Lyla Holland
December 08, 2023 11:07 PM
I have an idea (Tag Olaf) by Lyla Holland
OOC: Takes place the summer before SA43 BIC:
Dear Olaf,
I hope this letter finds you well. My summer has been good so far, we went on a trip to California to visit my mom’s family. The best part, and the part that I thought you might be interested in, was that we went to this bookstore that went on for ages. It’s called the TARDIS Bookshop, outside of Monterey, it’s got some sort of expansion charms that make it bigger on the inside, the outside is no bigger than a phone booth. Anyway, I picked up a copy of Wicked Plants: An A-Z Compendium of Dangerous Flora for you, sent along with this letter. I was hoping you’d read it and we could discuss when we get back to school. Sort of like a book club, thing. Only if you want to.
Sincerely,
Lyla Holland
Lyla sealed up the light green envelope, her initials embossed on the flap. The book, reminiscent of the one Olaf had recommended to her last year, was already wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with twine. She didn’t really know what to expect from Olaf; he was a very standoffish boy, who sometimes acted like an old man-specifically Headmaster Brockert. Perhaps he’d throw the book in the trash…except Lyla couldn’t see Olaf throwing any book in the trash. Donated to a library, maybe. Either way, Lyla had an itch to start a book club at Sonora, and who better to co-run it than Mr. Reads-A-Lot himself? Even if he was more of a silent partner that recommended their next reads, he probably knew every book in the library at this point, and Lyla would appreciate his support. Not that Samara and Robyn weren’t supportive, but Olaf had given Lyla a little glimpse of himself behind the prickly exterior, and Lyla was curious about what else lay beneath.
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Lyla Holland
I have an idea (Tag Olaf)
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Olaf Brockert
February 05, 2024 4:15 PM
I have an annoying sister. You have the better of the two by Olaf Brockert
OOC: CW-Brief mention of alcohol BIC:
An unfamiliar owl swooped down in front of Olaf and the Aladren blinked. He did not get mail. Not at home anyway, sometimes he got letters from his parents when he was at school, and birthday cards and gifts. However, at home, the last thing he’d gotten was his Sonora letter. He did not get letters from his classmates. He did not really have friends . Getting letters from people was an Isla thing. Maybe Allegra and Esme got them, maybe his cousins did and Uriah would but who on Earth would be writing to him ?
And it wasn’t some random owl who decided he really liked Olaf like Magnus the half-kneazle had. Of course, he’d kind of felt good about that since a half-kneazle taking a liking to you meant you were not an untrustworthy person. Which was true, since Olaf could be sort of…brutally honest, like when he told his Challenge team that he was less than excited about the whole thing. So, he supposed he at least had the being honest part down.
He also supposed that he was trustworthy in the sense of keeping secrets. Not that people confided in him. Like even his sisters chose to confide in other people who weren’t him. Isla confided in her friends. Allegra confided in her husband. He wasn’t sure who exactly Esme confided in besides maybe their sisters but it wasn’t Olaf. And Uriah didn’t have secrets. He was ten and his life was uninteresting.
Then again, Olaf was fourteen and he really didn’t have secrets either. Admittedly, his life was lived in books, which meant detachment from drama since it was all happening in a book. Where he did not have to directly deal with it. Because he interacted with people as little as possible and most of the ones he did talk to were family.
However, there was a book. So, whomever was randomly sending him books, well he guessed metaphorical points for them.
And, of course, Olaf being Olaf was more interested in the book than the person who sent it. Although his curiosity was a bit piqued with that. The only other student he really seemed to talk to on a regular basis that wasn’t related to him somehow was Nausicaa, being that they were in the same year and house. However, she…had never sent him a book before and he didn’t know why she’d start now.
Although a terrifying thought did occur to the soon to be fourth year. Were Nausicaa’s parents now forcing her to…try and get betrothed to him? And she knew books were the way to his heart? Olaf shuddered. He could tolerate her as someone he occasionally had to interact with but marriage? Nope. It would be a special girl who could truly get him to want to do that with her being that he found human companionship to be…not really a priority at best.
He unwrapped the book.Wicked Plants! Olaf had wanted to read this one! Wow, okay. Good start.
Then he looked down at the letter. It was monogrammed with the letters LH. Okay, the first two people he thought about were Libby and Liesl but the Aladren really had no idea why his younger cousin would be sending him books and he was pretty sure this book was not on the eleven year old’s radar. She didn’t seem to have any interest in plants beyond whether or not her brother was allergic to them. Liesl made slightly more sense but she generally didn’t write Olaf or send him books either.
Also, unless Liesl had eloped with Hans Hexenmeister recently, both of them had the initials LB. Actually Libby’s initials were EB since her full name was Elizabeth, but that was really an easy thing to forget.
