Streets of London | Jace

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Here she was. London England. Somewhere that small town girl, Brooke Lane never thought she’d find herself. The biggest city she had ever been to for extended periods of time was Anchorage, Alaska, and if she thought that was a big place, she was in for a rude awakening this summer. Her old school was destroyed by a terrorist organization and she would be attending a new school for the year. Most of the students had chosen to go to London for the summer to get to know some of their future classmates and learn their new environment and cultures. She didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay in her little village and spend the summer months on the gulf. However, her mom and brothers had got a flat in the city for the summer so they could ensure the kids had everything they needed come the school year.

The best thing about being in a foreign country that you didn’t want to be in, was knowing that your best friend was here too. Brooke had met Jace when he and his family moved to their small town years and years ago. They were the same age and had very similar personalities. They got on very well. She had sent him a message asking if he could meet her in the famous, wizarding alley. The flat that her family got was in a muggle part of town, which was weird since she had never been around muggles for long periods of time. Being in the alley where everyone around her was like her gave her a sense of comfort as she adjusted to this new environment. So, she sat on a bench near the entrance from the pub and waited.

@jace

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Jace made his way to Diagon Alley, keeping an eye out for his best friend. Apart from his sisters, there was one person he was closer to than others: Brooke. He met her when he and his father moved to Alaska, she'd been one of his neighbors and they got along right from the start. Both of them liked adventures, having fun and messing around. When they went to Ilvermorny, they were both in Thunderbird together. Brooke knew Jace almost as well as he knew himself, which was highly convenient when he was in the mood to have some fun. 

Finally, he saw her sitting on a bench. Jace grinned and waved at her. "Hey Brooke," he called as he made his way over to her. It was nice to see her here, in this new place. Made it seem more comfortable somehow. He sat beside her on the bench without hesitation. "So, what were you planning on doing today?" he asked, figuring she had some sort of plan. She normally did. At least, she was the better one between the two of them when it came to planning. 

@brooke

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Brooke’s face lit up when she saw her friend approaching and heard him call out to her. A familiar site was always welcome, especially now. Brooke was normally an energetic, free spirited girl who seemed to be always in her element no matter where she was or who she was with. And she wanted to be that way here too. Everything just felt so pressing and restrictive. She would be a new girl now and have to meet new people and make new friends, which she was decently good at, being as friendly as she was. But what if Hogwarts and British kids were different and didn’t tolerate her or her friends? There was no reason to dwell on it now. Worst case scenario, she had her group and she knew they’d never abandon her. “There’s so much to do.” Brooke said, glancing around the alley after Jace sat next to her. “Have you got a new wand yet?” she asked him. It was so sad thinking that their wands, which they had already bonded to, were destroyed. However, in England, kids were allowed to keep their wands year round, they just weren’t allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. It was both odd and exciting that they didn’t have to leave them locked up at school.

@jace

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Brooke almost seemed overwhelmed when she answered his question, saying that there was a lot to do. He smirked at her, semi-amused by her attitude, but understanding it all the same. They were in a new place and had to meet new people, as well as prepare to attend school in a completely different place. It could be a bit much, if you let it. He was determined to just have fun with all of it. He shook his head at her question, "Nope. You want to go and get some now? I hear there's a really good place nearby." Of course, Jace wasn't exactly sure where it was, but he didn't think it'd be hard to find. "You excited that we actually get to keep our wands with us now?" If she wasn't, he definitely was. Even though he was too young to use magic outside of school. It was still awesome!

@brooke

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To be honest, the Thunderbird wasn't quite sure what got into her, and she could tell that Jace could notice. Brooke was normally very self sufficient and loved exploring and adventuring and meeting new people and making friends. Feeling this out of place felt so weird for her and put her in a really odd place. “Yeah maybe, I heard about the shop here,” she nodded. From what her mom had told her, the wand shop in the Alley was quite famous around the world because Ollivander had been a very famous and successful wand maker. Brooke had money to spend, her parents wanted to make sure their kids were successful overseas and knew that they would have errands to run while they were here for the summer to get ready for the new year of school. Her brothers chose to spend their money and time in the Quidditch shop, which hadn’t really caught Brooke’s interest yet. Brooke had been spending a lot of her money on ice cream, but was excited to get a wand. “Yeah! Let’s go see.” she agreed and stood up, she knew the shop was just a little ways down the alley. “Of course! It’s kind of freeing.” and it felt a lot more grown up, but she wouldn’t say that out loud.

