A light shining through (Shawn&Mina)

[Deleted]

Jan. 1st, 2025

Callisto had offered Shawn to come and stay with her the last week before he had to head back to school. His injuries weren't even that bad, pretty simple healing at mungo's... She wasn't entirely sure if she was sub-consciously just using this as an excuse to spend more time with him before he had to go back to work. Since she was the kind of person who liked space anyway it was actually pretty nice dating someone who worked at the school part of the year. Plus, she was a healer so she was busy a lot of the time anyway. She was kind of disappointed though, that she wouldn't be able to see him as much as she got to over the break, but there was always hogsmeade weekends and what not. Plus, her relationship with Brandon proved that she was much better at expressing herself over letters than in person. Her main love language, as some would say, was 'words of affirmation'. So speaking over letters was the best way for her to be close to someone.

Shawn was supposed to arrive in two minutes. The apartment was incredibly clean, even Mina's room had been touched up a little bit. Callisto didn't want to mess with her stuff, because she would kill Mina if she did the opposite, but she also didn't want it to look like a riot in there either in case Mina left the door open. Mina's dog was curled up near her feet, Cal sitting on the couch. She leaned forward to pat her head, finding that the feeling of her soft fur and slow breathing helped calm her as she waited for her boyfriend to arrive. She had a glass of wine next to her, but hadn't taken a sip yet. She was sure that if she started drinking it now to calm her nerves that she wouldn't be able to stop. At least not until Shawn walked in the door. So she just bent over, continuing to scratch the dog's head as she waited.

shawn lesley ashcroft
mina pandora oliveira (feel free to chime in at any time)

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Shawn was pretty surprised when Callisto offered for the two of them to stay together with what was left of their Christmas break. She disguised it as a way to keep watch of him and make sure he was fully healed yet he knew St.Mungos wouldn’t have let him go if he was still that hurt. Callisto had decided to go back to her home first and allow Shawn to get the things he needed from his place. He partially thought she would be going crazy cleaning or something along those lines. The home of Callisto and Mina was always relatively clean from what Shawn could remember of the times he had seen or been inside. His home on the other hand was very much the opposite which he was glad they or Callisto rather had decided they should stay at her place. Sure, it wouldn’t be too hard to clean up. Shawn had magic on his side and could always find some place to hide a mess.

It was only going to be a week so Shawn didn’t have to pack much, an outfit a day and the basics. He had always been someone who packed light but still it was hard to decided just what he should wear even for just being around the house. Callisto and him hadn’t spent any time just being in the same house. It was either dates or get togethers with friends for them. After some nervous debating over what to bring or not, Shawn was packed and ready to go. He arrived on time, something that was rare for Shawn at anytime besides work or Callisto related. Most other times he found himself being a few minutes late. He took a moment to take a deep breath before knocking on the door and waiting for a reply from the other side.

@callisto
mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

▲

Callisto had to have lost her marbles for this to be happening. Mina would have thought she was crazy enough just from the absolutely insane amount of cleaning that had been done to their apartment in the last day, maybe even a little high still from the amount of cleaning supplies she had inhaled. But that wasn’t the most insane part: Callisto had invited Shawn over. To stay for a whole week. Her sister’s reasoning behind it was sound; she was a healer and could help him if he needed it following his brief stint in the hospital. The man was sort of awesome for trying to duke it out with the dragons that attached Hogsmeade a week earlier. Mina had been there too, though she didn’t remember much, having spent her day there drinking from sun up to sun down, she did remember stumbling through the smoky streets and over the piles of rubble from destroyed buildings. That was as close to the action she ever wanted to be again, and her drunk ass thought the world had ended right then and there. That day concluded with her apparating home and downing as much as she could to pass out and hopefully forget the whole day. It sort of worked until she woke up the next morning looking like she was an emaciated Santa Clause that had slipped down one too many chimneys on Christmas Eve. Ash and soot from dragon fire did not come out in the wash either.

“Cal, you might want to think about drinking that wine. You look as stiff as a board,” Mina commented on her sister’s posture as she turned into their living room after having spent the majority of the morning ‘cleaning’ her room. Cleaning meant throwing her piles of laundry into an even larger pile in her closet, and then vacuuming all of the dog hair up. Titania left a noticeable amount of fur around the apartment, the white fluff found its way onto almost every surface and object and clung there like its life depended on it. Callisto was scratching the dog’s head as Mina flopped down on the couch next to her, pulling her legs up underneath her as she watched her sister continue the scratching. “It’ll be fine. And if you need me gone at all, just give me the word. I’m sure Rue won’t mind me crashing on her couch for a few days.” Mina leaned down to give her dog a scratch behind the ear as well, who was clearly loving all the attention she was getting.

