[Acelyn's] Don't let the magic leave us (Alice)

London again. A few weeks ago Alla had not known the British capital at all and when she had first come to London she had not believed that she'd come back so very soon. However, the circumstances had changed. If things went on like this, Alla would have to put in more effort to learn proper English. So far she always died a little when she had to speak English or any foreign language for that matter. There was nothing better than Russian anyway. Most of the time the girl hoped that nobody spoke to her so she didn't have to go through the struggle of creating a sentence in English that was bound to be mistake riddled and that surely sounded funny because of her Russian pronunciation.

This Saturday the Durmstrang graduate had taken her pet skeleton, Burmin, with her again. Somehow she felt more comfortable in the company of her dead friend when she was strolling through a foreign city. That way people would notice her necromantic skills before they found out about the lack of skill when it came to the English language. Wearing black boots, a short black skirt and a red blouse, the blonde examined the shop displays in Diagon Alley. Most of the items on sale were similar to the ones she knew from Russian shops just some looked rather different.

It was a rather warm and sunny day and Alla who walked in lock step with Burmin felt exhausted. While she was used to keep Burmin at her side and while it was less difficult to keep control over the skeleton when he was just mirroring her movements, the girl felt the exertion get too much. The slight headache she had felt in the morning was getting worse by now. She was tired and her face was rather pale. "I think I need a break," she whispered looking at Burmin. Searching for a place to sit, Alla spotted the ice cream parlour 'Acelyn's'.

While she was not usually a fan of ice cream, the opportunity to sit down was more than intriguing right now. She hoped that Burmin was welcome at the parlour and that she would not be told to leave because skeletons didn't quite fit the bright and lively place. Unsure whether it was common here for customers to sit down at a table and wait for a waitress to come by or if one had to give up an order at the counter, Alla hesitated and naturally so did Burmin. The girl decided to go to the counter, thinking that it was easier to order something when she could point at what she wanted rather than having to find the right word for a flavour she wanted.

She walked up to the counter, listening carefully what a young girl who had apparently arrived just before her said. She waited for her turn nervously  stepping from one foot to the other, not realising that Burmin did the same and clacking noises were audible because of the bones hitting the tile. Feverishly Alla tried to prepare a few sentences in English to order. She just hoped she'd manage to get an ice cream fast so she could take a seat and have a break. Briefly the Russian wondered if she should ask for a scoop for Burmin too but she figured that would be beyond her English skills.

Though the witch found herself relieved to have a day off from her internship at St. Mungo's it also meant she had to assist her father with his business. It was a busy time of year for the little ice cream shop, and Alex was away at the International Summer School, enjoying whatever it was he was doing. So technically they were a person short during the rush. Her grandmother stepped in to help, which was an absolute blessing, and during their busiest times, she rushed orders out to the tables while Alice manned the counter, and her father was upstairs creating ice cream to keep up with demand.

Things were calm today however, not too slow but not too busy, and there was a constant trickle of customers. Some bought take-home cartons, others sat down and had their ice cream outside in the little patio area. The witch stood patiently at the counter for their next customer, and the moment the little bell on the door rang and it opened she couldn't help but be excited.

"Welc..." Alice's voice disappeared for a moment, surveying what was before her. A skeleton stood and walked on its own, in full form, just as if it was human right next to a witch around her age from her guesswork. She gawked at what stood before her momentarily, unsure of what to make of it. She had seen numerous amounts of skeletons due to anatomy class but to see one outside of her schooling, in her father's shop, approaching the counter like it was getting ice cream itself, was a little disturbing and a little interesting. Customers were staring, she even saw one mother with her little son who thought it was the coolest thing ever scoot slowly out the door. Alice became a little nervous due to the reactions of others inside the beloved location she spent her free time in.

The healer-in-training, now an infill shop employee, inhaled and looked toward the customer and cleared her throat before speaking, "Apologies. Welcome to Acelyn's!" She extended a friendly smile while side eyeing the skeleton, "what would you like to order? We have a new flavor out this month, with chocolate chip cookie dough bites and a cool mint flavor, all together in a blue colored ice cream base. We like to call it the Blue Cookie Moon." Alice had to pretend everything was normal, which was a lot harder than it sounded considering she was very skeptical of this moving skeleton.

Though she had to wait for the girl before her to reply for an order, she couldn't really contain herself, "how does it move?" She looked back and forth between the skeleton and the customer, ignoring the strange glare from a seated customer to her for even asking the question. There had to be a trick. Wires? Spells? She didn't really see a wand in use.

Apparently Burmin's presence did lead not only to confusion but also to customers leaving the parlour. Alla looked around with a rather worried expression. That had not been her plan. In fact, for once, she had not even been longing for attention but really just been looking for a place to rest. She hoped that she would not be told to leave because of her pet skeleton. A young woman her age suddenly addressed her and thus interrupted her train of thought. The Russian had not even realised that it was her turn now.

An insecure and nervous smile spread across her features. Oh dear, that were quite a few English words! Right, Alla forced herself to focus. She understood that she was greeted and asked to give her order. Not having listened carefully right from the start she barely understood what was said about the ice cream flavour. The only thing she understood was that it had something to do with chocolate. Being rather fond of chocolate, the Russian decided that she'd just take the suggested flavour for the sake of being spared to make a choice of her own.

Before Alla got a chance to actually say what she wanted, the young shop employee asked her about Burmin. Usually Alla would be more than pleased about that but there were two reasons as to why this was rather inconvenient now. For once she was not feeling well at the moment and then there was this damned English language... The Russian brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to come up with an English sentence. "Err..." she began, cursing herself that she had come her and that she had never taken the time to improve her language skills. "Necromancy?" she offered as a response, realising that it was neither a satisfactory nor a particularly polite way to answer the question.

"I'm sorry. My English is not good. He's animated with blood magic..." The words sounded strange even to the Durmstrang graduate as her accent alienated the English sentences. Alla felt a little dizzy now and steadied herself by placing a hand on the counter, Burmin mimicking her movement as if he was making fun of her. That, however, the Russian didn't even notice, it was just so natural to her to control her pet skeleton in this way. "I would like the ice cream you suggested. Maybe one for Burmin too?" She nodded at the skeleton, indicating that it was meant and offered a rather weak grin. Maybe the humour was lost on the young witch behind the counter but Alla really hoped that it would make Burmin look less like a dark magic item if he had a bowl with ice cream in front of him. "How does it work?" she asked now, looking at the tables. "Can we just take a seat?" She hoped that her heavily accented English was at least understandable to the girl.