The Academy For Mythical Creatures discussion
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Blake opens her door. "Who's this?" she snaps, looking directly at Ziggy.
Ziggy shrugs. "Thought you could use some company...this is Aeyrene." he replies and turns to leave. He waves to them and flashes a smile before turning to corner and returning to Elenour's dorm.
Aeyrene shyly waved and sat down with her back against the door frame. “Ziggy said you seemed pretty cool and I’m new here, I hope I’m not intruding,” she commented, crossing her legs.
"Funny, cause I only ever see Ziggy in English class..." Blake mumbles and looks in the direction he went. "It doesn't matter. Come in." she says, opening the door more and sitting down in the corner of her dorm in a huge dark blue plush chair with a table of books next to it.
Standing back up, stretching back and forth before walking in, she strode a few feet before plopping down on the fluffy rug on the floor. “How long have you been here?” Aeyrene asked, trying to find somewhere to start a conversation.
((Saw you were back on and just a small reminder to respond))
Blake shrugged. "I dunno. Since I was fifteen. You?" she says, picking up a drink that resembled an iced coffee except the ice had melted and the outside of the cup was dripping with condensation.
((Just wondering, what do you use to have your font size look like that?))“I just got here a couple of days ago, so everything’s pretty new to me. That fair thing sounds fun, but I haven’t gotten the chance to go yet. I also heard there was a dance?” Aeyrene, trying to fill the silence, rambled a bit, then realized her mistake and kicked her feet together bashfully.
Blake nods and takes a big swallow of her melted iced coffee. "Yeah it seems fun...I've just stayed here for the most part. Reading, mostly." she says, gesturing to her array of books scattered aimlessly across her room. "But, yeah, there's a dance. I had a dress made but I don't think I'll go."
“…do you just skip all of your other classes but English?” Aeyrene offered. She knew this was called an “academy” and that she was supposed to have classes, she thought? She wasn’t quite sure, she faintly remembered someone telling her she’d start classes after the autumn festivities were over. She rolled over to her stomach, still peering up at Blake and waving her legs back and forth in the air.
Blake shakes her head. "Not exactly. I have to take the "core classes" like english, science, history, and math but all of my other classes were altered to fit my goals for my future, so most of my classes are in the English classroom. But the history teacher scares me so I don't always go to that class." she says with a soft laugh and takes another sip of coffee.
Aeyrene paused for a bit, questioning whether her thoughts were too personal for a first encounter and decided to ask anyway. “What are your goals for the future, if they’re English based? Do you want to be an English teacher or a writer?”
"I want to be a poet." Blake says flatly. "Yeah, that sounds stupid but I'm good at it and it has so many levels so I can spill and my emotions and past and no one will question my sanity because I'm a poet. Poets are known for being crazy so I might as well embrace it." she adds, glancing out the window. She's had a clear view of the autumn fair and the slowly turning forest all month long...and it inspired her to write sometimes.
((Are you comfortable with Aeyrene having/developing a crush on Blake, even though it won’t be reciprocated because of sexuality? Cause like, she definitely would have one….))“I don’t think that’s stupid-“ Aeyrene blurted out. “Poetry is really cool and not nearly appreciated enough. It’s like landscape art or really colorful paintings, just in words. And yeah, it’s a good release for emotions too.” She blushed suddenly and resisted hiding her face in her hands. “You seem plenty sane to me…”
Blake throws her head back and laughs. Her laugh was somewhere between an evil laugh and a normal one, making it either an interesting sound or one of nightmares. "Funny how you think I'm sane! Do you want to read a little scratch up of mine I wrote one morning before I went to my classes?" she offers, rising from her chair and approaching her desk located by the window.
“Yes please, I was going to ask, but I know writing can be very personal and not to be shared a lot of the time,” Aeyrene answered.
Blake digs around in her supplies and pulls out a wrinkled piece of paper dotted with ink. She passes it to Aeyrene. It read,
Fog...
