In my own Wonderland

[Tabby]

Tabby flipped a book open, it was the first chance at free time she’d had since the school year started and she was all too happy to find a good book and settle down to read. Her book was old, the spine bent and broken to the point the title was no longer readable, pages loosely hanging out, almost completely separated from the spine, and the back cover was a mixture of torn paper and various stains; in other words, it was a very well loved book. It had always been one of her favorites, ever since her father had read it to her when she was a very little girl. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, for her a family heirloom. It was a first edition, one of the first prints of the strange and near magical adventures of the young Victorian girl, her father had been given the book by his mother, and so on and so forth, ever since 1865.

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." Tabby read softly, lips moving and a bare whisper slipping between her lips. She was careful not to disturb anyone with her quiet, happy giggles. Normally followed and surrounded by animals, today there was only a small, gray cat, curled up in her lap. She didn’t even notice it, and it certainly wasn’t hers. She shifted a bit in her seat, familiar enough with her book that the scenes played themselves out in full 3D behind her eyes.

"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,' the Mock Turtle replied; 'and then the different branches of arithmetic--Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision." She paused there, once again trying to make sense of a book that was utter nonsense, but then… That was why she’d loved the book as a child, wasn’t it? A rare little ray of joy shone in her eyes as she peered through the book. Very few people who knew her realized just how her mind worked. She was often busy suppressing her feelings to keep herself afloat in the stormy sea of life.


OOC//
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 386
Expecting: Open
Plot: Tabby is reading through Alice in Wonderland, feel free to disturb her at her most relaxed.
Author Notes: Sorry it's short.

[Kaliana Justice]

Kaliana walked through the halls to the library quietly contemplating what had happened in the last couple of weeks. Spying Tabby reading, she lined toward her, picking out one of the many books along the shelves by which she passed, not caring at that moment what it was. She wasn't here by really any need to research since she'd been previously about the creature in the forest, she had come just for some rare peace and quiet not expecting someone she respected and that was a friend to be there since she'd gotten hold of a unicorn colt. What a pleasant surprise!

Reaching the table Tabby was sitting, she caught her eye and motioned to the chair across, asking without words if she'd allow her to sit or if she wanted her own alone time. She looked at the book, and noticed which one she'd grabbed, Naked in Death, and sighed. It was a good book, but she wasn't into the whole suspense/love scene thing lately since she had enough of that in her life at the moment. She placed the book back into the shelf with a flick of her wand, and while waiting on Tabby's acknowledgement she thought about what kind of book she'd actually enjoy reading at that moment, and really not a one came to mind. Instead she thought she might sit there and listen to her Ipod she'd bought while she was in the muggle world, or find someone to talk to about anything. At that exact moment she wasn't picky, she just wanted something to do besides brood about the current situation of her love life, if that's what she wanted to call it. About the ministry trying to force their way into Hogwarts yet again, because of some supposed chambers that were hidden in the school, or access there to. The creature that was taunting her students, especially male and tearing up her Gamekeeper while he had helped one of the wayward students away from the creature's grasp.

Groaning, she reached up and passed a tired hand across her exhausted face. Finally, with stress overtaking her conscious thoughts she sat on the chair she'd previously indicated with a plop. She looked at Tabby who seemed to be immersed in the book she'd been reading, and took a deep breath, at least it seemed she hadn't bothered her.

OOC//
Word count: 394
Expecting: Open
Plot: Lana is looking for a quiet place to read or listen to music to get her mind off of personal matters when she sees Tabby.

[Tabby]

Tabby glanced up when she felt another presence and saw Kaliana asking to sit across from her. She nodded simply.

“You’re the headmistress. I don’t think I’d be a match for you if you sat and I didn’t want you to. Besides, I’ve read this book a lot of times and you look like you need some girl talk. Not that I’m good at the latter.” She smirked a little. Tabby wasn’t much for girl talk, but she could listen and she had a knack for saying what needed to be said, without meaning to. She folded down the pre-maid fold in the page and closed the book, setting it aside and ignoring the light glare she got from the librarian. She also swiveled her chair and put her boots on the table. It wasn’t like she’d damage it, and she’d use a cleaning spell afterwards.

