Spectating (for now) on Quidditch Pitch

The Coach

March 24, 2023 9:34 PM

Open Field Practice by The Coach

Twelve regular players. It wasn’t a bad number, though frustrating in how it fell two short of being able to break up nicely for demonstration games and mini matches—especially as the choice was force one of the beaters into playing Chaser or Keeper, or force an inexperienced first year to play Beater, neither of which seemed particularly balanced. It was also frustrating in that it should have been thirteen. The Coach had tried to talk to Yarielis but all that got was stammered apologies and discomfort, but no actual answers or change.

The coach had made it policy to advertise Quidditch practice as open, meaning walk-ins remained an option at any point in the year. Today, it was open in a new sense, in that loud, brightly coloured posters had encouraged spectators to come along to practice—both because showing people what they did and how it wasn’t totally terrifying could be a way in, and also to get the players used to performing in front of an audience. They had had the first term to get used to handling themselves, and functioning as a team because the newer players deserved some space to make mistakes without feeling like they were constantly on show, but today would be good practice at performing under just the tiniest bit of very gentle pressure.

They had been blessed with a nice day for it too. It was early spring, and one of the first bright, sunny days, good for being outdoors, though there was still a nip in the air which meant that moving about a bit might be the better option. Only a small section of the stands was open, in order to encourage the audience to cluster together. At the front of this section was a sign declaring ‘Open Pitch! Come and join in with any of the activities!’

There was a station for each of the positions, along with a general course for agility. The Beaters were doing target practice, hitting hovering practice bludgers at moving dummies from their brooms. The Chasers were doing passes and shots against the Keepers. The Seekers were weaving in and out of it all, racing towards a sparkle of light that would appear and disappear at random points around the pitch.

“Good morning, good morning, welcome to our open pitch event!” the coach called, with a magically amplified voice, once a number of people had trickled into the stands. As it was more like a practice, the posters had said ‘From 10am’ so people might come as they pleased. “Thank you for coming down. Over here, we have beating practice, today predominantly working on accuracy rather than strength. The lightweight training bludgers are easy to hit, and we can adjust the dummies speed and range of movement to suit new players. Chasing and Keeping is all about passing and blocking today, and can break off into smaller groups as needed. Our Seekers are running down this sparkling charm—we can reduce the range over which it appears if you don’t feel like diving through everyone. Or you can work on your overall agility. Feel free to come and try any of the stations, or just have fun cheering your friends on.”

OOC: Hi folks. It felt like what we most needed was a chance for the team to work out what they do and how they function - I wanted to give players a bit of space to work on developing their 'Quidditch self' whilst keeping this as an event that serves more people than just the players. Given that matches are intense to write, and would force people out of what they actually want to play, this felt like a better way of serving those interests. Hope it works for y'all! You can assume that your character has been given the position they signed up for. If you need clarification on whether they are first or second string, ask in chatzy. If they are second string and/or didn't specify a position, you can assume they frequently get a chance to try multiple things.

Subthreads:

I'll miss this by Valentine Duell with Alexander Pierce

Wheee! by Xarryn Bavol with Donovan Peters

Spectating (for now) by Robyn Lundstrom with Lyla Holland, Samara Crosby

Better than ever! by Leo Lyons with Quillan Arcadius

13 The Coach Open Field Practice 0 The Coach 1 5

Valentine Duell

March 26, 2023 8:52 PM

I'll miss this by Valentine Duell

Valentine sat atop her broom and watched her team fly all around below her. The wind tugged at her hair and her Quidditch robes, the sun glinted off of her Quidditch Captain badge. She hadn't quite matched Mama's achievements, but she had gotten close. Head girl would have been a really nice one to have as well, but She was glad that Lavender had gotten it.

Pulling her eyes up from her teammates, she scanned the skies for the glitter that would be the 'snitch'. She didn't see it, but decided to take a quick lap around the pitch, just to make sure. It may also spur the other Seekers into action. She was still in charge, and moreso in charge of them and their training. She would not be here next year to help, and there hadn't been a lot of seeker interest following her. It did strike her as a little odd after the battle for the position that Jeremy, Anya, and her had had.

