Closed Another Meeting of the Martial Arts Club

Sitting and stretching, Bailey was immersed in her own thoughts. That was, until she heard a voice. And a knock, but the knock only shook her out of her thoughts.
Looking up, Bailey saw a tall gangly kid, with dark skin and a nervous look on his face. He had a toothpick in his mouth, and his hands were in his pocket.
Fight club.. well I guess that’s technically what this is… I guess. And hands in your pocket… slows your response time. Though I should save that for later, and not scare him away. It’s always good to see a new face in our midst. It’s been so long since we’ve had new members. Bailey thought with a wry grin, standing up and walking over to the boy.
Sticking her hand out to shame if he chose so, Bailey started with a basic round of introductions.
“Yes- The Martial Artists Club. Though I suppose I should change the name, to make it less imposing and more inclusive. My name is Bailey- Bailey Glade. I’m a Ravenclaw, third year, and the President of this club! Welcome!
I suppose you saw one of my posters? Perhaps in your common room? I asked a few friends to put them in their respective common rooms…”
Bailey stopped talking then, knowing that her rambling was probably going to overwhelm the boy.
“A first year, I suppose. I don’t remember seeing you last year, and I rarely forget a face once I’ve seen it.” Bailey continued, failing to stay quiet.

'Yeah, uh. Posters.' Abaeze moseyed his way into the room, giving the top of the doorframe a smack on his way in. He was just tall enough to make it, tips of his fingers brushing against the worn wood and coming away dusty.

Like everything else in Hogwarts, Abaeze was just a bit larger than necessary. Tall, with wide shoulders and a gangly frame, the boy had always been like a weed or a fungus, growing every time you took your eyes off him. One day, you'd look away and find he'd simply filled up the room, taking all the space and air along with him.

The girl seemed to shrink beside him, her hand getting lost in his grip. 'Abaeze,' he said slowly, giving her a smile. He'd come the tiniest bit prepared, if 'prepared' consisted of wearing sweatpants and a black t-shirt. But in all fairness, that was all he ever wore, so Abaeze wasn't sure he should have been getting the extra brownie points.

'You fight, yes?' he asked, letting go of her hand just a second before the shake became awkward. She had a belt, at least. 'Judo?' he asked, jerking his head towards the strip of cloth tied around her midriff.

@Bailey Glade

Walking up, Bailey smiled as the boy answered. He walked to meet her, slapping the doorframe as he entered.
Shaking his hand, Bailey realized how tall he was. He dwarfed her, and she was decently tall as well.
He introduced himself as Abaeze, and Bailey smiled at this, saying “Well, Abaeze, it’s great to meet you! I’m glad you saw the poster and decided to come. For one my work payed off!”
As he let go of her hand, Bailey stepped back a step, and smiled when Abaeze asked if she fought, and if it was judo.
“I do fight- but it’s Taekwondo. I’ve been training for a while so when I made it here, and when the former owner needed to step down to fulfill her prefect duties more fully, I was here and well trained to take over. All of the clubs that in in charge of, I’ve inherited from the original owner.”
Realizing that she was rambling, Bailey stepped back into the room more. Looking at Abaeze, Bailey saw that he was dressed in sweatpants and a black T shirt- much better than the school uniform people had come in before. It was much easier to work out in sweat pants and a loose t shirt and not a stiff white shirt, robes and a skirt or dress pants.
“Nice outfit! I hate when people come not in workout clothes, and they aren’t able to participate fully!” Bailey complemented, and then realized that she didn’t have a reason besides he saw the poster, on why Abaeze was there.
“Is there a reason you came to join the club? Sorry if that’s to personal… sometimes I don’t know when to stop talking.”

@ Abaeze Kellan

His head was spinning the tiniest bit. It seemed that Bailey made up for her high with volume, the barrier damn which had been holding all the words in bursting as soon as he'd opened his mouth to speak with her. He didn't mind it, not really. But about half of everything she'd said had entered through one ear and made a hasty exit through the other.

