Castling Open Closed

Kyle sat at a table in the Common Room TRYING to focus on improving his game, he was wearing ratty jeans as usual, his black boots loosely tied, and a black shirt with a confused looking king being handed something by a waiter with the text "Check Mate?" along the bottom. Almost as if to spite him people were going to and fro, talking, and joking and laughing and this and that and AGH. The one time he is actually in the common room and wants silence. How many times was he told to stop throwing his dead bludger against the wall because people needed to Stuuuuudy. THATS IT! Fuck it! I'm out!" he grabbed a bag and shoveled the wizards chess set inside and stormed out of the common room.

Kyle finally stopped when he came to the great hall. There was no meal going on so it was sparsely filled, only a handful of students scattered around. Kyle picked a spot decently far from other people and he sat down and dumped everything out of the bag. At the broken pieces he merely drew his wand and uttered "Repairo" and it was as if nothing had ever happened to the pieces. content everything was ready he set the board, having the black pieces set away from him. It was time to begin the game.

The game started off with a simple move, white pawn to D4. In response, Kyle moved the black knight to F6. Wanting a strong front line the next move was White Pawn to C4. Black however was taking a more measured approach as their next move was black pawn to E6. Kyle leaned forward as his eyes narrowed. Something was brewing here, he just wasn't sure what just yet. not wanting to be left without an offense answer next he moved the White Knight to C3. As if expecting that move the Black Bishop quickly moved to rest at B4, putting the white knight in danger. Kyle's right foot began to bounce as he moved his white pawn to E3. This match was far from over but the destruction was moments away, he could feel it. With a slight cock of his head, Kyle made a move almost just to throw himself off. A castling maneuver leaving black king at G8 and the Rook at F8.

It was at this moment he was ripped from his intense focus as the sweet scent of almond and vanilla entered his nose. He knew without even needing to look exactly who it was, but something was...wrong. There was another smell coming from her tonight, one that he couldnt explain or define...but it came with an understanding that something was bothering her. No...worse than that. She was afraid. This was the stink of fear he, he remembered it from that Hufflepuff boy from before. This was different though, he could tell it wasn't directed towards him, and this time it didnt trigger the desire to hunt...quite the opposite. A member of his pack...no...not pack. His friend was scared of something or some one. Something had threatened her. His blood ran hot as he seemed as if he had raised hackles and he turned away from his game and quickly rose to his feet, Keeping San behind him and he looked towards the direction from where she came from. His hands closed tightly into fists. He blinked a few times and looked around, scowling at anyone who dare look in their direction before he finally sat back down. There was no danger around...for now. But SOMEthing had gotten her spooked.

turned towards Santario, his back to the chess set now she he could easilly get up if needed and to make sure he could keep an eye out for anyone trying move towards them from behind. "What's wrong? did someone hurt you? Did they threaten you? Ill break their fucking legs" there was anger in his tone, but it came from a protective place.

Kyle stood up quickly and this threw her a bit off guard was he leaving? Maybe she should have said something before just interrupting his space? Had she managed to screw something else up? She bit her bottom lip worried that he was leaving. Deep breaths pull yourself together you are better than this! She tried to focus on her breathing again now staring at her hands when she felt the bench move a little with his weight. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when he sat back down, and her body seemed to physically relax is only slightly. He spoke angerly and as much as she wanted to say he was mad at her that would be stupid why would he be mad at her? Did he just offer to break someone’s legs for her?

Hold one, why would he break someone’s legs for her? She wasn’t worth all that fuss surely… She was just being a silly girl again. If she told him what had happened, he was probably just going to laugh at her and tell her to stop acting crazy. She bit her lip again her hands moving to her face covering it for a moment. Her motions mocking as if she were trying to put on a mask that just didn’t exist. Trying to pull up the only defense she knew; an emotionless façade. “I-I’m sorry, please just go back to your game… I’m fine.” She failed and she was lying to him and even if he didn’t have the sense of smell to prove her wrong her voice would have sold her out like a cheap bottle of perfume. It lacked the normal confidence she had when she spoke, and it fumbled over the words as if they had been foreign to her lips.

“I’m sure it’s nothing…” She moved her hands from her face and ran them both through her hair. Those sapphires normally holding a sharp edge now only held an edge of fear as they glanced towards the great hall. She didn’t think he would be stupid enough to follow her they had been alone in the common room, but to follow her somewhere public no she didn’t think he was that stupid. If anything the boy was just as good at the game as she was, and she wasn’t even sure she could win she had never had to do this in this way before. Still, she would not make full eye contact with Kyle if he tried.

Kyle scowled. no this was all wrong. She was articulate, and confident, and she didnt even stand down when he was in a fury. Whatever got her like this really rattled her and It was not ok. If it was a student he was going to make them pay every opportunity he got, if it was a professor he would willingly get expelled to take a shot at them, and if it was a ghost. Well. He would figure something out, Surely nearly headless nick would help out if a ghost was harassing a student. Right? Where is Peeves when you need him? Kyle could absolutely convince him to burn this whole mother down. Was that extreme, too far, an over reaction to something probably not too bad? trick question, screw you, Violence is the only acceptable course of action here.

