Astoria Greengrass (foxtoria) wrote in vrrpg, @ 2017-05-20 14:27:00 |
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Summer 2008 Astoria Greengrass • Calypso Zabini • Astoria's flat • PG |
Callie had been back in London a few days. Just long enough to unpack and at least catch up with her bestie, Romi. Outside of that though, she was slowly discovering everything that Victory Road had to offer. While she tended to come back to London from time to time, she only really visited with Blaise. She would sometimes pop in to visit with friends, but she tended to keep herself in Italy with Oya. It was only recently she had realized just how toxic staying out there had been for her and she had realized she needed to come live with Blaise. She had purposely moved during the summer so that she would be able to enjoy the warm weather just a little longer before winter would hit. There was one person that Callie wanted to see today though, she had been thinking about her since she had blown back to town. Astoria. The other woman had started out life as Blaise’s close friend but as with all things, Callie had pushed herself in to get to know the woman as well. Calypso had always looked up to Blaise and the two were closer than most siblings, they tended to share friends. Astoria had found her way into Callie’s thoughts again as she had been looking at jewelry at one of the shops, a necklace that had the most beautiful emerald pendant that she knew would make Astoria’s eyes pop more than they already did. As she paid for the purchase, she decided to just drop by the other woman’s home. When she left the shop, she apparated just down the street of Astoria’s and walked the few feet to her place. As she got to the door, she lifted a hand and knocked before lifting her sunglasses up to rest on the top of her head. Her smile was already large, excited to see her old friend. Astoria was having a quiet day in, as she almost always did the day before a performance. She'd gone out the night before with a positively dreadful wizard, and she didn't think that her opinion of him was influenced much by the fact that he was male. He'd spoke in such an off-putting nasally tone that she'd wanted to hex him to lose his voice (under the table, of course, so he wouldn't know it was her), but of course her manners had prevented her from doing so. At least she'd been out in public with a wizard of acceptable breeding on a Friday night. That should keep her parents off her case for at least a few weeks. She'd puttered about her flat most of the day, straightening up things that didn't even need straightening, as Codby kept her home clean and tidy for her. Of course, she didn't leave much of a mess for her house elf to clean, but she still appreciated the work he did regardless. She'd read and updated her list for work - though after three years at the paper, she wasn't sure she needed the list so much anymore - and now she was standing at a window in her living room, playing her violin. Although she was confident that she would do well in tomorrow's performance, there was one small section she knew was tricky and wanted to practice. When the knock sounded at her door, she'd just lowered her violin and jumped a bit in surprise, not having expected anyone over today. She shifted her bow to hold it with her violin in her left hand and padded over to the front door in her bare feet, her dress swishing about her legs just above her knees. When she opened the door, she couldn't hide her surprise at who was on the other side. "Callie! When did you get back?" She wanted to hug her old friend, the little sister of one of her very best friends, but she held back. It had been years, after all, since she'd really been around the other girl more than briefly. She did, however, step back and wave her old friend inside. When the beautiful blonde answered the door, Callie’s smile beamed and was genuine. It was a smile that not many people actually got to see, she had perfected the different smiles Oya wanted her to have. There was the cold one, the warm one that was still somehow just a bit cold and distant, and the one that got Callie drinks at a bar without having to show any cleavage. She only needed one more the real deal. Her real smile was warm and lit up her face all the way to her emerald eyes. “It’s so good to see you!” Callie said as she moved inside the open doorway. “I got back a few days ago? Not even, maybe it was just yesterday… My days are starting to blur together, but I wanted to be sure to come see you.” Then because Callie felt comfortable with Astoria, she threw arms around the other woman and hugged her, squishing her slender frame against Astoria’s. “You look absolutely gorgeous, really.” She said as she pulled back. Her eyes had noticed the way the hem of Astoria’s dress seemed to move with life of it’s own, just above the knee. She had been noticing these sort of things more often lately, it was so odd. Sure, she had noticed before but she had been able to brush it off as appreciating the dress. Though lately the excuse was feeling flimsy. She was wanting to know more about what was under the skirt, if the skin was just as smooth and soft as it looked. She bit her lower lip as she brought her eyes back to meet Astoria’s. In an attempt to cover her tracks, just so Astoria wouldn’t think anything was weird, she motioned towards the dress, “Where did you get it? Absolutely gorgeous. I need to get a few more outfits for summers here.” Although her eyes did tick down to take in Callie's appearance, Astoria kept a cursory glance not outside the bounds of propriety. This was Blaise's little sister, though she definitely wasn't little anymore. The last time she'd spent any significant time with the other girl, Callie had been going into