So much for the immortal brother/sister bond. Yeah, they fought like cats and dogs, but they were also meant to save each other when needed. And right now Sorrel needed saving from boredom. She'd discovered the downside of doing absolutely everything with your twin; when your twin decided to do something without you, you were royally screwed.
Her wretched brother had abandoned her to some, more interesting project. And she didn't really know anyone else here yet. Her problem wasn't that she was shy. She had bags of confidence. She just didn't want to start talking to a girly girl by mistake. They made her want to gag. She got enough nail varnish fumes wafting out from under Mariella's door at home; she didn't need more.
She pulled a ball out of her bag and began bouncing it off the wall... It was amazing. After a while, the rhythm of it hitting off the wall and then the floor before coming back to her seemed to cry out 'so - bored. So - bored...' Wow. It was only a couple of days in and she was actually cracking... Moreso! \n\n
Elizabeth, icy blue eyed, raven haired Elizabeth entered the commonroom, gazing about for one of her friends. She immediately noticed a girl bouncing a ball against one of the walls. It was one of the twins that had been fighting at the Quidditch Pitch. Quietly, she walked over to where the other girl stood, leaning slightly into one hip, her hand casually resting upon her broomstick, which she had just brought in from the pitch. Elizabeth's parents and brothers had given her hours of practice on that broom, so much that the wood had nearly formed to the grip of her hands.
"Is it really that boring here?" she asked, playful sarcasm seeping through every word. Grinning, she introduced herself, "Elizabeth Lavine. You must be..." \n\n
Strolling down the corridor from the boys dorms, Stephen noticed a rhythmical sound coming from the common room. Puzzled and intrigued, he started moving faster, bursting out of the entrance in a clatter of bumps as he nearly lost his balance on the stairs.
There were a couple of girls there, but that looked like it. One of those crazy twins that he'd heard more than seen so far, and the girl who Also-Liked-To-Ride-The-Wrong-Corridor-Thing. Single twin was throwing a ball at the wall, explaining the noise and reminding him of his idea back on the first day, but had forgotten about after discovering the corridor ride.
He looked at the girl's corridor speculatively for a moment, then over at the girls. Ok, he decided... just one ride before I go say hi. Pelting back up the stairs, he took the turn for the girls corridor...
"Oomph... still the coolest... except maybe for Fido," he commented loudly as he picked himself back up and wandered over to the girls. "Can I play too?" he asked single twin.
\n\n
39Stephen BaxterThe <i>master</i> of fun!49Stephen Baxter05
Oh great. She'd attracted the attention of a girl. As if she didn't get enough of those in her room... Sorrel was very tempted to finish the sentence of 'You are...' with '... really not interested.' But she guessed Elizabeth (prissy name...) was innocent until proven girly. At least she was holding a broom...
She was about to reply when she was cut off by some guy 'oomphing'. And commenting about the stairs thing.
"I hate it," she replied, "It stops me slipping nasty things into my brother's bed," she explained with a wicked grin. "And sure." She lobbed the ball at him.
"And it's Sorrel, by the way," she added, mainly to the other girl. She supposed she wasn't exactly in a position to judge based on over girly names. Stupid parents...\n\n
0SorrelI'M fun, it's the place that's dull!0Sorrel05
No - this place ROCKS! There's cool rides and Fido, my broo
by Stephen
Catching the ball, Stephen chucked it at the wall and caught it on the rebound. "Nice name," he commented, snickering. "I'm Stephen... hey where's the other you? The boy one - you know, your brother."
They hadn't seemed to keen on being seperated when he'd first noticed them, although by the sound of their squabbles... nah, they had to be fun like when his older brother mucked around with him and they had cool mock fights. Alan was probably working on one of his motocycle projects at the moment... maybe he's even be working on the smaller trail bike he'd promised Stephen for Christmas!
Still, Stephen wasn't able to feel particularly homesick - not when there were so many cool things to see and do around here. And he was starting to make friends, like that little guy Zack.
Grinning, he threw the ball overarm back at Sorrel.
