The Team Player PV Roman Kingston Completed

October 28th, 2019.
Interacting with @Gabriela Marquez

Moving along with the other students that rush to leave the Transfiguration classroom, commenting about the fiasco that happened during today’s lesson, Roman finds himself listening to what the both the Slytherins and Gryffindors have to say because he’d been nose deep in his reading to realize the professor and a student were arguing. Surprisingly enough, it’s one of his housemates, not one of those talkative and impulsive little lions. No one points out the reason, but he can only assume it’s due to something ridiculous and unimportant.

Once he steps out of the classroom, after bumping into a smaller Gryffindor and giving him a threatening glare, letting out an annoyed huff, Roman’s eyes go to the girl sitting down on the floor and the figure of the professor talking to her. Again, the boy doesn’t mean to pry, but when he hears the mention of twenty points being taken from Slytherin, he’s dumbfounded. Glaring at that girl, he suddenly recognizes her from that night at the Slytherin table when she got mad at her for a stupid reason.

Twenty points... He thinks, remembering how hard he worked during classes to earn extra points for his house, and in less than ten minutes that girl managed to ruin everything. Brat. Roman doesn’t know her name, nor does he care enough to want to know, but the fact that it’s her fault of all Slytherins make him slightly annoyed. Now the boy’s sure that whatever the reason was, it had to be irrelevant, considering how much of a hot-head that little brat is.

The professor leaves and she gets up, to which Roman, without being able to control himself, analyzes her from head to toe, taking a bit more time to analyze her face since last time he’d been too busy trying to get on her nerves. Her hair is dark brown and wavy, fitting perfectly with her rather oval face, she’s dark eyes and a button nose. Now that they’re considerably closer, he can tell that he’s at least twenty-five centimeters taller than her.

It’s funny, he thinks, that someone as small and “delicate” looking could be such a nuisance. Roman lets out a weak snicker, crossing his arms and looking the other way. Luckily he doesn't have any lessons at the moment and his homework is all done, so he has all the time in the world to pick up on that girl.

“Twenty points? Wow, good job, brat!” He says, voice clearly mocking her, that familiar small smirk on his face, as he stares at his nails. “Just a little more effort and we'll lose the House cup, ya know!”

Gabby turned around, slightly recognizing the voice but not enough to pinpoint who it was exactly. She could, of course, tell that the speaker was not her friend, not just because of the harsh, sarcastic words but also because of the mocking, teasing voice that the words were spoken with.
As soon as she faces her attacker, Gabby can quickly identify who they are. Well, who he is. It is the boy from a while back, the one from the Great Hall. He looks more or less the same, tall, Asian, and with a slight, taunting smile playing on his lips. As she spots him, her mood darkens instantly. Really? Today had been admittedly horrible, and now this monster of a boy had to turn up? She could recall their last encounter clearly, but what she remembered most of all was her defeat, the way she had walked off, accepted the loss, quietly and obediently. It was embarrassing, and how weak must he think she is! This could not happen again.

They were like opposites, him and her. She was short, with anger blunt and loud. He was tall, and while his anger stung as much as Gabby's did, his was cleverer, more subtle, and smarter. The boy smiled, Gabby frowned. And yet, they were in the same house, so what similarities did they had?
Gabby approached the boy slowly, changing directions to walk towards him. As she did, she reminded herself of some advice, thought of when the two previously fought. You can only beat him if he doesn't have his advantage. Act like he is, relaxed and in control. Then you can win.

"I'm guessing you've never lost any house points for Slytherin, right?" she said. "'Cause you're just the perfect student, aren't you? As if, you idiot."

[quote][quote]The short girl doesn’t blow up as expected, unlike their first encounter, which makes him frown slightly. She gets up and comes close to him, calm and as collected as him. He doesn’t know what to think of it other than he doesn’t like it. Roman doesn’t feel threatened, or anything. Pft, as if such a tiny nuisance could make him feel uneasy. It just felt like it’d be rougher to rile her up this time around.

“Is it hard to believe that ya’re the only disaster here?” Roman mocks, letting out another one of his snickers, looking away. “For ya information, I haven't lost a single point,” the boy adds, making sure he pronounces every word perfectly, very obviously proud of his achievement, running his hands over his dark robes similar to hers. He looks down at her, still smug and collected, then lowers his face so they can be on the same height. “Try again, brat,”

The boy doesn’t even feel the need to lie about that, because it’s true. He hasn’t lost a single house point. In fact, he earns them by participating during lessons and handing over perfect homework. What can he say? He wants the House Cup and he always works hard to get what he wants. Actually, no. Roman works hard. Period. A habit instilled in him by his father, and anyone can see that. Hopefully, that girl won’t try to “come for” him for that, because, if so, Roman would gladly show her how much of a perfectionist he could be.

