face the strange | Peggy

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THE SCROLLS WERE STARTING TO BLUR WHERE they sat in front of Richie, but he was nothing if not determined. His quill scratched almost angrily, head whipping from parchment to book as he translated his Ancient Runes homework. He'd chosen a textbook on muggle history, choosing a passage about the witch trials in England. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the meticulous nature of the task, it was more that he was using it to waste time as the evening pulled on in earnest.

Over Richie's head was a battered set of headphones, his hair sticking up around where it sat over the crown. His sister Dana had gotten them for him when he'd been shipped to Ilvermorny for the year. The mp3 charmed to work in areas heavily influenced by magic. While most muggle technology ceased to function in placed like Hogwarts, or Diagon Alley, his own mp3 was special. Since she had given it to him, he had used it beyond repair. In fact, if Richie could get away with it, he'd never leave his bed curtains without them cemented over his ears. The fact that he could block out the world, and ignore any unsolicited attempt to speak to him was far too appealing. The music itched the inside of his brain, his head softly nodding as he scribbled in his messy scrawl.

Eventually, the lamp lights in the study hall began to dim, but Richie was none the wiser. He was like a ghost, the faint echo of music almost haunting from the outside, his body hunched in a pocket of darkness. Around him the room emptied, his parchment lengthened and his joints started to ache. Without outsider influence, he might sit like that until dawn, perfecting his runes until they were a near perfect mirror of their English counterpart. Some words he mulled over for several minutes, flicking through his rune syllabary until it gave him little papercuts on the ends of his fingers. He liked those the best. In his ears, a mixture of David Bowie, T-Rex and Queen lulled him into an almost hypnotic state. 

Peggy Duncan

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Peggy Duncan]

The study hall wasn’t a place where Peggy could exactly say she spent a whole lot of time in the past, but so far, since going into her first year of NEWT studies, she had a resolution of sorts to apply herself more to her school work. She was reading about her favourite subject; Astronomy - even though she didn’t have any kind of homework due or projects assigned from this particular class at the moment. It was more for fun - still the very act of being here in a room full of students researching and progressing their school work made Peggy feel more studious. And sometimes just the act of pretending to do something was as rewarding as actually doing it! 

Eventually, as the room started to dim and empty out, Peggy’s eyes felt heavy and her tummy grumbled audibly which signalled her routine cue for a little pre-bedtime snack back at the dormitory. With a couple pumpkin pasties on the brain, she stood up from her seat and began unceremoniously stuffing text books into a neon pink fluffy backpack shaped to look like an oversized pygmy puff. As she pulled one strap over her shoulder, she clocked a fellow student in her eye line who appeared to still be absorbed in his study despite it clearly getting late.

Observing that he was wearing those headphones that she noticed he always had on him, she was well aware that just simply striking up a conversation wouldn’t work if he couldn’t hear her. What she wasn’t aware of however was the possibility that he might not want a conversation with anyone at all! Peggy strolled over right beside him and hovered in his immediate peripheral to ensure he could sense her presence, and with a big grin and a hand wave in front of his face, she mouthed the words what are you listening to? then pointed a finger at a pair of imaginary headphones covering her own ears as if it were a game of charades and she was giving him visual clues to her question.

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

SO ABSORBED IN HIS STUDIES AND THE MUSIC pulsing in his ears, Richie did not register that he had company immediately. He bobbed his head rhythmically, wrist aching as he scribbled at lightening speed. It wasn't until he felt the telltale prickle of animal awareness, raising the hairs at the back of his neck, that his atmosphere truly changed. He paused briefly, scratching at the back of his neck where the fine little hairs stood on end. It did not immediately hit him that he was being watched, rather it was the small hand inserting itself between his parchment and his face that pulled him out of his stupor.

Richie flinched backward, his heart rate galloping at the interruption. He didn't like to be surprised, throwing himself backward in his chair so that it rocked on two legs and almost toppled. He peddled his arms for balance, finally grabbing the edge of the desk and landing back on four chair legs with a snap and a shocked huff of air that emptied his lungs. In his ear, a guitar riff welcomed Queen's Sweet Lady in a direct contradiction to his current state of mind.

Looking up with an expression of slack shock, the girl's face greeted him with a grin, both rows of teeth showing like a great big shark. He couldn't breathe for a second, so dumbfounded by the intrusion that he almost felt empty headed. Wrenching the headphones from his head, he tossed them across the table and gulped a mouthful of air. "Are- are you on drugs?!" He asked plainly, subconsciously recognising that he knew her from some class or another. Penny, or Peggy or something. "I- I... I." He stuttered, shaking his head and swallowing as he struggled to articulate his complete displeasure at the entire introduction. "Don't... don't do that." He finally managed to spit out, blinking rapidly and dropping his chin to his chest. 

Peggy Duncan

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Peggy Duncan]

Peggy's initial excitement at trying to engage with the boy quickly faded as she registered his shocked and defensive reaction. Confusion washed over her features, and her wide grin turned into a mix of surprise and concern. She took a step back, her hand instinctively reaching to her chest.

"N-No! I'm not on drugs!" Peggy exclaimed, her voice filled with genuine surprise. She raised her hands slightly as if to show that she meant no harm. "I just... I just wondered what you were listening to." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling a mix of embarrassment and regret as her eyes darted between Richie and the discarded headphones, now lying on the table.

