(Untitled)

[notthatpotter]

When James becomes himself again, he can't honestly say he had been expecting it.

But fortune would have it that he is close enough to the staircase so that when he does become boy-shaped again (and my, my, things are a lot bigger than he remembers!), he can bolt for his room

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[call_me_kick]

Lucky for James, Kick did not see a thing.

She does, however, notice him as he comes down the stairs.

She watches him for a moment, and then quickly looks back down at the paper in front of her.

It's full of little doodles of animals.

[notthatpotter]

He is so glad to be himself - and himself with clothes! - that he doesn't notice Kick at first.

He has The Tales of Beedle the Bard with him again when he comes back downstairs. It is tucked under his arm.

As he walks past her table, he notices the doodles - which makes him pause for a moment. They're actually a bit like Ingress', he thinks.

[call_me_kick]

Kick casts a sidelong glance at him, trying to look focused on her work.

Trying.

Her gaze eventually travels to the book and then up to his face and she says, very softly: "Hi."

[notthatpotter]

"Hullo," he returns - politely, even.

He adjusts the book so the weight of it bothers him a little less, then smiles a bit.

"What're you up to?"

[call_me_kick]

"Drawin'," she answers, looking back at her work.

"Animals -- did you see them all?"

[notthatpotter]

"Well, not all the ones on your paper," James says, "but there were a lot of animals here in the bar, if you saw them."

He winces a bit.

"Including me."

[call_me_kick]

"Oh?"

Kick frowns a little.

"I wasn't turned into an animal," she says, eyeing James. "What did Bar turn you into?"

[notthatpotter]

"Yeah. The Bar turned me into a meerkat," he answers, groaning a bit. "Not even something cool like a lion or a Hippogriff."

[call_me_kick]

"A hippo... griff?"

She blinks, turning to face him.

"Is that like a hippopotamus?"

[notthatpotter]

"No." He speaks as though everyone should know this.

"A hippogriff's got the head of an eagle, wings and claws and all, but then they've got the body of a horse," he explains. "I could draw it for you, if you want."

[call_me_kick]

Kick tries to imagine it, but she's sure that she's imagining it wrong.

She offers the boy her pencil.

"My name's Kick, by the way."

[notthatpotter]

He takes the pencil and grabs the seat across from her, dragging it forward so he has better access to the paper.

"I'm James," he answers. "James Sirius Potter. Is Kick short for anything?" Seems an odd name to be called after an action.

[call_me_kick]

"My full name's Kathryn Carraway," she says, watching James closely. "But my uncle started calling me Kick when I was a baby, 'cause it rhymed with his name and my dad's name and my grandpa's name."

[notthatpotter]

"Ohh, okay. That makes sense."

He begins to draw a slightly wobbly black and white rendition of the aforementioned hippogriff, realizing that his art skills might need a little practice.

But the gist of it is there!

"See, it looks something like that."

[call_me_kick]

"Oh!"

That's... strange.

"Okay. Is it real?"

If Kick could be turned into anything, she'd want to be a unicorn. Or a mermaid.

[notthatpotter]

"Of course it's real," James says chidingly. "...even if I've never been able to see one before."

He puts the pencil down and shrugs a bit.

"I'm guessing you're not a wizard, then? All the wizards from my world'll know what hippogriffs are, or thestrals and things like that."

Showing off? Him? Nooo.