Ferris Thomas Briar
April 05, 2005 11:43 AM
Think fast, Aladren by Ferris Thomas Briar
Age is an unfair discriminator. This was a fact undisputed, however, age does not determine confidence, and so Ferris Thomas Briar pulled no issue with striding into the Aladren Common Room as if he owned the place. It occurred to him as he surveyed the homily placed chairs and sofas, rugs all matched and placed appropriately, that it was quite possible that one day he might very well own the room and buildings around it. Ferris was taught that if one dreams, and one is a Briar, then one must dream on a larger than most life scale.He pushed in collapsable carrying case, especially modified to contain all and any sporting goods, and crossed into the middle of the Common Room. Hands on his hips, blue eyes wide with satisfaction, and hair perfectly coiffed to an exceptional shine, Ferris felt emperor of his most decidedly empty domain. He didn't know much about the House mechanics, but he was certain his year's leader would have no trouble being recognized. After all, once his name was mentioned, who couldn't help but stand aside and all their better to move upward?
Ferris undid the clasp to open the carrier case and withdrew a brand new, leather encased football from one of the inner pockets. Grasping it loosely, he sprawled his gangly body into one of the vacant chairs and stared at the entrance way. It was a few more minutes before the door began to creep open, and, not waiting for recognition, Ferris chucked the football with expert ease at the unsuspecting victim.
He called out as the projectile left his fingers, quite cheerfully, "Think fast!"\n\n
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Ferris Thomas Briar
Think fast, Aladren
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Ferris Thomas Briar
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Christobel Dupree
April 05, 2005 12:39 PM
You should never do that to a wizard by Christobel Dupree
Chris hadn't stayed long in the hall after Asher had left. He hadn't felt he had much in common with the two boys and seeing that they weren't in the same house, he had felt no need to try to make friends with them. However, Asher had been another story. She seemed to have witty intellect that he would enjoy trying to match with his own, and he would eventually seek her out to see if she really was as she appeared, he determined.With this decided, he made his way to his House Common room, figuring he would pick a bed and get unpacked. As he opened the door, a large, brown thing came soaring at his head, and he heard a voice, but it sounded so far in the distance. All at once, the thing blew up in front of him. Looking down, he saw the pieces of whatever it had been on the floor. He hadn't thought, he had reacted, not with a wand, but with the way children do, before they learn to control their magic with their wands - the instict to protect themselves.
Bringing his gaze up, he saw a boy sitting in a chair, and said, "What was that?"\n\n
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Christobel Dupree
You should never do that to a wizard
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Christobel Dupree
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Ferris Thomas Briar
April 05, 2005 1:01 PM
That was one of my ten different footballs by Ferris Thomas Briar
As the shreds of his once football settled onto the floor, Ferris pushed out a sigh of impatience. It really did not do to have his possessions destroyed on sight, but that was a danger that always ran when around those who possessed magic. He pulled himself from his chair and untucked #3 of his down to nine footballs and brandished it forward.Pointing to the musky scented ball of leather, he explained. "This, my unknown destroyer of the gods' greatest gift to mankind, is a football. It's used in a sport called, quite coincidentally, football. If you'll not destroy this one, I can always show you how the game is played."
Ferris stepped up to the boy and held out his free hand. "Ferris Thomas Briar, sportsman enthusiast and first year Aladren. Try not to blow up too many more of my footballs, would you? I do hate to ask for replacements."\n\n
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Ferris Thomas Briar
That was one of my ten different footballs
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Ferris Thomas Briar
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Chris
April 05, 2005 4:05 PM
One of ten?! by Chris
Chris listened to the boy explain that it was a football, used for the game called football. Although, what the point was, he had no idea when there was Quidditch. The boy introduced himself, as Ferris Thomas Briar. He tried to remember if he had heard of the last name before.One of the problems with not being in Crotalus was there was a chance one could run into a half-blood or muggle-born. Not that he viewed them the same way as his sister, but he couldn't let pure-bloods, at least those like his family, get the wrong impression. After all, word would spread, and then he would have to deal with his family. He much prefered to stay lay low.