He blinked, putting up a hand between them, as if he could pluck her words out of the air and slow them down to an acceptable speed. It worked with his former classmates at least, who'd learned the boy was a bit slow on the uptake, and even slower on the input.

'No teacher?' It seemed the tiniest bit strange, that a girl only two years his senior was supposed to be teaching them hand to hand. Then again, the whole wizarding world was a lot strange, so perhaps she was older than she looked. And perhaps, she knew what she was doing, and he was being presumptuous.

Why had he joined?

Shame welled up in Abaeze's chest as he thrust his hands back in his pockets. '...thought I'd be good at it, is all.' He mumbled, unable to meet her eyes.

He WAS good at it. A little too good, considering how many broken noses and split lips he'd left behind along with his muggle school. There was no tactic to it, nor thought put into it. Just sheer animal strength and dumb luck. He was bigger. He was stronger. And most of the time, he was too slow to figure out when he was being insulted. Desperation to move the conversation along was starting to prickle at Abaeze's skin.

'Where's everyone else.'

Abaeze blinked. An appropriate response for the verbal waterfall bailey had just spit out.
He put his hand out, like that that could slow her.
Then he said the thing that she hated the most. No teacher- do i look incapable? Ahh I hate when people say this. Breath bailey- it’s ok. It will be ok
“No professor, if that’s what you mean. I’m the President, and head instructor of this club, if not. I’m more than capable, I assure you. If you don’t believe me… well that’s your own problem. I can prove it, if needed.”
Bailey thought why not show off? as she turned and did a front round off into a front flip, and landed in a tornado kick. These were all complex movements, and to have them all together.. was a feat.
Knowing that, Bailey smirked and walked back to Abaeze.
“Still doubting me?” Bailey.
There were very few things that Bailey would brag about or show off, but if someone knew that she did Taekwondo and doubted it, she was going to show off, and make them believe that she was capable.
Smiling, Bailey said “Don’t be shocked though. I have been doing this since I was five- and teaching since the age of ten. I live in Leeds, and several days a week I would take the train to London by myself to train. I have the keys for the dojo I train in- and if the whole magical witch thing doesn’t work out, I’ll just start my own dojo. Maybe I’ll start one in Diagonal Alley- that is, if @Kim Sato and I don’t start a bakery or something.”
When she asked why he came, his head dropped - is he ashamed? This is nothing to be ashamed of -
“Well you found the right place! And I’m sure you’ll be good at it- it’s practically impossible to be wrong at self defense.”
Then he asked were everyone else was. Glancing at her watch, Bailey look back up and said “I’m sure they’ll be here soon. I know Kim should be coming, and I think @Colin McCoire might come- I had him and Kim and @Simon Kincaid hang them up in their common rooms, so their was a poster in all four house common rooms!”

He'd been ready to believe her (kind off), and shrug off red flags and alarm bells ringing in between his ears. Fights were fights were fights were fights. Whatever kind of training she'd done, it was more than him.

Clearly, it was more than him. While he'd been in the process of shrugging off whatever tension gathered between her brows, Bailey had taken a step back and...well. she'd practically flown off the rehearsal room floor, landing back down in a flurry of movement and cat-like grace. It was beautiful. She moved as if the air was an old friend, who'd catch her if she took a wrong step.

'Damn.'

She was smirking. She knew she was good, and reveled in the way his eyebrows had shot up to meet his hairline. If the whole wizarding thing didn't work out, at least she had a job waiting for her along acrobats. Or hired hitmen. Don't be shocked, she'd said, as if that would magically make him less shocked. Abaeze found himself laughing at the absurdity of it as he shrugged off the baggy hoodie and put up his locs.

'No offense, your parents should be arrested,' he said. 'Along with your Sabumnim.' A ten year old, taking the train by herself halfway across the busiest city in England. The idea was about as viable to him as a ten year old getting on a broom hundreds of feet above the ground, and trying to shoot a ball through three hoops. Completely realistic. Which in itself was terrifying. Wizards juggled with safety the way clowns juggled swords.

