19 Feb 2023, 01:37
The Best of All Possible Worlds
¤ | Ω | ¤
"Italiano. Italian."
"Russian."
\ Fingerless Glove on Right Hand /
| Lichtenberg Figure on Right Arm and Down Back |Valentin Schnell & Amina Petrovitch
@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood & @Ileen KnightRaising a brow as people started to explain themselves, I tapped my foot lightly as my gaze flicked between my Captain and this person; Amina Petrovic. Well, she seemed to know me rather well, though I wasn't quite sure yet if it was for better or for worse. My name had been circling around in the papers as the new "Colossus of Rome" ever since the summer Quidditch game, after all. It wasn't really a moniker I liked, but I had little power to sway what the press made of me if it was a story that sold well for them. If the formula wasn't broken, why fix it? It wasn't as if they were going to take the opinions of the person that they were making money off of.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as words swirled around in the air and in my mind. A light touch of a migraine was setting in, and the school day hadn't even started yet. This was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?
"Yes, I am Romeo. I take it you are interested in joining the Durmstrang Quidditch team." I say, feeling the pressure of Valentin's hand on my arm. Yes, he was well aware that I had been having rather bad headaches ever since our shared experience with the unadulterated force of pure lighting. They were bearable, but that didn't make them any less agitating.
When Valentin mentioned that this Amina had been one of the best candidates for being a Chaser, I put my hand down and gave him a sort of sideways look, my eyes narrowing slightly with inquisition. "Oh is that so?" I asked bluntly, raising a brow again. If I had a lira for every time something similar to that had been said to me, I would be at least 50 lira richer than I currently was. That being said, I usually tried to at least acknowledge some of what I was told; there was some merit to most things being said, after all. "I suppose the nonsense that I just saw on the brooms overhead supports that thesis?"
Still those traits that Valentin listed were indeed important in a game. While I was not agile, I was bulky, strong, and rarely missed my shots if I could help it. It would help the team out quite a bit if I was swifter certainly, but for what I was, my abilities served us well. Having a maneuverable player would be essential were she to take up a Chaser role. We loved to make sure that our team was well-rounded, and that we had the range of flexibility to both play the game legally and to cheat if the other team felt like cheating.
After a brief internal deliberation, I gave my response, a rather neutral and unbiased answer that was my usual when concerning these sorts of things. "We can certainly try her out, just like the rest of the applicants. Our first game isn't for a while." I smiled a little bit, ignoring the small throb behind my eyes as the headache worsened just a tad. "If she's as good as you say she is, then she'll outshine any other poor bastard who tries the field."
I eyed my bat, and the Quaffle under Amina's arm. "That being said, if you're alright with me taking a couple potshots at you... you could display your evasiveness to me firsthand. A lot of the younger ones struggled to make good on avoiding even my lazy shots. You can bet that our opponents won't be pulling punches." Now my voice carried a bit of tease on it as I rolled my neck; cracking it to loosen up a bit. "We need lots of good players in the air to redirect shots, and to have the ability to avoid them easily." Glancing to Valentin. "What do you think? Would this be too rough on the new recruit?"
Val nodded, letting go of Rome's arm to give him some space to line up the shots, and said, "Compared to the chaos of the full battlefield, this exercise would certainly be a gentle introduction. Besides, I get the feeling she's quite tough." Dusting off splinters of grass and dirt from his back, Valentin smiled with approval. This paragraph/godmod requested by user via DMReducioStats:
Ω Stamina 9 | Evasion 7 | Strength 15 Ω
Ω Accuracy 15 | Wisdom 9 | ArcPower 0 ΩAbilities:
Ω Obnoxiously Strong | Perfectionist I | Martial Artist | Healing Sage I Ω
15 Apr 2023, 17:53
The Best of All Possible Worlds
~~~~~☆~~♫~~♢~~❅~~☽~~~~ ☾~~❅~~♫~~♢~~☆~~~~~
~~~~~☆~~♫~~♢~~❅~~☽~~
The girl followed the conversation, looking back and forth between the two boys as if she was following a fast quaffle passing. And it appeared to be quite an informative conversation. Her eyebrows wandered higher and higher as she tilted her head, following the discussion. Apparently all of this had been a test already. Although the actions could have indicated that the girl had been too focused on the sudden tasks that she had been presented with to really think about it. Her heart started beating faster, a little delayed. Of course, she had wanted to show off to get a chance to apply for the team but she was excited that she had already taken the first step in the process.