He tuned back into what Ferris was saying to hear, 'I do hate to ask for replacements.' At this point, Chris had to smirk. A replacement? A replacement would be no problem for him. After all, he was a Dupree. While he tried not to be snobby, he just couldn't help himself sometimes.
"One, why do you play this when there is Quidditch? Two, replacing the football would not be a problem, ever," he told him. "Oh, yes, my manners. My name is Christobel Dupree, but, please, call me Chris."\n\n
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Chris
One of ten?!
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Chris
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Ferris
April 05, 2005 4:33 PM
Stop at *Quidditch*?!? by Ferris
Ferris knew there was something likable about this fellow, and it was only further cemented by learning that he was a Dupree. And being that this Dupree, a pureblood, had been sorted in Aladren like himself, it could only mean one thing- ambition. Ferris cocked a grin and gestured down to sofa."Quidditch is grand, Chris, and naturally so, but think for a moment of variety. What's the point of being the best at only one thing? I refuse to limit myself, and so- the football and soccer and hockey and rugby and any other sport I discover."
Ferris situated himself comfortably back in the chair, his legs crossing themselves lazily over the arm. "Just as you're a Dupree, I'm a Briar. The world's far too large to be cut down to the smallness of the magical world."
A thought occurred to him and so he went on, not waiting for comment and not especially needing one. "And it's not a question of scarcity regarding replacements, rather I'm very particular about my things. The best and only the best. Don't you agree?"\n\n
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Ferris
Stop at *Quidditch*?!?
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Ferris
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Zack Dill
April 05, 2005 5:07 PM
Jumping in by Zack Dill
Zack couldn't help it. He hadn't intentionally been eavesdropping, but this was too much. He snorted. Honestly, discussing football and quidditch as if they were the end all and be all of the world? And what was with the 'Dupree' and 'Briar' egotism? The whole conversation just sounded stilted to his Detroit slum raised ears.Sure, he'd heard some of the guys from his block talk about basketball with extreme reverence, but these guys didn't sound like they were thinking of joining the NBA, or even the NFL.
He closed the Star Wars novel he'd been reading, using the paper jacket to mark his page, and knelt backwards on his easy chair to get his first look at the pair. Sadly, he was too short to get much of a view beside blue cushion, so he stood on the easy chair to get a look over the back of it. That was better.
He didn't recognize either of them, which didn't terribly surprise him given that the only other second years in the House were all girls. He balanced the Star Wars book down on the top of the chair back, and leaned down beside it, making himself comfortable. He pushed aside a strand of overlong black hair and briefly wished he'd let Mom cut his hair before coming back to Sonora.
"Y'know, there's better things in the world than sports," he remarked, feeling it to be his duty as their elder and better to inform them of this fact. 'Course, being only 4'5" and barely seventy pounds, he doubted they'd realize he was either. According to the hashmarks on the bathroom wall at home, Zack was now as tall as his brother had been when he was eight. What was really irritating about that was that Nick was only ten now. Stupid giant younger brothers. Didn't help that he was pretty close to a dwarf himself.
No matter. He knew he was older than them. That's what counted. That meant he could dispense unsolicited advice.\n\n
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Zack Dill
Jumping in
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Zack Dill
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Ferris
April 05, 2005 10:25 PM
Ah, but then consider all the sports in the world! by Ferris
"Y'know, there's better things in the world than sports."The words echoed in his ears like rice on aluminum. Dum dum dum ding! Ferris stared and speech evaded him for nearly a full minute. It sounded like blasphemy to his eardrums, like tiny mallets of heresy striking against the doctrine of his childhood and now adolescence. Better things? Better things than sports? Those were the sorts of words tossed around by the unathletic, the clumsy, the uncoordinated and generally all around graceless.
An uncle of his once said something along those same lines, but look at the kind of man his uncle was! Puny, wasteful, sniveling, and without a doubt one of the most annoying adults Ferris had ever met. No...this poor soul, this poor housemate of his must simply be unfamiliar with the great joys that come with running in a pack, sweat and grim and dirt layering your face, and the sound of feet hitting the ground.
Poor sod. He simply didn't know.