@jace

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Maybe? Jace's expression grew hesitant at Brooke's attitude. It was obvious that she wasn't her normal self right now, but not knowing what to do was even more different for her. He touched her arm, "Hey, are you okay?" The two of them hadn't really had time to talk since all the stuff went down at Ilvermorny and since coming here, so maybe she needed to talk through everything. Then again, she might just be having an off day, but if he didn't try to figure it out, he'd feel bad. Brooke was one of his oldest friends. She suddenly stood up, sounding a little more exciting as she said that she did want to get a wand. Jace jumped up instantly, grinning even though she was still behaving weirdly. "Good! I'm interested to see if I'll get a wand similar to my last one or if it's going to be completely different." His excitement rose. He loved the wand that he had at Ilvermorny. It understood him and just seemed to fit, but it was gone. That was a hard thing to come to grips with initially, but Jace was all right with it now and he was looking forward to getting a new one. "How about you look on that side of the street and I'll look on this side? That way we don't have to ask anyone and if we see another shop we're interested in, we can check that one out too." He started looking to the right, assuming she'd agree with that idea.

@brooke

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He asked her if she was okay and Brooke wasn’t sure what to say. She was okay. She was fine. Nothing was wrong. She just felt off. She felt almost numb. She was very homesick. She never felt homesick when she was at Ilvermorny, there she had been excited for the adventure. “Yeah.” she nodded. “I’m fine. Just still adjusting to London is all. Not sure how much I like the city or the crowds.” she admitted with a shrug. She was working on getting used to it. And being with him made her feel loads better about it all. "I wonder." she agreed. Would it be the same? Were wands over here the same? Were they made differently? He stood up with her and continued to talk about wands. She had loved her old wand. She had bonded with it over the past 4 years of school and was heart broken that it was destroyed and gone forever. But, she was excited to get a new one, and over the moon excited that they got to keep it over the holidays. Though she was sure that upon returning to Ilvermorny they’d have to turn it in again. Wizards here didn’t even have to carry permits! “Okay.” she nodded when he asked if they wanted to check their own sides of the street for other things to check out later. Why not? She would be down for a bit more exploring. She was starting to feel like herself again and she was sure he was the cause.

@jace

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Brooke insisted she was fine and Jace nodded, though he wasn't sure he believed her. He'd have to keep an eye on his friend and make sure that she got back to normal, or he might have to do something a little crazy. He smirked a little at that thought. Whatever was going on with her, he was sure he could pull her out with some adventure or another. They were in London! Might as well enjoy it and have fun while it lasted, right? She "wondered" in response to his comment about the wands and Jace rolled his eyes. She was definitely not feeling talkative today. Maybe that would change the longer they were together. "Brooke," he moaned her name when she just said okay to his idea. "Come on here, you've got to give me something to go on. Do you want to have an adventure, or just get ready for school? I'm trying, but I really have no idea what you're feeling up for." Jace turned to face her, his expression pleading. He was good at talking to people and encouraging them to have fun, but not when they wouldn't talk with him in return or give him anything to go off of. He glanced to his side of the street. "Want to look at magical pets? Or there's an ice cream shop a little further on ..." Jace looked back to her, waiting for his best friend to come out. Was the city really affecting her this much?

@brooke

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He moaned her name and she felt her heart sink. She wasn’t being herself. She wasn’t being fun and she was showing it way too much. Brooke Lane had always been awful at hiding her feelings, she was a very open and honest person, so trying to hide what she was feeling wasn’t really working for her and tended to be really obvious. “Sorry Jace.” she sighed. “It’s just the city, I feel like the more people are around, the more crowded my mind and thoughts are.” she admitted. Maybe she was claustrophobic? She hadn’t even thought of that before, but it was starting to seem like a very viable option. “I’ve been to the ice cream parlor a few times.” she admitted with a chuckle. “It’s good.” She glanced around. A pet could be nice, she mused. She had a dog at home and she loved spending time with it, but obviously the animal was too big to bring to school. She could bring a cat, she knew. But cats and Brooklyn never really got along. “We could look at pets.” she agreed with a shrug, trying hard to push any discomfort to the back of her mind.

@jace

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Brooke apologized and Jace shook his head in response. That wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to be able to do something to help her feel more like herself, not an apology. Then she started to explain and he listened carefully, nodding at her words. "Do you want me to find somewhere less crowded for us to hang out this summer?" Sure, he found Diagon Alley and all the people fascinating and was having a ball with it, but he could do that without Brooke. The most important thing was making sure she was all right. She was his best friend, after all. He nodded thoughtfully as she said the ice cream was good and then said they could look at the pets. Jace tapped his chin, pausing in his walk for a moment. "Okay, how about this? We go look at pets, then get ice cream on our way to get wands?" It wasn't necessarily exciting, but it included quite a bit of new activities and interactions with people neither of them knew. It should be fun! Especially if he could get Brooke to come out and play with him.

