Sraederham Castle

Sraederham Castle
scottish highlands

Sraederham Castle is a remote, unoccupied castle in the snowy Scottish highland mountains. It can be rented by the wealthy for events, and in this instance, soon-to-be Zach and Nikki Bishop have rented out Sraederham for their February wedding. In the distance, dozens of dark wooden tables sit under a large, leaf-barren tree with lanterns strung from the branches. Snow is scattered across the clearing, and the occasional snowfall blesses the guests from above, but due to the blessing of magic, none of it sticks to them or their tables. Furthermore, there are fire Seelies — little, glowing sprites floating down the aisles and above the guests' tables to leave everyone feeling warm and cozy.

Leighton Bishop

westbury economics student
ateleia

As everyone exits the ceremony in the castle's snowy courtyard in favor for the reception underneath the Sraederham's stately tree, the newlyweds have their photographs taken and their guests are left to mingle amongst themselves before dinner and drinks are to be served. Many search for their seating assignments, gleeful excitement erupts at certain tables as old friends are sat next to one another. Others navigate and weave between them, socializing as they go. Having been notified — or cautioned — by his uncle ahead of time that he is sat with his sisters and the older of the two's on-and-off-again significant other (alongside his cousins and one of their husbands), Leighton stays further behind many of the other guests as to afford himself more time alone with his own date — the one and only Molly Mayberry. He stares down the hedged pathway, watching as everyone becomes consumed with the beautiful scenery and the social chatter, and he turns his hand through his hair before squinting his eyes and furrowing his brows as if he's thinking something judgmental. In actuality, he is only caught wondering about how hungry he is as his stomach grumbles quietly, releasing a subtle sigh when he notices floating gloved hands drifting along and carrying trays of hors d'oeuvres. Weddings always make Leighton hungry, and with the amount of siblings his mother has and the amount of marriages the Bishops have gone through, he has been to enough weddings to know how to appreciate a good hors d'oeuvre. He turns toward Molly, who is walking beside him through the hedge-lined path, with a grin almost as if they had just dawned on this together. "What are your thoughts?" Usually, Leighton would err on the side of specificity because he doesn't particularly enjoy listening to someone rant about God knows what. With Molly, however, he opts for giving her room to chatter about whatever; he has grown to mind it in a positive way — believe it or not. He's embarrassed to have ever felt differently.

Molly Mayberry

grimwick biology student
paintedred

Predictably, Molly is a big fan of weddings. Initially, she was surprised when Leighton invited her to be his date to the occasion, but those feelings were quickly overrun by excitement to attend the event, especially knowing that the Bishops would likely make this one a truly magical affair. Indeed it was. Until now, she is in awe of how exquisite the castle is and enchanted by the fire sprites floating around the venue. More than that, the wedding itself was extremely touching. For anyone in attendance, it's plain to see that Zach and Nikki are truly in love and meant to be together. She does not know much about their story or relationship, but from what she has been able to so far, they were childhood best friends who went their separate ways before finally reuniting around a year and a half ago. That alone is already exceedingly romantic to her. Though she has not concerned herself with these thoughts in a while now, such delusions come to her mind unbidden nonetheless and she begins to absent-mindedly wonder what her future has in store for her in this regard. Leighton's voice cuts in, interrupting her fantasies before they can continue any further. It's just as well –  with her life how it is currently, she is definitely far from pursuing any romantic endeavors and she cannot begin to imagine who her soulmate could be. Turning to Leighton, she decides that it would be a bit embarrassing to be completely honest about her current line of thought. "I was just thinking about how it was such a beautiful ceremony," she tells him. When he invited her to the wedding, Leighton accurately guessed that she is the type to enjoy things like this. Just how correct he is is evident from how her eyes light up as she answers him. "It's so nice that your uncle and his wife were able to find each other again after so much time apart. It really must have been fate, don't you think?" She is aware that the last bit was a bit fanciful but she is good enough friends with Leighton to not worry about his opinion of her and feel safe talking to him. If she could go back in time and tell herself from a couple of years ago that she now considers Leighton a dear friend, her younger self would be in complete disbelief.

