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Tweak says, "Needs moar asylums"

Gwenog Jones (haveyoumet_) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-06-08 14:17:00

Entry tags:

character: alicia spinnet, character: gwenog jones

RP: An accidental discovery
Who: Gwenog Jones, Alicia Spinnet
What: A run in and a secret
Where: A London dance studio
When: Monday 8th June
Rating: NSFW - swearing seems incredibly likely

The beauty of the off season for Gwenog was that she had far more freedom to dance almost whenever she wanted. Yes there were still Quidditch practices, but they were far fewer and further between and she could go to more of the classes at the dance studio she'd found some years ago. She could and did practice on her own near enough daily and took some classes during the season but she was in far more regular attendance when she didn't have games to juggle as well.

She had been continuing to have problems with her hip since her injury several months ago. Although she had regained some of the flexibility she had previously had through regular stretching and exercise it was still not quite right and the lines of movements were still not quite right. Her teacher didn't seem to be all that concerned, knowing she'd had an injury and there had been improvement since she returned, and also that her dance was never going to be her career. Gwenog on the other hand was endlessly frustrated that her placement was off what she knew she could do before. It wasn't as if anything was painful any longer, just sort of tight and as if she'd lost the muscle memory built up over years of practice.

Towards the end of the class, as they were practising a variety of leaps, which was something that Gwenog found far easier in classes than she did at home. Her studio was great but it wasn't all that large and if she wasn't careful she'd end up smacking a foot on the wall when she tried to chain leaps, or didn't land quite right and went for a bit of a slide. She had done the former once or twice soon after she'd had the room converted and had avoided it ever since. She could feel that her grand jétés weren't quite even and it frustrated her so she wasn't paying that much attention to the small group of people who were clearly being shown around the studio. They were invited to stay in the corner as the class finished up by returning to the barre for some final moves.

As Bart brought the class to a close she hurried over to him instead of doing the customary stretches and putting on her warmer clothes.

"Bart, can we talk about my leg?"

"What, again Gwenog?" he asked, the fact they'd had similar conversations before bleeding through into his voice.

"Yes again. It's still not right!" she complained passionately. "My extension is off and all my stretching is still uneven!"

"You had an injury not all that long ago, and it's not affecting your dancing anything like as much as you think it is. I know you take it seriously but your dancing is a hobby, and your standard is excellent given your age and the fact you've had an injury and you can't take classes as regularly for most of the year."

Gwenog sighed heavily, knowing that this conversation wasn't going anywhere. "Fine," she said even though she thought it was anything but fine. She was hoping he'd do something if it didn't improve more now that she could take more classes again. "Thanks."

She hurried back over to the other students who were finishing up their warm down by now and started to pull on the warmer clothes her body needed after a hard class, missing Bart crossing to speak to the people who had observed the end of the class.

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_alicia_
2015-06-13 11:08 pm UTC (link)

Alicia shook her head when Gwenog started explaining. This wasn’t why she had approached. She didn’t need or want an explanation for Gwenog’s reasons. But, she let her speak to keep this whole thing from derailing or drawing too much attention.

She did sigh, though, at the comment about biting. Still, there was the smallest smile on her lips, because as much as she kept her professional distance and discouraged flirtatious comments like this from the players, there was something rather familiar and slightly flattering about it. “Sure,” Alicia agreed, and walked alongside Gwenog out of the studio to a bench that was far enough away to ensure them their privacy.

“Look, you don’t owe me or anybody an explanation for why you do this,” she said and gestured to herself. “I’m a firm believer in keeping private lives, well, private. I’ve no interest, little less intention, of revealing your ‘secret’ and ruining my personal and professional integrity here.” She chuckled slightly self-deprecating before she added; “besides, helping people is what I do. My compulsion, if you will.”

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haveyoumet_
2015-06-14 09:52 pm UTC (link)

Gwenog didn't bother carrying on the flirtation, as much as she'd had flings with people she worked with it usually turned out badly. Plus the healing staff usually frowned heavily on the idea, and if Alicia truly did wish to help she didn't actually want to put her off.

Following her to the bench Gwenog slid her bag off her shoulder and crossed the leg which wasn't causing her problems over the top of the one which was and listened with patience. She had it, just didn't display it too often.

"Well, in that case I'll choose to believe you for now. Especially if you're looking at this as a professional. I'm pretty sure you're too," she paused and flicked her eyes across Alicia again before deciding, "Gryffindor to go back on your word." Then a spark connected in her brain and she nodded. "Besides you don't generally use your married name. Do you? It seems you prefer to keep that quiet too." She had a slight memory of Alicia's name appearing somewhere on a Pride staff listing, or perhaps a thank you letter from the Foundation.

She took a breath and, looking across the street and not at Alicia she began with a question. "Do you recall the circumstances of the incident that lead to the injury that kept me off the pitch for two weeks in the second half of the season?" she asked. If she worked on a team that generally meant she also had more than a passing interest in what might be going on with other teams as it could and would impact the players she cared for.

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_alicia_
2015-06-19 08:25 pm UTC (link)

Taking a seat, Alicia unconsciously mirrored Gwenog’s stance when she, too, crossed one leg over the other, making her both more comfortable and better able to look at the other witch as they talk. “Guilty as charged,” she admitted and looked down at her hands for a moment. Even if it was no secret, there was still something humbling about being called out like this. “I am a Gryffindor and unless it’s Foundation business I usually use my maiden name.” She looked back up at Gwenog and amended; “Well, Foundation business and identifying myself in ballet studios.”

Making herself a bit more comfortable, resting her able on the back of bench, Alicia thought back to what she had heard and read about Gwenog’s injury. “At present, I don’t recall the exact minutiae of it, for the simple reason that I came here thinking ‘ballet’ and not ‘Quidditch’ or ‘Healing,” she made clear. “But I know you hurt your hip, and aside from what little I overheard you talking to the teacher, I watched you dancing and saw how you favour one leg over the other and how you’re not quite as balanced as I’m guessing you have been.” She sent Gwenog a small smile before she continued. “But even if I did read your chart, which I didn’t, since that’s private, I would still prefer for you to tell me what happened and what is going on now.”

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haveyoumet_
2015-06-19 10:07 pm UTC (link)

Gwenog's face twitched into a slightly grudging smile. It was an amusing enough statement. Not that she especially knew or cared why Alicia might not used her married name, but still. "Point taken," she said.

She nodded, leaning back a little. "Fair enough. Okay so what happened is I was doing a starfish and stick to get to a bludger, only one of the Carephilly beaters smacked into my broom and scraped my hand along it so I couldn't hold on. I went swinging down and yanked my hip and groin, tore some ligaments and muscles, pulled some others, couldn't tell you what exactly any more." She had known in the immediate aftermath of her injury because the healers were pretty fond of handing out details like that, but she'd since all but obliviated them from her mind in a wave of frustration. They'd been re-named as profanity-filled things with gestures attached.

"I got healed in what I assume is the standard way only they seem to have healed me too fucking well. I've been dancing since I was a kid and had the range of motion to go with it, and now my hip flexibility on that side is just not right. I've been doing all the right things to stretch it out and it's fine for quidditch, I mean I might be a bit suspicious of another starfish and stick but only because of what happened last time. I've done them in training with no problems. But dancing... it just feels all fucking wrong," she said, not really able to put it into words better than that.

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