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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 15, 2008 9:49:05 GMT -5
Jake was glad to be back at Hogwarts. It seemed like it had been forever since he'd sat in this Common Room, when it had really only been a couple months. Still, Jacob missed Hogwarts when he was away. Not that he didn't love being home, he just loved his second home as well. As he descended the stairs, the only sound Jake could hear was the crackling fire and the soft padding of his bare feet on the floor. It was muffled as he stepped onto the carpet and he made his way across the room to where the fire sat, burning. Jacob took his usual place on the floor, sitting and crossing his legs under his body. It was still the wee hours of the morning, so he assumed he wouldn't be disturbed.
Looking into the fire, Jake focused on the dancing flames for only a moment before he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, smelling the smoke from the wood and letting it wash over him. Thinking for a moment, Jacob tried to remember which direction was East. He turned his body, facing East and mumbled a thanking prayer in Cree. Jake turned South, repeating the prayer and did it twice more, facing North and then fasting West. He turned to the East again, now saying a prayer and asking the Creator for help and guidance throughout the day. It was something Jacob did every morning and he got up especially early so he could do it in peace. Once he'd finished, the Gryffindor boy turned to the fire again, eyes closed and listening to the stillness.
And then he heard the other footsteps.
[closed]
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Dec 15, 2008 23:34:34 GMT -5
There was nothing strange to the lioness as she woke that morning, early as always, to head off on her daily run, a time she got to be by herself and think about everything that was happening. There was quite a bit to be thinking about lately and unfortunately the blonde felt there was no one to speak to of anything. Drew was away, and though she knew she could tell him anything but it was hard in writing when that was all she had; Alexander and Corey were gone; Dante was a scattered sight, same with Connor; and really, Celina was so out of reach and out of touch she felt there wasn't anyone else.
So, her running had become her time. She could cry, laugh, think, all without judgment from another and it was a huge relief. The only problem was there was no one to share all the information with, all the silliness, and no one was there to help her think of solutions. What was really sad about it was she wasn't sure she wanted to search anyone out either. Celina and Drew were her besties and they were gone in one sense or another.
Being quite as to not wake the other girls, Felicity pulled on running shorts and Drew's sweatshirt, grabbed up her running shoes, and headed down there stairs. But the lower she descended, the louder she got, completely oblivious of the presence of another in the common room, her first stop before her run.
As her first foot fell to the common room, Felicity stretched her long arms above her head and began to stretch her torso before she became aware of someone else in the usually empty room. Though, she was running a bit late that morning.
Catching sight of the boy, Felicity's eyes curiously ran over his face, trying to place it, but coming up short. "Hello," she greeted with a light smile before going back to stretching her body for the run.
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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 16, 2008 6:45:04 GMT -5
Jake had pulled his legs up into the lotus position and he lifted his body up with just his hands and he turned himself around to face whoever it was that joined him. He recognized the girl right away, but didn't expect her to know him. Jacob recognized almost everyone and knew most of their names, but he'd always, more or less, kept to himself. However, when presented with an opportunity to talk to someone, as he was now, Jake would never pass it up.
"Hey there," Jacob greeted the girl, flashing her a friendly smile. He noticed she was stretching and looked like she was getting ready to go for a run. The boy's eyes lit up; he loved to run. Maybe the girl wanted some company. "Are you going for a run?" he asked curiously, letting his legs go and sprawl out in front of him.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Dec 16, 2008 22:17:53 GMT -5
While she now knew someone else was in the common room, Felicity didn't really put much thought into it. Others had never really bothered her before, until arriving at Hogwarts, where she found it was hard to choose people to spend time with for others became quite jealous of her actions, and most of the time she wasn't sure why. At home she'd never had such a problem spending a particular amount of time with one person over others, but here it was almost like a rule she could only spend so much time here or there with this person or that, at least until she and Drew decided to make things official between them and most of her time went to him.
But, without Drew there anymore and so many people gone or out of touch, she didn't pay as much attention to others, just the lack thereof that she had. While she knew it was bad to be used to being around a large group of people, given so much attention, she also kind of missed having it.
"Mmmhmm," she hummed in answer with a smile. "I do every morning, it gives me peace of mind. What are you doing?" Felicity asked pleasantly.
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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 17, 2008 7:13:51 GMT -5
So she was a runner. Jacob grinned. He liked her already. Running was Jake's favourite thing to do and he had always been that way. He could understand how it gave her piece of mind; more than once a good run had given Jake the clarity he needed. He was so lost in the reminiscing of running that he almost hadn't heard her question. He glanced around him quickly, trying to remember what it was that he had been doing.
