Getting Back in the Game Finished

Adam was stunned that the girl had reacted so well to Kaegen's strange offering. What was even more surprising was that he had accepted her return gift -- a drawing, a nice drawing, straight from Mariah's notebook and seemingly an appropriate response to the leaf she had received. Looking between the two of them with a confused expression on his face, Adam watched the unfolding exchange and tried not to laugh. It didn't help when Kaegen pulled a sausage out of his robe. A sausage. Where in hell had he gotten a sausage from? Better yet, why was he keeping it on him? Adam could get lost trying to figure out the way that Kaegen worked. At this point, it was better to just blindly accept it.

He smiled at the new girl. Adam had never imagined having so much company in this room, this place that he had only come to remind himself of what he was supposed to do in his seven years at Hogwarts. Now, it was becoming a growing meeting place. "Interesting is definitely the word to describe it," he remarked with a laugh. Adam noticed that Kaegen had greeted this girl with a half-wave, too. Maybe he knew her? He could've just been being polite, but that seemed fairly unlikely. Adam didn't want to get in the way of the new relationships that seemed to be forming between Kaegen and the two girls, so he nudged Anatole and nodded to the door. "Hate to crash your dreams, Evans, but all these trophies reminded me of our little competition. It's been a week, hasn't it? Ready to judge?" Lowering his voice, he leaned in and continued, "Besides, we wouldn't want to get between Kaegen and his new friends, would we?"

Adam didn't wait for an answer. He stepped back towards the door and cleared his throat, raising his voice so that everyone could hear him. "Well, this has been fun, but I think it's time for Anatole and I to sort out some matters of our own. See you around, Kaegen. Nice meeting you, Mariah." He acknowledged the new girl with a nod and placed his hand on the handle, stepping halfway into the corridor outside the trophy room. Looking back into the crowd, he smirked at Anatole and called, "Let's go, Lover Boy." It was time to conclude the competition that had began their near-friendship.

Mariah took the sausage gently from Kaegan. Did he just carry meat in his pockets? Mariah wanted to ask him if he had a drink too as a joke, but the door opened and a girl stepped in. For an out of the way place, this was definitely heavily trafficked. Unless the girl was in this little club of sorts, because Mariah decided that's what it HAD to be. Even if it was only a Goal Oriented one.
"Hi," Mariah said to the girl, politely. "I was lost." She felt the urge to explain herself in case this was a little meeting she intruded upon. She felt a little bad. Like, maybe, the dispersion was all her fault, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. Hogwarts, if it were really possible, got marginally more interesting with this discovery. Kaegan, himself, was a wonder. It brought a ton of questions like how his mind worked and if he cogs were loose or he was just inexperienced around others.

Adam was walking toward backward toward the door, bidding them goodbye and Mariah's mouth was working like a fish out of water. Should she tell him to stay and dismiss herself instead? Antole looked a little sour during Mariah and Kaegam's exchange but brightened considerably when the other female arrived. She didn't think he wanted to leave and the urge to herself was rising.

And yet, Oddball Kaegan was welcoming her openly. Would she hurt his feelings if she left to find the library like she had originally been doing? The whole ordeal left Mariah conflicted.

Kaegen was surely trying to make his move, and Anatole didn’t mind it. The more he pondered upon the girl, the less he minded. Adam seemed just as uninterested as Anatole was, and even though he had jumped into a conversation with another pleasant Ravenclaw, Anatole noticed by Adam’s looks that it was about time.

Also, what even just happened? Anatole snickered, eventually coming upon a hypothesis for what might just happen to them later in life. They could end up as the silent duo in the back of the class, smiling, holding hands, and looking into each others’ eyes wistfully, hoping to find something there.

At least that’s what he thought Mariah would end up as if this went on. Kaegen would probably kill something (or someone) and break her heart, but that would be a whole different story.

After all, Anatole just thought of this as fun. He didn’t like thinking about love (and its consequences) at the moment.

Anatole smirked at Adam, elbowing in the side. ”I’m going to prove it to you, Blondie.” His comment couldn’t have interjected at a better time, Anatole was sick of this, sick of the envy, sick of even seeing Kaegen’s raspy face. He always seemed to be there at the wrong times, Kaegen being there just to dull the mood.

However, Anatole was still considering the army.

”A week it has been, my good sir,” Anatole noted, grinning devilishly. ”I’d be more than happy to show you I have potential, since it seems like you doubt me. Then again, you’re speaking to the guy who roughly pegged four snowballs at your helpless face.” He spit on the ground, breaking out in innocent laughter at Adam’s sly, quiet remark.

When Adam raised his tone, Anatole did as well. ”I agree, I have a lot of work to do myself.” He flashed Kaegen a glance, one that almost read ‘I’ll consider it’.

Anatole began to walk away, but not before pleasantly smirking at the new girl. ”I’ll have to see you around. Anatole, by the way.” Adam almost compelled him to the door. He had to finish the competition; he had to prove he was the best...and fit to rule.

He elbowed Adam harder as they exited the door, grumbling. ”Call me that again and I’ll bite your fist off.” God, Anatole couldn’t keep his mouth shut, could he? The persona got all too much in the way.