Open Whittling the Time Away

[Remy Forrester]

Remy was still adjusting to being in a castle far away from home. It hadn't been an easy transition, he kept forgetting he couldn't just go for a walk without running into boundary lines of the school and it did make him feel like he was trapped. He had nowhere in particular he was required to be, so he found a shady place to sit under an old oak tree to hang out by himself for a bit. Going from seeing barely anybody but his family to being surrounded by people at all times was difficult to adjust to and Remy was a little homesick for his regular routine. He'd brought along his whittling knife, which he was surprised hadn't been confiscated by some overzealous staff member the second he entered the school, and was quietly carving away at a block of wood. He wanted to make a duck. What he had currently wasn't so much a duck as vaguely bird-adjacent, but it was better than his previous ones and that probably counted for something. It could also have meant that he sucked at wood carving, but Remy found the process calming at least.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope had been feeling restless ever since Hogwarts had started. In theory it was a nice break from home where she spent most of her time worrying about her brother and trying to smooth over any argument between him and their dad. But ever since the term had started, Penelope had felt like she should be home. She should be there to help, to make things easier on dad, to fix things. She knew that there wasn't much she could do, but that didn't stop her mind from going into overdrive. She hadn't slept much last night and decided to take a walk outside, hoping the outside air would clear her head and make her feel more awake and ready for the day. She mindlessly walked the same way she had done a lot last year, heading to the old oak tree that provided a nice bit of shade. She didn't realize someone was already sitting there until she was pretty close. She stopped, smiling apologetically at the boy she guessed was a first year. "Sorry, didn't mean to bother you." She said quietly, then her eyes widened at the glint of the knife in his hands. "What is that?" She asked, immediately thinking of her brother. If he'd had a knife, she would have taken it from him so quickly. But this boy did seem a lot more responsible than Holden. Which, granted, wasn't very difficult.

 

[Remy Forrester]

Remy enjoyed being alone because he didn't have to be on guard all the time. He paused in his carving and tensed when he heard a voice, careful not to mistake his thumb for wood. "Knife. For carving, not stabbing," Remy said quickly. He felt the need to clarify, he'd spent enough time in dodgy muggle schools to have witnessed kids acting tough and didn't want the girl to get the wrong impression. He pushed down the urge to hide what he was working on - she'd already noticed him and it'd just look suspicious. "And this one will someday be a duck." he held up the chunk of wood. He didn't recognise the girl from his year, so guessed she might be older.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope appreciated that the boy immediately clarified the knife wasn't for stabbing, though it still made her a little uneasy to see such a young boy handling a knife without supervision. Was it allowed? Should she tell a teacher? It seemed innocent enough, and the boy definitely didn't look dangerous. Penelope walked a little closer and bent down to see what the boy was working on as he showed it to her. "Oh, I see." She said, trying to find the shape of a duck in the carving. "Do you do this a lot?" She asked him, curious. "I've never seen anyone carve before."