Gabriel Cavalier. (disconcert) wrote in feinted, @ 2011-12-07 10:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, dani-moyet, gabriel-cavalier |
I need a month of Sundays.
Who: Gabriel Cavalier & Dani Moyet
What: Roofies Cupcakes
When: Wednesday, 10am
Where: BB Common room
Rating: PG, possibly a little higher for substance abuse
Status: Complete!
Contrary to what he would portray, and what others perceived, Gabriel did not in fact hate his teammates. He liked them well enough that if they were in any sort of trouble, he would offer to help them. Though him helping them would have to come by them asking for help and him accepting to give it. Like with Alphonse and his issue with Elodie. That he was not really fond of but Gabriel was always willing to offer advice because he thought he knew what was best for those around him, which included everyone in his team. It was decided that he would do what he thought was best for a certain member of his team even though most of the others would not approve.
Gabriel sat in his favourite armchair in the Beauxbâtons Common room, stealing glances at the door while reading a book as he waited for Dani. A box filled with ten cupcakes sat on the table in front of him. He had asked Flora to make a special treat for each of his teammates and Gabriel had talked her down from eleven small cakes for each to eleven cupcakes. When the elf wasn't looking, he poured the Sleeping Draught into the self mixing bowl and waited patiently for the elf to finish. Once Flora was done and sent Gabriel on his way, he took the cupcake with his initials and threw it into the nearest rubbish bin but he was smart enough to keep the paper. To do this he had to skip Arithmancy but he wasn't bothered by that in the least. He figured that he could skip all of his classes for a week and still be up to speed with everything going on.
He heard the sound of the door connecting the Beauxbâtons dorm to Hogwarts open, turned his attention back to his book and hoped it was Dani. If it wasn't... well then he would have more than one person on his team asleep for the entire day.
Dani ran her hand through her hair with a sigh as she made her way into the common room. The conversation she’d had yesterday with Corbin was grating at her unreasonably. She was sure the blonde boy was wrong, but couldn’t quite follow the reasoning as to how or why. It didn’t matter, though. She’d gotten back her last runic translation with glowing marks, bringing a tired smile to her face and spurring her on to start the next set of assigned readings straight away.
As she entered the tastefully decorate room, awash in the light blue that signified her school, she spotted Gabriel. Her team mate tended to keep to himself, though it didn’t dull her affection for him. It was only her current, overtired state that robbed her voice of its normal brightness as she greeted him.
“Bonjour, Gabriel! Are you enjoying your book?”
Gabriel glanced up as he did whenever someone on his team entered the common room and greeted him. “Bonjour, Dani. Oui, I am. But I can’t shake the feeling that I 'ave read it before." The stream of English came out of his mouth with ease though his accent still highly noticeable. He sighed and leaned over to place the book on the table in front of him. It was entirely possible that he did, Beauxbâtons had a nicely sized library and it wouldn't be uncommon to find the same book but in different languages. Gabriel turned his gaze back to Dani and controlled the urge to roll his eyes. He was no stranger in watching someone work themselves ragged like Dani was currently and while usually he would just let them do what they did until they passed out in a strange place and were put on bed rest for a few days, that was not an option here.
"'ave you come to relax? Or will you be going off soon?" Gabriel asked curiously. His mind was excellent in noticing and memorizing patterns so it wasn't hard to keep track of what classes his teammates had and when. "I suggest you relax for a while and maybe leave a few clubs because you look 'worse of wear' as the English say." Gabriel blinked slowly, his head titled slightly to the side. He could have been much more brutal but he always tried to not offend his teammates. Gabriel's attention was diverted as his cat jumped onto the couch next to him and he reached for her. "Elle n'a pas l'air bien, does she Alix?" [She doesn't look so well.]