Val made a quick circuit around the pitch and then dove down to fly around some of the other groups. It may have looked like she was hot on the trail of something, but she wasn't. Seekers did their own thing during the game, and it was good for the other groups to be ready and used to some one sweeping through their areas and causing some chaos and confusion.

As she pulled back up to the higher altitudes, her eye did catch the sparkle it was looking for. Excellent! The chase was on! A grin split her lips and a gleam sparkled in her eyes as she kicked her broom into high gear and shot toward her objective. She would miss this.

2 Valentine Duell I'll miss this 1490 0 5

Xarryn Bavol

March 27, 2023 10:30 PM

Wheee! by Xarryn Bavol

Xarryn had been granted a first string position this year, in part because he was pretty good on a broom - he'd always had very good balance and agility, and his ability to throw and catch a Quaffle had improved greatly over the course of his first year - and partly because he was the second oldest and second most experienced chaser on the team. He kind of liked being one of the big kids for a change, and he enjoyed playing with all of the younger kids during the games, too. It was great that they all got to have turns trying that out. They weren't that strong of a Chasing Team right now, not with an eleven year old, a twelve year old, and a thirteen year old going up against schools that had much older Chasers, but he was sure they'd be nearly unstoppable by the time Fortune reached seventh year. It was going to be some tight competition to see who came out on top as their top three Chasers over the next couple of years.

Leo and Donovan were both quite good, and so were Nicholas and Quillan, though Nicholas had signed up for 'anything' so he might still decide to change positions in the years to come. The first year Quidditch group this year was quite large and would have to spread out more if they wanted to all be first string some day. They were just one shy of a whole team all by themselves.

Today was a little different from their usual practice though, in that spectators were invited and encouraged to attend, not just to watch, but even to join in if they wanted to. It was pretty obviously a recruitment ploy, but Xarryn thought that was a great idea. He liked meeting new people and one of the things he liked best about the rotating first year in the league games was that it always made each match fresh and different than the last. And they would need one to two more chasers to fill out a full practice match, depending on where Nicholas landed on any given day.

He'd tried to encourage some of his friends to stop in, too, but that hadn't been a lot of people. Most of his friends were on the team already, and most of his second year class was . . . decidedly not Quidditch types. He couldn't even imagine what Olaf would do if he occupied the same scene as a bludger, other than obliterate it out of existence with his sheer disdain for the sport, and Nausicaa was entirely too proper to do anything that might get her scuffed up or sweaty. But he had said something to Leviosa, and Robyn, and Lyla, and Samara, and Misty, just in the off chance they might want to dip their toe in to see what it was like, though he thought it likely they would have joined already if they'd wanted to. Still, he'd tried.

Feeling comfortable enough with Fortune that he didn't think the older boy would be offended if he spoke up first, Xarryn suggested, "So, Coach said we're working on passing and trying to not let the Keepers block us. Do we want to split into teams to practice passing while someone is intercepting or just everyone is passing between ourselves and trying to make goals as an extra large team?"

OOC: I assume Robyn, Samara, Lyla, and Misty are people he's chatted with in class or the Pecari common room often enough that Xarryn would consider them 'friendly' if not 'friends'.

1 Xarryn Bavol Wheee! 1560 0 5

Robyn Lundstrom

April 04, 2023 12:00 AM

Spectating (for now) by Robyn Lundstrom

Robyn made her way to the stands. She hadn’t been totally convinced she’d go to the field day, because it just sounded like a recipe for having to watch her brother stare at his boyfriend with heart eyes, but then Xarryn and Lyla had both invited her. She’d given Xarryn a ‘Yeah, maybe?’ not wanting to totally burn that bridge, and because she thought she might give it a go. She wasn’t sure she wanted to play full on Quidditch with the potentially endless matches and the danger balls, but she did like sports, and a chance to try it out with fewer broken-bone or long-term-commitment risks sounded like fun. Lyla had been an easy ‘yes’ when she’d asked her to come for the spectating, so whether Robyn actually got on the field or not might depend on her.

As it was only a practice not an actual big, flag-waving game, there weren’t any concession stands, but Robyn had had a care package from home and she still had a large packet of Swedish fish that she’d tucked into her pocket to share with her friend.

She made her way down to the pitch, predictably finding that her brother was already there. Though instead of looking all gross and loved up like he had at his birthday party, he seemed to be trying to carve a hole in the bench with his fingernails. Clearly he was having a weirdo day. Again.

