Aggressive Expansion PV Gia A Closed

@Dealla Prince

28 January, 2021

The day had been going perfectly well right up until her last class of the day, History of Magic. Of course that's when things had to go wrong, it was - by far - her least favorite class at Hogwarts. And yes, there was such a thing. No matter how interesting everything else was at this somewhat new school, writing long, long essays on things like the Gargoyle Strike (Gia still had absolutely no idea what that was) definitely wasn't her idea of a fun time. She didn't really enjoy writing essays that much in general, but the ones she had to write for the History of Magic class, well. . . they were simply the worst.

That being said, Gia usually got very good grades in all her classes, no matter how much she despised them. For some reason, however, when she was working on a certain essay, nothing seemed to be working. Everything she wrote down wasn't good enough or didn't make sense. Why did things always sound so much better in her head than written down or read aloud? Gia had wondered to herself. After at least an hour of work, she still hadn't come up with anything good, and her paper was a big mess of half-written, crossed out sentences. Annoyed, the girl had set the parchment aside and eventually forgot all about it.

Right before the essay was due, the eleven year old suddenly realized that she hadn't worked on it at all since that one day. The fact that she was rushing was plain to anyone if they only just looked at her handwriting, but that was not all. Everything she'd written down was barely comprehensible - even if you took away the hard-to-read handwriting it had been hurriedly scrawled in. That had happened weeks ago, however, and Gia had all but forgotten about it once more. She had recently turned in a beautifully written essay, one that she had worked on with the help of a Ravenclaw girl she'd met a bit ago, and her mind was solely on that as she entered the classroom. Imagine her shock when she reread that essay, and saw the horrible grade written on it, the worst grade she'd ever received: a T for Troll.

A little while later, the young Gryffindor girl was walking towards the common room with a large stack of books and papers in her hands, the essay one of them. It was hidden right in the middle of it all, since Gia want to look at it again and felt like that was the best place to put it for now. She also didn't want anybody else to see it, no matter who they were. Sadly, it seemed as if fate wanted to toy with her a little bit. When she rounded the corner a few hallways down from the entrance to the common room, the first year collided with another student. Immediately, her papers went flying in all directions. . . including the one she had purposely hidden from view.

If there was anything lucky that happened - or didn't happen, in this case - it was that the books hadn't fallen out of her hands, but that wasn't something Gia cared about. Instead, she hurried to pick up as many papers as she could. Clearly, the other student had something important in her hands as well, and she immediately scurried forward to pick it up. Gia, not wanting to bump into her again, hurried to one side, but this resulted in her slipping on one of the pieces of paper she'd dropped seconds earlier. The eleven year old wasn't even surprised to see that it was the essay. . . of course it was.

Wincing as she stood up,the first year glanced over at the girl that'd walked into her. She didn't even seem to be paying Gia much attention, and was instead holding tightly to something shiny in her hands. On closer inspection, she seemed to be at least a year older, maybe two. But now was not the time for deciding what to think about the girl. . . Gia needed to pick up everything that she'd dropped, including the books. Those had fallen when she slipped. Bending down, the brunette tried to sweep all the papers into one big pile in front of her, but it wasn't working. Suddenly, a voice cut through the silence, asking Gia if she could watch where she was going. The girl spun around.

"Um, excuse me, but you're the one who made us collide in the first place!" Gia snapped back, annoyed. That fact was quite obvious, in her mind, and she had no idea why this girl was acting as if she hadn't done a single thing wrong when she clearly had. When the other student continued on as if she hadn't heard a thing Gia had said, the first year raised a brow. "That is not true," she told the girl with a glare of her own. "It's probably true for you, though. Why else would you act like it's so precious if it wasn't the most expensive thing you own?" The Gryffindor crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly, forgetting all about the fact that her papers were still strewn across the floor in a big mess.

Forgetting. . . that seemed to be the main thing responsible for causing all her problems today.

894 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

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By SK

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Dee had hardly noticed the girl fumbling around for her things next to her, although she flinched slightly when the girl slipped on a paper - rather dramatically, too - and threw her an incredulous look. What was this, a comedy movie? Did people really slip like that in real life? What was next, a banana peel?

