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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 23, 2017 19:25:04 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2017 19:25:04 GMT -7
Aiden wasn’t one for plans. He never was. Telling his parents that he was finally going to get a job in London made his parents so proud. His father, the Major General, asked him his plan for living. He shrugged and explained over video chat that he would just do what he always did. He would probably find a hostel, or a park bench to crash on at night. His mother just about fainted, but his father had a nice solution. He helped his son, Aiden, find a nice studio apartment where his parents payed off the down payment and the first two months of rent, just to help him get on his feet. They told him after that, he would need to be responsible for rent, food, and purchasing furniture for the apartment. It had been two weeks since he had moved to London and started his new job. Already he was failing at being responsible, but now he finally had a pay check. He went out to celebrate, buying a sandwich at a cafe on the way to Diagon Alley. Before settling down at a nice cafe table, Aiden stopped by Madam Malkin's to purchase some bird feed and crickets, and assorted insects. He then made his way to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour and got some ice cream. After eating a nice helping of soft serve ice cream and the waffle cone that it came in. He then opened the bag with the sandwich that he purchased and began to eat that, pulling out a leather bound notebook. This book looked well loved and used, practically full. He had worked his way halfway through it editing his words and pathetic drawings to the best of his abilities. This would be his masterpiece, once he was done working through it, and traveling the rest of the world. But that would have to wait. Aiden continued making adjustments to his notes as he set down the bread part of the sandwich, none of the special insides of the sandwiches inside. As he continued, a Beautiful large black raven landed on the other side of the table. He looked up and smiled, greeting his old friend, and ruffled his feathers a bit. The bird looked at him, then back to the bread. Aiden nodded to the bird, giving his non verbal permission and looked back down to continue editing his field notes. The raven quickly went to work peacking at the bread.
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 23, 2017 20:00:57 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2017 20:00:57 GMT -7
It was shaping up to be a beautiful day, despite all of the nasty tragedy that was going on in the world. The tournament was over at the school and Philip and Andromeda were close to graduating, and for the first time in a while Alice had been truly excited about something. But then the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang transportations were attacked and more people were killed. More young people were killed. Alice was devasted, and she was saddened this occurred during Phil and Andy's last few weeks before they were to graduate. Instead, Hogwarts was releasing all students early and with such a short notice, Alice wasn't going to see them graduate.
It had been three days. Phil and Andy would be home soon. Alice thought maybe she should owl Lysander and see how he was doing, too. She made a mental note to do so as she walked into Florean Fortescue's for a pick-me-up. The last time she has walked into the ice cream shop, she had met a quirky former Hufflepuff named Ophelia. However today she wasn't feeling so much like conversing with a stranger. She just wanted some ice cream and to work on her journal, maybe owl Lysander. She wanted to forget the real world for a while.
Alice ordered her usual mint chocolate chip ice cream cone and took a seat at a table. As she licked at the cone, she took out her journal and read over her few most recent entries on Pygmy Puffs and Flobberworms. Then she saw something flutter in the corner of her eye. She looked up, noticing the movement as bird-like. She was surprised, however, to see an actual bird, or rather a raven, at the table next to her. There sat a man working on some type of journa himself, it looked like, as the raven pecked at some bread on the table. Alice couldn't help but watch the raven as it ate, her eyes slowly moving to watch the man who sat at the table. She had never seen him before, but he certainly wasn't terrible looking, she thought. After a moment of staring, Alice finally decided to speak up. Something she never would have done in the past. "Is... that your raven?" She couldn't help but always think of the half-giant who helped her break out of her shell. Silently, she always thanked him.
@aiden
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 23, 2017 20:29:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2017 20:29:56 GMT -7
Aiden was so focused. He barely noticed the people moving around him, and defiantly didn't notice the girl who had sat down a the table next to his.He was working on revising his writings about an Erumpent heard that he observed. He was so lucky to be there around mating season. It was quite interesting, and extremely dangerous. Aiden's hand writing seemed jumbled and more like chicken scratch in his section. It happened when you were trying to jot down as much as you saw, but still run from two fighting each other. Lost in his memories, he barely heard the girl speak to him. He looked up, startled to hear some one address him. His eyes landed on this girl. She was young and pretty. He smiled. Thank goodness he could understand her. There seemed to be some people who just spoke gibberish, but he would get better at understanding them, given time. "Yea, I found him when he was a hatching." He looked back to the raven who had happily finished the bread, and had jumped down to the ground and started to investigate Aidens shopping. " Hey you greedy, save some for later." Aiden addressed the bird. He then moved the bags away from him, and Solomon the raiven flew back up to the top of the table.
