where the wild things are | sienna

[Teresa Margarite Poole]

make a martyr outta me.

july 2027

THE PORTKEY HAD FOUND TERRY ON THE OUTER banks of a little wizarding community near Giethoorn. A little Dutch scene with winding waterways and a love for flying bicycles, Terry had found a temporary position aiding them with an outbreak of Black Cat Flu. She was living on a houseboat at the time, with two other healers all crammed toe to toe in what could only be described as a 'tin can' predicament. She'd managed alright, but the parchment came like a blessing in the night.

Sienna's swirling French greeting cheered Terry immediately, and she'd treasured the little snowglobe portkey as if it were a compass on open ocean. The parchment invited her to help with an assignment in Iceland, should she be free to accompany her. Sienna always had a way of never quite pushing for a visit. It made Terry both relieved and anxious, did she really want Terry to come at all? Or was she being kind, unsure of where the parchment might find her? Luckily, Terry's eagerness to escape the cramped houseboat overruled her insecurities. She sent back a short confirmation, trying to appear both cool and enthusiastic. It came out rather dry, in retrospect.

When the time arrived, Terry left the pleasant little village with a book full of charming, pressed flowers and a flush to her face she couldn't quite shake. Goodbyes were always quite mortifying, she had come to realise. The snowglobe dropped Terry just outside of Reykjavík, where she spent the day eating tinned seafood and mapping her journey to the remote village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur, where she was due to meet Sienna the following morning. A wizarding bus took her most of the way, screeching around winding country roads and leaving her a little green around the gills. She had to hike the rest of the way, which wasn't entirely unpleasant in the buttery summer daylight.

By the time she reached the villages outskirts, her feet were rather sore and she had a sunburnt flush over the bridge of her nose. She felt the change in the air almost tangibly, shifting from cool ordinary greenery to the imbued magic of a land brimming with kinetic potential. She breathed it in, pulling her bag from her shoulder to sip from a cannister of water as she took out the parchment to check once again the time she was due to meet her old friend. However, as she crouched over the bulging bag, she hard the crunching of gravel and lifted her head. "Sienna...?" She squinted from the ground, a hand tented over her eyes to see through the bright sunshine. "Is that really you?" A smile broke around the corners of her mouth unbidden, relieved to see a familiar face after so much strangeness. 

Sienna Aurélie Linslee

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Sienna Aurélie Linslee]

July 2027

It had been a whirlwind of a year. Sienna felt like she’d been living someone else’s life, a sort of glamorous rollercoaster with a new city every two weeks and a travel diary of unforgettable experiences. The Order of Merlin had been a sort of bittersweet achievement. Of course it was the pinnacle of all of Si’s secret dreams, the sense of accomplishment she’d been constantly chasing since her days at Beauxbatons with a great big flashing message. That she’d contributed something that actually mattered, that would change the lives of people and do something to help. It was all she’d ever wanted. Or so she thought, because the bitter part of those days…well, that was realizing that there was something else she wanted desperately and never quite seemed able to have.

She and Rob had never seemed to figure out their timing, and there was always some unspoken obstacle. Another relationship, family ties, Aware Wolf…so she’d needed space. A little time to decide what to do with her life now that she’d achieved her greatest ambition and lost the one who got away. Rhys had given her a little bit of inspiration, in that sense. It seemed fairly clear to everyone that he used his cursebreaking as a way to run from problems and keep a low profile when things got intense. Sienna was usually more critical of that behavior, but now…well, she seemed to understand Rhys in a way she never had before. She understood the need to put some space between her and those big problems that didn’t seem to have a solution. It hurt not to see Rob every day or share this adventure with him...but maybe a little time was all she needed to find their usual dynamic again. Pretend it could all go back to normal, whatever normal meant.