"Whatcha trying to put in his bed?" he asked suddenly, as he caught sight of her grin and recalled the words that had to be the cause of it.\n\n
39StephenNo - this place ROCKS! There's cool rides and Fido, my broo0Stephen05
She had to grin when Stephen ran into the corridor barrier again. That was fun, she thought to herself. Annoying to other people, maybe. Stupid, of course, but growing up with two older brothers taught Elizabeth that as long as you didn't kill yourself while doing something, it was cool. Brett and Javon, her brothers, never exactly gave her the chance to be all girly like other girls here. Elizabeth was strictly a rough and tumble Quidditch player. Ok, so she wasn't -strictly- like that, but for the most part, she was very much like her 21 and 16 year old brothers. Especially with her record here- already she'd hexed a guy, backslapped the heck out of another jerk, straching him with her ring, and totally made enemies with this other girl.
"Nice to meet you Sorrel. Glad to see you're just the same as the last time we met Stephen." she added with a grin. \n\n
Sorrel gave Stephen the evils as he laughed at her name. Ok, she thought it was a bit wimpy and girlish, but that didn't mean other people could laugh at it.
"Yeah, well, it's not like I chose it," she replied, catching the ball and lobbing it back a little harder. "Blame my parents," she said with a roll of her eyes, "They thought it'd be 'cute' to give me and Ash 'matching' names." Sorrel made a gagging noise.
"And I hadn't decided yet..." she replied, "It's just not cool of them to take the option away. It probably would have been something slimey.
You play Quidditch at all?" she asked Stephen, observing his throws and catches with interest. \n\n
Stephen caught the ball again, making a great show of how 'difficult' it had been and how much the speed made his hand hurt. He was grinning the entire time. He rather liked this girl - she was pretty cool. She'd be cooler if she understood just how much fun the corridor ride was.
"Ash is a kinda girly name," he agreed with her comment about them being matching, tossing the ball up lightly and catching it a couple of times. Stephen dropped the ball, kicked it at the wall and caught it again before tossing it back to Sorrel.
"Quidditch? That's that sport that the coach mentioned, isn't it. The one on brooms. Nah, I don't play it." He shrugged, "at least not yet. It sure sounds like fun. Especially as you get to fly when playing. I bet Fido would love it."\n\n
Oh Merlin. A commedian. If she'd wanted to hurt him, he would be in the infirmary by now. She was tempted to tell him not to mess with a Beater, but that didn't seem like it would have an effect, as he didn't know what Quidditch was.
"Ash is not a girly name," she said hotly, "I've never met a single girl called it." No one insulted her twin except her. The same was true of hurting them, and the same was true from Ash's point of view. They were rules that Sonora would have to learn if they didn't want to get beaten up.
"I'm guessing you're either Muggleborn or extremely sheltered," she grinned, as she continued to pass and catch the ball, "Yeah. Quidditch is the most popular sport in the wizarding world. Even if Quodpot has things which explode, and Shuntbumps and/or broom jousting have ramming people with large sticks," she said, sounding whistful. Just because the coach wasn't going to teach them though, didn't mean that she and Ash weren't going to carry on with their tournaments. "Seven players to a team. Me and Ash both play Beater, which means we get to hit things!" she grinned enthusiastically. "And who's Fido?" she asked, sounding confused. To her, 'Fido' was a dog's name, in which case she couldn't see how it was related to Quidditch. Unless Stephen had really got the wrong end of the stick...\n\n
Stephen just continued with his irrepressible grinning as Sorrel got all defensive on her brother's behalf, not at all worried about how angry she seemed. He wondered if Ash would be exactly the same, and decided that he would have to ambush the other twin that night in the dorm and have a chat.
His nose twitched as she mentioned that he had to be either Muggleborn or extremely sheltered. Like he was sheltered! Alan could always be relied on to let him know what was going on if their parents wouldn't. So that probably made him that other thing.
"Muggleborn, I suppose," he said with a shrug before chucking back the ball. "My parents never mentioned anything about magic before anyhow, and Alan's normal."