Her eyes flickered to Valentin with a slow frown as he was commenting on her team work. She had trained with her family and her dad had always made sure she learned to give winning shots to others if the situation asked for it. But true, no one had been here to work together with. She had yet to prove herself. Another thing slightly threw her off though. Typical Amina, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
"She is pleased to hear that he has a chance to apply for the chaser position. Thank you." Her tone was slightly sassy. But there was enough tease in it to give away her amused mood. She didn’t appreciate that the two boys talked about her as if she wasn’t here. Yes, they were champions, but really? So was she and her pride was slightly hurt by this treatment although she was pleased and hyped by all the good things that had been said. "I would be honored. Give me your best shot, I always enjoy a challenge." Her short annoyance was already forgotten. True excitement was written all over her face and with sparkling eyes she looked back to Valentin’s broom. Gently, she picked it up and looked at the white seeker. She still couldn’t believe that she might be in a team with him and his italien co-captain. Her dad would be proud. In her mind failing this quest wasn’t an option. This was the reason she had returned to Bulgaria after all.
The boys could see and hear that she was very content in her abilities. Not rubbing it in anyone's face but just very certain she would master the test.
Her dad had taken her to the bulgarian national team for practice and she had had the pleasure to work with real professionals. And yet - her shooting abilities were slightly better than her evasive skills. Yet, she didn’t doubt a second that it would be good enough to prove her worth the time the guys spent here. Even if he would hit her.
Also, she couldn’t wait to be back in the air. As soon as her feet were on the ground she started missing the air. The Quidditch captains would see a girl that just loved flying. Flying was her life. "May I borrow your loyal broom once more?" Her hand gently petted the smooth wood and she already felt lighter again.
Interacting with | Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood) | Romeo Marchonné (@Piérre Marchonné)
"Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light."
20 Apr 2023, 03:34
The Best of All Possible Worlds
"I would be honored. Give me your best shot, I always enjoy a challenge," welcomed Amina before requesting Valentin’s broom. The captain hadn’t failed to notice her annoyance at the two captains for having spoken about her while she stood before them, but Valentin didn’t see a problem. If she had something to contribute she could have spoken up at any time. Besides, were he in her position, Val would have wanted it this way – hearing the thoughts of others directly without pretense. For Val, it was a gift to conceal nothing from the applicant, and he was confident that she could and should handle the truth. Amina’s eyes flicked to Valentin when he questioned if she was a team player, but earlier on he had specifically said “I’ll get on behind you and you can steer” before she took his broom and scrammed. She never breathed a word about it again afterwards, either, even after Valentin had to scramble to Yefim’s bunk to borrow his friend’s broom. Romeo certainly would have known that any such comment from Valentin came backed with a specific experience, and he would give a fuller appraisal later when the Italian was in a more comfortable position and they’d both had time to mull things over. It was not true that there had been no one to work together with, since Valentin had been assessing how she interacted with himself from the start. Now, with Romeo in the equation, the test simply expanded to include another personality type. No matter how steady her hand nor how balanced she was on a broom, if she couldn’t fit together with the rest of the team enough to work as one, including her could only bring disaster within the game’s gruelling, high-pressure reality.
The captain tipped his head with a pleasant smile and handed his lightning-scarred Silver Arrow to the girl. The burned-out channels of black-on-silver that ran down the broom were smooth rather than splintered, but only due to arduous care on behalf of its owner, who constantly had to stabilize the openings whenever they began to crack under duress. “Do your best!” Val’s voice chimed with supportiveness before he stepped back to observe. The broom would take care of her if she could respect its personality enough to care about what it needed.