And so where hadn’t she been? China, Italy, Russia, even different parts of Africa and Oceania. It had been a whirlwind of adventure, learning new potions techniques from every corner of the magical world and gaining new insights into how they saw the world. It made a stark difference to her Muggle childhood and somewhat sheltered time at Beauxbatons. She didn't have any regrets, but as Sienna set down in Iceland, she could sense that she was reaching the end of her trip. There was a strange hollowness in her chest as she thought about the life she’d left behind – and the people. Yeah, she knew she had to go back sometime and the end was ticking closer.

So that was why she’d written to her roommate, who seemed to be on her own voyage of self-discovery. Merlin and Morgana, it was wild how long they’d known each other, and also deeply comforting that there was somebody who’d seen her in just about every stage of life and knew who she was. Sienna knew that Terry was somewhere in Holland, studying a disease that she’d definitely written to her about even if Si couldn’t quite remember the name. Sienna wanted desperately to see a part of her old life again, so she’d sent off an owl with an invitation -- even if she didn’t want to interrupt Terry’s trip and any plans she'd made. Sienna had stocked enough apothecary kits for Healers in the past to know what their needs were, but she didn’t pretend to understand the work they did.

She’d already been in Reykjavik for a few days, even sitting in on an ancient ceremony to study their potionmaking techniques. One of her guides had stressed the importance of location, so Si had gone out wandering. There was something deeply magical about the quiet countryside, and Sienna stopped suddenly on her path as she noticed a local variation of Shrivelfig – a plant she hadn’t been expecting to see. She pulled out her notebook hastily to document what she saw and compare it to her notes on the wild patches she’d seen in Africa. After a few minutes, Si let the notebook dangle loosely from her hand as she kept an eye out for her old friend. Her face split into a bright grin as she finally caught sight of a huddled figure just ahead – just like Terry to take ages to search her bag. “Terry!” she squealed excitedly, waiting for her friend to catch her bearings and straighten before pulling her into a hug. “You caught the Portkey alright? I was worried I hadn’t given you much heads-up…”

Teresa Margarite Poole

[Teresa Margarite Poole]

make a martyr outta me.

july 2027

AMONGST THE CRISP GREENERY AND SHARP sunshine, the sight of Sienna was like a desert mirage. Terry straightened immediately, her face aching with the smile that overtook it. Hand tenting over her forehead as she called out to the figure approaching somewhere in the distance, yelling her name. She waved an arm, sweeping the sweet air over her head and watching a butterfly dodge agitatedly as she did.

Terry dropped her hands and abandoned her bags as she broke out into a swift march. The throb in her feet forgotten at the sight of something so terribly familiar. She felt fizzy with anticipation. Sienna's features sharpening as she came close enough to hear her comfortably. "I'm here aren't I?" She nodded eagerly, trying to dampen her smile to a more natural expression. Terry wasn't really the jumping for joy type, but she felt just about close to it. It was Sienna. Sienna.

She had enjoyed her travels, the research and the curiosities of foreign magical sickness. Terry had never really regretted leaving England behind, but there was something so stark about seeing someone she truly knew for the first time in almost year. It made her nearly dizzy with nostalgia. "I can't believe you're here." She admitted, holding her hands out, palms up. As if she had invited Sienna and not the opposite way around. There was a brief hesitation where Terry felt the desire to hug her friend, but didn't know quite how to do it. Perhaps she had been isolated for just a little too long, her social norms were rusty.

Terry needn't have worried, as Sienna snatched her into a tight hug of her own. She stiffened on contact, unsure of what to do as her arms hung limply at her sides for a beat. She managed a quick, unnatural squeeze of her own arms before they disentangled and she felt just a little guilty. She'd never been very good at affection. She'd been told before, but Terry hadn't the time to work on it while being so far from home. 

Apart, they were stuck looking at each other. Terry drinking in the familiar plains of her friends face, trying to figure out if she had changed at all in the time since they had last seen one and other. Unsure of what to say next, Terry grabbed her friends hand, clasping it in two of her own and tugging on it. She gave it a slow, almost dramatic shake before she cringed. "I can't believe I just shook your hand." She admitted, her mouth pinched as she dropped Sienna's hands and palmed her tired, sunburnt face. "Merlin, it's good to see you." She sighed with a curve of her mouth.