Robyn took a seat deliberately far away from him, though the section was small enough that she couldn’t help but notice his ongoing tension. She felt a bit mean as brushing him off as being weird. He didn’t seem super okay…

She was promptly distracted by the arrival of her friend though. Or friends. Or friend plus one seeing as she didn’t actually know Samara. Lyla liked her though, and Lyla was nice… Though Lyla had to like her because they shared a room. Robyn hoped she didn’t do anything that messed that up or made Lyla feel like she had to choose which of them to be friends with. Because who she’d choose was obvious…

“Hi,” she said. “I brought Swedish fish,” she added, pulling them out of her pocket, because candy was always a good way to smooth over social interactions. Unless, of course, Samara was one of those girls who was perpetually on a diet.

13 Robyn Lundstrom Spectating (for now) 1558 0 5

Leo Lyons

April 04, 2023 12:14 AM

Better than ever! by Leo Lyons

Leo was living his dreams. Was there anything better than feeling the wind sting your face and your heart drop into your toes when you looked down? The stretch of your muscles reaching for the ball to grasp it by your fingertips in a miraculous save? The feeling of working with your team, just knowing where to pass the quaffle that they would catch it? There was no doubt about it, Leo was happiest in the sky.

Today was more of a 'fun' day than anything else, and Leo quickly fell into the routine of tossing and catching with his teammates, zig-zagging across the field with Donovan, Quillan, Xarryn, and Fortune. Their Chasing squadron was on the young side, but they worked well together, and Leo's relentless drills over midterm break had pushed him and Donovan into being even better. For games, they'd had to take turns playing Chaser, along with Quillan, which Leo didn't really mind, although he would have preferred to have the position to himself.

As it was, today was about trying new things and drawing in new players, and just having fun in general, so Leo didn't dwell too much on the team dynamics and instead focused on playing. The quaffle plunked into his hand and he took off for the goalposts.

OOC: Wasn't quite sure where to put Nicholas in this equation, happy to drop him in as needed.

64 Leo Lyons Better than ever! 1568 0 5

Lyla Holland

April 04, 2023 1:15 AM

Snacks are life by Lyla Holland

Lyla was curious about what today would bring. Quidditch was normally a spectator sport for her, but from the way Xarryn had made it sound, they would have training stations designed precisely for students like her, who hadn't ever tried to do anything other than steering while on a broom. So, figuring it was now or never, Lyla decided to give it a go.

Or at least go and watch. Thinking about a bludger speeding at her at a million miles an hour terrified her, and not necessarily in a good way. Luckily, she had asked her friends to go with her, one of whom was decently likely to try her hand at the sport, and one who would more likely be happy to sit in the stands, so Lyla could decide on the fly if she was brave enough to give it a go, and she wouldn't be alone either way, though she would feel badly if she left one or the other alone, as well. Maybe they would end up all sticking together, anyway.

As it had turned out, Xarryn had talked to both Robyn and Samara about the event as well, so it didn't take any wheedling from Lyla to convince her friends to meet in the stands. Rather, Robyn would meet her and Samara, who would be coming from the same place and may as well walk together. And, arm in arm, that's what they did.

As the Crotalus girls approached, Robyn greeted them and presented candy. Lyla accepted a small handful and scooted in next to Robyn, towing Samara along on her other side. Grinning, she pulled a bag of goldfish crackers from the pockets of her robe. She offered some to her friends and set the bag on the seat in front of them so nobody would have to reach over each other to help themselves.

"This is exciting," she said, "I'm glad you guys wanted to come!"

She scanned the field, picking out the players that she knew. She caught Xarryn's eye and gave a wave.

64 Lyla Holland Snacks are life 1559 0 5

Donovan Peters

April 04, 2023 3:17 AM

Head in the clouds by Donovan Peters

It was a pleasant day for an exhibition, not too hot or too cold. Donovan scanned the stands to see if Misty was there. He'd invited her, belatedly, because he'd forgotten about it until this morning, and he hoped she would want to come and possibly join the team, and not just because they were two people short of having two rounded teams. It just seemed like the more he saw of Misty, the more he wanted to see her.

