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 Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2025 8:44 am
Honestly, Almere had been a little jealous of Mechelen’s trip to Europe. Who wouldn’t want to fly in an airplane over the ocean and be able to look out the window and try to find pictures in the clouds from above? Who wouldn’t want to see castles where actual ancient kings and queens had lived through actual battles and balls? She could see some castles on Lysithea, it was true, but who would say no to more castles? Who wouldn’t want to eat all that food?
She’d been living vicariously through the pictures but it was getting to the point where she was really missing her best friend, too.
So she was thrilled to get to meet up again, now that Mechelen was back.
She skipped to the park where they were meeting up, powered up of course. She didn’t want to see her for the first time in a while with being magic.
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2025 5:53 pm
Mechelen had a small tote bag filled with things. She had gotten presents for everyone, of course but she was most excited for what she had gotten for Almere. It wasn’t as…personal as what she had gotten for Jason but…still. It was the most fun.
The Knight’s head perked up when she felt her friend and she stood, from the bench she had been sitting on. “Almere! Did you miss me terribly?” Her arms opened, the bag sitting abandoned on the bench.
“I hope that you were keeping those cousins of yours in line! I have so much to tell you! And, best of all I have presents!
Because there was nobody who didn’t love gifts, and if they said so, they were obviously liars. “The things I got you are my favorites, just so you know!”
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2025 3:37 pm
Almere nodded solemnly. "I looked out my window at the ocean every day, wishing for your safe return," she said. There was a slight pause. "I can't actually see the ocean from my window, but I did look up which direction it was in, so I could imagine it more clearly." It had ended up with her in the kitchen, looking at the neighbor's trampoline, but she could close her eyes and imagine the sound of the waves, and waving a little white handkerchief. "The boys have been fine, I think, but it's much better when you're around to help me with things." Almere herself they could just ignore if she wanted to. Even being a Squire had only helped a little with that. Mechelen helped them take her more seriously most of the time. "But show me what you have! I love presents."
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2025 1:22 pm
Mechelen looked at her friend for a moment before she stifled a soft laugh. “You’re adorable, Almere. Never change. I promise that the next time I go away I’ll look out my window at the ocean too, and whenever you go off on adventures.” She finally stood and hugged the younger girl tightly for a moment before pulling out a small, velvet bag.
“For you~ I think you’ll like them, honestly I had no idea that these were even a thing but? They were everywhere!”
The bag tinkled slightly, the sound of metal hitting metal, and it was filled with small spoons. Decorated and each showing the name or the map of a different place that Mechelen had visited.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 1:44 pm
"And I'll bring you souvenirs, once I get back from the over-the-ocean adventure," said Almere with a little nod. She could almost imagine that, too, looking through the exotic gift shops for things that she could bring back for all of her precious friends. That was something she could daydream about later, though. Right now, she pulled her focus towards the bag in front of her. Spoons. "Oh, these are adorable," she said, eyes lighting up. They jingled! And they had little messages on them, and designs. She took a closer look at the first few, on top. Then she twirled her big spoon a little, driving it into the ground next to her with a thump. "They match me!"
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 1:55 pm
“They absolutely do match you! I saw the first one and I thought of you right away and then like, I just kept seeing them! I had no idea people collected spoons from different places? But clearly they were all made for you!”
Sure Mechelen had no idea of what or how Almere would use them, but her whole thing was spoons...so it was clearly meant to be.
“I thought maybe you could keep them at your wonder? And like, we can just get you more and more spoons when we all go places? I don’t know. It’s silly but. You were absolutely the easiest person to get gifts for and I might have gone a little overboard.”
Ten tiny teaspoons were…a lot but.
Absolutely worth it for how happy Almere looked. “Did you do anything fun while I was gone? Besides watch through the window awaiting my return?”
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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2025 5:50 pm
"Well, you being gone gave me a lot to think about," said Almere, with a smile. "I thought about dramatically waving goodbye, and then I thought about making a boat out of clouds so I could follow you around. I thought about lots of other things, too, though." Her smile widened, and she took half a step closer. "I saw a little mouse, by my apartment! A real one, not a youma trick!" She'd made that mistake, so many times before. She was getting used to the youma, and getting better at auras, but it was still always a little sad when something that looked precious or interesting turned out to be a monster. "So I watched it, and tried to think about how it might live when it was hiding from the humans. I read all of the Beatrix Potter books again, for inspiration." They probably used spoons like this, honestly. She looked at them a little more intensely. "But other than that, it's just been school, and trying to clean my Wonder, and everything."
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2025 6:37 pm
Mechelen nodded. “Was…the mouse in the apartment or outside, because one of those is a lot cuter than the other option. Okay, but when she went on about it, she supposed that it could end up being cute either way. “I used to have…a Christmas book about mice…I’ll see if I can find it, I bet you’d love it.”
The rest sounded normal, easy.
“How’s the Wonder coming? Can I come and see it sometime soon? Have you…are there any critters yet? Bugs, I guess I mean…I remember I found a lot of bugs…” Mechelen shuddered slightly but then gave a grin. “...Still! It meant I was doing something right. Haha. Everyone wants bugs, am I right?”
No, not really. Not really at all but…at least they were living...and that was pretty cool. Still gross though. They were still really gross.
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2025 4:30 pm
"It was outside," said Almere. "Sometimes I wish that they were inside. They'd probably be warmer, and I think it would be nice to have a little mouse hole in my baseboard, with a little mouse family in the walls, like in the old cartoons." She started to get that dreamy distant look again, but pulled herself back quickly. "I know it wouldn't be good, though. Mom would hate it." She knew about mousetraps, and poisons. If something like that was happening in her own home, she didn't think that she would be able to handle it. She'd be on her bed crying for days. "Maybe I should start looking for things like that on my Wonder, instead? I've been cleaning a little, but I haven't really seen any." She chewed on her lip. "I know I saw visions of dragons, but it almost feels like it's not ready for those yet? Maybe something smaller, though." Maybe bugs? It would probably be bugs. That was what had showed up at the others', first. "Do you want to come up and look with me?"
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