They’re quite different, the two of them, Roman notices, bored. Almost everything (other than their house) was different. Looks, personalities, blood status and probably their histories as well. Not that he’s curious about her (please, he would never!), but it makes his mind wonder about that brat a little more.

Roman crosses his arms and asks, “What’s yar name, anyways?”

Oh, she thought, surprised that the boy hadn't lost a point for Slytherin so far. Well, to be fair, the year had only just started, so she couldn't exactly judge him, but he didn't sound like a very interesting person. How can you do anything enjoyable without getting in trouble? Breaking the rules was half the fun, or so Gabby believed. Maybe he's too smart to get in trouble, she debated, thinking hard. After all, he has proved himself to be very, very clever.

She was pulled out of the thoughts in her head by the word brat. Brat? She hated the word, mainly because it sounds like something you would call a naughty little kid. And since Gabby was the height of a little kid, she hated being called it. As if they were saying she was a little kid, which I'm not. Not at all.
But she did want to try again, even if it meant practically obeying the boy's command. Her idea of acting like him didn't seem to be working, and it was tiring as well. It just wasn't her, and Gabby preferred her own way. It was easier, and ended in better results. Well, Gabby thought so anyway. She was about to speak her mind when the boy spoke again.

My name? Why does he want to know my name? She was confused, and hesitated before speaking. Finally, she pulled herself back together and answered, but tried not to sound too friendly when speaking to him.
Gab - Gabriela," she said. She had been about to say Gabby, but thought it was best to tell the boy only her full name. If he started calling her Gabby, that would be too much like they were friends. No, better stick with Gabriela. For now, at least. "Why'd you ask that? And now you have to tell me your name, it's only fair."

[quote][quote]The thought of not telling that brat (Gabriela, his brain corrects him), just to rile her up some more, pops in his mind because Roman Kingston can be incredibly annoying whenever he feels like it. It’s only fair, the boy mocks her words in his head, smirking to himself, the somewhat bitter words ‘life isn’t fair’ right on the tip of his tongue.

“Dunno. Just felt like knowin’,” Roman shrugs at her question, not feeling like telling that she piqued his curiosity a little. He stares at her for a second, squinting his eyes. The boy decides to tell her, anyway, for the reason being he doesn’t think he’ll get the reaction he wants out of her today. Gabriela’s been acting composed and collect, which he concludes he doesn’t like. At all. “Name’s Roman Kingston.”

Deep down he hopes she’ll settle on calling him by his last name. Not only does it feel more appropriate, considering they aren’t close in the slightest — unless, mutual dislike meant closeness, that is, but because he doesn’t want her to see him as anything but a Kingston. A Kingston before all else, his father used to say, in order to cement in him the idea that all he did was supposed to make his family name stand out, be it for the better or not.

“Such a pleasure to properly meet ya, Gabriela” purs Roman and rolls his eyes, forcing himself to do a weak bow, in that usual sarcastic, and fake sweet tone that’s become a part of him. He purposefully pronounces her name wrong, too, the same way he did when he talked to Noelle Carmona for the first time. Small things that always seemed to annoy people. Oh how much the boy loved it.

Roman Kingston. If Gabby was honest to herself, the name suited the Slytherin boy. It had a royalness to it, and not just because it had the word king in it. It was hard to explain, and Gabby couldn't exactly word what she was thinking, but he wouldn't suit a name like Freddy Jones, for example.
And as with his reply to Gabby's question on why did he ask for her name, she didn't like it one bit. He obviously felt in control of the situation, felt as if he could do what ever he wanted to do. Gabby knew that she had to change this, to flip the coin. But how to do it?

"It's Gabriela, actually. You said it wrong. Gab-ree-elle-a," she quickly corrected when Roman said her name wrong. She doesn't exactly enjoy the bow (that was clearly fake and meant only to tease her), or the voice that goes with it, but since the boy has done it many times before, Gabby knows not to relax. Just ignore it, and let him see it doesn't bother you.

"And," she says, thinking rapidly as she spoke. The perfect plan was forming in her head, but she had to do it properly, otherwise the idea would crumble, and Gabby would be eternally embarrassed. "Where did you get the name Roman? It sounds like a grandpa's name. No, a great-great-great-great grandpa's name. But I guess I can't expect much more from you, since you're pureblood and all. Don't you guys pass down names, or some shit? Geez. Well, if you want any advise from me, open your eyes. You're not living in the 15^th century any more.

[quote][quote]The boy doesn’t focus on Gabriela correcting his pronunciation of her name, he only settles to pretend to listen, that same mildly annoying smirk still resting on his face, calmly. Mispronouncing someone’s name is always fun because you can get different reactions. Like Noelle’s, for example, that corrected him without losing her calm, while Gabriela quickly made sure to do so.