Leighton Bishop

westbury economics student
ateleia

A lot goes through his mind when Molly mentions 'fate.' His first instinct is to be incredulous, and it's obvious by how his eyes immediately glance away to disguise his inability to answer immediately with enthusiastic resonance. After which, he eyes her curiously, consuming the whimsical nature with which she said such an otherwise ridiculous thing. "If you say so," he answers, focusing his gaze in front of them again. A low laugh manages its way to the surface, glancing down at her as it does. "Do you not find that choosing to love someone is more romantic than 'fate' determining that you are meant to?" A question of this nature is not typical of Leighton, at least not with Molly, but he assumes she might enjoy the discussion. Personally, love has become a consistent theme in his fortnightly therapy sessions, and he has only recently gotten a greater handling on the hefty issue. Gazing at the snowy sky, he watches two birds flying together, weaving in between each other before diving into the nearby forest. "Irregardless, it was a fine ceremony." It's a compliment coming from him; the only cause for detraction is how uncomfortable it is watching such an aggressive display of affection coming from a relative. He almost asks her if she has thought about her future wedding, but he holds onto that conversation for later. Just as it seems they have started to dwell too far in the back of the herd, a Seelie floats toward them as if to guide them through the pathway into the better lit reception area. "I heard that she designed these fire– er, floaters herself. It's quite impressive." He shakes off what would have been embarrassment over his fumbling, unwinding in the safety of what this friendship has become.

Molly Mayberry

grimwick biology student
paintedred

"You make a fair point." she says in reply to his question about choices and fate. "But they're still fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to reconnect." She leaves it there. While talking with Leighton is always enjoyable in its own way, this is not the kind of discussion that she is used to having with him (or anyone nowadays, really). She is distracted anyway by the Seelie that has come to guide them. Until now, she had not gotten to look at one up close and it is truly impressive. "She did?" she asks, "That's amazing! She must be really brilliant." The little fire Seelies are more impressive to her, really, than any of Wizco's latest ventures but she bites her tongue before making the comment in case the wrong person walks by. Molly didn't know much about Nikki until the ceremony, but the little that she does know intrigues her. She would like to have the opportunity to meet her, but these days she does not get as much opportunity to interact with the Bishops and their extended family. She is not sorry about that change in her life. The only Bishop sibling she talks to regularly now is Leighton and she has found her friendship with him to so far be more fulfilling than years of being Felton's 'best friend'. "Do you know her well? I know you and your uncle are close."

Leighton Bishop

westbury economics student
ateleia

He watches Molly's reaction to the Seelies carefully, a tense and unwarranted flash of jealousy brews in his chest before quickly dissipating. Leighton has never had the wits for this sort of thing, and he's shocked anyone ever does; he doesn't understand it. He brushes a chilled hand through his curly blond hair again, cautioning himself. Luckily, she distracts him with a question. "We are, and therefore, it has become difficult to not be at least cordial with his fiancée– *wife*." His words are so excessively rigid, which is not abnormal for Leighton, but he finds himself dwindling too much on what to say. Admittedly, he is — for once — concerned over who might overhear them, even if they are the ones dwelling behind the others. It's a joyous occasion after all, and the last wedding he went to he was censured by his grandmother for muttering under his breath about the bride and groom. "We have gotten dinner together a few times, and I had dinner with her separately once." The memory of such dinner, which occurred only two months prior, was embarrassing to think about. In a wonderful incidence of hindsight being 20/20, he had taken a month to recognize that the dinner was meant as an symbol of her welcoming him into her family. He had thought at the time that she was just chatty — a view Katiya later chastised as ignorant. "She's very generous." He comments casually. "She is enjoyable enough, quite witty and insightful." Noticing Molly's enthusiasm, he adds: "I can introduce you two later. They have both indicated interest in meeting you." He wasn't certain as to why they had been so keen on it, but he chalked it up to his alleged crush on her over seventh year and subsequent mild teasing on their parts.

