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1
The good thing about working with dragons was that you didn't tend to dwell on scary situations for very long. Half a minute earlier Oksana had been imagining herself laid out in a hospital bed for weeks, but now the danger was passed her heartrate was already returning to normal and she was beginning to relax and think normally again. Thus the graze on her cheek was fixed before she'd even become aware of it. She reached a hand up and touched the now-perfect skin.
"Thanks. Are you a healer then?" she asked "and no, I'm honestly fine. I train dragons, this was..." well, obviously it wasn't nothing, but a little fall was all in a day's work "It was a surprise, but it's done with now -" as she spoke though, her eyes widened in concern and she reached into her coat, checking the scroll was still in there. "Really, all fine. Just checking. I had an important paper to deliver. It's still here" she said. Her tone was rapid, clipped and almost businesslike, a sure sign that Oksana's mind was racing.
Now they were introduced, it would have been rude not to take a drink. Bring it on, Oksana thought eagerly, lifting the closest glass out of the air and taking a sip. "You distilled this yourself? It's wonderful" she said, taking another taste because draining the glass wouldn't be polite. Then she let the glass hover in the air for a moment while she performed a quick point me charm. She reclaimed the glass and nodded in the direction her wand had indicated.
"Well North's that way...but I'm not sure that helps us very much. I suppose we're somewhere in Russia now, so apparating to our intended destinations might be sensible. Were you heading for St Petersburg as well, Alyona Igorovna?"
2
Dzmitry could tell from the other’s face there was something majorly wrong. He didn’t even try to perk up a little bit when Dzima came up, which most people probably would have. He didn’t look even remotely excited. He frowned a little bit at him, feeling bad that the other was hurting. He sat down beside him, reaching over to put a hand on the other’s arm reassuringly. “Oh shit, Kanat broke up with you?” He asked. That surprised him. Everyone knew Kanat was not really the dating type, but he also noticed that the two of them hadn’t changed their behavior at all since becoming a couple. “That really sucks, man, but I know just how you feel.”
He called the bartender over and ordered a drink, glancing at Mihkkal. “Need another?” He wondered. “Stepan broke up with me, too.” He sighed. Saying it outloud made it feel worse. “I thought we might get back together by now, but it’s really not looking like it’s going to happen.” He swallowed. That hurt to say, too. “Do you think there’s any hope for you two? Getting back together or anything?” He asked.
Maybe it was his own broken relationship clouding his mind, but he hoped that Kanat and Mihkkal would work. At least one of them ought to be happy, right?
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« Last post by Taed on April 25, 2024, 02:36:02 PM »
Soooooo I was going to excitedly say that I'm back from my adventurous multi-day Triennial Mega Migraine and its traditional consequent emergency room visit (and subsequent revelation about strep but I'm already on the mend)
and then I got terrible personal news today that I have to deposit more real-world time and energy and resource into than I wish was the case. So, uh, I'm not as back as I thought. :'(
All of which is to say I love and miss you all and I keep trying to get back here but adulting is being really f[~~~]ng mean.
4
« Last post by Kyle Gibbes on April 24, 2024, 06:46:22 PM »
Kyle clutched the note in his hand. He’d read it a hundred times or more since it had come through post. It was an invitation. But not in the sense of any invitation he’d ever received before. It wasn’t an invitation full of joy and emotion. It wasn’t an invitation that said any more than it needed to. It was an invitation that asked him to come out to a lake in Wales and was signed. Simple, direct, void of emotion. That is what he had heard of Linnet, the girl he had once cared for so deeply. The one whom he’d loved. Nothing had ever really been ordinary for Kyle. His school years were far from normal between a wizarding war, dangerous ancient magics encasing the castle in a dome, Linnet’s prolonged morph. The years since had been something of a blur travelling around the known magical world looking for a cure within any elemental or standard magical literature, tradition, or fringe practice. He had returned thinking his journey a failure only to find that Linnet had demorphed herself. The joy had overwhelmed the sorrow and feelings of failure he had travelled home on. But even that joy couldn’t bring him to reunite, not at that point. He needed to give her time. He didn’t fully understand how he knew she needed it, but he knew it was right. Now this, the excuse he had been waiting for to come and see her. As he made his way via non-magical transportation to the lake, Kyle started to feel nervous. He’d given her time and would have given her more were it not for her request to meet. He didn’t know what to expect, what she would be like after so much time away. The only other elementals he knew who spent that much time morphed were acolytes and the harbingers and neither of them were exactly known to be the life of the party, the Madin acolytes seemed as much plant as they did person. Walking towards the lake, Kyle saw a tree near the edge of the lake. He couldn’t feel Linnet like he could when they were younger, when they spent so much time together. Elementals that he knew he could sense without issue. This tree didn’t feel like that, but it didn’t feel natural either. Assuming this was some change that came as a result of her time away, Kyle made his way to the shade of the ash and sat down in her shade. The weather was absolutely perfect. A crisp autumn day, not too sunny and warm, just the right amount of breeze. He couldn’t have asked for anything more. After a few moments of silence, Kyle greeted the tree as he had so many times over the years they had spent together in school. It was something of a joke between the two of them, a nonsensical phrase in Council Gaelic that they used to say hello. Nothing more was needed. She would respond when she was ready. The note had been a first step, but there were many more steps on any kind of road to reunification, redemption, or whatever it was that the two of them really were looking for.