A loud knock reverbed from the door, and the dog let out one of her signature low woofs, and Mina’s hand immediately went down to her collar, her knuckles taking it firmly. “Not to be Captain Obvious, but I think that’s your man. Go on,” she slapped Callisto on the back with her free hand, “Go let him in.”

@callisto & shawn lesley ashcroft ● 490 ● Redemption by Occams Laser

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

At the sound of Mina's voice, Callisto's body didn't move an inch. Her eyes were fixated on the door as she was half bent over to reach the dog. Mina flopped down, suggesting she could leave if needed. Cal swallowed, her head finally moving so she could look at her sister. "Do you think this was a mistake? What if he hates the way I do things day to day. I mean, he's so laid back and ... what, fun? Fun, like you, and I just... he's going to get so bored," she swallowed again, as if trying to gulp down the insecurities. Honestly, Callisto liked to play off that she wasn't an insecure person at all, but that wasn't true when it came to Shawn. He made her feel like she was entirely exposed and that every tiny inch of her was visible. Her habits, her life, her mistakes. It wasn't necessarily the worst thing to feel that open to someone, but it was also incredibly terrifying.

She reached over for the wine, but before her hand could clasp the glass the knock on the door came. Titania let out a sound that made Callisto feel a slight sense of calm. It was always nice knowing they had a protective dog. Well, now she'd have two protective dogs for the next week, right? She almost broke a smile at that thought, but then Mina told her to get the door, slapping her on the back. Cal straightened up, "okay. Okay. I'll get the door. Getting the door," she didn't move. She looked down at her feet, took a deep breath, then stood up. She took a step toward the door before pausing, spinning around, and downing almost half the glass of wine. Then she looked at Mina and did something entirely out of character. She gave her sister a thumbs up.

She shook it off, literally shaking her hands to rid herself of it, and finally crossed to open the door. Honestly, the sight of Shawn was instantly calming, but then her eyes shifting down to his bag in hand and her nerves sprang right back up. She looked back to his face, "hi," she greeted, her voice barely audible. "Hello, Shawn. Come on in," she said a little louder, stepping aside.

shawn lesley ashcroft mina pandora oliveira

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

It felt like forever while Shawn waited for someone to open the door. The chances were high it would be Callisto but Mina did live here after all too. Shawn really hadn’t thought about how all this was going to work actually. He would be fine with sleeping anywhere but assumed the couch or whatever they had in the living room would be where he slept for the week. Yet with more than one person he would be just laying there passed out while Mina could be around. It wasn’t so much he cared about that for himslef but he didn’t need to be an inconvenience to Mina also. Yet from what Callisto said chances were high he’d be awake before Mina most days. This whole thing was awkward to him. Sure he had stayed over friends but those were people he didn’t mind looking dumb at times around. While Shawn was fine looking silly around Callisto he didn’t want to make a complete fool of himself.

Finally during his race of thoughts the door started to open, there stood Callisto and he just smiled not really thinking about anything from before. Instead, just happy to see her once more. She greeted him quietly before attempting again louder and offering him to come in, which he accepted and walked in as Callisto moved to the side. Once in he noticed Mina was here, as well as their dog. “Thanks, I was beginning to think I’d be sleeping outside.” Shawn joked for a moment with a laugh, he hadn’t spend much time in there house so he took the time to look around. “Which wouldn’t be a first for me though, I just didn't bring sleeping bag or tent.”

@callisto
mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

▲

If the cleaning hadn’t convinced Mina that her sister was clinically crazy, the amount of self-doubt Callisto was now expressing definitely did. She had never seen this before, and while she normally would relish in any emotional deviation her sister exhibited, this was completely different. Callisto was finally acting like a normal girl and Mina had absolutely no idea how to react to that. She stared wide-eyed and continued patting her dog on the head at the sudden freak-out that had overcome the elder Oliveira. “You’ll be fine,” Mina said after a pause, knowing that she was repeating herself at this point. But what else was she supposed to say? She had never lived with someone other than Callisto or her friends during her short stint abroad. Cal’s day to day life certainly wasn’t Mina’s cup of tea, but it wasn’t up to either of them to determine whether or not it was Shawn’s. The man probably enjoyed some peace and quiet after dealing with students all term.

As the knock came, Mina was positive Callisto was going to run the other direction. The step towards the door was a start, but her sister quickly spun around and guzzled down half of the wine glass. Now that was the Callisto she knew! Mina collected the glass in her hand as her sister went to the door to answer it, gently sipping on it as Shawn was finally let in. There was no need for him to think her sister was trying to stifle everything with wine. That was Mina’s territory after all.

