Published: 28/10/2021
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"Talking / Talking (flashback)"
'Thoughts / Thoughts (flashback)'
-Flashback –
(**Author's Note)
A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for your patience in my updates.
I'm happy to see everyone is still reading my stories, despite so many others out there. I will try to keep things even paced with GotR. I still want to try putting different languages into this story like French, Italian, etc. but I won't always have a translating book handy. If someone could recommend a website that translate better than Google, I would appreciate it.
Now back to the next chapter.
I do not own Harry Potter or My Hero Academia, they are owned by J.K Rowling and Kōhei Horikoshi respectfully, I just own the story idea.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
— John Lennon
Chapter Twelve
The next morning, Iris found herself tensing at seeing the new environment around her, before realizing where she was and relaxed.
Looking around the room, Iris was reminded of her time at Hogwarts. The red and gold of Gryffindor house always gave her dorm and the commons a warm, cozy feeling of home. The time she spent with Sirius and Uncle Remus easily matched that.
After navigating herself to the kitchen, Iris wasn't surprised to see Verde was up, drinking a cup of black coffee. A container of cornetti laid out on the table. (**AN: Cornetti look like a French croissant, but sweeter and softer than one)
"Good morning, Verde," she greeted the scientist.
"Buongiorno (Good morning), Iris," he replied back, more focused on the book he's writing in.
"Good morning," Iris greeted back before grabbing a cornetti, "Where's Skull?"
"Still sleeping," he answered, "He was still awake when I went to rest at 2pm."
"I'll wake him up," Iris offered, already making a coffee for Skull, "Any plans for today, so far?"
"So far, do you have any plans for the day?" Verde corrected, "I'll be working on the ship today and get the engine replaced with a new one. My contacts already acquired the proper replacement."
"That was fast," Iris said in surprise.
"Indeed," he agreed, before turning back to his book, as Iris headed to Verde and Skull's room.
"Skull," she called out, as she walked in, "Coffee is ready," she informed the sheet-covered butt that was sticking up in the air. Apparently, Verde forgot to mention Skull's habit of sleeping in…odd positions.
"I'm up," Skull groggily said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "What's up?" he asked after drinking the offered coffee.
"Planning out today," Iris informed him, "Verde got the parts for the ship, so we're figuring out what to do today."
It took Skull a few minutes to rejoin Iris with Verde, but they came up with a plan. Verde worked better on his own, so he'd be at his workshop for the day, while Iris and Skull scoped out the City of Water. Later afternoon, they'll have lunch together (after Iris explained to Verde about having a work-life balance).
After parting from Verde an hour later, Iris and Skull decided to explore Venice.
Following the twist and turns of the numerous bridges and passageways, they made their way to Piazza San Marco.
The Piazza San Marco or St. Mark's Square, is Venice's main square and was surrounded by St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace, two of the most beautiful buildings in Italy. The square was always busy with vendors selling their wares, and tourists. The sun's warmth and the faint smell of the sea gave the area a unique sense of mystique and charm.
"So where do you want to go first?" Skull asked.
Iris pulled out a map from her bag, "Well, a gondola ride is definitely on the list, and some Italian sightseeing. Anything you want to do?" she asked him.
"I want to try their gelato!" Skull said excitedly.
"How about gondola ride first, then gelato?" Iris bargained, and the purplette agreed.
The pair explored the vendors before making their way to the pier. There they saw gondolas of numerous colours docked next to the pier, their gondoliers nearby to pick up passengers. A man was waiting for them at a booth.
"Buon giorno! Interested in a gondola ride?" the man asked them.
"Si signore, is there any gondola tours today?" Iris asked the man.
"Si, €80 for a group," he told the pair.
Fishing around in her purse, Iris gave him the euros.
Calling out to another gondolier in Italian, the man introduced the gondolier as Matteo, their tour guide for this trip. Matteo is a third-generation gondolier and was fluent in English, so he could easily translate for them.
Stepping into Matteo's gondola, Iris sat down on one of the seats. It felt like sitting in the boats when she first arrived to Hogwarts in her first year. Skull almost jostled the gondola, more use to bigger boats.
Gliding down the canals, Iris and Skull were amazed by the sights around them. The ancient architecture that endured the eternal waters surrounding showed the inner strength of the City of Water. They saw tourists and Venetians riding down the canals in all sorts of boats, even one that was more like a flat raft.
"It's amazing!" Skull exclaimed, looking at the floating vessels.
"You can get some excellent shots of the Grand Canal here," Matteo pointed out as they came to the main canal.
Iris pulled out her camera and took many pictures. Most were of the beautiful scenery and inter workings of the city, while others were of the people around her.
By the time they returned to the gondola dock, Iris used up all her film. Before departing, Matteo pointed out some back areas of Venice to explore; and gave the blushing Iris a kiss on the hand, much to Skull's chagrin.
-Time Skip-
One of the places Matteo had recommended, was a specialty coffee shop called Torrefazione Cannaregio. Opened from 7:30am to 12:30pm, it is one of the best places for specialty coffee in Venice.