Valentin gave Romeo ample space to do his work, and the beater wound up and cracked his bat against a bludger, sending it directly at Amina.The price of glory was sometimes paid for in blood. The bludger struck right below Amina’s collar bone across her sternum and the blow sent her flying back into the grass, incapacitating her instantly. For Valentin, bludger strikes were a near daily occurrence and a fact of life that usually led to knock-outs. What was extraordinary was the incredible grace (Nat 20) of Romeo’s shot. Durmstrang’s team in particular consisted of ambitious tryhards and her captains trained players and themselves under some of the most exacting standards in the game… but even for the northern elites, Romeo’s performance now was otherworldly [39 ACC].[1d20:2+15=17 EVA]; [1d20:20+15+4 (if on broom)=39 ACC; (17*75); 900-(1275*2=-2550)=>-1650 HP) → KO]
“Ah…” Valentin ran his hand across Romeo’s arm as he passed, and even from the side, Valentin’s face showed clear love for the perfection of #4’s technique. The frost captain didn’t need to elaborate. His silence said it all.
Valentin walked up to Amina’s side and pulled the Arrow out from its surely uncomfortable spot under the small of her back. Putting one hand on her shoulder but not shaking, Valentin looked over her with an experienced eye.
“Amina, wake up. I’ll carry you to the hospital ward, alright? Don’t worry about class, I’ll get you a note.”
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 14 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 (18) ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 (18) - Ency
Comet 290 (when aboard): +3 to 2 stats, enhances Keen Eye (20% find); +1 critical chance.
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless
God mods performed with permission for purposes of moderation.
20 Apr 2023, 17:08
The Best of All Possible Worlds
~~~~~☆~~♫~~♢~~❅~~☽~~
~~~~~☆~~♫~~♢~~❅~~☽~~
"Thank you!” The Durmstrang girl would beam at the seeker in excitement as he handed her the loyal broom and sent her off with a supportive remark. In truth Amina couldn’t wait to be back in the air. She didn’t just love flying - she was flying. All her life had evolved around this very moment.
Gently she touched the wood, sending her warm welcome back to the silver arrow. They had carried her willingly already without even knowing her that well. They would probably get along great with her own broom. "Hello, dear friend. Ready for one more rodeo?”" All of her impatience and short irritation vanished when she tended to the broom. Amina didn’t care much about what people were thinking of her. She regularly talked to objects and her broom had been her best friend for a long time. She loved the wild and free personality most brooms had - while she had no feel for wands at all she always searched for the character of brooms and was blown away by their variety each and every time.
Her green eyes would fixate the professional beater, lingering on his face for a bit and trying to seize his character and attitude.
She was great on a broom, way better than on the ground, but he was good with the beaters club. Her father had tried to prepare her for this and she had practiced with stars, but she also knew that this team was at least as great as the professional national ones - if not greater. The girl was confident but not dumb. It was not impossible for him to hit her, but she wasn’t scared.
All she wanted was to really get on this team that she had waited for over five years of her life. She couldn’t mess that up. With a reassuring smile and a nod to Romeo, she would climb on the broom, pet it once more and then push herself into the air. Wind whipped her short red hair from her face as she started off like a rocket, deeply ducked over the broomstick to get the maximum speed. She felt free. She felt alive.
Her attention was mostly focused on the beater though. After all, he was about to attack her. Amina gently brought the broom into a curve and came back around to face the two boys as the Italien hit the iron ball.
She saw it coming - it was a great hit. Probably the best one she had ever seen.
She prepared to dodge, but something didn't fit. Her reaction was too slow, too late, not strong enough. Admittedly, even on her best days, she probably would have been lucky to avoid this blow, so precise and powerful it was, but although her natural reflexes kicked in immediately, her own decision was not fast enough.
All she saw and felt was a sharp pain on her collarbone and everything went black.
