Girl Dinner FIN

Date: 5 November 2023 Time: Around dinner

Interacting with: @Pericles Dralt Mentions: X

English | French Thoughts

Faces flitted in and out of Mahlioz's brain. People she knew, people she didn't, they all mixed together, with flashes of color and shouts and wands and then - nothing.
She opened her eyes with a start, then closed them again. The world was bright. Squinting, she tried to take in her surroundings. The ceiling was unfamiliar. High up and white. Where was her magnificent canopy full of glow-in the dark stars? And the dark ceiling of her dorm room? Where on earth was she?

Her mind was still foggy. Very, very foggy... and everything hurt, but in a sort of numb pain, like it wasn't going to last long. She turned her head, trying to figure out where she was. At least there was a pillow underneath her head.
The first thing she noticed was a boy. A white-haired tidy-looking boy, that she knew. She knew him, right? What was his name again? It sounded Greek, like... Heracles. Cles. It sounded like keys, but with an l.

Mahlioz shook her head, which brought on a headache, but at least her thoughts had somewhat cleared. Right! It was the bird boy. What was he doing here? A glint on his clothes reminded her he was a duellist. Like her. Ah. Everything came rushing back at once, and Mahlioz had to wince. There was no way her team had won. She wasn't even sure, because she'd gone unconscious, but she would have bet all her galleons her teammates hadn't managed to beat the Ravens. Unfortunate. What a first duel, though. And now, here she was in the Hospital Wing.

Bird boy was still there. He seemed to be looking for something. Why couldn't she remember his name? She wished her body would just hurry up and heal so she could use her brain properly. And she would have liked to get up and greet him. But she guessed that was the price to pay for getting into such a sport as duelling. There was a reason she preferred staying in her room reading over sports. Still... weirdly, she wouldn't have given up today for anything.

@Mahlioz Evethisawe

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	It seemed as though Pericles had arrived right on time. The emerald-eyed wix was looking around with the trademark disorientation of a duellist just waking in the wing. As much as Hogwarts loved its sports, were it not for their competent nurse, half the student body would have been as concussed as a pack of rugby players. The bird boy smiled when he caught their dazed stare, calling out softly as he strode into the room: "Hello again, Mahlioz with an 'H'." Peri wasn't the most outgoing wizard in these parts, but when he found a fellow oddity, an exception was made. He invited himself right to her bedside and settled into a stiff wooden chair. As he joined them, he explained himself in that low, faraway tone that resonated somewhere between tranquility and distraction. "That was quite a duel earlier. I'm sorry to say your team didn't win, but you put up an admirable fight. I hope it's alright that I've come to check on you; that last Flipendo was especially nasty, and it was getting late, so I brought dinner." That last word was spoken with the slyest hint of sarcasm and a vague curl at the corner of his mouth, giving the Honeydukes bag a little shake. Peri went on to remove a pumpkin pasty- his personal favorite- and offered the rest over. Inside was a cauldron cake, a chocolate frog box, and a second pasty. The perfect food for recovering from a thrashing.
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Reducio

Date: 5 November 2023 Time: Around dinner

Interacting with: @Pericles Dralt Mentions: X

English | French Thoughts

Ah. It took her a good moment to realize what the bird boy had been looking for was, in fact, her. Mahlioz with an H. She smiled at the name. He remembered hers - why couldn't she for the life of her recall his? Then again, he wasn't the one in the hospital bed.
But he was in the hospital wing. As he walked over and sat down on a chair next to the bed she was in, she tried to wrap her head around the fact that he had come to check on her. They had met only twice. She had to admit that she was rather honored.

Her mind was still feeling like molasses, so it took her another few seconds to get what he was saying. "Wait - you saw my duel?" Her honored feeling sort of melted - her team had, as she'd guessed, lost, and she'd been knocked unconscious, and he'd seen all that. But also - he'd seen all that! He'd watched her duel! If only she had paid more attention to things - she could have watched his. The mix of feelings was evident on her face, and the only thing she could think to say was "Thank you." For the compliment, for watching, for coming here at all, and for... dinner?

The bird boy was rather hard to read, especially when he was joking. She barely knew him, and already that much was evident. But it seemed he had only been half-joking when he said dinner - he'd brought a bag of treats. She sat herself up, getting another bout of dizziness though it passed quickly, and stared in awe at the bag.

