Match #2 Its Gobstones, Not Pull Ups Adam v. Ami

Drat! So she had missed- they'd both missed. At least if she failed, Adam would go down with her. And, at least she didn't hit a certain cat this time around. Ami wasn't quite sure that Leo had actually forgiven her, yet, for the several shots that had hit him during her match with Cecily. But, he seemed to be nowhere in sight, at the moment, so there would be no chance to hit him. Grinning tauntingly at the blond Ravenclaw across from her, she jested, "Might need to get your eyes checked, there. If you hit me, I won't hesitate to hit you back, by the way. I'll nail ya. Right in the nose."

What was she even going on about? Didn't- yeah, she had missed, too, and yet here she was, rubbing Adam's failure in his face like it was such a big deal. "Come on, Blondie," Ami laughed, hefting the stone in her hand. She was, quite frankly, running out of hair-color-related insults to toss at Adam, and she should probably lay off on roasting him if she wanted to end up with a new friend. "You can do better! Hit me with your best shot, man." Crackling her knuckles, she narrowed her eyes at Adam, before turning her scrutinizing gaze towards the board. "Just watch, I'll beat you. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy."

After a brief pause as she assessed the board, with an ear-shattering scream, Ami hurled her gobstone at the board. Whether or not that extra screaming would actually help her was yet to be seen, but altogether, it was quite comical. And, to be fair, Ami was always playing the comic relief. Why should any of that change now?

Ami casts a Concious Throw.
stats
stamina: 7 || evasion: 8 || strength: 14 || wisdom: 2 || arcane power: 3 || accuracy: 11
abilities
martial artist || prodigal transfig || spell spread

@Amadea Campbell and @Ami Procoppio

Adam and Ami must have gotten too cocksure in their trash talking for the universe to handle. Their cosmic punishment came crashing down on them like the infamous Tower of Babel: one minute Adam was laughing flippantly at Ami's retorts and the next she was speaking in tongues. He stared at her, baffled, as she spewed what he could only assume were insults his way and tried to decipher the meaning. She was still speaking English, at least; Adam could understand the individual words coming out of her mouth, but when combined they became nonsense.

The part about kissing girls was painfully clear, although Adam hadn't thought that it was something to brag about. Apparently, Ami did. He scoffed at the jab and kept his eyes on the ring as he waited for to make her throw.

"Keep talking, Regina George, because I'm gonna make you eat your words and your hat the way Cady made Queen Bee eat those weight gain bars."

...What? That was where she totally lost him. Adam could only guess at what the Hufflepuff girl was trying to say. It was definitely a threat, that much was obvious. He might've been able to translate more if it weren't for the random names tossed into the mix. Who the hell was Regina George? Adam was fairly certain that he'd never heard the name around Hogwarts (did she even go here?) The blond boy was dumbfounded -- there was no possible comeback to be made. While he'd been in his head, Ami had moved on already, turning to Amadea and chatting about something. Adam shook his head and told himself to move on. He'd never understand girls. He certainly didn't understand Ami Procoppio.

They both tossed their stones down and just like that his competitor was back with the nonsense. This time, the name she threw out rang a bell. A distant, tiny bell, but a bell nonetheless. Who was Marilyn Monroe? Gritting his teeth in frustration, Adam listened to Ami take a swing at his strength as she tossed her Gobstone down. He had to say something. Unfortunately, the best he could come up with was, "Do you think I know who any of these people are?"

Both of their stones missed their targets, leaving them tied -- again. Adam was getting a little impatient, although he supposed that they hadn't been playing for all that long. He wondered how long Gobstone matches usually ran: an hour? Two hours? Maybe....three hours? If he had to listen to Ami's voice for three hours, he was going to hex himself into oblivion. Well, her first, then him.