“So, what’s chewing on your hide eh Kali? Boys? Responsibilities? Trouble? Anything I can blow up for you? Or set a dog on? Or feed to a hippogriff?” She smiled and then held up her hands in a clear notice that she was joking. She smiled. Bringing to life her feline name with a Cheshire smirk. Kali was one of the few people she counted as a friend in the school, especially out of the female workers. Tabby was generally at odd with other women, mostly because they couldn’t place her very well. She wasn’t interested in boys, so she wasn’t a competitor, and she wasn’t interested in girls, so she wasn’t a threat. Tabby wasn’t interested in romance at all, which made her hard to place for most people. Kali seemed to have her figured out though, and it wasn’t exactly hard to realize that she cared about the people she worked with. Even if sometimes it might have passed the bounds of ‘okay’ into the bounds of ‘harassment’.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana looked at Tabby rather reproachfully as she said, " Now, you know me better than that.. It might be I'm headmistress but I don't force my presence on anyone who doesn't want it... without reason." Truth be told she wasn't very well of in the 'girl talk' department herself, so she sat and looked again at the book that Tabby was reading and said, " Good book to get lost in.", with a smile.

She rubbed her eyes as a headache began to throb between her temples and decided to let her friend in on some of her drama, though she hated to complain she needed another woman's reasoning right now.

"Well, with this sphinx thing in the forest, and the Ministry breathing down my neck to do something.... Then there's the fact that they suspect there are more 'chambers' within the castle so they're demanding I let them at the least search it. In fact they sent someone to ensure I would. That someone is my other problem... He's the guy I was seeing when I graduated from here and he left me not even five minutes later on the steps.. Just disappeared.. And now he's back, apparently didn't know I was headmistress, and it's raised old feelings.." She said with harried nerves through one breath. The direction her life had taken still irritated her because she wasn't in control.. And she hated being in control.

She chuckled a little at the idea of sending a hippogriff after Zadiken.. Or more, on the whole Ministry. She relayed this, " I don't think I could send a hippogriff to the Ministry and get away with it. But it might give Zadiken a run for his money." Her smile returned with a heartfelt laugh as she really contemplated this. Figuring it was best for the hippogriff in either circumstance if she dealt with the problems herself, she resigned with a shrug.

"Anyway.. Enough about my troubles.. Are you feeling better from your run in with that monster?" Her concern for her friend was thick and ran deep. It was a shared love of all creatures, or at least that had helped usher the friendship along. To many Kaliana came across as bossy and overbearing, it seemed Tabby was one of the few that actually understood her and for that she was grateful.. Other women usually saw her as competition especially with her rare complexion, dark brown hair and eyes who's hue varied between ice blue when mad to a shade between lavender and violet when very happy.

[Tabby]

Tabby chuckled, of course Kali didn’t force her presence on others. It was just her own nature to needle authority figures. She nodded in agreement, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was a good book for losing a number of things in. She listened as Kaliana complained, lightly and smiled.

“Oh come now Kali, we both know I’ve had worse than a little run in with things that have nasty claws and teeth. Long as I have all my limbs and most of my skin and blood I’m fine. I don’t engage in drama like some folks.” Tabby teased her friend. “Ah, Zadiken… I don’t know why but something about him puts my hackles up. You know, the house elves would be glad to dump him in the lake at night if you asked them to, and I wouldn’t mind seeing that myself. He feels like a hunter, and human hunters are never any good for those around them. Besides, he didn’t see what you were worth then, and he’s not going to see what you’re worth now… and believe me when I say you are worth a hell of a lot.” Tabby wasn’t overly given to saying people were worth much, mostly because she wasn’t much of a ‘people person’. The fact that she told Kali that she was worth something was a clear sign of respect, with a hint of dog-like fawning thrown in.

“As for the Ministry and the ‘chambers’ and such, fuck it. They should know better than to push their noses into Hogwarts business. If it comes down to things I’ve got your back against them. The past is in the past, and the dead are dead. I say we stop poking at it with a sharp stick. Then again in most movies when you poke the dead with a sharp stick they pop up like a jack-in-the-box and eat your face… maybe we should just let the Ministry keep poking.” There it was; that Cheshire grin that either made people laugh and appreciate her as a friend, or made them run away screaming, certain they were about to be eaten alive by a horrible monster. Part of the reason Tabby was so good at frightening people without actually making a threat or a motion was her mixed background. She kept it under wraps but when one had so many predators in their bloodline they were bound to be a predator themselves sometimes. Although Tabby was only a predator when the title would get her someplace she couldn’t get otherwise.

“Wanna go get krunked? Or there’s a new spa over in Muggle London that I’ve heard nice things about. We could go shopping too, although I can’t promise not to be blatantly honest if an outfit makes your butt look big.” Tabby was Tabby, and while Zadiken would probably find his room infested with fleas, bed bugs, ticks, mites, and other nasty little critters that crawl in the dark and make a person itch for quite some time, Kaliana was welcome to drag her around on a leash if it so pleased her.