Molly Mayberry

grimwick biology student
paintedred

"Really?" she asks curiously. Had this been a year or so ago, she would have surely dizzied herself with her overthinking of what that could possibly mean – memories of the crush she had on him in seventh year before he started dating Claire come to mind. That Molly would have read too much into it. This Molly is friends with Leighton and rationalizes that he must have mentioned her to his uncle once or twice, as he would have with Kian, Katiya, Zenia, or any of his other friends. "I'd love to meet them too!" she says, delighted. Molly has met both of Leighton's parents and frankly, from what she knows, she is unimpressed with their treatment of him. Zach seems much nicer. "You always talk about your uncle so fondly – " Molly is well aware that so is a stretch, but it's Leighton so any hint of fondness, to her, is already much affection. " – so I'd love to meet someone you value so much." She cares about the people he cares about and is grateful to those who care for him. Leighton is important to her in that way. She does not know how it happened, though she suspects that she might have cared for him all along without realizing it. "And it would also be nice to have an excuse to get away from some of our tablemates." Molly unfortunately had the displeasure of interacting with Heath Darling for more than five minutes earlier, and she has never gotten along well with Agatha. As if realizing what she just said, she turns pink and immediately follows with, "Just for a bit, I mean." She has become a bit more ~~rude~~ blunt about her feelings on others in the past year. Still, she is embarrassed by what she said, but reassures herself that Leighton would not think ill of her just because of it. "Though it *would* be nice to spend more time with just you." Trailing behind everyone like this is pleasant. Maybe they can go out sometime soon without studying. (As friends, of course.)

Leighton Bishop

westbury economics student
ateleia

Leighton is content listening to Molly gush in delight, but he has nothing left to say on the matter. He's too involved in thinking over her interest in him in this way, initially struggling with the sincerity of her sentiment. Leighton, for one, has never had any interest in meeting someone's family outside of morbid curiosity over serious dilemmas such as 'Why are they such an ignoramus?' In particular, Molly's family is of little interest to him; he hasn't heard anything about them that entices him. He *has* been considering the legal field though, so maybe it would be worthwhile networking with Ms. Keene. A more audacious side of Leighton surmises that they can both use each other's mothers for networking purposes, but it's such an outdated and inaccurate comment that he would never say it aloud. He's caught by the sudden bluntness coming from Molly, turning with his brows raised in shock. When she corrects herself as if to soften the blow of the initial statement, he guffaws. "Jesus Christ, Molly," he jokes. For him, this is about equivalent to pinching someone; it is rather tame. "Need I remind you they are *family*," he chides, shaking a stern finger as he raises his register to quietly mimic his grandmother. "Grandma Bishop said that at my father's wedding last year." He had brought his best friend then, and to say the least, Kian makes it worse when trying not to judge others. The two of them are not too far off from flint and steel. "However, you are right; they are miserable company." He laughs, more stifled this time. He focuses his gaze forward, noticing that they are near the entrance of the dining area now. "If it is any consolation, you are sat between myself and Diana, and she is fond of you." 'Fond' is generous, but he wants Molly to feel more comfortable — not worse. Diana is fourteen, and with turning fourteen comes a new set of peculiarities as both he and his friend are quite familiar. "Agatha is of no concern either." In the classic spoiled rotten golden child situation, his oldest sister has always behaved better around their father and other family, even if he treats her no differently when she is acting brattish anyways. "Irregardless, we can excuse ourselves at any time when it is both deemed necessary and appropriate." He pauses, but is visibly still in thought. "You can even choose a signal, if you would like."

Molly Mayberry

grimwick biology student
paintedred

Molly feels less embarrassed when Leighton laughs, instead feeling pleased that he is amused. She laughs at his impression of his grandmother, and at the thought of him and Kian together at Leighton's father's wedding likely judging most of those in attendance. "That's good. I like Diana." she says in reply. She purposefully says nothing about Agatha, because if there is nothing nice to say about someone then maybe she better not say anything at all. "I heard that she's growing out of her interest in insects. Shame. I always found her passion for it admirable." Molly is likely one of the only ones who would have thought so, but she empathizes as a girl who also grew up having 'gross' fascinations. She did hear this information from *Felton*, who seemed glad that Diana was growing out of it. She and Felton had not talked in some time and admittedly, he was becoming increasingly irrelevant to her life. They haven't been close since sixth year really, so why he deigned it to be a good idea to find her in Grimwick and ask her about why she is Leighton's date to the wedding is totally beyond her. Nonetheless, the conversation was meaningless to her and she did not mention it to anyone. In fact, the bit about Diana was probably the most noteworthy part of their exchange to her. Everything else was so typical and unnecessary. When Leighton suggests a signal after looking deep in thought, she feels more at ease. She appreciates that he is trying to provide concrete measures to avoid being in an uncomfortable situation. She plays with her hair as she thinks before suggesting and demonstrating, "Maybe if one of us taps the side of our head twice like this. I don't think that's too obvious." She smiles and is about to leave it at that, before deciding to be brave and give voice to her previous thoughts. "Today has been quite enjoyable so far. We should do this again. Hang out, I mean, without studying." she says, feeling a bit shy. Lately, most of their study sessions eventually lead to them just talking anyway (when they are done, of course, because when Molly sets out to study, she is laser focused), but it would be nice to hang out without having to firstly pore over her notes and textbooks. "I know I seem quite busy," she admits, and then begins to wonder if that is why when they spend time together it is always a study date, to accommodate her. "But I'd make time for it – for us." Suddenly worried that she might be coming across as romantic, she quickly adds. "I appreciate this friendship."