Thanks to Merlin, she had only lost consciousness for a moment and that had spared her the pain of the impact of hitting the ground. Still, she felt the reverberation as she tore open her eyes and stared up at the sky. It wasn't the first time she had been hit, but this one definitely felt like a cannonball.
In a blur, she saw a figure at her side speaking to her, but the pounding in her ears seemed to distort everything around her and she couldn't understand anything. Something about the hospital wing and classes. She would deal with that in a moment.
Carefully, she felt for the broom to see if it was damaged. But it was gone.
"Damn it. Your broom… Is it all right?" Even her own voice was muffled. Her head was pounding, and when she caught her breath, she felt a sharp sting just above her lungs. Experience told her that her collar bone was broken.
Somewhat disoriented, she lay still and tried to move as little as possible. She wasn't much of a mage, but her father had taught her to take care of herself, at least to get ahead somehow.
Groaning softly, she found her wand, blinking to finally get the blur to work, but to no success. Her fingers closed tightly around the wood and she tapped gently against her shoulder. "Episkey."
A searing pain followed by relief spread through the area and she was able to breathe freely again. It didn't heal the bruises and concussion, but at least it cured the worst of it.
Carefully she sat up and blinked a few times before she recognized the face of Valentin next to her. And very slowly, what was happening caught up with her. Her cheeks turned pink, disappointed at her failure. Not that she had been hit, but that she had reacted so slowly. She could only hope that she would be allowed to take another application test.
Her eyes flickered back to Romeo and a faint smile formed on her pale lips. "Well, I said, give me your best shot. This was a very good shot." Very carefully she made her way back up to her feet and looked around for the broom. It was secured with its owner. Thank god.
She felt a little dizzy and every fiber of her body aching, but it was nothing she wasn't used to. "I suppose I wasn't ready for that yet. Hopefully the next time I get another chance. If I get another chance.” With a contrite sigh, she nodded cautiously to both of them. "I think I'd better go to the hospital wing and get patched up. Let me know if there's another application test. Nice meeting you guys."
It was clear that the girl was battling her own expectations, pride and ambition and that she wanted to be alone to recover in dignity. She knew very well that her emotions would soon catch up with her. And she was already annoyed with herself. And... she was also impressed. She would grin at Valentin and a warm spark would appear in her eyes again. "That was fun. We should do it more often."
Then, as she made her way back to the castle, she would take another look at the beater. She wondered briefly why he had shot her off the broom. He was definitely experienced enough to give her a chance and see how she would dodge. But as said - she wouldn't have escaped that blow even on her best days.
When she was sure that they couldn't see her face anymore, she frowned in confusion. She wasn't empathic and usually needed the wooden hammer method to deal with feelings. Well, that had been the mallet method. She couldn't help but wonder if he didn't want her on the team. Or he had overestimated her immeasurably. Or he didn't care who he hurt. The girl felt something coming into her that she had never felt before. Doubt. Doubt if this was the right team for her. She herself was also reckless and ambitious. Quidditch was everything. Quidditch was the world. And for something like this to happen in the game - of course. As said, not the first time she had ended up on the ground. But was it really worth it on the first test flight?
But then she shook her head. Nonsense. She had always wanted to play at Durmstrang and this wouldn't stop her trying.
Interacting with | Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood) | Romeo Marchonné (@Piérre Marchonné)
Amina leaves the thread
"Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light."
21 Apr 2023, 02:03
The Best of All Possible Worlds
Valentin’s broom took more kindly to Amina this time, but even its greater willingness to move as the girl bade was not enough to save her from the perfection of Romeo’s shot. Despite the crushing power of the bludger, her ribs did not collapse under the blow to her sternum, but the path of the metal sphere’s ricochet still shattered her collarbone on its way up. Were another person in play above, the ball would surely still have had enough momentum to devastate even a quite sturdy player... and in this case, even more so if it were a beater. In Amina’s delirium, Valentin’s words came to her as unintelligible and she began asking after his broom, but the captain simply released her shoulder with kind eyes beaming down at her.
