astrothunder | shiloh

[idele venn vector]

━ i move so far in time ━

early july 2028

TUTORING WAS THE LAST THING on Idele Vector's mind that morning, but given she had promised herself to stay outside for the majority of summer, tutoring was all she had. Hearing from another MAGIC student earlier in the year, that Shiloh Fleming was the person to turn to for tips, advice and tutoring for potions, starting some kind of friendship with the Fleming was the first initial step.

Luckily enough, it didn't take much, but their conversation was usually limited with one another following early 2028 after news broke out about the famous Fleming member's passing. Naturally, Idele kept her distance, refusing to overstep boundaries that could set it off, but she was still willing to be a listening ear. If Shiloh wanted that anyway. Arriving at Honey's Cat Cafe a few minutes early, the Vector took a seat nearby the window, so it would be easier for the Fleming to spot her.

Being offered a menu as she sat, her eyes wandered across considering the options while cats with fluffy tails walked on by. Idele had a cat of her own at home, but given she spent more time outside compared to her rooms walls, it felt rare to see Elio.

| shiloh elspeth fleming |

hopefully this works!

[shiloh elspeth fleming]

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The Vector family wasn't completely unknown to Shiloh: the eldest was a professor at Hogwarts, teaching Arithmancy and whom half of her year seemed to be gaga over, and then there was a gaggle between him and Idele. She was also pretty sure the family ran one of the bakeries in Horizont, though had never actually asked if that was the case. Either way, she knew Idele and had been asked if she could help with tutoring a bit since the summer months tended to be lighter in the LIFE work load. It was a great distraction, and not staying in the dorms during the early months of classes meant she still had a degree of freedom more than she would once the fall term started back up again.

The plan was to meet at the cat café, which she could never turn down even in her morose state. Distractions were great, and the more that came to bridge the gap between the funeral and present were always welcomed. As she walked into the café, Shiloh almost went all the way to the back before realizing that Idele was seated at the front. The glare from the summer sun on the front windows had hidden the younger girl. Quickly readjusting herself and pointing at the table to one of the employees, she found herself sitting down and with a matching menu in hand. "Thanks!" she said as she dropped her bag next to her chair and briefly stared at the available drinks.

"Hey Idele," she greeted the other girl. "Did you want to get something first before we jump right into the boring stuff? I've got basically all day." The one nice part about summer term was less classes, even if that would speed up her graduation. Only a few more months until that, which was a scary thought to have while in a café full of fuzzy cats.

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[idele venn vector]

━ i move so far in time ━

NOT EVEN TEN MINUTES PAST her arrival, Shiloh turned up. Idele was sure that the Fleming hadn't noticed her considering she walked towards the back first, but it resulted with a soft smile out of the Vector. She sat comfortably in her chosen chair though, bag propped up next to her while the cutest cat with a huge tail decided her lap was perfect to sit on.

Idele hadn't ordered yet, instead paying more attention at petting the cat and scratching near its ears. Elio liked the same kind of motion, and most cats usually did, but some wanted a different kind of attention. As Shiloh sat, she grinned in the elder girls direction. "Hey- Yeah we can order first, I still haven't chosen anything."

She had heard from a friend of a friend that the small desserts the cat cafe served were a 'must try' and despite the Vector visiting the cafe various times before, she had never thought to order one. "What are you getting?"

| shiloh elspeth fleming |

[shiloh elspeth fleming]

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Fueling a tutoring session with caffeine and sugar was really the only way to do it, especially If they were going to be forced to miss out on a nice summer day like this. There were worst things out there, of course, but if they had to be here, making the most of it would be for the best. The menu had tons of different drinks, some listed as being from Spellbucks or other locations – the same being said for a few of the baked treats – and she realized then that the cat café must have brought the majority of their food in from outside food places. Which was totally fine, because they had enough to do with taking care of all of the cats.

