One Each Year - First Time Here Finished

Ileen weighed the stick in her hand and smiled at Aida. She was glad she was distracted from her encounter with Syl. She still didn’t get it – especially since he looked kind of sad when he had ended their conversation. He also was a friend of Dee’s. Probably, she had misunderstood something? Or he just had a bad day? Well, she would think about that later and probably talk to Dee. It was just –
Her thoughts were interrupted by Aida’s scream. She flinched and almost dropped the stick when the Ravenclaw girl stormed towards her- she was surprised by the exuberant enthusiasm of the, as she had thought, rather reserved girl.
Well – what should she do? What was a good blocking move? Horizontal? Vertical? Should she jump aside and try to dodge? It always sounded that easy in books – not comparable to a real-life experience!

While she was still thinking about it, Aida made a leap forward and Ileen had no more time. Reflexively, she tore the stick just in front of her face when Aida's ‘sword’ lanced the air a good arm length away from her right shoulder.
Although it was only a game, Ileen's heart was beating fast in her chest. But not from fear. No. This was exciting.
“Proper opening,” she judged and gripped her stick more firmly. When Aida took up her position again, she nodded with a grin. "Now it's my turn. I shall begin!" Her words were as impressive as the attack which followed them - not very much.
Since Ileen had never done this before, one could not really expect more. With two slightly jumped steps she hopped forward and swung her 'sword' scythe-like from left to right.
With a clack it hit Aida's stick, for which Ileen had aimed at.

Gripping it with two hands, she stopped and rested in this position. Her checks had turned red in excitement and her brown eyes sparkled. For sure, they were looking ridiculous, but she didn’t care. It was fun. The only thing that bothered her a bit was her long brown hair, which blocked her view. She pushed her lower lip forward and tried to blow it out of her face without success. Well, then it had to work like that. She waited eagerly for the next action of the Ravenclaw.

Fighting: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions: @Dealla Prince @Sylvain Indarys

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By SK

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Dee leaned forward, hugging her knees while she watched Aida and Ileen go into battle stance. She had to admit, Aida looked like she had some clue what she was doing. Ileen looked like she was having fun, at least.

"She does," she replied to Ariana's question, her bright smile turning a little softer. "My mum's the best. I'd do anything for her." She didn't see anything off with the question, or Ariana's expression, her eyes still fixed on her two duelling friends.
She did, however, notice the rather short answers to her questions, and looked up, frowning slightly. Had she said something wrong, maybe? It was hard to tell, only having met the other girl a few minutes ago. Ariana didn't seem offended, though, chuckling as she shared her birthday.

"Oh, that's only two months younger than me, which is really not much," Dee replied, grinning, and brightened up even more when Ariana mentioned the success of her impromptu birthday event. It had turned out rather nicely. She let go of her knees, crossing her legs instead, and looked around. A few of her guests had already left, but it had been nice of them to stop by, anyway. "Yes, right? I got to hang out with my friends, and meet a few new ones, too." She threw Ariana a quick smile. "I think I might just do the same thing again next year. You're welcome, then, too! I'd promise to come by and congratulate you on your birthday, too, but I guess we'll all be home then."

There was a small pause then - Aida and Ileen had started whacking their sticks at each other, and Dee had to admit she was itching to join them, it looked like so much fun - and she was about to ask Ariana what her plans for the summer were when the girl got up, declaring that she had to leave.
Dealla looked up, blinking, then focused her blue eyes on the pretty brunette again. "Oh, sure!" she said genuinely, returning the bright smile with one of her own. "It was nice meeting you, Ariana, thank you for stopping by! And for sure! Next time I have cake to share, I'll reserve a piece just for you."

Just as Ariana took her leave, Sylvain approached her, and she smiled at him. "Come, sit down! No need to stand there like you don't want to be here. Except if you don't want to be here, of course."
Syl's questions were a little odd, but it didn't surprise her much anymore. They had gotten to know each other over chess and questions much like this one, after all.
Playing with the hem of her pants while she watched her friends, Dee shrugged. "Why do I have to choose?" she asked. "I can just duel both of them, can't I? It's just for fun, anyway." She bit her lip absentmindedly, eyes trained on Aida and Ileen as their sticks clashed together. "Who would you rather duel?"