He listened with interest as she spoke about this Quidditch thing, and with perhaps greater interest when she moved the topic onto things exploding and ramming people with large sticks while flying on brooms. About to enthusiastically ask about this broom jousting, he paused as she asked about Fido.
"Fido," Stephen said with a hint of pride in his voice, "is the broom I got in the flying lesson. He's a good broom. He even came back when I told him too - I don't know if you saw him run off when we started the class. Zack's broom, Bones wasn't quite so enthusiastic... I think he might have been tired."
He caught the ball and held it for a second, adjusting his grip before sending it back with a good spin to it. It twisted in the air, seeming to not even be heading toward the girl until almost the last minute... \n\n
"Normality is in the eye of the beholder," shurgged Sorrel. "My mum's a witch, so to me this is normal," she gestured round the commons, but meant magic as a whole really. "But my dad's not..." she shrugged. "Some Pureblood snobs - that's people whose entire line is magic - will try and tell you you're substandard. Just punch them," she advised. "I would.
And cool. Me and Ash have our own brooms. And our own jousting gear. We were wearing on the Pitch when we had training. Until the meanie coach told us our game was childish. Shows all she knows. You have to be bloody strong to play it."
She looked at the ball, realising that she wasn't going to be able to get out of her chair enough in time to grab it, until it sunk at the last minute, heading right for her. She snatched it out of the air.
"You should play Chaser," she commented, "You'd be good at it. Or maybe Keeper..." she tried, throwing the ball left and above his shoulder to see how he coped with that. "What kind of broom is Fido?" she asked with interest, although the school probably didn't have anything very up to date. \n\n
She looked from the boy to the girl, leaning heavily on her broom handle. Her blue eyes watched with skilled anticipation as the ball went back and forth. Elizabeth had always played Chaser with her brothers, and years of keeping her eye on the ball trained her to do these kinds of things without even a second thought. She felt a little ignored, and sort of miffed at the mention of purebloods.
Elizabeth was a pureblood, but only by name. Sure her whole family had been witches and wizards, but that wasn't her fault. She hated most of the pureblood families that her parents had held fabulous parties for because of their insane lineage obsession. I wouldn't do something like that, and I'm pureblood. she thought to herself, a little annoyed. Heck, I slapped that TJ guy across the face for using such derrogitory terms like 'mudblood' towards Sally... She twisted her pearl earring uncertianly, as if wondering if she should leave the conversation or not... \n\n
Stephen shrugged, unsure whether punching anyone would help. He would if it were ever necessary - he was being attacked or someone was attacking one of his friends - but just because of words? There were other ways of dealing with things like that.
"Is that what you were wearing?" Stephen ased, having only barely noticed any such thing due to his excitement over being able to fly. It sounded like you'd have to be strong to cope with all that ramming people. In fact, "hey you reckon you could show me that jousting thing? It sounds like cool fun. Alan's going to be so jealous when i tell him about the broomsticks and the cool things you can do on them. Chaser? Is that that Quidditch thing again?"
His left hand rose and snatched the ball out of the air, while he continued talking.
"Keeper? I dunno. As for Fido, he's a broom... I don't know what kind - are there different kinds of broom, then? Like how there's Yamaha's and Harley's and Suzuki's?" He caught sight of Elizabeth standing to the side with her broom and chucked the ball at her. "Do you play this Quidditch thing too?"\n\n
She laughed as her free hand flew out to catch the ball and held it comfortably on her hip. She stood straight, and leaned her StarFire 3000 against the wall. Elizabeth? -PLAY- this game? No, she lived Quidditch!
"Yeah, I play. I'm a Chaser; always have been, always will be." she said casually, now throwing the ball and catching it in the air above her. "I take it you don't play much, considering I've never heard of Yahmahaha or Suswicki or whatever you said."
Elizabeth grinned at the both of them, wondering if she'd get a chance to play Quidditch with them, or that jousting game, which sounded sort of like Shuntbumps, but pretty fun... In any case, she tossed the ball back to the space just above Stephen's head, testing his coordination simultaneously. \n\n
Sorrel smiled to herself as Stephen caught her shot. Definitely a Chaser or Keeper in the making. And that was what Elizabeth played. So either two Chasers, or a Chaser and a Keeper, and two Beaters either way... They were more than half way there.