OOC//
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 500 +
Expecting: Kali and open
Plot: Tabby tries to comfort Kali
Author Notes: yes, there's some swearing... it's actually pretty controlled for Tabby. Also, personally I have no clue what other girls do when they're upset, because if I'm upset I destroy a pillow and then go read a book. So sorry if something Tabby said makes no sense.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana sat and listened as Tabby scolded her gently for acting so.... dunderheaded about seemingly small stuff and sighed as she thought part of what she'd said was right. Though Lana hadn't told her everything concerning the reason Zadiken had left her on the steps of Hogwarts.. that she'd thought she'd ended up knocked up at 17. So she couldn't fault Tabby in that she thought Zadiken up and left for no reason.

She smiled as her friend teased her about drama and laughed haughtily as she retorted, " Are you saying I'm a drama queen, chick? No.. You don't do drama you just prefer to try to get yourself killed trying to save some creature who doesn't want you anywhere near it." with the same teasing tone Tabby had used.

Lana knew better than to argue with Tabby on her feelings about someone. Though she also knew Zadiken didn't hunt just for sport. He did so to eat, and to rid places like the Castle of creatures like the Sphinxicore that had taken up residence in the forest by some unexplained force. She'd used to know how Zadiken was, and knew that since he was an Auror he'd of taken an oath to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

" Granted, sometimes I'd love to have him thrown in the Black Lake but... I'm just not that type... Besides that the Ministry sent him so there would be more trouble if we did, though it would be awful funny. And thank you, that means a lot. " She smiled at the thought of Mermaids attacking Zadiken if they had in fact thrown him in the lake, and she was simply flattered by the fact that her friend thought that highly of her.

As far as the Ministry went.. She wouldn't mind if everyone of the buggers got ate or worse.. " I agree with the Ministry, they're just a bother.. And we both know I'm stubborn enough to hold Fort Knox down if I have to, for as long as I have to, and with I'm assuming most of the faculty backing me, especially you.. We'd be a force to be reckoned with." she despised any interference in what she deemed no one else's business..

At Tabby's offer to get totally sloshed Lana chuckled, then was undecided as the good side warred with the side who could so easily slip into the alcohol sea once more and forget about everything. She couldn't remember if she'd ever made mention of that specific problem to Tabby or not.. So she compromised.. " How about, we go pamper ourselves and just do all three? I'll cover anything you want since you sat here and listened to my drama. " The last word dripped of sarcastic humor as she waited on Tabby to decline or accept.

OOC:
Word: 400+
Who: Kaliana
Expecting: Tabby, open.
Notes: I don't know what prissy girls do, but I go and do something physical usually (live on a farm).. so everything Tabby said made perfect sense.

[Tabby]

“You a drama queen? Don’t make me laugh. You’re a drama EMPRESS my dear girl, but I am guilty as charged.” She laughed a little bit, getting along was easy when you could take a few hits and get up again. “Ah, once again the ministry spoils the fun… Funny how they’re only concerned when it affects them. Bunch of poxy hypocrites if you ask me.” Tabby held her growl in the back of her throat. Where had the ministry been when a werewolf hunter had slaughtered her father? Where had they been when charges were pressed against her grandmother for simply being a vela? They hadn’t been anywhere, and yet if Zadiken were to be given a well-deserved cold bath they’d be all over the place like a swarm of maggots on a corpse.

“Alrighty then! Grab a night bag cuz we’re off for a girl’s night out!” Tabby stood up so fast her chair fell over backward, the backboard snapping off of it as it hit the floor. Tabby stood still for a minute before turning around, picking up the pieces and repairing them with a quick spell. “You’d think I’d have learned not to do that after the fifth chair, wouldn’t you?” She laughed at herself, mahogany hair flopping out of its loose pony-tail and into her eyes.

OOC//
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 221
Expecting: Kali and open
Plot: Tabby arranges the girls night out
Author Notes: Yeah... Tabby could be considered bipolar she changes from one mood to the next so fast.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana laughed gaily as Tabby called her a drama empress, oh how silly she must seem to her levelheaded friend, all worried about such trivial stuff. "Well, if I'm the empress, why aren't you bowing to me then?" she snickered as a playful light lit up her eyes.

" The Ministry wouldn't know what fun was if it came up and bit them on their fat rounded rears." Lana agreed with Tabby. Though, she could probably figure a way to pay Zadiken back for some of the strife he'd caused her since he'd arrived. And she could be sure that a cold drenching in an icy lake would be a part of it...whether the ministry sent him or not.