What gets Roman interested in what the muggle-born has to say, is when the brat begins to mock his name, to which his expression closes but just slightly, not enough to be noticeable. The name of a grandparent, she says, looking so proud with her stupid little insult. He squints his eyes at her words, and looks at her from above, using his height as an advantage to look superior, stronger and more capable of handling things.

Aw, look, Gabriela wants to act like me, he mocks in the back of his mind, in order to calm himself down and think about what she said. The brat's little comment on pureblood passing down names also makes him clench his jaw, moderately frustrated that she got it right. It's true that many pureblood families pass down names in other to honor the elders or something, he's not quite sure.

From his mother's side, all his relatives have Asian names, and so did he, but, the boy wasn't going to tell that brat that. His full name is Roman Hye Kingston, and only a few months ago he got to know that his second name meant brightness and intelligence in Korean. From his father's side, however, most of his older relatives were always Victoria V or Augustus XIII, a fact that he collected when he stumbled upon the long family tree placed in his mansion's library.

Not him though, thank you very much. He's the first and only Roman in his family, from both sides. It isn't a big achievement, but it makes him feel a little bit prouder, a little bit more certain that Gabriela's comment didn't mean she won anything. So, he says, “Oh, wow, ya’re correct, some pureblood families do pass down names. Ya're so smart, Gabriela,”

Again, he pronounces her name wrong and even claps her, mocking her stupid little insult. The girl isn't very good at it, Roman concludes, loving the thought of that, knowing it gave him an advantage at... Whatever their relationship is. Ignoring the confused thought that crosses his head, the boy continues, with a now more smooth tone, sounding extra confident in what he says.

“And, ye, my name's old-fashioned, whatevah. It comes from the Romantic era, the Romanticism. I suppose ya don't know what that is, do ya, brat?” Of course, he doesn't let her answer. “It was an artistic movement, that started at the end of the 18th century.” His dark eyes sparkled with something that he couldn't tell, as he purs once again, honey words dripping, covered with that fake kindness. “Not the 15th, but nice try.”

It's fascinating when he comes to think of it, that he was named after such an important artistic movement and he ended up falling in love with art, in all of its forms — well... Expect literature. Roman likes poetry better. It gives him a soft feeling and makes him adore his name even more.

Gabby didn't know what Romanticism was, much to her annoyance, but she wasn't about to admit that. It sounded boring anyway, and probably had something to do with romance, and who likes romance? Not Gabby. It sounded like something she might learn about at school in history class. If Gabby were a bit smarter, she might bother to read about it later, then return to Roman to impress and blow him away with all her knowledge. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen. Gabby would fall asleep before she finished the first book. Oh well, she thought. It was a good thought, at least.
He's wrong pronunciation of her name again didn't escape her notice, but she tried to ignore it, it was pretty obvious he was just trying to annoy her. Well, she could annoy him too, couldn't she? It had proved tricky to do this, he seemed so calm, no matter what she said, but she could try, right?

"Romanticism? Sounds boring. Well, I don't know when my name came from, but I know where. Columbia, where my mum and dad are from. Your name's too fancy. All pureblood names are. Most of the purebloods I know have names like that. I don't have a thing against purebloods, you know. It's just you, really."

[quote][quote]“Ya're quite dumb, arentcha brat?” Roman mocks because he loves being mean. “And I'll let ya know that I’m honored,” purrs the boy, smoothly, with those same malicious eyes staring at her, a smirk newly formed, yet so familiar on his face. Columbia, he thinks to himself. Roman's never been there, but he’s heard of the place and has read some things about it on the many gigantic and dusty books in the Kingston mansion library. The boy doesn’t remember a lot of facts about it, so he ignores it, not wanting to make a fool of himself in front of the likes of that little brat. “I don’t like ya in the slightest eithah, brat,”

Despite not being a lie, it doesn’t make it the truth. Though Gabriela can be quite the nuisance, so loud and hot-headed, thinking she’s a match for him, it’s not enough to make him actively dislike her. To be frank, Roman doesn’t dislike a lot of people, other than those old and annoying men that his father calls friends, and his mother, sometimes. Yes, just them. Other people are more like little annoyances that, though frustrating at times, he can deal with.

But there’s no way in hell that he’s telling Gabriela that. No, Roman likes to play along, thank you very much. He runs his hands across his dark robes and looks around the corridors; some students walk by, talking to one another, but no one seems to care about the two of them. Quite the difference from their first meeting, he thinks, remembering how the other Slytherins stared at both of them (mostly Gabriela, due to her over-the-top reactions), some judging, others scared, and even some wanting them to fight some more.