Willow was lost amid the countless books she'd pulled at random from the creature section. A finished Swedish Short Snout, stacked at the top of several other dragons, a niffler, two faires and a winged horse, was her most recent addition. She was working on the Opaleye Muryllis had helped her with, and was slightly disatisfied.
She had long since erased the helpful lines he had sketched on there, feeling guilty. Now, she was studying a spellbook full of helpful drawing spells. A erasing spell. She took her wand, the ten inch willow wand, from her pocket and held it over the Opaleye.
Walking down the corridors, TJ slung his book bag over his shoulder. He had just gotten out of class, and was eager to see the new weekly additions in the library. For such a short period, TJ made most of the library, and had read about half of it's vast amounts. He had spent hours in the library, and even stayed until Mr. Matthews had escorted him out. He read almost everything he spotted. Excluding the Restricted Section, of course.
He often saw new students, and regulars in the library alike, and never really thought to strike up a conversation. Walking through the arched doors of the library, TJ sucked in a deep breath before striding through the shelves of books. He was a sucker when it came to a good book. Browsing through some thrillers, TJ landed his eyes on a new addition called CHERUB. He read through it briefly, and was about to get started when he realized that the book was not allowed to be read, since it was a new addition yet to be sorted.
TJ knew some pals who didn't follow the rule, but TJ didn't particularly want to get into trouble so early into the school year. Walking into the creatures isle, TJ spotted a girl pointing her wand at something. It looked like a sketch book, and TJ was immediately curious. Walking over to the girl, TJ saw wonderous drawings of creatures and dragons. Back at home, the Ravenclaw boy often sketched, and was praised on his art, but never really took it to the next level.
Willow looked, and smiled. "Working on an eraser spell," she explained. "My eraser smudges really bad." Steadily, she was accepting other people easier. This time, the spell work, and a few smudges vanished. With a soft sigh of relief, she looked back up at the Ravenclaw boy. "I'm Willow, who're you?" she asked, sketching in a few lines.
Another Ravenclaw, she thought. Are they the only people she was going to meet? Ah well. Won't hurt to have friends in other houses, in case things get sticky. But why would they?
BIC: "Cool," TJ said, "I never used it for drawing purposes. I guess it's funny how as soon as we come to school, spells are used for everything." TJ smiled and rummaged through his school sack. Reaching for a charcoal-colored sketchbook, TJ flipped through a few pages and showed the Gryffindor girl a sketchy portrait of himself. "Heh," TJ said, "I draw too, if I get time. But you're amazing." The girl looked friendly, but TJ assumed she was new and needed some friends. He was just like that when he first started.
"Willow? Hi, I'm Torrid, but peeps just call me TJ. And Morgan Pendragon, the Ravenclaw Prefect, just calls me Teej. Anyways, I really like you're drawings. You have some real talent." TJ smiled. The girl was an excellant artist, and even her sketches looked real. Whistling in an impressed tone, the Ravenclaw boy looked at the sketches and drawings before smiling again.
"Thanks." She smiled shyly. "I haven't met Morgan yet, I heard she's real funny. Teej huh? I think I'll just stick with T.J., wouldn't want her mad at me for stealing her nickname for you," Willow said. She fingered the edge of his sketch. "It's really good! I can't do people at all, and I thought I'd drawn everything when I got my letter."
"I guess I do use magic alot," she said. "I guess it's because before I came here, I didn't...well, I'm Muggleborn, see," she explained quietly. She darkened a line there, then siphoned away another smudge. "Do you paint?" she asked, looking back up at him, eyes dark with curiousity. She liked him already, and was loosening up much faster than she had with Silvain.
"Yeah, Morgan's great. And yeah, I guess, but Morgan's not the type to get angry so easily. She's pretty easy-going." Willow touched TJ's sketch and made a nice comment on his drawing. TJ blushed a little, because he wasn't used to that kind of praise. It was okay, he thought, but looked a little too much cross-boarded between manga and a realistic sketch. He sucked at drawing faces.
"Heh, people are hard, but I drew them a lot, since I'm horrible at drawing the anatomy of creatures. Can't get it right, I guess. And being a Muggleborn is nothing to be ashamed of, cause it means that your views are so much more open to magic." TJ smiled and continued. "I know another Muggleborn who's in Gryffindor, and he's great. You guys would be good friends. His name's Felix."
Seeing Willow erase a smudge, TJ smiled. "That eraser spell works well, doesn't it?" She then asked TJ if he liked paint. "Yeah," TJ said, casually speaking, "Paints good. But I rarely get the opportunity to paint, so I stick with pencil, eraser, and sketchbook. Sometimes I outline my stuff with ink, but that's pretty much the norm. Do you like paint?"
"I don't know!" she said with a laugh. "I painted once, and it looked like a kindergardener's experiment more than anything." She looked at the books, then back at TJ, flushing slightly. "I guess I made a mess didn't I? Hope Mr. Matthews doesn't get mad," she said, grinning. She heard the comment about Felix. "Felix huh? I don't think I know him yet," she said. Willow thought for a moment. "Nope, don't know a Felix."