"If you hit me, I won't hesitate to hit you back, by the way. I'll nail ya. Right in the nose." Ami's warning made Adam smirk despite himself. He hadn't even gotten close to her that time. What made her think that he was aiming for her at all? "Yeah, right back at you," Adam fired back. Not long after, she called him Blondie, and Adam was suddenly reminded of Anatole Evans. The Gryffindor boy had joked around with Adam a lot like Ami was doing now. Actually, their whole friendship had pretty much been one big competition. Adam had nearly forgotten about Anatole in the whirlwind of third year. He was sure she wasn't expecting it, but Ami's taunts put a big, genuine smile on his face. It was nice to be reminded of old friends.

"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy." Now that was a phrase he hadn't heard in a while. Adam laughed. "Yeah, you can tr -- MERLIN!" Ami had let loose a scream like a freaking banshee as she threw her stone down into the ring. It scared the crap out of Adam, nearly making him drop his own Gobstone. A moment later, he was overtaken by a fit of laughter. It was such a ridiculous strategy. If Ami had been trying to distract him, it had worked. Adam struggled to keep his arm steady as he held up his Gobstone, finding it impossible to focus while he was still laughing like an idiot. He threw his stone into the ring with no special strength or skill. Honestly, he'd be glad to have it stay in-bounds at all. Goddamn Ami.

She sure kept things interesting.

tossing fourth stone with a classic throw

STA: 12 | STR: 6 | ACC: 8 | ARC: 9 | WIS: 6 | EVA: 4
Spell Spread ~ Calming Presence ~ Prodigal Charms Learner

── ❋ ──

𝓐madea shook her head as she listened to Adam and Ami banter back and forth. She made a mental note never to pair Ami with someone who wasn't up for a challenge; she was sure that the trash talk spewing out of Ami's mouth would definitely scare away some of the first years who had signed up for the club. While Adam seemed to be taking the banter well, he now look quite confused as Ami spit a bunch of names at him that he didn't seem to recognize. Okay, Regina George Amadea could understand him not knowing but Marilyn Monroe? Amadea shook her head.

"Oh Adam," she said with a sigh, "How uncultured are you?" She shook her head pretending to be disappointed and left it up to Ami to explain herself, or leave Adam in the dark. Ami was now saying something about hitting and Amadea's ears immediately tuned in.

"Ami!" Amadea exclaimed. "No violence!" As much as she loved her redheaded best friend, Ami could be a handful to control sometimes, especially when she was getting in all sorts of trouble. And, as it was turning out, it seemed that Adam was a handful as well, promising to hit Ami back if she hit him. "Guys, I swear if you hit each other I will never invite you to another Gobstones game again," Amadea vowed. She rolled her eyes and sat back, blocking out the rest of their taunts as the two prepared for the next round. Ami was up first; Amadea was ready to see just how easy peasy lemon squeezy Ami's throw would turn out to be. It seemed as though she had forgotten all the rules of gobstones as she lobbed her stone toward the ring but narrowly ended up missing one of her own gobstones instead of hitting Adam's. Amadea glanced at her friend. "You know you're trying to hit Adam's gobstones, not yours, right?" she asked, half kidding and half wondering if all rules of gobstones had suddenly left Ami's mind.

Amadea turned to look at Adam as he prepared for his throw. As he threw his gobstone toward the ring, Amadea squinted, noticing that his aim was slightly off and his gobstone ended up rolling slightly to the left of where Ami's sat in the ring. At this point Amadea was certain that the Fates were looking down upon them, scorning the two opponents for their vicious comments. After all, they had begun the game so well and now they were missing every shot. "Alright, next round, Adam you're up first," Amadea anounced in her best announcer voice. "Let's see what you've got!"

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Player 1: @Ami Procoppio Conscious throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 15 roll: 4 + 14 = 18 Wisdom: DC ≥ 10 roll: 5 + 2 = 7 Accuracy: DC ≥ 13 roll: 7 + 11 = 18 Throw failure Number of Gobstones left: 5

Player 2: @Adam Harringtom Classic throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 13 roll: 9 + 6 = 15 Wisdom: DC ≥ 13 roll: 17 + 6 = 23 Accuracy: DC ≥ 13 roll: 3 + 8 = 11 Throw failure Number of Gobstones left: 5

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ADAM HARRINGTOM TO POST FIRST.