Aiden looked back to the girl almost apologetically. He was hopeless around people, and it didn't help that she was young and attractive. He did notice that she seemed to be working on a journal that appeared to have some resemblance to his. Could she be studying magical creatures. He thought to himself. But he knew that that would be way to much of a coincidence and was simply an improbability. As he looked at the girl, he gave her a smile, and Sol found the perfect opportunity to nip at his owners ear. Aiden jumped slightly and looked back at the raven, sensing the boredom and mischievousness of the bird. "Really!" He stated to the bird, then looked back at the girl. "Sorry about him, I just can't take him anywhere. I guess."
@alice
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 23, 2017 21:35:44 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2017 21:35:44 GMT -7
The American accent that responded to Alice was enough to momentarily catch the former Hufflepuff off guard. She had heard a true American accent very few times before, so little in fact that she was surprised she was able to pin the man's accent so quickly. She tried hard to make sure her surprise wasn't evident but then she saw him smiling in her direction and she began to try a little too hard to focus her attention on the raven, willing herself to not turn pink.
Luckily, the raven proved an easy distraction as he was a lively little creature. He jumped down to the ground as the man explained that he found him as a hatchling. It wasn't terribly often Alice saw ravens as pets, but it was always a fascinating substitute for an owl. Alice loved birds but unfortunately with Oscar, she could never have one in the house. Alice watched the raven until she felt as if she had eyes on her, and she glanced at the man to see him smiling again and she almost looked away until she saw the raven nip at his ear, eliciting a muffled laugh out of the blonde. The man apologized on the bird's behalf and for the first time since Alice sat down, she smiled lightly. "Don't be. He's got a fun little attitude," she said watching the raven again. "What's his name?"
@aiden
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 24, 2017 8:12:41 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2017 8:12:41 GMT -7
Aiden didn’t have a second thought about his accent. He knew that he had one. He had traveled around enough to understand that. He enjoyed hearing different accents and languages, even if communication became extremely difficult because of it. He didn’t travel to communicate with other cultures. Learning about them was just a perk. He traveled to study magical beasts. The American boy did notice that the girl was paying quite a lot of attention to Sol, his raven. He would admit that in the wizarding world, it was more common for a witch or wizard to have an owl, but some did have ravens. Maybe it was still odd, but he didn’t care. Solomon was more of best friend, rather than a pet. Aiden watched the girl who’s eyes were fixed on the raven. There was something about the way that she looked at him that made Aiden smile. She had to be an animal lover to some extent to look at any animal that way.
But then she changed her view from the bird to him. Crap. He was staring. That was rude. He quickly looked away. He looked anywhere but at her. Then Sol nipped his ear and the girl laughed a little. He looked at her and smiled, a little embarrassed. ”Yea. I’ve spent hours sitting in a tree in the forest, but the moment that I start talking to an actual person, he suddenly needs attention.” He looked back to the blonde girl when the bird made a loud noise directly at Aiden. He knew what Sol wanted. ”His name is Solomon, and I think he wants the bugs that I have in there.” He motioned to the bag that he had at his feet. But Sol knew as well as he did that those were for the Augurey that was back at his apartment.
@alice
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 24, 2017 9:49:59 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2017 9:49:59 GMT -7
Alice was never a people person. Up until last year, she had been very prone to keeping to herself and she never would have spoken up to a stranger like she did with this one. Along with befriending Lysander, a Ravenclaw, she had met many other people she never thought she would and she was slowly but surely coming out of the shell she had hidden in for her whole life. While still very prone to shyness, she was getting better.
The Hufflepuff continued to watch the raven, her smile staying upon her face. It was hard for the eldest Longbottom child not to smile when she was observing animals. Animals were one of the few things in the world that brought the blonde absolute joy, and it showed whenever she interacted with them. "He's funny," she said with another chuckle before reaching for her bag hung up on the back of her chair. She opened the flap of the bag and dug in for a little plastic bag before taking it out and holding it up for the man to see. "I've got some seeds and nuts. Could he have some?" She asked with a kind smile. It was ten times easier to communicate with someone that had something in common with Alice, especially if that something was animals. That was what made befriending Lysander so much easier than Alice had thought it would be.
@aiden
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 24, 2017 12:15:15 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2017 12:15:15 GMT -7
The more the girl watched Sol, the more convinced Aiden was that she loved animals more and more. And her smile. You didn't just look at an animal, or anything for that matter, and not truly love it. Aiden looked at the bird after the girl said that he was funny. He smiled back to the girl and pulled out a leather glove from his bag and put it on. Solomon instantly hopped on his arm and flapped his wings, puffing himself up. ”Yea, there it is. He’s showing off. He always acts this way when in front of a pretty girl.” He could sense the attitude of the raven. Aiden didn’t know what his play was, but Solomon seemed to be purposely acting up. Maybe he’s senile. He was an older bird. The girl pulled out a plastic bag out of her own bag and offered the bird seeds. Once Solomon saw the seeds, he started to get excited. ”I think it would be rude not to.” Aiden had seeds too, but Solomon obviously didn’t want his seeds. He wanted the bugs that he had purchased for the bird at the apartment. But this got Aiden thinking. What kind of person has a bag of bird seeds in their bag. They could be regular seeds for some health nut, but still. His smile widened as he drew closer to the conclusion of a true animal lover like himself was sitting right next to him. Aiden moved his arm closer to the girl and her seeds. ”You can pet him if you want. It seems like he really likes you now.”