Not spotting her on his first pass-through, he turned his attention towards what he was actually supposed to be doing. Xarryn explained the directive and offered it up for a vote. Donovan considered it briefly before piping up.

"I vote for trying to make goals; that way the Keepers can practice, too." And maybe Misty would see him score an awesome goal. Not that he wanted to show off. If there was one thing he'd learned about Quidditch (other than the essential 'how to avoid a bludger'), it was that successful Quidditch was about teamwork, not stealing the limelight. He just thought it would be cool if she knew he could do a cool thing.

He looked over at Leo, whom he could tell was itching to fly. Leo could do a barrel roll on his broom. It was impressive. Donovan hadn't bothered to learn any tricks, as he'd been too busy learning how to fly properly in the first place. Luckily, Leo's boot camp-esque midterm drills had improved his skills and he could now steer with only one hand, and fly in a straight line with no hands. He was a long way off from a barrel roll, though.

Kicking off, he was glad to be comfortable in the air, if not as proficient as the older boys. It was still kind of hard to believe that flying brooms were real, and not just for witches. If someone had told Donovan a year ago that he'd be playing air soccer with a bunch of wizards, he would have thought they were nuts. But here he was, playing air soccer on a gorgeous day, with his best friend. Life was good.

64 Donovan Peters Head in the clouds 1569 0 5

Quillan Arcadius

April 05, 2023 8:22 AM

That's... Good to hear by Quillan Arcadius

Quillan was glad he had joined Quidditch. It was good to be active and to have a reason to put his homework on pause and do something healthy for his mind and body. Not that homework wasn't enjoyable, or good for his mind in its own way, but between how hard it was for him and how much he wanted to do it perfectly, he suspected it could easily become all-consuming. There had already been several occasions where he had reluctantly pulled himself away from his books for practice, feeling like he couldn't afford the time, but then felt so much better for having some fresh air and exercise to refresh his brain. If he hadn't made the commitment of joining the team, it would have been easy to put off what his body needed in favour of craning his neck over his books and beating up his brain.

Quidditch was also a good way to spend time with Nicholas and Alexander simultaneously, and to give them some equally shared common ground. He got on with Nicholas as his roommate. He got on with Alexander as a chess partner. But it was good to do something where they all got along together, and as it was already a large group activity, he didn't need to worry that he was intruding on private twin time.

Speaking of it being a group activity, that also meant he was interacting with several other people, some of whom he might not otherwise have had much cause to talk to. That was... An experience. On the whole, he was inclined to think of it as a positive one. He liked people, and it was a good opportunity to mix outside his usual circle, whilst providing a common ground. Of course, the fact that he wouldn't have otherwise talked to them and had no other common ground with them made him wonder a bit whether he wanted this piece of it, especially when one of them was Leo - the boy who had dumped pickled frogs on everyone. That had been unpleasant and unnecessary and a waste of good potions ingredients, all of which Quillan found rather objectionable. Still, out on the pitch, Leo wasn't a ballhog, and their interactions were limited to 'I'm open!' which felt like a safe amount of interaction with someone who threw frogs at people for fun.

Once they all agreed to work as one super team, Quillan followed Leo down field. Though after Leo received the pass, he could possibly make a run on goal himself. It was a shame they weren't competing, as Quillan was in a prime position to block him. Instead, he continued to fly parallel, ready to either receive the ball or at least provide some faking out and distraction for the Keeper until they got to the scoring zone, where only one of them could enter.

13 Quillan Arcadius That's... Good to hear 1570 0 5

Samara Crosby

April 07, 2023 2:58 PM

Yes, yes they are by Samara Crosby

Despite the fact that she really wasn’t interested in Quidditch, Samara had decided to go because Lyla was going and Xarryn had invited her. She didn’t know the Pecari well, but since he had thought to ask her, maybe that meant he wanted to be friends with her. That would be nice. He seemed pretty nice, although he was someone that her mother would not like because he was a super…energetic Pecari type. Mother would likely find him annoying. Therefore, Mother did not have to meet him if he and Samara became friends.

And the Crotalus would really hate to be caught between her mom and a friend. Like if she made a friend her mom didn’t like and it was just because Mother hated like ninety-eight percent of the human race, and not because of the person actually being a bad influence on Samara or something, she would not want to ditch her friend but then she had to worry her mother would be mad or force her to do so or well, start to hate the second year.