5
Honey searched his face, watching for any changes in his expression, however subtle they were. He glanced up, met her eye, and she wished again that he was easier to read.
Harlan really did think that, that things happened how they were supposed to. His next comment—and her subsequent laugh—caught her off guard, and she grinned. Too much pink, right. The moment passed quickly, the lightness of it fading in time with Harlan’s smile. Really, he said, back to what he actully meant, but it was out of sync with the brush of his hand to her thigh.
He said it again, though he added another thought: he meant it about them. Honey kept her eyes on Harlan’s as she let out a quiet, “Ah.” She hadn’t expected him to be so direct about it, had thought they were doing just fine talking around it and not admitting what they both knew they actually meant. Honey nodded, not agreeing.
It wasn’t the right time for them. For him. She didn’t want to admit that the clarification hurt, but— she wrinkled her nose in thought, for once thinking before speaking. “I think,” she said before she paused again to do exactly that: think—not just trail off and hope he’d be able to fill in the blanks—figure out how to put it into words she wouldn’t regret later. It had been the right time for her, she thought, but instead she settled on: “I wish it had been.”
She glanced down for a second, but quickly brought her gaze back to his. “But you’re right,” she admitted with a hint of a smile, wondering how often she told people that (never). “You’re timing is shite,” she finished with a soft smirk, lingering in that space for another second before bringing her glass back to her lips.
6
Charlie didn’t really answer her question, instead saying that he’s rather Honey’s dad not think about them too much. She was still smirking, but she managed a, “Mm,” in agreement; she would also prefer her dad not think about them, though if he hadn’t figured it out with Honey then who’s to say he ever would?
“Maybe if you weren’t so obsessed with me,” she paused for dramatic effect, gave his bum another squeeze. “We wouldn’t have to worry about your lyrics so much.” She raised her eyebrows in a can’t-believe-you’ve-never-considered-that sort of way.
Honey tilted her chin up soon after her faux scolding, leaning in for a bit of light snogging— she had been so well behaved at the pub, so she figured she had earned it.
She pulled back only after hearing the approaching train for a few seconds, reluctantly pulling her hands from Charlie’s pockets, only to reach for his hand with her now-empty one. “Take me home,” she said with a smirk and a tug toward the open doors.
[ out ]
7
It had been almost two weeks since the blowup. Mihkkal hadn’t so much found out that Kanat was cheating, he had come out and told him directly. He still felt all kinds of ways when he thought about it. He was angry, hurt, betrayed, embarrassed, and disappointed all at once. Had you asked him the day before he would have said that he and Kanat were doing just fine. Nothing really had changed. They had been spending time in and after classes working on keeping up some kind of passable marks in the more wand heavy classes, doing their best to balance scores with better theory. They had been meditating, carving runes, and all the other things young elementals did to build their skill. Overall, it had seemed fine, right up until it wasn’t.
The intervening two weeks had been like playing the avoid game. Kanat had spent some time in the other boy’s dorm after Mihkkal’s reaction, but that couldn’t last forever. As such, Mihkkal just did his best to avoid Kanat. He still wasn’t ready to talk. He needed a bit more time to mope, to feel sorry for himself before he was ready for that. He knew it would have to come, but he didn’t know how he could. The boy still loved Kanat, they were still fellow elementals, but he didn’t know how he could ever trust him again. He didn’t know if they could be friends, or if they could, what that would look like.
To decrease the likelihood of running into Kanat, Mihkkal had altered his habits a bit, spending his weekends in one of the places he didn’t think he would ever run into Kanat, Dottrar Vik—specifically the village pub. It was a combination of processing, drowning his sorrows, and learning how to manage being 16. Today was less processing and more drowning—ironic for a water elemental who literally couldn’t, but hey, one can try. He’d already had two drinks by the time he heard a familiar voice in the seat next to him. ‘What’s a guy got to do to be alone in this place” he thought instinctively…at the same time, there was a part of him that was glad. Dzima was a good friend, and at one confusing point, something else. Mihkkal had been the main cause of that confusion, but that was then, they had worked through some of that since. At least Mihkkal thought they had.
Shaking his head, Mihkkal didn’t really try all that much to look any better than he felt. He didn’t want to act. He didn’t feel like trying to put on a façade of normalcy. “Hi,” Mihkkal took another drink from his glad, “long few weeks I guess you could say.” He paused, not sure how much of his personal life he wanted to share with Dzima—or anyone for that matter—but thinking it over for a moment, maybe talking about it would be a good thing. “Okay? Hmm, that’s an interesting question…do first breakups—I mean actual breakups—ever leave anyone okay?” Mihkkal didn’t wanna get too existential, but he was a teen, he had felt like his world was ending, he was only just now getting to the point where he could talk about it. If he came across a little awkward or overly dramatic, that was probably about right.