Lana didn't jump when Tabby jumped up from the table, but gave a knowing smirk as she sat the chair to rights. She didn't know how many chairs they'd repaired or thrown out because they had just gave up the ghost from too many magical fixes. She chuckled as her friend seemed to turn into a teenager who'd just gotten the go ahead to go to the prom and after party with no curfew. "Alright! I'll get my stuff and meet you....where? It'll probably take about ten minutes to clear my schedule for tomorrow and we can spend all day doing whatever." she suddenly felt a rush of excitement zing across her skin at the prospect of having a relaxing day with a friend.

OOC:
Character: Kali
Expecting: Tabby
Plot: She is excited about getting away from the castle
Note: SOrry it's so short, muse didn't want to cooperate

[Tabby]

“What, you want me to throw out my back?” Tabby was aware her laugh would disturb studying students but she didn’t mind. Besides, it was good for them to see that adult hood wasn’t all solemn faces and troubles. “Indeed they wouldn’t… I wonder if I should get a niffler, name it Fun, and let it loose in the place? Maybe then they’d learn a bit. Either way, meetcha in the entrance hall. My schedule is clear as a crystal ball aside from feeding Firefly, and I can bring him with me.” An over excited teenager was calm compared to the tall, thin woman. Once she was happy very little could pull her down for a while. She spun around and danced her way out of the library, ignoring the stares she got from other occupants of the library.

“Party rock is in the house tonight! Everybody just have a good time! And we gonna make you lose your mind! Everybody just have a good time!” She sang as she bounded out of the library and off to her office to get Firefly and her night bag. The library endured several minutes of steadily fading music before she was far enough away that they could no longer hear her, and then several students started laughing at once.

OOC//
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 218
Expecting: Kali and open
Plot: Tabby runs off to get packed.
Author Notes: Yes, Tabby was singing Party Rock Anthem. Like me she is versatile in her music interests.

[Ruby Wasser]

Ruby looked up from where she was studying behind several stacks of books, head cocking to one side as Tabby bounced out of the library singing.

"Ok... she may be one of my favorite teachers, but she is mad as a hatter some times. Maybe I should check that she doesn't have any un-silenced Fwooper in her quarters. Ah well, she's wearing clothing and not a badger or jelly fish. And she's not really my problem in the first place. my problem is this report on.... ok what was i doing this report on again?" the girl reread her notes, irritated that the subject had slipped her mind. "Oh, right, the Goblin war... cripes there where a lot of them. I wish i had a Bob to assist me on this."

intrigued by the possibility of creating an assistant like the skull bound knowledge spirit from her favorite urban fantasy series, Ruby set a side the history books and began moving through the stacks.

"Knowledge.... how can I store knowledge outside of myself, but not as a pensive? I want it sort of like a search engine, something that can go looking for the information for me."

OOC:
Who: Ruby
Expecting: Kali, Tabby and open
Notes: Ruby's slacking on History. She stinks are remembering dates just as bad as she stinks at math.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana had gotten up to follow Tabby out the door to her own chambers and office to clear her schedule, but just as she was walking past a student she slowed because she'd heard her friends name mentioned and wanted to see what the girl was saying about one of her professors.

She chuckled as she heard the girl hit the description of Tabby pretty much on the head, within an inch or two. She stopped to tell Ruby, as she recognized her now, just how close she was. "You're quite close actually, but she cares greatly for her students and the creatures she cares for. If you're in her class it's best to pay close attention." She finished with a smile and a small laugh. She was glad that at least this student found Tabby interesting, and thus probably listened intently in class.

She could still hear Tabby singing as she made her way out into the hall and on her way to her office, a smile still pasted on her mouth. Life didn't have to be all strict and stress once you hit adulthood, and it would do her some good to remember that. Maybe things wouldn't get to her as much if she reserved time to pamper herself a bit. Goodness knows she needed it after the past week.

Lana had finished in her office... had gotten everything cleared off until the beginning of the next week and smiled... this was going to be fun! She had just finished packing her overnighter and making her way to the entrance hall when she could swear she still heard Tabby's singing, only a different song that she couldn't make out the words to yet. She picked up her pace, and even found herself humming as she entered the Hall.

[Tabby]

“We’re off to see the wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz! We hear he is a Whiz of a Wiz, if ever a Wiz there was!” Tabby danced herself around the entrance hall, clearly bothering Firefly who tugged at the slightly oversized dog harness he wore in an attempt to get away from the crazy woman who was raising him. She spotted Kaliana and danced her way over, grabbing her headmistress and friends hands to make her join in. It was hard to read Tabby usually, since most of her actions had multiple reasons behind them, but at least she was being happy and social right now.