Anyway, she had to admit she was slightly nervous about going today. Not because of any of the Quidditch stuff, since she didn’t have to do anything but spectate and no intention of joining in. It was because Samara and Lyla were meeting up with Robyn, who was someone else that she did not know particularly well. And the other second year had already asked to share a tent with Lyla at the Bonfire. Fortunately, there had to be at least three people per tent so she could also still share with her roommate but what if she and Robyn ended up not getting along or even just didn’t connect. That would be horribly awkward for everyone and Samara would not want to put Lyla in a position where she was caught in the middle.

Worse, what if they didn’t get along and Lyla ended up sharing a tent at the Bonfire with Robyn-as she had actually asked the other Crotalus first, while Samara sort of just assumed that she’d share with Lyla- and someone else, and Samara had to find another tent. Like, there could be more than three people but if two of them didn’t get along, it would be awkward and miserable for everyone and not at all fun and it would be really awful for Samara if she ended up having to look for someone else.

And what if Lyla ended up liking Robyn more than her and she ended up with nobody but her cousins to hang out with? It was one thing to hang out with Lyla and Gwendolyn together, but if Samara ended up hanging out with only her cousins, it would come across as them being stuck-up and excluding others presumably based on blood type-instead of being the ones excluded. Also, some of her cousins, such as Piper, had other friends anyway. And while maybe Xarryn wanted to be friends with her, she could not share a tent with him.

Still, there was no reason the three of them couldn’t all be friends. It wasn’t as if Robyn gave off any red flags or was mean or anything. She was a Teppenpaw, for Merlin’s sake, and that meant that she was probably nice and she didn’t seem like a total goody-two-shoes, Little Miss Perfect type like Mother said Aunt Pippa was either.. Not the “obnoxiously wholesome” type. Which was a type where she actually could see her mother’s perspective on. They tended to make others feel inadequate like Aunt Pippa did to Mother and also, they weren’t much fun. And came across super fake. However, as Robyn wasn’t like that. Samara was more than willing to give her a chance.

The two Crotali arrived at the pitch and met up with their classmate. “Hi.” She greeted Robyn. “Thanks!” That was a good start. She liked snacks. Samara took some of the offered fish and then some of Lyla’s goldfish crackers. ”I brought Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans and some chocoballs. Nothing fish shaped, but some of the beans might be fish flavored. They are really every flavor.” She handed them around.

Samara nodded. “No problem” She was very much not into Quidditch but she did want to hang out with Lyla and get to know Robyn better. “Just so long as I don’t have to join in.”

Although now she wondered if that was the right thing to say. What if the Teppenpaw was one of those gung-ho sports and/or fitness types and she thought Samara was lazy-not the worst thing ever but some people thought it was-or prissy? Also, her snack choices. Not everyone liked Bertie Bott’s beans because you might get an ear wax one or something and what if Robyn got one and held poor snack choices against Samara.

11 Samara Crosby Yes, yes they are 1563 0 5

Alexander Pierce

April 11, 2023 9:49 PM

I've got a long way to go before I'll have to miss it by Alexander Pierce

Alexander kept half an eye on Valentine, as the other one and one half eye watched for the snitch. Or rather, the sparkling charm, as the coach was trying to convince more people to join into the Quidditch practice and apparently actual snitches were intimidating or something. Not that anyone walking on today would get the position of Seeker. Valentine Duell had seniority and he had dibs after her by dint of being the one other person who had signed up for it from the beginning. Seeker was not a position you could just wander into. It required dedication and skill and Alexander had been demonstrating both for more than half a school year now, if he did say so himself.

Miss Valentine stopped watching the other players doing their own things in their own groups, and started a lap around the pitch. Alexander mirrored her, not wanting her to have too much of a head start if she saw it first. She had mass on him, which would help her dive faster, though he thought his smaller size was overall an advantage in agility. He'd lose some of that as he aged and grew, but he'd been flying for as long as he could walk, and both of his parents had slim builds, so he hoped he'd keep most of it.