@brooke

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He asked her if she wanted him to find somewhere less crowded for them to hang out over the summer and she shook her head. She needed to get used to Diagon Alley and the rest of the normal, wizarding things that the students she would be going to school with did over the summer. She wanted to be able to identify with them and chat with them about the things that were familiar to them. She had a feeling that a lot of the friends she’d be making would start by asking her questions about America and Ilvermorny, so she wanted to be able to counter by knowing some things about being an English Witch. She didn’t want people to know her just as an American transfer student. She wanted to be considered normal, despite the obviously different way her voice sounded. “No. I’m sure I just need more time to adjust.” she decided. She knew he was growing frustrated with her, and she was growing so with herself as well, however, she was glad when he suggested a plan for the afternoon. Animals, ice cream and then wands. “Yeah that sounds like a great plan. Let's go!” she nodded with a smile. Not really wanting to talk about it anymore, she took his hand and pulled him into the pet shop.

@jace

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Jace was unsure about what his best friend wanted. He loved spending his time with Brooke and normally it wasn't this complicated, but at the moment he wasn't exactly sure how to respond to her. She seemed closed off, but he didn't think it was on purpose. It probably was nerves about the new surrounding and people, which she confirmed once more when she spoke, saying she just needed to adjust. He smiled at her and shrugged a little, "Well, let me know if there's anything I can do to help." For now, he was just going to try and make her forget she was in a new place. Get her distracted by her surroundings. She agreed to his plan and Jace grinned when she grabbed his hand, dragging him to the pet shop- not that he fought her. There was the Brooke he knew. He chuckled as they entered the building and looked around. "They could really use some better lighting in here," he muttered to her under his breath. To the right there were cats and toads, to the left rats and dogs. "Let's go this way," he suggested, tugging her hand to try and pull her to the dogs. Honestly, he wasn't a big fan of cats. He'd choose dogs if he could. The owls were probably in the back of the building, he assumed since he didn't see them. After a few steps down the aisle he saw a little puppy and instantly squatted down. He turned to look up at Brooke, a pleading (and yet somehow still teasing) look on his face. "Can we play with him a little? Please?" Even as he spoke, he nodded to a worker, who waved their wand and the bars opened. Jace pulled the pup out and cradled it in his arms, turning to grin at his best friend and nodding she join him, sitting on the ground.

@brooke

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Out of everything in her life, Brooklyn was the most thankful for her friendships. She had so many people around her that loved her care about her and she didn’t know where she would be without them. Especially at this time in her life, or in this place, where she felt so uncomfortable and out of her element. But on top of all of her friends, she was the most thankful to Jace. Ever since he and his family moved to Tugidak Brooke had felt like they were meant to be friends, and here they were, best friends. Brooke was glad he didn’t press the subject more after she dragged him across the alley and into the pet shop. Jace’s first comment upon entering was about the lighting and Brooke couldn’t agree more. “Yeah you’d think it’d be brighter so people could see the animals better.” she agreed. This time, it was him who was dragging her off before she could get another word in. He lead her towards the dogs at the back of the shop, which she was honestly a little surprised they sold since as far as she was aware, dogs weren’t allowed at Hogwarts. Brooke had grown up around dogs and loved them the most, while she didn’t have any pets of her own, her family had two large dogs at home that they had since before Brooke went to school. Jace found a dog and asked if they could play with it, the shopkeeper opened the cage and Jace pulled the animal out. Brooke got down on her knees to pet the puppy too. “He’s so sweet.” she smiled, scratching the dog’s head.

@jace

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Brooke seemed to be coming back to herself and Jace was relieved. She agreed with him when they entered the shop and he smiled. He liked it more than he should when people told him he was right, no matter what it was about. She let him pull her to the dogs and Jace's smile widened to a grin at the look on her face when he pulled out the dog. She went down on her knees, seeming just like herself now. "Of course he's sweet. He's a dog." He met her eyes and made a face. "If dogs were allowed at school, I'd definitely have one, you know." He'd been working hard to try and get a dog ever since he was a young kid, but they weren't allowed at Ilvermorny (and he was pretty sure they wouldn't be allowed at Hogwarts either) so he hadn't been able to manage it yet.  He looked back at the puppy, grinning as he petted its soft fur. "I wonder if it knows any tricks?" he mused with a smile, setting the puppy on the floor. It was trained well enough to not run away when he released it. "Want to give it a go?" he asked her, gesturing that she should.

@brooke

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Brooke nodded when Jace told her that if dogs were allowed at school he’d have one. She felt the exact same way. She always loved dogs, they calmed her down and made her so happy. However, she had two dogs, two big ones back at home in Alaska. They weren’t hers exactly, they were her families, but she liked to take ownership of them. The family had them since she was young, since before she even started Hogwarts, and leaving them for the summer AND the next school year was killing her. Normally, she at least had the summer to spend with them at home. “I would too.” she agreed. “It sucks that they don’t allow them.” Especially since Brooke felt dogs were better than cats, especially when it came to comfort and companionship. But she knew the school likely wouldn’t ever change its mind. It just seemed odd to her to allow one but not the other. Jace small dog go and asked about tricks, of course, Brooke had no idea, but there was really one way to find out, apart from asking one of the employees. “Sit.” the Thunderbird commanded, the dog appeared to be listened, and sat down, his tail wagging underneath him.

@jace