@Ami Procoppio || @Amadea Campbell

Uncultured?! Uncultured?! Adam gave Amadea an incredulous look as she sjghed at him in mock chagrin. If she understood Ami's obscure allusions, then it had to be a Muggle thing (Amadea was Muggle-born, wasn't she?) He could hardly be expected to keep up with wizard and Muggle culture! "Hey, I'm a total renaissance man! Back off!" Adam couldn't keep a straight face even as he spoke, descending into laughter and taking a minute to compose himself before Ami switched tracks and launched into her threat.

Their referee wasn't pleased with the promise of physical violence, and she let them both know it, warning the two players that she'd ban them from the game if they came to blows. Adam resisted the urge to tell her that Ami had started it, knowing how childish that sounded. He also resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Ami as they were both berated. Of course, the aggressive Hufflepuff had already moved past the incident, egging Adam on briefly before throwing her stone with that horrible banshee scream. Adam's Gobstone followed hers, thrown without much care due to his uncontrollable laughter, and it was no surprise when they both missed. He blamed Ami fully, though he admired her...creative...strategy. He hadn't anticipated being shrieked at.

It was Adam's turn yet again, but he was far from ready for it, still in hysterics. Adam held up a shaky finger and forced himself to pull it together, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye as he finally stopped laughing. It was a delicate balance: he could feel himself start to lose control every time he looked at Ami, so he tried to keep his eyes on the ring, knowing that he needed a more calculated throw if he was going to make any progress. Still, he had to say something about that scream. There was no way he was letting it go by unaddressed.

"What the hell was that?" Adam asked, voice breaking towards the end of the question as a fit of laughter threatened to overtake him yet again. He really needed to get control. It wasn't even all that funny — the spontaneity of the scream had just sent him reeling. "That was the most horrible thing I've ever heard. I'm impressed." If Ami's throw had been successful, he seriously would've considered taking up the screech for himself. She'd missed by a long shot, though, and he didn't want to risk the same. Better to keep things quiet for now.

With his focus back on the Gobstone, Adam was able to give it a little more power as he aimed it at Ami's remaining pieces. If this game hadn't been personal before, it certainly was now. No one called Adam uncultured and got away with it. No one!

tossing fifth stone with a catapult throw

STA: 12 | STR: 6 | ACC: 8 | ARC: 9 | WIS: 6 | EVA: 4
Spell Spread ~ Calming Presence ~ Prodigal Charms Learner

"Aw, c'mon!" Ami retorted in protest. "Dea, I think Steve Rogers, over here, can handle a little bruise. Can't ya, Harringtom?" She smirked at the Ravenclaw, ready to hold a decisive victory over his head, but it seemed like she'd spoken too soon. Her gobstone sailed past Adam's, and she groaned in exasperation as she watched Adam miss, too. The game was going so slow, she might actually fall asleep halfway through. Seriously, she was getting quite tired at this point, and even stretched out her arms above her head with a wide yawn.

"That was the most horrible thing I've ever heard. I'm impressed."

"You should hear my back cracking when I wake up," Ami crowed, hefting a new stone in her hand. She had to have a new strategy if she wanted to win, so she needed to think. Not that she thought often, but she reasoned that when she did think, her thoughts were extraordinary. At least, according to her logic.

If gobstones was similar to the No-Maj game of marbles, then it stood to reason that the same No-Maj techniques that helped enhance one's gameplay would transfer, rather reasonably, over to the wizarding version. After all, it was pretty much the same game, except there was... putrid liquid at the end of the dark, dark tunnel. And so, with a deep breath, Ami held the gobstone high above her head and began to perform a ritual. A sacred ritual well-known to countless No-Maj teenagers across America- nay, across the world.

