seeker of the sight | maggie

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

HYDE PARK WAS QUICKLY BECOMING ONE OF ELI'S FAVOURITE PLACES IN LONDON. In a city that bustled with concrete and madness, it didn't hold the same appeal for Eli. But the parks, well he loved the parks. Walking among Muggles, with just his battered camera and the sun above, it was a perfect way to spend his summer, he reckoned. A way to distract him from home, where his mother was still missing and his brother still hoped.

Quietly, Eli weaved between the trees. He'd worn his softest soled sneakers, rolling up the hem of his jeans so that they didn't rustle against the underbrush. And with the eye of the camera aimed at his own, he followed various wildlife. A bird with a patch of missing feathers on one wing. A woodlouse tittering along a fallen branch. And finally, his best one yet, the fattest red squirrel Eli had ever seen.

He'd caught it rifling around in a garbage can first. And had since followed it as it waddled around, its bushy tail a sight to be seen. He'd affectionately named it Wilbur. And it so far had starred in most of Eli's pictures of the day. Following at a safe distance, his mouth parted slightly in concentration. It was a good day. 

@magpie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Maggie liked the park, more than she liked just about anything in England so far. She didn't mind the big-city vibes of London, where she was staying - she'd been to cities before, and once you'd seen one you'd seen them all - but the park was the only place where she felt like she could be anonymous. There were trees in Hyde Park, and Maggie was particularly good at climbing them, thanks to her lack of fear of heights or falling. She was in the upper branches of an old oak tree, peering around at the park spread below her from between the leaves that were obscuring her vision. As it turned out, she was watching someone who was watching something else - a dark haired boy who was following a squirrel. Maggie swore that he looked familiar, but it wasn't until he turned so he was mostly facing her to get a photo of the squirrel that Maggie finally recognized him. He was another Ilvermorny student, who was the year above her in Pukwudgie. "Hey, Gus!" Maggie called, fully aware that the boy's name was not, in fact, Gus. She had just made that mistake before, and wasn't keen to let either of them forget it. She didn't move from her perch in the trees, though, wondering if he'd be able to spot her.

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

ELI HAD A LOT OF FRIENDS. In fact, Eli was so friendly that the word in itself was a applied loosely. He would talk to anybody, knew dozens of different students from different houses. And not just in his year either. So, being in London was different in the way that he didn't know what to expect with the new school year. Those faces, the ones that knew his name just because of his propensity to chat. He had feared he'd lose it all.

But, summer was a welcome distraction from said fears. He never expected to hear his name so he never missed it. Until that voice. Eli froze, his spine straightening instinctively. His name wasn't Gus, but he still reacted to it like it was. A mistake made by a particular face that first year at Ilvermony. It had stuck for her, and it probably should have annoyed Eli, but it never did any more. Though that was probably due to how soft he was for the person attached to said voice.

Eli looked up, turning his head wildly. Maybe he had imagined it. His camera clutched to his chest, he sighed in confusion and just so happened to look up - ever the dreamer. And there she was, like a mirage among the greenery. Eli squinted past a shaft of dappled light that hit his face as he looked up.

"Maggie...?" He shouted, lifting a hand to shade his eyes. "Wh- what are you doing here?" He didn't ask why she was up a tree, somehow that seemed so completely fitting. And because she had gotten the better of him, he lifted his camera and snapped a quick shot of her perched on the tree like an overgrown woodland creature. "For proof." He said with a smirk. 

@magpie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Watching Gus – Eli, whichever – look around before finding her in the trees was more than a little amusing for Maggie. She didn’t take pleasure out of making a fool of others, but she did quite like sending others for a loop, and making them think a little before jumping to conclusions. Eli spotted her eventually, though Maggie wondered how long he would have just been chasing that squirrel around, oblivious to being watched if she hadn’t spoken up. She wasn’t a stalker, though, and she definitely wouldn’t stalk Eli, of all people. They were friends, kind of, and she got the impression that stalking was a great way to ruin a relationship with someone.

Eli asked what she was doing there, and Maggie shrugged, moving closer to the end of the branch so that there were fewer leaves in between her and him. Sadly, that made it so that his picture, when he took it, was clearer. Maggie scrunched her face up when the flash went off. She hated pictures of herself being taken. It was just another way for people to ogle her, but with photos, she had no idea how long they were spending looking at her. She retreated a few inches, back towards the trunk of the tree and the shadows. “Haven’t you heard that fresh air is good for you?” She called down to him. “I need to retain my youthful glow.” Maggie added. That wasn’t really a problem for her, since Veelas remained younger-looking for longer, but it was still fun to poke fun at people whose only reasons for going outside were aesthetic. Why couldn’t she just enjoy nature?

