A World Enchanted

Fiona slipped in, grinning brightly as she dragged a rather bedraggled looking young man with her. He had her hair, her eyes, and the same slightly awkward gait that she did at times and after he fixed his glasses, he gave her a quick wave.

"Eliot, this is Tara, my roommate. Tara, this is Eliot, my brother."

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"N-n-nice to meet you," Tara said, managing a smile. "Hi, Eliot. Good visit so far?"

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Eliot looked over at Fiona for a moment, his eyes asking quite clearly why Fiona managed to both befriend and room with pretty blond girls and if it was, in fact, an effort to drive him insane.

She was busy packing a bag.

"Good so far. I've been here once before, though, so I kind of know how this place goes. How about you? I mean, the weekend. How is it?"

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"Good," Tara said. "Quiet. M-my family couldn't make it."

She'd think she was right about that for another few minutes, at least.

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"My aunt and uncle came," Fiona provided as she put a few things into the smallest bag she could find. Then she put out food for Nyx and checked the box.

"Sorry you don't get to meet them yet. They're at their hotel; they're staying on the mainland."

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playsthestrings.livejournal.com

Eliot blinked at the cat.

"Wow. You weren't kidding. You really did get a cat."

Which got an eyeroll from Fiona. Eliot decided she was a lost cause for the moment and turned to Tara.

"So, um, where're you from?" he asked her, terrible at small talk.

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"Weaverville," Tara supplied, about as awkward as Eliot. "Which you have never heard of, but it's tiny tiny place in Northern California."

"And, uh, Nyx is hers, yeah. Mr. Moxy over on my desk is mine."

"Where's your school now?"

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"Doesn't sound much different from Del Sombre, where we grew up. Right, Fiona?"

Fiona grunted as she tried to find the shoes she wanted. Eliot rolled his eyes at her before smiling at Tara shyly.

"My school is up in New York, up in the Catskills. It's... nothing like this place."

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"Nothing" -- Tara licked her lips hesitantly -- "nothing is. L-l-like this place."

She might have had more to say, but she was interrupted by a rapid tapping on the door.

"There you are," Donny Maclay said, peering in the crack and enlarging it enough to talk through. "Dad and I thought you might have skipped the island."

Panic flashed across Tara's face. "Donny!" she went to pull the door open the rest of the way. "What, what are you doing here? Y-you didn't say you were coming."

"Ah, c'mon," Donny answered. "We had to come see you at your fancy new school. Besides, it's almost your birthday. Two weeks until you're the big one-six, right?" He glanced to Elliot and Fiona with indifference bordering on hostility. "These your friends?"

"This is my r-roommate Fiona," Tara said. "And her brother Eliot,. He, he doesn't go here. And, uh -- this is my brother. Donny."

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Fiona turned to look at the new arrivals, not particularly liking the way that Tara spoke to her family. It didn't sound... good. It didn't even sound as good as how she spoke to her mother and that spoke to bad things.

"Hello," she said, thinking of a particular Ringos manager. And the arm that had been covered in third degree burns.

Eliot waved.

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Tara was more afraid of her father and brother than anything. She smiled wanly and apologetically at Fiona and Elliot before turning back to Donny. "How'd you find my room?"

"Somebody downstairs told us," he answered. "We've been ~~handwavily~~ asking around about you. It seems like you know more people here than you talked to back home. Breaking out of that shell, sis?"

She was spared having to answer by her father. "Well. Hello there," he said, completely ignoring Fiona and Eliot as he wandered onto Tara's side of the room. "Spellbooks," he said, sounding disgusted. "Not past that phase, huh?"

Tara shook her head and winced, glancing to the twins out of the corner of her eye. She looked like she wanted to crawl under something.

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Fiona lifted her chin.

"I've been helping her with her Latin, actually," she said stiffly. Eliot looked like he wanted to hide too, then straightened up a little and looked at his bag pointedly.

Fiona's fingers tapped against her side in morse code.

Not Yet.

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"Well, at least there's some proper use for that," Mr. Maclay said, setting the spellbook back on the shelf with a scowl. "How's she doing at it?"

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"Very well," Fiona informed him, still a little stiff. She didn't like this man.

"We might even start on ancient Greek next."

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"Fantastic," Mr. Maclay said curtly, clearly not that interested.

"Tara, we have to take care of some errands, but we'll see you for dinner."

It wasn't a request. Tara nodded, eyes cast down.

"Nice to meet you," he said, and lead his son away. Tara turned to her roommate. "S-sorry. About." She waved her hand to indicate the door. "You know."

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Fiona shook her head.

"No, it's fine."

Then she looked over at Tara.

"Did, um, did you want to come with us to the mainland and stay with my aunt and uncle?"

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Tara shook her head. "Nah. They're fine. They're just" -- she shrugged. "Family makes you a little crazy, right?"

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Tara shook her head. "No. It's fine. They just ... f-family makes you crazy, right?"

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Fiona and Eliot both nodded.

"If you change your mind," she said, wiggling her cellphone. She didn't want Tara think she didn't have any options.

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"I know," Tara said quietly. She was always shy, but just then she was unusually withdrawn, even for her. "Th-thanks."

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