Open Balcony Vibes

[Oliver Boone]

Oli knew he should have already written his parents to send them news of how he was finding Hogwarts and what house he was sorted into and also what that really meant for him but he was procrastinating. The truth was Oliver didn’t really know what to say to them because this was an incredibly strange experience he was having and he also knew his Dad had ran away from magic his whole life. Now Oli was bringing it back and that made him worry that things would be tense. The boy had always had a closer relationship to his Mom anyway - their temperaments being very similar strengthened the bond between them plus there was an entire language that his father didn’t understand that they shared. All in all, he worried what this would do to his home life.

Despite this, Oli still knew he would have to write a letter to send to his parents because sending them a text was somehow impossible nowadays. For a secret world they really didn’t know how to keep up with the secrets very well. It wasn’t like letters sent by birds were common to normal people. He still thought the owls were pretty cool and had even entertained getting one as a pet if he knew his parents wouldn’t be furious at the idea of a pet that could make a mess of the house. So the new Hufflepuff went all the way up to the Owlrey mostly to hang out with the birds while he debated what to put in a letter to his family. When he was there he grabbed some nearby beetles that were there clearly for the feeding of the birds and offered the squirmy gross bug to the nearest barn owl while trying to keep his fingers from getting bitten.​

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene had finished his most recent letter to his cousin, it had involved a couple of rewrites when his penmanship had left much to be desired but he was thinking he was slowly getting to where professors would be able to understand what exactly he was writing. He knew he’d likely spend more of this semester with professors needing him to redo things or losing marks but he didn’t really mind. He could deal with that. Eugene was heading up to the owlery where he would be able to send his letter. He hadn’t gotten an owl for himself, a little unsure if it was a worthwhile purchase but he was beginning to think he should. If anything but to stop having to pick an owl that wouldn’t bite him. When he walked into the owlery, humming lightly as he did, he spotted another boy, one of the guys from his dorm. ”Oh hey bro, Oliver right?” he said confirming the boy’s name. There had been and there were so many people to meet and so many names for him to remember. It was a little overwhelming but he hoped to become good friends with all of the boys. ”You sending a letter home too?”​

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver had been feeding the owls and continuing on his procrastination when someone else joined him. He turned and said, “Hey yeah. Eugene?” Oli had learned so many names in such a short period - in just his dorm room alone. He hoped he’d become buddies with the guys there and in other houses too but was understandably a little overwhelmed at living with so many other people. “I uh… I guess,” he answered Eugene’s question uncertainly. “I’m stalling,” he admitted with an uncomfortable chuckle without going into the reasons why he might be procrastinating the letter. He looked at the owl food, one a very alive little mouse and he debated touching it or not to offer to one of the owls but the thought made him cringe a little. He didn't think he could do that as they were pretty gross.​

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene nodded, pleased that he’d gotten Oliver’s name right, ”Do you go by Oli at all?” he asked, not that he didn’t like Oliver but he didn’t want to shorten this guy's name accidentally at any point to his possible annoyance. Eugene hardly wanted to annoy any of the people he’d be spending the next seven years around. He did assume eventually there would be some tension at times, they were growing lads, but Eugene didn’t want to bring it on. He gave a little confused smile, at Oliver’s response, he was stalling. ”Why are you stalling?” he asked with a curious tone, he would get if the boy didn’t want to tell him but he was genuinely confused as to why anyone would stall to send a letter home, ”I’m sending a letter to my cousin, I’ve been sending one basically every day to work on my penmanship with a quill,” he explained holding up the letter. ”These owls can be a bit tricky,” he said. He was looking at them and trying to pick the one he would use.​

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver thought that Eugene must be a pretty nice dude to ask someone's preferred nicknames - probably nicer than he was. It wouldn't occur to him he'd just go for it unless told not to. "Yeah you can call me whatever," the young American answered. "Ok, maybe not Olivia but most other things are cool with me," he jested. When it came to why he was procrastinating, the boy didn't really know how to answer that properly so he shrugged and said, "I'm a muggle born so it's a lot to explain." Partial truths were still truths especially since he just didn't feel like getting into it. "Quills are so weird," he agreed. The boy offered an owl a cautious pet, asking permission with cues so as not to get his fingers bitten because those beaks looked a bit scary. ​

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene nodded and smiled, he would be sure to keep it in mind though he could admit he’d be unlikely to ever call Oliver Olivia. He could however call him Oli. He nodded in understanding when Oli said he was muggleborn. ”Me too!” he said. He didn’t really explain all that much to his cousin but he did mention it quite a bit perhaps without even realising he was explaining far more than he needed to. ”Yeah, quills are weird, I always feel like my hands are too clumsy for them,” he agreed, he found them difficult to write with and was generally having problems with accidentally spilling ink right across the page. He spied an owl and slowly approached it. ”So where you from bud?” he asked Oli, he had noted the accent wasn’t Kiwi but he didn’t really know that many accent to be able to really accurately say where Oli was from.​

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver was surprised to have another muggleborn in his dorm - he’d expected it was something strange or perhaps at least a lot less common. He was pleased though at the prospect that he’d have someone to share some life experiences with because some of the conversations the wizards had left him puzzled. “I don’t see what’s wrong with a pen - even a pencil would do,” he said. Then came a question that shocked him a bit, he thought it was pretty clear he was from America unless Eugene had wanted him to be more specific. “I’m from California,” Oliver said, “Dad’s a Kiwi though - when they found out I was a wizard they figured it was time to come back.” He could tell Eugene was a Kiwi but if a wand was pointed at his head he could not even hazard a guess as to where he was from as Oli had not yet picked up any differences in accents. To him it all sounded the same - even the Australian’s sounded the same but he knew enough from his father not to say that. "Where are you from? South Island?" Oliver guessed taking a blind shot to be nice.​

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene gave a little laugh and a nod, ”Right man!” he agreed, ”I’m sure it’ll get easier and then eventually it’ll be second nature and then a pen or pencil will be weird,” Eugene wasn’t really sure he’d ever reach that point, but he imagined he’d hopefully reach a point when writing with a quill wasn’t a struggle and his homework likely pretty illegible. He found an owl he wanted to use and he began approaching it as Oli told him about where he was from, ”California! WOW that’s so cool mate,” he said, he’d never been obviously, but he had seen pictures of it, read about it, knew about it. It seemed like the dream place for someone with his drive for music to be. ”Where abouts in California?” he asked, though it was likely that unless it was LA or San Francisco he wasn’t going to know it. ”I’m Auckland born and raised bro, coming to the magical was the first time I ever left the city,” he told him with a wide and proud smile. He knew it probably made him seem pretty untravelled comparatively with a boy who’d lived in California but he wasn’t ashamed of having never left Auckland, Auckland was sweet and the best city. ”How do you like New Zealand then bro?”​