her third year at Hogwarts. Sure, she'd seen her off and on since then, but she supposed she'd just always seen her as that little girl she'd promised to look after for Blaise. "It's great to see you, too!" she replied, smiling and genuine. The hug only took her slightly by surprise, but more it settled the unease in her of how things might be. She'd always adored her, and she did hope that they could have a friendship now as adults. "Well, I'm glad you did. And your timing was fantastic, as it's an off day for me - absolutely nothing planned." Astoria took the compliment at face value, not considering it could be anything more than an automatic sort of thing. "Thank you." She closed the door and ushered Callie further inside, bypassing the small sitting area and gesturing for her to make herself comfortable on one of the couches. She glanced down at her dress as if she didn't recall off hand which one she was wearing today. "Oh, I've had it for years - I couldn't say where I got it," she answered honestly. "Though it's the right time of year to stock up." And how fun it could be to go shopping together, she thought as she settled her violin on its stand before sitting down on the couch as well. “Thank Salazar,” Callie said with a soft laugh. “I tend to forget that most people work jobs.” She had yet to settle on a job just yet, mostly because neither Oya or Blaise had really forced a job on her just yet. Months from now she would end up taking a job at the paper, writing up the travel blog since she would spend the next few months traveling on and off, between Oya’s wedding and everything she would eventually take Ginny too. “I should probably make a point of giving you my new number and getting yours, that way I can make sure you’re not busy. What if you had a guest over? I’d feel terrible interrupting anything.” Callie followed after Astoria, keeping her eyes on the environment around them. She didn’t want to get distracted by a skirt hem again, it would just cause trouble for her, she was sure of it. She gave a soft laugh, “It is, I left most of my wardrobe at the Italy home. I figured I’d go shopping for everything new.” It was a waste of money but it would give her something to fill her time, at least keep her out of Blaise’s hair. She had promised coming to London that she would do her best to stay out of trouble and not cause Blaise any problems. “We should go shopping soon, whenever you’re free. Speaking of shopping, I did find something while I was out shopping today. It’s what prompted my drop in.” She moved to sit down on the couch with Astoria then, the necklace box in her hand as she held it out to her friend. “For some reason it just screamed Astoria to me.” She wondered idly if her friend would like the snowflake, for whatever reason Callie tended to associate them with Astoria whenever she saw them. Even though she knew her parents would prefer she not work, Astoria knew she would go absolutely insane without her work, without the mental stimulation it provided. "Oh, that's all right. I don't often entertain here at home," she explained, not bothered that Callie had dropped in on her unannounced even though it wasn't considered polite. "But of course we'll exchange numbers. If you'll be in England long, it would be wonderful to see you more often." Her circle was so small that she knew having Callie back in it would not be a hardship. That did make her laugh lightly, amused that Callie had just figured she'd buy all new things rather than transporting her wardrobe with her. "I do enjoy shopping." With the right company, anyway, though she did enjoy going by herself on occasion as well. "It's always fun when I can drag Blaise away from things to shop with me. He has fantastic taste." Though Callie had to know that; he was her brother, after all! Even if Blaise did seem to take pleasure in suggesting scandalous articles of clothing from time to time. She would swear he did it just for a reaction! "We must!" she agreed first before taking the little box from her old friend. "Oh, you didn't have to! But thank you," she said genuinely as she opened the box. And then she saw the necklace inside and couldn't help smiling a little wider. "Oh! It's lovely and absolutely perfect!" Out of season, perhaps, with it being summer and all, but still beautiful and definitely her. "Did Blaise ever tell you I finally managed to become an animagus?" she asked, looking up from the necklace to look her in the eyes. She wouldn't be surprised if he had, but perhaps not what her form was. “Blaise didn’t tell you? Though… I guess I didn’t really tell him until just before I moved, I’m here to stay!” Callie was rather excited about being back to stay in London. She was going to be living with Blaise in her own area of the home. She was looking forward to being with her brother again and putting so much space between herself and Oya. She had to leave after she hexed the new husband for getting a bit too touchy feely. What had made up Callie’s mind had been when Oya had started in on marriage. She didn’t want to get married, she barely wanted to date. She had been pretending to have a relationship with Kit for ages, just when she had to go to parties and needed a “boyfriend” on her arm. He worked perfectly. “He tends to have fantastic taste. He’s sort of known for being able to pick the perfect gift. He’s bought me some beautiful dresses over the years for different things. He is just so good at those type of things.” Callie was not nearly as good with gift giving, let alone being able to buy clothing for someone else. She rather liked shopping with her girlfriends though, being able to play around in beautiful dresses with beautiful women just sounded like fun for her. She never poked too much at the thought though. Callie’s