Brinley doesn't need hair dye (notdyed) wrote in carpediem_rp, @ 2015-08-22 23:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: brinley eovaldi, character: michael meru, thread: complete |
Who: Brinley Eovaldi & Michael Meru
Where: Outside the Meru tent at the Quidditch World Cup
When: Right after the match ended (about 9:40ish), but before the attack, August 22
What: Brinley goes to gloat to Meru and things take an awkward turn when discussing her winnings for their bet.
Rating: PG-13 for some language
Status: Complete
America delivered. The dream that believed that they could win did win, and it left Brinley with a feeling of fulfillment. She watched the game from the nosebleeds but there was still a great view of what was going on. She used some binoculars her sister purchased for her the previous year for Christmas to get a good look at what was going on. It was a close game and for a while Brinley was worried that she was going to have to eat her words for how confident she'd been about America winning. But thankfully when the game ended, the USA was on top where they should be and Brinley's throat now felt a little hoarse from how much she was screaming during the game. Her face was half-painted with an American flag and she wore a thank top with a pair of jean shorts that she'd cut to a little above her mid-thigh. Her pink hair clashed a bit with the rest of the outfit, but she didn't seem to care all that much. She'd used a charm her sister made to add a few blue streaks to it, and so she looked like the punk-rock grandchild of Uncle Sam. Lip piercings and all. Now she had to find Meru who was somewhere there so she could gloat to him about how she called it. It had been some fun banter talking sports over the new journals the school issued, but the victory was hers. Finding him took a little time, but she saw the Meru tent and immediately went for it, knowing that he was probably inside and maybe already suffering under Misha's excitement that the team he was rooting for won. "Michael Meru!" she said from outside the tent, "you in there?" It was always good to check. The game had been a good one. The American team had been doing terribly during most of the game. Michael had been sure that France’s victory was in the bag, except their seeker just wasn’t up to par. He always hated how that was constantly the most important part of a team, All the other members could lose just by the snitch being caught. Which is exactly what happened to the French team. The american’s seeker was just too fast and he grabbed it dropping the team ahead by only ten points. So much for lording France’s victory over his brother. Oh well. It was still a fantastic game and well worth the four hours it lasted. But with the length, a few of his younger siblings had fallen asleep and he’d been roped into help carrying them. Michael had just finished laying his youngest sister down when he heard a very familiar call from outside of the tent. Sounds like Brinley was quite eager to enjoy her victory over him. Chuckling, he ran a hand through his dark hair, straightened his shirt that was patterned like a French flag and stepped outside. He was far from the short, skinny boy that she’d remembered. He was standing at an impressive 6’5 and while still skinny, had a lean muscular build, something he'd been working go since physical therapy. "Hey Brin. Figured you'd show up." He said with an easy smile. The person that walked out of the Meru tent looked a lot like the scrawny boy that Brinley remembered but a lot taller. A lot taller. Brinley found her neck craning up to look at the boy and the smugness she'd arrived with quickly replaced with surprise. Her blue eyes widened and she seemed to sober a bit. Okay, that was definitely Meru and it wasn't like he was skinnier. Meru was not just taller but a little thicker. How the hell did puberty hit so hard and so fast? She blinked at him a few times before she remembered she came here for a reason. And that wasn't to stare at a transformed Michael Meru. "Yeah," she replied a little stupidly, not saying anything for a moment after before she realized they were kind of just standing there staring at each other. Though she was doing more of the staring than Meru. Brinley made a quick recovery saying, "So! I believe you have the right colors on back they are in the wrong design. Because it looks like you are wearing the losing team." She was doing a better job of acting herself but Brinley kept staring at Meru. Like she was trying to figure out how she felt about this change. She was leaning toward liking it, but she tried not to think anymore on it. This was Michael Meru, after all, and she shouldn't be thinking he was cute. He was a pal and fellow lover of quidditch. Michael forgot that people hadn't seen his recent changes until he often saw the look on their faces. Brin had a rather interesting one and he wasn't sure if it was just surprise or what. But he walked closer to her and kind of smiled at the way he towered over her for once. Was she always this little and he just never noticed