Pepper

October 28, 2006 9:04 AM

Avoiding any celebrations by Pepper

No thanks to her, Teppenpaw had one. In fact, thanks to everyone but her. The Beaters had Beaten, the Chasers - although their goal had been saved - had Chased, and the Seeker had certainly Saught. She hadn't had a chance to prove herself in the game, but that was a lucky thing, because she would have let the team down terribly. Coming down, she'd squeaked a few words of congratulations to Kaylie (she wasn't sure if anyone heard them or not) before slinking away on her still jelly-like legs.

She'd spent the whole morning feeling like collapsing into a pile of mush, and now she was free to do it. Having showered off the mud, she returned to the Teppenpaw Common Room, hoping to beat most people back. The few who were there, she avoided eye contact with, gesturing at those who she accidentally caught that she was just going to take her broom upstairs. It was true, she thought, as she gained the safety of her bedroom and rolled it under the bed, locking the door over her shoulder with her wand. She just wasn't planning on coming back down.

She pulled the duvet around her shoulders, gathering a big wadge of it between her arms for something to cuddle up to. She hoped the rest of the team were enjoying their victory. \n\n
0 Pepper Avoiding any celebrations 0 Pepper 1 5


Lexi Stafford

October 28, 2006 4:05 PM

You think you're going to get away with that? by Lexi Stafford

There really was no better feeling in the world, Lexi Stafford decided to herself, then winning. There were some people who always insisted that the point of organized sports was to build teamwork, or reliance on other people, but she knew that was complete BS. Sports were first and foremost about winning, and after that came everything else.

So, naturally, she was ecstatic as she returned to the Teppenpaw common room. While she hadn’t really done anything of note in the game, she had still gotten to attack people with bludgers, which was always a fun thing to do, and on top of that, Kaylie had gotten the snitch, so Lexi had the double high.

After getting back into the common room, Lexi had been planning to celebrate with everyone else. After all, every good victory needed an equally excellent party, and, with her post-game adrenaline rush, nothing sounded better than some celebrating and socializing. But her plans changed as entered just in time to see one of her teammates avoiding contact with anyone and heading up the stairs to the rooms. She might have never really talked to Pepper before, but she was still a teammate, and that bond was still important.

She followed the younger girl up the stairs to find the second year’s dorm room door closed. Now, most people probably would have taken that as a request for everyone to go, but not Lexi Stafford. Any aggression left over from the game had evaporated, so she was immersed in the ‘comfort’ mode that her father and grandfather had been teaching her since she was old enough to figure out that wounded creatures needed that kind of thing. Now, Pepper obviously wasn’t what Lexi normally took care of, but it was sort of the same situation. And, of course, Lexi also was feeling slightly nosy.

She rapped on the door twice, figuring the last thing the other girl would want would be someone barging in if something was wrong, and called out, “Hey, Pepper? It’s Lexi. Are you okay?” Maybe she would get told to go away, or maybe she would be completely ignored (both options Lexi would probably take if it was her someone she barely knew was trying to intrude), but that wasn’t the point. If something was wrong, she had to try.
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0 Lexi Stafford You think you're going to get away with that? 0 Lexi Stafford 0 5


Pepper

October 30, 2006 8:10 AM

No... Not for long really. by Pepper

Pepper had been buried in the comfort of her duvet for a bare few minutes when someone rapped on her door. She guessed it was inevitable in Teppenpaw, house of the caring. Even though she really didn't want company, she couldn't be annoyed at the concern, nor think ill of the trait. It meant a lot that Lexi, who she hardly even knew, had noticed she was missing and was worried. Right now, it made her feel worse, because it meant Lexi wasn't enjoying herself at the party, and it meant she couldn't just mope on her own, but on an objective, overall scale, she was pleased by the gesture.

"I-I'm alright," she squeaked. She could hear cheering from downstairs. None of it for her, because she'd done nothing to earn it. "I'm just waiting for the match butterflies to settle down. They're still making me feel a bit sick." This wasn't entirely untrue, even if it wasn't the main reason she wasn't interested in joining the party. "I'll probably be down in a little while," she told Lexi. "Have fun - you've earned it," she said.

She pulled the duvet tighter around her and blinked. There were only tears at the very edges of her eyes, and she wasn't sure why they were there - whether it was because she was miserable, or whether it was because Lexi was being so nice. Either way, it was very silly to cry them if she didn't know why. \n\n
0 Pepper No... Not for long really. 0 Pepper 0 5


Lexi

October 30, 2006 11:19 AM

Then why bother? by Lexi

Lexi knew that she should probably just leave, since Pepper obviously didn't feel like being bothered right now, and the reason the younger girl gave for being down there was a logical one. But she still couldn't just go. It felt disloyal, even if Pepper wanted to be by herself. After all, Pepper was part of the team, and it was their celebration. It didn't seem right for such a crucial member to not be there.

"If you're sure you're alright, I suppose. Do you want me to bring you up some butterbeer or something?" she asked, deciding to make one final effort before heading back down. "Jake went and got some, along with snacks and stuff, from the kitchens, and that might help settle your stomach."

She waited a second for an aye or nay, then decided to go ahead and add a warning. "If not, we're still going to be expecting you down there later. You're important to the team, and we can't celebrate properly without you, now could we? And it looks like it's going to be an excellent party, and you deserve as much fun as the rest of us," throwing Pepper's last comment back at her.\n\n
0 Lexi Then why bother? 0 Lexi 0 5