Autumn Mornings PV Valerie Baines closed

The only poor, unsuspecting creature that Elias would be pelting with rocks was the young girl seated on the grass, not too far from himself. Her legs folded underneath her, Valerie's gaze was set on the hands in her lap. The girl was spaced out in deep contemplation. It hadn't been many weeks since her arrival at Hogwarts for her first year, and though Valerie was one to carry herself with confidence, she had her moments of hesitation. Being given the freedom to come into her own had been a personal goal of hers for as long as she could remember, but now that said freedom had been obtained, she started to overanalyze. Had coming here been the best choice? How would she be able to fit into such an environment following years of social isolation?

Valerie went wide-eyed as she understood what quite she was doing -- doubting herself. In a split second, she rose a hand to slap herself on the forehead, as if scolding her own brain for being convinced that she wouldn't be able to effortlessly meld in with her surroundings; that she couldn't adapt; that she couldn't-

The call tore her out of her thoughts. Valerie wasn't capable of letting out so much as a confused 'huh?' before her gaze fixed on the rock flying towards her face. In a futile attempt to protect herself, Valerie moved her head to the side. The rock struck her upper-arm, and the girl let out a high-pitched shriek as the sharp pain ran up the limb.

@Valerie Baines

Oh gosh. He'd hit her. What if he got in trouble for this? Somehow he'd avoided any disciplinary action over his brawl with Thomas, but this was out in the open, and to any onlookers, it would probably look like he had simply beamed a rock at the poor girl's head.

Shooting up from his seat in the grass, Eli rushed over to the girl's side, doing his best not to spill his tea on the way over he skidded to a stop and crouched down at her side. "Oh my gosh, are you alright? I promise I was aiming at a bird and not at you. I reaaaaaally did not mean to hit you. Swear on my life."

What were you meant to do in a situation like this? Elias, despite his slightly larger stature, had never been one to use it to hurt people... unless they had the first name Thomas and the last name Baines, but here he was nonetheless. "I swear, I swear, I swear I was aiming at that bird." He reaffirmed, just in case his point had not been made clear by his prior tirade of words. Turning to point at the creature, as if that may also prove him innocent, the boy's mouth dropped slightly. It had flown off. "It's right ove- You have got to be kidding me. Turning to the girl once more, he simply shrugged, seemingly resigning himself to whatever she had in store for him over this kerfuffle.

The acute pain in Val’s upper-arm, coupled with the pure humiliation of being struck with a stone in the open, was enough to bring tears to the young, emotional girl’s eyes. Her vision blurred, she had to hurriedly wipe the aforementioned droplets away with a sleeve as she glimpsed the boy rushing to her side. It was evidently the perpetrator, and Valerie could tell as much from the apologies that flew from his lips as soon as he crouched at her side.

As truthful as Elias’ defense may have been, Val’s suspicious nature had her ignoring any sincerity and assuming the worst, though it made no sense. If he’d tossed the rock at her on purpose, why would he be expressing his regret? Or coming to ensure that the rock hadn’t hurt her too seriously? It was something that Val briefly considered, though something that she was swift to dismiss. In all honesty, such a reaction wasn’t his fault. If the person who'd come to check on her had been nothing more than a worried onlooker, it wasn’t improbable that she would lash out at them for not minding their own business. The girl was mortified, furious, and in need of somebody to take all of her emotions out on.

In as cold a tone as she could manage, she addressed the boy, “Are you stupid? Are you dumb? Are you daft? Are you..” Valerie had run out of words synonymous to ‘unintelligent’. Scoffing, she continued on, “If your aim is so bad, you shouldn’t be... throwing stones around the courtyard like a.. like a.. like a crazy person!” Her voice rose in pitch and cracked at the words ‘crazy person’ at the end of her scolding. Grimacing, she scooted across the grass to create distance. He hadn't done so much as hit the bird! The bruise that she would undoubtedly have on her shoulder come morrow would be there for nothing.

@Valerie Baines

As Valerie began her verbal tirade of the Elias, he sat there and took it, at least for a little while that was. He to a certain extent deserved all of the words that the unknown girl had called him, but in his opinion, it was simply over the line to call him a 'crazy person' as she had. "Maybe you're the crazy one! Couldn't even get out of the way of a rock? Do you not know basic magic or something? Couldn't have stopped it with a simple levitation charm?"

Taken slightly aback himself by his slightly violent outburst, a small frown fell across his face once more. All that negative energy from his brawl the night prior had come tumbling out and now he'd have to spend even more time with Thomas to build it back up again. Eli needed it for their next brawl which he had already started planning ahead for mentally. That was half of the fun of his and Thomas'... rivalry.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean that I'm sure you aren't crazy or anything. I threw the rock, I'm clearly the crazy one. The young Ravenclaw said with yet another sigh of resignment as his relatively placid facial expression returned. Edging closer to Valerie once more, he held out his flask of tea. "Would you like some? Peace offering?

A simple levitation charm? The question had brought a faint flush to Val's cheeks and made her widen her eyes to a degree that made it appear almost comical. The young witch was ever so grateful that it'd been rhetorical, and the unfamiliar boy had shifted to another subject with haste. Her pride, built on such fragile foundations, couldn't handle any tarnishing. Val simply could not admit that she didn't know how to perform a spell that another thought of as simple. But, she wouldn't dig herself into a deep hole of lies, not when she had the choice to disregard his outburst altogether. If luck was on her side, her startled expression, one that was soon replaced by an unexpressive façade, wouldn't be taken note of by Elias.

As justified as she thought her own outburst had been, it had her feeling self-conscious. The most intelligent were level-headed and stoic, and the only people who had tantrums were brutes and meatheads. Though she was 11 years old with no true real-world experience, Val swore that she had a million years of life on her. Her wisdom was unparalleled. Resting within her was the soul of an insightful old woman. She herself was an insightful old woman. But, minus the grey hairs and wrinkles. Aging! Yuck.

The offered flask of hot tea had been enticing on the brisk autumn morning, but upon coming to a realization, Val scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Did you drink from that? I don't want your nasty mouth germs." That was a close call. A sudden feeling of curiosity came over her. Val looked from the flask and up at the boy's face to ask, "What's your name? I'm Valerie."

@Valerie Baines

While Elias did notice the subtle shift in not only the color of Valerie's cheeks but also in her whole expression at his outburst, he chose not to acknowledge it in the slightest. He wasn't exactly proud of what he had said, and well, if he could move swiftly onwards from it he most definitely would. He didn't need people going around spreading rumors that he burst out angrily on people with no real reason, that wouldn't be a good look in the slightest for the young wizard. It would also most likely hurt his chances of ever finding his way onto a professional quidditch team.

Not altogether taken aback by the girl, who he soon came to know as Valerie's rejection of his tea, he brushed it off without much of a second thought. The comment about his mouth germs was a tad rude but he did understand where she was coming from. Going around accepting drinks from complete strangers was probably a great way to get yourself into some rather dubious situations. Elias' father would definitely berate him if he did something of the sorts, come to think of it, and so, he left it be. To the girl's question, Elias gave quite possibly the simplest answer one could, a whole two words that truly revealed next to nothing about himself, "I'm Elias-" Withdrawing the flask and taking a sip from it himself, Elias spoke again, a slightly nervous laugh emerging from his mouth as he looked downwards to meet her eyes "It's a pleasure to meet you... Again, I really am sorry about the rock."