Bubble Pop! (Temp)

[yara leila el fayed]

February 3, 2028

Though Yara was aware that King's Cross served as a train station for those belonging to the magical world because of her sister Yas, it was also just a normal, non-magical place for Muggles such as herself. With her university term in progress, she didn't usually travel outside of London, but she had managed to get a good deal on a ticket to Edinburgh and couldn't pass it up—even if it happened to be during Ramadan.

From a religious perspective, she wasn't required to fast because she was traveling. She didn't plan to take advantage of the situation, but she was considering buying something to eat that she could save for later in the day with which to break her fast. There were a lot of different options available. The key, however, was to find something halal, which probably ruled out some of her options.

As she stood around with her suitcase to check her web browser on her mobile phone to make sure she wasn't overlooking anywhere, Yara failed to realize that she was standing in the way of someone else.

temperance elizabeth fleming

[temperance elizabeth fleming]

That's all she ever thinks about

Riding with the wind

February 3, 2028
yara leila el fayed

Temp felt out of place, or at least more than usual. She was a transplant from the United States, and despite living here for a few years, she still felt like a tourist at times. And that’s what made this assignment that much more difficult. At least she wasn’t the only one. This was research for an idea that had crept to the top of the list of new possible shows. Unfortunately, Temperance was not a full producer on her own yet. So her say meant very little, plus she just wasn’t a fan of reality tv. Growing up in Southern California meant that even the magical world hadn’t escaped the no-maj’s various trash television shows.

She kept her wand tucked neatly in her purse. It was close enough if she needed it, but Temp wasn’t looking to break the Statute of Secrecy today. As she walked toward the platform, Temp fiddled with her phone. She had easily adapted to using the device, but some days the touch screen was really out to test her patience. Maybe her phone was drinking whatever her father liked, making him more difficult and abrasive than usual. Never had she been more tempted to cast the spell that sealed someone’s mouth shut. At least he also couldn’t drink then.

His words always rolled off her, and Temp pushed through. But some days…well, she always thought she’d heard it all. Grumbling, Temp didn’t look up as she continued forward, and then suddenly, her shoulder collided with someone. Stopping and dropping her phone, Temp looked up to see who she’d collided with. ”Oh Mer—my goodness. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” And that was another thing too. To No-Maj’s, Merlin was a cartoon character from a mythical legend. It wouldn’t help her blend in if she started mentioning him. Temp picked up her phone, which was fortunately not cracked, and looked at the platform numbers, sighing heavily.

template by vee

[yara leila el fayed]

February 3, 2028

In the very moment that she was looking down at her phone screen rather than her surroundings, Yara felt someone or something bump her shoulder. The run-in occurred quickly enough that she didn't have time to process it until afterwards, but it wasn't anything close to catastrophic. Both she and another young woman—who looked slightly older than Yasmin was, as a point of reference—managed to drop their respective mobile phones in the process. Physically, however, Yara knew that she wasn't hurt, and it didn't seem that the older twentysomething had been hurt, either.

Likewise, Yara was pretty sure that being bumped into by a stranger's shoulder hadn't been a cover for something more sinister on that occasion. She knew that a similar approach was among the tricks that petty criminals used when they pickpocketed unsuspecting victims, but the swiftness with which the stranger apologized to her suggested that it was all totally innocent.

Nothing about the interaction struck Yara as being strange, nor did anything make her feel as though she had been targeted in any way. The only thing that was slightly different than what she might have anticipated was that the other young woman sounded American.

Obviously, though, there were Americans in London. It was about as diverse as a city could get, but it was still more common to hear some sort of British or Irish accent when people spoke. Given the number of people with whom she interacted, it didn't stand out on the whole. She didn't exactly keep a running list of the Americans she encountered in London or anything, and King's Cross was a major train station. Foreigners were basically a given.

The other young woman asked her if she was okay, clearly feeling bad about what had happened. Yara nodded immediately, and she ran a hand up to where the temples of her eyeglasses brushed up against the fabric of her hijab to check that neither were out of place. "Yes," she said quickly.

After picking it up off the floor, Yara looked back at her phone and flipped it over in her hand and back again. From what she could tell, it hadn't sustained any damage. There weren't any glaring cracks or scratches on it, at least, which was the whole point of having a shock-absorbent phone case on the device in the first place. "Alhamdulillah," she added at that point, hoping that her use of Arabic wouldn't make the situation weirder for the other young woman.

Yara then focused her attention on the stranger, who had picked up her own phone at about the same time. "Are you alright?" she asked her in return.

temperance elizabeth fleming