”I’m thinking maybe the Chocolate Frog Cold Brew…but I’m sort of afraid they’ll just put an actual chocolate frog in it. I don’t really want it jumping out at me while I’m trying to drink it, you know?” There wasn’t anything listed below it, aside from that it was a cold coffee drink and it had chocolate. She hoped it was more of a description than reality, but one could never know when dealing with magical folks. Sometimes the name was literally what it ended up being.

”I don’t think I really want anything to eat yet. Might wait until we start getting into you work,” she added as she flipped back and forth between the food and drinks on the menu. There were so many options that she actually would need time to decide. ”What about you? Or what have you gotten before that you’ve liked?” It was unfortunate that they probably wouldn’t have any time to play with the cats. Maybe all the way at the end. Beans would definitely ignore her once she got home though. She could live with that though.

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[idele venn vector]

━ i move so far in time ━

IDELE FELT LIKE SHE DIDN'T know much about Shiloh, but it was almost a given that everyone enjoyed sugar and caffeine. It felt rare to have at home though, with the Vector's mother always looming around, ensuring that she had the perfect diet. But what she didn't know wouldn't kill her.

At Shy's selection, Idele felt her lips widen into a grin. "Someone I know actually ordered that once..she got halfway through before the frog leapt out at her." The Vector had considered a cold brew also, but the taste of it usually lingered on her breath, and even if she were to have a few mints here and there, her mother would pick up on it.

Nodding in understanding, Idele's eyes wandered through the menu once more. Her safest choice would be one of the desserts the mutual friend had recommended and some juice. "Umm.." She hummed initially, her mouth crinkling as she pondered on her options.

"I've had an Elderflower Wand Tea before..But one time it was fizzy and the other time it was flat.." She began, fingers gently brushing over the menu. "It's usually my safest option amongst the rest of the crazy choices there are..especially since we have..Chocolate Frog Cold Brew, Snail Syrup Latte, Foaming Pumpkin Juice.." Looking up at Shiloh with a grin, Idele decided there and then. "I'll probably go with the Elderflower again..and just wait o food for later."

| shiloh elspeth fleming |

[shiloh elspeth fleming]

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"Merlin..." Shiloh breathed out at Idele's story. She absolutely did not want to wear half of her drink all because a chocolate frog decided to jump out at her. That seemed so...ineffective? A waste? She really didn't know. It was like no-maj restaurants back home filling up their drinks with ice so that they could get away with giving customers less. Shiloh loathed that. Hopefully it wasn't the same here with the chocolate frog addition.

She made a face at most of the drink options. "Why do they try to make them sound like they taste awful?" she asked as she flipped through the menu on her own. Because they really did. Why would she want to drink something that evoked the image of swallowing a snail? If she was squeamish at all, that would have made her gag right then and there. Instead it left her wondering if the disgusting drink names was on purpose. "I suppose I could just get the Chocolate Frog cold brew without the chocolate frog...but then it would just be a cold brew, right?" At this point, the tea that Idele was getting sounded like her only option left. That or a regular, boring coffee or tea.

"If you told me this morning that choosing a drink would be harder than teaching potions outside of class, I'd call you a liar," she groaned. Which it sort of was. Not being able to prop a cauldron up on their table and do everything visually really made the entire process difficult to do. There were memorization portions that were useful and that was sort of what Shiloh was here to help with. "You know what? I'm just going to risk it and get it with the chocolate frog. And you wanted the Elderflower tea," she repeated as she stood up from the table to go order. "If you want to open up to the chapter on Wiggenweld potions, that's a good start to reviewing last year's lessons. I'll go order."

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[idele venn vector]

━ i move so far in time ━

NOT BEING ABLE TO HELP HERSELF, Idele Vector smiled small at Shiloh's facial expression as the Vector partially explained the story of the frog who leapt forward. That was the odd but fascinating thing about the magical world. Things that seemed appealing tended to be the worst kinds of options. "They're kind of...strange aren't they?" Idele agreed, laughing quietly to herself.

