Closed

[a_bit_odd]

Date & Time: Today
Location: Random shack in the outlands
Characters: Donny (bumbles) and Luna
Summary: Luna happens upon Donny and they talk and it’s all very exciting
Warnings: None that I can think of!

Luna loved to explore, to learn new things. She is a Ravenclaw, after all. She knows a lot of people told her not to go exploring on her own, but it was just too hard to resist.

Luna didn't have many friends in Exsilium. It was a lonely existence. It reminded her of her days before Harry, before Ginny and Neville and Hermione. She liked her roommates a lot. She'd promised to go exploring with Merida. And Cedric was here. That made her feel better. She wasn't the only witch or wizard.

She’s skipping along by, wearing an odd ensemble including her mismatching boots, a colorful scarf, and a bright yellow dress, when she decides to go in the shack. She just walks right in, her wand behind her hair. It really didn’t matter if anyone saw her use magic here.

She was fond of Donny. They'd agreed they were friends. Hopefully he wasn't just saying that. She felt comfortable around him. He was odd, too. They were odd together.

“Hello, Donny.”

Comments

[bumbles]

When he draws, he can get a little focused. It's a nice way to block out everything else, and even with Max here, now, he feels like he needs to block out a lot. Elmer's world being a big part of it, but after worrying about Max so obsessively for so long, now she's here and that opens up a whole new can of worms. Plus he's pretty sure Morgana is angry with him, and he's never been good with that sort of situation. Morgana being angry with him is too close to Selene and all the wealth of problems thatbrings up so...

All in all, Adonis Casey is having A Day. A Day in a month of Days, which was preceded by a life of Days. For once, he'd like the universe(s) to cut him a break, even as he chastises himself internally for being so childish.

Donny starts at the sound of Luna's voice, pencil leaving a jagged line over his drawing, which he looks at a little woefully before glancing back at Luna. "H-Hi." A small wave, more than a little awkward. At least Luna seemed to understand awkward - there were so many confident people here, and they weren't unkind, but awkwardness didn't seem to be a concept they understood. "How, um. How are y--you?"

[a_bit_odd]

"Oh, dear. I seem to have startled you, and I suppose what you're working on paid the price." She seems to be genuinely sorry, her lips drawn into a frown.

But she brightens when he asks her how she is. Not many people did that. "I suppose that depends on what you're asking. Physically, I'm well. Emotionally, I'm a little sad. But I'm guessing you were asking it as a social convention, so I should reply 'Just fine, thank you. And you?'"

Nothing was ever easy with Luna Lovegood.

[bumbles]

Why is his life so hard?
Granted, he's not the best talker, or really the best at anything at all, but he opens his mouth to assure her it's okay, it does't matter. "D-don't, um, don't w-worry." Shaking his head, Donny glances back down at the book."It's n-not important." The bullies in high school had a lot to say about his art, had tossed his sketchbooks in bins and done worse with him. He knew it wasn't important. It'd never been important. "I c-can fix it." Holding up his eraser, offering a lopsided almost-smile that fades away before it can be seen.

And then he frowns; the expression is reminiscent of a chastised puppy. "W--w-why are you sad?"
It's important. It's always important.

[a_bit_odd]

"That's good. I would offer to help with a spell-" She takes her wand out from behind her ear and shows it to him. "-but I'm afraid I might erase it all. You have to be careful with magic, you know."

She sticks the wand back behind her ear and clasps her hands behind her back, rocking on the balls of her feet.

"I just miss my father and my... friends." She's working hard to believe that's what they are. "I wish I had a picture of my mother, too. But I'm sure everyone misses the people that aren't here."

[bumbles]

"Yeah." Donny's a little stunned, staring at the wand - he's never seen one, before, save for in stories and films. It's kind of fascinating, and probably it makes sense, because of having so many worlds and so many possibilities. There's a faint flicker of a smile, because Hermes had the caduceus; he sees no snakes here, but wonders if Luna is ever a messenger. Admittedly, that was more of a staff, though. "That's o-okay." He wants to ask about the wand, and magic, and other questions tied to it bubbling up, but the other thing is more important, that has to come first.

"It's hard." Probably too obvious an observation to make, ducking his head and chewing his lip as he tries to think of something more helpful to say. He wants to offer to try to draw her, if Luna can describe her, but the thought of getting it wrong, of messing it up and maybe Luna being too nice to say or not wanting to correct him makes knots loop around in his gut. "Um, d-do you-- c-can you t-tell uh, tell me about them?"

Maybe that'd help? "I m-miss my family, too."

[a_bit_odd]

Luna certainly wouldn't mind the questions. And she appreciates the attention Donny's paying to her. It reminded her of talking to Harry a little. Always asking questions, always treating her like a human.

"If you'd like to hear about them. I'm a witch, you see, and so is my dad and so was my mum. My mum was quite extraordinary. I look a great deal like her. Anyway, she did like her magical experiments and one went terribly wrong."