face lit up as Astoria opened the box, hearing the confirmation that she had chosen right with this gift (she was usually fairly good with jewelry) she shifted forward enough to lightly touch Astoria’s hand with her own. “I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.” Her hand moved then, holding her palm out for the box. “I can help you put it on?” Her emerald eyes grew a fraction bigger with surprise. “He mentioned something, he didn’t tell me what though! Please tell me you’re something bigger than him?” Callie had toyed with the idea years ago of letting Oya train her, as she had trained Blaise. She had decided against it though, she didn’t want to spend that much time with Oya. Astoria was only mildly surprised that Blaise hadn't mentioned it, though it probably had something to do with how busy they'd both been lately, but it also could have been that he was waiting to be sure Callie was going to follow through and actually stick around. "Well, I'm glad you're here to stay," she told the other girl genuinely. She would have to make it a point to spend more time with her, to get to know who she was as an adult now. "Isn't he just?" Astoria's sigh was faintly tinged with envy. Blaise really did seem to have a natural aptitude for shopping and fashion, which she was certain she'd teased him about at least once. But she also reaped the rewards of his skill, so she would never tease him harshly about it! That wasn't a fluttering in her belly at all. No, she was probably just hungry. Or something. "Yes, of course." She gave the box back to Callie and then turned her back to her. It was just a friendly gesture, of course, no reason to let her imagination run away from her. Her hands lifted instinctively to move her hair out of the way, only to realize halfway there that her hair was already up. Astoria laughed lightly and gave a small shake of her head. "Sadly, no. I'm little bigger than Shadow, honestly. My form is an arctic fox." Which was why she found the necklace particularly fitting. Her smile only grew wider when Astoria was glad she was staying. One of her biggest worries about moving back home had been if she was going to feel wanted. She knew she was a bit of an attention whore in the sense that she wanted to feel wanted, she wanted to feel that people wanted her around. It had been one of the small fears that she had about moving back. A weight seemed to be lifted off her, her friends were in fact happy to have her home. She wasn’t Blaise’s annoying little sister anymore, well.. She still was but not in the sense that she followed them around trying to be just like Blaise. A soft laugh slipped from her when Astoria gave that sigh, though it was different from the usual one she got from Romi when she spoke of Blaise. Romi spoke of Blaise like one did an old lover with feelings that were still there. With Astoria though it was more the way Callie talked about it. She didn’t want to be weird and ask about it though, she didn’t want to poke just in case Astoria and Blaise had had a little something in the past. She would try to remember to ask Blaise, she was just too damn nosey. Callie felt her catch her breath a moment as she leaned against the other woman… Probably a bit too close because she had thought she smelled something delicious. A flowery, perfume scent. She was quick about it though, or she tried to be so that her fingers wouldn’t fumble and betray her. She latched the necklace and sat back enough to let Astoria move. She couldn’t place just why she was being weird, there was something though. She was biting her lower lip when Astoria told her that she wasn’t bigger than Shadow, a soft laugh slipped from Callie. “Someone needs to hand him his ass soon. Though you being an artic fox? I think it’s fitting. I’ve always associated you with snowflakes for some reason. I won’t prod you to show me now but I’d love to see your fur sometime.” With how close they were, Astoria heard the slight catch in Callie's breathing, but easily brushed it off as nothing. It just wasn't in her nature to consider whether there might be interest among her female friends as she'd always kept firm in crossing that line much further from home. Once the necklace was properly clasped and Callie had shifted away, Astoria turned back so that she was facing her again. She couldn't help laughing lightly when Callie pointed out that someone needed hand Blaise his ass soon. Yes, Blaise was a bigger predator, but she'd managed to get the jump on him a fair amount over the years. "Well, thank you. I think it's fitting as well." Though she might have gone a touch pink at the association with snowflakes. It felt like a bigger compliment than it was probably intended, and she liked it very much. "Oh, I'd love to show you! I... haven't worked out how to shift my clothes with it, though, so I'll just duck into the loo." She'd definitely gone pink at that admission, but there was nothing to do for it. Her pale skin, while lovely, was something of a curse with that. Astoria stood up and ducked through the entryway to her kitchen/dining area and then through the door that led to her spare bathroom. She left the door cracked open enough that her fox form would easily be able to get through it and then slipped out of her clothes, folding them in a neat pile on the counter. Focusing her mind to achieve the shift was almost second-nature at this point, and she was soon a little, fluffy, white fox. Moving on all fours, she went out of the bathroom and back to the living room. Feeling just a bit mischievous, something that happened much more naturally in this form, and slipped behind the couch, braced herself, and then jumped up onto the back of it, right behind Callie, her little pointed nose sniffing almost curiously at her