Kamal welcomes you to THE GUN SHOW. (gunshow) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-10-01 21:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | kamal nehru, nora alderton |
rp log: kamal nehru & nora alderton
Who: Kamal Nehru & Nora Alderton
When: 1 October 1979
Where: the Quidditch pitch up in Yorkshire!
What: Mostly just talking. Bonding!
Rating: PG for a bit of talk about... "brooms"
He couldn't get enough practising in, that was Kamal's line of thinking when he agreed to meet up with Nora (again). Considering he was still benched, it couldn't hurt to continue going above and beyond what was expected of him, and he didn't know anyone aside from Nora who was willing to meet up with him to fly around and talk. Madog would have told him to grow some balls and make his demands already, rather than agree to a practice, and he got enough of his own teammates on a regular basis. Besides, he liked Nora's company. It was a win-win situation, even if it didn't quite get him exactly what he wanted. The Yorkshire Moors were empty aside from the two of them, which was a nice change of pace for him, too. Despite the fact that Quidditch was the source of most of his worries and concerns, being out in the middle of nowhere doing something he loved more than anything else was just the thing to clear his head. Kamal spun around as Nora whizzed by him. "Aw, damn," he muttered to himself, grinning as he flew to catch up. "Reason number one I'm benched: that right there!" All right, so it wasn't quite enough to clear his mind completely, but he wasn't moping about it like he had been a few weeks earlier, or even just a few hours earlier. "You're making me look bad, Alderton!" "Not making you look bad," Nora objected, sticking her tongue out. Easing up on her broom just slightly, she slowed down to allow for a small break. Flying, even without practise, was one of her favourite things to do. "The whole fucking league is making everyone look bad. What is going on with the Chasers that we can't get more than one or two damned goals in before the Snitch is caught? Seriously, it's frustrated, and when I'm frustrated, I foul a lot more than normal! Did you see the match again Kenmare? I must have fouled fifteen times during that bloody match. At least I managed to score the only sodding goal." Her trusty old Nimbus 1001 had been with her for a long time, and it almost knew what she wanted to do. Shifting, Nora spun around so that she was currently flying backwards as she talked to Kamal. "I'm telling you, all you gotta do is make a few of your own calls during practise. Just make sure they really make you shine. You'll be golden after that." Kamal bit his tongue. He wanted to point out that the entire league wasn't responsible for his or her own Chasers' lack of ability to score goals. He wanted to point out that the rest of the team wasn't doing their job either, if the Quaffles were getting past the Keeper so easily, if a Seeker wasn't fast enough. But it wasn't worth the fight. "I saw the match. You don't have to take your frustration out like that," Kamal pointed out gently. She could be the bigger player, that was what he was trying to say. She didn't have to resort to dirty tactics, unintentionally or not. "It's exactly what they want, Nora. To make it difficult for you, to find your weak spots, and then they'll go after it over and over. Anything to beat you. You don't have to give in." He was tempted to ignore the rest of what she was saying, but... instead, he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. She had a good point, but Kamal was afraid he would end up making a fool of himself and making the situation worse. "Not as easy as you make it sound." "It happens sometimes. You just start getting too into the match and frustrated, and then suddenly, you're hitting someone the wrong way. It's not like I meant to do it, and I'm not Falmouth. They really should be thrown out of the damn league, if you ask me. They are not playing the same game we are," Nora said with another shrug. Turning yet again, she pulled up beside Kamal, close enough that they could talk without having to shout. The wind was so much louder way up here. "How are they going to know that you've got what it takes if you don't show them? You're going to wait around for years before making them notice you?" "Agreed," Kamal grumbled, frowning at the thought of the Falcons. He might have disliked the Magpies a bit, but he really disliked the Falcons. They didn't play for the game, in his opinion. They played because they enjoyed being brutes. "Pity some people enjoy watching rough play like that or it would be easier to get them thrown from the league." He had a feeling he knew exactly what was coming when Nora sidled up beside him, and he hesitated, torn between staying and talking, and flying away and getting back to practising. His mouth twitched as he tried not to frown. "You think I haven't been trying all of these years?" he asked after a moment, his voice level and a bit flat as he attempted to keep his emotions at bay. "That they don't know what I'm made of? That I haven't shown them?" "I think they need to be reminded, given a fresh perspective." Nora realised a sore spot well enough, but that didn't mean he didn't still need to hear it. "Better than marching up to your captain and telling them to fucking put you in, right?" Somehow, she thought that would be Madog's approach to everything. "A far better alternative," he conceded with a roll of his eyes. He wasn't Madog; he couldn't get away with that sort of language, with those demands, and actually remain on the team at all. It wouldn't be a very long fall from reserve to off the team completely, and Kamal was terrified of doing anything wrong enough to get him kicked off all together. "You could tell your Beaters to take one of our Chasers out, too," was Kamal's next idea, which was mostly a joke, but he wouldn't complain if