because of how little he was? “Haha, even in loss we were still the better team playing, and you have to admit that. If the US hadn't caught the snitch when they did, it would've been a resounding victory for France.” But she was right and they had lost either way. He just simply hated how they had lost. It felt like a jip for his poor team. “Though I take you are here to remind me of our little bet?” "America was pulling it together toward the end, and they got a number of good saves when they put in their substitute keeper," Brin pointed out, knowing that there had been a turning point toward the end. And yet there was still a victory for her. The US's seeker pulled through and maybe that was the plan all along? Keep things interesting because a clear victory was never fun. The US had started the game as a bit of an underdog in some respects, and they pulled it off. She nodded, "Pretty much. It would've been more fun to have watched the game in the same area. Somehow, having to chase you down isn't quite as satisfying." She jokingly stuck her tongue out at him and then finally said it. "What the hell happened?" “Their keeper was pretty good at the end. I have to admit that. They should’ve used him from the start instead of making him their reserve. The other one was too much of a showboat to keep the french out.’ Brin was right though and it would’ve been fun to have been in the same area, but his family had gotten tickets from a friend and so were all together on one of the lower levels this year. “Next time we’ll have to find a way to get tickets together.” When she blurted out her question, Michael couldn't help but laugh. She didn’t last as long as he expected her to. “Did something happen? I didn't notice?” He couldn’t keep a straight face though and just grinned at her. “Well... I sort of took a potion that wasn’t quite ready and puberty punched me in the gut. knocked me out of commission most of the summer, but I’m doing better now.” He held his arms out and motioned. “What do you think? I’m trying to get some muscle on me like Misha, but I just can’t keep up with the calorie intake that I need for it. "Oh, come on, Meru," Brinley said putting a hand on her hip, "You cannot just--you know what I'm talking about!" She felt a little exasperated by his initial denial, but Meru was Meru and easily gave in with little to no effort on her part. In fact, she probably could've just looked at him and he would've caved. The confession came out and she wasn't sure whether to laugh or possibly applaud him for doing something kinda impressive, even if it was by accident. Did he gave more accidents than successes? What did she think? Brinley said, "You look . . . taller. And you know, taller." Okay, that was a brilliant answer and Brinley felt stupid but she was still trying to figure this out. How was she supposed to deal with Meru showing up taller and looking . . . kinda cute. Attractive even. "You're doing fine," Brinley said, "You don't have to look like Misha. You know, just be you." It was kind of cute to see her so exasperated like that. Brinley was always fun to be around and he honestly couldn't keep teasing her like that long. He was grateful when she didn’t immediately scream at him like most girls were tending to do when they discovered his little accident. Both Rini and Christine were still pissed every time he just stepped into his lab practically. So it was refreshing that she didn't call him an idiot or simply assume that this wasn't planned or some major fuck up. Michael laughed again at her comment about im being taller. It was cute how she was stuck with how to explain it. At least he didn't look terrible. And he wasn't shorter than every girl close to his age. The only one who seemed to be shorter was little Ariana in Gryffindor, but he heard she had a medical condition anyways. Her comment about not having to look like his brother earned a honest and warm smile on him. Three months ago, that smile would’ve looked boyish on him, but now it was naturally charming. “Thanks. That means a lot to hear Brin.” Michael said, feeling the blush on his cheeks. “But I think you’re still here in order to talk about our little bet, yeah?” "Yeah, well, Misha's great and all, but I think one is enough," Brinley said regarding the recent graduate from the Meru family. But thankfully, Meru turned the subject back to the bet. Somehow, she was gonna get payback for him making her give a physical assessment. What did it matter what she thought of it? But Meru was one to ask all of his friends that sort of thing, she bet, and there was no malicious intent behind it. She nodded, "Yeah, so, you owe me a trip to Hogsmede when we get back to school. And this also means I don't have to do lab clean-up. Yes!" She made a fist and drew it in, a victory for her since the idea of cleaning up a lab, especially after Meru's experiments, sounded like it would be a lot of work. She touched her chin thoughtfully, "I'll make a list and we'll figure out how much I can spend once we go there. But this goes to show, you may know a