"So," she grinned, as Elizabeth mangled motorbike names, "I'm guessing you've had a wizarding upbringing, and you," she returned to Stephen, "we know have had a Muggle one... Looks like I'm translator!" she laughed, "My mum's a witch, but my dad's a Muggle. Though our family line... You name a blood type, we've had it. It's the biggest mashed together lot I've ever seen. Enough to make the stuck up Purebloods faint!" she said with relish.
"And, sure. I'll teach you how to broom joust, both of you, if you like. Neither of you have ribs that crack easily, do you?"
OOC - good to see you're still with us Elizabeth! Thought we'd scared you off!\n\n
ooc: lol! scared off? me? hahaha! lol ic: Elizabeth smiled, seeing clearly that Stephen would be a great quidditch player. She sort of resented the added pureblood comment, but she let it slide. Sorrel didn't know, so why should Elizabeth totally bite her head off because of it?
"Well, my parents were both from wizarding families, so I've never really had exposure to muggleborns, except for here. The muggle world was never really open to me to explore to my discretion, so I'm sorry about the horrible butchering of those names." she hesitantly waited for their reactions, then she continued, "My family is from New Orleans, where we've been ever since the beginning of the Spanish Exploration and the Louisiana Purchase. Anyways, I'm here now, and I simply can't wait for the beginning of Quidditch Season. I bet we'll have the best team, the Pecari House will rock with you all!" \n\n
OOC: Dude, good to see you still here, although you might like to pay attention to what your character can actually hear and what is only thought. BIC:
"So you're one of them thingamyjig's then?" Stephen asked as he caught the ball again without even having to try. "A pureblood?" He looked at her in great interest to see if there was anything different about this 'pureblood', but even after circling her three times, she seemed pretty much like every other girl to him.
He shrugged and headed back towards the other girl, pegging the ball her way as he did so.
"Why's it such a big thing?" he asked. "This whole blood thing. It must be something important the way you two are going on about it."\n\n
Elizabeth nodded as Stephen looked her over. True, she didn't look any different than anyone else here, and she was sure she wasn't the smartest person, so what did make purebloods so radically different? She looked nervously at Stephen and Sorrel, wondering whether she was in good enough position to explain it to Stephen. Elizabeth wasn't really exactly sure where she stood in the world, especially since she was one the wrong side of the fence if you were a pureblood... She shook her head mentally, and spoke up.
"Well, There are some people who are obsessed with keeping the Wizarding World "clean", which means no muggleborns, etc." she averted her eyes to the ground, pretending to examine her shoes.
"There are some purebloods that couldn't care less if muggleborns are wizards, after all, everyone deserves the oppourtunity, right? Well, at least that's what I think about the whole situation. It's not like a new thing, people have been doing it for hundreds and hundreds of years, yet somehow no one's figured out how to stop it." Elizabeth looked up from the flagstone floor at catch Stephen's reaction to her somewhat wimpy explanation of an age old feud between he old Wizarding families like her own and other pureblood families. \n\n
"And they're complete and utter pricks," said Sorrel. "No offence," she added, quickly to Elizabeth, "I wasn't saying anything against you. Just the Purebloods who have their family trees rammed right up their asses, which you clearly aren't. I don't have a problem with Purebloods unless they have a problem with me," she shrugged. There was no point being snobby to all Purebloods. Some, like Elizabeth, were really nice. You were just being a bloodsnob, as bad as the stuck up Purebloods, if you exluded them from your company because of their blood type.