one of them had an unfortunate non-lethal accident. "Your idea won't work if we win, you know. They'll think they're doing something right and that they don't need my calls. I should have joined the Cannons." Nora wrinkled her funny-shaped nose, which made it funnier looking, and shook her head. "PAH! The Cannons? Cannon fodder is more like it. As much as I'd love to use Melinda Robertson's thing for me for your benefit, I have a feeling it would get me kicked out of the league in a flash, and I like you, Kamal, but I do not like you THAT much." Pursing her lips apologetically, she gave his arm a gentle pat. If she didn't have her wits about her, she might have started pawing at those arms. For Merlin's sake, they were rock hard, and he wasn't even flexing. Blinking as she caught herself staring, she laughed, albeit a bit nervously, before clearing her throat. Rubbing the back of her neck, she bit her lip. "But really, we should figure out something for you to do to make them sit up and take notice, and hey, maybe one of them will have an accident." Truth was, she wanted her friend Kamal to get a started position out of talent, not because the previous Chaser had gotten pregnant and quit. Starting was tainted by it, for her. "I was joking." Sort of. "I'm sure I would get kicked out of the league as well, if they caught us." Which he was sure they would. It was inevitable that an act like that would come back to haunt him. He was worried enough that his negative thoughts were the reason he didn't have the starting position that he wanted so badly. What if saying -- even as a joke -- that someone should get hurt was the reason he wasn't getting what he wanted? Kamal stared down at her, perplexed by her reaction. "Uh... yes," he began slowly, narrowing his eyes slightly at her. Had he done something funny to make her laugh? He hadn't thought so, but... "I'll think of something, don't worry. Maybe... I could tell them about one of your tricks," he continued, his smile returning to his face, but it was slightly devious. "Tell them how to beat you." Nora's eyebrows shot up as she gaped at him. "Oh, don't you even think about it! We said these practises were off-limits! I'll get a bloody contract drawn up!" Merlin's beard, it was like everyone was out to get her this week! Her fingers clutched her broom as she dug in and set to fly around him for another round of practise manoeuvres. "Oh, come on, Nora! I was joking!" He shifted on his broom a little, enough to position himself directly in front of her. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. I meant what I said. Everything stays here, just between us." He hadn't meant to upset her, and he couldn't tell if she was playing along or actually upset, but just in case, he'd assumed she was. It was safer to assume that and be embarrassed when she wasn't than not try to make it better at all. "I'm not that sort of person, you know that." "You BETTER be joking, or I'll have my Beater take out YOU from the stands!" Nora's eyes widened, eyebrows shooting upward, before she burst out laughing. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and glanced down to where their stuff was. Water sounded good right about now. Jerking her head in the direction of their stuff. "Break on foot?" Kamal shuddered. He remembered those Beaters, and he did not want to mess around with them. "Yeah, the stands, where I'll be sitting because I won't be playing on the pitch. Ha, ha, Nora!" He didn't find it very funny, but he smiled anyway. He didn't mind being made fun of if it got her to laugh. "Sure. I need a moment to come up with something new to try against you, anyway." A second later, he was heading slowly towards the ground and not long after that, he was hopping off his broom. "Heard that spot on the wireless, with you and Madog," he commented, stretching his arms over his head to loosen the muscles up a little. "Advert spot? It's brilliant." Jealous as he might have been, he was genuinely happy for the way things were turning out for Nora. She deserved every bit of success. Nora nearly took a nose-dive off her broom, and settled for her feet getting caught up in her broom and fairly falling into Kamal in a most ungraceful manner. Her face was verging on red, skipping straight past the pink stage. "Oh God! You heard that? I'm going to strangle him! I'm going to strangle my agent! I'm going to die of humiliation from that stupid spot! I swear to Merlin, I was only talking about brooms! I didn't mean it all to come out the way it sounded, and then Madog made me so freaking angry! He just kept smiling that stupid, obnoxious, annoying, condescending smile of his, and I wanted to rip his bollocks off. No sodding joke, I tried to crush his favourite asset with the Nimbus after the spot." Cripes, what a mouthful. Nora knew very well that she talked a lot, and never so much as when she was embarrassed or nervous. Eyes going wide, Kamal reached out to grab Nora's -- well, to grab whatever part of her body was closest, really -- to steady her, and ended up with a hand on one of her arms, and another around her waist. He dropped that hand immediately once he was sure that she wasn't going to fall, but they were still a lot closer than what was comfortable. He remained silent while she rambled, and he might not have even appeared to be listening if not for the faint smile that tugged on his lips as she went on about ripping Madog's bollocks off. "Wish I could have seen that," he said, his smile growing wider. "It wasn't that bad, Nora," he continued gently, although he was sure that she thought it was. "I know you were only talking about brooms, and I'm sure lots of other people do too, but Madog... well, that's Madog for you." He'd stopped trying to understand his friend years ago. Madog was who he was, and it was best to accept that and learn how to deal with it. "It's the same thing as with the Kestrals. He's going to wind you up if he