Upon entering the building, the pair were overwhelmed by the smell of the coffee beans that surrounded them. The inside of the building had a rustic, earthy feeling to it; with its wooden interior and brick walls.
From the menu, the pair ordered a mocaccino (cappuccino with whipped cream or milk froth, and chocolate) for Iris, and a caffè affogato (vanilla ice cream and espresso) drizzled with chocolate for Skull. Each ordering a croissant along with their drinks.
"Who on earth could drink pure black espresso?" Iris asked Skull, upon seeing the option on the menu.
"Someone without tastebuds or a soul, like a hitman," Skull stated.
Somewhere in Paris, a certain hitman sneezed, missing his target.
"I've never had coffee with chocolate before," Iris confessed, taking a sip.
"I know!" Skull said excitedly, "I never thought ice cream and coffee would taste good together. The only other time I had coffee was when this strongman I roomed with left his in our caravan."
After finishing their coffee and croissants, Iris and Skull left to explore again.
This time, they took a vaporetto (water bus) to the island of Murano, home of Italy's greatest glassmakers.
Iris watched in wonder as a glassworker did a demonstration. Taking a blob of extremely hot glass attached to a pontil, he crafted the molten blob into a rearing horse. Using a pair of wide tongs, he shaped the horse's head and neck. Then with a narrow set, he crafted the horse's legs by stretching and manipulating the glass. Finished, he cut the glass with shears, and set it on a table to show his audience.
"That was fast," Skull said, watching this all happen.
He had thought that this would've been boring, but to see a craftsman create a glass horse in under five minutes, that takes some major skill.
"I know," Iris whispered, "The wandless magic I showed you, it can take years for someone to learn or plenty of practice. Just like with any craft or job, it takes a while to master."
After showing more of their skills, the glassmakers allowed the spectators to visit their shop. Iris found a simple necklace with green, blue, and gold swirled around, giving it a peacock tail-like appearance. Skull found a red glass octopus with its tentacles waving around in mid-air.
Aside from the jewellery and octopus; they bought a glass lizard, crocodile, monkey, falcon, and a frog. Something told Iris to buy them.
The pair returned to Verde's lab hours later, exhausted, but happy with their tour (this time without being chased). Iris had picked up some food for the trio and Hedwig on their way back. Knowing Verde, he likely worked without even having lunch.
Hence why, upon their return from Murano to Venice, they stopped at the local food vendors and bought some buranei (venetian butter cookies) and sandwiches for a light takeaway lunch.
"Verde! We're back," Iris announced upon their return to Verde's laboratory.
Wiping the grease from his brow, Verde turned and watched as Iris fished out a sandwich and cups for coffee.
"What's all this?" he asked.
"I figured you would be similar to some old friends of mine, so we brought lunch," Iris said, holding up the sandwich to him.
Despite being jokesters and carefree, the Twins were serious workaholics when it came to their joke shop. There were times she'd see them awake for an entire night experimenting. Leaving them food and reminding them to sleep, were things she used to do when Fred was still alive.
"Thank you," Verde said after inspecting the sandwich, then took a bite.
"So, how's the boat doing?" Skull asked with a mouthful of food.
"It's a ship, not a boat," Verde corrected, "I repaired the engine, and just need to reseal the areas on the stern and starboard before it's ready."
"Anything I can do to help?" Iris asked him.
"Not at the moment, though if you have the contact information for the previous owners, I would like to learn more about the ship's design for future purposes," Verde requested.
The trio were quiet for a while, trading conversation while finishing lunch. Skull was about to look for Oodako, when he heard something above them. Looking up, he paled in horror.
"Hey Verde," Skull interrupted, "Exactly how old is this lab?" he asked, looking above the scientist.
"Despite it's updates, it's approximately 70 years old." Verde stated.
"Well, I'm not an architect, but I know enough about old buildings from the circus," Skull started, looking at one of the pipes, "And an updated old building shouldn't have that," he pointed up.
Following his gaze, Iris and Verde gazed up in growing horror at an old pipe. It was a part of the original design that was never removed, so it was left to rust. After decades, the pipe finally corroded enough that it was ready to fall.
"VERDE! WATCH OUT!" Iris cried out as the pipe came tumbling down.
Not caring the slightest bit at exposing magic, Iris whipped her arm towards the falling pipe, moving her fingers to write a capital 'M' in the air.
"Arresto Momentum!" she shouted, causing the pipe to fall more slowly, giving them enough time to get out of the way.
"What on Earth," Verde said in disbelief, looking at the pipe that had crashed and at Iris in shock.
"Surprise," Iris said weakly, as if she didn't just make the pipe break Newton's Laws of Physics.
"Congratulations Verde, you're soulmates with a witch!" Skull pipped up.
The next thing they knew, the scientist fainted. Reason: Mind Imploded.
Author's Note: Did you really think I would forget about this story, you thought wrong. When you work more than one part-time job, you tend to have less time for yourself. But I promised myself I would get this chapter done before Christmas.