((woohoo! Come join the unicorn party, Fade!! ))

Drew fought not to laugh at Magnus' description of a Thanksgiving gathering. He was still trying to be quiet because of the unicorns so near. Shaking his head, he said, "Some might be like that, but ours never was that choatic. Course, could be because we didn't have that many people. Course Mum's family was all here so it was just me, my parents, my sister, my grandparents, and dad's younger brother who brought his wife and two kids. Only four kids but I guess we made enough noise to frustrate the adults because we usually got told to go outside and play if the weather was nice. If it was raining or snowing or something and we were trapped inside, we'd make up games and stories and then everybody would join in." Drew smiled at the thought. "I remember having an all nighter playing board games. I have a love/hate deal with Monopoly though because I stink at handling money and dealing with math. Dad's brother is a whiz at it though and he usually beat all of us. There was a lot of teasing and arguing when we did stuff like that," Drew recalled. "But no one ever argued over the food. Grams made so much and it was so good that we didn't really care who carved the turkey and who sliced the ham, just so long as it got done." He grinned.

"Never 'ad thanksgiving, since that's an American 'Oliday but it sounds interesting. Though yours still sounds pretty good."
The drawing was nearly complete now. He finished the last few lines, tapped it and it copied onto the following page. "I'll give you the copy when we are safely out of the forest," he said to Drew.

"Thanks, Mags," Drew grinned. "You can copy the drawing just like that, huh?" A thought went through his mind. "could you, um, would you make me another?" He didn't want to seem greedy but he was forming a plan.

Looking over at Fade, Drew smiled at the other boy's reaction to the unicorns. "You'd fit right in with them, Fade," he said. "I think your hair is amazing." He hoped he didn't sound too weird saying that to the other boy.

His eyebrow raised. "Your sister?" he asked.

Drew smiled mysteriously and shook his head. "Nope, Bridget will have to be content looking at mine."

"Then what?" Magnus said.

Finally Fade snapped out of it and looked at the drawing Magnus () had done. “That’s brilliant.” He smiled and tuned back into the conversations going on around him. The unicorns must not have been that skittish after all because they didn’t appear to be in a hurry to leave the glade as the students talked. His grin however faltered and turned into a blush when Drew () complimented his hair. Instinctually Fade reached up and brushed it back in a failed attempt to hide it. I would be easier to manage if he could tell when it was changing colors. “We can trade if you want.” He was kidding only because he knew there wasn’t a way to do it. If he could he probably would, only to regret it later on. “We do Thanksgiving at home to, Dad’s American and loves turkey.” He made a face as turkey wasn’t his favorite and he thought the craze about eating them on a specific day was a little loony.

((brb got to run an errand))

"It's a secret for now," Drew said. "You'll see soon enough. Please, Mags?"

"You never said that, Fade," Magnus said. "That's kinda cool. Paul goes to Thanksgiving with 'is wife's family." Magnus frowned. He was more than happy to share his art with people but not knowing the reason bothered him. "I'm sorry, but I'm not comfortable with that."

All this talk about family have made Merlin a bit uncomfortable, all he had was his mother and no one else. "I ... I don't know my father, or any other family but my mom." He shrugs. "She says they don't want to see her and I really don't know why or if I have any uncles, grandparents, cousins...it's just the two of us and the forest." He smiles sweetly. "My pets of course are my family." He scratched his head. "I guess that's why I don't know how to socialize well, no kids in my village."

Fade shrugged. “It’s OK, but kinda weird.” () He realized that Merlin looked a little uncomfortable. Then he mentioned that it was just him and his mom, and that her family didn’t want to see her. “My mom got disowned from her family… But we do just fine without em.” He knew how it felt to be cut off, but his father’s side was still somewhat involved so he didn’t want to say anything and sound like he was bragging. “Maybe our moms would get along.” He smiled softly at Merlin. ()

[img align=left]https://i.imgur.com/wIWTZKb.png[/img] Poppy had wanted to go when Arrow () had advised them to, but there was no way she was leaving the rest of the group, especially Merlin after his scare. She didn't think the centaur's warnings sounded false at all, and Tamsin had been way too quick to rush them away from him for her own peace of mind. The unicorns had been truly wonderful to see, but Poppy snapped back to reality dreading picking twenty more flowers. How would they ever find that many? And who knew what kind of strange magic lurked within them?