"Just to clue you in," she added to Stephen, "Most people - if they have any ounce of politeness - will call you a Muggleborn," she explained, unable to believe she had just so sniffily talked about people with 'an ounce of politeness'. She didn't give a damn about politeness! Except in this case. Blood intolerance was something she couldn't abide. Any other form of rudeness was pretty much fine. Except sexism. She'd punch the first guy who thought she was weak because she was a girl. It wasn't unjust violence if she was proving a point. An argument her teachers had failed to understand many times over... "Just so you're not blindsided by it though - cos they'll be worse to you if you don't know what it means - some stuck up snobs might call you a Mudblood. It links back to what Elizabeth was saying; they think wizarding lines have to be kept Pure and 'clean'. It's utter bullplop. Just punch them," she told him. That seemed to be her solution to a lot of things. "Or, you know... Use the wrong fork at dinner or something. That'll probably damage them as much." \n\n
"Oh-kay," Stephen said slowly, trying to think this new information through. It didn't really make much sense - well, it did, but it didn't. As Sorrel didn't seem too interested in the passing back of the ball, he headed over to the wall and slid down it until he was sitting on the cool stone floor.
"Why is there any need to even call me that first one... muggleborn? Isn't it- I mean isn't labling everyone just as bad? We're all the same, really, aren't we? You know, other than that," he grinned as he tried to lighten the mood, "I'm cool and you guys are girls."
He felt like boucing a ball or something to keep his hands occupied, but in the absence of that option, Stephen started to tap the floor and wall rhythmically.\n\n
Sorrel shrugged. "Yeah, some people just go with 'witch' or 'wizard' seeing as that's what we all are. I just meant if bloodtypes come up. Most people would say 'Muggle born'. Only stuck up snobs use 'Mudblood', and they're more likely to be the dirty ones anyway; the ones who are obsessed with keeping Pure are all horribly inbred," she said, before remembering Elizabeth was a Pureblood. She really hoped she wasn't a rebel whose family were intent on keeping their line Pure. "Only some, of course," she added hastily.
"Oh you are so dead," she grinned, vaulting over the arm of her chair. Damn... Why did he have to be sitting down? It made him so much harder to floor... "What do you reckon we should do to him for that comment?" she asked Elizabeth over her shoulder. "Perhaps he's ticklish..." \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
She returned Sorrel's grin, even though in the back of her mind, something got angry about the inbred comment. Once again, Elizabeth let a comment slide, and proceeded in attacking Stephen. She hoped the guy was ticklish! Elizabeth already knew he had a good sense of humor, and a fun mentality, so she started tickling mericlessly. Forget keeping up a prank war, a tickle fight was ten times better! \n\n
Glad his back was against the wall as it limited their advantage, Stephen tried not to laugh as he was mercilesly attacked. Holding his breath worked to a point, although with his face rapidly turning dark shades of red and his lungs bursting both from requiring air and the jolting need to laugh, it wasn't successful.
"Hey!" he protested in between fits of giggles. "You... can't... do.... this.... no.... fair!!" He was laughing so hard it was difficult to breath.
Knowing that he couldn't take much more, Stephen did his best to turn the tables, although it was difficult. There were two of them, and only one of him. It didn't stop him trying.\n\n
She laughed and gasped for air, her arms tiring from the fight. Elizabeth backed off, and let Sorrel take a whack at tickling the boy to death. In the meantime, She hopped up from the ground, and set off to do some unfinished thinking. She raced up her dormitory steps, and a moment later Elizabeth had changed clothes, tied her ebony hair in a bun, and grabbed her broom from its resting place on the wall. She was headed towards the Quidditch Pitch, and as she exited the commonroom, she waved a hand at Sorrel and Stephen.
"'bye guys, good luck Sorrel!" And she was gone, hoping to get some alone time with which to think. \n\n
Sorrel tried to dodge as Stephen attempted to take them on, even though she wasn't really ticklish. Only the very back of her neck, which most people squirmed over. Ash had got the really ticklish genes. She didn't use it as an attack very much. It was too fluffy and unaggressive. Only if they were really playing rather than sparring.
