Open Getting Some Enrichment

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric didn't like the park much. It was always far to busy and noisy for his liking, he preferred to accompany his mother while she did her shopping even if he still hid behind her while she spoke to the shopkeepers. It was still better than this. The park was full of kids his age, which was the point, but their loud laughter and shouting had him standing in the shade of one of the large trees. He stood alone with his arms at his side and watched everyone from afar. He had siblings but they didn't exactly provide him with a normal level of socialization, at least that was what his mother said as she tried to explain he should try and make some friends. In his siblings defense they were off at school most of the time which was something he was grateful for. Even when they were home he spent most of his time hiding from them. With a sigh Ulric crouched in the grass where he saw a patch of clover and started to count all the leaves he could see as he searched for one with four instead of three leaves.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris had come to the park mainly because her sister Mania had spoken about it. She'd told her how she'd met so many people there, two but Nia was nothing if not dramatic, aunt Sofia had been pestering Eris to check it out. Never know what connections she might make, in all honesty the woman was just dying to have one less child to worry about around the village. The brunette would have much rather been anywhere else, maybe at the range practicing her archery, alas she was here stuck listening to the laughter and yelling of kids her age. Scanning the sides she noticed a boy who seemed just as uninterested, if not even more so, in the other kids as she felt. Eris walked softly towards the boy to see what he was doing, he was staring at the grass. Each for their own she supposed. "Watcha doing?" She asked with a steady voice once she arrived in front of him, making sure to keep her distance in case this boy told her to get lost.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric hadn't heard someone approach and he silently scolded himself for that. Still his surprise nearly caused him to loose his balance but he managed to avoid complete embarrassment by catching himself in time. The shade of the tree kept him from needed to squint as he looked up at her but his eyes darted down to the patch of clover between them for a moment and he wondered if he should lie. He knew if he told his brother the truth it would practically be begging for the delicate stalks to be trampled. But he also knew there were only so many answers that could make his crawling on the ground seem less bizarre. He looked at the girl again and noticed she had come to him instead of the other kids playing. He wasn't sure what to make of that yet but for now he settled on the truth. "I'm looking for ones with four leaves." he answered, his voice quiet. "I have a collection. I've already found three." he explained. "They're supposed to be lucky."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris felt a tad bit bad at the way she'd clearly startled the boy, but she waited for his response in silence. There seemed to be some sort of consideration going on and for a moment she was sure he was just going to ignore her, but then he didn't. that was a win in her books and he hadn't told her to get lost. "Ooh, that's cool. I can help you if you'd like?" There were a lo worse ways she could be spending her day, like trying to force herself to to go play with the kids. this boy seemed calm enough that it was the safest option. Crouching down Eris started to look for ones with four leaves as well. "Have you noticed any more luck since starting your collection?" She asked curiously, who knew if these things actually worked. they lived in a world with real magic after all so she wasn't counting on it being just a myth.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric wasn't sure what kind of reaction he was expecting. Maybe she would laugh or tell him he was wasting his time, it wouldn't be till the very bottom of the list that he would expect her to join him. But before he could answer her she was knelt in front of him looking through the clover. "Um, ok." he answered even if it was too late for it to matter. Ulric ran his fingers over the tops of the leaves to see them a bit better when she asked about luck. He stopped what he was doing and considered the question. Was he lucky? Well no one in his family had died, and he couldn't think of any other tragedies close to him. Things could be better for him but he wasn't sure if luck could have helped him there. "I'm not sure." he again answered honestly. "I do keep finding them, so that's kind of lucky." he pointed out. "My father said the chances of finding them are one in five thousand." Ulric shared that fact with the most enthusiasm he had felt all afternoon which was still rather reserved compared to the other kids around them. He didn't mention that they were most common in warm weather so it might just be the summer sun that would be his luck today if either of them spotted something.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

As Eris skimmed her eyes over the batch of green she listened to the boy, nodding quietly. "I think maybe you are lucky then." She said while nodding. "Now I don't really like maths but I'd say those odds aren't on your side and you have already got a collection." Eris added with a hint of a smile. In her opinion it was always cool when someone had some nitpick information on something small like this, it usually meant they cared enough to remember those bits of info. "I was once fooled, I though't I'd found a four leaved one but then I picked it up and a fifth leaf poked from under one of the leaves." She explained with a slight shake of her head and left out the part where someone's dog ran at her and ate that clover too.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric couldn't easily argue with her reasoning so he nodded. "Maybe. I do think I spend more time than the average person looking for them." he pointed out. "So I think that increases my odds." He wasn't sure why he struggled to accept the idea that he might be lucky. Maybe it was hard to believe luck only applied to finding four leaf clovers. But he remembered plenty of stories where there was a twist to how you expected things to go. Gifts that were also curses and the other way around. He looked up when she mentioned finding one with five leaves. "Well I haven't found one of those. Maybe it means something different to find one of those."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris smiled to herself at the boys comment about spending more time on this than the average person. "Perhaps, bu it is good to have hobbies. I like archery." She said, archery might not seem as calm and collected as this was but to her it offered peace. Eris shrugged that maybe it meant something different to find a five leaved one, she wouldn't know. After the dog ate it she hadn't bothered looking for any more four leaved ones either. "Yeah it probably does, for me it meant that a dog charged at me and ate it sadly." She'd thought either her life was over or she'd get an ungodly amount of kisses in that moment, but it was neither. However her clover's life had ended. "How do you store them? Like do you dry them like flowers between the pages of books or?" She'd seen her mother's collection of dried flowers once, they were pretty.