Third Floor Common Room, Sunday Morning

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia hadn't the foggiest whether any of the new students had moved into the dormitory or not, but on the off chance they had--well, she remembered her early days here, trying to muddle through feeding herself without the first clue how anything worked, and while she expected Miss Zarrin (Miss Luma? Was she older or younger than Eleanor? Lydia made a mental note to find out) would fare considerably better than she had, well, there was also Mr. Skalitz, as Lydia had decided to dub him.

In the name of possibly easing their transition, Lydia had ordered a selection of pastries from J,GoB delivered to the dormitory, because of course she wouldn't be cooking, and had made up a pot of tea. Now she was working on a letter home whilst she waited to see if anyone would join her.

(Hark! A wild common room post appears!)

Comments

[what_big_teeth]

As it just so happened, one of the new students had not only moved into the dorms, but she'd moved right into Eleanor's room, too. And Eleanor had barely slept a wink last night because of it. Who could, when your werewolf sister just showed up unexpectedly and moved right into your space? Only too late into it did she realize that she could have bugged Kamala to just stay over at her place, but that would have surely come with its own issues afterwards, too.

So it was a very sleepy Eleanor coming down from the one place she thought Luma wouldn't think to find her (or smell her out) that was poking her head into the common room, curiously led by her own sense of smell by the pastries.

"Oh. Good morning, Lydia. Are those for sharing?"

[mustbeawitch]

"Eleanor! Good morning! Yes, please, help yourself," Lydia said, gesturing toward the boxes of pastry. "I thought we might have people about who didn't know how to procure breakfast yet, this morning," she explained, "but that doesn't mean the rest of us can't benefit!"

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor's pale face seemed to mottle a little green at the thought of Luma procuring her own breakfast.

"Then I should definitely take some downstairs to my sister," she murmured, edging a little closer to the offering and peering over them, realizing she didn't even really know what among them Luma would even like.

[mustbeawitch]

"Oh, yes!" Lydia exclaimed. "I met Miss Luma yesterday. Or Miss Zarrin? I did not catch which of you was the elder. She, ah, if I may be forward, she mentioned that you have not been close, but I must admit I must envy you having this chance to reconnect. Some of my sisters and I are likewise...not close, and I do not imagine we shall ever be again."

Perhaps a selection? J,GoB had, in keeping with the finest Fandom traditions, sent over quite a bounty.

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor would probably just lean toward things with gooey fillings or fruits, especially red ones.

"We used to be close," she said, with a tired, heavy sigh, but her small smile toward Lydia was a grateful sort, that someone at least would understand what that felt like. "When we were younger. And I' not really sure even this is going to do much good in fixing that, either."

For now, Eleanor was picking out a glazed donut got herself.

"And she's older. By about five years, I think. Would that make her the Miss Zarrin, then, and me just Miss Eleanor now? How does that work?"

[mustbeawitch]

"Well, you are already Eleanor," Lydia said, "but yes, in the general run of things, the eldest would be 'Miss Zarrin' and you would be 'Miss Eleanor.' Until the eldest gets married, of course, and then the next in line inherits the right. My sisters Jane and Elizabeth had a double wedding, so Mary jumped straight up to being the Miss Bennet of Longbourn. I am given to understand she is recently engaged, so soon there shall be no Miss Bennets at all...ah, at Longbourn, that is." Haaaaa.

"Kitty and I were very close when we were young," Lydia said quickly, to change the subject. "We can't be as close now, of course. She's a married woman with a baby, and I live in the future. But she is still very dear to me. It's Lizzy I wish I could be closer to, really, but I'm afraid that's quite impossible."

[what_big_teeth]

"Why would it be impossible?" Eleanor had to ask, because there were quite a few things she'd have thought were impossible that turned out happening...and a few impossible things she was still hoping might somehow not actually be.

And, of course, she just had that natural urge to fix things, even if they didn't even involve her, apparently!

[mustbeawitch]

"There's a very important spell--the one that's keeping Kitty human-shaped, in fact--that I paid for with the possibility of Elizabeth knowing the truth about me," Lydia explained. "And since she can't know that I'm a witch, and--some other things--she has developed a...shall we say rather bad opinion of me, from the information she does have." She frowned at the pain au chocolat she seemed to be picking to shreds. "For some reason she thinks that I am always in need of money, and I haven't figured out why. It's very distressing to be chided for a request you never made, you know!"

[what_big_teeth]

"I can only imagine," Eleanor said, with the faint hint of a smile, and her head was tilted a little, considering Lydia a little more. "You know, it's kind of a shame that we don't talk more. It's really oddly comforting to hear about a family all twisted up with secrets and magic that isn't mine, for a change..."

But then there was something else...

"The spell for...Kitty, though...is that the kind of spell that could work for anyone, or is it pretty specific?"

[mustbeawitch]

"Most magic is specific," Lydia said. "I would say Kitty's situation is more specific than most, as a very...oh, what's the word? Convoluted? Sequence of events led us to this point. But I'm rather good at adapting, if I do say so myself, so I might be able to come up with something for a similar set of circumstances, or whatnot." She desperately wanted to ask why Eleanor wanted to know, but had matured enough not to be that nosy.

