GROWING BUDS (ep. 1)

Picture by annathenewt

GM
--

## Summary

Sypher is typing a blog post on top of the roof of her parents' very large, luxurious home in a nice neighborhood when the three pegasi show up. Sypher, a pale girl with blue eyelinered eyes clad in neon clothes seemingly out of a bad 90’s rave, whose bright orange hair has dark black roots, hates her family; she's mad at her mother about the new school she’s going to today. It's part of her extremely magical parents's scheme to turn her into something she doesn't want to be: a well-to-do headmistress or a great sorceress. Sypher wants to do cybermancy instead.

These are the first pegasi Sypher has ever seen; she knows the new school — Jasper Jinx Academy — has a pegasus as its mascot. So, when she sees her parents talking to them, she lays flat on the roof. But her mother sees her, snaps her fingers, and Sypher suddenly finds herself laying flat in the front yard instead.

She rolls over on her back.

Her dad distracts the Pepsi while her mother forces her up and scolds her:

> *You should be on your best behavior!*
>
>

The pegasi are indeed here to take her to the school in the sky. Mom and dad hug Sypher: *You'll do well*. Despite her flying lessons, Sypher is like a wet noodle on the pegasus that takes her up into the clouds.

Eon is laying on a makeshift bed in his lofty dumpster — roomy enough for another piece of furniture, a nice little IKEA-esque table missing a leg and a half — studying lunch, when Phillis, his little rat, crawls up and jumps into the dumpster. As they cuddle, Eon notices Phillis's nervousness and peeks out, wondering: *What's wrong?*

 There is a pegasus flying down.

\*\*\*

Eon’s family has a house in Sypher’s neighborhood. Eon knows Sypher; he can even see her right now through his chosen home's window.

Eon knows what this is about, still queries: *What do you want?* and the pegasus kneels down. Eon gathers garbage, takes his spell book — an old pizza box —, and grabs Phillis, which goes into his bag. As he is ready to leave for Jasper Jinx Academy, he is excited about the school’s trash cans.

Despite his current environment, Eon wears nice boots and smells *magnificent* — not at all like trash.

The pegasus rides away, going faster to put the wind behind himself, because of the smell.

\*\*\*

Ezra is late this morning; she thought there was another vacation week — despite the calendar and the cute reminder for school day. To her two-year-older brother, who snarkily asks if she's ready for the first day of school, she answers *I'm totally ready*.

Ready she is not.

She wolfs down the rest of her pancakes; she still has packing to do.

*I’m super ready*, the disheveled Ezra says, panicking. She is wearing sweat pants and a sweatshirt; she scoops up everything for the suitcase, including her sport equipment. She braids her hair and feeds the birds.

When she tries to carry her three bags downstairs, her dad helps her with a spell that makes the luggage float down the staircase; she wonders *Where's my bags going?*

It's time to take the first-day-of-school pictures and measurements. Ezra's brother is already ready. After a floating camera takes the whole family, they all walk out. The pegasi that will take Ezra and her brother to school have arrived.

Ezra, who knows stuff about horses, immediately starts asserting dominance and friendship. She likes animals because her *Zoolinguistics* spell lets her talk to them. She uses it, starts making horse noises and ... the pegasus understands.

Ezra rides low, like the professional pegasus jockeys she's an avid fan of — especially Eloise Swiftfoot. She actually races her brother.

\*\*\*

Diane stands in formal clothing — with her nice dresses in muted colors, she looks like a middle manager — at the edge of her driveway, her packed luggage at her side. Today she is wearing a normal green dress and ankle boots.

The friendly, very approachable, valedictorian A student who is everyone's best friend, teachers and students alike, has no family to see her off.

The driveway, which has seen betters days, and the chainlink fence around the house suggest you need a legal reason to stay here; Diane doesn't look like someone who'd live here.

Diane keeps checking and rechecking if she's packed everything — she has.

She is impatient; she arrived early in case the pegasi were early — they're *never* early.

