one order mark | day 457 | video

[honouraryfitz]

[The video feed opens on a twelve-year-old girl with bright red hair, a rather gaunt face, and dark circles under her eyes. She's working on fixing that, really, but it's been a long couple of days.]

Hi. I know it's been kind of lousy here for a while, but it seems like it's letting up. I got some sleep, anyway. I hope you guys did, too.

Anyway, I figured we should celebrate, and since it's basically summer now, why not have a bonfire? We could make s'mores or roast weenies and sing camp songs and stuff like that. It'd be swell.

So let me know if you're interested, and I'll start chopping firewood. [She gives the camera a grin.] And if you need some odd jobs done, can you let me know that, too? I gotta start making some money around here, or I won't be able to afford the marshmallows and stuff. I'm pretty strong, and I'm a good artist, and I don't mind getting dirty. So if you need something done, call me up, O.K.?

Comments

[honouraryfitz]

It's O.K., I probably have time for it. What do you need me for?

Campfire songs! You know, like "Michael Finnegan" or "Shenandoah" or "Home on the Range."

[palebee]

Do you know the school we have here? It's a bit drab, I think, a dreadful deal of blank walls. If you're interested, I think that a mural might brighten things up for everyone.

Still, I've never heard of those! You'll have to teach us -- are they American?

[ As though he'd even know the British sort. ]

[honouraryfitz]

I didn't know there was a school. [She's frowning a little now. Is she gonna have to go to it? >:/] But I could paint you a mural.

Uh-huh. I learned 'em when I lived in Connecticut.

[palebee]

There is, [ He smiles a little further, at that frown. It's basically summer, after all. ] But it's not really a normal sort of school. No one has to go, and anyone can. I'll get some paint together then. What do you think you'd like to paint? I'll trust your judgment there, I don't know a plain thing about art.

[ He should probably go get permission to do it, too. ]

Or about Connecticut, I suppose. It must be more exciting than Scotland.

[honouraryfitz]

Oh. I saw a school like that once. [O.K., more than once, considering it was right by where they lived in Devon. But he probably doesn't need to hear all about that.] I guess since it's a school, I should paint school-related things.

Connecticut's real nice, and then you're right by Vermont for when the leaves change. I dunno if it's more interesting than Scotland, though--I've never been there.

[palebee]

There's not a terrible lot in Scotland, though we've certainly our share of rocks and green. Quite a good climate for monsters -- most of them aren't so friendly as Nessie, they like to keep to themselves.

Have you been to Vermont too? America always seems like such a big country.

[honouraryfitz]

[That gets a little smile out Rusty. Monsters, right.] I've seen some pictures. It sure looks pretty.

Vermont's where my American grandparents live. We used to go up to Burlington for Christmas. [She pauses, considering the man.] Are you from Scotland?

[palebee]

I'm from England, in the West Country, but I work in Scotland. I teach at a school there, for young men and women who want to learn magic.

[ He pushes the spectacles back up his nose, looking evenly back to her. ]

It's not quite as useful as French, or composition, but it can be a great deal of fun all the same.

[honouraryfitz]

I'm from Guildford. I don't think I've ever been to the West Country. Or if I have, it was a long time ago.

Magic sounds a lot better than either of those. French is a crummy subject. [ >:| ] So what kind of magic do they learn? Is it like here?

[palebee]

Connecticut is quite a ways from Guildford -- that must have been a big change.

Magic's a bit trickier, where I'm from, but you can do quite a deal more with it, too. For example, some of my older students turn teapots into toucans as a class project. They're very sweet birds, after, but they keep a terrible habit of whistling steam.

[honouraryfitz]

Uh-huh. It was because of the war. I was an evacuee. [She's got the spiel all ready, because no one knows what she's talking about, and it drives her nuts.] I'm not really related to anyone in America, but it was like I was.

Oh, neat. I like the power they gave me here, but it'd be nice to turn stuff into other stuff. Which power do you have?

[palebee]

[ Which war? He's going to need to dig through the library again. ]

Relatives can be pretty relative. A lot of people get awfully narrow about family, but it's so good to have people that you care about. Have your English family met them?

I've got fire -- it's exactly what it says on the tin. You can use it in all sorts of ways, even without the weenies. [ A smile. ] But it's tricky to make things with fire, isn't it? It takes some invention. What would you do with it, if you didn't have what you do? I've been melting things together, but I'm starting to run thin on ideas.

[honouraryfitz]

Uh-uh. They all stayed in England. Well, Mother was billeted in Devon, and Father fought in the Far East. But I was the only one who was sent away. [Still perhaps a little bit bitter just maybe.]

Oh--fire's gotta be really useful. You could set things on fire, obviously, and make campfires without any matches. And you could char things! Can you turn the amount of fire up and down? Because maybe you could draw pictures on wooden boards--you know, burn them in, but not so hot that the wood burns up.