lot about quidditch, but maybe you should hold off on betting for now." Some of her confidence returned, now that the subject of Meru's super-puberty was placed aside. She punched his arm a little hard, "And that's for calling me Brinnipoo. Really, Meru? I'm not a puppy." He snorted and shook his head. “I think the world can only handle one Misha Meru, but if he has it his way, our younger brother will be fast to follow in his footsteps.” Both Misha and Michael had a difficult relationship with one another. They were brothers but they were exact opposites. Misha was popular, athletic, attractive, and Michael was brilliant, studious, and nerdy. The only thing they had in common was quidditch and there was quite a rivalry there. Michael pouted though when she mentioned Hogsmede and his half of the bet. So much for help cleaning and some of his pocket money. At least Brin was reasonable about it all. “Sure I cant just take you to dinner instead?” He was sure if he hinted at it being some sort of date to his dad, the man would throw money at Michael. “And no more betting unless the odds are in my favor.’ Brin’s punch earned a laugh from Michael once more as she reminded him about the Brinnipoo comment. “Hey, I wasn’t thinking puppy when I said it. It just amused me to be honest and i was just trying to be playful. I apologize if it you did not approve.” Though his smile said otherwise. "That sounds too much like a date," Brinely said, "and let's be real, you don't want to go on an actual date with me." It was a bit of a self-deprecating remark upon herself, but during her time in school and really, period, Brinley had never been asked out by another student. Those she had interest in didn't seem interested in her and such was life. She was starting to suspect that she was a character in a Greek tragedy, doomed to love but never be loved. She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, that's a convincing apology. And maybe not a puppy, but it's a nickname I don't approve of. If you call me it again, I'll have to come up with something horrendously embarrassing for you. I may even consult with Misha or Marina about it. Let's not get to that point, Meru." Brinley gave him a stern look, but it didn't look entirely convincing. Michael frowned at the remark. Really, there wasn't any need for her to feel like that. Brin was pretty and a lot of fun. Dating had just never been the focus, not when the last girl he’d asked out in 5th year thought he was a ballsy first year. Since then, he’d been avoiding romance as much as humanly possible. But Birn was cute and fun to be around. He wouldn't mind trying it. ‘Why not? I don’t see any reason I wouldn’t want to.” He answered with a small shrug. He chuckled and quickly held his hands up in surrender. “Alright alright. I’ll save it only for the Gryffindor/ Ravenclaw game. Because my siblings are going to think up terrible names for that one even without your help. But I’ll refrain otherwise. Is that more to your liking?” Meru's response was hard to interpret. Was this just something fun for him? Did he actually want to take her on a date or was it just something for them as friends to do and use the word casually? Why was she thinking about this so much? "Wait, so you're saying you want to take me on a date?" What else was in that potion? From what she knew of Meru, and what they knew of each other, he'd never shown any real interest before. Sure, there was the bantering on occasion, but he did that with others too. "It's acceptable," Brinley said and folded her arms before her, "but deal. We'll use stupid nicknames on each other when it's time for the smack-talk. By the way, Ravenclaw will lose. I'd bet on it, but you know, you told me not to bet with you unless things were in your favor." Focus on the quidditch, focus on the quidditch. Man, he was tall. Now that the idea of a date was mentioned, Michael couldn’t get it out of his mind. she was pretty, he always thought so. But Michael still didn't think much of himself either. He thought of several answers to her question, but each one of them sounded stupider than the last and the silence was just getting worse. Deciding that it was better to try than say something to make her angry, he gave a small nod. “Yeah, i think I might.” “And Ravenclaw is not going to lose this year. We’re going to be working harder than ever to win. I’ve already got plans made to kick your butts.” Gryffindor specifically because well that’s Misha’s house, even if he had graduated. He just hoped that he was gonna be able to balance all of this over the school year. “so who got captain of your team by the way after Misha left?” He asked, thinking it had to be her or Keara, both were likely choices. Meru lost his friggin' mind. That had to be it. The potion had messed with his head. That had to be it. It had to be. Brinley wanted to continue the conversation about quidditch and upcoming matches for the Hogwarts school year, but she just found herself stuck on this idea. That Meru was asking her out on a date and he might actually want to be