Universal for 'Klutzy Ginger'

Rhys tripped onto the train. Blast. He nearly tumbled back off again when he went to pull his trunk up after him. Trains sucked, the redhead decided. His cousin laughed good-naturedly at him.

"I think you're getting worse," the woman teased. "Must be nerves." *

"You're gonna jinx me!" Rhys protested. Ana laughed and placed a kiss on his forehead, which Rhys endured with a faint grimace. Who wanted to be kissed by their older cousin in public? Being kissed and hugged by his aunt wasn't much better, admittedly. At least his uncle was sensible. His uncle just shook his hand and told him to enjoy his time at a different school.

"We will see you at Christmas time, Rhys," his aunt promised.

"I know, Aunt Jestina," Rhys replied.

"'n don' jist talk t' yer friends," the woman advised, her childhood Welsh accent coloring her English. "Yer doin' this program t' improve yer English."

He finally said a last goodbye to his family and moved along the train until he found what appeared to be an empty compartment. Opening the door... Rhys tripped inside.

"Merlin's bloody shorts!" he exclaimed in exasperation.


*They are speaking in Russian

Adele had been spending way too much time worrying and panicking this summer, so it was a pleasant surprise for her to go back to Hogwarts and have a little fun with new people this summer. And by new people, she definitely meant the new Durmstrang students that were coming this year. Her only hope was that Haze wasn't one of the batch coming this year. She didn't want anyone or anything to get her in the way of fun. Though one thing that told her Haze wasn't coming was that her nasal voice wasn't anywhere to be heard as she found her cozy little compartment in which she was sitting on.

As she was humming and headbanging, she heard someone stumble into her compartment. She gasped; seeing someone fall was one of her (more extreme yet irrational) fears. She quickly noticed that it was an unfamiliar boy. Perhaps it was one of the new exchange students. That would be good. But even if he wasn't she'd love to make a friend out of him. She ran quickly from her seat and held out her hand so the boy can pick it up. "Golly gosh!" she exclaimed, trying to breathe normally, "hurry! Take my hand! Or the Pineapple Army will come and get you! And you don't want that to happen!"

Rhys blinked dazedly up at the girl (so, the compartment hadn't been empty. That was just... brilliant). "Th' bineapple army?" he repeated, accent thick. And Rhys' accent when speaking English was a rather difficult one.

He understood the language well enough. The only thing was that he had learned it from his aunt - who was native to Wales. Combining a Welsh accent with a Russian accent was bound to be problematic.

Confused, nonetheless, Rhys took the girl's hand and allowed himself to be helped back to his feet. Then, he yanked his stupid trunk the rest of the way into the compartment an hoisted it up onto the overhead rack.

"T'ank ye," he told the girl, extending his hand towards her. "Me name iz Rhys. I 'm from Durmstrang."

Adele shook her head. "No, the Pineapple Army!" she screamed, "not the Bineapple Army! The Bineapple Army don't exist!" She had completely forgotten that this person had probably come from Durmstrang and would pronounce some things wrong, but never mind that. "The Pineapple Army are going to kill you if you mess with them!" she shrieked, trying to keep her voice down so that no one would ask if she had panic attacks, which she did not have, at least for now.

"No problem," muttered the girl quietly as she helped him up and plopped back down on her seat. "I'm Adele Bass." She tilted her head to one side. "Are you from Durmstrang?" She immediately nibbled on her lip, hoping that the answer was 'no.'

"Ah jis' said I voz," Rhys stated a bit flatly. "Vhy? Iz dere a problem wi' bein' from Durmstrang?" The redhead seated himself on the bench, retracting his hand when she didn't shake it. Merlin, this girl was odd, what with the way she went on about some 'pineapply army'. He hoped that everyone he met wasn't like this...

"Oh..." Adele sighed, her one bright smile faltering in disappointment. She shook her head. "Um, of course there's nothing wrong with that!" she exclaimed, trying to smile. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She sighed. "So," she asked, shuffling in her seat. "How are you finding the train so far? Isn't it pretty?" She stared at the ceiling, idly counting the number of tiles she could see.

Rhys' gaze narrowed on the girl, but he decided to refrain from comment. If she didn't like people from Durmstrang, then he just wouldn't talk to her again after this. Problem solved.

The boy shrugged. "It s'olrigh'. Ah miss th' ship. It is... less narrow," he tried to explain, wondering how much was really getting across with his heavily accented words. "It is not so... how ye say? Um... клаустрофобия,*" Rhys said, not realizing now very much the word sounded the same in English. "Th' train feels more small, b'cause it is skinny an' long."


*claustrophic

Adele blinked when Rhys's eyes narrowed, but she noticed how pretty and blue they were. They were softer than Haze's, that was definite. She wanted to stare at them, but if she did, it would just be creepy. At least she could remember how pretty they were.

"A ship? I looooove ships!" gasped Adele. She liked ships, amongst many other things. She listened to Rhys talk again - Merlin, his voice was absolutely, heartbreakingly beautiful - and she raised an eyebrow at the last word. "You mean claustrophobic?" she asked, repeating what he had said. From his point of view, the ship sounded different from what she had heard, but her source wasn't exactly reliable. "So the ship isn't cramped and annoying and 'full of hobos?'" she asked, the last three words in Haze's nasal accent.

"Yes, claustrophobic - it sounds very similar, yes?"

Rhys blinked. "'obos'?" Hobos were... homeless people, weren't they? "No - it is a ship t' th' school, vhy vould it be full 'f 'obos? Ye 've 'eard very strange rumor. It is no' true. Th' ship, it is... roomy, yes? More than this train, but I 'm thinkin' that is b'cause it is long an' less wide." He shrugged, though, rather pleased that she seemed to understand him. That was good. Being incomprehensible was embarrassing - he'd done that before.

Adele could only shrug her shoulders at Rhys's words. He made everything clear to her, that her source had been lying to her all these years. "So, my sister is a b-bitch!" she muttered, and she immediately covered her mouth when she swore; swearing was something she thought was best to avoid, even if all her friends do it. "Not like that has changed much," she added, crossing her arms. She nodded at Rhys's next words. "Well, it is a ship after all," she merrily agreed, "but Kaycee and I have been on a yacht before..."

"Sister?" Rhys blinked in surprise. Who was her sister... oh. "Yer sister, she is called Hazelle Bass, yes? She is a bit..." He trailed off, letting his lack of description speak for him on the matter.

The redhead shrugged, shooting the girl a bright smile. He didn't really know what else to talk about.