Jozua Sparks
April 26, 2017 1:04 PM
Eden, I shall mourn thy loss all my days by Jozua Sparks
The team roster was posted. Ginger had talked to him privately beforehand, so it came as no surprise to him that his one request - not to be a beater - had been ignored. She'd made fair and valid points about his total inadequacy as a Chaser and how he'd be a lesser detriment to the team if he wasn't one of the people handling a Quaffle. Obviously she worded it nicer, but he got the gist. Keeper was hers, so he wasn't surprised that wasn't offered to him, and that left Seeker and Beater.The only other option for these positions was a first year girl, and surely Jozua could see he was clearly more qualified for beater than she was, being thirteen and in possession of more mass and muscle.
He was not convinced on the muscle front, but he granted Ginger the point on mass. He was both taller and rounder than Eden was.
And he had no idea how or when Ginger Pierce learned his buttons, or if she was just a good guesser and playing to a general assumption that guys liked to protect girls, but then she promised he would have to be involved in the chaos and madness that was the chaser beater's lot in life, and he could just focus on protecting one single but highly vulnerable target.
And, somehow, possibly through an Imperius Curse, though he had no proof or other sign that Ginger (or possibly Liac, hidden behind some curtains or something) had cast such an Unforgivable, Jozua found himself agreeing to play beater this year.
This was bad on several points. Firstly and most importantly, it meant that when Eden died in her first game it was totally going to be his fault. Secondly but still importantly, it meant he would have to try to die in her place, as was proper for a noble knight, but he was a bad enough Quidditch player that he doubted his ability to do so.
So here he was. Staking out the girl's stairs, waiting for the first year in question to come down them so he could apologize in advance for letting her die on his watch.
"Eden," he said, when he spotted her, "I want to you to know I would give my life for yours, but it might not be enough because I was a really lousy beater in my first game and I might not get to sacrifice position in time. Know that I do my best but when I inevitably fail, I will mourn your loss for all my days. What is your favorite flower that I should use to remember you by?"
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Jozua Sparks
Eden, I shall mourn thy loss all my days
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Eden Manger
May 05, 2017 1:16 AM
My... loss? by Eden Manger
It was just another day in a weird school where Eden still managed to feel out of place, until Jozua Sparks came up to her and made everything even weirder. Her eyes widened as he spoke, and all at once, she was very, very nervous about Quidditch. The possibility of dying in a game hadn’t really come to mind; Jake hadn’t said anything about anyone ever getting seriously injured, although retrospectively, she wasn’t sure he would have if that had happened, to avoid scaring her off.In any other situation, Jozua’s odd seriousness might have been comical, but Eden was in no way prepared to laugh at the subject matter. It would be a long time before she laughed off anything about mortality. Instinctively, she took a step away from him. She wasn’t particularly fond of being approached in general, but she was especially not pleased to be approached like this.
“Um,” she fumbled. “I like daisies?” Immediately, the first year mentally scolded herself for answering the question instead of protesting. She added a disagreement, as strong as she, a shaken little girl, could manage, posthaste. “But, um, I’m not really going to die... Right?” She didn’t intend to add the question, but now she was so unsure. Obviously Jake hadn’t died - and she was filling the position he had opened by graduating! - so maybe it wasn’t too bad. Or maybe he was just good at it. Eden wasn’t particularly good at Quidditch, or anything sport, she didn’t think, but she was small and nimble enough to potentially learn to be a quality Seeker. That was what Jake had too, as far as she could tell: smallness and nimbleness. But he also had experience. She did not.
The blonde felt herself getting increasingly upset at the notion, and tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t want to die,” she stated weakly.
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Eden Manger
My... loss?
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Jozua
May 05, 2017 10:01 AM
Oops. I've miscalculated. by Jozua
She was crying. This was bad. This was very bad. Jozua hadn't meant to make her cry. He wasn't quite sure what he had meant to achieve but this was not it. He'd been maybe sort of joking, but not really. Mostly he'd been being melodramatic, fishing for . . . something, reassurance maybe? A break in his own tension? Clearly he'd done it wrong and just spread his terror about the coming Quidditch year."Hey, hey, no," he said, awkwardly not-hugging-but-kinda-feeling-like-this-might-be-a-hugging-appropriate-situation. Instead, he kind of patted her on the shoulder and made aborted almost-hug-like-initiation-motions that pulled back just before actually being hug initiations. "No, no," he repeated, trying to sound confident and reassuring, "you won't die, I promise. I don't know of any school level fatalities happening in Quidditch. There are safety charms on the pitch to prevent really serious injuries, and the coach will step in too before anything really bad can happen. Worst case is bruises and a broken bone, and the medic is going to be right there. But I'm gonna try really hard not to let that happen, yeah?" he asked hopefully, watching her face to see if he was having any effect.
"We could practice some extra, too, if you'd like," he offered. "Get used to flying together outside of practice. It wouldn't even need to be anything fancy, just fly leisurely along the Garden paths and chat or something. I just need to get familiar with your flying style so I can anticipate where you're going to be and protect that in addition to where you are."
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