SUPERBLOOM (Richard)

[penelope raisa bainbridge]

April 29, 2028

One of Penelope's biggest dreams was to travel the world someday. She hadn't gotten to that point yet, but she was glad that she was able to attend the Calan Mai festivities in Wales. She lived in England anyway, so it was sort of like a foreign holiday… Okay, maybe that was a stretch. Nevertheless, Penelope was looking forward to taking in everything, camping in a tent and all.

Though she hadn't made plans with her friends or siblings, Penelope was fully anticipating that she would run into someone she knew over the course of the three days. That was almost inevitable, actually. Even with the high likelihood of having people to hang out with, she found it really strange to be in Wales solo. Her tent took hardly any time at all to set up, seeing as it was just enough for one person. (Of course, that was still large in comparison to the tents Muggles used.)

The point of her being in Wales wasn't so she could stay inside a tent the whole time, and Penelope soon decided that she would figure out what activities were available. She overheard some other people near her campsite discussing decorating May Bushes, which might have been nice if it weren't so close to what she did for work.

Penelope hadn't walked too far from her tent when she already managed to come across someone she knew: Richard Woods-Knox. Not only did she know him, he was part of her core friend group from Hogwarts, though he was in the year behind her and the others and then held back a further year due to no fault of his own. Because of that, he was just about to finish his NEWTs, while she and the rest of their friends were either working or studying beyond the NEWT level at LIFE.

"Dicky! Hiiiii!" Penelope shouted excitedly, wanting to make sure that he could hear her. "It's Eggy!"

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THE SMELL OF FRESH TURNED EARTH AND THE damp overgrowth of the festival grounds wasn't unpleasant for Richie. It was the fact that his trainers kept getting sucked into the dirt that bothered him really, and that he'd developed a sticky sweat along the line of his spine that made his t-shirt cling to his back uncomfortably. He used to love camping. His dad would take him fishing and he'd wade into tides to try and catch salmon like a bear. He hadn't even minded the midges in the Highlands. Since the crash he'd lost that carefree part of him somewhere along that stretch of road.

Wandering around the periphery of the tent grounds, Richie tried not to wince at the sound of poles clattering together and children squealing. He tapped his scarred left hand against his thigh in a rhythmic ripple that loosened his stiff joints. Somewhere in the crowds there were people he knew, at least. His sister had insisted he tag along, some kind of horrific attempt to recapture a youth that did not exist without his sister and his dad. It was kind of farcical really, but Danny wouldn't take no for an answer. She rarely since the crash, but Richie had his suspicions that this was due to an overwhelming concern for his 'well-being'. He was a mind healers wet dream.

Thinking of all the NEWT's he should be studying for, Richie had wandered aimlessly toward the mouth of the festival stalls when he heard his name being called, but not just any name. There were only a handful of people Richie tolerated calling him Dicky. They were his friends, strange as it may be, and he knew they were the correct people just by the cadence of their voices. The kindness in their joy to see him, which somehow always surpised him anyway.

"Oh-" Richie breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of a bouncing Eggy. Normally, a person galloping towards him would incite a kind of horror in Richie, but he had grown to understand Egg's exuberance, even tolerate it. He lifted his good hand in a stiff, open palmed attempt at a wave. His lips forming a tentative smile on its own as she finally stopped skipping before she barrelled into him. "D-did Addy c-con-convince you this was a g-good idea, as well?" He asked her with a raised brow, his cheeks red from stuttering due to his restless anxiety. It had been Danny's idea to go camping., but only Addy could really convince him to turn up. 

penelope raisa bainbridge

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[penelope raisa bainbridge]

April 29, 2028

Richard obviously heard her after she addressed him, raising his right hand into the air and waving at her. With her vision focused on his raised hand, Penelope made her way over to him. She wasn't always full of unbridled energy, but her friends definitely brought that out of her. Besides, Richard had been through more than even the rest of their friend group had, even before Elaine Dupree had really decided to mess things up at Hogwarts. He deserved to be reminded that he was just as important as the rest of their friends.

Once she reached him, Richard asked her if Addy—Addilyn Slater—had convinced her that it was a good idea to come to Wales for Calan Mai. The way he said "convinced" made Penelope think that he still wasn't thoroughly convinced that he wanted to be there.

"No," Penelope answered Richard, shaking her head. "Addy didn't convince me. No one did." She was there because she thought it would be a good time. So far, she wasn't wrong about that. If Addy was also in attendance, then that would make it even more enjoyable. Either way, she didn't want Richard to regret having come.

"How are you?" she asked him, taking the focus off of Calan Mai or whatever Addy might have done to get him to show up. "How's Hogwarts?"

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

'JUST HIM THEN', Richie thought with a miserable little lift of his brows. Addy had always had a bit of influence over Richie. Perhaps one of his closest friends, she'd managed to burrow so far under his skin that he actually didn't mind her influence most of the time. He was sure there was some mixed psychology to this, but it wasn't his job to pick it apart. She'd simply had to say it was a good idea and maybe minorly strong-arm him and he was quick to agree. Regret came later, when he was using patches of grass to clean the mud from his trainers.

"Fine," Richie said with a shrug, carefully dragging the side of his shoe along the grass until he could see a streak of white through the dirt. "'S hot." He added with a grumble, reaching around to pull the shirt from where it stuck to his back with a grimace. Richie spent too much time on his shoes, and by the time he looked up again he realised he'd left it too long before his last answer. "Uh- it's... it's not Hogwarts anymore... really." He finally said, scrunching his nose and squinting at the sun. It seemed to reflect off of Eggy's hair and teeth, like she consumed direct sunlight.

"How's... the flower shop...?" Richie felt an awkward hesitation make him flush a bit in the cheeks. He couldn't remember if she was still doing that, or if something had changed. It had been such a long time since they had all spent time together. Richie felt that rift again, the one that made sleeping difficult since all his friends had graduated. "Y-you work at the flower place... right?" He gnawed on the inside of his cheek, wringing his hands suddenly before he realised what he was doing and grabbed at the bottom of his t-shirt instead. 

penelope raisa bainbridge

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[penelope raisa bainbridge]

April 29, 2028

Richard didn't seem to be too happy to be at the festival. He mentioned something about the weather's being too hot for his liking, but he didn't stay on that subject before replying to her question about Hogwarts. It wasn't really Hogwarts anymore, he told her. That was sort of true, Penelope supposed, because it couldn't have looked the way it did when Elaine Dupree had destroyed it. Besides the obvious need to rebuild, Penelope knew that the school had changed a lot from how it had been. It had been expanded, for one thing, and it must have felt weird that it wasn't really the same castle anymore.

"How's… the flower shop…?" Richard's cheeks looked redder, but it was hard to tell if that was because of the weather or not. "Y-You work at the flower place… right?"

"Yeah, I'm still working at Forget-Me-Knot," Penelope replied with a smile, trying to put him at ease. "It's great. I really like it. Aurelia, my boss, was in Cara and Diana's year at school, so it's a bit like having another sister—without the fighting, though."

Richard Myron Woods-Knox