asking her. When did this happen? How did this happen? They should've just bet over money. "Okay, hypothetical question," she said, "if you were to take me on a date, where would we go? And is this a friends date or a date date?" Because repeating the word totally changed the meaning of it. Michael wasn't sure if he was going to be sick or not thanks to the new nerves that were fluttering through him. He’d never really thought of Brinley as a potential date, but she was beautiful and fierce. Michael enjoyed her friendship and company whenever he got a chance and remembered the world outside of his lab. But really, who’d want to day short, skinny, and nerdy.... well not so short anymore at least. “Hypothetically we could always go somewhere simple, one of the smaller cafes at Quinque and then maybe ice cream? And would you want it to be a date date?” Because that was the important question before he really did make an idiot of himself. She really wanted him to stop turning the question on her. She kept feeling like this was a con. Meru was a Ravenclaw and part of being smart could mean you were clever. But Brinley was finding it harder to think of what to say or if she wanted to say anything. Every time she did, it felt like this was spiraling out of control. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but what if during this process of negotiation she ended up turning this into a big mess and annoying Meru into him taking back the whole idea. Wait, hadn't she wanted him to? No, she didn't. Did she? Damn. Brinley's brain functionality was slowly starting to shut down. She kinda wished someone would interrupt and this whole thing would be forgotten. Nobody interrupted, and the Meru brood was uncharacteristically absent. Double damn. "Okay, just let me think," Brinley held her hands up, even though she was trying to think and it wasn't getting her anywhere. "Let's just . . . see how it goes." That sounded safe. Michael felt like moving, but his feet were glued to the floor as he waited to hear Brinley’s response. He didn't mean to turn it back so much, but he wasn't sure what the answer was, and it wasn't only up to him with whatever they decided. She had to want it to be a date too, both of them had to. Did he? Merlin, he had no idea. “Sure, seeing how it goes works fine. I mean we can just hang out at Quinque and go from there.” Because that was logical, even if nothing else about the last five minutes was. Meru thanked his lucky stars that Misha was out of the area because his older brother would’ve been laughing his ass off at this terribly awkward exchange. “How about next week? We could go on a weekday so it’s not so busy?” If Meru had vocalized his relief that his siblings weren't there, she might have argued against it because they would've stopped it. But she'd have to think again because Meru was part of a big family and she knew how siblings in that environment could be. So in the end they were both spared a lot of embarrassment by having those around them as strangers uninterested in what a girl with pink hair and lip piercings and a tall boy with glasses had to say to each other. "Yeah, exactly," Brinley said a little too loudly, "That way it's relaxed." She hoped it would help her but she was sure at some point she was going to need to talk to Keara and figure out what to do. She knew there would be a lot of teasing involved but not as much of a ribbing as her older siblings would have given. They were forbidden from knowing He suggested the following week and Brinley put her hands into her pockets, "Yeah, that works. So we'll plan on that. Right." She smiled a little bit she looked nervous. "I should get back to my family," she started, so I'll talk to you later." She started turning and the turned back, "What time are we doing this? Should we just meet somewhere?" Michael smiled and gave a small nod. “Yeah, relaxed.” Except relaxed was the very last thing that he felt right now. No, he was completely nervous and unsure what else to do. He was going to have to get advice and he wasn't sure who was the better option. His brother, who was a dick, or his roommates at school, who were also dicks. He’d have to think on it. Maybe he’d ask Peter. He dated before, right? “Oh, yeah. I should make sure the twirps aren’t killing one another too.” He said as he pointed in the direction of the family tent. “How about Wed at 12? We can meet out in front of the quidditch store?” Because that was somewhere they both knew easily. "So, Wednesday at noon, meet at the quidditch store, right," Brinley said and pressed her lips together tightly, "I'll see you then, Meru." She gave a wave that came off pretty casual, but Brinley felt like a duck paddling like the devil underneath her somewhat calm composure. She was backing away again and turned from Meru, as soon as she did her expression changed to one of panic. She made a hasty exit and made her way back to her family. Her face burned red and Brinley didn't know if it was embarrassment, excitement, or both. A date with Michael Meru? What on earth was going on? |