friend's ear. Callie didn’t know much about what went into being an animagi. She didn’t know if you could shift with or without clothing, though from what Astoria said it seemed you could do both. She smiled when the other blushed, waving her off. “It’s completely okay, I don’t really know how much of it works? So I won’t fault you for having to leave the room.” She also wondered if it was maybe harder to be able to shift if you were being watched by someone? She assumed it might be, especially if you were nude. She didn’t know if she could sit in front of someone nude to shift. While Astoria was gone, Callie shifted around on the couch and looked around the room she had been left in. She was nosey enough that it was all very interesting. Someone’s home could give you some insight into what they were like as a person. She already knew Astoria well, so this wasn’t really a fact finding mission. She was just curious as to what her friend had around her home. She had been particularly interested in something across the room, she had just been about to get up because she was sure it was taking Astoria a few moments because she must have been nervous, when she felt the attack on the couch. She may have even let out a startled yelp, that she wouldn’t own up to! She laughed as she turned her attention to the little fox sniffing at her ear. “You’re beautiful!” She told Astoria, reaching a hand out towards the other. While Callie was used to petting Blaise as if he were just a giant house cat, she wasn’t sure if Astoria would like that as well. “Nudge my hand away if you don’t want to be pet, Blaise just lets me do it all the time.” He was her safe place. She tended to curl up with him when he would cat to lay around and nap in the sun. If there was one thing no one could argue, it was that Astoria had a quiet passion for the arts. Her walls were filled with artwork: photographs (both moving and still), paintings, even wall sculptures, much of it a celebration of nature, but also some abstract stuff that she found interesting. And of course, there were plenty of pictures of herself and her friends and family scattered throughout. So there was plenty for Callie to look at while Astoria was out of the room, though she wasn't gone long. The fox let out a little yipping howl noise that was clearly her animal's form of a laugh at the way Callie was clearly startled. As soon as her hand reached out, Astoria was nuzzling it with her head, much like a cat who wanted attention would, before Callie could get her words out. She welcomed the contact, something she'd not have much experience with as she rarely turned around anyone but Blaise, and even then he was usually in his form as well. She hopped down from the back of the couch so that she could sit next to Callie, looking up at her with what was clearly a satisfied expression. It couldn't be helped - she was proud of her animagus form! The fact that Astoria had moved into her hand before she could even finish the question had been answer enough. She scratched behind both ears, before just rubbing all over. Scratching under her little chin and just enjoying being able to play with the little fox. “You are so damn pretty.” She cooed, unable to help herself. She rather liked the little fox form her friend had taken on. One thing about Callie, be it an animal or a wizard animagi, she was always affectionate with animals in ways that she typically wasn’t with people. She bent her head in to press a kiss to the tip of the little nose, “You should be proud, it’s perfect. I’m so glad you were able to do this.” She grinned then, reaching her hand up to ruffle those ears and laughing. “Blaise likes to play chase the human, if you tackle me though it won’t hurt as much as that fatty.” She knew her brother wasn’t fat, especially in his panther skin. She was just used to being his prey, chase the human was one of her favorite games as well as his. Oh, but that felt good, Astoria thought, her simpler fox mind enjoying the pets tremendously. And she did wiggle and yip a bit in pleased pride at Callie's cooed words to her. She knew she was a pretty fox, but she still enjoyed hearing it. While not usually accustomed to physical affection, it was very easy while in this form to soak it up. It was rare that she was around humans as a fox, but the kisses and pets were just perfect, and they warmed her little fox heart right up. At the mention of play, Astoria hopped up a bit, climbing right up into Callie's lap and settling her front paws on Callie's shoulders as if to say: Play? I love play! Her animal instincts had her wanting to lick Callie's face, but she still had enough of her human mind to recognize that it might be weird if she did. And then, she just couldn't resist, and she planted a few licks along Callie's jaw, her long, fluffy tail bouncing as she did. Callie gave a happy laugh at the happy licks, leaning her face into them and when Astoria had finished with the happy licks, she pressed her cheek against the fuzzy one. "I think that means you're totally in." Callie said with a soft laugh, moving away only then. She purposely used the fact she was bigger than Astoria currently to set her down on the couch and out of her lap. It was then that Callie got up from the couch, her wand appear in her hand from a magical expanded pocket in her outfit. She apparated a few feet away then, grinning at Astoria from the other side of the room. She had played chase with Blaise often, he was significantly faster so she always started out by apparating away to give herself a bit of a head start. As she slipped her wand away again, she grinned at her friend. "Only rules, there are no rules!" She called out, before she took off running deeper into the other woman's house and starting their game of tag. |