"I outline alot of my stuff in ink, or at least I used to. I tried it with wand work, but all I did was get ink all over the parchment." Willow pulled a crumpled sheet from her bag. It had been a Opaleye Dragon, but now it was just...a mass of lines and spattered ink. "I think I'll stick to the ink pens," she joked. "I've tried people before, and that didn't go so well either. I can do eyes okay, and sometimes the hair. Beyond that." She gestured to the disasterous mess. "It turns out something like this table."
"I bet if you worked on it, you could be even better," Willow said, looking back at the self-portrait in TJ's hand. "Ever thought about going into comics or doing scenes or something like that? Bet you'd be good."
"Doubt that," TJ said, his eyes twinkling as she made a negating comment about her painting, "The way you draw with pencil and ink, I think you probably are better than just a kinder-gardener. And besides, it works for some peeps, and for others it doesn't. It's really a preference thing." Looking also a the books that Willow had spread out, TJ waved his hand to dismiss it. "Ah, just stick it where you think it belongs. Ever night some enchantment puts the books back into place. Pretty neat, huh?"
TJ smiled as Wilow tried to remember Felix Genero, but failed to retrieve a memory. "It's okay," TJ said with a laugh, "Felix is kinda new too, like me. He's a first year Gryffindor who likes to draw, likes knowledge, and is a pretty neat guy. You'll probably meet him, the way he turns up. He's one active kid." TJ listened to Willow talk about inking some of art, and the disastrous results of it. TJ just chuckled, and grinned widely.
"Yeah, ink pens work for me too, but the quill somehow seems easier for me. Maybe cause I've used it all my life." TJ scratched his head and flipped through his sketchbook. Before he got to finish, though, Willow talked about drawing people. "Yeah," TJ said, "For me, the nose is the trickiest part. The mouth is pretty challenging, too. The ears aren't so bad once you get the hang of it, and the eyes need variation, which I fail." TJ flipped through several portrait sketches, showing Willow the similarity in each of the eyes TJ had drawn.
"Maybe," TJ said, returning Willow's compliment, "But nowhere as good as you are." TJ turned back to his portrait, Willow talked about comics. What a coincidence! He drew comics, and he loved too, but needed pointers on drawing the boxes. He looked at several books, but an experienced teacher would be better. "Yeah, love drawing comics, but pretty much stink. How 'bout you? And where did you learn to draw wickedly awesome?"
"I hope I meet him. All I've met are Ravenclaws, and no offence, I'd like to meet someone from my house," Willow said. She grinned at his comment about the paints, and shook her head, replying, "Seriously, my three-year old cousin did better!"
"And that is neat about the books." She stood. "I might as well start putting them away, before the library closes and Matthews gives me detention." She slid a book completely on madragora back on the shelf where she was pretty sure it went. Ah well. Then, with renewed energy, whirled on her heel to face him. "I think clothes are the most interesting," she commented. "I can help you with eye variation some time, if you want. I draw sheets with nothing but faces or eyes or something like that."
She stacked up her drawings. "I took lessons for a little while and took one course in school, but mostly self taught. I never liked art at school, it made it seem so much like homework," she said laughingly. "It took all the fun out of it when the teacher looks at your supposably finished piece and scribbles 'stop darkenging lines' and the next time puts 'lines not dark enough, I can't see it!'."
Willow took a closer look at his drawings. "The only people I can do are mostly manga, and it's still hard. I'll do you an eye sheet some time, if I get around to it. All the new classes are overflowing, huh?" she said with a smile.
"Yeah, us 'Claws are pretty friendly, I guess. Or maybe we just happen to be in the right places at the right time." TJ smiled at Willow's remark on her three-year old cousin. The Ravenclaw was skeptical the the extent of the downing comment, but he knew that the girl must really think that she was pretty bad. Well, everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. "Felix will pop up sooner or later," TJ joked, "He's everywhere. Anyways, that's enough of Felix. I don't want to spoil the... fun meeting him."
TJ smiled to himself as he thought about the rather odd way he had met Felix. In the Charms classroom, where Felix said very odd and eccentrically friendly remarks and statements. Felix was indeed an eccentric, intelligent first year. "Eh, from what I've heard, Mr. Matthews isn't too bad in giving detentions." TJ saw the girl slide a book back onto the shelf, and he began picking up some of the books and placing them by their alphabetical author.
The girl spun around with a vibrant energy, and TJ was pleasantly surprised. "I think the clothes are the most interesting," Willow said, "I can help you with eye variation some time, if you want. I draw sheets with nothing but faces or eyes or something like that." TJ nodded and smiled. "That would be great! I could figure out how to do different eyes. I use those generic, little boy/innocent person eyes on everyone, so it makes an evil person look like, some rich boy who's cutely evil.