She pauses, then gives him a brave smile. "But I do have my dad. He and I research and collect things to do with rare magical creatures, and he runs a newspaper called The Quibbler. Donny, may I sit next to you?"

She does like to sit close and without warning, but Donny is so jumpy that she's being a little more careful.

[bumbles]

"You have m-- m-magic?" And she talks about it so candidly, although maybe that was just Luna, the way she engaged with things.

The rest feels like he needs to take more time to process and understand it, scratching the back of his head and tucking his pencil behind his ear. "I'm s-sorry uh, sorry about your m-ma." He's never really lost anyone like that. The closest he feels he's come to it is Asteria showing her true colours, but that was so completely different. It wasn't like Asteria was dead.

And a little nod, shuffling to try and make more space, although it's not really all that necessary. "We, uh." Huh. No, he's not sure what to do with that sentence, so he tries a different tact. A little tug at the corner of his mouth, and he can't help asking, "d-do you have unicorns? In your w-world."

[a_bit_odd]

She sits down beside him happily. "Yes, I do. And thank you. I'm a little sad about it sometimes, but it's hard to be sad when you're in good company."

(Meaning you, Donny.) She smiles at him. She's not used to people asking her about the magical world. It's so natural at home and school. But she gets to talk about creatures! Her favorite subject! Her big eyes widen even more in excitement.

"Yes! Unicorn foals are born gold. At two, they turn silver, and at four, their horn grows in. They're fully grown at seven years-old, and they turn a beautiful pure white, but keep their gold hooves from birth. They inhabit the forests of Europe, if you know where that is."

[bumbles]

Oh. Uh. Donny assumes she means more generally speaking, and then it occurs to him that perhaps, maybe, she could be referring to him personally, and he sort of huffs an awkward confused sound and shakes his head. He isn't good company. He is probably certifiable as the very worst company.

But it's sort of adorable how excited she gets, and it lures out a very small smile. "Really?"

Unicorns are a real thing. That's so cool, and there's something kind of delighted in his smile. He's been so lost and so completely miserable without Max, but this is a relief in the middle of all that. "They sound b-beautiful."

And he nods. "M-my um, my f-family is from Ireland? Originally, I m-mean. I've lived in uh, in B-Boston since I was-- since I w-was little."

[a_bit_odd]

"Oh, I see. I live in England, outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon." She taps her feet on the ground.

"If you ever want to know more about creatures, that's my passion. I'm going to be a magizoologist."

But she wants to see that delighted smile again. Donny seems so nervous all the time. "Would you like to see some magic?"

She's not a show-off, but she likes it when he smiles. She concentrates, then says, "Expecto Patronum!" Whitish wisps that look like vapor come out of her wand and whirl and dance to create a small, translucent hare that hops through the air, doing a circle around Donny.

[bumbles]

British place names, man. He sort of starts to mouth Ottery St. Catchpole, just because it sounds kind of fun to say, but doesn't chance it out loud. It's seems like a mouthful. "I'd um, l-like to know." He almost makes a face at how awkward that sounds, (I'd like to hear more, he thinks might have been better) but nods a little. "D-do, uh-- do you have a f-favorite?"

She's so up front about it - not nervous at all, not the way he is. Maybe he's too secretive. Maybe he's a coward, but he knew that already. The way wands work is fascinating to him, the incantation - he'd be so bad at doing magic that way, he realises unhappily - but then there's a hare and it's dancing around him, as he twists in his seat so his gaze can follow it, mouth caught in a grin. A moment of hesitation, reaching to touch it but curling his fingers back to his palm at the last minute, 'cause maybe that's not okay, maybe it's impolite. "It's p-pretty."

Not words enough and he knows it, but then... words aren't really his area.

[a_bit_odd]

She watches his reactions with amusement. She forgot how wonderful magic was. She smiles, at his compliment and his request. It makes her happy that he's interested and willing to listen. Hardly anyone was willing to listen to Luna.

"Thank you. That's my patronus. It's kind of like my spirit animal. Like a guardian. Some day, I'll learn to use it to communicate with people. So if you ever see it, it might have a message for you."

She smiles at him, but it soon falters and fades a little. "I can tell you more, but... there are some creatures that people don't believe in. They... well, people tend to think I'm odd."

And that makes her hesitate to tell him about them.

[bumbles]

"P--" Breathe. He has to shut his eyes for a second, sound out the word in his head so he can bounce through the syllables. "P-Patronus. It sounds really uh, c-cool." Another moment, and what she said is sort of being quietly thought over, considered - a pebble tumbling in a stream. "D-does um, everyone g-get-- get a d-different one?"

That is not the response he was hoping for, own expression becoming a little crestfallen. "Sorry." He had to take a little while, staring down at his own hands, fingers curling through the material of his shirt. "I, um-- p-people think I'm odd, t-too."

An unfortunate fact of life. They were right, mostly. He isn't exactly good at being social. "I w-won't, um-- I mean, m-magic is real. Anything is p-possible."

Random animals, or all sorts. Anything should be possible. There are rules and exchanges, but the existence of certain animals being disputed seems weird.