Birds of the same feather... PV - Jrue Peterson

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mentions. @Zephyr Deakin notes. xx song. Love you so ~ Leonie Biney, Rin actions. xx nine a.m. outdoor club area.

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Flying was something Jrue had looked forward to doing when she had received her Letter to Hogwarts. Her mother had never let her do it, not that it was mentioned often or a topic they ever discussed, but the fact she was away from home and in charge of her decisions brought her a joy she couldn’t explain. To everyone she’d talked to so far she had mentioned the fact she wanted to join broomracing. She might as well plaster it onto her forehead, at that point. Today she’d figured she’d try and watch some of the Quidditch and Broomracing players, maybe even borrow a school broom and float around for a bit.

The few flying lessons she’d been to, Jrue had performed relatively well. Now it wasn’t something the was supposed she was naturally gifted at, but it was relatively fun, and relatively easy. She threw on a sweater and a skirt, a plain and simple outfit, and pinned her hair up into a messy half up half down, eyeing herself in the mirror as she left her dorm. The common room and halls were oddly quiet, she had realized as she walked through the courtyard. No matter, what everyone else did didn’t affect her life. I could check out the Club Clearing.. perhaps there’s students flying about there? She pursed her lips, arms crossed as she strided through the green grass. It was awfully early though. Perhaps she had jumped the gun a bit…

There was one student far off in the grassy clearing, not even flying, she noted. They were stretching, warming up for their exercises, or their practice of their sport. What a clever idea. I didn’t even think that you’d need to stretch- She watched the trees as she walked, nearing the clearing. That’s when she realized- Zephyr! It was he who was warming up, all alone in the field that morning. She smiled excitedly, running across the grass and exclaiming loud enough for him to hear but not any sleeping birds or students.

“Zeph!” She slowed to a stop, appearing behind him. She tilted her head a bit. She hadn’t seen him since they’d walked to the train together. She pulled a loose piece of hair behind her ear, clearing her throat. “Good morning you silly boy. Up awfully early, aren’t we?” She gestured to his broom, smiling again. “I hardly expected to see you out here-“

402/200
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Reducio Word Count: 440

Reducio Mention: @Jrue Peterson

Reducio OOC Notes: I love the song you mentioned in your post, I played it on repeat lmao

Waking up early was not unusual for him who grew up on the farm, the sound of their chicken always woke up him up without fail. Back home, mornings would start early whether he likes it or not. So even in school, his body was following that rhythm. There was something special about waking up early. It’s usually quiet, everything’s still and untouched yet. There’s a lot of space to just be silent and stay with his thoughts without being pulled left and right. The calm eliminate the noise and restlessness and you don’t really notice it until it’s gone.

While stretching, he took deep breaths and let the cold morning air filled his lungs. It helped wake him up completely. His muscles were still stiff when he started but as he stretched, his body slowly loosened. He craned his neck left and right, rolled his shoulders, and then leaned forward to stretch his legs. He noticed the grass was damp, it was perfect for him. He was just about to start his run when someone shouted his name causing him to stop where he was.

Turning to the direction of the voice, he was surprised to see a familiar figure. “Jrue?” He straightened up, his surprise visible on his face as he regarded his housemate and friend. A small grin appeared as the girl addressed him. “Good morning.” came his friendly greeting as he brushed his hands together after finishing his stretch. “Didn’t think anyone else would be up this early either.”And huffed softly, “And you’re calling me silly for it?” He was amused. The two came from similar backgrounds so it was so easy and natural to talk to her. When they first met, they fell into friendly discussion fast. “Just warming up a bit, I thought I will get everything going before flying. Trying not to repeat what happened the first time.” He laughed remembering his first ever solo flying practice. “Turns out falling off a broom hurts more when you skip the basics.”

He stretched his arms again, “I was about to go for a run first…” motioning toward the open field. “Just a few laps to clear my head and warm up too.” When he looked at her again, there was something more playful in his expression. “You can join, if you want.” His brow lifted and a smirk formed. “And we can make it more interesting.” He gestured toward the field, “Five laps.” A spark of challenge lacing his tone which he knew Jrue won’t be able to say no to. “I’ll even let you set the terms of our bet. Simple enough, right?”