[what_big_teeth]

Luckily for Lydia, then, her speaking so openly about these things made it easy for Eleanor to do the same. Especially with Luma here now to glare at her to remind her of the weight of all her sins.

"Oh," she said, quietly disappointed for a moment, trying not to be too hopeful, even with Lydia's potential adaptability. "I guess...I mostly wondered because my grandfather's been stuck as a wolf for...a while now. It would be kind of nice if there was a spell to change him back."

But she should have known it couldn't be that easy...

[mustbeawitch]

"It certainly might be possible," Lydia told her. "If he already has a human shape, that makes it a lot easier. It depends on...oh, so many things. Why he's stuck, how he got stuck, if he even wants to change back. My friend Georgiana turns into an owl every night because of a curse that got tangled up with a very important spell protecting her mind, that had been on her since she was a baby (and went quite awry, you know, it wasn't even supposed to make her turn into an owl. It was supposed to make her kill me!). She decided she would rather turn into an owl every night for the rest of her life than go mad." Wait, go back to that 'someone tried to make Georgiana kill you' thing.

"And it would have to be paid for. That's very important to keep in mind with magic: it will be paid, and the price might be too steep."

[even_bigger_teeth]

Eleanor would like to loop around to why someone would curse Lydia's friend to kill her (and how it resulted in her just turning into an owl instead), but she was putting a pin in it for later as she focused on the questions at hand, listening intently and already trying to figure out how to make it work.

"I don't expect it to be easy," she said, grave and serious and determined. "And whatever the price would be, I'd be willing to--"

The scent of Luma's mail-order perfume entered the room before the young woman herself, stopping Eleanor in her tracks as her attention shifted toward the door. Luma breezed in, wearing the faded, yellowing, slightly tattered nightgown their grandmere had disparage as childish. "It smells heavenly in here!" She gushed, drawing in a deep breath and letting it out with a blissful sigh. "Are those fresh pastries?"

It was then that she seemed to notice the other people in the room. "Oh! There you are, Eleanor! I thought I may have lost you already! And Miss...Lydia, wasn't it? Good morning! It's so nice to see you again!"

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia was going to have to discuss not agreeing to pay for things when you didn't know what they cost with Eleanor later, but she wasn't worrying about that now and would probably forget all about it for a while, let's be real.

She blinked a few times at Luma's mode of dress, but supposed she was still in her morning gown herself, and different times would have different ways. "Miss Zarrin! Good morning. Eleanor and I were just catching up. I took the liberty of ordering some pastry from the bakery in town for anyone who might be in search of breakfast this morning. Please," she indicated the boxes. "Help yourself. There's also a pot of tea, and if you prefer coffee they've the makings in the kitchen, I believe."

[even_bigger_teeth]

All the more pity, then, because that was a lesson that Eleanor would desperately need to be taught.

For now, though, she was just watching her sister as she moved toward the pastries, stepping aside to make room for her, with great suspicion. How much of the conversation had her keen ears heard? Had she been listening, eavesdropping, and just chose this moment to pounce?

Well. Flounce would be more accurate, she supposed.

Or maybe she really did just smell the pastries and went to see where they were? She hoped that's what it was.

"Wonderful," Luma gushed, hand dancing over the pastries a moment before she plucked up a raspberry danish. "Thank you. And tea would be lovely, too. I wouldn't even know where to begin with making coffee; our Aunt Margaret's the one who usually handles that sort of thing."

And even though she tried to be delicate with her bite, Luma still managed to get a smear of the red jam on the corner of her mouth; she brushed at it with the back of her hand, smearing it even more, and already licking sticky crumbs off her fingers while Eleanor, trying not to completely die of embarrassment, scrambled to find her a napkin.

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia was politely overlooking any less than perfect manners in favor of pouring Luma a cup of tea. "How do you take your tea, Miss Zarrin?" she asked as she did so. "Coffee is rather a mystery to me, as well. My sister Mary prefers it, but I have never understood how...though since coming to Fandom I have found that it is quite good in tiramisu, and I'm told some of the drinks at the Perk barely taste of coffee at all."

Was this chatter meant to plaster over any awkwardness or just Lydia being Lydia? She'll never tell.

[even_bigger_teeth]

"Just a little on the sweeter side, if you don't mind," Luma said, looking absolutely delighted to have been asked, smiling over at her sister as she took the napkins from her. "Thank you, Eleanor. Oh! Is there honey? Grandmother always kept some honey and lemon for tea, to help soothe the throat."

Essential for mornings after all that howling at the moon!

[mustbeawitch]

"There might be," Lydia said. "I prefer sugar, myself, so once I found that I didn't look through the cabinets any more thoroughly." She should probably do that anyway, so she knew if there was anything in there she could steal requisition for spells if need be. Honey, itself, was ever so useful. "I could check?" she offered.