"Oh," he answered, pulling his legs up and crossing them again, "I was just praying...you know, Native stuff." Jake chuckled softly, a hint of nervousness in his laugh. It was clear that Jake was different; the russet colour of his skin often gave it away. It wasn't like you couldn't tell he was Native and it was some big secret, but he was still a little nervous about talking to new people about it.
"Oh, I'm Jake, by the way," the boy introduced himself, standing up and extending a hand to shake, "Jake Muscowequan." Jacob grinned, wondering if he was going to have to repeat that.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Dec 18, 2008 0:39:53 GMT -5
Giving the boy a curious look, Felicity tilted her head to the side slightly and stared at him. He looked different than she was used to, she'd agree to that, but she wouldn't have ever thought much about it had he not said Native. What was he native to? Or of? There were a lot of natives she could think of, pacific islanders, Indians, Native Americans, Hawaiians, and so on and so forth. And just the thought of how many there were made the blonde's head hurt and a look of confused thought crossed her face.
But she quickly returned to reality when he extended his hand to her and revealed his name.
"Jake Musko--Mucsoweekin--Mucouquan--Musk--what?" Felicity asked, not even embarrassed about not being able to catch it on the first round. Whatever his surname was, she couldn't even begin to place where it may have originated from on a map. It was definitely foreign to the blonde any way you looked at it.
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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 18, 2008 7:18:50 GMT -5
Jacob wasn't sure whether he should be more offended or amused by her reaction. She had such a confused look on her face and it did make him chuckle, but he also really couldn't understand why it was such an oddity. Just another one of those cultural differences he was still trying to get used to. "Native Canadian," he confirmed her unasked but very obvious question, "You know...hunting and teepees." It wasn't the best way to explain his cultural and very stereotypical, but Jake didn't know how else to explain. He could just see his mother's face in his kind for the way he spoke of his people, but he flashed the girl a smile anyways.
"Muscowequan," Jacob repeated, breaking it up for pronunciation, "Muss-cow-ee-kwen. It's my name in my native tongue. Cree."
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Dec 19, 2008 0:42:28 GMT -5
Hearing the boy, Felicity wasn't entirely sure what he spoke of at first, until he chuckled and then explained it in such olden terms. It actually made her pale cheeks blush furiously at not having understood before, but the thought of him being from a Northern American (Canadian) tribe, she wondered if he'd ever been there, or to the USA. And if he had been, had he ever gone to California? Drew's opinion of it was biased, though she loved hearing him talk about his home, she wondered what it was like to someone else who'd been there.
"Hunting maybe," she answered giggly, "but I doubt there are many tepees in regular use anymore." Though, it'd still be pretty neat if they did live in tepees. But even she thought it was likely outdated for modern day living, unless it was for a ceremony or something of the sort.
"Muss-cow-ee-kwen," Felicity repeated very slowly, hoping to get it right this time. "Are you often asked to repeat it?" she wondered curiously, still unafraid, and unaware, of her own rudeness. "I'm asked to say my name allowed, though not to repeat it. I'm Felicity Hjort." With a beaming smile, she waited for any response, and hoped she hadn't offended him in the slight, she just didn't know.
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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 19, 2008 17:22:46 GMT -5
"Not regular use, but they do pop up every so often," Jacob joked sarcastically with a grin. He wasn't sure if it was the sheer ignorance or just curiosity that needed to satisfied, but the pale faces' questions always amused him. "Yeah, pretty much every time," he told her. Normally, Jake said his name too fast for anyone to really understand what he was saying because it came so naturally. After all this time at Hogwarts, Jacob kept forgetting that it wasn't a name people normally heard.
"I'm sorry, Felicity what?" the Gryffindor boy mocked, even thought he'd heard and understood the first time. He chuckled softly and winked at the girl, just to show he was only kidding. "I've always liked that name, actually," he confessed, sounding genuine this time, "Felicity. It's nice. It suits you. You look like a Felicity."
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Dec 21, 2008 22:44:51 GMT -5
Giggling in answer, she wondered what it would be like to live in one. They looked mighty comfortable in history books, but she was rather partial to camping anyway and she could only imagine it to be like that. After all, there weren't Natives of the sort in Britain (that she'd ever been told of) so all she could do was read books and watch television for such information. They weren't always accurate though, often painting an obscured image of such things.