“This little darling has seen far worse. Don’t even worry about it. I can do the repairs when I sit down to buff the scratches out of Fima’s tonight.” Valentin was prepared to offer healing if desired, or better yet yield to the party’s most experienced medic, but it seemed Amina wanted to recover some pride by doing everything herself. The captain simply watched, knowing the reality check on her abundant confidence must have hurt, at least on some level. Still, Valentin was raised to be a gentleman and offered a hand up if she wanted it, although he didn’t really expect her to take it. The girl then made some remarks to prepare an exit for herself.
"That was fun. We should do it more often."
The captain knew well the agony that must have been radiating throughout her body despite her words, but the smile on her face and the spark in her eyes reassured him that her words were genuine. He grinned back to her with a mix of cheer and concern before watching her head back to the castle – making sure that she was actually heading in the direction of the clinic. When she had disappeared into the distance, Valentin turned back to Romeo and went up to his side so that he could speak quietly.
“You did the right thing. You left her no illusions about what quidditch is really like every. Single. Day. If she can’t love quidditch for what it really is, she has no place on the team, and you’d be doing her no favors by waiting to show her the real thing. When all the other complexities – the weather, the opponents, the media – are also thrown in atop the strain of endless training, a bludger strike is really nothing at all. If she can’t find joy in quidditch after a routine maneuver like this then there’s no way she can help us bring the game to the new heights it deserves. Romeo, I’m proud of you, and there’s no one else I’d rather have as my co-captain.” Pressing his shoulder against Romeo, Valentin stared off into the distance.
“How’s your head feeling? Do you want to talk about this later?”
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 14 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 (18) ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 (18) - Ency
Comet 290 (when aboard): +3 to 2 stats, enhances Keen Eye (20% find); +1 critical chance.
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless
God mods performed with permission for purposes of moderation.
Val leaves the thread together with Romeo when he is ready to exit
21 Apr 2023, 02:39
The Best of All Possible Worlds
¤ | Ω | ¤
"Italiano. Italian."
"Russian."
\ Fingerless Glove on Right Hand /
| Lichtenberg Figure on Right Arm and Down Back |Valentin Schnell & Amina Petrovitch
@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood & @Ileen KnightRolling my shoulders back as I idly swung the bat in my right hand, I closed my eyes lightly as Valentin and Amina traded words and brooms so that the latter would be able to get herself into the air in order to try her hand at evading a few of my attempts to strike her with the belligerent bludger that I would have to re-release for the purposes of this exercise. "You get around a fifteen second head start, and then the demon-ball comes out and I start swinging." I remarked with the harsh letters of the Russian tongue, finishing my words with almost a spitting of the last syllable. So saying as I exhaustedly opened my eyes and then glanced down to the bucking box by my feet, I placed a single foot on it just so that it would stop shaking. Two bludgers were in that box; I only needed one.
Feeling the cold air as Amina took to the skies, I commanded the ebony Firebolt to rise into the air and kept it hovering while I knelt to work on the straps and the latches of the box. Opening it, I was careful to mind the one buckle that would release all three of the highly mobile Quidditch balls and instead my hand drifted towards one of the violently thrusting cast iron spheres that looked inches from fraying its binding leather straps into snapping altogether. This one I had a history with, and I called it 'Jack il Bolide' or 'Jack the Bludger'. This God. damn. Bludger always liked to make a point of literally trying to murder anyone that it could manage to hit in its path; particularly the Beaters that tried to hit it back. This Bolide had nearly floored me more than a few times even when I was a first year. Yes, I recognized the bastard even after years of being away from the pitch; it was cracked from the amount of times that it had bashed through trees and literal boulders to get to its target, and in one of those hairline cracks was a single strand of my hair that had jammed itself in there after I had taken a blow to the head once and had caused me to wake up a day later in the medicine wing. Evidently it had yet to be fully removed all the way back from when I had been a first year, the first time I had experienced what it was like to be beaten with one of these cast iron balls my first time on the pitch.