She seemed a little pathetic, really, scrambling around for the papers and failing to get them together, and for a second, Dee almost felt bad for having snapped at her. It had been an accident, and really, it had been mostly her f-

The vague notion of self-awareness for who was to blame for this came to a screeching halt as the girl spit back at her just as heatedly, and Dee's mood boiled over. She'd felt off all day, itchy in a way she didn't like, unwelcome thoughts intruding and making her unable to focus. It was why she'd taken that stupid detour up to the dorms in the first place. Now all that frustration was coming to a peak. It wasn't the girl's fault, really, but it was still where her anger went. The crash the trigger, the girl an easy target, undeserved, but she was just there.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Dee leaned over to pick up one of the papers from the floor. The one the girl had slipped on like the main character in a rom-com, only there hadn't been a Prince Charming to catch her. "Last I checked it takes two to collide," she said coldly, glancing over what she'd picked up. Her eyebrows rose. "A T?" she asked incredulously. "I thought those were a myth. How do you hand in anything that's worse than having handed in a blank sheet?"

She scanned the first paragraph, then the second. "And in History of Magic? You literally chew through everything in class. This is impressively bad, really." It was easy, letting her words flow out like that, dismissive and condescending. A distraction, nothing more. Easier to focus on an outside confrontation she'd triggered than confront her own problems, after all. "Did you put a lot of effort into writing an essay this terrible? I'm pretty sure I could write something better than that right now, with zero preparation." She had, of course, written an essay on this same topic last year. Gotten an O on it, too. The condescension came easy to her.

The remark about the hairpin's worth sent a rush of heat down her neck, a slight pink rising to her cheeks. No matter that she'd thought much the same thing just a minute ago, no matter that she'd made the same ridiculous remark towards the girl. She fought down the urge to hide the piece of jewelry, get it out of sight, away from the girl's eyes and words. It was something private, and the only way Dee knew out of this was to attack.

Letting the paper sink, Dee gave the girl a once-over. Brown hair, green eyes. Pretty, but sort of vague. Glanced at her bag and shoes, the quality of her outfit. Nothing about her spoke of outstanding wealth, at least as far as Dee's eyes could tell. She let her lips twitch up into a smile that had nothing of her usual warm brilliance, was cold and sharp, her eyes cutting. "Well, you don't look like you'd be able to tell, do you?" The remark was offhand, matter-of-fact, while she got up to her feet and let the paper flutter to the ground next to her. Not that Dee could, but that girl wouldn't know. Not that Dee had ever even held anything this valuable, but again, that girl wouldn't know.

Standing up felt good, gave her the opportunity to tower over the sitting girl, an opportunity she rarely had. She wasn't tiny, really, but still shorter than average. She'd met plenty of first years taller than her. Although Dee still managed to talk down to people fine even if they reached a dozen centimeters higher than her, having the physical advantage for a moment felt surprisingly satisfying. She sneered down at the girl, pushing the paper towards her with the tip of her foot. "You should pick those up, before someone comes and thinks they're trash, hm?"

@Gia Adelard

@Dealla Prince

28 January, 2021

Gia's eyes widened when the other girl reached down and picked up one of the pieces of paper that had fallen when the two collided. What she said next barely registered in the first year's mind, because she knew exactly what was going to happen in just a matter of seconds. The older girl had, of course, picked up the one thing Gia wished she hadn't: the essay. The eleven year old did the one thing she could think to do, and jumped up onto her feet and made an effort to snatch the paper right out of the other student's hands. "Give that back!" she cried out rather loudly, but it was no use. Her attempt at taking the essay back failed, the the older girl had already seen what she shouldn't have.

"Yes, well, it takes only one person to cause the collision, you know. And," Gia added, wanting to make the clarification clear, "You were that one person, obviously." When the second year - she was assuming she was a second year, at least - said that she thought Ts were a myth, the Gryffindor rolled her eyes. "Clearly not," the brunette snapped, having stopped her attempts at grabbing the piece of parchment away for now. The older girl had already seen it, so what was the point in trying to hide what had been written on there? Exactly. There was none. Still, this whole situation had definitely not improved Gia's mood, and she was not going to leave until the other student apologized. . . no matter how long it took. "It's not like you've never gotten a bad grade before," she said with a glare.