"Don't mess with me!" she screeched at the top of her lungs, swinging the gobstone round and round in some sort of complicated dance. "I have the power of God and anime on my side!" And with a primal scream, Ami launched her gobstone into the circle.

Ami casts a Concious Throw.
stats
stamina: 7 || evasion: 8 || strength: 14 || wisdom: 2 || arcane power: 3 || accuracy: 11
abilities
martial artist || prodigal transfig || spell spread

── ❋ ──

𝓐madea bit back her smile as Adam grappled with the fact that he indeed was uncultured. "A Renaissance man, right," she said. "Alright then, Renaissance man, throweth your gobstoneth," she teased. Before he started throwing his gobstone, however, it seemed like Adam had to address Ami's banshee screams. Her screams were something that Amadea had been accustomed to. As one of Ami's best friends, she had heard the banshee scream many times throughout the three years and while it was always ear shattering, it did not faze Amadea anymore. She had barely even heard the girl scream before her last throw.

"Now that would be Ami's signature banshee scream," Amadea grinned. "You get used to it after a while." Adam prepared for his next throw. Maybe it was because he was still shaken from the crazy scream or maybe it was because he was in his head after being called Steve Rogers, but Adam tossed the stone like he was a newborn baby with hardly any strength behind it. His accuracy was on point, but the gobstone rolled to a stop inches before reaching the ring. "Uh, Adam, did you lose all of your muscles?" Amadea asked, slightly concerned as to why his throw had been so weak.

Next, it was Ami's turn. The girl seemed to be thinking quite hard about how she could one up the Ravenclaw. Letting out another primal scream that caused Amadea to startle slightly, she yelled something about the power of anime and God and threw her gobstone toward the ring. Her throw was pretty much the opposite of Adam's, strong but lacking in accuracy. Unlike Adam's, though, her gobstone smacked solidly into Adam's, knocking his out of the ring. "Whoo okay so Ami is now up by one," she said. "And it is her turn to go first for the next round."

── ❋ ──

Player 1: @Adam Harringtom Catapult throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 10 roll: 2 + 6 = 8 Wisdom: DC ≥ 13 roll: 17 + 6 = 23 Accuracy: DC ≥ 15 roll: 20 + 8 = 28 Throw failure Number of Gobstones left: 4

Player 2: @Ami Procoppio Conscious throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 15 roll: 11 + 14 = 25 Wisdom: DC ≥ 10 roll: 15 + 2 = 17 Accuracy: DC ≥ 13 roll: 4 + 11 = 15 Throw success Number of Gobstones left: 5

── ❋ ──

AMI PROCOPPIO TO POST FIRST.

Amadea quickly explained Ami's ridiculous (but iconic!) banshee scream to Adam, and the Hufflepuff nodded along in agreement with everything she was saying. "It's a staple in being friends with me," Ami admitted with a smile, "Because if we're not doing something that's scream-worthy, we can't be friends." Truly, there never was a dull moment when you were with the redhead. There was always something happening, or something about to happen, or something happening close by that they could react to.

However, her mouth dropped open in shock as she realized that she had made her shot, and Adam hadn't. That was like a Hufflepuff bullying a Slytherin! Completely unheard of, never been done before. So, of course, Ami let out a raucous cheer, pumping her fist in the air excitedly. Maybe that's what you got for quoting iconic vines before doing anything. "Hell yeah!" she exclaimed, shooting a cocky grin towards Adam. "And that's what I like to call the American in London throw: it definitely shouldn't happen, but when it does, it's super cool."

Still riding off her high of successfully knocking out one of Adam's stones, she added rather arrogantly, "Don't take it personally, lover boy. You'll have plenty of opportunities to beat me later. But this? This victory is mine." Bending down and placing the stone on top of her sneaker, she thought extremely hard about the idiotic move she was about to do. Balancing on one foot, the other foot cradling the stone on the top of her foot, she gracefully kicked it into the circle. Man, if she managed to pull this off... maybe she'd just have to claim the title of Coolest Gobstone Trickshot Ever.