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

FROM HER PERCH, Maggie had the ultimate advantage. Eli on the ground, his camera warm in his hands. It was a very typical set up. Maggie had always been the type of girl you admired from afar. She only ever seemed to blow by Eli at odd and unconventional intervals. A whisper of Gus, melodic from her mouth only as she passed. Softening the edges of a miscommunication Eli probably should have been offended by. But that ship had long since sailed.

And even when he didn't receive an immediate answer, Eli wasn't even surprised. But he still snapped a picture of her. Nobody would believe him if he just told them. And it was a beautiful snapshot. The sunlight dappled through the trees, playing havoc with her curly brown hair. Except maybe it was a step too far because when he lowered the lens with an explanation it was like she receded in to herself. He'd delete it if she asked. He hoped she didn't ask.

A snort erupted from Eli as Maggie spoke. He looked down at his camera with a shake of his head. He never could predict what Maggie would say. "Your 'youthful glow', huh?" He said, tilting his chin up, his smile thin and a little snarky. "You look pretty youthful to me, Maggie." He called out, squinting against the sun. "What're you trying to do, travel back in time? You ain't getting any younger up there."

He wanted to take another picture. From his angle he couldn't see her face. It was cast in shadow by the sun behind her, and that same sun was watering his eyes every time he looked up. Why is it that even when he grows tall he is still looking up at her? It was cosmically unfair.

@magpie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Eli snorted at what she said, and Maggie tilted her head curiously at him. She hadn’t had many actual conversations with the older boy, choosing instead to constantly keeping him off balance by flitting in only long enough to prod him with a teasing comment before leaving again. This was new territory, entirely uncharted – and she was having a fun time exploring. He glanced down at his camera, and Maggie squinted, as if that would somehow make her able to see what he saw. She didn’t know why he was looking down, but after a moment, he looked back up at her. He said she looked youthful to him, and Maggie rolled her eyes. At least he wasn’t saying she looked beautiful or something equally trite. He asked if she was trying to travel back in time, and Maggie shrugged. “I mean, that would be pretty cool.” She responded, moving forward a little on the branch again, now that he seemed less likely to try to take her picture. It would be cool to do some time-traveling, especially since there wasn't much magic that would allow her to do that. “Say, Gus, you wanna play a game?” Maggie asked, moving even further forward, so she was more in sunlight than shadows. She hoped that he said yes.

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

FINALLY, Maggie shifted closer again and Eli could see her face. All the while she answered him in that flippant manner. Never fully elaborating on the fantastical thread of her thoughts. He'd heard before that her parents were circus performers. It was always something he'd wanted to ask her about. The idea of it an entirely different kind of magic.

"Yeah, I guess it would," Eli said with a fond smile, lifting a hand to pull tangled brown hair from his forehead. As he did, he stopped, fingers full of hair as Maggie asked him an odd question. He squinted, looking up with a half smile, nose wrinkled. "A game?" He echoed, a little befuddled. She had that effect on people. "I mean, sure." He shrugged, nipping at his bottom lip, utterly intrigued. "Does it mean you'll come down so I don't have to squint any more?" He joked, halfway serious. 

@magpie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Oh, Gus. Poor, sweet, innocent Gus. He agreed to play a game, but didn’t even ask what kind of game they were going to be playing, which kind of ruined Maggie’s grand plan. It was okay, though – she would find a way around his unwillingness to give her what she needed for a perfect reveal. Elijah asked if she was going to come down, mentioning having to squint, and Maggie rolled her eyes. The sunshine was a beautiful thing, and he oughtn’t complain about having to squint against it. But, his question about her coming down gave her a perfect opportunity to tell him what game they were going to play. “That’s just the point.” Maggie said with a smile, inching closer to the edge of the branch, and feeling it begin to bow under her weight. “We’re playing catch.” She announced, right before flinging herself out of the tree and towards Elijah, hoping that he would catch her.

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

HIS HANDS WEREN'T EVEN OUT OF HIS HAIR YET. Eli was just standing there, contemplating all the possibilities for what Maggie could be thinking. She always said things that either Eli didn't understand, or that simply confused him. He supposed that was why he found her so interesting. Why he'd embarrassed himself in front of his friends many times in recent years about Maggie. Maggie this, Maggie that. It was a crush, he knew it was. But, he didn't really know her. Eli was coming to a realisation that he might never really know her.

"Catch?" Eli said with a frown, squinting up at Maggie as he pulled his hand away from his hair, the other still clutching his camera. And then she was soaring toward him from the top of the branch. "Wait, what?!" Eli's breath caught, and he had but a moment to toss his camera aside thoughtlessly before he braced his knees and held his arms out dumbly. Catch her? How on earth could he catch her? But he didn't step away. Eli was the type of boy to throw himself at a challenge without much forethought and with varying degrees of success. 

@magpie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!