The girl seemed to think History of Magic was, like, the easiest class ever, something Gia disagreed with. . . kind of. Sure, they went through everything in class, she'd give the other student that, but it wasn't a lack of information that made it so hard. No, not at all. The thing that was so difficult for Gia was actually. . . paying attention. She wouldn't say any of this out loud, however, because the girl in front of her was sure to use whatever she said against her, but she thought it to herself anyway. If she couldn't find a way to deny how horrible her essay was out loud, she'd at least find a way to do it in her head.

Noticing the slightest flush that had appeared on the older girl's face, the Gryffindor held back a smug smile. There was clearly something important about the piece of jewelry she was holding, and Gia was now determined to find out exactly what that thing was. The second year deserved what she was about to get, that was for sure. "What is that thing, anyway? It looks kind of old. . . did you get it from one of your relatives, or something like that? Is that why you're carrying it around like a bar of pure gold?" Little did Gia know, she'd actually guessed quite well.

Gia crossed her arms in an annoyed manner when the girl just let the piece of parchment fall from her hands as if she didn't care about it in the slightest. True, she probably didn't, but after all those rude comments the least she could have done was hand it back nicely. There was no need to just drop it on the ground again. . . When the other student commented on Gia's appearance, after the young girl picked up her essay, she rolled her eyes again. "That's really the best reply you can think of?" the eleven year old asked a few moments later, her voice almost incredulous. She wasn't the best at coming up with witty comebacks herself, but at least she was able to think of something better than the girl in front of her could. That was certainly something, wasn't it?

"I'm surprised you have any friends, if you act like this all the time." Gia told the girl as she stood up as well, having just finished collecting all her papers off the ground once more. She was only a tiny bit shorter than her, which actually surprised her a bit. With the big air of confidence that surrounded the older student, she'd thought that she was at least a few inches taller. . . Then, with a cruel smirk on her face, the first year added, "Oh, wait. Do you have any friends? I'm guessing no, if this is your way of apologizing for knocking into someone. . ." Well, that was good enough for now, Gia thought to herself. It had certainly been much better than the other girl's retort from before.

773 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

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By SK

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A smile twitched onto Dee's face at the panicked reaction the girl had to her picking up that... essay, if one wanted to title it as such. It seemed a little offensive to essays, really. "Or what?" she asked, a trace of genuine curiosity in her voice. What was she going to do if Dee did not give it back? Punch her? Hex her? Part of her wanted to see the girl try, push her into something she might regret later. If nothing else, it would make a good distraction from the thoughts spinning in her mind.

But it didn't seem worth it to insist on, the girl providing enough distraction as it was. She was snapping back in a way that was all too familiar, a temper running as close to the surface as Dee's own. The Ravenclaw grinned sharply at the clarification that Dee had been the one to cause the collision, as if the implication hadn't been clear from previous words. "Does it?" she mused out loud, stretching out a hand for a light tap under the girl's chin with the tips of her fingers, a gesture oozing condescension. No matter if she made contact or the girl backed away - or slapped her hand away, for that matter - Dee was smiling as she let her hand sink, although it didn't have any of her usual joy or warmth. She wasn't genuinely enjoying this interaction.

On another day, this might have been a friendly exchange, at least from her side - or a sort of game, pushing and prodding to see how long it would take for the girl to snap, the way she'd done with Percival Rainwood in the past. If the girl had earned her respect, it might even be a sort of competition to her, but she hadn't, at least not yet. Right now, it served the singular purpose of keeping her occupied. "And your obviously exceptional awareness and observational skills, vastly superior to mine, could not have done a thing to avoid collision, hm? You're completely innocent in any of this. I suppose this," she gestured towards the essay, "wasn't your fault, either? A product of circumstance, nothing you could do?"

Her smile twitched, then widened a bit at the girl's question about her grades. She didn't know about the time and effort Dee put into being excellent, the work it cost her to keep her grades spotless, impeccable. There were only few that did, the ones watching her closely enough to notice, which was the point, really. It was supposed to look effortless. Granted, she'd been slipping slightly lately, preoccupied with duelling, but still - her grades weren't the right angle to go for if one wanted to rile her up. Dee had vulnerable spots, not few of them, places this kitten could dig her claws into if she found them. This wasn't one of them. "Have I?" she asked, cocking her head to one side in a gesture that was more mocking than curious. "Tell me, how would you know?"