Ami casts a Concious Throw.
stats
stamina: 7 || evasion: 8 || strength: 14 || wisdom: 2 || arcane power: 3 || accuracy: 11
abilities
martial artist || prodigal transfig || spell spread

@Ami Procoppio || @Amadea Campbell

"I got that one!" Adam exclaimed. His eyes lit up in delight as he finally recognized one of the names flying from Ami's mouth. Steve Rogers. Captain America himself — and Adam's favorite superhero, no less. Hearing the moniker again after so long made Adam think of the holidays, of that time when he and Eris had spent a full week watching action movies and talking about how cool it would be to have superpowers. He'd never been sure how his old friend, who came from the purebloodiest of pureblood families, had discovered The Avengers, but he'd been glad to share her love for the franchise. When Adam was twelve, he'd wanted to be just like Steve Rogers. He still did, though he hadn't thought about the character in forever. Way to go Ami, digging up buried nostalgia. "I understood that ref...." Adam trailed off as he watched his Gobstone roll short of its target. Another miss wasn't a good sign, but it wasn't the worst, as long as —

"....NO!" Unbelievable! Of course Ami's stone hit its target. Adam couldn't stop himself from shouting his disappointment although he had known that something like this would happen eventually. One of them was bound to get the advantage; he'd just been hoping that it would be him. Adam fell into a brooding silence as Ami celebrated her hit, relishing in her victory. Relishing a little too much, honestly. She hadn't won the entire game!

"Don't take it personally, lover boy. You'll have plenty of opportunities to beat me later. But this? This victory is mine." Adam scoffed at Ami's smug remark, waving her away with dismissively. She threw him a cocky smile and he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. You're only up by one, you know." He repeated the mantra to himself quietly to try and calm his spiking worry. She's only up by one. She's only up by one.

Was she putting her next Gobstone on her shoe? Why would she — oh, seriously? Adam gave her an incredulous look as she aimed for the ring, balancing on one leg. "Come on, don't be an arse!" he exclaimed. Would Adam have gloated if he had gotten ahead? Yeah, probably. Definitely. Would he have tried something as stupid as Ami was doing now? No! He supposed that she was only helping him, given that her trick shot was probably going to fail. He tossed his stone into the ring and tried to put some extra strength behind it to make up for last time. Now that he saw what Winner Ami was like, he didn't want to see any more of her. He had to bring it back to at least a draw.

tossing sixth stone with a catapult throw

STA: 12 | STR: 6 | ACC: 8 | ARC: 9 | WIS: 6 | EVA: 4
Spell Spread ~ Calming Presence ~ Prodigal Charms Learner

── ❋ ──

𝓐madea laughed at the trueness of Ami's statement. Her banshee screams definitely were a very important part of their friendship, if not only because Ami was always convincing her to do scary things. From sneaking up to the Astronomy Tower to venturing into the dark passageways and being attacked by rats, Amadea had learned that there was never a dull moment with Ami Procoppio. She had also learned to bring ear protection because her banshee screams could do some serious damage.

At this point, the two contestants seemed to be participating in more banter than actual gobstone throwing, but Amadea didn't mind as she enjoyed hearing them bicker back and forth. Finally Adam got one of Ami's references (of course it had to be the one about Steve Rogers) and couldn't help but smile as Adam rejoiced in the knowledge of knowing her references. Ami was now rubbing in the fact that her gobstone had hit and Adam's hadn't. Amadea decided to intervene. "Hey, Ami, don't count your chickens before they've hatched," she said. As much as Amadea loved her friend, she knew that the game of gobstones could easily go south in an instant (exhibit a: the test round in which both Cecily and Ami hit Leo multiple times).

