Tea, Biscuits and Birdsong [Adeline]

[Nigel Dextera]

With a soft pop, Nigel materialised from thin air a short distance from the Three Broomsticks Inn. In his hand was a small paper bag containing a wrapped gift. A muggle-made marvel of engineering: a 19th-century Swiss-made singing bird box. He had recently acquired and repaired it, and he hoped its intended recipient would like it.

Instinctively, he checked his surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. In recent weeks, that had proved to be a surprisingly high bar.

Satisfied that he wasn’t being tailed, he made for his destination: Enchanting Essentials, a materials and supplies shop for magical DIY projects that catered to artisans of all trades and skill levels. As a horologist, he had plenty of reason to pop in.

Except he had one big reason not to. The shop was run by Adeline Green, whom he had known since his student days. They hadn’t contacted each other much since they graduated, and when Nigel found out that she had opened a shop in Hogsmeade, he had deliberately avoided it as a way to protect her from his malicious mirror clone while watching over her from afar. Not that it had worked, which was why he decided that he should do the opposite of what he had been doing.

Soon, he arrived. Ahead of him was the shop’s wooden facade, painted a warm burgundy, and a sign above the entrance spelt out the shop’s name in gold lettering. Through the windows, he could see all manners of trinkets and curiosities on display.

Nigel smoothed the creases from his tan suit and took a deep breath. He opened the door, stepped through the entrance, and called his old friend’s name.

[Adeline Green]

The inside of the store was fairly organized, though that seemed to be because of the Ravenclaw student, Mera, who was currently walking around sorting out the shelves. She threw Nigel a somewhat disparaging look, though that seemed to be par for the course for her, before looking back towards what she was doing. Erynhil, the art professor, was sitting at the counter and smirked before glancing up as there was a creak, and looking up, Nigel would find Adeline lying across a wooden board she had somehow suspended across the ceiling, where she seemed to have taken up a project of painting the ceiling of the shop like an abstract view of the sky. It was splashes of color that so far had only been spreading out from one corner, though Nigel would realize there was a slight shimmer to the paint. Not quite glitter, but something that just made it pop and seem faintly alive.

She rolled over onto her stomach and grinned, "Oh! Nigel!" She grinned, paint smattered on her skin and in her hair, the vials of the paint hanging off the side of the board, and her plain grey dress had clearly turned into the tool with which she cleaned off the brush between colors... as well as herself, from the paint on her face and arms.

"See, now I get to know how you got up there cause you'll have to get down," Eryn piped up from the counter.

"Oh, shush," Adeline waved him off. "Give me just a second," she said to Nigel. She managed to get on her knees enough to close all the bottles of paint before sliding herself off the edge, holding on with just her hands, judging her landing spot, and jumped down with the ease of someone who definitely got into some chaotic situations in her travels. She wiped her hands on her messy dress, realized she'd only made the situation worse, looked around at her dress until she found a clear spot, and tried again before coming over to Nigel. "I'm glad you could finally make it! Sorry, I'm such a mess, I just got the idea in my head," she motioned up at the ceiling, "Thought it might help bring some more life to the room. Sometimes it feels a bit dark in here."

"The only time it's dark is when it's dark outside," Mera muttered from where she was, "You just wanted a chance to paint like Michelangelo."

Addie gave a huff, "Why not, it's a new perspective!" she looked towards Nigel again, smiling bright, "It's good to see you again. I'd give you a hug but," she looked down at herself again, "You're wearing a nice suit, so I'll just not do that," she laughed as she shook her head, "Come, I asked them here to help watch the shop," she said before motioning for him to follow as she walked towards the back, "That way we can sit and talk awhile."

Mera thought Addie was getting pretty good at pretending to be happy and peppy all the times, and while Nigel might not realize it with this being the first time he'd seen her face to face as an adult, Mera noted the slump in her shoulders, like when someone was tired and trying to push through on E. Mera glanced at Eryn who also gave a slight frown, but shook his head. They'd tried to talk to Addie about the obvious wear, but she deflected every time.