Niamh smiled at Jona, "yep, that's right, you got it quicker than a lot of people do." She laughed as the chocolate frog jumped straight onto his face, and made a mental note that a chocolate frog was able to break the tension. "Unicorns are cool," she agreed, "but I think dragons are a bit too standoffish. I prefer magical creature sthat look a little cuter." As Mallowsweet set her tray on the table, Niamh stared at the ice cream. "I wish I could tell you," she replied, "but I have no idea what that even is!"

( )

((OOC: is Mallowsweet at the table with Jona and Niamh or is she with Drew and Irwin? Thought is was the latter and just want to confirm))

Slack-jawed and brows drawn together, Jona stared at Zoe completely flabbergasted. "Okay, so I did not follow a single word you just said. But, I'm gonna assume that it was you accepting the compliment and I'm just gonna nod my head and smile." And so he did. Then he turned to Niamh and said, "So, does that mean you've seen a dragon before? When? Where? What kind? What other creatures have you seen? And - " He stopped himself by dramatically clapping both hands over his mouth an sucking in his breath. Letting out the breath slowly, he apologized for the bombardment of questions. "Just curious. I've never seen so many magical creatures before until today."

(OOC: If Mallowsweet is with Drew and Irwin, just imagine Niamh yelled that over to her :P)

"Only from a distance once before," Niamh replied, "my parents took me to a Dragon reserve back in Egypt. I dunno what kind they were though, I was quite young and didn't have any photos or anything to be able to identify them. I bet you've seen more interesting magical creatures than I have though."

What lovely surroundings, Lysandra thought. And after two magical encounters, she felt hungry and was ready for a nosh. Let´s see what can be obtained here, she cheered herself on, and looked out for a kiosk or restaurant which her classmates already had approved.

Oh, there was a cute little diner, placed a little bit higher, with a terrace so that is was able to look around and give a great view. The fishes swam happily along and George curved around, clearly the attraction of the aquarium yet moderate in his actions.

Lysandra ordered a Treacle Tart, a Lima Lush (she carefully checked that it was really no Tongue Tying Lemon Squash) and a pack of Spellbinding Nuts because the bag looked so cute. Too bad they didn´t have Magic carrots for turning her hair a little bit more red.

Sitting on her little table, she enjoyed her snack, watching out for some of her fellow students. Some of them seemed to be pretty enganged in interesting conservations, so she planned to join them after her meal. Until then, she would envision their next magical creatures they were to see. Such an amazing trip!

Lys opened the bag of nuts, absentminded. The Spellbinding Nuts rolled out, bowling over, peanuts, haszelnuts, walnuts, looking somehow very lively. Lysandra blinked, then watched the nuts sticking out little hands and feet, and growing a face with a big smile. They joined hands, dancing around, then formed a queue and with a last wave of their tiny hands, hopped from the table and vanished into the shrubs. Lysandra laughted, balling up the now empty bag. So what, they were magical after all!

"Actually," Jona said timidly. "Unless you count my uncle's animagus kestrel form, I hadn't seen any magical creatures until I came to Hogwarts. Zoe's pets were some of the first I'd seen on that first day we met." He shrugged and continued: "I've only known I was a wizard for about a year now and most of that time was spent wallowing in self-pity in Glasgow. Just before coming to Hogwarts, by like a few months, was when I finally started getting into the whole idea and looking into what the world of magic has to offer. It's pretty cool - and that's an understatement."

(ooc, I figure Mallowsweet was heading for Drew and Irwin, but the tables were close enough that Nimah overheard her, but Jona was too focused on the issues, not to mention the chocolate frog, to notice right away. Drew's ability to talk to equines has her intrigued at the very least. Bed-time for Bonzo here, so this'll be short) Mallowsweet waved a spoon "It's called a Banana Split! They peeled a long yellow fruit and split it in half, then added all this other stuff. I recognize cherries and nuts, but the rest..." She shrugged expressively, giving her tail an extra swish for emphasis. The blue haired girl she remembered was from her own house. The creation of a full-blown a sandstorm in the common room was something not quickly forgotten. Spotting Jona she waved again and put on a brave smile. "Jona? Right? Of course we can be friends! Sorry about the confusion. Nimah can tell you I'm not usually so...grabby. We'll talk later OK?" Without waiting for his answer she plopped her haunches on the floor and held the extra spoon up between Drew and Irwin imploringly. "Help?"