The next barb, however, hit much closer to its intended mark. Dee's fingers twitched, tightening slightly around the hairpin before she forced herself to loosen them again, still worried, no, petrified, she'd end up damaging it. Which was... silly. It was nothing of worth to her, shouldn't be, at least. There was no reason for her to treasure anything her grandparents sent.

She'd paused, just for a second too long, her jaw tightening, but it was with those thoughts in mind that she raised her hand, forcing herself to do the opposite of what her instincts would have her. She shifted the hair decoration in her grasp until she held it carefully between two fingers at around eye level, leaving it in clear sight, up for inspection. Fought down the persistent urge to hide it. She shouldn't care. In addition, Dee's pride was rising, showing its glittering teeth. It wouldn't let her back down from the perceived challenge, wouldn't this random girl in a random hallway get the better of her.

"Grandparents," she replied, her voice an attempt at sounding dismissive, but her shoulders were just a bit too tense, the smile on her face slipping slightly. "Terrible people, wouldn't really count them as relatives." Did she? Were they? Doubts were starting to rise again, were pushed down just as fast. "It's probably more valuable than a bar of pure gold, not that I would be carrying one of those around. Why would I be? You have some strange ideas, kitten." The pin was catching the light falling onto it, sparkling, but Dee refused to look at it, keeping her eyes on the girl.

The retort, questioning the quality of Dee's insults, sparked the first genuine grin, a little warmth, a tiny amount of respect. Insulting the girl's appearance really hadn't been one of her best, showed how off-balance she was. The girl's words were what she would have said in her place, too. "Probably not," she replied, shrugging. "But you haven't given me any indication that I have to try any harder, honestly."

And continued to disappoint. Dee's eyebrows twitched upwards at the question about her friends, or lack thereof. That was almost as pathetic as her remark about the girl's appearance. Not quite, maybe, but for someone who had just commented on comeback quality, she should be setting a better example. Again - not one of the weak spots in Dee's armour. Better luck next time. "Thank you so much for worrying about my popularity," she replied, starting to lose interest. "I think I got that covered, though, so no need. You on the other hand seem to be awfully obsessed with my personal life, asking about my grades, relatives, the hairpin, now my friends?" The remark was lacking bite, intention, the edges needed to really rile someone up, and she started to let her hand sink. This wasn't providing as much of a distraction as she'd hoped.

But then the hairpin caught the light again, drawing her attention, and Dee paused, just for a split-second, a thought flitting past her mind. The ultimate way to prove - to herself, to anyone - that she truly didn't care. Her eyes snapped back towards the girl, sharp smile back in place. "Looking for a keepsake?" She swung her hand forward, tossing the hairpin towards the girl in a well-aimed arc, the gesture casual. The girl would have to catch, dodge, or have the jewelry collide with her chest. "Here, since it seems to fascinate you so much."

She forced herself not to trace the trajectory with her eyes, not to watch for the girl's reaction. Turned away, an attempt at leaving, at not caring. Maybe it would be good to be rid of it.

@Gia Adelard

@Dealla Prince

28 January, 2021

At the Ravenclaw's mocking words, Gia glared even harder at her. "Or what?" she repeated. "Oh, I'm sure I can do many things that will make you quite miserable." The first year said in a threatening tone. Sure, maybe she was being a little over dramatic, especially since the other girl seemed a year or two older and could probably beat her at anything academic or spell wise, but... she wasn't having the best day ever, obviously. When that happened, Gia wasn't really in the mood to have her work criticized by others - which was surely the exact thing this older student had in mind. The first thing that popped into her mind was pranking, of course - she was definitely amazing at those.

Seeing the girl grin suddenly, Gia raised an eyebrow. Clearly her other words had been found quite amusing to the other girl, in some way. "Yes, actually, it does," the brunette retorted. The older student reached out to tap her chin - and almost made contact - but the Gryffindor's reflexes soon kicked in and she slapped the hand away from her face. "Just give me the paper back - and don't touch me." Although she wanted to, Gia didn't take even the slightest step back. In her mind, backing off was not the smartest choice at the moment. Who knew? The girl might even take it as a sign she was giving up, which she was definitely not doing.