She blinked as Elizabeth ran off, but assumed she was going to get some cool weapon from their dorm to augment their attack with. She turned, keeping an eye on Stephen, as she heard footfalls. A broom? Did she plan on clouting him over the head? She gave Stephen a 'What the-?' look, as Elizabeth simply rushed off, before she returned to the more important matter of grabbing his arms and attempting to pin him to the wall. It was about the only proper tactic she could imploy, unless she really started punching him, which he hadn't deserved. Playful comments got play fighting. Stuck up, arrogant, designed to sting comments got you your face kicked in. Not that she cared what Purebloods or anyone said, she just didn't want them to think she couldn't kick the snot out of them.
"Give?" she asked, kneeling on his knees to stop him trying to kick her. "Or do I have to spit in your face and knock you off a broom before you take back that comment?" she asked, leaning in and giving him mock evils. \n\n
Liz had gone. Unable to take the time to see where, nor the breath to shout out a 'fine - run away then... chicken!' because he found himself momentarily pinned to the wall. He twisted in an attempt to free himself, but sitting on the ground aparently had drawbacks - limited his movement considerably.
Kneeling on his knees pretty much finished the fight for Stephen. Only allowed a minimal of movement - but at least now able to start getting his breath back - he conceeded defeat.
"Give," he panted out. "Give... now get off... before you... squash me... flat, Sorry." The twinkle in his eye remained intact.\n\n
OOC - I'm assuming, seeing it was with a capital and twinkling eyes, that he was calling her 'Sorry'. If it's as in nickname for her, can you spell it 'ie'. It avoids confusion as to whether someone's apologising or addressing her *g*. And sorry (with a 'y') for shortness - lateness, plus her reaction hinges on nickname/apology, and she's not entirely sure which he meant...
BIC "I'm tempted to deck you for admitting girls are cool," she grinned, though she leant back, releasing him. "They suck. Why do you think I wish I was a boy?" she asked. "Though that's only girly girls," she shrugged. Girls like her were cool, but she wasn't going to be pretentious enough to declare it. Only girly girls cared about being popular.
"Was that an apology or a nickname?" she asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously. She was sure Ash hadn't called her that within another person's hearing. \n\n
"What?!" Stephen asked astounded, the mirth in his eyes dropping for a moment - but still taking the opportunity to stand so he couldn't get sat on again. "I never said girls were cool. I'm cool, and you're... ok," the twinkling made a comeback.
Hands raised is a warding fashion, he tried to back off. His efforts were hindered by the wall, so he slid along it a little.
"Nickname I suppose - I wasn't sorry. You're the only one who's going to be Sorrie."\n\n
'Ok'. She could deal with 'ok'. It was boy speak for 'you're cool, but it's not macho for me to admit I think so.' She stood as he did, leaning casually against the wall.
She wasn't sure to make of her 'new' nickname, and from the way he was looking at her, he was going to have fun keeping her guessing as to which he was saying - Sorrie or Sorry. Part of her was aggravated. It was Ash's name for her, and it was sort of kiddy and twee. On the other hand, if he hadn't over heard Ash, and was teasing her off his own imagiantion, that might be kind of cool. You had to kind of be friednly with someone to be able to tease them in a friendly way.
"If you say so, Stephie," she shrugged, her eyes also betraying the fun she was having, and not taking the care to make it sound like it was meant to be short for 'Stephen' rather than 'Stephanie'. Quite the opposite, in fact.\n\n
Stephen blinked. He eyed Sorrel, looking a little unsure for a moment, although there was something going on behind his eyes. Gears were turning in his head as he took in this new development. See had called him by a girls name. Surely a little friendly teasing didn't deserve that! Although...
A half smile formed on his face for a second before it twisted and he stuck his tongue out at her. He pushed himself off the wall and toward the nearest couch, jumping the back and landing with a sprong as the piece of furniture protested his sudden landing.
"So when you going to show me and Fido that broom jousting thing?" he asked, making himself comfortable and reverting back to the earlier topic as though she hadn't said anything at all.\n\n
Sorrel didn't react the usual way that someone did to having a tongue poked out at them. Oh, she screwed her face up and poked hers back furiously, but a huge grin lit up her features before she did so. Stephen was fun, she was sure he was taking everything with the same good humour she and Ash used with each other. Her grey eyes were still smiling when she let up her scowl.