Leighton Bishop

westbury economics student
ateleia

He isn't naive; he assumes this information came from his brother. Of his siblings, Leighton has always favored Diana. And thus, he is certain that his youngest sister's interests have just diverted toward more serious, still very bug-adjacent magical creatures ever since she enrolled in Care of Magical Creatures last year. However, he chooses to not correct her (or Felton) because he's wary of his sister acting chaotically and determining that for tonight she has sincerely lost the interest just to toy with him. He shifts his attention to their determined signal, reacting only by tapping his head twice with two fingers. "Brilliant," he affirms, only to be caught off guard by the sudden declaration of her interest to... *be there* with him more often. His eyes noticeably widen, glancing down at her as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head before opting to disguise his reaction in the shadows cast by the Seelie. His heartbeat is beginning to race, and he's so distracted by trying to seem not too invested that he doesn't recognize he's gone silent until a beat later. "My apologies," he cuts through the silence, slowing until their feet are rooted in the overgrown stone pathway. With how they are soon nearing the other guests, he assumes its for the best to halt. "I must have misunderstood your current commitments, or else I would have offered much sooner." Admittedly, Leighton had been unsure, too, of how so much non-academic, one-on-one time would go with someone such as Molly, even if 'such as Molly' meant brilliant, kind-hearted, driven, and captivating. "Besides, there hadn't been much to do," and he had been dating Claire until two months ago but that doesn't occur to him. Not hesitating further, he continues: "To correct myself, there is a cheesecake company from New York that is hosting a pop-up in Moonstraw. When I heard of it, I remembered Elouan mentioned your favorite food is raspberry cheesecake. I thought to mention it, so you could visit it when it opens, but I might suggest we go together instead." He holds for an answer, smiling when he catches how serious he's being.

Molly Mayberry

grimwick biology student
paintedred

Molly's confidence falters when Leighton does not respond immediately. She worries that she may have done something wrong but then he stops walking, so she stops to look up at him. Her worried train of thought is cut off when she is distracted noticing their height difference is still pronounced even when she wears heels. Then, he speaks, and she realizes he is taking her suggestion very seriously – he has every intention of following through on it and making sure they have this time together. That, or he is getting her hopes up and being cruel, but Leighton has never been cruel. Harsh sometimes, but never cruel. She is so caught up with her feelings that she almost doesn't wonder why Elouan would have mentioned that to Leighton in the first place and not to mention, fed him wrong information. She'll have to ask El about that later. "That sounds wonderful!" she says, gushing and clasping her hands together in delight. She can let him know when they're there that blueberry cheesecake is her favorite so she doesn't ruin this moment. "I'm looking forward to it. Then we can do something *you'd* like afterwards, so it's even." Quality time is very important to Molly so the thought of spending more with Leighton thrills her. The thought that he would do this for her, kept something in mind because he thought she would like it... She is feeling warm and it is not because of the fire seelies. "And there's no need to apologize, Leighton. I should've offered too." Except he was dating Claire and Molly didn't want to cause any issues. Though neither Leighton nor Claire have any way of knowing about her crush during the early days of their relationship, she feels guilty about it nonetheless. "Also, you had no way of knowing whether or not I was too busy." Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she asks, "Why did El mention it, by the way? It doesn't seem like the type of thing to just... come up."