“Gabriel!” Normally she’d be haughty, angry even, if he’d said such things to her. As it was, Dani didn’t have the energy to chastise or argue. Her response was reproachful at best, especially considering she’d had much the same discussion (she would not call it a fight, even in the privacy of her own mind) with Corbin yesterday. By now, Dani was well used to the fact that Gabriel tended to think he knew better than those around him, and while she had no problem with him taking that attitude to those in his own year, she resented having it directed at herself. “I ‘ave come back to work, Gabriel. The BAT is at the end of the year, for me, and there are exams before then.”
And what did it matter how she looked? No one was looking anyway, and beyond that, the self-flagellating part of herself, the side she’d been listening to all too closely of late, was convinced this meant she was actually working, making progress; would be fit to defend Alphonse better. The urge to snap back at him in French sputtered out as quickly as it had come, a very clear sign that she didn’t have the reserves of energy she could usually draw upon.
“Alix knows Je vais relaxer lorsque nous avons gagné un match.”[I will relax when we have won a game.]
With his attention still on Alix, Gabriel rolled his eyes and held back a sigh of aggravation. Sometimes his attempts to be nice to someone fell short but his slight aggravation came from him expecting to get scolded as Dani said his name like that. It was one of the things that was quick to get to Gabriel, to strike a nerve as they say but Dani was apparently not doing that today which made it apparent on how tired she was. "Work," Gabriel scoffed at that and continued his sentence in French. "You mean run yourself ragged until you just can't go anymore." A taunting smile spread across the fifth years face. "Didi has already banned you from one practice once before, who do you think he and Marat will send in to replace you in our next game when you can't sit on your broom with out swaying? Ceilo, Pipa or myself?" He realized a bit too late that he was possibly going a bit too far and he risked the chance on having Dani storming off on him before she took a bite of her cupcake but sometimes he had a difficult time stopping himself.
The taunting had leaked out of his tone and left his expression. The new tone that took it's place was softer but his expression defaulted into its natural icy gaze that he fixed on Dani. "Alix also knows that it is necessary to sleep and a bit of relaxation before seizing a new day and throwing yourself into things. I understand you fretting about the BAT and the exams and whatever else," the only reason why Gabriel tried out for his school team this year was due to the fact that he had no big exams to worry about. If he was a sixth or seventh year, like most of his teammates, then he would have never tried out at all. "What I don't understand is why you beat yourself up so much for not being able to protect our teammates from the other teams’ Bludgers. There are two Beaters and you cannot be everywhere on the pitch at once. And I think you need to leave a few of your clubs."
Dumping her bag on the floor with little care, Dani sunk into one of the squishy blue armchairs drawn up to Gabriel’s table. She’d been all set to protest his remarks on running herself ragged (she’d been doing so well at denying or ignoring them from other quarters as it was), but it was the threat of replacement that brought her up short, made her actually listen. She hadn’t thought of that when she was so busy rushing between commitments and brushing off peoples’ comments in between. It was the last thing she wanted, to put herself out of play, and while his bossiness would usually have prompted either a fiery retort or a stormy exit, today the words permeated through the fog of her mixed up priorities. “I do not want to be replaced,” she insisted in a small voice, wiping at treacherous tears that had formed at the thought. “I will not.” Upset as she might be, her determination was not dulled. It was this stubbornness that had driven her to running herself dry in the first place.
“I- I suppose I do not need the book club. Or the choir, maybe not even the film club,” though she had fallen asleep during their last viewing and hoped no one noticed in the darkened room. She refused to drop duelling club however, it was a good outlet and much too fun. His other comment however, took more thought. Dani expected much of herself in general, but she’d never been so hard on herself after games back at Beauxbâtons. Pride was said to come before a fall, and if Dani hadn’t begun to listen to Gabriel, her own pride would come before her passing out somewhere from sheer exhaustion or slipping off her broom.
“I just ‘ate that we have not won,” the admission finally came with a soft sigh. And Sebastien was one of her best friends, she didn’t like to share the blame with him. Eventually, she looked back at Gabriel, unused to sharing so much with him when she was closer to others, but wanting...something. Reassurance? Comfort? Dani wasn’t entirely sure.