Drew grinned at Irwin’s advice of how to deal with him Mum. “Love it,” he said. “I’ll see if the zoo idea will work on Mum. She’s really not too bad since she likes animals too. She just says that whatever I get, I have to tend, which is fine by me. I mean really two owls, an electric mouse, a puffskein, a dog, and a horse aren’t that much. I need several more. And yeah, I understand about the weather, it’s just hard to come inside at times. I mean when you’re riding across the meadow, racing the storm clouds moving in…” Drew smiled at the memory, “it’s great. You feel so alive and a part of things…one with your horse and nature.” He gave Irwin a sheepish look and ducked his head. “Sorry…I know I get kinda carried away at times. Dad says it’s the writer’s blood ‘cause we describe everything.”

With a laugh, Drew nodded and said, “Oh yeah, definitely. And I wouldn’t dream of not being a good friend to Mags.”

As Irwin started his tale, Drew leaned forward slightly, chin in his hands, listening with rapt attention and picturing things in his mind. With a smile, he said, “That’s so cool about Joey. And I totally understand about knowing it’s what you’re supposed to do. I feel the same way. It just feels so…right whenever I’m with animals, especially equines. I think this place is awesome though and you’ve got a great job. I never would have thought about being a guide, but I like it. It’s a way to help others learn about the creatures safely so that there will be less fear or desire to harm them.” Drew bit his lip slightly at the part about having to stun the occamy. “I know with the more dangerous ones, you’d have to do something like that, but man I’d hate to. I’d be the one to want someone else to stun it and then go in and help the poor thing,” he said, revealing his soft heart.

Drew had to smile as Mallowsweet joined them carrying a huge banana split and wearing a desperate look. “I haven’t had a banana split in months,” he said. “They’re usually too much for one person to eat alone. And it’s going to be very sweet,” he warned the young centaur. “The banana is the fruit that they put on the bottom, then there’s three kinds of ice cream…vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. It’s cold and sweet…kinda like flavored snow and ice mixed,” Drew tired to figure out something to relate things to for Mallowsweet. “Then on top of the ice cream is whipped cream, along with nuts, and cherries like you said. To eat it…well it’s different for different people. Some people just scoop all the way down and get a huge bite with topping, ice cream, and banana all together. Some people eat all of one flavor ice cream first and then move to a different flavor. You can start at one end and work your way through or just dig a hole in the center and work outward.” He grinned and took the extra spoon Mallowsweet was holding out. “Want me to demonstrate?”

Jona smiled halfheartedly at Mallowsweet, but said nothing since her attention was quickly diverted to Drew and her ice cream. Finishing off his jambalaya, Jona often turned to stuffing his mouth full and hoping for someone else to fill the silence when he felt nervous.

"That sounds.... different!" Niamh replied to Mallowsweet, uncertain if this Banana Split thing actually sounded tasty or not. As Jona was talking, Niamh's eyes grew a little wider, "your uncle's an Animagus?" she said, desperately trying to keep her voice level even though it was almost the most exciting thing she'd heard about a fellow students' family, "that's so neat! What's Glasgow like?"

Jona was excited to have someone else intrigued with his life. He went on, saying, "Yeah, my uncle Jon is a muggle veterinarian in Glasgow and his boyfriend, also who I call 'uncle', is named Allen and he is an animagus. Actually, Allen said that once I finished my third year at Hogwarts, he'd start teaching me to be an animagus as well." Jona could barely contain his excitement about the subject. "I keep staying up late at night, wondering what my form will be. It's probably what I dream about like every night." He rolled his eyes dramatically and threw his ahnds up in the air. Patience was not a strong suit of his. "As for Glasgow, I haven't lived there long, but it's pretty nice. I think it's probs like the largest city in Scotaland - don't take my word for it, though. Zoe probs knows more about the area than I do, I think."

@/Raven @/Paddy

(hope I'm more or less caught up)

Zoe’s giggle turned to a laugh. “When yer talking about yerself ye use the word me, right? And when ye are talking about someone else ye say ye. Well I was just saying even if I did change, ye’d still use those pronouns. It’s a er, geeky reply.”

River saw the other girl sitting by herself and waved to Lysandra, letting her know she could join them. Wait… did the girl’s nuts just run away? River laughed. Sometimes magic was too funny for words.

Zoe had heard most of Jona’s tale and she had to force herself from wanting to hug the boy—which was rather odd seeing as she hadn’t been a particularly touchy type of person.

“I suppose,” Irwin said, “six pets aren’t that many.” He listened to the boy. “It’s okay, you are passionate and that’s good—otherwise I’d tell you that it’s probably no the job for you.” He nodded. “That’s why I love my job. I can work with the people and the animals. Every day there’s something different sometime new to discover. If you wake up and all you think about is animals and helping them then that’s what you are. From your talk, from your passion working with magical horses is the best fit for you. No, I don’t relish stunning them myself. But even humans have to have intervention at times. Scared—an animal can refuse help. Sometimes we have to do it to help them.”

Irwin blinked at Mallowsweet. Did she want someone to show her? Drew was there helping so he waited to see.