It was said by many that the Snail Syrup Latte was sweeter than anyone could have anticipated, but still, it was enough to put Idele off from ever ordering it. The Elderflower Wand Tea was simply enough anyways. "It would be..but surely there's chocolate syrup lying around somewhere so you can still have a...chocolatey cold brew." A regular cold brew sounded fine also though.

Laughing again quietly while Shiloh groaned, Idele couldn't help but feel bad at the choice of cafe. Sure, there were various other choices, including the ones in the Muggle realm, but the Vector wasn't sure if Shiloh was up for a trip around there. Nor did she think her mother would even appreciate the thought of Muggles being near her...

"Okay great! And yes..! The Elderflower Tea please." Idele quickly nodded as Shiloh added for the chapter the Vector needed to open up to, Idele reached forward for her books, pushing through pages until she got to the Wiggenweld section. She began by reading a brief part of the chapters' summary, the potions that would be taught in the chapter as well as the tasks one might have to endure.

| shiloh elspeth fleming |

[shiloh elspeth fleming]

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The real question that was up for debate was whether or not she actually wanted chocolate in her cold brew. Surely the sugar and caffeine combo was a recipe for disaster later in the day, was it not? And to be truthful, she never truly needed caffeine. Her body did well enough without it and adding it in was like super-dosing herself with unnecessary energy. When it came to tutoring though, she had discovered that it was sometimes needed near the end, mostly as a pick-me-up to keep going for the rest of the day. On warm summer days like today, it was almost necessary in order for her to enjoy her evenings.

”Coming right up then!” Shiloh said cheerfully as she joined the small line and waited her turn to order. It felt sort of strange to not be playing with the cats right away, but she was sure if the two of them needed a break they could sneak in. If the caffeine didn’t work as a recharge, then sitting with the cats would. Eventually it was her turn, and she stepped up to order their drinks. She hoped the section on the Wiggenweld potion wasn’t too difficult; it had a propensity for being quite dense in a few parts. There was no real reason for that, it was just the way it was written. Personally, she found it one of the easier potions to brew.

After a few moments, the chocolate frog cold brew and Elderflower tea were completed, and Shiloh carefully walked back towards the table and Idele. ”I had no idea mine was going to be this big,” she said in amazement as she set both drinks on the table and returned to her seat. ”That’s at least enough to keep me awake for a day or two.” She immediately snatched the chocolate frog, unsure if it was a charmed kind or not, and bit into it. That always felt wrong, but she didn’t want her food to run off and go to waste.

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[idele venn vector]

━ i move so far in time ━

CAFFEINE WOULD'VE BEEN HELPFUL IN Idele's day-to-day life if her mother simply allowed such a thing in the house. Of course, adults had no problem having even the smallest of espressos in the Vector home, but if Idele Vector dare reached for a cup of coffee instead of a decaf tea, she wouldn't hear the end of it from her mother. Her body had to be 'pure', just like her face, and overall expressions. Of course, it all stemmed from the controlling nature Harmony Vector had grown up with.

Regardless, Idele would find any other way to have some kind of sweet treat, even if her mother disapproved. Telling Shiloh she wanted the elderflower tea was simple proof of that! Smiling as Shiloh went off to order, Idele continued to have a skim through the chapter summary that they would be studying and discussing. It always helped the youngest Vector to get ahead, even if she was receiving additional help within the matter. Looking up a few moments later as Shiloh returned with their drinks, Idele helped to clear part of the table, allowing her to rest the tray on their table.

Laughing as she spoke, Idele then added, "I mean..if you have any plans after this..it'll probably keep you wired long enough to endure that also." Reaching forward to sip away at her tea, the Vector watched as Shy bit into the frog, smiling a little. "Usually they're up and hopping away the moment the cup is on the table..maybe this one wasn't charmed?" Sipping a little more, Idele sat up a little straight.