Clouds dancing on the ground,
Goblins dressed in white.
White fire flickering, swirling, rising...
Perhaps the morning brought us an omen,
A sign for us to hide.
Hide ourselves in a dancing cloud,
To hide with creatures clothed in white.
"It's not my best work...scratched it up one morning before my coffee." Blake explains.
“I love how it seems like a circle,” Aeyrene stated honestly. Realizing that probably wasn’t a great explanation, she went on to say, “The phrases clouds, dancing, and creatures/goblin in white cycle back in after the beginning and end the piece too, it’s really fascinating.”
"Thanks...like I said, it was a pre-coffee poem so it's definitely not my best work. Sometimes I just need to scribble something out based on something simple that I see to get my brain working." she says and resumes her seat on the chair. She rests her hand on her coffee and shakes her head. "I...I can't believe myself...after so many years of telling myself to be polite I pull this..." she mumbles to herself then looks up at Aeyrene. "So sorry I didn't ask right away, but could I get you anything? I have a coffee machine sitting over there, hidden stash of snacks under my bed, etcetera."
”You’re okay,” Aeyrene reassuringly smiled. “I ate before heading over here. If that’s not your best work, you must be amazing normally-“
Blake shrugs. "It's not amazing. I do my best, though." she says. "What do you want to do? Or like to do, I should say."
Deciding which of her activities were more normal and accepted in the normal world, she pondered over her words before saying, “I enjoy taking care of plants, but not just flowers. I really enjoy ferns and Oriental plants, there are so many fascinating species and they react in a lot of different ways. I also like making candles from scratch, usually from beeswax but sometimes from soy wax or coconut wax instead. I don’t like using paraffin, it’s not the greatest for the environment.”
Blake nods and grins. "That's really cool, actually! Fascinating to me especially because all I seem to do is kill my plants. I can't even keep cacti alive." she says, gesturing to a brown cactus on the window cill. "I take it you're magical power is something to do with plants, then?"
“Uhhhhh, kind of? I’m a low level enchantress, so I can mix potions with my plants really well and cast a couple of spells, but I’m not that powerful. I’m not like a greenie or anything, growing plants aren’t really my power, just mashing them up to make poison or anti-insomnia juice or other random things.” Aeyrene hadn’t been sure if powers were something to be discussed here and honestly, had forgotten other people could do things like her.
"That's neat! I do...well, I did this." Blake says, reaching for a wand sitting next to her coffee. She mutters a spell and her whole chair ignites in a golden-blue flame. She sits for a moment in the fire and snaps her fingers. The flame vanishes, leaving her and the chair unaffected.
Aeyrene watched the flames reflected in Blake’s eyes before they tapered out, still seeming to leave a reflection of themselves behind. “That’s really pretty,” she murmured, her eyes glazed over lost in thought. Snapping back to attentiveness, she started chewing at her knuckles while inquiring, “Do you just have control over fire or can you do other things as well?”
Blake nods and flicks her wand at her coffee cup. It begins to levitate and float towards the ceiling. When it drops, it falls directly into her hand and Blake smirks. "I'm a witch so I can do all the "witchy" things but I work best with fire. Some fire spells I can do without my wand." she explains, tossing her wand back onto her table.
“I’ve got enchanter blood, so that’s where my magic stems from, but it’s honestly not that powerful. Most of my work is just memorization and trial-and-error, I’ve had to deal with wayyyy too many explosions and deadly gases from a misdone potion over the years,” Aeyrene grimaced.
"Explosions? Deadly gases? That sounds...terrible, I'm sorry. I imagine now that you're here, you'll learn how to become more powerful. I certainly have." Blake replies.
Aeyrene laughed, “It’s not bad, mostly just me being stupid and putting a wrong ingredient in. Explosions are great if you’re wearing the right protective gear and know how to appreciate them.” She broke off for a short bit, then confessed, “I don’t know how much I really want to increase my powers; I’m just here to finish up my school and work on social skills so I can live normally.”
