Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Baelyn looked up. Hyper hands. He quickly put his hands behind his back. "Sorry. But it was fun to ring. " He said and grinned. He looked at the sign. "I want a balloon."

Well duh, Bae.

"And...ummm..." he squinted his eyes. "I want something cool and something that MOVES." He chuckled a little and then looked back up at the man. "IF you were almost twelve, what kind of balloon would YOU get?" he asked quickly, eagerly, his tone excited. BALOOOOOOOOONS!

If he was almost twelve. Wesley laughed. He was totally twelve on the inside.

"Weeell, almost twelve year old, I would probably go for the dragon. It breathes fire." Fake fire, but it was still cool for an almost twelve year old. And a thirty year old. "But if dragons aren't your thing, we have a leprechaun that dances or a solar system that orbits around your head." All of which he thought were pretty darn cool. Obviously, because they were in his shop. Duh.

Baelyn BEAMED. "I love dragons! I asked my dad for a pet dragon but he said dragons are illegal--but, like, so what? We can just...you know...lie and say we don't have a dragion...right?" he said as he cocked his head to the side and sighhhhed as if his life were so unfortunate now.

"No, I want a dragon. How long does it breathe fire? Can I burn myself?" he asked, and he tried to stay calm. And not annoying. No one liked an annoying almost twelve-year-old.

"I don't wanna' burn anyone..."

Theo nodded continuously at the information stuff, and he took most of it in. It all sounded very daunting. Showing customers around, demonstrating things... Theo wasn't sure if he had it in him, especially when he found it extremely difficult to tolerate people. Pretty bad for someone with Prefect status. He'd give it a whirl, though, because he was a good sport.

Balloons? They were boring.

Theo followed the shopkeeper to the balloon station, a place where he had never been before, since balloons were never something he fancied. It wasn't until he got there that he noticed the list of alllllllllllllll those balloons available. Dang... that was kinda impressive. The shopkeeper would have to do something spectacular for him to think balloons were COOL, though. He stood on a slant and looked expectantly at him.

What did you get your twelve year old best friend who was a girl for her birthday. This was so much easier if Brynny was a boy. He could get her a frog, or quidditch stuff, or flying dragons, but Brynny probably wanted a book or something and that he would not buy. Nope she needed fun things to push her away from all the reading. He needed something cool for her, because she was cool As long as she stayed far from that weird hair thing she had learned from Nagatha.

His eyes moved to the front of the store where all the joke products were. He wanted to go there next. He needed supplies, because if he was going to a new school he would certainly want things to keep himself entertained when everyone else was boring wanting to learn. He was making his way over to the section with peeves in a box to see what exactly a peeves was when he saw her. The girl from the candy store the other day. Feeling his cheeks turn a bit he couldn't help, but stop and stare. Why was he staring again... Really Bart needed to get a grip this was getting ridiculous, but he just couldn't help himself.

Not wanting to be seen staring yet again by her, he turned to the first thing he saw and grabbed it, but grabbing the bottom of a pile sent the jump ropes falling to the floor. Great way to not show attention to yourself Bart.

BALLOONS!

They weren't fireworks, not by a long shot but they were in the joke shop where they wouldn't be doing any legit work so she'd go along with it for sure. No questions from her either, she just trudged behind Mr. Wesley, being careful to avoid a certain Slytherin. He wasn't there as far as she was concerned and as long as he kept his trap shut she could easily pretend he was nothing but another piece of the furniture. Perhaps a practical joke gone terribly wrong? Maybe.

Lex stopped a few feet from the two and watched as well. Something epic was gonna happen, yeah? Were they gonna jinx the balloons then hand them out? Man, she couldn't wait to see something like that. Also....was she the only one wondering about the darkness powder up the nose? No?

Could they start now?? Where was Sophie?

But... she didn't want to do..... holding. Alice placed the Peeves-in-a-box back on its shelf before any further damage could be done to it and gave her friend's head another pat. There, there, Cat.

"Nothing's as epic as our pogo sticks." Really, the toys from last year were only so great because of who their owners were. They could still try, though. She began scouring the toy center for something worth buying. "Self-winding yoyos?" Pause. "What rhymes with yoyo?"