It seemed, though, that I had been lucky enough to avoid being struck with Bludgers hailing from other places; I had yet to be struck by one of the official Bludgers from the London Quidditch Stadium and the interschool playoffs located therein. Therefore, the moment my hand released the strap holding down the gap between me and Jack I immediately pitched myself backwards and out of the way just in time for the thing to go hurtling directly into the air, the point in space where my face had formerly been before my reactive maneuver.
Snatching the bat again, I nabbed the Firebolt and boarded it, getting myself a few feet in the air but not daring to start flying in any other direction. Jack would come to me; I just had to wait for him to get angry enough to attempt it. Flying around would only open me up for a harder knock if I couldn't react in time to avoid the dull sphere that was only barely smaller than my own head. Eyes more focused on defending myself rather than aiming for Amina, I wanted to make sure that I could deflect the Bludger first before ensuring that I could aim well with him. "Here Jack... Here Jackie boy..." I growled as the thing began its arcing curve so that it could fly back towards me with a screaming vengeance that caused every crack in its body to whistle with the wind thanks to the velocity in which it came. Without realizing it, I was already lining up my shot; Amina was just floating right there almost online with the incoming Bludger's direction. It was almost like being pitched a 160km per hour fastball, and I was the batter up ready to try and return the thing to sender.
Taking the maple bat in both hands and choking up ever so slightly so that I could increase the speed of my swing to properly align with the speed of Jack coming straight for me, I narrowed my eyes and tried to focus on the chilly air passing through my respiratory system as opposed to the throbbing headache that was stabbing through the top of my skull. It was irritating, it was so aggravating...
I was so, so very, very angry and done with the day and it hadn't even started. I still had at least twelve more hours of this shit!
*CRA-KOWWW!*
With a sharp exhale through my gritted teeth as I swung my entire boom around in a circle so that I could in turn swing the bat hard towards the cast iron, the satisfying sound of wood on iron rippled through the air, a resonance that caused my hands to ache from the shock that immediately coursed through the insulating bat and into my hands. Slowing my rotational momentum, I watched with an glowering look in my eyes as Jack cut his path through the air and right for Amina, striking her true and causing her to fall like a bird with its wings snapped away from its body and send her tumbling gracelessly to the ground. Breathing heavily through my teeth as my heart continued to pound, I jerked my head towards Jack's trajectory again in an attempt to track where he was planning on spinning off to next. The incoming light from the dawn of a new day now shone off a particularly reflective part of him that was now just a tad bit flatter than the rest of his cracked curve, a dent that had not been there pre my crushing blow. "Vaffanculo! Fuck off!" I told it off as it began to hurtle back my way.
Of course I was worried for Amina, but I couldn't well enough have a rogue bludger with this much of a 'personality problem' run rampant while we were trying to take care of her. It would either fly off to wreak Hell elsewhere or else try to severely injure me or Valentin. So, the little game of catch was on, as Valentin brushed by me in a way that caused his fingers to trail my bicep. I hardly noticed it, though, for in my left hand was my bat, in my dominant right was my wand. I wanted to try to track that sunovabitch so that I could hit it squarely with an Immobulus spell and then get it safely back into the box.
So, off I went, flicking my wand and incanting the proper spell for the actions I wanted to take against the Iron ball from Hell; "Immobulus!" I called out, trying to get the ball online with my sights. Though the spell easily left me [Wisdom 24], the Bludger was coming for me too quickly [Accuracy 17 v. Evasion 39], and it was only with a quick recast with a more desperate "Immobulus!" and another jerk of my implement that produced a second beam of magic energy [Wisdom 24] that the Bludger was mere inches from me when the spell contacted it at point blank range [Accuracy 33 v. Evasion 21], stopping the cast iron hellion dead to rights right before it could make disastrous contact with my head... again.