Wait, had this really happened? This boy she'd only met twice, who had helped her out thrice, and who she couldn't even remember the name of had come to check on her and bring her food. She blinked, then blinked again, then remembered that she had a voice and let out a second "Thank you...?" Who was this boy?

It came slightly late, but as she looked up again, his name finally came back to her. "Pericles." Wait, that was weird, people didn't just say each other's names like that. She rushed to add something else. "Why... how..." Right, that wasn't going too well either. Social interaction, her beloved. "I - how did you... thank you?" She could have kicked herself, if her energy hadn't been drained by that last flipendo. How the heck did people talk so easily?

@Mahlioz Evethisawe

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	"Wait - you saw my duel?" "Well, I had come to root for Ravenclaw." There was a shine to his eyes and a tilt to his head as he lied, "It wouldn't have been very comradely of me to hope you would win." Mahlioz may learn, in time, that Pericles rather liked being difficult to read. He didn't think of it as farse so much as "gentle redirection". A young upstart such as Mahlioz didn't need to know about the wretched things that had happened in this room. She didn't need to know about the ramblings of an increasingly unhinged Gryffindor, who claimed the same evil they'd seen in the Hospital Wing never left it. She certainly didn't need to know that he had spent the time since the duel worrying and wondering over her fate with the new nurse. What they did need was a bit of chocolate and cheering up. "Though I didn't exactly want to see you lose, either." Peri's eyebrows arched when they simply spoke his name, and he eyed them expectantly, waiting for what followed. Thankfully, Pericles was fluent in Awkward. Whether or not he could decipher Mahl's confusion, he would weave a conversation out of the fragmented sentence. "How did I... make it to Hogsmeade and back?" The hand not holding his pumpkin pasty pressed against his chest. "I can fly. Remember?" The boy gave a grin in place of a laugh, then took another bite, chewing slowly as an excuse to take his time examining the room. His eyes seemed to stray without direction, glancing towards the nurse's office before lingering on an empty stretch of floor. When he swallowed, his stare flickered back, conversation casual as ever. "I had my first duel in my second year. We lost, but I learned a great deal from it, and I've stayed in the sport ever since. Your performance was incredibly impressive, what with the way you were dodging spells left and right. That didn't happen to be your first duel, was it? " In his own awkward way, Peri seemed to have dodged their multiple thank-yous, though the last one saw his smile softening. He gave the bag an encouraging nod.
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Reducio

Pericles Dralt wrote: 7 Jan 2024, 04:43

"The hospital wing has changed since that day." A Sectusempra in the smokescreen, blood on the floorboards. But that was so long ago, now, wasn't it? First year? Four years might as well have been four lifetimes ago. Things were different. Weren't they...?

Date: 5 November 2023 Time: Around dinner

Interacting with: @Pericles Dralt Mentions: Irina Shevel

English | French Thoughts

Ah - right - yes. Ravenclaw. How could she have assumed otherwise? In a way, it was a relief; at least she couldn't add that to the already incredibly long list of things he'd done for her. Yet she felt like she was missing something. That there was something she'd misunderstood... which, really, wouldn't be all too surprising, considering her mental state at the moment, but she was sure she'd have been able to figure it out if bird boy wasn't so dang hard to read. Especially when he added that he hadn't exactly wanted to see her lose, either. Now she was just more confused. Who had he been cheering on?

Mahlioz was quite honestly impressed with Pericles' ability to avoid the great amount of awkwardness traps she'd set in his path. She herself hadn't been too sure what she was asking, but he'd come up with a question for her and answered it with a grin. "Right - yeah, of course." Flying. Hence why she'd nicknamed him bird boy in her head. Definitely not for the first time, Mahlioz found herself wondering how that could have been like, flying. She felt the need to thank him again, but stopped herself just in time. That was probably enough. Right?

She was too distracted and a little too tired to really notice Pericles' frequent scans of the room, though something still felt the slightest bit off. It was completely forgotten as the Ravenclaw told her about his own first duel, before complimenting her dodging skills. "It was, actually," she replied with a smile. Then, because she couldn't help herself, another quick "thanks" slipped out. At least she was warming up to the sport that was talking to people.

Though it wasn't like Pericles made it hard. She'd spoken to him three times only, but he was already almost as easy to talk to as Irina, though in quite a different way. Not that her ever-growing number of thank-yous helped with proving that, exactly. A nod from the bird boy reminded her that she had food in front of her, and she pulled a cauldron cake out of the bag he'd so kindly brought her. Her eyes lit up and she took a bite out of it happily. Nothing was better than wizarding candy after you got hurt. Except for maybe those french candies her grandfather always had.