Fro-yo? Maybe they could get some of that afterwards.

Sigh. Cat was not getting held. Elodie would have held her. Mo would have too. But not Alice. That was okay though, Alice was Alice. Alice Palace. Her first Hogwarts friend. Head patting was good enough, anyway, and besides that, she was over her scare.

But she was keeping a distance from that thing for sure.

"We should have brought our pogo sticks with us, you know?" Did Alice remember the funny looks they'd gotten when they had pogo'd all the way down the Alley and back? That had been awesome. She glanced at the yoyos and shrugged in a not really impressed sort of way. "Pogo?" Pogo rhymed with yoyo. Sort of.

"Oh, look." Cat picked up an enchanted paper airplane and it took off, zooming above their heads. "Cool."

"Agreed. Nothing in this place can beat them." She mimicked the unimpressed looks Cat had given the yoyos while watching the airplane. "Dora can make those for us free of charge. All it takes is a couple of charms and some origami skills."

Come to think of it, Alice could make some for her too. If every bit of paper she folded didn't come out looking like garbage, that was.

Hmm. The Gryffindor surveyed the other items in the area, but no toys seemed to be catching her eye, save for the pogo sticks. "Maybe we should just go home and get them, then go bouncing around the Alley like last year. And get frozen yogurt after." Because she was in the mood and stuff now.

Sophie wasn't really interested in anything this store had to offer. So why was she in here again? Ohh, no good reason. Just that she was finished buying what she had to buy for school and had nothing else to do before she met her mother for the trip back home.

She was sort of wandering aimlessly when she suddenly felt this odd thump on the top of her head. She blinked and started to look up when another thump came. Then another and another after that. "Hey!" Sophie exclaimed, covering the top of her head and moving to the side. If somebody was throwing things...at HER...it was about to be an all out war.

She whirled around and saw some boy just standing there. "Are you throwing things?" she asked. Huh, huh? Was it YOU?

...and the jump ropes just kept falling and falling. Bart stood there just glaring at the tumbling things. His eyes snapped back to the pretty girl and her friend. Did she notice all the jump ropes falling around him? Why was there always things falling around him when she was around. The chocolate frogs and now the jump ropes. He jumped down to start picking them up, but that's when he heard something. Turning around he saw a girl and she looked like she was getting hit. Oops well he didn't mean to have that happen.

"No.. if I was throwing things at you, you would know." He looked at her and then chuckled, "Like this" Tossing one of the jump ropes at her. "See now I'm throwing things at you." He glanced at the pretty older girl again, she didn't see any of this, right? He looked at the girl that had accused him of throwing things, "You going to stand there or would you like to help me pick all these up that fell on their own." because obviously she didn't see him grab the bottom of it since she thought he was throwing them at her. "Maybe it's because they are self skip they skipped right off the shelf." Heh.. see he made a joke.

WHAT!!!

Oh, no he didn't!

Sophie gritted her teeth together and GLARED at the boy. How dare he throw something at HER? You know what this was? This was war! She was declaring it right now.

"Am I going to help you pick them up?" she asked. How dare he! "No," she said. WAIT. "Yes," she corrected. She was going to pick up ONE, which she did. "I'm going to throw them at you." Then she did just that. She sent the jump rope in her hand straight toward the side of his head.

Then he was cracking jokes. BOYS. Why were they always so hard to deal with? She caught him looking at some older girl. "Is she your sister?" she asked. Because if she was, Sophie was going to ask the girl to come get her annoying little brother.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Baelyn BEAMED. "I love dragons! I asked my dad for a pet dragon but he said dragons are illegal--but, like, so what? We can just...you know...lie and say we don't have a dragion...right?" he said as he cocked his head to the side and sighhhhed as if his life were so unfortunate now.

"No, I want a dragon. How long does it breathe fire? Can I burn myself?" he asked, and he tried to stay calm. And not annoying. No one liked an annoying almost twelve-year-old.

"I don't wanna' burn anyone..."