Diane starts looking for her favorite family member, her cat Juan. She calls out, but the alley cat doesn't show up. If only she could speak with animals like Ezra does ... Diane can't take Juan with her anyway: it's not even her cat.

The pegasus eventually lands and bows in front of her. Diane brought sugar for it; she is nice to the pegasus and it grins. However much they try to communicate, they don't understand each other but Diane thinks it gets her polite vibes as she thanks it and shares her enthusiasm about the school.

The pegasus takes Diane to the school quickly.

\*\*\*

The school is a modern castle with beautiful spirals. It has a giant pegasus statue with a water fountain at the bottom. The sparkling water, which has a beautiful purple look to it, seems magical. There are beautiful flowers around the archway.

Pegasi land and drop off kids.

Eon goes heads straight toward a trash can: he needs to restock on trash. A pegasus farts next to him, which results in him being more clean than he likes being. Eon gives the culprit the finger; the pegasus goes *Whoops* and leaps off.

Ezra doesn't know where to go; it's her second year here but she no longer knows her way.

As soon as she arrives, Diane starts saying hello to everybody. She brought more sugar cubes, for the other pegasi; she pats them too: she's a politician.

Ezra is relieved and excited when she sees Diane waving and coming to her. Ezra asks her if she won the race — she did. She taunts her brother when he arrives: *Maybe I'm more talented than you; I may be the next Eloise*. As if it weren't enough, he is covered in trash because he was following Eon.

Diane fixes Ezra's hair. Ezra can't believe Diane had forgotten about Ezra's brother: *You don't forget things!* Diane won't admit that Ezra’s brother actually irritates her, because he's best at everything: she and he are too similar. Ezra can actually see through Diane's bullshit in the good way. She doesn't realize that Diane doesn't want to be seen with her because she is, so to speak, *not tweetable*.

Ezra, who loves cooking, brought a lot of cupcakes. Flavors are sesame, lavender and ... she's not sure about some cakes. Diane and Ezra recognize Eon in the trash. Maybe he's hungry? He grabs one of the cakes Ezra wasn't sure bout: it has too much salt. Eon doesn't mind, he can have more of these. He puts trash on them for extra flavor.

Diane and Ezra see a girl — orange hair, black hat — they don't know: Sypher. Diane offers her one of the cupcakes; she also gives her the WiFi password she requests. Eon waves to Sypher; she waves back: Eon is the only person she knows here. Eon introduces Sypher: *she always looks for good signal, she's good*. Ezra offers more cupcakes; Sypher gets one with salt instead of sugar.

Diane, watching this unfold, introduces herself to the newcomer: *I'm Diane, I run the clubs*.

Ezra then lists the clubs and hands Sypher one of the good cupcakes ... while Eon goes get the bad one Sypher tossed. Sypher explains how she landed in this school because of her mom.

Eon didn't tell anyone he was leaving; he didn't lock his dumpster but he's long made sure nobody would come and empty it anyway. Sypher, who leaves nearby, remembers what happened when someone tried. Diane is not familiar with their neighborhood.

Eon shares that the best dumpster is behind Professor Red's dormitory; he can listen to lectures from there.

Ezra finds it *cool, great*. She'll be going through the front door, for once: she is more used to the one near the sports field.

There is a robust sports program at the Academy; P. E. Is mandatory — unless one takes magical disco, which is like a magical rave, instead. Sypher is more interested in the computer lab, or a technology club. Diane explains that the five biggest computers are linked up. It's only 9 A.M.; they can take Sypher there after lunch.

Now is the time for new students to register; the others know their rooms and roommates. Diane and Ezra are roommates gain; Sypher successfully casts *Rumor Has It*: she posts on Wiccabook that she's so excited to be Eon’s roommate. On Instagrimoire, Sypher posts a picture of all of them, and tags the whole school, including its administration; Diane recasts it to her big following on her own Instagrimoire, almost against her will — she doesn't know Sypher, after all; besides, the image conscious Diane tries not to post pictures of Eon. Diane's friendships are private things.