"So... you've been duelling for as long as you've had that animagus club thing?" Mahlioz hoped she'd gotten that right - she remembered him mentioning he'd started the group in his second year as well. "How many duels do you think you've done?" Would she last just as long? Sure, she'd lost her first duel, but she hadn't really been expecting to win it in the first place, just hoping. And it had been fun, despite ending up in the hospital wing. Perhaps one day she would be in the same place as Pericles, telling a younger student she’d been duelling for years.

@Mahlioz Evethisawe

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	Hearing she'd done so well for her first ever duel painted Peri's face with surprise. His reactions always came mildly, watered-down in a way, impressed but only expressing it through a gentle lift of the eyebrows. "Not bad at all," he muttered, and when thanked (again), the look was traded for a small smile. Amusement sparked in his eye again as he answered with a simple, final "You're welcome." Conversation and cake did wonders for the nerves. As time ticked by, Peri's guard began to drop, less attention on the nurse's office door and more on present company. Chewing a bite of pasty, he could only nod when asked about his time in the club lining up with the League. As soon as he swallowed it down, though, he immediately specified: "Twelve. Six wins, six losses." There was no "think" about it, he had kept track of every match and every outcome these past couple of years. "It's an abyssal record, I know, but I'll take an even win-loss ratio. I like to think duelling is less about winning than learning, and there's a lot to be learned in losing." At least, that's what he rationalized to himself, yet it didn't stop the teenager from having natural spurts of competitiveness. No, not that... not beating his peers, but success itself. He aspired to do well and regarded duelling as a path towards self-improvement. "It's an excellent chance to practice the spells you'll learn over the years, and you'll find with time that incantations come easier. Your wand draw becomes smoother, your reflexes sharpen, you speak your spells as quickly as you think them...." The subtle swell of excitement and reverence waned as his thoughts drifted to the downside. "...although, there's a fair deal of pain involved. And you'll see the inside of this room more than you might care to." He waved his pasty in a vague circle to indicate the Hospital Wing. There was a cost to knowledge. Unfortunately, as far as learning from Duelling went, the cost included burns and blunt force trauma. "Do you think you'll stick with the sport?"
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Date: 5 November 2023 Time: Around dinner

Interacting with: @Pericles Dralt Mentions: X

English | French Thoughts

Pericles didn't miss a beat when she asked about his duels. It somehow felt fitting that he had just a perfect equal number of wins and losses. Not because she felt like he was only average (she was more and more tempted to see one of his next duels, curious about how he did them and what she could learn from him), but it just... He felt rounded, like 100, or the perfect ratio he'd gotten, if that made sense? Sometimes Mahlioz had absolutely no idea why her brain told her things like this, but it worked, so she went with it.

She nodded at his wise words about learning being better than winning. Yes, of course she'd wanted to win (especially her first duel). But she'd been honestly surprised at how scarily determined some of the other duellists had been about it. She was there to learn, and to have fun, and to take advantage of the spells she'd learned. "I wouldn't say abyssal, exactly," she said, pensive. "How often have you landed here because of a duel?" She hoped it wasn't too rare. She really needed to work up her endurance.

She listened intently when the bird boy explained the pros and cons of duelling, his voice going into a slight semblance of the time when he told her about the pain of his first transformation. But it was true... she would have to be back here quite a bit if she continued duelling. Pain was part of the reason why there were so many sports she disliked. What was the point of running around chasing balls or flying around on a death stick for no reason if there was so much of a chance you would get hurt?

Which meant she did have to pause when Pericles asked her whether she'd continue. Her brain was starting to become more normal now, her thoughts no longer sticking together like honey. Did she really want to end up in the hospital wing often? Did she really want to get hurt for a sport?
Glancing down and taking another treat out of the bag Pericles had given her was all she needed for her answer. "Yes, I think so." Because it wasn't just a useless sport - she practiced all her spells in it, everything she learned in school. It was the perfect mix of theory and application in real life. That was worth the pain.

It was funny that her mind flitted to animagi at that moment. Because she could have the exact same question posed about that. Was it worth the pain? She did not know. Thankfully, she still had a good few years. But she really hadn't been expecting to mix animagi and duelling together.