Right? "Right! That totally makes sense. No one would have any idea that you have a ten thousand pound, fire-breathing, neighborhood destroying beast in your back yard." Naaahh. Totally inconspicuous. This was why Wesley blew up balloons for living. "Don't worry, kid. The fire isn't real. But it still doesn't feel good if you try to eat it. It lasts as long as you don't pop the balloon." So probably, like, six hours at the most for the average teenager.

Alright, it was time to make this kid's dreams come true. Also time to teach his interns how to man the balloon stand. "Alright, kiddos. Watch and learn." Wesley grabbed one of the dragon balloons from under the small counter, hooked up to the magical helium machine and pressed a magical button, and within a few seconds, the dragon was blown up and spouting out flame illusions that turned into smoke illusions that disappeared into the air.

"Eh? Yeah? COOL, right?" Wes grinned at the kid and handed him the balloon. "That'll be one galleon, my friend."

Now, as for his interns. Wes waved a hand at them. "Run along, now. Go help your customers. Play with stuff. Just don't set anything on fire unless you know how put it out."

Had he stuttered? "Yes help me pick these up." Then his brown eyes turned to the ground as he gathered the jump ropes. Grinning good good she said she would help. That means they would get the jump ropes back up before anyone would see especially the older girl.

O_o

"OUCH"

Just has his brown eyes glanced back to the older girl something smacked him in the face. He looked and saw the jump rope. Looking back at the girl he glared. "You hit me" She really took a jump rope and hit him. Well that wasn't flying with Bart. Girl or no girl they wanted to be treated equally now didn't they. Picking up another jump rope and threw it at the girl again.

He looked to the older girl, "No she's not my sister." He couldn't remember her name even at the time to say it. His cheeks turned a bit red and he hurried to look back at the jump ropes.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Right," she said. Pause. "I'm helping you, because I'm actually a decent person. Not because you barked an order at me without even saying please," she said. She bent down and picked up the remaining jump ropes.

Then, just as she was about to make a peaceful exit, he picked up a jump rope and hit her in the head. That DID IT. She was going to go and let the shopkeeper know about this. Not because she was a tattle-tale, but because she would get the biggest kick out of seeing this jerked kicked out the shop!

She didn't even care about the 'not my sister' comment. She let out a little huff sound then turned on her heels. How dare this kid hit her--HER! Sophie Annabella Newell the FIRST!

Did it feel like there was a birthday every month?

To Adam, it definitely did. One set of twins had just turned seven, and now he had another set about to turn three. This was not okay. They made him feel... old. And he was not old. No matter what his birth certificate said. There was absolutely no way he was turning thirty soon.

He'd rather concentrate on the three year olds. With no clue what to buy. And some aunt or other had asked him to pick up a present from them, too, which was about to make life so much more difficult. The joke shop had to have something suitable, right? Just had to.

It was January.

Tyler had finally gotten a break from his world wide job and settled back home. 'Course, things between Luce and him were still a bit bumpy since their incident like what? Two years ago? Or more? Anyway, he had to get away a bit, maybe buy Nate and Izzy something while he was out. Maybe then Nate will stop breaking his sister's toys. Entering the shop, Tyler's eyes wandered around for something good for his kids. KIDS. The boy man was getting old. But did he even look it? Merlin he hoped not.

Walking along an aisle, he noticed a certain someone who he had sadly not seen much of lately. Quietly approaching him, Tyler stood next to his best mate and spoke. "Which set of twins are you buying for this time?" He grinned. Seriously, how did Glitter and Ad have so many twins?

'Which set of twins are you buying for this time?' Adams eyes lit up as he heard the voice in his ear, and with a grin he turned his head away from the lines of toys and towards his long lost best friend.

"That would be M-Squared." He managed, before slinging his briefcase slightly more over his shoulder and toward his back so that he could give Tyler the biggest bear hug the other man had ever experienced. God, why did he have to have a job that dragged him away from a meet up every weekend? That and... well, Adam's kids didn't help.

But he wasn't going to think about that. It was definitely all Ty's fault. "It's so good to see you. How've you been, mate?" Were things..? He supposed they were still rocky, but either way, a play date between his eight and Tyler's two needed to be arranged. Soon.