Interactions | @Ariana Walker | @Sylvain Indarys
Mentions | @Ileen Knight | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Istg some day I will start paying attention to who I'm tagging

Interaction: @Ileen Knight

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Lizzie has left the thread

Lizzie looked as the boy walked away from her. She smiled and did a small shrug of the shoulders before taking another bite out of the cake that was on her plate. She grinned at the taste and loved how much sugar was in it. The more sugar the better. That was always her motto.

She quickly finished the pieces of cake and looked around trying to figure out if she should go or leave. It looked like other people were very deep in conversations and she didn't want to but in more than she already had before with Ileen and Sylvain.

Nodding her head slightly, the girl stood up and brushed off any small bits of crumbs from her clothes and grumbled as the precious food fell onto the blanket. What a waste of amazing food that could have filled someone's [I.E Lizzie] stomach up.

The blonde Ravenclaw turned towards the people around her, "I have to be going as well. Good bye. I hope to see you all again soon." She smiled at Sylvain and Dealla with a small nod towards all of the other people and then went to skip off towards the castle.

Interacting: @Dealla Prince

Mentioning:

@Lizzie Verdine @Ariana Walker @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @Ileen Knight

Hexcode= #507091

"Why do I have to choose? I can just duel both of them, can't I? It's just for fun, anyway."

Sylvain disliked the birthday girl's closed-minded approach to answering his question, but accepted that she wasn't going to be picking favorites. The only thing it taught him was that, today, Dealla was more interested in fun rather than thinking and he could hardly blame her. "I wouldn't want to fight either of them, I'd be afraid someone would get hurt." The eager birthday eagle said fighting was fun, but the tussles Sylvain had gotten dragged into growing up weren't exactly enjoyable let alone worth the danger of getting poked in the eye or twisting and ankle. "I suppose magic could be utilized to heal them if someone got hurt, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure right?"

Hopefully satisfied with his honest answer, Sylvain didn't wait until she answered him back to settle in. If Dealla didn't want to talk, he didn't mind that either. Instead he sat on the enormous blanket and watched the duel quietly as Ariana and Lizzie left. He gave the charming young Miss Verdine, and the responsible Miss Walker a courteous smile accompanied by a short but regal wave. Not sure whether to say good bye, see you later, or have a good one, the awkward pre-teen's brain combined the three phrases into a single Frankenstein's monster of a farewell. "Have a good later!" He wanted to die as the words left his mouth, but the only evidence of his shame were his eyes which shut as if to avoid embarrassment.

A bead of sweat formed on his brow as Aida spun round and round like a white top of doom. Her sticky, pointy sharp as it was, wasn't contacting Ileen as often as Aida had the opportunity to do so. For that small comfort, Sylvain was thankful as the horseplay was exciting but nerve jangling. As the white dervish's weapon of choice went sailing through the air, Sylvain instinctively raised his arms to defend himself from the possibility of splintered agony. Thankfully and a moment later, he brought his hands and arms down to see the duelist's implement had landed. It had become a mere stick in the mud. Eyes now training on Ileen as the white witch lay on her back, wide open and unarmed, Sylvain watched to see if Ileen's version of fun included mercy, or if Ileen found it fun to deliver the "killing blow".

Ileen blinked in surprise when the white-haired wooden stick tornado came roaring towards her. Reflexively, she gripped her own 'sword' tighter and took a wider stance for more stability, although her first impulse was to protect her head with her hands and take cover. But a true knight would not be so bold!
When her weapon was hit by the Aida-Tornado, Ileen took a lunge to the side. Her stick was still shoved out of the way. Ileen wasn’t ready to do a move, but it wasn’t necessary anyway. The other girl whirled around the young Slytherin and so she just turned with her, adding slow motion dodging movements to make it more entertaining. Even though she never had been in danger to actually get hit. This was amazing. Why hadn’t she done that before?
When Aida went too wild and lost her sword, falling to the ground on her back, Ileen dramatically dropped her weapon rushing to her side. There, she fell on her knees, grabbing the Aida’s fragile hand. “Noooooooooooooo!” she cried out, pressing her free hand on her chest. “Don’t leave us, honorable knight! You fought bravely!”