Leighton Bishop

westbury economics student
ateleia

What was once a softening gesture becomes a genuine grin as he watches Molly react with excitement and delight. "For your information, I enjoy cheesecake too," but he recognizes that this is an offer he isn't often afforded by those close to him. "However, I do fancy attending the symphony and dance performances at Westbury, and once the weather warms, there is much to do for both to enjoy." In particular, he enjoys tennis, but he can't currently imagine Molly playing a match of tennis with him. When she asks why he knows about the raspberry cheesecake, he hesitates again, glancing over toward the reception area. "Do you remember when we were sitting for exams last year, and the twelve of us went for dinner together after?" He sounds almost disappointed. "Initially, before we had collectively agreed on such, I wanted to gift everyone their favorite dessert, and Elouan knew what everyone preferred due to... his party planning festivities, I assume." Admittedly, Leighton's idea had originated with wanting to do something specifically for Molly because he felt she had been working so hard. But he can't say that; he wouldn't want her to think it was any more than it was.

Molly Mayberry

grimwick biology student
paintedred

How Molly is feeling has always been transparent for anyone to see, so her excitement is visible to anyone with eyes as Leighton mentions attending a performance together and coming up with more activities to enjoy together when the weather warms. That is some time from now, which means that he intends on spending time with her still even then. Before the feelings of excitement can blossom into anything else ~~that may instigate a crisis~~, she is distracted by his explanation. "That's very thoughtful of you!" Admittedly, initially she is surprised that Leighton to have wanted to do something like that for *everyone*. *All* of them? In the end, she decides that it's indicative of how close their group has become and that it's kind of Leighton to have wanted to express his appreciation for that closeness via gifts. She understands now that's how he shows affection – it makes past gifts that he had gotten her even back when they 'hated' each other more amusing. Not catching the twinge of disappointment in his voice, she continues, "It would be nice if all twelve of us could get together again. It's difficult with Yves and Chrysanthemum in France but maybe we'll be able to sometime during the summer!" Even apart from that, their schedules are so different since not even two of them share a program.

Leighton Bishop

westbury economics student
ateleia

Witnessing Molly react, once again, overwhelmingly positive to a faux reality of what his intentions were creates a hint of a disgruntled attitude. Leighton *hates* being misconstrued, and he can't even be mean and spiteful about it because he recognizes that he is the one who is misrepresenting his intentions and how that event transpired for everyone. He decides that reverting to tell her more of the truth would come across as slimy and dodgy, so he holds his tongue again. Instead he merely nods in recognition of having done a 'thoughtful' thing. At the mention of Yves and Chrysanthemum specifically, he shuffles awkwardly. Leighton isn't sure how much Molly knows about Katiya and Yves's current troubles, but he assumes not as much as he does. Additionally, the last time they were even remotely close to coming altogether was Katiya's birthday, and Yves and Summer hadn't been there. Summer wasn't there for his end-of-summer party because she was home in the United States, but she had sent a ridiculous text about an end-of-Summer party. From what little information he has about Zenia and Summer, he isn't sure how much he would want to be around them together either. "I would look forward to that opportunity," he says, although it comes across more reserved. "But, perhaps only if everyone can set aside their... various differences first." A muted cheering erupts from the reception, and he turns his head to notice that his uncle and aunt have returned to start dinner. He's impressed by the brilliant timing of it. "We should go."

Molly Mayberry

grimwick biology student
paintedred

Her side of their group has been doing well, so she is unaware of any differences apart from the obvious ones such as Zenia and Summer. She doesn't press though. It has never been in her character to needle like that about other people's issues, but maybe if she mentions it to Elouan later she will get a rundown of everything going on. She nods thoughtfully. "I'm sure it will happen with time." she says, choosing to be optimistic about things. When she hears the cheering, she turns her head in the same direction that Leighton does. "You're right." she says, walking with him towards the reception. "Remember – " She taps her head twice again as per their signal, sure that it will come in handy at least once during the night. Nevertheless, she doubts the experience will be that bad for as long as she is with him. They have come a long way from from the days where she felt relaxed with their acknowledged mutual dislike. How she could have ever settled for coexistence when his friendship is so much more rewarding is beyond her, but the course of their relationship has been interesting and she doesn't think she would have been as appreciative of his companionship if not for that. Where they are now is good. She likes it a lot. "Let's go."