The ensuing balancing act of keeping her dog locked in place with hand and the wine glass in the other, all while plastering her best grin on her face, had Mina almost sweating. She knew Titania wanted to see the new face, but Mina wasn’t going to allow it until the man managed to set his bag down. “No, that’ll be me this week. I’ve got all my stuff ready to go too,” she called from across the room, turning the corners of her lips even more in an attempt to get under Callisto’s skin one last time. She had to be on her best behavior this week after all!

@callisto & shawn lesley ashcroft ● 372 ● Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

He immediately made a joke, which made her feel better. It was Shawn, it would be incredibly weird if he hadn't done that. Mina added on, of course, saying that she would be the one sleeping outside. Callisto shot her a look. Sure, she was grateful for her support but that didn't mean she wasn't going to give Mina a hard time too. This was what they did. "That won't be necessary," she turned back to Shawn. "Shawn, I'll take your bag. Please, help yourself to anything, I'll be right back," she took his bag and went down the hall, leaving the two alone for a moment.

She took a deep breath as she stood in front of her bedroom door, then opened it in order to place his bag inside. The room was so clean, with books and things hidden away, so much that it looked like no one lived there. Oh gods, he was going to think she was some kind of freak. She shook off that thought, leaving the bag behind to come back into the living room, assessing where she had left them.

mina pandora oliveira
shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Shawn joked for a moment about sleeping outside, or at least about it happening this time but it wouldn’t have been the first time it had happened. He spend enough time traveling after school and sometimes that was just where he ended up. Mina suggested she would be the one sleeping outside before Callisto said that wouldn’t be needed. “Yeah, I don’t take up that much space. Even less if I spend half the time as a dog.” Shawn explained with a laugh as Callisto soon took his bag and left the room. He was unsure just where she was talking it. Possibly her room which did make him a little nervous if he was being honest with himself. “Thanks.” He said just before Callisto left the room. Now it was just Mina and him in the living room. “So is there anything I shouldn’t touch at all costs around here? I’m sure Callisto will tell me but it’s better if I try to know ahead of time.” Shawn asked part joke, part genuinely curious as he didn’t want to mess this up.

@callisto
mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

▲

If Mina had a free hand, she would have put it over her face to hide the smirk that was starting to grow. The glare Callisto had thrown her way was probably the last warning she had for the entirety of Shawn’s stay at keeping herself mature and serious. Which Callisto knew was never going to happen with Shawn here now. Her sister’s new beau was an amplifier for Mina, and they all knew that. Shenanigans and hilarity were going to ensue tenfold with Shawn around and there was nothing Callisto could do to stop it without looking like a psychopath. But Mina figured she could act her age too, so she let her sister walk away with Shawn’s bag without adding anything else. It was hard enough to balance a dog in one hand and a wine glass in the other. Running her mouth off to score brownie points with their guest could happen later.

“How does that work anyways?” Mina asked, “I got kicked out of class the day we learned about animagi.” She always figured it was like how werewolves changed, except voluntarily, but she had never heard it from the source before. All the books in the store were boring as well, focusing more on the actual process of getting to the animagus form rather than having first-hand accounts of turning back and forth between animal and human. She wanted all the dirty details of what it was like without actually having to be one. The same way she was with werewolves.

As Callisto disappeared down the hallway and into her room, Shawn asked if there was anything to be wary about in the apartment. That was an excellent question! “Well, she has a no dog on the bed policy in her room but I’m sure that’ll change if you push her a little,” Mina winked at him. She released Titania’s collar so her dog could finally run over to Shawn, and she was more than curious about the new face. Mina assumed the blur of a tail her dog had going was a good sign. “But yeah, overall she’s a bit of a neat freak with me. But again, that’s me and you’re you. I think you’ll be fine no matter what you do.”

@callisto & shawn lesley ashcroft ● 379 ● Little Wound by Violetta Zironi

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Before she left with his bags Mina started to ask Shawn about being an Animagus, saying that she got kicked out of class the day they learned about animagi. That warranted an eye roll from Callisto, but she didn't make any comment as she disappeared down the hall.

Upon returning, Titania had been released to investigate Shawn and Callisto stood in the hallway for a moment watching the interaction. She finally stepped back into the room, crossing behind where Mina was sitting in order to get into the kitchen. She pulled down some glasses and opened the wine cupboard, which she now realized had more wine in it than usual... she had been nervous about this, after all. 