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mentions. @Zephyr Deakin notes. Sorry it's so short ToT song. Love you so ~ Leonie Biney, Rin actions. xx nine a.m. outdoor club area.

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"Wwaking up early is kind of my thing-" Jrue laughed, crossing her arms,[color] "-just kind of a habit."[/color] His smile was so friendly as she spoke. Her cool fingers were wrapped around her arms, the silky warmth of her coat cradling her. "You know how silly you are. It's a well known fact!"

She pursed her lips and puffed her cheeks, breathing out slowly. Flinching backwards, and eyes flicking left and right, Jrue chuckled. "Last time? What happened last time?" Her dainty eyebrows furrowed as she gazed at him, a playful grin strung across her face. She stuck her hands in her pockets, turning to gaze at the rest of the field and the castle."I don't even know if I've fully woken up yet-" Zephyr was just wonderful to be around. When he talked, it was always so lovely. His Christmas cards and stories to Jrue made her feel so cared for. She snapped back into the conversation when he mentioned the competition- "A race?" She shrugged her shoulders- eyes wide. "Oh, I don't know about that one..."

Jrue bit her lip, shuffling her feet. A race couldn't hurt! She smiled. "You have yourself a deal, Mr. Deakin. If you win, I'll do your homework for.. two days. Whatever classes. I win... you owe me a butter beer." She scanned the open area, nodding her head. It was a fair agreement- The running couldn't be too hard. And even if it was, Homework is easy enough. "Do we have a deal?" She tilted her head, eyes flicking back to the boy and his broom. "Oh, are you scared now?" Jrue teased, kicking at his foot before wrapping her scarf tightly around her neck.

282/200
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The grin that adorned his face ruined any of his attempt at seriousness. "I refuse to believe it's a well known fact, you just made that up." There were people who were really morning persons, and some weren't. It's not for everyone. Should he really be surprised that Jrue was awake this early? Not really. She always seemed to have more energy than he did, especially when something exciting was involved. If someone told him she had been wandering the grounds he would probably believe them.

She clarified what happened the last time and at that, he groaned as his hand rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't remind me." His embarrassment was apparent at being reminded of that particular morning. "I tested my new broom, the comet 180, marched out here all confident, and was convinced I was going to look impressive. Turns out I looked impressive for about ten seconds." He huffed and looked away, trying to cover the warmth on his cheeks but laughed anyway. "I got a little too confident, I overcorrected with one turn, next thing I know, I'm introducing myself to the ground..." He looked down at the grass. "...face first."

His eyes sparkled with amusement as he remembered it, it did hurt him at the time, but now it was funny as he recalled what happened. "Now I warm up first, I learned my lesson the hard way." She looked cute as she puffed her cheeks and claimed she wasn't fully awake yet which only made him snort. "Funny, you seemed to be awake enough to throw insults." It was just joke of couse.

They both agreed to the bet and as expected, she laid down the rules. His eyebrows climbed higher and higher as she explained the terms. "Two days of homework? Merlin Jrue, you drive a hard bargain." He pretended to think about it, even stroking his chin for effect. "That's it?" A laugh was all he could manage to reply for being called scared. Her challenge was impossible to resist because the look on her face told him she was already imagining herself winning. "Deal." He extended his hand out. "If I lose, I'll buy you a butterbeer, and if I win, I'm assigning you the most boring homework I can think of."

He left his broom on the ground and took a step back toward what looked like a reasonable starting line. The cold air stung his cheeks whilst excitement stirred somewhere in his chest. It's just a simple race between friends but it was a nice start of his day. "Ready, then? One, two, three!" He shot off across the damp grass, laughing out loud. "Try and keep up, Jrue!"

Jrue threw her hands up, tilting her head. "Hey- I would never lie about something so serious. Veritaserum me." She pressed her mouth into a flat line, caving as the corners lifted up into a smile. She shoved her hands into her pockets, kicking at the toe of Zephyr's shoe. She took a deep breath of air, listening intently as he turned away shyly and spoke of the infamous morning.