Willow began to stack her drawings as she continued to talk about self-teaching. "You taught yourself? Neat! Yeah, art in my previous school was such a bore, but one time the teacher brought to life each of our mini clay sculptures, so everyone made something really neat. I made a dragon, and it breathed clay fire." TJ chuckled as he reminisced on the thought, but quickly dismissed it. "Art classes did make everything boring," TJ said, agreeing with his new Gryffindor friend.
Willow looked at TJ's drawings, and she smiled as she began to talk. "The only people I can do are mostly manga, and it's still hard. I'll do you an eye sheet some time, if I get around to it. All the new classes are overflowing, huh?" "Very cool. Eyes sheets would indeed be helpful. And classes are heck busy. I'm going to a lot of them, but I take special interest in this year's Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. Prof. Andrey, and Prof. Sylph are really cool. How 'bout you? You taking any classes?"
"Charms...Care of Magical Creatures..And Transfiguration." She grinned. "Had ot think about that for a minute. So you were in Prof. Sylph's class too. What did you think of the Tadfoals?" Willow asked, tucking away another book. She was glad she had met someone who could talk to her about things she did, someone with common interests. His art classes sounded so neat...A clay dragon. She pictured it in her head. Maybe she could give it a try and ask the Transfiguration teacher for some animation help.
Willow decided she would work on an eye sheet for Torrid tonight in the dorm, if she finished her homework. Talking about the tadfoals made her remember Gwyndell, the enthusiastic silvery Tadfoal she had trained for class. Willow was itching to finish her drawing of the Tadfoal and stick it to wall in the dorm. Her own little art corner. At home, her parents often shouted when she put tape on the walls. Or pins.
It was then she realized she wasn't missing them at all. Willow didn't know what she would do when term ended. Be bored out of her mind probably. Her parents had denied her the school, but that hadn't been thrilled. It took her uncles prodding and promise he was pay tution to get them to let her come.
TJ chuckled lightly, Willow’s remark on ‘having to think about it’ amusing him. He also pondered on her question about the tadfoals, but his answer was quickly drawn out of his conciousness.
"Yeah, Dev, my Tadfoal friend, was really great. She was the first pet here at Firefox I ever had, and we had a lot of fun together. Learned a lot from her, and I miss her a whole bunch... but I have my dog, Willoughby, who I call Will, to keep me company. I got him at Chang's a few weeks ago." TJ found Willow interesting and on the same page as him interest-wise.
TJ could have sworn thoughts were running through Ms. Michelle’s mind, as her expression seemed a little blank and absent-minded. TJ couldn’t help but feel curious, and inquired a generally polite question. “What’cha thinking about, Willow?”
bic- Flustered, she put another book on the shelf. Then she looked up at him. "A dog huh? I should go look at Chang's...I thought about getting a job there..." She sighed, knowing she was avoiding the question.
"Its...well, my parents aren't exactly glad I'm here. I don't know what I'll do come summer," she said softly, eyes darkening. Frustration flashed there, and she turned away. "It took my uncle to get them to let me come."
OCC: Superhero? You mean me sensing your thoughts? Well, as I said, it was based on your facial expressions... he's kind of good at that... but nothing involved with mind-reading or anything,,,
BIC: "Yeah," TJ said energetically, "Sylph could use a hand or too. Er.. I mean Professor O'Dell. I mean, that would be a great idea." He knew Willow was trying to side-track his question, but he didn't mind. If she didn't want to answer, then it was none of his business to find out. Picking up some other books on the floor and returning them in their appropriate places, TJ was shocked to hear Willow begin to address her worriment.
"Its...well, my parents aren't exactly glad I'm here. I don't know what I'll do come summer. It took my uncle to get them to let me come." Her eyes darkened, as a almost angry look flashed across her face. But it wasn't an anger... it was frustration. TJ felt empathetic for the girl. and his lips curled into a thoughtful, sympathetic frown. Willow turned away, and TJ thought she was sad of some sort...
"Willow," TJ said softly, which was against his usual, energetic and flamboyant nature, "You'll hang in there. I mean, Firefox is great and all, and if you agree with your uncle, maybe you could stay there until your parents settle down... and by the way, if you need to talk about anything, I'm willing to listen."
Smiling sympathetically before patting the relatively small girl on her shoulder, TJ smiled. Another member of his Firefox family.
Teagan Offline: This board is full of nostalgia.
Aug 22, 2020 8:39:09 GMT -5
Missing the old MH: gotta say missing when MH and all that was around.
Nov 6, 2019 0:02:30 GMT -5
Willow_lazy: why tf are there 400 posts about adidas
Sept 6, 2018 17:35:57 GMT -5
Azrael: I'm not hard to find, since I'm the only one there who goes by "Azzy", I'm pretty sure. XD
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:41 GMT -5
Azrael: Dunno if anyone still pops by here from time to time, but if any of you mofos do and still feel like gettin' yo nerd on, I've been hanging around this here place a bunch recently: www.roleplayerguild.com/
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:10 GMT -5
Azrael: hold onto your pantaloons
Jul 25, 2016 5:16:43 GMT -5