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric fought to keep his face neutral when she mentioned hobbies. Did she think he only spent his free time combing through grass? He didn't feel bold enough to correct or clarify so he kept his head down. "I've never done archery." he admitted. He had never had the opportunity and was glad, if his siblings had access to a bow and arrow he wasn't sure he'd be standing here today in one piece. He glanced at her again when she mentioned a dog eating her clover. "Oh..." he said slowly. "I'm sorry. It's a shame you lost it." he concluded before answering her question. "I keep them in a frame all together. But I press them in a book first. In an old boring history book so my siblings don't find them." he explained. When a silence fell again he realized he had missed an important step when meeting a new person. He cleared his throat but struggled to make eye contact. "Um, I never asked, what is your name?" he asked tentatively.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Honestly, Eris had never thought she'd like looking through the grass for something small like clovers but the more time she spent running her fingers through the greenery the more relaxing she found it. "I have trained in it since I could pick up a bow and arrow but it's definitely something you have to be very patient with." Thankfully patience had never been an issue for the girl, especially not when it came to the sport that her father had loved. "That's quite alright, the dog seemed to enjoy it at least." Eris said with a small laugh, though her sister had told her dogs shouldn't eat plants. "Oh you hide things from your siblings too? I am more likely to hide myself from them, but I also make sure they never find my bow or arrows, mostly because some of them are well young..." Yeah having Mel or god forbid the twins find those would not end well. "Oh it's Eris, like the Greek goddess, what about you?" Eris was about to turn her face to the boy when she spotted a clover, with four leaves. "Oh! Look, it has four leaves!" The brunette said, taking the clover and turning to the boy with a smile holding it up between them.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric listened as the girl spoke about archery. He thought it was admirable she had stuck with the hobby for so long. But he could understand her comment about patience. "I like plants." he offered awkwardly. "They like to take their time. I like to think I'm fairly patient." he explained. He was glad she didn't seem bothered about the loss of her rare clover but he wasn't so sure if he would have handled it so easily. "Oh I hide myself too." he admitted easily and was a little relieved that they seemed to have that in common. From the outside it seemed like most people got along with their siblings and he thought he was odd that he was most often afraid of his. "I have older siblings." he said seriously as if that explained things. "My name is Ulric." he said in return when she told him her name. He liked her name. He had always liked greek mythology since there were always stories about warring siblings that made his family feel less strange. Urlic blinked when Eris announced she had found a clover. He felt an immediate pang of jealousy that she found one first, he had been distracted by their conversation. But he got closer to get a better look. "Good job." he said softly.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris nodded at the comment of plants, Gaia liked plants. "My sister, Gaia, she likes plants. I think handling plants does take some patience and this," she gestured to what they were doing, "definitely proves you have patience. More so than most." She gave an easy smile and then a small laugh at the mention of him hiding himself as well. Though Eris did it to escape the noise and by the way he said older siblings he had other reasons to hide himself. "I have three older sisters, well really they are my cousins but I was adopted so sisters. Though they are cool, as long as you don't mess with their things." Eris admitted, honestly Gaia was the only one of them that could get really mean and vicious, sure Mania said things in anger but never to the sisters. Her words were often aimed at the parents or well Hera. "Nice to meet you Ulric." Eris said giving a soft, genuine smile to the boy. "So, will this make me luckier now?" She asked curiously, staring at her clover. Maybe she'd need the boost for luck once school started.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric listened intently when she mentioned her sister and stared at Eris for a moment longer. "Is your whole family named after myths?" he asked curiously when he recognized the name Gaia. As she explained her family more he nodded. "I have two older siblings. My sister is graduating this year and my brother is in fifth year." he began. "They're both adopted, I'm my parents only biological child." Ulric explained, feeling the need to be honest since she had mentioned her own adoption and maybe on some level to create some distance between him and his siblings. But for that he immediately felt guilty. "Not that it matters, they're still my brother and sister." he added quickly and almost reluctantly. "They....also don't like me messing with their things." It was easier to repeat her words since they were true enough. He wasn't sure how to explain that sometimes he was the thing they liked to mess with most. He returned her smile when she said his name and looked down at the clover when she asked about it. "I guess there's only one way to know for sure." he said with certainty. "You have to keep it and see what happens."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris shrugged at the question, she supposed her and her sisters were. "Nope, well me and my siblings yes. Apparently my dad and aunt had somewhat of a Greek mythology obsession growing up and decided they'd name their kids after Gods and Goddesses." She explained with a small smile. Avoiding the sadness that came from the mention of her father Eris focused on what the boy explained about his own siblings and gave a nod of understanding. "I get that," She tried to reassure him noticing the immediate almost reluctant addition of the fact that it didn't matter if they were adopted or not. Giving a small nod of her head Eris didn't push the topic of siblings and messing with personal things any further. Staring at he clover she listened to the boys words and nodded yet again. "Then I should make sure to take good care of it, just in case it'll boost my luck." There was a genuine smile on her face as she turned to look at Ulric again. "Maybe the first boost in luck was me deciding to join you because I think it was a good decision. You seem very nice." Eris explained with honesty, she'd never been much of a friend maker but perhaps it'd be good to have made some connections prior o starting at Hogwarts. Just to get the hang of it and all that.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric nodded as she explained. "What is Eris goddess of?" he asked curiously. He had recognized Gaia but he couldn't place her name, and he couldn't help but wonder. His siblings were also named after gods, but different pantheons, just not him. His name meant wolf, which felt odd since he felt like a prey animal most of the time. Maybe a name for a rabbit would make more sense. Eris seemed very nice and it sounded like she understood what he was saying, or at least she was taking the time to listen. Only his parents did that, when they weren't busy of course. He wanted to trust her but there was a voice warning him in the back of his mind to be careful. He had fed his venus fly trap enough times that sometimes it took a while for the plant to snap close. His face flushed at her compliment and he wasn't sure what to say. "Thank you." he mumbled. "You seem nice too." he added quickly. "Um, by chance are you going to school next year?"