8
Hyacinth was very excited about today. Her birthday had been on Tuesday, but it was the weekend after–the 24th–and she was excited to be meeting with Ian, her boyfriend. It still felt incredibly surreal to be going steady with someone, especially someone who had already left school. It was not weird because of the age gap, they weren’t far off in age, but because she was in school and he wasn’t around where she was all the time. She missed him a lot, and wanted to be around him all the time. Unfortunately, he couldn’t always be there. He had a grownup job. She was eager to please him, though, excited, and happy.
Now officially eighteen, she felt like a true adult. She was getting a little old for the kids drama around school and instead really wanted something solid and stable. While she was enjoying her ballet classes in Hogsmeade on the weekends, knowing she was going to play the White Swan for the premier this year, she would rather have the time to spend with Ian. She had told her instructor she would not be there today, and instead went to meet Ian at The Magic Neep. She was nervous. He remembered her birthday, but she hoped he hadn’t changed his mind about dating her. She would be devastated if he did.
She smiled when she saw him in the distance, jogging to get to him faster. “Hey.” She grinned, reaching out to touch his hand. “I missed you.” She offered, leaning in for a hug. “I really was excited to see you, Ian.” He confessed with a smile and a blush. “Did you miss me?” She wondered, hoping he said yes.
“What do you want to do today?” She wondered, unsure if he had something up his sleeve or not.
9
November 12, 2005
Does he love you
The way that I do
Breathing in lighting
Tonight's for fighting
I feel the hurt so physical Dzmitry was in Dottrar Vik that weekend, feeling strange and unsure of himself. He and Stepan were really done now, weren’t they? After what Dzmitry had thought was a fun Halloween night, he had been pulled aside by his boyfriend. A girl had tried to kiss him, and he had rebuffed her, and he had thought that was it–but when Stepan broke things off, Dzmitry felt unsure and confused. What had he done wrong? He was just being nice to her! He hadn’t tried to kiss her or told her it was okay to do, but he was in trouble anyway? He had waited about a week to let Stepan cool off, trying a few times to talk in between then, but then Saturday he had ended up with Leo, heated. He had not meant for that to happen, had only been looking to commiserate with a familiar face, but it had. The next day, when he finally cornered Stepan in the showers, they began kissing too. Dzmitry had thought this was going well until he noticed something Leo had left on him, and he pulled away sharply and then rejected Dzmitry on the spot. Sore-hearted, he had done something he probably shouldn’t have–he went right back to Leo. Now, though, he felt empty. Stepan didn’t want him, and he knew Leo didn’t really like him, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. He hurt, a lot. Now, he was alone in the town the next weekend, things still feeling fresh, and he stopped by the pub for a drink to ease his nerves. That was when he saw Mihkkal, a semi-friend, more of a hook up, looking absolutely miserable. Even Dzmitry didn’t think he, himself, looked that miserable. Mihkkal might have gone through some shit. While they had had a rocky few weeks at the beginning of term (Mihkkal seemed to think last semester meant they were going to be dating), they had mostly patched up now. He bit his lip, considered, and then went over. He plopped into the seat by him. “Hey, why the long face?” He asked, flicking his eyes over to his face. “Everything okay, man?” @Mihkkal Huuskonen
10
Why was there so much more to school than simply going to school? Why was it so important to have social capital, good standing, blah blah blah… why couldn’t it just be, go to class, learn the things needed to be a good wizard, get a job doing what he enjoyed, and go from there. It all seemed so needlessly complicated. Why weren’t people worried about academic standing? Shouldn’t that be the thing that mattered most in a school after all?
Guys like Cél were well suited for a world that revolved on social capital. He was self-confident, clever, not too smart as to put anyone off, athletic and pleasant to be around. Thus, for him, an economy based on social capital would put him on top. Phil, not so much. He was athletic, a tactician, smart—often too smart for his own good—but nobody was going to mistake him for his cousin’s self-confidence, charm, or boyish good looks. Phil needed another growth spurt to even out his frame before he would catch too many eyes. It all seemed unfair…but at least he had his cousin to help him navigate the challenges that came on the social side of things.
“The nerd who never gets a date huh? Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad, huh? Think about all the extra time I’d have to plan our match strategy to send you flying home to mummy after the match…but alas, they did pick me, and apparently that makes me desirable as you say.” Phil had never really understood Cél. They were the best of friends, they were like brothers even, but Cél worried about different things than he did, he was interested in different things.
Phil smiled as his cousin listed off the itinerary for the date. Now he really wished he had been keeping notes. “Slow down, slow down, how am I supposed to remember all those topics when you are blowing through them so fast,” he laughed. Maybe he was treating this a little more tentatively than he should have. Maybe it really wasn’t so bad. Like Cél said, it’s just a first date. Those are supposed to be awkward, or at least he thought that’s what other people had told him.
“Compliments are easy enough. I think I can come up with one or two of those, that’s a good idea, thanks Cél. You know, you really are smarter than you look.” He gave his cousin a bit of a nudge in the rib as he smiled. He could feel the tension going down a bit. He may not be all that interested in girls, at least not for the same reasons his year mates were, but at least he felt like, with Cél’s help, he could probably make it through an afternoon with one without losing his mind over going on a ‘date.’
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