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Tweak says, "One Ring to Rule Them All"

daphne greengrass is [bulletproof];; (daphne__g) wrote in wished,
@ 2009-10-21 13:56:00

Entry tags:

!1997: 10, !incomplete, daphne greengrass, nikolas vaisey

WHO: Daphne Greengrass & Nikolas Vaisey
WHAT: The accumulation of stress from the Vaisey's and Greengrass' takes a toll on the children!
WHERE: The Astronomy Tower
WHEN: Wednesday evening, around dinner time.
RATING/STATUS: PG-13; alcohol use, possible language / Started - Incomplete; Open to Nikolas Vaisey.

Whoever said that life at seventeen was easy was a damn liar. Life at seventeen for Daphne Greengrass was filled with responsibilities that she wanted nothing to do with. Everything around her felt like it was falling apart, and she had no control over anything. All she could control was eating, sleeping, and breathing. Which is exactly why she was skipping out on dinner, she didn't have to go, and she sure as hell wasn't hungry, she lost her appetite months ago. Seeking out a quiet place within the school was difficult, half the classrooms were filled, and the other half couldn't be trusted; what with rooms randomly locking students in, and others flooding with water. The common room was no better, students all giggling, and gossiping about the day just frustrated Daphne. She found herself having a shorter fuse with her house mates, and even snapping at them for some petty reason. The only solution she could find was taking to the Astronomy Tower - one of the tallest towers at Hogwarts. No student ever went up there, unless it was for a class, but considering it was only dinner time, close wasn't happening for another six hours.

She needed a place to escape, to leave everything and everyone behind, and forget about things that were happening that she didn't want happening. That's what brought her to the tower in the first place. The cool night air calmed her senses slightly, and made her realize that perhaps all that firewhiskey wasn't the brightest of ideas. A half empty bottle rested on the ground as the girl took a seat on the cool stones beside it. A case laid open on the other side of her which revealed a gorgeous, highly polished violin. Plucking the instrument from the case, fingers deftly moved over the strings, as she heard the instrument practically sigh from the touch -- or maybe that was her? She didn't place it under her chin to play, instead she just allowed the instrument to rest in her lap. Pressing her back against the wall, it steadied her all ready half intoxicated mind. The ground beneath her didn't feel like cold stone, instead it was like clouds which shifted beneath her and left her feeling weightless. She wanted to play her violin so badly, so much so that she brought the instrument with her up to the tower. However, after finding the bottle of whiskey in a secret compartment of the case, she decided drinking might be a better idea.

That feeling of weightlessness was a feeling welcomed to the Slytherin, still dressed in her uniform. Robes were carelessly tossed to the ground after her third shot, and thus left her at the moment in a clean, crisp white shirt that hugged her slender frame, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The Slytherin crest was sewn neatly upon the front of her shirt and that green and silver tie was straightened and perfectly aligned around her neck. Her black skirt hugged her hips, as a pair of white knee highs accented those sinfully long legs. A new pair of shiny patent leather Mary Janes heels completed her outfit. Sitting outside, on the parapet she looked out of her place, especially with a half empty bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey to one side and a violin on her lap.

This was going to be an interesting evening.

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daphne__g
2009-10-25 06:22 am UTC (link)

"Aw, and here I thought you were a gambling man, Vaisey." A playful smirk curled on Daphne's lips as she situated herself more comfortably across from him. Was that a hint of flirting? Whoa, this girl must be drunk. Never in her sober life would Daphne actually try flirting with someone. That just an action that didn't come naturally. Then again, in this intoxicated state of mind a lot of things originally believed to not exist with Daphne were suddenly emerging. Tomorrow was going to be very interesting for Daphne, a lot of self-loathing might surface. Though, part of her knew half of this night probably won't even be remembered come morning.

At the mention of spit, Daphne wasn't quite sure what to say. That was one game she hasn't played since she was a little girl. Watching him fumble with the cards, she stared at his fingers stumbling over the pack and prying them from the case, "It's been so long since I have actually played any card game." Running her fingers through her hair, she rubbed the back of her neck, and watched him shuffle the deck. Daphne trying to rack her brain to remember how to play Spit. That involved smacking the smallest pile, right? And speed, and what not, yeah?

Yeah, that was definitely something Daphne did not possess at the moment.

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besserwisser
2009-10-26 03:11 am UTC (link)

Nikolas was confused by her reaction, and his face plainly showed it. He sat back a bit, having finally extracted the troublesome cards. "Hah! Victory." After looking through them a bit, he turned his gaze to Daphne. "So are you familiar with this, or am I going to have to attempt to explain the rules in this most unbecoming state?"