Sypher's rumor spreads: everyone thinks it's nice she's roomed with Eon. Some people do think it's not right; Eon's real roommate is both relieved and lost.

Diane spends the evening schmoozing. Eon carries trash to his, and now Sypher's too, room to fashion a makeshift dumpster.

Ezra just puts everything in a drawer; she puts a couple mementos out; a trophy , a family picture, a couple books. Everything is disorganized; things are moved from in suitcase into not in suitcase;then she just flops out on the bed.

Diane's side is sparse, there are not many things. She kicks back whatever stuff from Ezra lands on her side. You don't get a read off Diane's stuff: it is hidden in drawers; her bed is always made. She has a private ritual: she unfolds special pillowcases — nice, very elegant — and puts them onto her pillows. That's her connection to that dorm. All in all, there are very few indications of Diane being here.

Diane invites herself to use all of Ezra's shit, like: *I borrowed your lip gloss; it looked good*. Ezra's typical reaction: *I have lip gloss?* She probably took someone else's lip gloss in the locker room herself. Diane knows exactly what she is borrowing. Ezra has a lot of jammies pants — she likes comfy clothes —; Diane takes a lot of them. When she comes back after a bad day, Diane throws her book and gets into Ezra's clothes.

Eon has trash everywhere; he fashions a makeshift cardboard door to his side in what amounts to a wall of trash; his bed is destroyed by trash. It doesn't smell as bad as his dumpster because he knows other people don't like the stench. He also places a dumpster below his window.

In contrast to Ezra, Eon has just one pair of clothes.

Sypher's side looks like a scary Army Navy surplus store, with its odds and ends and its pieces of CB radios and computers. From Eon's side to Sypher's, *it goes from trash into junk*. Sypher spreads, in black and neon: ***Give me a </br>***. There is also a neon sign that says ***Dope*** on it, and spent cans of energy drinks. Sypher has one pair of pants, a set of fishnets she wears on her arms or her legs, a pair of combat boots, the *Dope* shirt she had on when she came, and another shirt that says *Break the gender binary*. Whereas Eon just collects junk, Sypher can trade what she needs for different trash, the value depending on the smell.

The students live in a multistory building with long corridors; it looks like the hallway goes endlessly. There are thousands of doors in the dorms. The organization is more alphabetical than by class; some families pay to have their child moved.

Day one ends with all the students settled in their rooms.

Day two starts with Professor Del Astra's herbology class.

Before class, Diane spends a long time at breakfast, schmoozing a lot with everybody. She is at the classroom early but not necessarily before everybody else; she brings her boring spellbook: a brand-new looking notebook. She doesn't wait for Ezra: she is not her keeper.

The door of the classroom has ivy growing on it; it looks alive. It opens on its own and greets Diane. There is a tiny door to the left of the main one. Inside, Diane sees vibrant colors, wood panels on the floor, hand-carved desks, and pots with plants in them. It's a green room; magical plants are everywhere, some dangling from above; they have mouths, eyes, teeth and beautiful colors. There are books, vials and bottles on shelves.

Diane finds her desk: it has a wood panel with her name. She puts her stuff down and pets a flower or the desk which nozzles into her hand.

Two other students are already here: Moira Juniper is spectacled, well- kept, flighty and disorganized. She doesn't have the right books for this class, she looks stressed out and talks to herself. Diane helps Moira with the books and starts chatting: *It's so good that you are on time*. Diane tries to make it seem like she arrived with Moira, if not earlier. The two keep chatting: Moira could be very early because she didn't go to breakfast; Diane doesn't admit she helped with the books.

Colin, the other student, knows exactly what's going on. Diane tries to distract both Colin and Moira with her  *Check It Out!* spell; she's trying to make it all casual so that Moira is comfortable. She fails. Sypher enters precisely at this moment; she and the other two students notice Diane's spell failing.

Sypher goes sit at the desk with a carved plaque at her name, moves the plant aside and breaks out her laptop.