“Well Kali? You ready to go get the funk of adulthood kicked off? A whole day of nothing but fun and relaxing.” Firefly squealed to remind her he was there. “And of course dealing with a horse that’s going to look like a Great Dane to any muggles who walk by us.” Tabby was not good at transfiguration or illusions, but she could at least hope the one she’d put on Firefly worked. She’d tried to make him look like an ordinary palomino colt and had ended up with what looked like a life-sized puppet of a colt, so she’d altered it to a very large dog and put a dog harness on him. It worked much better and now anyone looking without expecting to see him there would just see a large fawn dog on a harness. She couldn’t do much about the noises he made though.

OOC//
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 200+
Expecting: Kali and open
Plot: Tabby dances around and is a cheerful nut-case
Author Notes: Tabby isn't good at illusion-type charms.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana was grabbed by Tabby and pulled into an impromptu dance... or jig.. or something resembling a mix of them. She began laughing and just imagined how silly they must look to those passing by. Her, the headmistress and one of her professors acting like a couple of kids singing and dancing in the middle of the Hall. As Firefly made notice of his need for attention, and the fact that they were irritating him beyond that of any reasonable person, she had a big smile on her face and answered Tabby. " Indeed I am ready to act like a spoiled rich kid.....or princess.. whatever you want to say."

Lana looked at Firefly and wondered how muggles could be so dense as to see the unicorn that had been hastily transfigured into some semblance of dog was in fact a dog. She shrugged and offered her help to keep things under wraps if it seemed anyone was getting to curious for their good. "If someone starts sniffing too hard, I can put a memory spell on them and further transfigure Firefly if he'd allow it." She said and snickered because the poor uni looked like a cross between a miniature pony and chihuahua. She didn't know how that was entirely possible, but it sure was funny to see.

She picked up her bag from where it had been dropped during their impromptu dance, and looked over at Tabby expectantly as she started toward the door....and freedom.. "Well? What are we waiting on lady...Christmas?" She said full of excitement.

[Tabby]

Tabby whooped and then bolted right out the door. She ended up quite literally dragging Firefly a good twenty yards before the colt got his hooves underneath himself and galloped after her. It wasn’t just the idea of a pleasant time out of the castle that had her plowing ahead like the Hogwarts Express either. She was just happy to be helpful, and if by helping others she got a break herself, well then so much the better. She hit the gate with a resounding clang as it started to open and fell back, shaking her head to clear the bells out of it and then darted through the opening.

“FRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!” She declared to the whole world, probably loud enough that people could hear her a good kilometer or so away. It was certainly loud enough to draw a squeal of protest from Firefly. She did a cartwheel that turned into a quick flip as she kept moving. They had to get off of the grounds before they could apparate to anyplace fun. She spun around and paused, waiting for Kali to catch up. It wasn’t her fault she could keep up with a cantering horse for nearly two hours before she got tired. She wasn’t exceptionally fast, she just had a long stride and put it to use, especially when dashing headlong into things. Her sister often joked that she should start running marathons and races for cash, she could certainly beat out most people she dealt with daily.

OOC//
Character: Tabby
Word Count: 250
Expecting: Kali and open
Plot: Tabby dashes off and is essentially a little kid on summer vacation
Author Notes: Tabby's top speed is 25 MPH... a horse cantering can go up to 17 MPH, tabby can hold that same speed for 2 hours of running. She's more for endurance than sprinting.

[Kaliana Justice]

Lana rushed after Tabby though not nearly as fast or as.... spunky as Tabby had burst through the door and castle gate. She heard her friend's call of freedom and a curious 'thunk' as she suspected one... either Tabby or the Uni had ran headlong into the gate before it was raised. As she neared, she had a knowing smile on her face and started to ask which genius hadn't bothered to wait on the gate, yet thought better of it and started contemplating out loud so Tabby could also chime in what they were going to do first..

" Ok, so.. Should we....hit the spa first, find a swanky hotel.. or just say screw it and get sh*t faced? She pondered aloud. Right now with her current mood set the latter seemed like the better option. And, who knew.. maybe she'd find something she liked in a few of the shops along the way. She looked over to Tabby and Firefly who were now walking at a much calmer pace, considering. As they neared the edge of the grounds and the place where they could apparate from, Lana's own steps took on a highly excited and lengthened stride.

They finally had reached the place from which they were to apparate so Lana turned and looked expectantly at Tabby. "Ok.. So... What gets your juices going? Spa, Hotel, Bar?" She asked, and waited...ready to send her body on one heck of a ride to the spot they picked.

OOC:
Who: Kali
What: Girls Day!
With: Tabby / Open
Notes: Sorry so short, not feeling too hot.