My presents are useless on Cascade Hall

Nikki Ramirez

September 13, 2006 6:04 PM

My presents are useless by Nikki Ramirez

Nikki entered the Cascade Hall the first day after midterm. Ever since Julio had started at Youmens, Nikki knew she would be like him, enjoying midterm, but wanting to go back to school. But now Nikki knew that for her, it was much more extreme than that. Her midterm had not been as fun as she would have liked. Not that midterm at Sonora hadn't been fun. There was snowball fight with Gray against the Pecaris, in which Nikki had met Professor Deck, who she could already tell was a cool teacher. And she had learned about a yearbook project going on at Sonora. But Nikki would have liked to have seen her family.

She had gotten her presents the day before, she supposed because they were coming across international lines. She appreciatted them, but they were practically useless, except for the book Julio had sent her. Abuela had knitted her a sweater. True it was colder here than in Mexico but she didn't need a sweater, that is unless they decided to keep this snow around. But if Abuelo was any example, they would cleear the snow very soon, if they hadn't already; Nikki was too tired to pay much attention. Mami and Papi had sent her money, and altthough it was usuable currency for a witch in America, she had no place to spend it. Abuelo got her a beautiful broom, but she didn't take flight classes, and wasn't on the Quidditch team. Maybe she could help Gray practice. Benito of course had sent her nothing.

Plus, Leo and Gil had gone home for the holidays. It was them Nikki was looking for as she entered the Cascade Hall. She didn't see them as she looked around, so she sat down and poured herself some juice.
\n\n

0 Nikki Ramirez My presents are useless 0 Nikki Ramirez 1 5

Leo

September 14, 2006 11:52 AM

Funny... so is my twin! by Leo

Leo was disgruntled. Well, of course he was - that was his normal state of being. But he was more disgruntled than usual, and it was all thanks to his darling perfect five-minutes-younger brother. They'd agreed to meet halfway between their respective houses in order to go down to the Cascade Hall together, but Gil had abruptly owled Leo - why he couldn't just knock on the Crotalus door and ask for him, he'd never understand - and said that he had something to do in Teppenpaw. Leo had a distinct feeling it had to do with the gift-wrapped present Gil had kept fiddling with on the way back to school, and that Valentine girl he'd talked about almost obsessively over break.

So now, deprived of the one source of companionship he could depend upon at this school, Leonardo Sabino Idoya III made his own way sulkily into the Cascade Hall. He didn't look around for friends - he knew very well he didn't have any. instead, he settled for casting about for an empty seat out of the way.

Instead, his eyes fell on none other than Nikki Ramirez. Guilt twinged - they'd had an... well, it could almost be called an argument, back in the Labyrinth Garden, before break. The tension in Potions hadn't improved the situation. Normally, Leo wasn't the sort of person to be affected by remorse in the least... but Nikki wasn't even from this country, and he knew she'd had to stay here over break, and she had been the only person to express any interest in Leo, back before he'd mucked it all up.

Nodding a little to himself and taking a deep breath, he walked over to her, unconsciously adopting his more formal posture as he always did when he was uncertain. He stopped a few feet behind her chair, and looked for longer than he probably should've at the back of her head. Abruptly, he decided that he really didn't have the energy to go about apologizing today, and started off in the opposite direction -

Only to catch his foot on the leg of a nearby chair. With a mortifying lack of grace, the Idoya heir yelped and found himself, moments later, sprawled on the stone floor; his head hit with a dull crack, and he fell still, gazing dizzily at the sea of chairs and tables before him.\n\n

0 Leo Funny... so is my twin! 0 Leo 0 5

Grail Markner

September 16, 2006 8:12 PM

Deciding to join in by Grail Markner

Grail walked into the hall in a breeze, reading the bit of mail she'd just got. She was looking over every little detail of it, because it was such an odd piece of mail. The reason it was so odd? Well, It was from Alice. Her littlest sister. And Alice, Gray knew for a fact, absolutly loathed Grail. Well, actually she wasn't as bad as Chalice or Lab-Libby, but she still hated Grail.

At first Grail believed it to be a Christmas card her mother had tried to force her sisters to write. But Chali and Libby conned Alice into writing it, since Alice is always trying to gain their approval and the twins always taking advantage of it. This normally almost made Grail feel bad for her sister... note the almost.

But no, this was a regular, strange note. Not a Christmas card, but a note. It was fairly formal, but it didn't seem very forced. Which was why Grail wanted to read every single word over and over. Which was actually getting quite boring.

It was a very good think she noticed Nikki drinking some juice at a nearby table. Smiling she began to start near her friend but then saw that boy Leo also walking to her. Deciding Nikki would probably rather talk to Leo than her (for two pretty obvious reasons) Grail began to move to a different seat, to re-read the stupid note again. But hearing the large crack, she trurned again to see Leo on the floor.