"Muppet it clearly Ain't nothing alright? Tell me what happened, who did this, anything. Whatever happened the Gobshite responsible is going to learn he fecked with the wrong persons friend. " as she looked towards the door he closed his hands into a fist once more and he started to rise as he faced the door with a snarl, but upon seeing there was no new people entering he slowly lowered back down to sit once more. He was on edge, adrenaline coursing through his veins and he was ready to throttle anyone who even thought to look at Santario wrong in this moment.

He started to get back up and she instinctively reached out and placed a hand on his arm gently. “Rook, please… I just.. there was a boy in the common room.” His reactions were keeping her on edge and making her feel like she couldn’t collect herself which as a result made her not capable of doing so. “I met him once before Hogwarts it didn’t go well then either. He singled me out then maybe because I was the only kid far off and alone, I don’t know. B-but…” She started to tremble again whether it was from the cold or from her own thoughts even she couldn’t tell at this point.

“It’s… a long story I don’t even have all of the information.” She lowered her voice eyes darting around making sure no one was near them before returning back to his face. She could only hope that he wouldn’t laugh at her or call her stupid she was confiding in him. “When my father was really young his twin sister got involved in a… group. When she tried to leave the group she had an accident.” It was obvious Santario did not believe this was an accident. In any way shape or form.

She bit her lip as she hesitated in continuing. Stop being ridiculous he is your best friend. She took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment before looking at him and continuing. “Then one summer this gom shoes up at the lake on my parent’s land. Like the town is here, then my place, and then the lake so it’s not like it is a touristy area like the rest of the town.” She used hand motions to explain the layout of the land to him. “I never knew why the only other magical child I have ever seen in my entire life before Hogwarts just randomly found me, but he did. We got into an argument. I called him some nasty things and ran home… So I went into the common room today to write my letter to my parents and a kid is there. No big deal right? So I try to go about writing my letter.” The way the kid stared at her still unnerved her to no end.

A shudder traveled through her body as she thought about the kid. “It felt like someone was watching me and I looked up and there he was just standing there staring at me. I knew who it was the moment I made eye contact with him… I can’t forget his eyes. Well, he kinda stumbled at me like a crazy person before I managed to diffuse the situation, but I asked him why was he there that day. Rook…” She paused again worried about her family. “Rook, He winked at me and said his mother and aunt were there because apparently, some local wizard was up to no good… Rook, I don’t know any other wizard family in that area. I mean I know I was isolated, but you would think that if there was another wizarding family in the town I might have heard about it? Rook what if his mother and aunt are apart of that group… and I am such an idiot… I left my wand on my bed… I wasn’t thinking I just thought I wouldn’t need it… I’m such an idiot.” Her eyes searched his almost frantically searching for an answer he simply couldn’t give her, but it was clear that this scared her.

"I didn't know what else to do I just knew that I needed to find you."

Kyle listened intently as Santario spoke. first about the boy and how they had met while alone, then she began to talk about her family. That her father had a twin a twin sister who was in some kind of accident, and the way the word was said he knew that is was more than just being hurt. The look in her eyes made it seem like she was either very seriously injured or worse yet, dead.

Then there was a bad encounter with this boy, then seeing him again the the common room. him giving her a dangerous look and stumbling towards her. Something about his parents being the area around her family and them being up to no good. None of this sounded good. He didn't like the situation or the behavior of this slytherin boy. He was going to make sure he paid them a visit and put the fear of god in them to make sure they never go near San again. Hed take the detention that was sure to follow with pride

"Listen Muppet, My Ma and Da are both Aurors. Tell me the guys name and ill write an owl home to them. If he or is family has gotten up to anything shady they will know. And if that guy comes near you again I'll feed him his own teeth. Aye?"

She decided that if the Whitehall kid got any more suspicious she would involve the staff but right now as long as she called down she would wait right up to curfew before going back in and then she would just walk into her dorm and ignore anyone in the common room. She didn’t even know what else to say in this situation as she now felt like she had overreacted. “I didn’t know you liked to play chess.” She herself was not good at playing she knew the names of the pieces and what they did, but she didn’t put in a time to practice the game or get good at it. If she were going to be completely honest she was quite surprised that he did.

So now he had a name and he knew what house they were in. Kyle was going to make sure to track down Aeyrun and let him know the Score, if he so much as looked at San in the future he was going to be in a whole world of hurt. Kyle wasn't entirely sure why he was so defensive of San, but she was his friend and if his relationship with Duke taught him anything it's you always protect your friends. Kyle ultimately failed Duke in this regard, he wasn't going to let that happen ever again. "If there is ever any trouble, I want you to always come to me with it ok? No matter what it is I'll kick it's ass. yeah?"