Oh good, Gabriel's words were sinking in. Of course the tears he could do without. Gabriel never knew what to do when someone was crying, especially when that someone was a person that he wasn't particularly close to. Sure he knew what to do when his little sister or his cousin cried but they were tough girls who were a little bit too much like him, though Gabriel himself was a little bit too much like his older sister. Gabriel nodded as Dani mentioned the clubs that she considered leaving. "What is the purpose of Choir? When was the last time they performed anything?" Gabriel himself missed the wood nymphs back home, interesting little creatures with wonderful voices.
"As do I. I think all of the team does but you know that most of our friends and classmates back home will and are very proud of us." Gabriel was sure that their school was in fact proud of them but there was always one or two that were jealous and spiteful for not making the team. "Though if some attempt to criticize or say that they could have done better then point me in their direction and I will deal with them." The fifth year sighed and gave Dani a rare but genuine smile. "You are a good Beater Dani. A very good Beater but you must learn to not be so 'ard on yourself. Alphonse does as well." The Seeker could also do with a boost of confidence but Gabriel liked to solve one problem at a time. He leaned forward and nudged the box filled with cupcakes towards Dani. "Flora made us cupcakes and they are amazing. I wanted a second one but," Gabriel shook his head and shrugged with a defeated sigh. "They have our initials on them."
“I...I do not know,” she laughed sheepishly, already feeling relieved simply from allowing herself to make the decision to ease her load. She sighed, though the expression was less heavy and much more content, brushing the few silly tears from her cheeks. Maybe she would curl up with a favourite book for a while and take some time out before she looked at her next round of studying and homework.
“I will point you in their direction and lend you my bat for good measure.” Let it never be said she was selfish when it came to righteous retribution. Detractors could say what they liked; Beauxbâtons had put in a good showing, and still had plenty of rounds in the tournament to make up ground. Gabriel’s smile - all the nicer for its rarity - lifted her mood considerably, as did his praise. While she might have otherwise shrugged off his assertion that she needed to give herself a break, coupling it with the same for Alphonse made it infinitely more valid to her mind. Dani was the first one to tell the seeker off if he let his thoughts slip this way, and she really needed to relax and share the responsibility, especially with Sebastien, if she wanted to make it through the tournament. “Merci, Gabriel. For...everything. Your little Flora is quite sweet.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little at his dramatics as she reached for the cupcake with DM emblazoned on it in flourishing blue icing.
She’d barely taken a bite out of the admittedly delicious little cake when her eyelids dropped of their own accord, sleep overtaking her instantly. Cupcake still in hand, Dani toppled out of her chair, crumpling onto the carpet with a slight ’THUD’.
Gabriel muttered a 'You're Welcome' at Dani's thank you and watched her intently as she bit into the cupcake. His eyes widened and he sucked in a breath as she pitched forward. "Mon Dieu," a smile spread across his face he stifled a laugh that threatened to leave him as she crumpled onto the carpet. In retrospect, he should have thought the situation through all the way instead of just being set on getting her to bite the cupcake but what was done was done. Gabriel placed Alix onto the armchair as he stood up from it, the cat was on his lap during the proceedings and had barely taken an interest in Dani falling asleep so suddenly. He pulled out his wand, pointed it at Dani and levitated her onto the couch of their Common Room. Of course he wasn't going to leave Dani on the floor, he doubted it was comfortable even with the carpet. After that was done, Gabriel cleaned up the mess that Dani's cupcake made and placed the Beaters bag right in front of the couch.
As he did all this, he talked, "Let it never be said that I don't try to help my teammates with problems that they are having." He turned to Alix and shook his head. "I like these people well enough to get involved when I need to and when they're annoying me. But just because I don't hate them doesn't mean I don't think they're stupid and foolish from time to time." Gabriel summoned a blanket, threw it over Dani and after he made sure it was covering her completely, he let himself fall into the armchair that Dani was in a few minutes ago. "Someone has to take care of these people," Gabriel reached for his book and began where he left off. "I find it humorous that it has to be me, the youngest."