"I had a slight read of the summary..what it'll cover and everything..but I'm already confused." Potions wasn't Idele's weakest area of studies, but she did feel a little..stupid at times whenever reading sections were involved.

| shiloh elspeth fleming |

[shiloh elspeth fleming]

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There really wasn’t much space on the tables here. Even with Idele’s help to clear books and notes out of the way, the drinks were enormous, and took up more than was necessary. The café was made for fun drinks, snacks, and to play with cats. Not to study. But they were making do with the table they’d found. ”I’m not sure if it was or not,” she said while chewing, covering her mouth with her free hand. The remaining back half of the chocolate frog still wasn’t moving. ”Maybe they made a change? If one of these ever got into where the cats were, that would be dangerous for them.” She didn’t know why she had never thought of that before. It made so much sense!

Idele admitted that while she waited, she gone over the summary of the Wiggenweld potion, and was already confused. Shiloh had hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but that was what tutoring was for after all! Taking a long sip of her drink as she placed the half-eaten frog back into the cup, she tried to look over the table at the part of the book Idele was referencing. ”Was there a specific part, or all of it?” she asked, hoping it was the former and not the latter. It always made the study session that much more difficult if they had to start from the very beginning. Which wasn’t anyone’s fault, it just changed the way Shiloh approached everything. Going from the top did allow for her to break it down piece by piece though, which she personally found to be a better way of learning potions than the many other ways it could be done. Obviously, if they had the ability to do it practically, that would be the best chance to study it.

She was preparing to stand up and move to Idele’s side of the table to look over her shoulder, when she felt a small splash of liquid hit her in the face. Confused and caught off-guard, Shiloh stared at her drink, the rear leg of the chocolate frog she’d just murdered with her teeth, twitched, winding itself up for another kick. Too slow to block the sudden spray of chocolate-infused cold brew, a small splash arched itself over the lip of her cup, staining everything that lay below it. ”What-“ she managed out, flabbergasted that a chocolate frog was still charmed enough after being chewed on. Reaching out, she was able to stop the third kick in time, the majority of the kicked drink hitting her palm. ”I need napkins…” Shiloh stated hurriedly as she floundered in the top of her drink, trying to grab onto the still-sentient frog.

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[idele venn vector]

━ i move so far in time ━

STAYING RATHER HOPEFUL THAT SHILOH'S frog within her drink hadn't been charmed, the Vector found herself nodding in agreement. "It would be...chaos if that happened." Truly, Idele could picture it now, all the cats going crazy for a simple charmed chocolate frog. The cafe would be turned upside down as each cat would be fascinated with this tiny creature. As Shiloh then began to question on where Idele was confused on, the Vector's eyes went back to scanning away at the textbook, trying to find the section within the summary that led to the dead end in her mind.

What the Vector hadn't expected in that brief moment was the half chewed charmed-frog to make a reappearance. The first splash resulted with mess on Shy's face, the second - stained away at the table. Standing immediately as Shy asked for napkins, the youngest Vector panicked, making her way over to the counter quickly before coming back with what felt like half the stack.

"Didn't you already bite into it?! Surely the charm should've worn off?" Idele asked, frantically cleaning away while handing a load of the napkins over to Shy.

| shiloh elspeth fleming |

[shiloh elspeth fleming]

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For as little amount of drink that was coming out with each successful kick of the half-eaten chocolate from, it still managed to get everywhere. The stifled third kick, the one she managed to get a hand in front of to block the liquid with, was now dripping from her palm and onto the table below. This was almost as bad as knocking the drink over on accident. Thankfully Idele had most of the notes and things that Shiloh had brought along, so her space was virtually clear aside from one book. A cleaning charm would easily suck the coffee drink out of the pages once she had a chance to do so. The problem now was stopping the frog from continuing to make a mess.