He noticed she began to slowly calm down, being less frantic and on edge and this in turn helped him relax and be less defensive. He looked towards his chess set, he had completely forgotten about it in the ruckus as San approached and is only now reminded that the game was going on. Kyle rubbed the back of his neck and nodded towards the board. "Oh yeah...I uh, Like Chess" He offered a shrug "I have always liked Wizards chess. I can't really explain it or anything. The game just sorta, makes sense to me you know? Like the King is the Snitch and the game is over if you catch it, gotta watch all the pieces and plan three steps ahead if you want to win. Its Quidditch without the Broom"

Kyle cocked an eyebrow and looked back towards San. "Do you play? Most people are too scared of me to join me in a game" Kyle realized what he said too late, and he hoped there wasn't going to be a follow up to why people would be scared of him. So far he had tried to keep that side of him away in front of her, he was scared she might want nothing to do with him if she knew what he was like around most other people. "Or rather...intimidated to play I guess?I can get intense"

@Santario Martin @Kyle DeRook

Dale was walking toward the great hall, usually this time of day he would head off to take a nap outside or in the library, but today Dale wanted to get some actual work done, he had tried before at the library, but he ended up just putting him to sleep, at this point the library was too familiar to him, he needed some where... new, somewhere with not too many people but not empty. The best place Dale could think of was the Great Hall, he only ever went there to eat really, so it would be nice to see it when it was less packed. He arrived at the familiar doors, book in hand, bag slung over his right arm.

He looked around for a second, trying to find a place to sit, as he was scanning the room he saw someone familiar... Santario! Dale hadn't seen her for such a long time, it had to have been a month at least, maybe even more. She was sitting next to a guy, Dale was glad she was able to find another friend, he remembered he had told him that she had been generally isolated her entire childhood, it was nice to see her socialize more.

Expect one thing did strike Dale was a bit... strange, Santario looked a bit shaken up. Instant worry washed over Dale, he knew Santario wasn't one to get shaken up easily, whatever it was it must've been bad. He thought for a second, should he intervene, maybe it was something private, he hadn't been in touch with her for a long time. But he felt like they had at least some sort of connection, after all that fiasco with the DWS. Besides, maybe this would be a good chance to help someone using his.. ability thing... Dale still wasn't sure what that was all about. He walked over to where those two were and said. "H-Hey Santario, it been a while since we last talked. Mind if I take a sit here?" He pointed to the chair in front of them.

Reducio

Abilty Used: Calming Aura

Santario having kept eye contact with Kyle nodded when he told her he wanted her to always come to him. “I give you my word that I will always come to you with trouble.” She would to he was not only her best friend but now he was taking on the role of safety in her life. When things went wrong, she sought him out because she felt safe with him. She wasn’t sure if it was their height distance or the fact that he was obviously very strong, or just because he seemed to actually care about her wellbeing. More than likely it was all of the three things put together. Plus some other feelings brewing inside of her that she would not yet understand, but if she had to describe it she would say he made her feel warm.

When he started to explain why he liked chess and how he understood it, it made more sense to her. Yes, this is exactly the kind of game he would enjoy. She had learned something about the way that Kyle thought and although he may not even know it, yet he was a brilliant strategist and the more things he had to focus on and plan ahead for the better he was at it. She had slightly in her own thoughts about him but was brought back when he asked her if she played.

She didn’t think anything of his comment about people being too afraid to play him. Even when he did follow it up with a correction to the word intimidation with an explanation to a question that was never asked. It should have been a tell-tale sign that he was trying to hide something and yet she was too distracted to notice. Even if she had noticed there was a chance, she wouldn’t have called him on it because best friends didn’t hide things from each other, right? She had no reason to believe that he would keep secrets from her. “Admittedly, I’ve never played…” She said sheepishly.

This was when a familiar feeling fell upon her accompanied by a familiar voice. She looked up to meet the brown eyes of her friend. “Dale!” She exclaimed using her excitement as a mask to hide everything that had her thoughts reeling. “I have not seen you since… Well since the fox incident. I thought you might hate me after that! Please take a seat!” She looked at Kyle again. “Kyle this is my friend Dale and Dale this is my best friend Kyle. Dale was my first friend here at Hogwarts.” Although Dale and San had just been equally busy she really had thought Dale might have harbored some bad feelings for her after that night.

It would not have been out of the question for him to do so in her mind. Realistically San had been busy with Quidditch and after becoming friends with Kyle he really was one of the only people she hung out with on a regular schedule. That with them doing constant extra training and exercises together for quidditch, picking out dresses for the Masque together, and just constantly spending what seemed like every waking day together beside a handful of days a month… She and Dale were just busy. Granted it could help someone in the boy's dorms in Slytherin to keep an eye on the kid that had just scared the hell out of her.


@Kyle DeRook @Dale Kurt