RP: Must acquire knowledge Who: Frankie Markham & Sofia Gomez Davis What: Coffee, reading, introspection When: Saturday afternoon, 24th January 2027 [Backdated] Where: Coffee Shop, Diagon Alley Warnings: FEELINGS (gender ones especially) Completion Status: Complete
Frankie had been doing some thinking. A lot of thinking. As something of a Ravenclaw stereotype deep thinking on a topic wasn't exactly new. The fact the topic was basically her own being was so much less common.
Okay, so the time last year when she'd realised it wasn't just men she was attracted to had prompted some thought. But because people had been insinuating since Hogwarts that she was gay because of her clothing and hair choices it was rather less of a surprise than it might have been. There had been the classic thing, for her, of looking for books on the topic. Something in her brain had fired and reminded her of an obviously useful bookshop. The staff of Gay's the Word had been both friendly and helpful when she was stuck for where to start. There had been a decent stack in the tote bag she walked away with, both fictional and instructive. Reading them had been more than affirming enough for Frankie to be sure that it wasn't just men who could be a potential future partner. She hadn't really acted on that yet, or decided on a preferred term, but it was there in her mind.
More recently she had started to really think harder on her clothing choices. Part of it was prompted by the robes she'd ordered from Madam Malkin's. Formal wizarding wear could definitely be very similar in its ideas, regardless of your gender, but the cuts and fabric choices tended to differentiate it somewhat. And since well before her teenage years Frankie had been far more comfortable in trousers, or anything approaching neutrality or masculinity than the opposite. Not always. There were definitely days and occasions when she enjoyed the sorts of dresses and softness that her mother would have preferred for her, but they weren't all that regular. And increasingly every time referred to her as a lady or girl, whether singly or in a group something felt off. Admittedly some of that might have been the tone or attitude behind the words, but seeing a Christmas card from her parents to 'a lovely daughter' had hurt for some reason. A reason beyond her issues with her parents.
Back to the bookshop she'd gone, with less confidence, but thankfully the same result of kindness, compassion and a stack of recommendations.
That had been earlier in the day. And now Frankie wanted to start reading, but didn't really want to be alone. Something told her that even though she didn't especially want to talk to people alone wasn't the right option either. And with intuition not at the top of her list of abilities an urge that strong was generally one that got listened to.
So now there was a large hot chocolate, magically kept at the right temperature, the cosiest seat Frankie could find, and a book. The cover might have been transfigured to look like a slightly scuffed looking copy of Lord of the Rings, but there was a pencil handy in case it was needed for the promised activities.
After some reading, which generally went fast for Frankie, there was a little noise that escaped. And 'oh' that sounded somewhere between pleased and pained, discomfort and hope. There was a bitten lip. And there were tears poking at the corners of Frankie's eyes.