Stopping the performance Ileen would grin at Aida and offer her a hand to help her back up. “Thanks for the duel. That was fun. We should totally repeat it.”
Then the young Slytherin would turn towards the blanket, realizing that almost everyone but Dee and Sylvain had left. Oops. Had they chased them away? If that normally worked, she probably always should bring a stick to get rid of unwanted company…
“Now, it’s your turn Dee!” She offered both of her hands to pull Dee on her feet. “I hope, you are having fun,” she whispered, glancing at Sylvain who looked rather disapproving or maybe just thoughtful. She couldn’t tell. “You have a bunch of interesting people in your House.”

When Dee would agree to fight, Ileen would suggest doing a fun group duel, chasing each other with sticks, performing hilarious encounters with dramatic endings. That sounded like something Dee would like. If not she would finish another peace of cake and staying with her friend until she would decide to do something else. It was her birthday. It should be the best day of this year. She really wanted Dee to be happy.
With a smile she picked up her stick again and offered it do Dee. “My sword is yours. I’m keeping my oath.”

Interacting with | @Dealla Prince | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions | @Sylvain Indarys

@Dealla Prince @Sylvain Indarys @Ileen Knight

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By SK

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Interactions | @Sylvain Indarys | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood | @Ileen Knight

Syl's concerns earned him a bit of an odd look from Dealla. "They're not actually fighting," she pointed out. "They're just knocking their sticks together. It's a game. It's like..." She searched for an adequate comparison before remembering a video she'd seen on Muggle TV some time ago. "Like puppies! They play-fight, too, they even growl at each other and stuff. But they're not going to hurt each other." Also, Dealla had probably gotten a lot worse scrapes in her life by just running around with her friends in Whitehaven than the bruise she'd get from being whacked on the shoulder with a stick. Practicing the Curse of the Bogies in class this year had for sure been way worse, even though they'd had magic to aid the healing. "If we went to the Hospital wing with every bruise we got, the nurse would probably just laugh at us." Either way, what Aida and Ileen were doing was more show than anything.
But then, she supposed, if Sylvain didn't see the appeal in participating, if he was comfortable with just watching them, he would do exactly that.
It only left her wondering if he never planned to do anything fun if it might involve getting slightly hurt. No duels? No climbing trees or other places? She didn't have any love for flying or Quidditch but there were many people who did, and Quidditch sent people to the Hospital Wing on a regular basis, with injuries much worse than getting hit with a stick would cause.

Lizzie's departure earned a cheery wave from Dee, and then it was only the four of them left, Sylvain and Dee sitting on the blanket watching Ileen and Aida carry out the battle of the century - or so one would think just from the dramatic flair they put into it.
Dealla almost choked laughing at Aida's tornado attack, and then at Ileen's theatrical dodging while her white-haired friend spun round and round and round. The scene took a dramatic turn when Aida lost her footing, falling to the ground and announcing her defeat in a manner truly worthy of her and the epic battle she had just fought. Ileen seemed to agree, and ended their dispute with a declaration of respect.

Dee hopped to her feet with no trace of dignity when her friends came back to the blanket, but then nodded at both of them loftily, trying to exude a regal air. "You fought bravely," she declared, "and both of you have proven yourself truly worthy of being my knights."
Then she let go of the pretense, grinning at both of them as she took the stick that was offered to her. "Thanks, Aida," she replied, smiling, then poked Ileen's side with the blunt stick. "Ready for another round?"


It had been a wonderful birthday, she decided later as she gathered up her blanket and her precious presents in time for dinner - of the cake, only crumbs remained - and she was truly happy about every single face that had shown up, but especially for the ones that had stayed to the end. Even away from home, birthdays were special.

End of thread~
Thanks everyone for joining!