Colin is really not interested in Diane's tactics to grab all the attention. Moira is interested, but on the verge of throwing up.

Ezra's first alarm goes off ... then the second one goes off and she throws it ... when the third alarm rings at the other end of the room *I'm so late*. So late indeed, that she misses breakfast. She goes to her stash of snacks, grabs her clothes — with her pajamas pants still on —, puts her hat on — it’s important to show she's a witch —, takes the first book she finds, books it to the classroom ... and then realizes she doesn't remember where the class is; she gets lost and ends up late.

Eon just doesn't care, sleeps through part of the class, eats a rotten apple, heads to class ... and realizes he forgot his hat and his spellbook. He enters the class after Ezra.

Meanwhile, the other witches arrive before the start of the class. The tiny door opens, a tiny — roughly ten-centimeter high — fairy-type creature flies through it; pixie dust floats behind her trail as she comes down the middle of the aisle; she looks at everyone and seems happy; she's wearing a tiny black hat with flower bits and a cloak dress type of thing. As she floats to the front of the room, the pixie dust goes onto the plants; the empty pots now all have a seed.

The professor looks around: the plants stop moving and making sounds; everyone stops talking. The professor starts to speak: *Welcome to Herbology. It's lovely to meet all of you. Who is first year?*

Two students raise their hand; Sypher does too, reluctantly.

The teacher continues: *It will be a grand year, the cherry blossoms should be growing [...] Let's see who has a green thumb. It's about planting, you can't have anything without plants.*

The students all have a seed and a pot. They'll make the plant grow with a finger, without touching it.

Diane lets out a confident *Yes!*

The professor casts the *Green Thumb* spell: *Reap and sow makes you grow!* She gestures at the pot in front of her: the seed goes into the bottom and the plant starts growing.

The students all try to learn the spell.

Both Sypher and Diane fail. Diane's hand motions are wrong, even though the words are right. Sypher doesn't remember the words; her pot shatters.

Professor Del Astra reminds them that they’ll get two more chances; in the meantime, they have to study, study, study.

Diane's pot slides over as the teacher is moving it. A squirrel comes sweep the dirt. Diane wants to try again; she backs away slowly when the seed starts shaking.

Ezra arrives and is welcomed by the door. Everyone stares at her as she realizes they're in the middle of something and just stands there:

> *I'm sorry I'm late. I slept through all of my alarms.*
>
>

She walks to her seat, promising she won't be late again.

Moira's plant grows perfectly. Colin's looks even better; he's worked on the three pots already.

The professor has Diane’s plant grow teeth and nip at her.

Diane defends herself by casting *Boo!* on professor Del Astra: before she is finished with her gestures, a plant-eating beast with giant tusks appears. At the same time, Diane's plant cowers and reverts back to a seed. Diane gets a new attempt; she looks at her seed, casts *Boo!* on it, looks at it again, and this time she is successful. The professor claps, finds the result *very good*.

Ezra, who is worried about disappointing the professor, tries super hard to cast *Green Thumb* right. She says the words; the plant grows, the bloom tilts toward the left, it droops a little: this is a partial success. Ezra encourages, cheerleader-like, the flower to *Go to the right!*, waving her pencils like pom poms. Diane wants to imitate her.

Sypher gets another try: *Reap and sow, make it grow*. She fails again. The seed leaps out of its pot and off the desk; it hops into Ezra's pot, shaking, and hides behind the plant. Sypher thinks *something's wrong with the seed*. The professor smiles and explains, as another pot slides over:

> *See, you can't force something to grow [...]; you have to be one with the seed [...]; the way we speak to what we cast can have effects on how we cast things: if we're happy when we're casting, maybe something pleasant will happen; if we're angry [...] maybe something not pleasant will happen.*
>
>

Professor Del Astra is confused, at first, when Sypher says she'd like to change the biological code into digital code. Then she sees a way to connect to Sypher:

> *If you want to think about it like that, they're quite similar; life has a pattern, like a code; and that pattern can grow.*
>
>

The professor conjures a projection of the Flower of Life; it twists an turns, zooms onto a plant. For Sypher it's an interesting way to introduce the subject. Now that Sypher is interested with the thought, the graphic changes. The professor looks at her and asks: *See?*

Sypher, who's always chill, actually looks excited now, which Eon is the only one to notice.