A perfect addition to her earlier random stating of the bird boy's name suddenly came to her. How unfortunate that the conversational part of her brain was always five minutes too late. Still, she asked. "Sorry to change the subject so quickly, I just - your name. Where is it from?" Amusing to have the roles inversed, for once - usually it was others who asked Mahlioz. Pericles sounded Greek, with the -es at the end (though Mahlioz wasn't sure how she'd spell it if she had to). The Slytherin was decently well-versed in terms of greek mythology, but she'd never heard of his name before.

@Mahlioz Evethisawe

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	It seemed their minds mutely followed along the same tangent: becoming an animagus would be trying, but the young wix's dedication to something difficult- like duelling- spoke volumes of their resolve. Pericles smirked in approval. He said nothing more on Mahl's commitment than a quiet "Good", though there returned that telltale shine to his eyes which had nothing to do with taking the last bite of his pasty. On hearing her deny the negative connotation of his record, he snickered softly, musing "You're too kind. I s'pose it isn't so bad, all things considered. I've been sent to this ward for more than half of those matches. Once you get older, you get better at mending injuries on your own, though it never hurts to get a check-up in our recreation." Once more, Mahlioz said sorry, this time for changing the subject. Peri rather liked their ability to leap between topics and elected to say so, insisting "You don't have to apologize. I appreciate the conversation, changing its course is simply the sign of an active, inquisitive mind." It wasn't a question he got often, or ever that he could recall, surprisingly enough. "It's Greek. Da's a trading captain. I was born on a business trip to a wizard settlement in the Saronic Islands, so he and mum thought it fitting for me to inherit a local name, albeit an archaic one." He lowered the volume of his voice to something conspiratorial again, muttering: "Don't tell anyone, but my middle name's Pontius." Pericles Pontius Dralt, an egregiously Greek Wizard name if ever there was one, complete with alliteration. Whether he was actually embarrassed or playing coy for her benefit was anyone's guess, though like most teenagers, he was earnestly averse to its significance. The Ravenclaw's tone became less factual as he offhandedly remarked, "Etymologically lines up to something about 'Glory at Sea'. We come from a long line of sailors, so it seems a reference couldn't be helped, but better than being named after some old ancestor." He even waved his hand as if to brush the subject away (that was their legacy, not his), turning the question around. "What about 'Mahlioz'? I'm usually better at pinning names, but I can't place yours. The prefix sounds German, but the suffix... Portuguese?" It was a pleasant name, an almost draconic combination of sigh and hiss, rolling off the tongue with a trace of exoticism.
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Date: 5 November 2023 Time: Around dinner

Interacting with: @Pericles Dralt Mentions: X

English | French Thoughts

More than half of his matches. Pericles had been in the Hospital Wing after more than half of his matches. That meant he had ended up in here even when his team won... Well. That was slightly terrifying. Not enough to get Mahlioz to quit duelling, but... she was just glad she also had other hobbies. That weren't exactly as injury prone.

She had not been expecting his compliment about changing the subject - she did so a lot, but often other people weren't done yet or she went too fast for them. It was nice to know he didn't mind, even appreciated it. Before she could make it awkward with another thank-you, though, he affirmed her belief that his name was indeed Greek. "Oh, that's cool." She didn't travel all that often - mostly just between Scotland and France, for her family, but she would have loved to voyage more, as it sounded like Pericles' family did. "Archaic names are the most interesting ones, if you ask me," she added with a small grin.

At the mention of his middle name, she could not help but giggle. Pontius. It sounded... well, still Greek, but somehow even older than Pericles, and also a lot more silly to say. If Pericles sounded regal, Pontius sounded a bit like a jester. "Thank goodness your parents decided it was better as a middle name, rather than your first."
The etymology was pretty interesting - and confirmed that his family did actually travel a lot, being sailors. Glory at Sea. "Do you sail?" she asked, curious as to whether he lived up to his name.

"Ah, er... not exactly." A small laugh slipped out as he tried to guess the origins of her name. "It's, uh... quite a bit more simple than that. Me and both my siblings were named after our parents' D&D characters." Pierre had been playing since he'd been a kid, and as soon as he'd introduced it to Alarian she'd fallen in love with the game. Actually, now that she thought about it, did wizards play D&D? Would Pericles have any idea what she was talking about?

Well, only one way to find out. And Mahlioz actually didn't mind it too much, the talking, anymore. It'd been a rocky start to the conversation, sure, but now she was rather enjoying it.