can, if he figures out how to do it. Don't let him." Aw, come on. AWKWARD. Nora could NOT get any breaks this week. Between the spectacular deflation by Gawain Robard's (Touché to him), finding out her sister had talked to him about her, being humiliated on national wireless, and then awkward hand placement from Kamal, Nora really decided that the only way this week could get worse was if the Harpies lost to the damn Wasps this Monday. "He already knows how to wind me up," Nora answered with an enormous pout worthy of a two-year old in a corner. "And I know that I 'let' him in the end, but he just -- don't you think there's got to be some reason he's such an arse all the time? Was he bullied in school? Dropped on his head?" "And he's doing a good job of it, isn't he?" Kamal tilted his head to the side a little, considering Nora and her question. He didn't know Madog well enough to know if there was a reason for his behaviour, and he had a feeling the answer was simple: it amused him. "Does there have to be a reason for it? No, he wasn't bullied in school as far as I know. It'd be hard to bully someone like Madog. Most likely, he just thinks it's fun. If you stop reacting like that, threatening to do terrible things to some very important body parts... maybe he would stop. Maybe it wouldn't be interesting." "I'm not good at ignoring people," Nora grumbled, throwing herself onto the soft grass and sitting cross-legged. After grabbing a water bottle, she downed quite a bit of it before leaning back on her palms and looking up at Kamal. "Really not good at it. Especially not when someone is clearly so messed you." Nora really did believe that deep down, there were two potential reasons that Madog MacDougal was the way he was. 1) He was a terribly insecure individual due some personal tragedy -- usually through the betrayal of a loved one, manipulating other's misfortune to make himself look better or 2) he'd been dropped on his head as a small child, and therefore suffered brain damage. Either reason was extremely sad, but the former appealed to Nora's sense of romance. Weren't most of the heroes in romance novels, after all, damaged in some way? After taking her drink, and pondering over Madog's potentially broken heart, she screwed up her lips and glanced at Kamal. "Do you ever get fanmail? Like out there fanmail?" "Maybe this is a good chance to start practising that too," Kamal suggested. He knew it was difficult to just let something go, especially when that something was Madog MacDougal, but it would be better for Nora if she figured out how to deal with Madog without causing a scene and getting stressed out. Kamal had years more experience when it came to that. "You can try." Kamal picked up a towel and wiped off his face, shivering a little as the breeze hit him. It was a lot colder on the ground, not moving, than it had been up in the air. "Like... fanmail from girls asking me out? Sending knickers?" He leaned over to the right, stretching his left side. "Seems more like something Madog would get. But... sometimes, yes. I used to receive a lot of marriage proposals, when I was starting. I don't receive as many any more." And there Kamal went, trying to treat her like a child. Like her sister. Like Gawain. Like Madog. Like Ned. Everyone really needed to lay the hell off! She wasn't going to get the life experience she needed to actually grow up and learn these things if people kept telling her to! Rather than deal with that, she focused on the (slightly) more worrying aspect of that conversation. "Did you ever get... er.. sexual fanmail?" Cheeks flushing brightly, Kamal ducked his head and lowered his gaze, shrugging. Of course he did; he knew he was attractive, and attractive men never had a lack of attention, sexual or not. "Sometimes," he confirmed, wrinkling his nose slightly. Unlike some men, who might have been thrilled to receive letters of a sexual nature in the mail, it always made Kamal slightly uncomfortable. "Why?" "Erm..." The normally and obnoxiously boisterous Nora Alderton reached inside her robes and pulled out a few carefully wrapped (in case of potions, hexes, curses, etc) pieces of parchment and handed them to Kamal. Among them were offers to RIDE MY BROOM! and CHECK OUT MY LENGTH! Kamal flipped through the papers slowly, struggling to keep his face void of any sign of amusement. He knew she'd been upset by the interview because of its accidentally sexual nature, and he could tell she was embarrassed by the letters, so mocking her would not be very helpful. It was still a bit amusing, but he decided to keep that to himself. "I can't say I've ever received anything like that. The interview's fault, I take it?" Kamal sighed and handed the stack back to Nora, feeling a bit dirty from just touching the letters. "What are you going to do about it?" The letters weren't the half of it. She'd gotten a few less-than-appropriate photographs to accompany some of the letters. Others included chocolates or other gifts. Ned was currently having most of them inspected. Still, others shouted their, er, demands. "Interview's the only thing it could be. Before it, I rarely got any fanmail. I mean, a few pieces here and there, but mostly things like, 'Brilliant match against Falmouth! Rooting for you! Go HARPIES!' and the like. Nothing so... explicit." Nora shrugged and shoved them back in her robes. Maybe she should set them on fire, as she and Miriam had done for Gideon's old things? She halfway suspected that Mina was already doing so anyway. "Wish I had a solution, but..." Sadly (and luckily for him, really), he had no experience with that sort of situation. "Maybe you should forward all of the disgusting ones to Madog," he joked, a devious glint in his eyes flickering briefly before he continued. "Some attention is better than none, I... suppose. I wouldn't worry too much. They'll get over it eventually and move onto the next big thing as they always do." |