Eon, who has arrived after Ezra, is not fully awake when his turn comes to cast *Green Thumb*; he says the words wrong, the seed immediately dies when he touches it, and the pot breaks. Heath, the kid next to him was horrified, by his stench, initially, and what he sees now makes him gasp.

Heath whispers to another kid, Celeste, who whispers back. Eon doesn't care, doesn't hear what they're saying, and just assumes the worst: he's used to people talking bad about him. Sypher does hear the secret conversation, which goes along the lines of: He made it die. I heard that he's killed other things — a cat, once; a rabbit —; his rat is undead. In response, Sypher casts a *Rumor has it ...* on Life Cauldron: Celeste skips class to make out. Unfortunately, the servers are just going down, and she only gets this message; *Please try again*. It is so frustrating it makes Sypher boil.

Eon smirks, decides to be an asshole about it, and casts *Terrible Rot* at the two whisperers. He pulls out his pizza box, whispers to himself and farts; a puff of smoke goes to the ground, a terrible smell creeps up Heath and Celeste's legs, and crawls into their noses. One of them throws up on their plant, the other manages not to.

Diane tries to create a distraction; she calls the professor to watch her next try:

> *Can you tell me exactly what I'm doing wrong?*
>
>

Her *Check it out!* is successful. She shows off her lush, beautiful plant. The professor agrees with her that the thumb is the important part and shows how

> *If you did it right, then this little bit of your flower petal won't tilt. You are almost quite there.*
>
>

The professor is really distracted; she loves that Diane is nerding out with her. While enjoying this success, Diane keeps looking over her shoulder.

Watching Eon cast his spell makes Sypher smile for the first time since she arrived at the school. Eon also smiles for the first time: *Take that!*

While Ezra, oblivious to the explanation, looks at her drooping plant, and Diane keeps chatting away with the teacher about her plant, Eon scoops the fresh vomit into the soil before his next *Green Thumb* attempt.

The witches who have failed to bring their spell to level 1 need to do so before the next herbology class, lest they get a bad grade.

## Notes

1. ↑ After Sypher fails the first 2d8 roll of the game.
2. ↑ *NftE*: my notes don't tell how much this last remark was intended to be believed.
3. ↑ *NftE*: as @AngelRei1 said in chat: *Lauren made Claudia as a witch.*
4. ↑ And fails a roll.
5. ↑ *NftE*: Here, I am using words from Lauren's recap of her favorite moment at the end of the episode.
6. ↑ With a 12, it's a partial success.
7. ↑ Chat came up with more context-appropriate site names: ScryTunes, Spellify, Cauldronzon, Spellbook, Castr ...
8. ↑ *What’s the difference?*, Eon/Patrick asked. *How you feel about it*, came the answer.
9. ↑ Patrick sees his character as The Grinch's son.
10. ↑ Not sure I got this one right.
11. ↑ The four players each contributed a word.
12. ↑ At this point, in chat @Kol\_Drake defines herbology: *Herbology is the study of magical and mundane plants and fungi, making it the wizarding equivalent to botany.*
13. ↑ At this point, it looks to Nika like Sypher got a worse result than Diane, despite a better roll. Maggie's answer: wait until you see what happens to *your* plant.
14. ↑ Which means that she gets *Green Thumb* at level 1 at once. Those who failed their first try need to succeed 3 times or fail 5 times to bring the spell from level 0 to level 1.
15. ↑ *NftE*: Or Live Cauldron, or Cauldronbook ...
16. ↑ NftE: here my notes say *with the bleacher*. I dont know what was actually said.
17. ↑ *NftE*: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Lauren/Ezra was *wholesome AF* during the whole episode, as promised.