Shiloh’s hand was in her drink, fighting against ice cube obstacles and her straw, which was spinning every which way as her fingers and the un-eaten half of the chocolate frog stirred it up. ”I did! This doesn’t make any sense,” she said. There was no hiding her frustration. She accepted the fistful of napkins that Idele held out for her, and used it to mostly sop up what had spilled over the edges of her cup and pooled around the bottom of it.

After what felt like minutes but was probably only a couple of seconds, she felt a sprightly chocolate leg kick in between two of her fingers. Shiloh pinched down on it and yanked it out of the drink, sending waves of liquid up against the lip of the cup. Nothing else spilled, aside from that which was dripping off of her hand and the charmed frog. ”Got you!” she said victoriously before throwing it into her mouth and finishing the job. It even managed one last kick into her cheek as she chewed, though by that point she could tell that the charm was beginning to weaken.

”Well that was exciting,” Shiloh stated as she swallowed the candy and stared down at the mess that had been made on their table. ”I’ll be right back,” she added as she left again to get more napkins. Taking a large stack out of the holder at the front counter, she returned and threw them down everywhere liquid seemed to have gotten. A smaller portion was held out to Idele, as a replacement for what she’d handed over to Shiloh during the battle.

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FEELING RATHER BAD FOR SHY GIVEN their present situation, Idele continued to hand over tissues to the older Hufflepuff, facial expression just as confused as her own. "That's...one strong charm they use.." Idele managed to get out, smiling small and laughing quietly about the situation. Luckily nothing major spilled over their notes from what the youngest Vector could gather, but even if the situation was more bleak, she was sure there was a spell or charm that would fix everything right again.

Waiting quietly, Idele watched with careful eyes, down at Shy's hands and up at her expression once more. Everything happened rather quickly though, the frog had shot up once more, but Shy was faster, throwing it into her mouth and finishing the job. Laughing quietly again at her comment, the Vector nodded, using what she could of the napkins they had left on their table to clean as best as she could.

As the Fleming returned, more napkins in hand, Idele took the open invitation, taking the napkins and cleaning as best as she could again. "Seems like the war is over." She grinned, pushing her chair back and standing so she could go discard the used napkins. Coming back just as fast as she left, the Vector settled in her seat once more. "Note to self to never..get a charmed drink from here..ever.."

| shiloh elspeth fleming |

[shiloh elspeth fleming]

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The soggy, chocolate brown napkins were a testament to the battle she had just won. Shiloh had learned over the last few months that silly little accidents like this simply didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. No one was injured or dead from the over-charmed chocolate frog and subsequent spillage, and even if it had spilled onto her notes, that could easily be fixed with a charm or two. Even re-writing everything would be fine with her now. It would certainly help with her memorization of specific steps in the more complicated potions she was working through now.

Idele seemed to agree with her that this had been quite the war. Under any other circumstances, she probably would have been frustrated over the mess it had made. But with everything else that had happened in her life recently, she really could care less. There were so many other things that were still up in the air for her, like where she was going to be living now, and if she was going to be continuing with school after this upcoming year. All of these worries that she would have confided in her dad for, even if he had never been the best at being a sounding board for her. Shiloh knew that she really wanted to keep going to Hogwarts, if only to stave off the need to find a job immediately. Easing her way into that actually sounded kind of nice. That, and the Advanced Potions degree looked relatively serious. She could get behind that for sure.

”I mean, the drink itself is pretty good,” she said as she shoved the straw into the corner of her mouth and tried to suck up what remained in her glass. It was hard not to laugh at it, considering more than half was being sopped up by poorly made pint-sized napkins. The kind that rarely worked and were even worse when a mess was made. Thank Merlin that the pizza parlor in Hogsmeade had actual napkins, because cheese and sauce did not come off with these cheap pieces of paper in the same way that they absorbed. Or tried to, at least. ”But maybe don’t get the chocolate frog in it. Sort of ruins the whole experience.”

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