Dropping her mouth, Felicity let out a sound of disbelief, though giggled and gently pushed the boy's shoulder. She couldn't ever remember a time she'd been told to repeat her last name, though sometimes her whole name. "My dad chose it," she told him brightly. But when he said it suited her, she wrinkled her nose with a giggle. "You don't even know me, so how do you know it suits me?"
However, when he said she looked like a Felicity, she wondered if most Felicity's looked like her, too. But when she thought about it, she always imagined a red headed girl, not a blonde, or a brunette, or anything. Though, she couldn't think of a better name either, she quite enjoyed it. It was a pretty name.
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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 22, 2008 21:35:53 GMT -5
"Ah, it just does," Jacob assured her casually with a grin, "I just know. I know these things, I can tell." He chuckled softly, leaning against the arm of the couch. His arms folded across his chest and his leg followed suit by draping over the other. Jake had just noticed how nice the carpet actually felt on his bare feet. He laughed as she shoved him playfully. Jacob was tempted to shove her back, but he was used to the rough horseplay he, his brothers and his cousins always did, so he thought against it.
Pulling himself up onto the arm of the chair, Jake found himself getting lazy again and didn't want to stand. That was, however, fairly ironic as he asked her his next question. "Think you could use a running partner?" he asked her with a smile and then thought again, "Feel free to say no, it won't break my heart."
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Dec 23, 2008 1:19:54 GMT -5
Laughing again, Felicity shook her head and wondered if he was in Divinations. The way he said it reminded her of what her mum had told her of the lady that taught the class during her years at school. The woman had sounded like a horrible toad who hadn't the faintest of clues as to what she was doing other than making nonsense up. Her mum had been able to avoid the class the rest of her third year and instead pretended she was in another class.
The question posed caught her slightly off guard, but she smiled in response. It was her time to think, but sometimes it got a little depressing. Maybe having someone to run with, even just this once, would be a positive influence.
"Actually, I wouldn't really mind. I used to run all the time with my boyfriend, but he's not at Hogwarts anymore and I don't know anyone else that gets up this early just to go outside and run. So..." Felicity wondered how much he ran. He looked in good shape, but she didn't usually slow down for anyone. "If you'd like."
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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 23, 2008 11:44:09 GMT -5
Boyfriend? Damn. Jacob should have known. A pretty girl like her would have been taken already. But that wouldn't make him not be able to join their run together. He grinned at her when she decided she'd allow him to go with her. Jake jumped from his spot on the couch, looking down at his attire. He wore only a pair of light grey sweatpants and a white tank top, with nothing at all on his feet. He could run in these clothes, but he wasn't sure if he really felt like putting shoes on.
"Ah man, I love running," he told the girl excited, feeling himself starting to bounce on the balls of his feet, "I run all the time at home." He was eager to get outside, stretch his legs and see how fast the girl was. She didn't really look like a runner to him, but something told Jacob she would be able to keep pace. "Shall we?" Jacob offered, heading toward the portrait door.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Dec 25, 2008 14:50:23 GMT -5
As his excitement grew, so did Felicity's, and unable to help herself she clapped her hands in anticipation. It was nice to find a fellow lover of running. Running wasn't just good for the body, it was good for the mind and for the soul in her own opinion. It allowed her to stretch everything and heal whatever needed to be. But as he headed toward the portrait, Felicity cocked her head to the side.
"Aren't you going to put shoes on?" she asked abruptly. Felicity only ever went shoeless in her own home, and even then only when the weather was bad outside and left her shoes a mess. She wasn't fond of bare feet, and didn't like prickers or sharp blades of grass. And at Hogwarts, you never really knew what to expect, the Herbology professor just might plant something outdoors that could get a hold of your feet and hurt them badly. Of course, she didn't rightly know the boy and had no real say in anything, but she was concerned for his own safety.
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Post by Jacob Muscowequan on Dec 26, 2008 16:37:23 GMT -5
"Oh, nah," Jacob answered with a shrug of his shoulders, "I don't need 'em." He was fully aware of the dangers of bare feet, but he cared little. Jake had walked through forests and along rocky paths in bare feet for most of his life and the souls of his feet eventually grew accustom to it. Not that a rock or a piece of glass wouldn't hurt, but the callouses he'd built up definitely protected him from things, moreso than most people. He turned to look at the girl with a wide grin, pushing the portrait open and stepping out into the hall.
The cold stone felt good on his toes as he held the door open for the girl to follow him. He chuckled softly to himself as she neared and he grabbed his foot, stretching out his thigh as he waited. "Besides," he mused, "Bare feet will help me beat you faster."
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