A reply finally sprung to his lips, but for once in his life, Ferris checked the words and considered who it was he might be speaking to. While kind of scrawny and half hidden behind the armchair, Ferris didn't recognize him as one of the first years from that morning. And that meant...
This boy was his senior!
Ferris swallowed down a rise of indignation. This small kid was his senior? He was supposed to listen and respect this midget? Not very likely.
"So say all the inept," he stated smugly. "I'll ignore the unwanted advice, however, because we're house brothers." Ferris spun the football in his hands and folded his fingers over the laces. "You already heard my name; how about an introduction?"
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Ferris
Ah, but then consider all the sports in the world!
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Ferris
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Zack Dill
April 06, 2005 9:40 AM
Zack Dill by Zack Dill
Zack rolled his eyes at the look of absolute shock on the kid's face. Honestly. That was probably the look people had worn when Galileo told them that the earth revolved around the sun rather than the other way around. Geez. It wasn't that novel a concept.Then came the kind of response he'd come to expect from his brother when Zack gave him similiarly wise revelations about sports and their unimportance. Though Nick's comments were generally a bit more personally insulting instead of just generally insulting. 'Course these kids didn't know him well enough to have first hand knowledge that he couldn't throw a basketball high enough to reach the basket nevermind go in it.
He flushed anyway, not liking to be called inept at anything, even if sports were dumb and not at all a good test of his many talents.
"Zack Dill, second year," he introduced himself on request, if only because they did seem to afford a 'house brother' a little more respect than Nick did his real brother. His House was obvious, so he left that out, which was just as well because he could never remember what it was actually called until after he'd said 'Alderaan'. Alderaan was cooler anyway, even it it was nothing but space dust and asteroids after Episode IV.
The self-introduction seemed to be missing something, so he added as an afterthought, "I'm from Detroit." It did not occur to him that they might care that he was the only member of his family to have ever held a wand, so he didn't mention that.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Zack Dill
Zack Dill
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Zack Dill
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Chris
April 06, 2005 1:21 PM
Oh, boy! by Chris
Chris listened to the differing opinions of the boys. One thought that nothing was better than sports and the other that there were better things. Chris rolled his eyes, discreetly at the argument. He didn't think that sports were the all end be all, but it didn't hurt to know about them either, and possibly play them. He also didn't agree with one trying to top the other in their opinion.Trying to be diplomatic, he said, "Nice to meet you, Zack. I don't know how much you heard of our conversation, but my name is Chris Dupree. On the one hand, I agree that there COULD be things better than sports for some people, but obviously, Ferris enjoys sports and is entitled to his opinion. On the other hand, Ferris, not everyone has to enjoy sports or find them to be the best thing ever. Zack can enjoy other things, but that doesn't mean he is inept. With this said, have either of you tried what the other is interested in - to see if you like it too? I'm interested in what both of you enjoy, because I might find out that I enjoy it as well."
Hopefully, what he said didn't upset either boy. He was still working on his diplomacy skills, and he really wanted to make friends, or at least acquaintances, with both boys. After all, you never knew when the connection could come in handy, which was something he felt his sister should learn. \n\n
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Chris
Oh, boy!
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Chris
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Zack
April 06, 2005 2:31 PM
Re: Oh, boy! by Zack
As the second kid spoke, Zack couldn't hold back an amused smirk, forgetting for the moment that the first guy had just insulted him. Dupree was just that entertaining. He'd heard people talk like that before . . . but never in real life. With a wry grin, he remarked, "And with a two point bonus from your charisma score, you rolled an adjusted 18 against a Diplomacy check of 15, which means the evil mage won't throw an ice attack against you."Fully aware he'd probably just spouted pure gibberish to unenlightend heathens, he added, "I don't suppose either of you do D&D?" He didn't really expect they had. The game was fairly stereotypical to the geek caste while they both struck him as members in or close to the jock caste, and he had yet to meet a wizard who'd even heard of it.
Besides, did it really matter if they knew what it was? Dupree had asked what his interests were, hadn't he?\n\n
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Zack
Re: Oh, boy!
