Nervous New Addition on Labyrinth Gardens

Aylin Morastus

August 02, 2009 2:03 AM

Nervous New Addition by Aylin Morastus

Though there was much to do in the time left before term resumed, Aylin couldn’t sit in her chambers a moment longer. For some reason, she adjusted well enough to new places, years of traveling with her parents had made her one of the few who truly understood what was meant by ‘home being where the heart was’. No single dwelling had become the symbol of family roots to her, and she doubted one ever would. Any home, apartment, or in this case, chambers, could be one’s true home so long as you were near the ones you loved.

Only thing was, she was well aware of the fact that unlike any other time in her life, she was now alone. Her father had passed a few years back, her muggle mother walked out of her father’s funeral never to be seen or heard from again, and Esmond, her closest friend and former mentor was now hundreds of miles away. Despite the fact she could easily contact him be it by Floo or owl, Aylin knew he expected her to not rely solely on him for companionship. She was a witch grown, thirty, a Potions Mistress and trained Wizard Painter, and capable of making friends as she had during her short time attending school like the average magical child.

Yes, she was capable; it didn’t mean she liked the idea. In fact, so set in her hermit like ways, she wanted very much to remain in her comfortable sphere and do it without finding solace in her former painting Master.

So much easier said than done.

The walls had become suffocating, the presence of her things, unpacked and given their new homes, did little to make her feel more at ease. Not even her books could untangle the ball of nerves that had settled in the pit of her stomach since stepping foot in Arizona. Poor Poe had spent the past hour curled up in her lap, purring and snuggling against her in the hopes of drawing her out of her melancholy as he so often did, but the newness of the situation weighed too heavily on her and his furry gray form was carefully lifted and set aside.

Night had fallen only about twenty minutes before, and Aylin found herself retracing her steps through the relatively vacant campus to reach the Gardens she had passed earlier upon her arrival. If anything worked at soothing her at times like this it was being out under a star blanketed sky, only the light of the moon on her as she found company in the darkness around her.

Aylin reached the Gardens after a time, her steps slowing once she found them, and milled about them, running her fingers over the foliage as she passed, occasionally looking up at the dots of dim light above, a smile slowly forming on her face as she relaxed and pushed any unwarranted thoughts aside.

Sonora was her new home, and she would grow to be comfortable and content there, no matter how long it took. It wouldn’t be her to seek out more, but she’d accept a branch when offered. If she could let people in before she could again. Those thoughts and the sights and smells around her took a measure of her nervousness and tossed it aside, several more layers would need to be shed soon, but it was a start.

She paused, a pale hand cupping a flower as she bent forward, light red hair falling like a curtain on either side of her face, she closed her eyes and breathed in the lovely fragrance it emitted.

The sound of footsteps broke her reverie and she shot upright, her hand leaving the blossom as if it had bit her.

Words of greeting formed on her tongue, but they died there; she had never been good at being the initiator of a conversation and so instead her mouth closed silently as the fingers of her other hand gripped her sketchbook tightly, the only other outward sign of her unusual social unease.

0 Aylin Morastus Nervous New Addition 0 Aylin Morastus 1 5

Master Paul Simon Tellerman

August 02, 2009 3:22 PM

Senior Staff - and how wrong is that? by Master Paul Simon Tellerman

Simon was making his way back through the gardens as he always did when returning from one of his other jobs off campus. This time it was not a gig or his Vegas magic act that brought him away from Sonora, but a holiday visit to the Caravan. He came back periodically during midterm to check on his elves and the grounds as he always did durning winter break, but he was spending most of it with his family.

With Regina's recent passing, the California Branch of the Pierces had changed matriarchs/patriarchs for only the third time in their history, and Regina's reign had lasted far longer than her two predecessors. All family members were expected to remain close by to help in the transition.

It was starting to wear on Simon. His step on the Garden paths lacked its usual jaunty bounce, and his clothes were in their natural state - a pair of worn jeans and a t-shirt that decried 'Save The Earth! It's the Only Planet with Chocolate!' - instead of a transfigured costume from some theatrical era. His wand was tucked behind his ear, and his blond hair was on the verge of needing a trim. His chin and face, however, remained cleanshaven, even this late in the day.

Conscious always of his appearance, Simon still had that bit of self-maintenance firmly in hand. He could tolerate looking a little worn around the edges, especially just moving between his tent at home and his room at the school, but scruffy was not acceptable.

Turning a corner, he spotted that the path before him was occupied by someone too mature to be a student, but not familiar enough to be any of the staff that had worked at the school for the first half of the year. Moving closer, she turned and made as if to greet him, but never quite completed the gesture.

With an audience again, Simon's posture straightened and his shoulders lost their weary slump. He smiled genuinely at the woman and gave her a flourishing bow and ended with him replacing a hat he wasn't actually wearing back onto the top of his head.