She was expecting something truly bad- awful dare say. Snapping a broom in half right in front of Professor Weems, or even their House's broom racing captain. Letting out a loud laugh, she shook her head. "Ten seconds? I'd say three, tops." Her hands splayed out in front of her on the last word for emphasis. It was only a joke. She'd seen him fly before, she had reckoned. Not quite sure where, but she knew he was well enough. Maybe she had just imagined it, they talked about his wanting to join sports at Hogwarts numerous times.

"Oh, how my mighty powers of deception have fooled you." Her head nodded, "For not only am I not awake, I hardly slept. I was up all night studying-" She nodded with her eyes closed, trying to get Zephyr to believe it as she peeked and spoke- "is what I wish I could say. I was knitting Skippyjon a kitty sweater..." The girl's green eyes flickered down at the grass sheepishly. "Don't tell Miss Alaire- she'll be rather cross I didn't go to bed until far after curfew."

His shock over the prize of the race made Jrue laugh. She didn't need much out of it. She wasn't going to win- and completing his homework did sound like a rather fun activity. Any chance to do Potions or Herbology work was a win in her book. "I can't recall the last time I had a butter beer. Sounds rather refreshing to me-" A smile spread across her face, rolling her sleeves up and securing her hair extra tightly.

She stood beside him, planting her feet sternly into the ground. Even if she lost, she had to give it some oomph, make it look like she knew what she was doing. She leaned over and elbowed him in the arm. "Budge up, Deakin. Don't hog the whole racing course- And don't be nervous. I know I'm a girl but you have a little chance of winning-" She scrunched her nose, booking it when he finished counting.

She fled across the grass, one foot in front of the other. The cold air made her cheeks ache, wind stinging them rather harshly. They were rather neck in neck, until Jrue's foot caught on the other and she stumbled, barely managing to catch herself and continue. She let out a squeak as it happened, losing precious time in the race. She still had some ways to go in their silly battle, and she hadn't given up, but deep down Jrue knew it. Extra Homework seemed near in her future.

502/200

mentions. @Zephyr Deakin notes. Sorry it's so short ToT song. Love you so ~ Leonie Biney, Rin actions. xx nine a.m. outdoor club area.

Zephyr snorted at her offer, “Veritaserum is a little extreme for proving I’m silly.” She kicked his shoe as an attempt at being playful. He looked down at it and gave her a raised eyebrow. “What did you just eat, you’re very violent this morning.” She shared the story of her late night with increasing suspicion and he almost believed she stayed awake studying. But then she admitted the truth, and his expression was one of exasperation. “A sweater.” He stared at her in shock, “You stayed up past curfew knitting a sweater for your cat?” Now that was something he doesn’t hear often. “I’m not telling anyone, but only because I don’t want to explain why I know about it.” It was amusing. “Don’t worry, we’ll enjoy that butterbeer when the time comes.”

At the starting line, her elbow caught him in the arm. “Budge up?” His eyebrow rose once again, “There’s an entire field, Jrue.” As for that little chance she was talking about, he put his game face on, now she’s done it. “Keep telling yourself that.” His grin appeared and after counting, they both took off. His feet struck the wet ground in a rhythm, and his body’s stiffness disappeared under the quick pull of his muscles. Jrue stayed close beside him. He glanced at her and saw the determination written plainly on her face. She might have claimed she didn’t have proper sleep, but she was running as though she’s trying to prove something. “Not bad!” He shouted and just as he finished saying that, she stumbled.

The squeak made his head snap behind him. His movement faltered but seeing as Jrue managed to catch herself before hitting the ground, he knew she’s fine. But she lost enough momentum for him to pull ahead. “You all right?” He turned his body slightly to the side as he ran, watching her to make sure she was fine. Once she continued, relief washed over his chest, and his competitive spark returned. He faced forward again and picked up his pace. “That doesn’t count as an excuse when you lose!”

His laughter echoed in that clearing as he rounded the first marker, though he didn’t increase the distance between them as much as he could have. He told himself it was because five laps was a long race and wearing himself out early would be foolish. It has nothing to do with making sure she didn’t hurt herself. Maybe... When he reached the second lap, his breathing grew heavier, but still manageable. Years of running around in the fields was enough preparation for things like this. He could breathe easier even while running for a few minutes now.

He pointed to the next bend. “Come on, kitty sweater girl!” It was spur of the moment thing, the nickname before he could think what he was saying. “You wanted a butterbeer, didn’t you?”