She moved towards the boy and stumbled down next to him, then looked to Nikki who probably already heard him fall. It was a large hall, and it echoed well enough. But still, the words stumbled out of her mouth well enough. They were:
"Hey Nikki!"
And then she turned back to Leo. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, wondering if the boy could actually hear her. Sure his eyes were open, but that could mean anything, meaning Grail was starting to freak out. Also meaning Chali came back.

"Spaz," her crazy head muttered, but Grail wasn't listening. Instead she put her hand on Leo's head and turned to see if Nikki geard her.\n\n

0 Grail Markner Deciding to join in 0 Grail Markner 0 5

Leo

September 17, 2006 10:43 AM

More the merrier, I suppose... by Leo

Leo really didn't like getting hurt. It wasn't the pain that bothered him; Merlin, he'd grown up with dozens of cousins and a rambunctious twin and little sister. He was used to the accidental injuries that come about through horseplay (and occasional fist fights); they didn't faze him at all. No, it was his default reaction to injuries--especially blows to the head--that bothered him. He never could cry when he was hurt, not even when he was little. Instead, he laughed. Sometimes he laughed to the point of tears, true, but that didn't really count.

The sea of wooden legs around him finally stopped spinning and came into focus--too sharp a focus, really. A pounding headache began to form somewhere behind his eyes... or was it at the base of his skull?... or... yes, it was just his head as a whole. Ow.

A blond head appeared in his vision, swimming at first before sharpening, again to the point of pain. He winced a little as she spoke in a familiar voice. "Hey, you okay?" A cool hand touched his head--it felt good, and he relaxed a little.

"Sure 'mokay," he mumbled, eyelids drooping. "Juss' huh-hue-humiliated m'self in front of... ev'ryone..." And that's when it began. It started as a little snort, then something suspiciously close to a giggle. It then progressed into a chuckle, and from there into full-out laughter. He curled up a little on the floor, his hands over his eyes (though he didn't displace her hand; he almost fancied it was driving the headache away a little, and vaguely remembered his mother stroking his forehead when he was little and sick). "S-s-s-sorry, Markner," he gasped when he regained the power of speech.\n\n

0 Leo More the merrier, I suppose... 0 Leo 0 5

Gray

September 17, 2006 11:21 AM

Three's company too by Gray

Her hand stayed on his head as he curled up, Grail only moved with him a bit. Smiling, because it strangely didn't feel the least bit strange. Which was strange, since normally she'd have a blushing fit and the stupidness of her sisters in the back of her head would be teasing her and making her feel crazy. But there was only Leo's lauging in her head and the smile on her face.

"S-s-s-sorry, Markner."

He had stuttered and gasped. She laughed and shook her head. "No, it's okay. I worry a lot anyway." She didn't know why she said that. It had nothing to do with what he just said. She guessed she just wanted to talk a bit. Soothing the pain with words, how Arthor used to put it when she hurt herself. "And I don't think you embarassed yourself too bad," she said softly, looking again around the Hall.

She noticed a slip of paper a few feet away. Alice's letter. She must have dropped it when she heard Leo fall. Oh well, she could get it later.
"You need help getting up?" she asked. "Or are you going to lay there on the floor all day?" She gave a cheeky smile, but didn't really move yet. Only moving one hand to push a blonde lock that fell in her face, the other stayed on his forehead.\n\n

16 Gray Three's company too 113 Gray 0 5

Nikki

September 17, 2006 3:03 PM

Dios Mio by Nikki

((OOC: Sorry guys, I had a family trip this weekend. I thought I'd be able to use my computer this weekend, but my hotel didn't have wireless internet access, and I'd have had to pay to use the computers at the hotel.))

BIC:
Nikki heard a crash behind her and a thud as something hit the hard floor of the Cascade Hall. When she spun around in her seat, she saw that it had been Leo's head. He was lying on the ground, and surprisingly, Gray was knelt beside him. Nikki's hand intinctively flew to her mouth. Before she could regain composure, Leo had burst out laughing. 'How hard did he hit his head?' Nikki thought half worried about her, well she hoped he was still her friend after that fight before break, and half amused at his laughing after he fell. Then Gray started making jokes with him as Nikki knelt down on Leo's other side.

"Dios mio, Leo, est-" she started in Spanish, but switched to English, mostly for Gray's benifit. "Are you all right? Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" Nikki bit her bottom lip as she always did when she was nervous or worried. Right now, it was both. She looked into Leo's mismatched eyes with worried blue-green ones. She put her hand under Leo's head, tilting it up, Making sure Gray's hand didn't slide off the boy's head, as it seemed to be calming him down.

Gray asked Leo if he needed help getting up or if he was going to stay on the floor all day. "Yeah," Nikki said, partialy tto herself, "Let's get you up off the floor at least."\n\n

0 Nikki Dios Mio 0 Nikki 0 5

Leo

September 17, 2006 9:02 PM

I second that. by Leo

His laughing fit wore off, but Leo couldn't help but smile a little. He was almost surprised that the expression didn't feel strange--but it wasn't like he was a complete Scrooge. He enjoyed Christmas as much as the next eleven-year-old boy, and he'd gotten to see Mercedes again over break.