The only other L that Olaf could think of was Lyla Holland. Which was the right initials and he’d had an ... .interesting interaction with her. Why on Earth would she write to him though? Honestly, why would anyone? The Aladren avoided social interaction like the plague. Even his family knew not to interrupt him.If his classmate was writing to him, then she was a more confusing person than he’d initially thought.
He supposed he should just open the letter. It wasn’t like Lyla would be trying to get betrothed to him after all. She wasn’t from that sort of family.
Olaf tore it open and read it quickly. Okay, a book club was a much more appealing proposal than getting married, but a club? Clubs were full of people. He did not like people.
The bookshop sounded cool though. He did file that info away for if his family went to California. Maybe they could go just for a trip to that book store.
Which meant asking his parents. His parents were generally reasonable people who supported his interest in reading….for the most part anyway. They generally did not like him reading at the dinner table or staying up to the wee hours of the morning doing so. The latter made sense, as sleep was important for a person’s general health but the former irked him. Though he supposed it did keep him from getting food on his books and that…was generally a good thing.
Olaf left his bedroom, still carrying the letter, and went off to find one of his parents. This was never fun, because their house was pretty big with more bedrooms than there were people-and he had four siblings-one of whom had gotten married and moved out- plus himself and his parents. Of course, Olaf being Olaf, he rarely felt the urge to look for anyone.
He found his dad sitting in one of their more parlors than necessary with Isla, who noticed him walking in. “Is that…a letter?” His sister asked.
“Yes.” Olaf replied.
“Someone wrote to you? Despite your best efforts?” Isla asked.
“Yes.” Olaf responded. Sometimes Isla was very irritating.
Their father, Ben replied. “Be nice to each other.”
Isla was in an unusually feisty mood and apparently felt like not listening to Dad. “Who? You know you have to write them back.”
Ugh.
“Isla! Knock it off.” Ben scolded her, while the fourth year fixed his sister with a look that said she clearly He turned to Olaf. “She’s right. Otherwise it’s rude.”
Ugh .
“Fine.” Olaf replied. “The person in question.” He was not giving Isla the satisfaction of knowing who it was, “Sent me a book and recommended this bookshop in California called the TARDIS bookshop outside Monterrey. Can we go?”
“Sure.” Ben replied. “We can plan to go next weekend.”
“Ooh sounds interesting.” Isla replied.
Olaf threw her a glare that would have made Grandfather proud.
“Olaf, your sister is an adult and can make plans to go to a bookstore if she wants to.” Ben chided him.
‘Can’t you go on your own some other time?” Olaf asked Isla.
“Olaf!” His dad’s voice implied a scolding. Great, now Dad would either not take him or worse, he’d probably want to bring Uriah along too. Of course, he was probably already planning that. Olaf wished he was old enough to cross state lines by himself to go to a book store but unfortunately this was where he was.
Still maybe Olaf could ask his mom to take him during the week when his dad was working. Of course, Uriah would still probably have to come since his parents seemed to want to encourage reading in all their kids, Olaf obviously taking this idea to heart.
However, if he asked his mom then they could at least hopefully sneak out without Isla noticing.
“Now, Olaf, we’ll go before we head down to the island, but now you have a letter to write.” His dad replied.
Ugh!!!
The fourth year sighed. Truth be told, he wanted to at least start reading the book Lyla had sent him. Though he should probably finish the one he was reading now first.
But at least that meant going back to his room. Away from his father and annoying older sister.
**************
Several hours (and book chapters) later Olaf dashed off this note to his classmate.
Lyla,
Thank you for the book. It will be a great reference to have. I will be visiting the book shop you recommended either this week or next weekend at the latest so thank you for that recommendation as well.
As for a book club, well, I will have to think on that one. I am unsure about the idea of interacting with others as that is not an activity I enjoy much.
This was not a secret. Everyone knew how much Olaf did not want to socialize.
I will say that it is something that Sonora needs. A word of advice,people in book clubs tend to prefer reading fiction to non-fiction books on dangerous plants.
They also, from what Olaf understood, enjoyed wine and gossip more than actually reading the book but they obviously couldn’t have the former at Sonora.Maybe they would actually discuss the book then.
Although I can recommend some really good fiction involving dangerous plants. Also, there’s this amazing book called Flesh Eating Trees of the World. It’s an old textbook and super rare. I never lend books to people-it’s a personal policy-but you can probably get it from the library. Mr Fox-Reynolds could likely order it for you.
As for dangerous plant fiction, there are plenty of adventure stories where people are looking for artifacts and have to go into a jungle that is full of plants that seriously don’t want them there.
Oh how Olaf understood those plants!
I suggest the Quest for the Golden Thestral. Lots of dangerous plants in that one.
Glad your summer is going well. So is mine.
Olaf
He sealed the envelope and took it down to their owls, sending it off.
Now hopefully Dad and Isla would not pester him about it anymore.
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Olaf Brockert
I have an annoying sister. You have the better of the two
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