She didn't say anything yet, back turned to the two of them.

mina pandora oliveira
shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

As Shawn spoke about turning into a dog to take up less space Mina asked about animagi and how it worked. “Honestly it’s a chore for the most part. It’s eighty percent preparation, five percent focus and another five percent of not forgetting to that dam mandrake leaf in your mouth at all times for a whole month.” Shawn explained laughing, sure there was a bit more to it than that but really it was all the preparation that turned people away from learning the art. That and a lot of people stopped caring when they realize they couldn’t pick the animal they turned into. “I can try and teach you sometime if you’re interested.” He doubted Mina would take him up in the offer but it might be fun.

Mina explained about Callisto’s no dogs on the bed policy and that he could change that. “I won’t push anything but I won’t say no to sleeping at the end of the bed if need be.” Shawn was mostly joking, or at least he told himself he was joking. Sleeping in the same bed as Callisto didn’t even seem like something to consider. Even as a dog. Mina let go of her dog and it ran right over them. Sniffing him and wagging her tail. Shawn kneeled down and let her sniff his hand before going ahead and petting the dog. He had seen their dog, Titania before but there had never been much interaction between them. Normally Callisto was busy leaving their home with him. “I’m a guest so I won’t put that to the test too much.” Shawn explained as Callisto walked back in to the living room and right into the kitchen. “I don’t plan on causing too much trouble but I do request at least the three strike rule before you kick me out. Okay Callisto?” He asked with a laugh toward Callisto who hadn’t returned from the kitchen yet.

@callisto
mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

▲

“Dude, I can’t even keep my mouth shut for longer than five minutes. There’s no way I could have a mandrake leaf in there for a month and not screw it up somehow,” Mina said earnestly, laughing at herself. There was a time and place for that, and would have had to have been while she was at Hogwarts. Work relied too much on her talking to customers, and she doubted that drinking as much as she did would mix well with mandrake leaf. Basically her lifestyle was not conducive to becoming an animagi, and the whole process required much more magical prowess than she was ever willing to exert again. Mina enjoyed her silly, messed up little life enough already. Unless it protected her entirely from becoming a werewolf, then maybe she would change her tune. That was worth asking Shawn later, in private. Not with Cal snooping about in the wine cabinet right next to them.

Shawn’s request at a three-strike system had Mina cackling as she fell over on the couch. Her dog immediately thought it was time to play and yipped a few times as she left Shawn and jumped onto the couch as well, stepping on Mina’s stomach as she tried to figure out what was going on. “Oh god, you’re fat dog,” Mina exhaled as she tried to lift her pooch’s paws off of her, but to no avail. Apparently smothering her food source was Titania’s idea of a game. “Cal, does that mean I go back to zero strikes again too? Because I think I’ve been pretty good lately.” Her ensuing chuckle was cut short as her dog jumped up and dropped both of her paws down into Mina’s stomach again. Despite being a cute thing, Titania was a brat to deal with at times.

@callisto & shawn lesley ashcroft ● 302 ● Ophelia by Roo Panes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

They were mid conversation and Shawn asked Callisto for a three strike system and Mina asked if she could start and zero strikes as well. Cal rolled her eyes, but smiled a little. "Okay, you can both start at 0, but Mina only gets two strikes," she shrugged, turning her attention to pour the wine into three glasses. She picked them all up and made her way back over, careful of Titiana roaming about. She offered a glass to each of them, "should we make a toast? To... Shawn?" she suggested, looking over at him in an attempt to make eye contact. She was generally good at hiding her emotions, but her nerves and excitement would definitely be showing on her face right now. She didn't have the focus or energy to stop it.

shawn lesley ashcroft

mina pandora oliveira

(LOL THIS IS SO OLD)

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Shawn laughed for a moment as Mina explained how it would be impossible to keep the leaf in he mouth for a whole month. He didn’t exactly blame her. That had been the worst part to him. “I can’t tell you how many times I almost accidentally spit it out. Somehow Merlin would know or something because a second out of your mouth and you have to start all over again.” It was such a crazy process that he wondered how anyone actually figured it out. He was thankfully it existed as he wouldn’t trade being an animagus for just about anything. Granted that might have changed if he had turned into some awful animal but a dog fit him well. Which was essentially the point of animagi.

He laughed along with Mina after he asked for a three strike rule in case he messed up somehow. He intended to be his best behavior but this was him they were talking about. Chances were high he might do something to annoy Callisto, especially in her own home. Mina soon moved toward the couch while laughing which caused her dog to join her and attempt to play. She asked for three strikes too as she had been good for awhile. Callisto agreed while handing out out glasses to the three of them. She suggested they make a toast before pausing and deciding the toast should be about him. Looking over to Callisto he could see the look on her face, she might try to hide it the best she could at times be she seemed happy in this moment. A look he loved on her. “Yes, may I find the inner strength to not get kicked out on my first night.” Shawn said with a small smirk as he held up his glass.

mina pandora oliveira
@callisto