"Good evening, milady," he said, his Elizabethan accent perfect after practically being raised at a variety of different Rennaissance Faires. It switched easily back into a basic American as he straightened and continued, "I'm Simon, the groundskeeper here. Let me guess . . ." He bit his lower lip, studied her for a moment, took in her fingers, the sketchbook, the quality of her hair, and a few other details he'd been trained to pick up on by his 'fortune-teller' mother.

Adding those to recent rumors he'd heard in the staff room, he concluded, "Either Sonora started an Art elective, or you're the new Potions professor. I've been here for almost nine years," he grimaced slightly as he said the number. It got harder and harder to justify this as a 'temporary' job the longer he stayed. He'd paid off his student loans last year, so he couldn't even use that excuse for why he was still here.

Inertia, mostly, he supposed. Conveniece. The room here was nice, too - he really liked having a real bed - and the Army of Darkness at his command was nothing to sneeze at either. The indoor plumbing was excellent, too. And it was kinda cool to have his own room that he could come back to every day and not have to worry about packing it all up. After almost a decade living at the school, Simon was beginning to doubt whether he still had the right to call himself a California Pierce, and others of the family were starting to wonder that out loud, too.

But he did know the school as well or better than anyone else working there. He was pretty sure he'd been there longer than any of the teaching staff. "So any questions, just ask. I'll be around."

Temporary. Yeah. Right. He might have to quit soon just to prove he still could.

1 Master Paul Simon Tellerman Senior Staff - and how wrong is that? 14 Master Paul Simon Tellerman 0 5

Aylin

August 02, 2009 4:09 PM

Nothing I can think of... yet by Aylin

As they drew closer, Aylin noted the shirt the wizard was wearing and chuckled to herself. Though she wasn’t much for chocolates, Master Borso had been and nearly every other jar lining his laboratory had contained one or another version of the sweet. Aylin associated his lectures with the smell of it, as he wasn’t exactly familiar with maintaining ‘personal space’.

She felt the tug of apprehension pull at her chest, wishing her to simply nod in reply and turn on her heel and go, but she tapped it down, willing her feet to remain still as he suddenly shocked her out of her inner battle. Her mouth twitched up into a smile that lit her eyes, her mirth evident in finding herself being addressed in so ridiculously silly and sweet a manner. The nonexistent hat topped it off and a small laugh escaped her unbidden.

It fading into back into a quiet smile, her hand clutching her sketchbook eased its way around to her back, stashing it out of sight as if doing so would draw attention away from it. In it was her most intimate thoughts and images that revealed far more of herself than she ever felt comfortable sharing. Though it went with her practically everywhere, she protected it perhaps with a near obsession.

Her cheeks reddened a bit. How many the Headmistress told about her previous teaching experience wasn’t known, but it she figured many would soon learn of her being new to the Potions classroom. Few offered Magical Fine Arts, her old post being one of them. "Yes, I’m Aylin Morastus,” she replied, the leather bound tome well hidden. “The new Potions Mistress.”

It seemed odd, repeating his words as she confirmed his guess, and although striking with humor had enabled her to forget her nervousness, her shy nature still found the habit hard to break.

Hesitating a moment, her other hand reaching behind her back to feel the edge of the spine, finger tips tapping it softly as she worked up the nerve to find a way to keep him there a bit longer, the prospect of company suddenly tempting, though she might not prove to be that great a companion in the end. There would be only one way to find out.

“Um,” she took a step forward, “Actually, I might have a few.” She was sounding far more nervous than she wished to and she imagined that her blush would be visible in the dim light of the moon no matter how hard she hoped it wouldn’t. Swallowing, she stood a little straighter and found a hidden source of strength just in time. “I… I just arrived this morning and this is the first I’ve explored the campus. You wouldn’t mind acquainting me with it, would you? Nine years would certainly give you a better knowledge than I have.”

The Gardens themselves were unlike anything she expected.

0 Aylin Nothing I can think of... yet 0 Aylin 0 5

Simon

August 08, 2009 9:20 PM

That's because you don't know me yet. by Simon

"Sure," Simon agreed with a grin. "So long as you don't mind your tour being more about the Gardens than the inside of the school. I only go to the Cascade Hall, the staff room, and my quarters in there." He shrugged and made a gesture around them. "Groundskeeper, you know. I spend most of my time on the Grounds."

An idea occurred to him. "Though, I bet I could get Saul to come back with me next time I go home, and he could give you the indoor tour." As an afterthought, he added, "Saul's my cousin. He's a prefect in the seventh year, and he gives tours for the new first years every year. He's probably got it down to an art by now."

"And I think the Garden tour would work better in the daylight, so do you want to meet in the morning?"

1 Simon That's because you don't know me yet. 14 Simon 0 5