Snatching it without hesitation with both hands, I held the thing to my chest and slid off the broom, kicking the case open and then shoving it with all my strength back into the box. "It's fine, I'm fine. I got it, don't worry." I shouted over to a concerned Val after he had rightly checked up on the wrecked Amina. "Sucker just wanted an excuse to draw more blood, the little b-" I growled, strapping it down firmly and then slamming the case shut so that all it could do once more was bash around and leap like a thousand frogs trapped in a pouch. "Oh, SHUT UP!" I snarled to it like it was a living person, rubbing my temples before shaking my head and then focusing on the more pressing matter at hand; the wellbeing of a student that I had likely severely injured. Slowly making my way over I also wanted to analyze Amina's health. That had been a rather pristine blow I had dealt to her...
"Even if it was a good shot, it was no excuse for me to hurt you this badly. I apologize for that. Here, take it easy." I warned as she tried to get to her feet on her own. She would likely have a large bruise, if she didn't break her collarbone. She hadn't even been wearing armor, good God... "I'd mind the shoulder were I you. Get that checked out. You could have broken it; or I could have, rather." I sighed a bit, always remembering that I was so much stronger than a lot of people could handle and that more than often I hurt people because of it.
"I'll tell you one thing; you didn't do any worse than anyone else I've seen so far." I remarked bluntly as the girl turned to take her leave. "Work on that attitude problem, though. Don't get cocky. You'll avoid the next one." A pause as I glanced to Valentin. We exchanged a nod. Attitude could be fixed; talent and skill took a certain degree of natural giftedness... time that we sometimes couldn't spare on the younger years who had never seen, let alone experienced a blow or a hit from, a Bludger, Quaffle, or Snitch. "Don't get tied up in the Wing for too long, though. We have a practice bright and early come Monday the fifth and I expect you to be there... or else I'll teach you dodge my Bludgers the hard way with more coming your way when you least expect it." There wasn't really any humor or laughing in my voice; it would be up to Amina to decide if it was a jibe or a threat. I only smiled in amusement, crossing my arms after I had called the Firebolt to me. "Captain's orders."
After she had left, my smile faded as the painful heartbeat in my head got the better of me again. Despite myself, I looked down and closed my eyes, trying to center myself and get over that nasty feeling of vertigo that I was experiencing. Valentin came up beside me, speaking quietly as he did. "As brutal as the game is, I had hoped I would be able to get the point across short of severely hurting her." I confessed, eyes still squeezed shut with brows furrowed and head angled to the ground. "Pain may be the best teacher, but... damn do I wish there was a better way." I stomped my foot with emphasis on my expletive. I could have seriously hurt her... I have seriously hurt people before...
Opening my eyes to glance to Valentin, I sighed again. "I'm just glad you place so much trust in me to be your co-captain. I hope I'm doing the right things at the right time for the right purposes... I'm so good at the beating up part of the game but so bad at trying to find the right balance between being tough as nails and trying to be empathic towards the kids who are really struggling to tough it out. I guess I'm really not a best of both worlds kind of guy in that regard..." I never had been.
"They're fine." I said softly as Valentin bumped up against me lightly, smiling a bit at the physical camaraderie. "Might be the weather or something. Could be rain on the way, or a thunderstorm..." I shrugged before moving forward to pick up the Quidditch case in my right hand while securing my broom and bat under my left arm. After taking a few steps forward towards the castle, I turned and looked to Valentin before jerking my head lightly towards my destination. Even that reminded me of the splitting headache, and I regretted my that tiny action greatly. "Come on. We don't want to get caught in another storm. Big Friday ahead of us... lots of classes, and a new player to introduce to the team come Monday."
A small smile. "We're never going to let that crown leave our team again. That's how I'll try to truly make you proud."Romeo Exits the ThreadReducioStats:
Ω Stamina 9 | Evasion 7 | Strength 15 Ω
Ω Accuracy 15 | Wisdom 9 | ArcPower 0 ΩAbilities:
Ω Obnoxiously Strong | Perfectionist I | Martial Artist | Healing Sage I Ω