“Niamh,” River said surprised, “you’ve never had a banana split? Oh they are yummy. Have you had one Paddy?”

Jona nodded his head matter-of-factly. "You're a geek." He risked rejection and hugged Zoe while sitting next to her. "But, I'm a geek, too. We can be each other's geeks." He crinkled his noise after saying it, though, because it sounded a bit mushy.

Zoe smiled and suddenly started singing while flapping as if she had wings.

We're yer friends We're yer friends We're yer friends to the bitter end (The bitter end)

When ye're alone (When ye're alone) Who comes around (Who comes around) To pluck ye up (To pluck ye up) When ye are down (When ye are down) And when ye're outside, looking in Who's there to open the door? That's what friends are for

Who's always eager to extend A friendly claw? That's what friends are for

And when ye're lost in dire need Who's at yer side at lightning speed? We're friends with every creature Comin' down the pike In fact, we've never met an animal We didn't like, didn't like

So ye can see We're friends in need And friends in need Are friends indeed We'll keep ye safe In the jungle for evermore That's what friends are for!

When she finished the song the girl turned bright red and sat back down. "From the Jungle book," she muttered.

When his tongue went dry, Jona realized it was because his mouth was hanging open for the entirety of the song. He immediately snapped his jaw shut and stared at Zoe as she sat back, blushing a deep red. "So...." He began casually. "You gonna tell me what brought that on and do I get to look forward to random musical numbers in the future?" He teased her, but genuinely loved the show of spirit. "I'd go for an encore, but I'm not sure you're up to it!"

"The geek buds... made me think o the song," the tomato known as Zoe replied. She tried to sink lower only started sliding out of the chair.

Drew smiled but blushed slightly too as Irwin brushed off his apology and said he was passionate. Yep, he’d heard that before, several times in fact. He did tend to get fully into things when he got involved. And the more he cared about something or someone, the more passionate he became. He nodded at Irwin’s explanation about stunning the animals, realizing that it was true. “And even though most people might not think every creature is sentient, it never hurts to talk to ‘em and explain what you’re doin’ and that you’re trying to help them,” Drew commented. “At least that’s my opinion. I always talk to any that I work with.”

When someone started to sing nearby, Drew was momentarily distracted from Mallowsweet and the banana split. He turned and well, there was no way that Drew…or anyone around for that matter…could have missed Zoe’s performance. He chuckled at her flapping around and hummed along a bit with the song. When it was over, he was tempted to applaud but instead only called to the other nearby table, “Nice sentiment, Zoe, but it’ll never work. Jona might be as much trouble as Mowgli, but you’ll never be a buzzard…too pretty. Bagheera maybe; graceful and wise.”

"Oh I agree," Irwin, "it never hurts to try and I think they can feel the tone."

Zoe squeaked when Drew commented on her song and turned even redder if that were possible. But did he call her pretty? Was she really pretty? Graceful? Okay wise, well that was her house but did he mean those compliments?

"First a bright red cherry and now a worm sliding out of her chair! I'm beginning to think you're a metamorphmagus!" Jona laughed at Zoe, but gave her hand a squeeze to assure her he didn't mean any harm.

When Drew called over and complimented Zoe, Jona felt a wild flame burn inside him. Drew was only being nice to Zoe, however, and Jona shrugged it off. "Wait," He shouted back at Drew. "Why am I Mowgli?" He was a tad offended. he then swiveled to look at Zoe and begged, "Am I trouble??" He couldn't even tell himself if he was playing offended or if he was actually offended by it."

@/Raven @/leafling19

Zoe was totally wanting disappear on the spot as she slid back up her chair. She knew he was just teasing her so she didn't get upset.

"Ye may be a bit mischievous, but I do nee think ye be trouble. Besides, Mowgli is adorable," Zoe said still red from the previous comments.

Drew smiled and nodded at Irwin. He was starting to like the man and was glad that he’d decided to come over and talk to the guide.

When Jona yelled at him, Drew sighed and looked at Irwin and Mallowsweet. “Excuse me for a second, please. I promise I’ll be right back to help you eat that banana split,” he smiled at the centaur. He didn’t really want to leave his new companions, but he also didn’t want to be yelling back and forth like someone with no manners. His Mum would have been appalled.

Standing, Drew went over to the other table and said, “I was only teasing, Jona. But you do act like Mowgli…jumping around, high-spirited, being silly and overly dramatic, but also curious about things. And yeah in the story, his actions led to him being trouble for his friends at times. And Mowgli is about your age in the story, so it makes sense.” Then looking at Zoe, Drew said quietly, “I wasn’t teasing about what I said about you though. But I didn’t mean to embarrass you more. So do you like Disney movies?” he asked in the hopes of moving past the embarrassing part.