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Zack
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Ferris
April 06, 2005 4:36 PM
And the heavens wept! by Ferris
Ferris had the slight feeling that something was off. There was the distinct impression that things were going exactly as he expected. Didn't people know who he was? Didn't they recognize his immediate superiority? He was Ferris Thomas Briar- a Briar! Infamous for having routed the Magical Market Underground and supplanting the Damiano Dynasty from their perch as Head Family over a hundred years ago."I'm from Detroit."
This announcement left him unphased. So this Zach Dill, second year, was from Detroit. He probably had never even heard of the Tigers, so what would they have to talk about? Not to say that Ferris was a sports fanatic. Oh no...Ferris simply liked games. All kinds of games. Anything in which there was a competition, he was there, from chess matches to water polo to foot races. Was this really so strange?
He was prepared to better explain himself when Chris spoke up.
"Nice to meet you, Zack. I don't know how much you heard of our conversation...blah blah blah...I enjoy it as well."
Well if that wasn't the biggest mouthful of mollification he had ever heard, then may lightening strike him now. Ferris fought back to roll his eyes. So there was a difference in opinion. Big deal. It wasn't like they were about to get into a fist fight over it. And okay...so maybe he had been just a bit abrasive to the shrimp. That was the Briar way! Yell alot and hopefully never have to pull for that big stick. Again he went to interject an explanation when the midget- wait, Zack Dill from Detroit who doesn't know about the Tigers- cut in.
"...I don't suppose either of you do D&D?"
D&D...D&D...Ferris knew that acronym, knew it from somewhere. There came the fuzzy memory of an afternoon spent holed up in his Gran's attic, a fistful of colorful die in one hands, and his weedy older cousins frothing as they spoke about mages and paladins. A grin broke out over his teeth, something that always happened when Ferris discovered yet another avenue to display his greatness. D&D, that is Dungeons and Dragons, was a GAME.
"Zack Dill," Ferris began solemnly. "Forgive me, house brother, for my rudeness. Ignoring that nonsense Chris was saying, I have an idea. Obviously you've never had the chance to experience the greatness of sports, but then again, I've never had a chance to play your D&D. In exchange for your introducing me to the game, I'll show the ropes of any sport you like and promise to make you great at it."
Ferris fairly glowed at the end of his words and extended his hand out to the shrimp. "Deal?"
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Ferris
And the heavens wept!
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Ferris
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Zack Dill
April 06, 2005 10:37 PM
sports and me don't get on by Zack Dill
Zack looked down (and wasn't that a novel position that the chair he was standing on gave him?) at the first kid as if he'd suggested that Zack tutor him in physics in exchange for pulling out all his fingernails. The first part would be fun, but not even for the pleasure of playing D&D or teaching physics would he go anywhere near a sports game. (Well, maybe if Zoey and Stephen asked really nicely he might get on a broom again and try to find that golden skrit thing.)"Are you insane? The best thing about Sonora is that there's no gym requirement." Flying lessons hardly counted; while broom control wasn't high on his list of talents, at least it didn't require much in the way of strength. "Thank God for the Society to Promote Muggleborn Education or I'd probably be getting my face smashed in playing kickball or something right now." \r\n
\r\nHe'd also be taking real subjects like math and science instead of weird ones like Charms and Care of Magical Creatures, but for a full scholarship to a private school (even if it was based on financial need and his 'inadequate magical background') he wasn't going to complain.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Zack Dill
sports and me don't get on
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Zack Dill
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Ferris
April 07, 2005 11:01 PM
Doesn't sound like much does by Ferris
If Ferris were any other sort of boy, he might have taken the rejection personally. He might have reacted in a infantile manner, muttering insults, and promising the end of any overtures of friendship. However, Ferris was not that sort of boy. He lacked the proper sensitivity to notice a personal slight. His arrogance was to such a level, that the idea of someone disliking him or finding him annoying or repulsive was plain and simple an impossibility.So when his offer was shut down, most adamently, by the shrimp who was to be respected despite being a shrimp, Ferris felt it with all the blow of a butterfly wing.
"My great aunt Nancy Briar was insane and supposedly my cousin Willard is as well, but I'll have you know that I'm perfectly sane." He shrugged. "If you don't want to learn a sport, then what do you want? A deal's a deal. If I get, so do you."