Now the Hufflepuff wasn’t one for picking up so easily on social clues, and she certainly wasn’t well-versed in identifying normal boundaries. If there were a class on How to Interact Normally With Other Humans 101, or How To Read The Room For Dummies, Peggy would very likely spectacularly fail them. But the strong negative reaction did make her question her own actions this time. Maybe she had been too forward or intrusive. Her shoulders slumped as she took a step back, her enthusiasm dampened by the encounter.

She avoided making eye contact, and her fingers instinctively fiddled with the strap of her fluffy backpack as it hung from her shoulder, her gaze shifting to the floor. Her well-intentioned approach had clearly missed the mark. “Sorry to startle you... Won’t happen again!” she gave a solid single nod and raised three fingers in a sort of ‘scouts honour’ salute to assure him.

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

RICHIE WASN'T REALLY GOOD AT READING FACES but he thought she looked upset with him. A hand slapping against her chest as she stared with big, round animal eyes. He didn't apologise, his heart still leaping in his chest as he tried to understand why she would be upset with him. He used to desk to pull his chair in with a slow, rhythmic scrape. She seemed to rebound quickly at least. As, by the time Richie's stomach was pressed tight against the desks edge, she had broken her silence.

"Oh..." He muttered, gnawing on the inside of his lip as he frowned slightly. 'Why?', is what he wanted to ask, because he didn't quite understand the rampant curiosity. But he was afraid she'd look sorry again, so he grabbed for his charmed MP3 player possessively. "It's- it was Sweet Lady last..." He looked down at the screen, thumbing it absently to light the screen up, where the song was almost halfway through. "By Queen, from their N-n-night at the Opera album." He explained, almost reluctantly. Nobody really asked him about his musical taste anymore, though he never strayed far from his headphones at any given time.

There was a beat where the girl seemed to fade out of space. Richie watched her carefully, the way her shoulders slumped and her mouth sort of moved as if she were having some kind of silent argument with herself. Richie felt that maybe he should look away, but he didn't. He was afraid of what she might do if his back was turned. Alas, she seemed to curl into herself, a little red around the edges as she spoke up with a hesitant squeak. He nodded slowly, her promise settling some animal fright in him, but he felt a little itchy with something that might've been remorse. He shifted in his seat, restless and antsy. "Um- d-did you- I mean, did you want to... sit...?" He asked her with a crease to his brow. It was almost painful to say, but he felt obligated suddenly. "Or something?"

Peggy Duncan

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Peggy Duncan]

Peggy stood awkwardly fidgeting with the strap of her backpack as a result of the rocky start of this interaction in the library. However, she was somewhat relieved - and endeared - by the way he began to stumble over his words and fiddle with his MP3 player. And then he told her that he was listening to Queen!

Peggy’s eyes popped open while the rest of her expression remained frozen. She’d never met another person her age who listened to the same music as her in the muggle world, let alone at Hogwarts. Her obsession with loud and expressive fashion and pop culture had been inspired at a young age by iconic artists from the 70s glam rock era such as Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger and Marc Bolan - individuals who seemed like they should have come from the magical world on account of their general presence when they hadn’t. 

He offered her to sit down and Peggy didn’t waste a second dropping her backpack to the floor and falling into a seat beside him abruptly. She couldn't help but feel a flutter of nervousness mixed with a bout of excitement. “I love Queen,” she told him with a strange air of urgency as if she couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. Her palms fell flat on the table in front of her as she stared at him wide-eyed, cheeks flushing slightly pink. “Do you like David Bowie?” She wasn’t sure how she’d react if he did - her heart might explode!

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THERE SEEMED TO BE NOT EVEN A FULL SECOND came to pass before the girl began to move. Richie hadn't even decided if he'd made a good decision, flinching visibly as her bag thumped onto the ground carelessly and she took the seat beside him without bearing even a second of thought. It might have been a compliment, but Richie was terrible at identifying those. He was still smarting from the consideration that he might have insulted her, offering more out of guilt than desire for company, but it was a hell of his own making.

They were elbow to elbow, Richie's mp3 player sitting tightly in his hand between them. He wasn't used to sitting so close with a perfect stranger, Richie didn't even like sitting beside people on public transport. He refrained from leaning away, aware that he had already rocked the boat once already. Then she spoke freely, her voice soft and eager, and Richie froze in place for a moment. After a beat of shock he turned abruptly, almost knocking her out the chair in his effort to look her straight in the face suddenly.

"You do...?" He asked speculatively, unsure if he should believe her. Richie quickly decided it would be ridiculous to lie about such an inane thing and he felt a fizzle of what could only be described as excitement rock him to his very core. "I- I mean, who's your favourite?" He demanded, sitting back in his seat to get a good look at her face. Suddenly, he was reevaluating his previous assessment of her. She had converted from mannerless nuisance, to very welcome company - even if she had a very poor definition of personal space. He could make allowances for a person with taste.

"Do I- I know Bowie?!" Richie snapped, his jaw slackening in shock at the audacity of such a ridiculous question. He jittered with excitement, passing his mp3 player from hand to hand restlessly. "Of course I like Bowie..." He added in a rush, afraid she might assume he didn't know the legend at all. In fact, he had a very large, very vintage Ziggy Stardust poster pinned to his bedroom wall at his sisters. It had been the most prized charity shop find he'd ever scored. "I practically h-have his whole disc-discog-ography on my mp3." He brandished it as if it were a precious, the scarred skin on his hand trembling with the effort to be gentle. "Though... The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars... it's my favourite." He admitted, pushing the words out of a croaking throat, enthusiasm keeping the words from cracking inbetween.

Peggy Duncan

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!