Sienna Aurélie Linslee

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Sienna Aurélie Linslee]

The fleeting homesickness that Sienna had been pointedly ignoring for the last few weeks suddenly hit full-force as she wrapped Terry up into a big hug. She’d enjoyed the novelty of traveling for a while, especially because traveling alone was a completely different experience compared to going with her dad or a friend. There, you had to compromise a bit and plan things out. Going alone had been a more spontaneous whirlwind, making split second decisions based on how she was feeling and the sort of offers that fell into her lap. But it became distinctly lonely after a while and Si’s mind had gone drifting towards home, wondering what her friends were doing and what sort of changes had happened since she’d left.

So seeing Terry was like finally acknowledging the budding feelings in her chest that everything was better with people. Sienna beamed widely at her friend, cataloguing any little differences she noticed and laughing to herself a little at the wild state of Terry’s bag sitting next to them. She thought she’d succeeded in composing herself after the initial shock, taking deep breaths to ground herself after she’d run the last few meters, but the solemn way Terry shook her hand sent her into another fit of giggles. “Is that Hogwarts’ etiquette curriculum at work?” Si asked, shaking her head at what Madame Lapin might have said about that. Beauxbatons had been extremely thorough in imparting pearls of wisdom in terms of how to act with proper good breeding, and the Etiquette Mistress had always spoken about the British with a sort of derision in her voice.

“It’s a miracle we’ve found each other!” Si agreed with a sigh of relief. She made a tsk noise to herself as she kneeled down to start repacking Terry’s bag – sure, she’d learned a bit of household magic but she still liked to do things with her hands whenever possible. “It’s been six months and I still can’t read a map. I’ve gotten so lost,” Sienna admitted sheepishly, folding a jumper that had fallen out at some point. It was one of the fundamental truths in life that she could tell Terry anything, because her friend was only a silent judger and would do whatever she could to help. And besides, after the Great Sugar Quill Fire that had overtaken their kitchen last year – well, they’d seen each other in just about every situation possible, embarrassing or otherwise. There was no question of saving face.

Teresa Margarite Poole

[Teresa Margarite Poole]

make a martyr outta me.

july 2027

THE AIR WAS SWEETER AND THE DAY BRIGHTER in the wake of good company. Terry grinned at Si out from under a visor she made of her hand. Squinting in the glare of sunshine as she sidled up close to her friend, only marginally embarrassed that she'd gone and shaken her hand like a posh twat. Luckily, it was easy to laugh at herself as Si responded. Her hand warm from the shake and her posture restless with excitement.

"Your mistake was assuming Hogwarts taught etiquette at all." She replied, shrugging loosely as she dropped her hand and gave a short laugh. "Very French of you." Terry gave Si's arm a teasing nudge, falling into a pattern that she'd worried would be lost with time. Si's cheerful demeanour so infectious that Terry had no choice but to fall in line. Just as she always had, curiosity  of where it might lead winning as always.

Looking around at the country setting, hills of emerald green and buttery wheat fields. A tractor in the distance throwing up red dirt as it trundled along a neighbouring road. "Not really," She commented absently, dropping her head to watch as Si attempted to gather her abandoned rucksack. Such a stickler for details as she was, careful in her gathering of each tumbled piece of heavy travel wear. "You're in very good hands," Terry assured her with a glint in her eye, dropping to hook an arm around the great big bag and sling it over one shoulder. "I have a fantastic sense of direction, you know." Her eyes creased with glee as she turned to let Si reattach her water bottle and a little drawstring bag to the front of her bag.

"So," She declared, back to business as usual as she made a single hop to turn back towards Si. Hands braced on her hips dramatically, stance shoulder width, like a great illustration of an adventurer. She only felt a little bit embarrassed by the performance. "What great catastrophe have you got for me this time?" She continued, dropping her arms to her side and donning her comfortable smile instead. It was strange, really. Terry wasn't much of a smiler, but it was always easy around Sienna. 

Sienna Aurélie Linslee

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!