Spinning
It was very, very subtle: the spring in her step as she arrived at Beauxbatons for her second year. Pretty much everything was the same—the way the school cut through the mountains, the way the Abraxans neighed in the evenings, and the strange way Akerrah thought she maybe saw something in the distance that wasn't there—but she arrived with success in her summer Quidditch game.
That's right: Akerrah Koné was good at something magical.
She could hardly believe it when they'd won. Months ago, she didn't even know what the word 'Quidditch' meant. Learning how everything worked—all these different balls, the brooms, the way to fly—had been painstaking. But now, finally—oh, finally—she'd had something to show for it. And she had a team to return to now, some of whom had been on that winning team. So, she was eager to attend Quidditch practice to reunite.
Walking onto the school's Quidditch pitch for practice, she looked around. They could perform well this year she knew as she watched their faces as they arrived. As the logistics of setting up practice commenced, she found herself beside their keeper, Maurice. A tall, sandy blonde, she didn't know him particularly well beyond moments on this very pitch. "Bonjour, Maurice," she greeted him as she got up from fasting the laces on her shoes.
Naturally introverted, boasting did not come easily to her. Instead, she asked in French, "How was your summer? We missed you at camp." Perhaps he'd heard. Maybe it would be nothing to the others, but to a muggleborn like Akerrah, she was simply spinning.
@Maurice Andrieux
|
|
Spinning
 | NOW PLAYING Spinning ft. @Akerrah Koné ───⋆⋅☆⋅⋆───
|  |
Maurice had returned from summer break with the same pale cheeks and flushed skin, yet something about him felt different. He didn't feel wiser, obviously, since a year away from magic only worked to worsen his wizarding abilities. He just felt... older, somehow. Seeing his sisters again had felt odd. His disconnection from the non-magical world felt as though it was growing greater and greater. It was something like guilt brewing inside him as he stepped back onto Beauxbatons grounds and resumed his magical life.
The mountains were beginning to erupt with color as the summer green was washed away into the rainbow of fall. A chill ran through the tall peaks and sent shivers up his spine, even while covered in his soft blue quidditch uniform. While the returning students were still attempting to bounce back into school life, quidditch waited for no one. Their practices had begun almost as soon as the year started, and Maurice was partially grateful for the distraction and exhausted by the work.
He ran a hand through his messy blonde hair as he stepped out onto the pitch, cheeks flushed from the cold and fingers numb where they gripped his broom. A few greetings were shot his way, to which he responded with a cool wave or a smile. There was one girl in particular who he recognized from the past year. She approached him with a friendly smile, immediately sliding into conversation.
"Akerrah, yes?" Maurice asked as he fixed his gloves, trying to warm his hands with his breath. "I wanted to come, but my parents were pretty insistent. Family and all that. I suppose it was fun?"
  |  |
PC: Charlotte Winfield
Spinning
"Oui, yes, that's right," she told him. Perhaps she really did need to work on getting to know this team better if some of them weren't even sure who she was. And yet that was not enough to knock the spring out of her step. This year she'd have some idea what she was doing—summer had proven that.
As she laced her boots, she heard Maurice explain how he'd wanted to come but family kept him away. That seemed such a strange idea when her family still did not comprehend what any of this magic business was. Her parents had been glad for her victory though they did not know what really it had meant. But a peer? A peer would know.
So, she was excited to reply. "Fun, but Maurice," she paused for dramatic effect, "we won." Her brown eyes were wide and seemed almost to shine with her own disbelief. Of course, she hadn't technically caught the snitch and it had taken her forever to track it down, but despite that, they'd pulled together as a team and come out on top. "I was with Peter, Quentin, Raphael, and Katherine," she explained, "but also some other students from other schools from all parts of the world." What had been that one from Africa? She had to think about it later.
"The point is, I think we can bring that same energy this year," she added with hope. It might not have seemed a lot to him, but she had been so confused as to how she'd even gotten on the team. And this was the first time it felt like she was a part of it—a successful part of it—and she was desperate for that to continue because it might just mean she had a place here at this school.
@Maurice Andrieux
|
|
Spinning
| NOW PLAYING Spinning ft. @Akerrah Koné ───⋆⋅☆⋅⋆───
| |
Maurice was at once struck by how his antisocial nature had set him back. He hardly spoke to the others on the team, usually devoting most of his attention to the sport at hand or wherever his mind decided to wander for the day. A pang of guilt sparked in his chest, and he felt a bit awkward at his obliviousness towards this girl he had been playing with for two years now.
"That's... great." Maurice gave her an odd expression, although he understood why she was so amazed by this. The Beauxbatons quidditch team had been sparse, to say the least. The second-string team was pretty much empty and their track record was spotty enough to be concerning. He couldn't say he felt proud of them, but he was close enough to be prideful. Plus, Akerrah did seem ecstatic about it, and Maurice had spent enough time around his sisters to know that this sort of excitement was not one to take for granted.
Maurice vaguely recognized the names she spouted off, though they were stark and faceless in his mind. Maybe a flash of a broom or a curl of the hair, but that was it. He nodded along like he knew anyways. At the mention of other schools, something shifted in Maurice. "Uagadou as well?"
He couldn't help but laugh a bit at her enthusiasm. Using his teeth to tighten his gloves all the way, he picked his broom up from where it was propped and leaned on it slightly. "Think so? I mean, we're not exactly flooding with new players."
| |
PC: Charlotte Winfield