"Oh, just give up, will you? You know, when you try so hard to keep from having the blame placed upon you, you're kind of just proving my point." With a big sigh, Gia added, "And the essay has absolutely nothing to do with the fact you walked right into me. I already know how horribly I did on it, believe me, you don't need to tell me over and over again." Rolling her eyes, the eleven year old waited for a response.

The other girl's smirk just seemed to get wider and wider, much to Gia's annoyance. Still, she kept her frustration at bay... for now, at least. Not knowing what exactly to say to the Ravenclaw's comment, Gia simply didn't say anything, pretending as if she hadn't heard. Luckily enough, the girl seemed a bit distracted with her next comment. Yes. Finally something that had pierced this annoyingly strong armor of hers. "Oh, really?" Gia asked in a mock-concerned voice. "Well, even if you don't count them as relatives, it seems like they still count you as one, huh? Not many people would send their grandchildren a gift like that if they didn't."

From the Ravenclaw's tone of voice, Gia had managed to figure out that the other girl was having some doubtful feelings about what she was saying. Her words had been carefully chosen, trying to dig deeper into those feelings, and the first year watched the other's reaction closely, trying to gauge whether they'd had any effect at all. Also - "'kitten?'"

At the next comment, the eleven year old sighed. Yes, alright, she'd admit it - her last jab hadn't been that good. Not at all, really. But oh well, it had already been said, hadn't it? Before Gia could snap back - because yes, she was still going to although she did agree - the other girl asked if she was looking for a keepsake and... threw the hairpin right at Gia. Surprised, the first year took a few seconds to react, her mind flitting through her options once she realized what had happened.

In the end, she took a step to the side with a small smirk playing on her face as she watched the pretty object hit the ground, a few inches from where she'd been standing moments before. The older student would have to have heard the small clink, right? Let's see if she really doesn't care about it, Gia thought, her expression one of slight amusement. Because yes, she really was enjoying this... just a little bit.

663 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

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By SK

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Where Dee had still been smiling when the other girl slapped her hand away - wasn't it satisfying when people actually rose to your taunts? She'd almost thought she'd lost her touch lately, but apparently she still had it - the smile faded when the Gryffindor insisted that Dee was the one trying desperately to dodge responsibility. She rolled her eyes.

Had she even been listening at all in the past couple minutes? All Dee had been saying was that it took two for a collision. "Not sure which conversation you have been part of, but I'm not the one trying to shift all the blame onto the other person," she replied coolly. "A bit hypocritical, are we?" Which, granted, Dee was as well, but as the saying goes: It takes one to know one. Oh, well, you just couldn't argue with people like this. Then, a thin smirk at the renewed mention of the essay. "Sorry," she said, insincere. "Wasn't sure you did, considering how proudly you're still stomping about. But gotta keep your head up, hm?"

With the change of topic to her grandparents, they had crossed over into territory on which Dee was less certain on her feet, less able to turn insults around, but what was likely intended as a barb in this case only gave her a pause. She blinked.

The girl wasn't wrong. Why would her grandparents send her a gift like this if they weren't sincere? She hadn't even replied to a letter so far, yet they were still trying.

Because they're trying to bribe you, a small voice said in her head. They're lying. Were they?

Dealla's eyes narrowed at the other girl, annoyed. She'd been talking to her to silence her doubts, not make them louder. What use was a distraction if it just dug deeper into what had been bothering her in the first place?

At least her inquiry about the nickname Dee had given her brought a smile twitching back onto her face. "Yes, kitten. You haven't really learned how to use your claws yet, have you?" Which didn't mean she couldn't grow into an imposing lioness, but she wasn't there yet. "Or your teeth, for that matter," she added, baring her own in a mocking snarl.

Then, the drastic decision to just get rid of the source of her doubts, banish it from her life completely. Even as she turned, Dealla felt a knot inside, a weight lying deep in her stomach, first tendrils of doubt spreading from it even as she started walking away. The small clattering sound, audible only due to the silence of the corridor and because Dee had been listening for it, had her steps faltering, her shoulders tensing up, but she didn't turn around. Refused to.

Instead, Dealla walked away.

Thread left.

@Gia Adelard