There were two ways about it. Ferris wanted to learn this new game. He HAD to learn it. And once he did, he would be the best, as usual. If the shrimp didn't want to learn the triumphant ways of sports, then fine, his loss. There had to be something the shrimp wanted that he could get him.
"You name it." A thought occurred to him. "The Society for what? And what's kickball?"
It was in Ferris's experience that any word compounded with 'ball' generally meant something great. He stared at the shrimp, suddenly seeing him in a potentially new frame of light. In just a short time, this kid had introduced him to possibly two new events to conquer. There was potential here.\n\n
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Ferris
Doesn't sound like much does
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Ferris
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Zack Dill
April 08, 2005 3:27 PM
Yeah, well, I've got a -1 CHA modifier by Zack Dill
Zack raised somewhat surprised eyebrows at the obviously literal answer to his rhetorical question (who really expected an answer to 'are you insane?'), then dropped them back down to frown slightly as Briar continued talking. He'd seen enough tv shows and movies to immediately distrust anybody who asked the question 'what do you want?' Babylon 5, in particular, made a huge deal about it. And if Tolkien was real, who was to say that Strazinski was wrong?Briar didn't look much like an emissary of the Shadows, but you could never tell these things just from appearance.
Well, he didn't see how telling the first year about SPME or kickball could endanger the Earth, so he'd start with those. "Kickball's like baseball, but instead of hitting a ball this big," he circled his hands around each other to indicate the approximate size of an imaginary baseball, "with a bat, you kick a ball this big," his hands moved farther apart to encircle the larger sphere of space that a kickball would occupy, "with your foot."
Feeling that adequately described everything he knew about the hated gym activity, he moved back a question and continued with, "The Society to Promote Muggleborn Education. They gave me my scholarship so I could come to Sonora, otherwise I'd still be at my public middle school in Detroit."
Admission of being poor adequately glossed over in vague terms, he tried to switch subjects, but the only question left was 'what do you want?' and Zack had moral qualms against answering that one. Instead, he redirected to the original subject, "So are you guys interested in starting up a D&D campaign? I didn't bring my Dungeon Master Guide or Player Handbook, but I can probably get mom to send them."\n\n
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Zack Dill
Yeah, well, I've got a -1 CHA modifier
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Zack Dill
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Ferris Briar
April 09, 2005 10:21 PM
Yeah, well, I've got a laser gun by Ferris Briar
Ferris was intrigued by this kickball game. It had all the proper elements of any decent sports: a ball, a human body, and the promise of possible injury if played incorrectly. He glanced at the shrimp with just a touch of respect. If the shrimp knew about the potentially glorious kickball, then anything else the shrimp knew could be equal greatness. It was a thought to keep in consideration.Ferris tuned out on the explanation of the Society for Muggles or whatever the moment he realized it wasn't a gaming association. Scholarships blah blah blah- he wanted to get down to the meat of his inquiry. What did the shrimp want in return?
"So are you guys interested in starting up a D&D campaign? I didn't bring my Dungeon Master Guide or Player Handbook, but I can probably get mom to send them."
A campaign- excellent! Campaign's meant wars and wars needed armies and armies needed generals. Ferris Thomas Briar was the perfect name for a general. General F. T. Briar. Excellent.
But the shrimp still hadn't mentioned what he wanted in return. This had him suspicious. Equivalent trade was the Briar rule of commerce. Nothing is ever given for free. Nothing is ever taken for free. There must be a trade. Always, always, always- a trade. But the shrimp wasn't saying what he wanted! In fact, the shrimp almost sounded as if he didn't want anything in return.
It made Ferris think. What was it people normally said to his father when there wasn't a trade off? His father's underlings were always saying it...what was it again?
Ah. Now he remembered, and now he knew what to do. "A campaign sounds great. I will be, of course, the supreme commander of the armies. But first, let me just say this:" Ferris lowered his voice for dramatic effect, "'I guess I owe you one.'"
Ferris straightened in his seat and beamed back at the shrimp. Everything was set. \n\n
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Ferris Briar
Yeah, well, I've got a laser gun
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Ferris Briar
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