Tyler grinned, hugging his best mate tightly as humanly possible. As if he hadn't seen him in years and it was like meeting up all over again. But Tyler had been MIA for some time; with his modeling job and traveling back and forth from city to country to continent. There was too much catching up to do. Adam had more kids that Tyler hadn't met yet and it made him feel terrible. He was practically an uncle to the rest of them. Clearly he had to be sticking around home more often.

"I haven't met M-Squared yet. Just got back home last night from being away for two months," Which was still causing problems in his marriage. But he enjoyed his job and apparated back to tuck in Nathan and Izzy. "I've been alright. Exhausted from work and all. How's the ministry job going?" Because Adam was still doing that, right?

Glad that his best friend could still give as good a hug as got, Adam ginned back as they parted. "Good to be back?" He managed, rearranging his hold on his briefcase to allow him access to his wallet. Because, you know, it was picture time, obviously. "That's them. Three next week. And these are the babies." He pointed at each set of twins in turn, his smiled softening as he looked at the pictures. "You should all come 'round at some point. Soon."

Like lets leave the shop and make some calls, soon.

"Work... How's that been? The ministry's good, just got a promotion." Adam beamed proudly at the thought, which also reminded him. "We've got an even coming up, Quidditch thing. New brooms, meet and greet with the players, that kind of thing. You should bring the kids."

In between shopping for school, Benny found himself just simply wandering around the alley at times. Occasionally ducking into shops and not just the ones where he was needed. Just seeming to enjoy the freedom and just the summer in general. On one such trip, the incoming fourth year found himself walking into one of the busiest shops, at least with students...Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. A shop he had been in one or twice but not a frequent stop.

He decided to look around, chancing looks down and around the various aisles and shelves in the shop. Many interesting things were there and he didn't really know where to begin as he made his way towards one of the corners, a brightly colored area away from the pinkish girly section.

Weasley Wizard Wheezes was one of the most coolest shops in Diagon Alley and Adi never missed an opportunity to stop by whenever he could. Today, he was a dude on a mission. To check out those balloon animals. He never really stopped by at that part of the store. Plus he knew which animals he wanted.

Adi edged his way towards the area, taking in all of the colourfulness. Colours were good. Colours were awesome! They just made stuff look...happy. Like he was all the time. Hehe.

Waaait. Wasn't that Benny just up ahead? Adi edged closer. It was! "Dragon, dragon!'' he called out. He was so pleased to see his best friend. "What's up?''

Dragon....Dragon.

Having seen the dragon balloons on the stand just moments before, Benny might have thought it was some kid chanting for one of them. That is if he hadn't registered and reconized the voice that was saying it. He turned around to spot Adi coming towards him and he stopped in place so he could catch up.

"Hey..." he answered happy to see the other boy. As for what was up...well that was a confusing question. "Well, enjoying the summer mostly," he answered slightly bashful on full details. " What about you?"

Kace as promised lead Devlin to the toy center. He was smiling and was loving this part of the store. He wanted to buy some toys but he needed to save his money for robes, books and other supplies. His mother told him not to spend money on toys or other useless stuff. He smirked and looked at Devlin to see his expression. He asked, "So what toy would you like to see?" he asked his the guy he just met. He wouldn't consider him a friend yet. Kace felt he had to wait on that title for this particular guy.

Follow follow follow. Devlin went behind this Kace guy and flicked whatever product that came into close contact range with him. Not enough to knock it off a shelf or something like that. Just to make it wobble slightly. "Dunno." Shrug. "You seem to know your way round here. Show me something worth my time." Devlin responded. Something that he could bother someone with. "Something interesting." The balloons would definitely be avoided at all costs. It was almost worse than those random puffs back there.

"Make yourself an awesome tour guide, you may get a surprise for it." Devlin said with a smirk. Maybe that was enough incentive.

Adi was happy to see his bestie. It had been a loooong time since they'd had that epic Train ride home. "Same here. Though it was a bit boring without you guys.'' Sure, he had lots of stuff to catch up on at home but he had missed Benny and AJ the most.

Adi eyed the balloons then Benny. "Getting one of those for Angel?'' he asked, a knowing look on his face. Benny should know Adi would not give up on his teasing. "So, I heard you two had a date,'' the Hufflepuff added casually. "Why you keeping me out of the loop, Benny?''