It was odd talking to her like this; sometimes his words got all scrambled and none of them worked and sometimes it was easy. Perhaps that meant nothing but it felt significant to him.
"Thanks," he murmured, turning red as she examined his drawing with all the excitement that was due a much more normal marriage and family situation than his own. Of course, he thought it was top-level exciting but it wasn't exactly a normal situation. A blended family of five that was actually, in a lot of ways, five separate families if not more. There were so many small dynamics . . . was this what all families were actually like and he'd just never known that? He doubted all families were much like his. "It's going well. It's weird to get used to it but I like having a family." His smile was much deeper then. "I don't know what I'm supposed to call them still but that's a good problem to have. How's your family? Professor Duell is your aunt, right?"
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Alexander Pierce-Beales
Which one?
1475
0
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Valentine Duell
June 20, 2021 1:07 PM
Both maybe? by Valentine Duell
Valentine nodded in hesitating, mute assent to Alexander's master plan. He was right the school was small and a plan like that could work, but... she sighed inwardly. She did get to see most of her friends during class now that she was in intermediate anyway. Table hopping also got her to see people, but... there was something different about the clubs. She gave Alexander a small smile, "Yeah... I could see everyone." Val responded slowly, there was more to it than just that though and she didn't want to hurt Alexander's feelings by just telling him that his plan wouldn't work. She tried to figure out how to explain something she didn't completely understand herself."The clubs are... something different though." She began still trying to find the right words. "I'm not sure entirely how though. Everyone in them is there because they want to be. It's not like going to class because you have to. The members of the gardening club all want to make a nice plot of land out in the gardens, the gaming club people want to have fun going on pretend adventures, the dueling club people want to learn how to defend themselves. It's..." she stalled out a moment, "It's a different level of getting together. It's..." her words failed her again. "I'm not really sure how to describe it," she admitted with a tinge of embarrassment. "I don't want to leave any of those groups, but I can't keep this up." It wasn't something she had actually admitted to herself out loud before, and as the words slipped out she knew that they were true and that made her feel miserable. However, she did not want to make Alexander feel to bad so she did her best to hide it.
Valentine perked up when Alexander said that his new family was going well. That was excellent news. "Families are very good," she agreed without hesitation. The authentic smile on his face made her happy and she returned it in full force. "That is a great problem to have, and I'm sure you'll figure it out. Have you asked them about it?" She then nodded at his question, "We're doing good as far as I know, and yeah Professor Aunt Giselle Duell is Papa's sister. She knew there was some 'not great' things that had been going on, but they seemed to have sorted themselves out by now. Val did give Alexander a hint of a mischievous grin, "She hasn't told me that anything bad is going to happen soon, so I'm guessing we'll be alright for now." She thought again for a moment, "The biggest problem I think anyone was complaining about when I was home last was Papa. It's Mama and Me and Aunt Giselle and occasionally Aunt Jhonice, and he says sometimes that there are just to many girls around." She giggled then paused.
The picture of his new parents was clearly of two women, plus Mab was his sister now officially? Valentine gave Alexander a mock serious look. "Are you in a similar situation? Should I stay away?" It was a joke and she really hoped he didn't decided that she should. Alexander was nice and friendly and she did like spending time with him, when she could find some.
2
Valentine Duell
Both maybe?
1490
0
5