'That was very pretty.'

Getting out of bed that morning, Kayla woke up, not in a particularly good mood. Not like anything had happened, or that she had fallen out of her bed (worse has happened), she just didn't feel like doing anything. Not like an had a choice, anyway.

Making her way to the rehearsal room, just after leaving the Owlery, writing a quick letter to her father to send her a bag of Bar Ones for Athena, one of her good friends, which barely gave her time to change into something...fighty. Kayla didnt do any sports that involved self-defense. But she was happy to try, as her sister did kick-boxing, it looked fun. And painful. And exhausting, according to her sources, any way. Now running, in her black sweatpants and white tee, she reached the door sh3 had never bothered to enter. But it was curious. She would sometimes here music, or the sound of people talking. She once speant almost ten minutes just standing at the door, listening to the sound of ballet music, until she realised that she was late for her lesson.
But she could finally go in, she wondered what was waiting inside. Maybe a stage, a piano, maybe some other instruments and a radio. Why a radio? Because music. But when she opened the door, it was magnificent. The huge room was big enough for maybe half of the students at Hogwarts- maybe more.
"This is epic," she said, unaware of the two people already in the room. She let her hands touch the wall, feeling the paint against her hand. But then she noticed how weird it probably looked. Looked for the two people behind her.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Hello!" Kayla exclaimed, her face flushed red. She recognised the girl. Bailey. "Hi, Bailey. We've met, I think. Animal Lovers club, I think? But I'm Kayla!" She added anyway, mostly co the benefit of the other guy. She wasn't sure she recognised him. Looking past them at the poles, it was a beautiful sight. "Isn't this place beautiful?" She mused, taking the hair band from her wrist, tying her short hair.

Safe… I just did that he says that my parents should be arrested because I’m not safe! I am literally a third degree black belt… ahhh.
“Well, being a third degree black belt, and carrying a bag full of weapons and sparring gear, it was rare that anyone besides the conductor would approach me. After riding with me for a year or so, my mum felt comfortable leaving me to take the train from Leeds to London on my own. Plus, I had my phone and a computer with me- I had do some of my school work. That’s the joy of being homeschooled- the ability to do your work wherever you are.” Taking a breath, Bailey let it out in something that wasn’t quite a sigh..
‘That was pretty’ Abaeze said. Smiling at him, Bailey said “Well, that’s what you get if you’ve been doing this for nine, almost ten years.”
Bailey was going to continued, but then a girl, another first year, who she though was names… Kayla, right? she thought.
This was confirmed when the girl reintroduced herself, probably for Abaeze’s benefit.
Smiling at Kayla, Bailey said “Hey Kayla! I’m so happy you came! Did I mention this meeting at the ALC, or did you see the posters?” She asked the last but because of her curiosity, and the need to know if her posters worked.

Abaeze opened his mouth...and closed it, thinking better of arguing. There was an undercurrent of steel to that girl, something lurking underneath the carefree smile and bright eyes. Considering how far they were from the hospital wing, Abaeze wasn't about to try his hand and risk his tongue.

Thankfully, he was spared the attention either way. For a girl had breezed into the room, her eyes wide and lips parted in wonder as she stared at the pillars. Abaeze was going to pretend he hadn't had the same dumbstruck expression just a few minutes before, and that staring at Hogwarts like a penguin at a suitcase was the norm. The school was just...well it was ridiculious. Full of moving staircases and doors that led nowhere and paintings that spoke and-

He was getting tired just thinking of it.

Glad to be out from under the spotlight, the boy leaned back against one of the marble columns watching the interaction. His eyes kept flitting towards the doorway, hopeful whenever a student walked passed the door, only to be rewarded with his heart dropping back down from his throat. If this club was more popular usually, the room was blatantly empty now.

'Bailey. Do you want to spar?'

She was a third degree black belt. He was a head taller and twice her weight. If he were a betting man, he wouldn't have bet on either of them.