@alice
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 25, 2017 5:26:22 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 5:26:22 GMT -7
Alice watched the man as he went into his own bag and pulled out a leather glove. That seemed odd for any old regular person to carry in their bag, and it really made Alice curious as to if this man did something in the animal field maybe with birds? He seemed to know the raven's body language fairly well, it was impressive. Alice watched as the raven puffed itself up and stood on the man's glove. But when the man called Alice pretty, her eyes flashed to his and they widened as she felt her face get hot. She focused her eyes back on the bird. Did he really just call her pretty? Was this stranger flirting with her? Alice had no idea what to say or do, so she stayed still with her eyes focused on the raven as she offered it the seeds in her hand.
When the man said she could pet the raven, she raised her eyebrows in almost disbelief. She glanced first at the man, just to be sure it really was okay, then held out her hand in a non-threatening way to the raven. After a moment of that, she lifted her hand over the raven's head and gently stroked the top of his head. A smile spread across her face. She continued to pet the raven gently as she dared to meet the man's eyes, despite her feeling particularly shy doing so. "So, do you work with birds?" She asked him. He was in Diagon Alley, so he had to be a wizard, right? But he was American... so he wouldn't have attended Hogwarts. She felt she would have remembered someone who loved animals as much as she did.
@aiden
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 25, 2017 8:45:53 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 8:45:53 GMT -7
Aiden had the glove for the baby Augurey. It did have some sharp talons and quite a bite out of it. But he thought he would get some use out of it with Sol, even though he didn’t necessarily need it for him. Then Aiden tried his hand at a compliment. He noticed her eyes widening. Did he say something wrong. To be honest, he wasn’t good at good conversation sometimes. This must be one of those times. He looked down at his bag, then at the bird. As long as he didn’t have to look at the girl. He must have said something wrong. Solomon the bird happily pecked at the seeds. When Aiden looked at his raven he scowled a little, thinking “traitor” to him. Sol did nothing, but continue to happily eat the girls seeds.
But Aiden must have fixed something when he offered her to pet Sol. She looked at him and he actually looked over at her again, and smiled. Trying to fix it. She then pet the bird, and Aiden could feel that Sol liked it. Sol stopped eating, and the girl smiled again. Aiden couldn’t help but smile, looking from the girl to the bird. The two met eyes once more and she asked him if he worked with birds. ”Nah, but I just got a job working with dragons a few weeks ago.” He smiled. ”Before that, I just traveled.” In other words. He simply backpacked around the world studying magical creatures. But that sounded a little strange. And he was used to not fully explaining things, because he usually gave the “what I’m doing with my life” spiel to non magical family members.
@alice
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 25, 2017 10:22:59 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 10:22:59 GMT -7
There he was smiling at her again. Except this time, Alice didn't avert her eyes. Instead she smiled back as a silent 'thank you' as she continued to pet Solomon. When Soloman stopped eating, Alice stopped petting the raven and returning her hands to her lap. She smiled then at the raven as the man answered her question, but his answer surprised her. Alice returned her attention to the man with a look of impressed shock. "You're a... dragonologist?" She asked, making no effort to hide her sudden fascination. Dragons were always something that Alice had been so keen on studying, and she had read so much about them. To interact even within a mile of them was a dream. "W-what's that like?" She asked curiously.
@aiden
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 25, 2017 12:10:49 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 12:10:49 GMT -7
The two exchanged smiles.It was nice. Aiden finally knew someone in London outside of his work. True, he didn’t know many people inside work, but he would get to know more people. When Solomon finished eating, and the girl had finished petting him, the bird flew off his arm and landed on the table once more and pecked at the glove. Aiden removed the glove and set his arm on the table, as Solomon hopped on and moved closer to his head and rubbed against him.