"I suppose I should have said you'll learn more about your power...so you don't have any more, you know, explosions?" Blake says with a grin. She sighs. "I'm glad that at least someone wants to be normal after we graduate...they always say they're preparing us for the outside world, but sometimes I feel like they ignore our powers because of it. It's weird...some teachers make us more powerful, others try to make it seem like we don't have magic at all."
Aeyrene grew quiet, pulling her legs and arms close to her torso. “I see my power as just a talent, something comparable to someone else having a good singing voice or making beautiful art. I wish people wouldn’t make such a big deal about the supernatural, or want it for their own. I admire expertise in a subject, not try and take it for myself.”
"That's...that's actually really wise. I've never thought of it that way. I guess people always told me it was a curse rather than a talent." Blake replies, running her long fingers over the smooth wood of her wand. "Talent..." she murmurs to herself and scribbles the word down on a scrap piece of paper.
Realizing she had probably inspired an idea for another poem, Aeyrene relaxed again, hoping Blake hadn’t thought too much into her discomfort. “Our powers are as natural as talents, and if someone thinks they’re a curse, they’re about as controllable as someone with a bad temper. That person can lose control and lash out just like us, but because our emotions express themselves…well, a bit differently, we’re blamed for the consequences more severely.” She hadn’t thought too much into this subject before now, and the conversation was helping her mind calm more into the prospect of being safe in the future with others knowing the full truth of her.
Blake scribbles some more things down. "I'd never thought of it that way...thank you, that really gives me a piece of mind. I always just...rolled with my punishments because it was all I knew. I never thought about it in the perspective that it wasn't my fault."
"Punishments.....?" Aeyrene tentatively offered, unsure if she was about to cross boundaries too quickly.
Blake sighs and nods. "Yeah...my parents, they uh...they stopped taking care of me after they found out I had powers and there were certain things they would do if I lashed out. Eventually I just stopped listening and started taking care of myself."
“I would say I’m sorry, try and sympathize with you, but I know that really doesn’t do much. It definitely wasn’t your fault though, and I’m glad you’ve learned to take care of yourself and are here now.” Aeyrene gave Blake a small smile. “Your powers are what you choose to do with them, and the people here can be lifelong understanding friends, if you want them to be.”
"Thanks..." she replies and looks down at her lap. "I think what happened back then made me the person I am today. I mean, yeah, it gets to me a lot but that's why I seek comfort in my professors." Blake explains. "It's also why I write poetry. If I pour my feelings onto a piece of paper, I find it easier to hold my emotions together."
”It might have made you who you are, but it never has to define you or be the thing people see you as.” Stifling a yawn, Aeyrene realized how late it was, standing up to stretch her stiff limbs. “I think I’m going to head back to my dorm to sleep if that’s good with you. I’d love to talk with you again, maybe we’ll get some classes together?”
She looks outside and the sky had turned purple and orange and the stars were becoming visible. Blake nods to her. "It was nice meeting you! Feel free to find me whenever." she says kindly to Aeyrene.
Aeyrene walked out the door, purposely leaving her jacket behind in the room. She was hoping Blake would come return it herself and not just leave it in her dorm whenever she was away.
((Up to you, I’d think there’d be a time skip of at least a day if so, and I’d totally love to see Blake’s thoughts when she notices it still in her dorm…))
Blake closes the door behind Aeyrene and walks back into her room. She stands in the center of the room on her fuzzy rug. She notices something on the ground where Aeyrene had sat. She leans over and scoops it up...she had left her jacket. Blake reaches for her phone and sighs, realizing she had never asked for her number. "Crap..." she mumbles and drapes it over her desk chair. "I'll get it back to her soon." she adds and plops back down into her cushiony chair and closes her eyes to take a nap.
((I’m thinking that either Blake and Aeyrene get a class together, or Ziggy tells her where Aeyrene’s dorm is, it’s up to you :3))
((Curious why Blake gets a room to herself?))Never mind, just saw it was an option to not have a roommate