"Where to next Tamsin?"

Outfit Not Found

Elizabeth had only followed the little group of students and Auror Tamsin, but kept mostly quiet. She had been curious about the forbidden forest for a while and hoped it would be interesting and distracting, perhaps. Two good friends of her had left the school and she was rather silent since then. She listened occasionally to the other's conversation, but focused more on her thoughts. Maybe she could get some ideas for one of the assignments for school here as well. While looking at the unicorns - which was truly an amazing sight - she overheard some of the boys talking about their families, but didn't want to interfere. Wondering why the unicorns were so calm with the students near them, she smiled a bit. It was fascinating that these creatures lived in a forest that was said to be inhabitated by numerous, dangerous beasts.

[OOC; - please don't feel bad, Lizzie is a bit theatrical and a little stubborn, spoiled capricorn. :'D ]

((OOC: sadly I don't think I can participate right now because I've been in the hospital this week and am really not doing well. Sorry!! But I will keep getting better (trying to) and hopefully be able to before the workshop is over!))

Magnus frowned, he hadn't meant to upset anyone.. "Nothing wrong with a small family. Anything is better than nothing. And animals totally count." He looked awkwardly away, very much aware that he had had nothing.

(( oh I'm so sorry -snugs- I hope you get better quickly!))

Lee had returned to the castle with Charlotte, and they agreed to shower and change, get some food and gather supplies for the return trip to the forbidden forest. It would be easy enough to track the group, they both had good sniffers.

It didn't take them too long to find the group, who looked like they had come across some unicorns. Lee took a moment to marvel at the sight, then turned his attention back to the group. He sighed. He had unfinished business that he wasn't too keen on dealing with, but he walked forward none the less.

He approached Drew and stopped a couple of feet away. "Drew, I wanted to apologize for getting physical with you, I should have had better control than that. I hope you are ok." He took a deep breath.

"I think that, since we have no choice but to co-exist in the same house, that we just avoid each other, and we don't speak to each other again. Do you agree to that..?"

(( - Thank you very much snugs I am feeling optimistic! ))

(( -squishes tightly-))

Magnus almost did a double take when Lee and Charlotte came back. He hadn't expected that. The boy was on guard though feeling nervous.

((OOC: Feel better! Hope your recovery is very fast! xx))

Merlin nods to Fade, maybe their moms could get on. Still his mom was quite a loner, probably staying away from people so she won't hurt again. Her relationships at the village are all cordial but none close and she is only close to him. "I hope she could have a good friend." The idea made him smile but it was washed off fast.

Merlin nods. "You are right, sorry...you must know it does gets lonely at times but at least I have her."

Tamsin was brought back to reality when Poppy speak up, she was right they should move on and thinking about her own fallen apart family won't solve anything, what is gone is gone. "You are right Poppy, we should move one and try hurry...the sky is turning quite dark already. I hope it is not rain since it is still day, hopefully just a cloud." When she saw the two deserters return she frowned, not because they were there but because they return on their own and they have evidence of how dangerous the place was. She decided to wait until he resolved the issue with Drew but he would hear her. She approached Charlotte looking very serious and looked down at her. The girl made a cute face and she grabbed her cheeks. "Glad you guys are ok, but if you wanted to stay you shouldn't have left in the first place- you sweet smelling little priggle." (OOC: Subeta ref!) After a while of pinching her cheeks, Tamsin let go. "Now lets move out and try not to bother the..." The unicorns ran off since they finally noticed the group. "...unicorns. Oh well, sorry."

Magnus gave Merlin a smile. "Nothing to apologise for, Merls." It was cute, Tamsin pinching Charlotte's cheeks.