Part way around the pitch, Miss Valentine dove down toward a group of other players, and Alexander followed swiftly, not yet seeing the glimmer of the charm, but not wanting to risk that she wasn't feinting. Alexander waved quickly at Nicholas as he flew past his twin brother, but he had fake snitches and seventh years to chase, so he was swiftly gone from that group, and just as quickly reaching the conclusion that Miss Valentine was playing him as she pulled back up higher into the air again.

But then she was off again, and this time he did see the sparkle! Alexander leaned forward, narrowing the amount of surface area that need to break through the air resistance and darted toward the charm, trying to cut off the older seeker.

He narrowed in, their angles of approach close enough together that they found each other before they reached the snitch, and he jockeyed for position, trying to get in front of her, but she'd been on the Sonora team since he was only four years old and he was having trouble finding the advantage here.

So he tried guile.

"What am I doing wrong that I can't get ahead of you?" he asked, tempting her into a being a helpful mentor instead of a competitor.

1 Alexander Pierce I've got a long way to go before I'll have to miss it 1566 0 5

Robyn Lundstrom

April 12, 2023 6:38 PM

...or death by Robyn Lundstrom

"That's a fun coincidence! Fish snack party!" Robyn laughed as Lyla put down some goldfish crackers. She managed not to make a face as Samara said there might be fish flavoured jelly beans, not wanting to be rude, though she really hoped there weren't. Though the light pink one she had taken could be salmon instead of strawberry. She pocketed the beans, deciding she didn't want to find out right then. She had heard about the beans from Xavier and even tried a few of them, cautiously nibbling the edges to make sure they were nothing horrible. She was pretty sure she'd had one that was broccoli flavoured. She didn't hold with the stereotype of broccoli being disgusting, and happily ate it as a vegetable. However, it was odd to have it as a candy. Not disgusting, spit-out gross but not something she'd felt the need to finish.

"Does the chocolate do anything... unusual?" she asked, taking a moment to find a word that was more polite than 'strange.' Though maybe 'unusual' was just as bad because it might be perfectly 'usual' to someone from a magical family to have chocolate that exploded in your face or made you hiccup or any number of other things. She hoped it didn't seem like she was anti-magic in any way. She was supposed to be careful of that, because these people tended to take it awfully the wrong way... She crunched a few more goldfish crackers into her mouth and edged a little closer to Lyla, wondering why it couldn't all be that familiar and easy.

Apparently, Samara really didn't want to play Quidditch. The one distinctly magical thing that Robyn was inclined to do right now... Xarryn had asked if they wanted to, and Robyn had given him a solid 'uhhh maybe!' It would have been nice to try it, when it was just for fun and might help her make a friend. Except it seemed that she might lose her chance with another one in the process... One who was more important, given that she spent so much time with Lyla... Robyn put a few more fish in her mouth, leaving it to her friend to answer Samara's point.

13 Robyn Lundstrom ...or death 1558 0 5

Lyla Holland

April 23, 2023 4:56 AM

Uhhh....hopefully not death. Unless it's death by chocolate. by Lyla Holland

Lyla grinned at the sight of their piled provisions. It was really nice to have friends in a stable, not-moving-away-in-six-months way. Sure, they weren't together much over breaks, but they would be coming back to Sonora every year for the next five years after this one. And hopefully by then, they'd all be such fast friends, moving away wouldn't be such a big deal. Maybe when they were grown-ups, they could all get an apartment together.

She was pretty sure Robyn and Samara were getting along, anyway. Lyla had been on the fence about trying out anything on the field today; wanting to get the good lay of the land before she committed to anything. She wasn't sure if Robyn wanted to go try any of the exercises, but Samara had stated explicitly that she preferred not to. Shrugging, Lyla sided with her roommate.

"We should probably stick together, anyway," she said, "So no one feels lonely!"

Maybe she and Robyn could get Xarryn to run through a few Quidditch drills with them another time, if Robyn was up for it. It would be pretty rude to invite Samara to spectate, and then ditch her to do stuff she didn't want to do. It would be different if Lyla had planned to go on the pitch ahead of time; then Samara could have decided for herself if she wanted to go in the first place, knowing she would either have to join in or sit alone.

She scooped up a small handful of every-flavor beans. She'd had them a few times before, and hadn't had any terrible run-ins with earwax or vomit flavored beans, so she felt relatively safe chomping into a blueish one that looked like cotton candy.

