Punch Me PV George Henry Finished

They'd started in the same place, and were going to the same place, and yet George arrived later than Aaron to the courtyard. To tell the truth, he was on his second lap around the corridors and taking a walk to clear his nerves had had quite the opposite effect. More time walking meant more time thinking - building up the intensity of the fire in his chest, a tornado blowing through his mind that threw all his thoughts into disarray like a stack of papers being thrown around by an errant breeze. "Sorry," George said, as he stumbled into another first-year in the hall, sending a tower of books toppling out of the girl's arms and onto the floor. A few heads turned to look, a murmur of discontent passing between them as George left the girl to clean up the mess, picking up his pace as he continued on.

When he reached the courtyard, Aaron was there waiting. But he hadn't seen him yet. George turned on his heel, tucking himself behind the corner and pressing his back to the cold stone wall. Why had he proposed this? Punching someone in the head wasn't something that ended a fight. That was a good technique from starting them. Never had his mother urged him and his brother to apologize to each other and then show their forgiveness by walloping each others noses. But then, I guess, George had never almost accidentally killed anyone and Sam had never tried to hit him for it. Not even done it - only tried to. And now he was going to walk out there and punch him in the face for it.

George peeked around the corner, and, worrying he'd been spotted - trotted out onto the grass, standing up before the boy seated on the fountain. When Aaron hopped up, George visibly flinched - worrying that he'd been lured into a trap - but Aaron didn't take a swing or anything. He was a man of his word. And apologetic. He was a nice boy, when he wasn't trying to punch you in the head. Maybe. Between this and punching George in the head, it was hard to get a measure of him.

Young George Henry hesitated. And for more than just a moment. It was long enough that it turned more into a deep moment of eye contact, just to make the affair even more uncomfortable for the boys. It was a delay long enough that maybe Aaron would wonder if he was going to punch him at all. George was certainly wondering that.

"Shall I just-...?" he said. He clenched his jaw and visualized it. Wait- no, he wasn't visualizing it. Actually, he'd already done it. He could hardly tell except for the sound. He'd been expecting a sort of superhero thump, but instead it was kind of a weird slap sound. He came in direct for the nose, knuckles glancing off the poor boy's cheek before he was finished. Hopefully he hadn't caught him too off guard and nobody would end up in the fountain.

"So- uh," he said, cutting off his own apology. "Forgiven." He made sure to offer an explanation, to not alarm any onlookers. "It's alright, we're not fighting."

Aaron had seen the way that George flinched away from him when he got to his feet, and it made the young boy feel bad. He was more determined than ever to be even with his Hufflepuff brethren, meaning he stood stock still as he invited George to punch him. Of course, he had never been hit so directly in the face without resistance before. In sparring matches at his dojang, if he got hit in the face he at least had semi-blocked the shot and it wouldn't do much damage. But with this time, he was allowing full access to his face - no blocking whatsoever. It meant he instinctively flinched when he noticed George's fist suddenly flying.

Ow! Aaron's hands flew up to his face after the punch had connected. It had been a solid punch (rolled 9). Not as bad as he imagined it could have been, but it still hurt really bad to get punched in the face! His cheek under his left eye hurt a lot, as did the left side of his nose, but.. he wasn't bleeding, which he noticed when he pulled his hands away to check. But it really hurt. Owwwww.

"So- uh, forgiven."

Aaron had been slightly dazed from the punch, but George's voice brought him back to the situation. Right. He had agreed to this pain in order to be on even terms with George. In this moment of pain, Aaron thought it was an incredibly unfair deal he had agreed to - considering he hadn't even succeeded in punching George back in the common room - but a deal was a deal. They were even now. And as Aaron's hands dropped from his face - revealing the reddened area beneath his eye and on his nose - the pain faded enough for him to not be bitter about anything. He had agreed to this after all. It was just the pain talking.

"Thanks," Aaron said, noticing that his squinted eye was watering just slightly. He quickly rubbed away any tears that would form, and hurriedly explained, "It's instinct that your eyes water." He didn't want George to think he was weak, especially as George was calling out to any passersby. Right, there were other people around that had witnessed this. Aaron hoped people thought he just had something in his eye as his hands lowered again and he looked at George properly again, no watery eyes.

"So, going forward, uh- acquaintances?" He held out his hand to George for a handshake. He had no idea why, maybe he just wanted to regain some of his dignity after being decked in front of a bunch of people. But he hoped George would just take his hand and shake it, so they could each go their separate ways.

@George Henry

George pressed his lips shut tightly while Aaron checked for blood, both of the pair watching his fingers with worry to see if any came up. Nope - it would just be some difficult to explain bruising. Some ice and a decent lie was all he'd need to overcome it. The boy's face was gnarly, and the sight of it made George's stomach twist, bringing the memory of breakfast back to his mind. This didn't make him feel any better.

"I... sorry," he said. An apology to follow up his forgiveness. George dug around in his jacket, pulling something out and balling it up in his clenched fist. He brushed his knuckles against Aaron's hand, trying to hand off his handkerchief without raising suspicion. The pass was disguised as a handshake, with George leaving behind the delivery in the other boy's palm. Aaron didn't deserve to be embarrassed. George hoped he wouldn't cry. It would be really annoying. "Yeah, I know it is."

He looked down, eyes counting the blades of grass in the courtyard. It felt like there was a weight tied to his nose, gravity forcing his head down, preventing him from looking the other Hufflepuff. Tears rose in his eyes, blurring those blades of grass into a green smear in his vision. A barely visible tear fell down onto George's shoe.

His eyelids fluttered, clearing away the moisture, and his head shot upright again. His nose was starting to run - he could feel it burning in his face - and that was his signal that he'd have to move quick or he'd need that handkerchief again. "This was a stupid idea. But I guess that's to be expected," he said, with a forced laugh. "I have to go, I've got to study my charms. Bye, acquaintance!"

And with that, he turned and hurried off. A bit of a transparent excuse - it seemed that the punch had left George more shaken than Aaron.

George said sorry, which Aaron wasn't expecting. It's not like he needed to be sorry, Aaron had agreed to this after all. But the twelve-year-old decided to just nod at the apology, rather than verbally acknowledge or decline it. It felt like not saying anything was the right move here, especially as George reached into his pocket for something.

Aaron's handshake was met with a handkerchief, which exchanged hands as they shook. Was it for the watery eye perhaps? Aaron grasped it in his hand, and he looked at George just as the other boy looked to the ground. Was he-

"Yeah, it was kinda stupid, huh?" Aaron said instinctively with an awkward half-smile, automatically agreeing with George. He was trying to distract himself from wondering what was going through the other boy's head. When George forced a laugh, Aaron mirrored the action as they both tried to clear the air. But soon George was off, to study Charms he said. But what Aaron thought he had seen was imprinted in his mind, and he of course didn't think he was about to go study Charms. But he wasn't going to call the other guy out on that. They were only acquaintances, not friends and not enemies. This encounter ended here for the two first-year boys.

After George was gone, Aaron looked around the Courtyard and - noticing the other students around - quickly made an exit of his own towards the castle's grounds. When he thought no one was in sight, he would hold the balled up handkerchief to his eye, wondering if that would help. He winced at the contact, wondering if he should head to the Hospital Wing. What would he tell the nurse though, when they asked what had happened? Well, maybe he would head there later when he knew what to say. Also when he figured out where it was, since he didn't recall ever going there before.

[Thread Finished]

@George Henry