Finally, it seemed like the two were preparing for the next round. Ami was up first. She must have been feeling quite confident from her last throw as Amadea watched her pull her foot up and...no, she wasn't about to...Amadea's jaw dropped as she watched Ami kick her gobstone toward the board. Amadea was going to object, but as she wracked her brain she couldn't think of any rule that stated a player couldn't do that. It just seemed very, very stupid to do so. Amadea, still shocked from the nature of the throw, was shocked yet again as she watched the gobstone hurtle toward the ring and successfully knock Adam's gobstone out of the ring. "What the hell," Amadea said. "That was either a really lucky shot or Ami has secret soccer abilities that I never knew about," she said, looking at Ami to confirm or deny her suspicions.

Still slightly rattled from the events that had just occurred, Amadea turned to watch Adam throw his gobstone (the normal way). It must have been his determination, but Adam deftly threw his gobstone at the ring and knocked one of Ami's out. This left him...still one behind Ami but considering the odd tactic behind her throws now, she was sure that Adam could catch up. "Alright, so the score is now 4 to 3," Amadea said. "Adam, you're still one behind, but you're up first for this next round."

── ❋ ──

Player 1: @Ami Procoppio Conscious throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 15 roll: 15 + 14 = 29 Wisdom: DC ≥ 10 roll: 16 + 2 = 18 Accuracy: DC ≥ 15 roll: 9 + 11 = 20 Throw sucess Number of Gobstones left: 4

Player 2: @Adam Harringtom Catapult throw - DC results Strength: DC ≥ 10 roll: 12 + 6 = 18 Wisdom: DC ≥ 13 roll: 19 + 6 = 25 Accuracy: DC ≥ 15 roll: 18 + 8 = 26 Throw success Number of Gobstones left: 3

── ❋ ──

ADAM HARRINGTOM TO POST FIRST.

@Ami Procoppio || @Amadea Campbell

Adam stared in shock as another of his Gobstones flew out of the ring, propelled by Ami's one-legged, crane-kick trick shot. He...couldn't even be angry. It was too impressive of a feat to be upset about, at least in the immediate afterglow. Clearly, there was a higher power that wanted Ami to win this match. Adam wasn't even sure he believed in any higher powers, and yet, it was the only explanation he could come up with. Unless his opponent was somehow using magic to guarantee herself a victory, but that didn't seem like something Ami would do. He'd have to be on the lookout for an empty bottle of Felix Felicis — the luck potion — just in case.

"I hate you," he muttered, though the sentiment lacked any real conviction. He was relieved to see that his throw had also been a success, albeit a less flamboyant one, and that Ami hadn't gotten any further ahead. Adam picked up another throwing stone (how many were left? It couldn't be a lot) and tossed it up and down mindlessly as he thought. He had a habit of doing that — he liked the feeling of the smooth stone hitting his palm. "Right..." he mumbled, nudging himself along. What was his next move?

It probably wasn't going to be anything special. While Ami was (apparently) descending further into flair and madness as the game went on, Adam was becoming more grounded and less chatty. He'd still rise to any comments Ami might throw his way, but he wasn't going to be starting anything at this point. His mind was on making up his losses and keeping a win in his sights. Adam narrowed his eyes as he looked over Ami's remaining Gobstones, realizing he didn't have much to choose from. Not that one, not that one...definitely not that one. Oh, maybe....

He focused on a particular stone, working out the right angle to strike at. He took a few steps around the ring until he was in place and pulled back his wrist, wondering briefly if he could get Ami's stone to ricochet off of his and right into her face. That would probably take a lot more strength (and luck) than Adam had. Still, he couldn't say that he wasn't picturing it as he lobbed his stone into play. Ami had just shown them that miracles could happen. What was the harm in asking for one of his own?

tossing seventh stone with a catapult throw

STA: 12 | STR: 6 | ACC: 8 | ARC: 9 | WIS: 6 | EVA: 4
Spell Spread ~ Calming Presence ~ Prodigal Charms Learner