The girl seemed seemed impressed, but there was something else in her expression. Was it surprised, or terror? He wasn’t sure. No matter what it was, something seemed to change in the girls mannerism. At first, the two would talk, and she seemed more interested in Solomon. Aiden didn’t mind this, Sol was his best friend and only companion these past years while traveling. ”Y-yea I guess I am.” He really wasn’t used to having a title, or calling whatever he did something in particular. He smiled when she asked what it was like. ”Well I haven’t done much. I just started a few weeks ago. I honestly thought that working with dragons would probably be scary, but I’ve learned that nothing is scarier than coming across a Nundu.” That was terrifying. He had turned a corner around a rock and saw it. Luckily the beast hadn’t seen him. He knew their dangers and backed off. He did find a safe distance and watched it for a little while. That was until it started to run in his direction. He got out of there fast. He had no idea what the large beast was after, but he didn’t take any chances. He kind of chuckled at the memory and glanced at his journal. ”What do you do?” He asked, trying to change the subject, and realizing that they had really only talked about himself.
@alice
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 25, 2017 16:20:55 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 16:20:55 GMT -7
Alice had only met one another dragonologist before, and that had been one of James's uncles during Christmas one year. She had talked Charlie Weasley's ear off then, and the only thing stopping her from doing it now was how cute she found this stranger. It intimidated Alice. When the man continued to talk, Alice listened intently until he spoke of a Nundu and her eyes went wide in shock. "Y-you have... you've seen a Nundu?" She asked incredulously. Alice had read about Nundu and how at one point in history it took nearly one hundred people to subdue one, due to their toxicity and size. The man did say he had traveled. He had probably seen far more than just a Nundu.
In comparison to the few things she knew so far about this stranger, she felt her own experience was severely lacking. But she was, after all, still young and an intern at that. She was proud to talk about her career of choice whenever asked, but felt particularly shy about it when he asked what she did for a living. "I'm, uh... I'm interning to become a magizoologist," she said, trying to gain her confidence back. She hadn't felt so shy around someone like this since... well, she would rather not try to think about him right now.
@aiden
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 25, 2017 17:01:03 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 17:01:03 GMT -7
Aiden couldn't help but smile at the girls interest in what he had said. It was truly terrifying. But he saw how intensely interested the girl was, so he thought that he could expound on it a bit more, for her. "Yea, when I spent a couple months in Africa. I believe that I was watching a herd of Eurumpents when I saw the Nundu. Scared me half to death when it started to come towards me." He glanced at his journal and and flipped a few pages where there was a crude drawing of a Nundu. "Yup, around then." He chuckled again. Africa was fun. They had a whole different type of magic too. Aiden had the chance to see some of that, but he loved to see and study all the magical beasts. He also spent some time in small villages and seeing how they worked around and used the animals.
As much as Aiden could talk about his adventures while traveling, it was really interesting to hear what the girl was doing. He had only heard of interning from his eldest sibling her interned while in College. "That's cool. So you want to be a magizoologist? Where do you want to go with that?" So she did love animals as much as he did. His smile widened. He loved coming across a person with the same interests as he had.
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 27, 2017 5:54:52 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2017 5:54:52 GMT -7
Alice found that she couldn't look away from the stranger as he talked about spending a few months in Africa, observing an Erumpent herd. Alice would be lying if she were to say she weren't a tad bit envious of this stranger. She watched him then confirm his own thoughts with a few flips through his journal. The former Hufflepuff's curiosity to see what information sat upon those pages was peaked. He obviously had a lot of adventures to speak about, and the intern only hoped to one day have some of her own.
The blonde found her own smile widen when the stranger smiled wider at her. That was weird; usually that type of thing never had any affect on her but he definitely seemed to. Maybe it was their mutual love for animals that made him ten times easier to talk to. "I'd love to travel further than I have to study creatures. Magical or not," she said, a bit more confident now as she spoke. "I... visited America recently. With my aunt," she shrugged. "She's a magizoologist. I'm interning under her and her husband." Alice thought her career and "adventures" were far more lame than any story this stranger could probably pull out of his hat, but she was still proud.
@aiden
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last online May 12, 2024 23:29:54 GMT -7
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Oct 27, 2017 9:46:22 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2017 9:46:22 GMT -7
Aiden was used to meeting people from other countries. And he had met quite a few animals lovers like this girl and himself. But something felt different here, and he couldn’t put his finger on it. He enjoyed speaking with this girl and she seemed to enjoy his company as well.
When the girl told him that she wanted to travel further than she had already, he chuckled. He felt the same way. It was interesting that this girl had said that she would like to study magical and non magical creatures. Aiden had grown up learning about non magical creatures, but it was still fun to see them outside of a children's wildlife book. But because he grew up with them, and later learned about the existence of magical creatures, he couldn’t resist studying them. He wondered what type of family situation this girl had, he wouldn’t ask though. He felt like it would be rude, and probably too soon, they had just met. His interest was peaked further when she mentioned that she had gone to America. ”America, really? Where in America did you guys go?” Aiden had spent most of his life in America. His family moved so much that not one place he considered “home” but he did love the differences in the country itself that made America such a unique place to travel around.
@alice
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