She followed him at a run, also vaulting the back of the couch, and landing next to him-ish, before scooting up to lean against the other arm with her legs stretched out.
"Whenever you want," she shrugged, "Well, within reason. If I'm busy eating, or kicking Ash, then I'd rather not be interrupted - those are both very important parts of my day," she added solemnly. "But it's not like I have a charged schedule of social engagements filling my evenings," she said, in a mock lofty voice, rolling her eyes. "Not even Quidditch," she said, looking a little more whistful, and genuinely sorry at this. "And I doubt either's going to start piling in soon, so..." She spread her hands in an expansive gesture, giving a little shrug before dropping them back into her lap. \n\n
yeah, and you can talk with your vocab!
by Stephen
Stephen stuck a hand into his robes and pretended to withdraw a thick book. He mimed opening it, then licked his finger and pretended to leaf through a few pages before stopping.
"Ah, yes!" he exclaimed. Then he began to very intently 'examine' the page he had open. He hummed and harred a few times making comments like 'no, no, no... dinnerparty' and 'of course that won't do, that appointment simply must be kept' in the poshest voice he could muster.
He flipped another 'page'.
"Well," Stephen said after a moment. "I think I have an opening. After lessons on Wednesday - but only before dinner. I have a pressing engagement at dinner," he added in a bustly important voice.
His eyes were the only thing (other than the fact that he was not a posh individual in any way) that gave him away.\n\n
39Stephenyeah, and you can talk with your vocab!0Stephen05
I like to inventify words for the improvement of my vocablur
by Sorrel
Sorrel squinted curiously, wondering what Stephen was doing for a moment, before she cottoned on. She rolled her eyes as he declared he was busy most nights of the week.
"Well, aren't you Mr. Popular," she said, pretending to be offended, and turning away. She wondered how best to react to his offer of Wednesday night. She could say that she was busy then, but she'd already said she had nothing on in the evenings. She could sniffily say he clearly wasn't interested, or that jousting was not high enough on his priorities list. She doubted he'd take her seriously, but there was one way that - if he'd picked up on an ounce of her personality so far - he'd know she was kidding.
"Really?" she asked in her most vapid impression of Mariella, she turned her head back, offering him a sweet smile, "You could find time for little ol' me in your busy schedule?" she asked, with a little squeal and a bat of her eyelashes, the smile turning into a grin as she tried not to laugh. It was hard. Her impressions of their sister normally had her and Ash in hysterics, but you probably had to know her to find it funny. \n\n
0SorrelI like to inventify words for the improvement of my vocablur0Sorrel05
Vocablur? ...actually, that's exactly the right word!
by Stephen
Stephen grinned. "It's a trial to be so popular as I," he said in a matyred voice, "but I do my best to give everyone at least a little of my time. Wouldn't want anyone pining away."
His grin faltered a second then widened again after she turned back and started acting... acting like a girl. It was too put on to be real.
He pretended to recheck his schedule, and directed a whistful look at the 'page' for a second.
"Yeah," he said. "It'll be a bit of a wrench - you know having to give up my wild social plans for the afternoon - but for you... for jousting... why not."\n\n
39StephenVocablur? ...actually, that's exactly the right word!0Stephen05
Would have been 'vocablurry' but I ran out of room
by Sorrel
Sorrel couldn't help but giggle. She could normally keep a straight face when it was necessary, but it wasn't really necessary here. Plus if she kept up the act any longer, she'd make herself want to vomit.
"It will be an absolute honour to knock someone as popular as you ten feet off a broomstick," she said, semi-solemnly.
"I'm going to grab Ash, if I can find him, and some lunch, so I guess I'll see you Wednesday. Well, in classes and stuff before but..." she shrugged, and was just standing up with a view to finding Ash, when she found that Ash had already found her.
"What's happening Wednesday? Arranging a date, are we Sorrie-kins?" he teased, in an overly sugared voice, "No offence man," he added to Stephen, he'd momentarily forgotten that teasing Sorrel in this case might embarrass someone else. Someone who he'd ideally like to make friends with. It was like an over ride though; see Sorrel, think of sarcastic comment, say sarcastic comment. He couldn't control it. "Aw, my sister's growing into such a big girl."