He was about to answer Markner when Nikki Ramirez appeared out of nowhere and began in quick Spanish. His eyes flicked to her face and then quickly away, but for a moment his eyebrows knotted. His somewhat hysterical smile faded to a nonchalant (but relatively pained) expression; well, she had come when he was hurt. But did that mean that she forgave him? Or, for that matter, that he forgave her? He glanced back up and knew that he had; she'd just spoken out of ignorance. She didn't understand some stuff.

"Me duele l-la cabeza," he murmured in return. "Me due--I mean, m' head hurts like..." he shook his head, at a loss for words, and then drew in a hissing breath. Nikki slid her hand underneath, and with his spinning head cradled between the two blonds' hands, he slowly sat up. There he swayed for a few moments, his eyes unfocusing. "Concussion," he muttered. "Hijo de la chingada," he cursed... what luck! "I'd bed--better go to the infirmary. Markner," he said in as close to his usual commanding tone as possible, extending one hand in the girl's direction; he wasn't sure he could get up on his own. For the moment, he could ignore his stinging pride in favor of his throbbing head.

OOC: 'me duele la cabeza' - my head hurts
'hijo de la chingada' - a very rude phrase roughly equivalent to our son of a you-know-what.\n\n

0 Leo I second that. 0 Leo 0 5

Nikki

September 17, 2006 10:35 PM

Re: I second that. by Nikki

When she and Gray helped Leo stand up, Nikki was on the verge of tears. Partially because her, friend(?), was hurt, and partially because they had hurt each other. They had had a fight before midterm, and before she could tell him that she was sorry, and that she knew his position as heir was important to him, this had happened. And when she came to help, he hadn't even acknowledged her. But she forced herself not to cry.

Nikki looked back at Leo. She wanted to hug him but 1.she was afraid she might hurt him, or make him loose balence, and 2.she didn't know if he would accept the sign of affection. Leo said that he would need to go to the infirmary, but he adressed Gray, not Nikki. She didn't know what to do. She definately couldn't stay here, because she wouldn't know what to do with herself, and Leo would never forgive her. She didn't know if he'd forgiven her yet for what she'd said before midterm. And she wasn't sure he wanted her to go with them to the infirmary.

If she asked that, she knew Leo would act brave and prideful, either saying that he was all right, or act polite, saying she could join if she wanted. She wouldn't find out whhat he really wanted.

She looked straight into Leo's eyes, hoping he understood that she was really concerned about him. It wasn't the automatic reaction she would get whheen anyone was hurt, but deeper, because besides the other girl helping him, Leo and his twin were her only friends, not just at Sonora, but in America.

"Do you want me to get your brother?" Nikki asked him, unsure of what else she could say.\n\n

0 Nikki Re: I second that. 0 Nikki 0 5

Leo

September 18, 2006 7:48 AM

Calling all Markners... migration time? by Leo

When he had regained his balance, he looked over at Nikki almost involuntarily; she was close to crying, and he wondered why, briefly. Did that mean she'd forgiven him too? Or did she despise him so much that his very presence depressed her? ...I don't have the energy for this right now, he thought, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you want me to get your brother?"

He blinked for a moment. Gil. His earlier anger with his twin had been driven out by that blow to the head, and right now he just wanted--needed--that familiar presence by his side. He wasn't well, he was concussed, and Merlin help him, he wanted his twin. Now. Pride bedamned. He nodded, wincing a little less this time--the sharp pain was subsiding to just a throbbing ache now--in Nikki's direction. "Sí, por favor."

But in the meantime--he turned his eyes back to Markner, whose hand he was still clutching for balance purposes, and managed to make some sort of strange grunting, hand-signal combination with the vague meaning of 'let's go.' He needed some serious painkillers right now.

OOC: you'll find Gil just outside the Tepp territory... you could probably post there as 'outside the common room' or something.\n\n

0 Leo Calling all Markners... migration time? 0 Leo 0 5

Gray

September 19, 2006 6:34 PM

stupid enter button by Gray

Gray smiled when Nikki came over to help them. She didn't know why, but they seemed a little... distant. Despite the rapid speaking in spanglish, parts of which (the spanish) Grail couldn't understand. But when Leo extended his hand to Gray, she helped him up with Nikki. At least he was able to form sentences... right? That was good.

She allowed Nikki to go get Gil (she really didn't know who Gil was anyway, she knew he was Leo's brother at least). Gray did have him holding her hand for a little support. She was at least glad it wasn't so bad that they would have had to carry him. Gray knew she couldn't do that. SHe was way too tiny to carry one person by herself. She watched Nikki leave for a second, then turned back to Leo.

"So, Hospital Wing we go?" she said, smiling at his little grunt indicator thingie. She took a step, waiting for him to start following. "Nikki and your brother will find us there, right?" she asked as they began to go out the Hall.

(OOC: You can start up in the post Wing first. And Nikki can meet us there.) \n\n

16 Gray stupid enter button 113 Gray 0 5