Friendly Competition? PV Finished

@Dealla Prince
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

Dee, hmm? Mars tucked the information away in the corner of their brain, corners of their mouth twitching up at her response to their pronouns. It was slightly rare for cisgender people to respond with their pronouns in kind, so they appreciated it.

Taking a step back, they raised an eyebrow at Dee. It was a taunt to add onto their taunt, something they hadn't felt comfortable with doing in a long time. There was just something about her, some sort of similarity that made it so fun.

Mars watched with arms folded over their chest as Dee took her stance. They noted with a bit of surprise that she hadn't opted to arrange it on a desk, but rather, still had it clutched in her grasp. What was she trying with this?

That question was answered a second later as the pillow flew up and over their head—Mars' eyebrows rose, the grin already cracking over their face as it spun, heartbeat pounding with adrenaline. How odd that they knew they'd be disappointed if she missed. Wasn't that the whole point?

But it didn't seem to matter either way because Dee's spell was dead on, punching the pillow towards its target with a flash of blue light. They held their breath, eyes shining in the dull light of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, as it soared through the air and... crashed perfectly into the spine of the book, knocking it to the floor next to theirs.

Mars couldn't help but smile at Dee's whoop of triumph, secretly exhaling the anxiety from their chest. They unfolded their arms as she turned, expecting a handshake but—Oh. That was a good point.

Mars glanced at the two books sprawled on the floor. There really—hadn't been a winner, to be honest. They'd both successfully casted and hit their targets, each with their own little spin on it.

"Uh..." Mars turned back to Dee, a half-grin of acceptance on their face, "Well, I guess it's a tie."

The second the word came out of their mouth, it didn't quite sit right with Mars. How anti-climatic—they'd finally found someone with talent and a competitive streak to match and they were going to end on a draw? It left a bad taste in their mouth.

Slipping their wand away, Mars brought a finger to their chin, thinking for a moment. What was the best way to show off spells? Target practice like this was certainly fun, but a little lackluster, almost too easy for the two of them. Besides this round had ended in a draw, so who was to know how many more would be the same? No, they wanted a simple, straight test, something that would yield a winner and a loser right away. Spells... winning and losing... oh. Oh! A duel, obviously!

Mars snickered behind a closed fist, shaking a head at how long it had taken them to come to that conclusion. A duel was perfect for the two of them. But where... their eyes lit up with a stupid but brilliant idea. There, that's where.

Turning back to Dee, they extended their hand properly.

"Good game," they said, "I guess I have to relent that it was a tie. But... I don't know about you but I think that's a little unsatisfying. Care to finish this elsewhere?"

Mars lowered their voice, some understanding that duels weren't really supposed to be happening nudging at the back of their brain. "...with a duel, maybe."

My gods, did they want her to say yes.

-

By SK

-

@Mars T'ien

Dee's nose scrunched up involuntarily at Mars' reply to her question, although it was the natural conclusion, the logical one. It was the same one she'd come to, which was why she'd asked in the first place. There was no winner here, really. They'd both nailed the task, both with their own twist to it, their own self-imposed difficulty added. But she didn't want a draw. She wanted to win. Draws were boring, and not satisfying in the least. Who competed aiming for a draw?

Apparently Mars agreed on this too, because while Dee had still been pondering the problem, the wix already came up with a solution.

Dee had taken the offered hand on reflex, shaking it in acknowledgement of a worthy competition, but at Mars' words, her eyes lit up and the grin that had slipped off her face just a minute ago as the realisation of the tie had sunk in returned in full force. A duel, huh? Well, wasn't that an exciting proposition.

Not the most prudent one, maybe. It was definitely against the rules, not that Dee cared much about those if she had incentive to break them, and she honestly couldn't see the harm. While she understood why this rule was in place - couldn't have children firing hexes at each other for no reason all the time, especially if they didn't know what they were doing, she wasn't the average first year, and by all that she'd seen, Mars wasn't either. Both of them were smart, in control of what they were doing, and just not utter idiots the way a lot of people seemed to be. They'd be fine.

And with that rather minimalist weighing of her options, the answer was clear - not that it had ever been in question, really. If she'd thought of it before Mars had, the challenge would have come from her, no doubt about it.

She grinned at the wix, all shiny and bright, her eyes sparkling as the excitement flared back up. "Oh, definitely," she replied, just as the bells rang to declare the end of class and robes all around them began moving towards the door. Dee barely noticed, her eyes and attention focused on Mars, and Mars alone. "As long as you don't expect that to end in a tie again." She smiled, relaxing into a softer stance. "You look like you have something in mind, so just let me know when and where - I'll be there, so we can settle this properly."

Without waiting for a response, Dee picked up her bag, then gifted Mars with a last smile and wave before she started towards the door, a spring in her step. That had been the most fun she'd had in class in ages. She could hardly wait to see what the duel would bring.

Thread left.

@Dealla Prince
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

Perfect. Mars knew exactly when and where they wanted this to happen. They could already feel the excitement pump through their veins at the thought. They'd owl Dee with the details later. Easier to make it clean and concise that way.

They watched as the witch picked up her bag, giving them one last smile. Mars' eyes tracked her all the way to the door, the corners on their mouth quirking up as they noticed her light gait. So, she was just as excited as them, then?

This time, there would be no tie. They'd make sure of it.

Mars walked over to the fallen books, picking them up and patting them off gently. What was it? Treat your things the way you wanted to be treated and they'd be nice to you? They were pretty sure they'd gotten that wrong, but it didn't really matter in the long run.

Slotting them back into their places, Mars hummed something light, kicking one of the pillows up into their hands. They threw it onto the stack with the others, doing the same with the other rather abused target.

Reaching into their back pocket, Mars pulled out their wand once more. Cherry and unicorn, hmm? It'd served them well so far. They picked their way over to the door, fingers still running over the smoothed wood. Hopefully, it'd do it one more time.

Thread Finished.
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────