"Hrrgghhhh!" she exclaimed, looking desperately around her for something to spit it out in. Realizing that there were no napkins or anything available, she climbed past Robyn, leaning over the side of the bleachers to let the nasty thing fall out of her mouth. Turning back to her friends, she uttered one word, that hopefully explained the whole shenanigan.

"Sardines!"

The salty, slimy, gross, tinned sardines that her mom put on salads or ate with toast permeated Lyla's mouth. She burst out laughing.

"It is a fish party!"

64 Lyla Holland Uhhh....hopefully not death. Unless it's death by chocolate. 1559 0 5

Samara Crosby

April 24, 2023 4:21 AM

I am pretty sure these won't kill you. by Samara Crosby

OOC: CW-Wizard snacks are kinda gross BIC:

Samara experienced a twinge of…well, she guessed she could describe it as “left out-ness” as Robyn and Lyla seemed to bond over the coincidence of bringing fish themed snacks. Had she known, she would have brought something fish shaped too. Except that she couldn't think of anything that fit that description. Wizards had snacks shaped like mice-which squeaked-and frogs-that jumped around-and other things but not fish.

Was she out of place, since both of these girls had Muggle backgrounds, and now Samara was an outsider with weird snacks. Which were normal snacks to her, but she still felt different and odd and like she did not belong. It was not a nice feeling and it was not helped by Robyn pocketing the beans.

Of course, while feeling kind of rejected, Samara also blamed herself for bringing the wrong snack. She should not have made the misstep, however, wizard snacks could just plain be problematic in the first place, like shaved caterpillars-which were booger flavored,ick- and cockroach clusters which the Crotalus herself would not try, as they were actual cockroaches. So, Bertie Bott’s beans were tame in comparison.

Still, how was Samara supposed to know anything about muggle snacks? How was she supposed to get such things? Why would it occur to her to even try? That wasn’t her culture. She had never even met someone who wasn’t a pureblood until she’d come to Sonora. And now the Crotalus was trying to share something with them that was part of her own world, the one that now included them because they were witches too. Not that they should turn their back on the Muggle world or anything but they should not expect Samara not to be more enmeshed in the magical one and bring snacks that were common in it.

Although, she supposed she more meant Robyn, since she was certain this was not the case with Lyla. The other Crotalus was her best friend and Samara completely trusted that she did not feel that way.

Still, she sort of felt like an intruder and awkward and rejected. Was it silly to feel that way over a handful of beans? Mother would say no. Mother would say it was a major slight and would already be plotting revenge on the Teppenpaw. Samara would not be doing that . Regardless of how she was feeling at this moment, she wasn’t really into plotting someone’s destruction. She did not have her mother’s rage.

Robyn then asked her about the chocoballs. “Oh, no. They’re perfectly innocent. They’re filled with strawberry mousse and clotted cream.” Hopefully these would go over better. She really did want the other second year to like her and was so worried that she’d already screwed up. They were not made of gross creatures or random gross tastes-there might actually be cockroach flavored beans, which Samara had never personally experienced thankfully,but at least they didn’t have the texture which she thought was the more disgusting part-or explosive or anything. They were simply for eating. And they were good.

Lyla suggested they all stick together and while Samara felt grateful for that, she didn’t want to keep the other two from doing something they might want to try. She already felt like maybe she was a third wheel, like maybe she had inserted herself into somewhere she might not be entirely wanted. Even though she really couldn’t imagine her roommate thinking that way about her and Xarryn also talked to her about coming. “It’s okay if you guys go down at some point if you really want to.” She was not entirely sure Lyla did but if it turned out her friend wanted to give it a go, that was fine and Robyn could go with her.

The other Crotalus took a handful of beans and as it turned out, one was sardine flavor. However, Lyla was really a good sport about the whole thing. Samara gave her an apologetic smile, “Yeah, that happens. Sorry you got a bad one. There are good ones too though. And at least it wasn’t anchovy, those things taste like a mouthful of salt.” She had once tried anchovies to see what all the fuss was about and they turned out to be as disgusting as everyone said. Samara picked out an orange one that might be some fruit or maybe peanut butter and popped it in her mouth. “Ooh, cheese!” Not a flavor one would expect candy to be but she seriously loved cheese.

11 Samara Crosby I am pretty sure these won't kill you. 1563 0 5