Sorrel, who had just recovered her schoolbag from by where her and Stephen's conversation had started, swung it at Ash's stomach. Ash caught at it, stopping it winding him.
"Stephen, this Ash. Don't let the identical surname and fact he just called me his sister fool you into thinking we're related," she sighed. \n\n
0SorrelWould have been 'vocablurry' but I ran out of room0Sorrel05
He continued the martyred act as Sorrel giggled (luckily not in a hugely girly fashion) and spoke solomnly, nodding as though in perfect understanding and acceptance of his terrible fate. He nodded as Sorrel started to stand and head off, but didn't make any move himself until after he noticed that they had been joined by a boy.
"Ah," Stephen said. He didn't see much point in bothering to introduce himself, as Sorrel had already helpfuly done that for him, so he grinned and examined this newcomer to the conversation. "You'd be the other guy from the dorm then. And no offence taken, dude. Your sister's pretty cool... you know - for a girl. Fights dirty though," he added, almost as an afterthought.
He flipped the grin back over to Sorrel. "Can I be fooled by the similar features then?" he asked. "'cause I swear you two have the same nose."\n\n
It's from a Bush cartoon Cazzie sent me
by Sorrel and Ash
Sorrel smiled to herself as Stephen said she was cool. Excellent. That was one boy down, two if you counted Ash, and probably only about two more to go, given how few there were in the school. She'd have them letting her into any guys gang there might be going by lunch time. Well, maybe dinner, as it ws lunch time now. She supposed it depended how many she caught in the hall.
"You're telling me," said Ash, rolling his eyes as Stephen called his sister a dirty fighter. "I've grown up with her. And yes, be fooled as much as you like, Sorrel's as dirty a lier as she is fighter," he laughed, elbowing his sister.
"Hey, I'm not that bad! If you want 'fights dirty' you should meet our older sister, Mariella," said Sorrel gagging, and shoving Ash.
"Kind of ironic, given how squeamish she goes over mud and stuff."
"She's a really girly girl," said Sorrel, with a shudder, "If we're really bugging her, she squirts at us with her body sprays and threatens to brush Ash's hair."
"Or varnish Sorrel's nails. Though I'd like to see her hold either of us still long enough to do that," he grinned, as Sorrel mussed his hair up further. It really didn't need it. His black hair would have fallen fairly neatly, were it not for the fact he never bothered to brush and Sorrel was always giving him noogies.
"But she's all non magical, so we won't be seeing much of her for the next seven years," grinned Sorrel. "Whereas I'm stuck with you for Merlin knows how long," she added, poking her tongue out at Ash.
"Do you have the delight of having any siblings?" Ash asked Stephen, in a long suffering voice, pulling Sorrel's hood up and over her eyes. \n\n
0Sorrel and AshIt's from a Bush cartoon Cazzie sent me0Sorrel and Ash05
And you didn't send it on for me to see?
by Stephen
Sinking back onto the couch, Stephen sat back and enjoyed the show. These two were a riot - really. If he'd been inclined toward jealousy, Stephen would probably have resented them for it. As it was he waited for him moment, then pounced. Metaphorically.
"I do," he told them. "Although luckily, I don't have a sister." He winked at Ash then grinned and stuck his tongue out at Sorrel again. "I have a brother - Alan. I mentioned him to your sister before. He's older too - six years older than I am. He's got an apprenticeship as a mechanic, and he's fixing up a bike for me for Christmas. A cool little Yamaha. He's really cool. He does all this brilliant stuff, and said he'll take me along in a couple of years too. but he can't do any magic. I hope they let me keep Fido - I'm going to ask the coach - so I can take him home to show Alan."
Stephen's stomache rumbled and in answer he finally stood up.
"I'm going to go rustle up some grub in the hall. If you two are going to stay here and squabble, I'll see you later. Wednesday if not before." That said, he headed for the exit.\n\n
39StephenAnd you didn't send it on for me to see?0Stephen05