As he waited for her to answer, he rubbed at a bruise on his arm that his run-in with a random mud puddle a few weeks ago had left him, and decided if he had his pipe with him, he might as well make use of that to. Nothing would go to waste to night, not at all. Luckily, it proved easier to find than the cards had - after filling the bowl, he began attempting to light it with a simple spell. Which, apparently, was proving not so simple at the moment. After dropping the pipe twice and his wand once, Nikolas finally managed to light the tobacco and placed the lip into his mouth carefully.

"Hm? I hope you are feeling as inhumanly speedy as I am right now." He raised an eyebrow, as though challenging her.

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daphne__g
2009-10-26 03:44 am UTC (link)

That confused look on his face made her smirk. She had no problem shocking him with her comments at the moment. Why should she? She was in the right state of mind to say whatever the hell she wanted without having to worry about how she might look when saying it. "I think I can manage." All she had to do was keep telling herself, she could manage, right?

Oh Merlin, watching him fumble with that pipe had to be the more amusing thing she had ever seen. By the time he finally got the thing lighted Daphne was practically rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter. Coming from her, that sound must have seemed so foreign. It was so light and airy, much like the sweetness that was able to flow from her violin. Was this the more human side of Daphne that no one ever saw or heard?

Finally composing herself, she sat up straight, or at least as straight as she possibly could without tumbling back over. Trying to erase that stupid drunken grin from her face. Blue eyes met Nikolas' gaze, as a brow quirked as well at his comment. "Is that a challenge, Vaisey? You should know better, I never turn down a challenge, and I never lose."

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besserwisser
2009-10-26 04:14 am UTC (link)

Daphne's laugh inexplicably startled Nikolas, likely because he had no idea what was so funny. It took a few moments to figure out that it was his dealings with the pipe, and he grinned.

"You know, it just might be a challenge, because while this may look silly to you, it actually lends me quite a bit of concentration," he replied, taking a saucy tone and wagging his head back and forth in her direction. "And I, similarly, never lose, so I guess that means this game will never end. Now then..."

Pipe between teeth, smoke rising lazily, Nikolas tried to look intense as he shuffled the cards and split the deck between himself and Daphne. This could of course have been done with much more finesse than he was managing, and perhaps on a better day he would indeed have proven skilled - right now, however, the cards were barely shuffled, and when they landed in on the ground they had a tendency to skirt away, either due to the breeze or because Nikolas was carelessly tossing them down.

As he began to set up five piles in front of him, he looked over to make sure Daphne was doing her own correctly. "You know what to do, yeah?"

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daphne__g
2009-10-26 04:38 am UTC (link)

"Perhaps you should work on dexterity," Daphne retorted.

A few cards actually dared to slide under her skirt as they were carelessly tossed in her direction. Plucking them up quickly, she placed them into a pile. This game was bound to be hilarious. Both of them were practically toppling over intoxicated, and now to attempt to actually play a game that required stealth, and actual thinking?

"Do you want to make a bet, Vaisey? If you win, I'll do whatever you say for one day. And if I win, you will be my slave for one day." Just to make the game a little more interesting.

While Daphne's words were filled with confidence, she was doubting herself at the moment. Did a pipe really help to sober up a mind? He did have to concentrate hard to light it. Maybe she should take up smoking? As some of the smoke wafted through the air, her nose wrinkled. She hated that smell as a child when her grandfather smoked, and she still hated it.

Dealing out her pile of cards, just the action of setting up made her remember how to play. "Of course I do," Placing the left over cards in the center, she situated herself on the ground a bit more comfortably. "Should we make this interesting, then? One handed, no doubling up."

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besserwisser
2009-10-26 01:56 pm UTC (link)

"Now that," he retorted, wagging a finger at her for a moment before continuing to prepare his cards, "is a horrible idea. I wouldn't know where to start ordering you around after I win."

Nikolas completed his piles and picked up his remaining cards, shuffling them idly. He was rather surprised that she'd shown some knowledge of card games, much less this one. He'd played it with Astrid every so often since last year, but she tended to cheat, which in turn gave him license to do so, and neither of them could ever manage to finish because they'd usually end up laughing or arguing. Mostly, though, he considered this a very childish game, and Daphne's apparent eagerness to show her skill at it was most unexpected. Not that he was complaining. To be honest, Nikolas was questioning his own abilities to remember what exactly to do, and to carry it out with the speed required - despite all his talk, his limbs felt heavy and sluggish, and his mind wasn't much better.

"My, my, Miss Greengrass, look at you," Nikolas said teasingly, "Raising the stakes. Fine. One handed, no doubling."

Giving his arms one final stretch, hoping that maybe it would at least wake them up a bit, he leaned forward a bit to have a better vantage point and looked up. "Ready?"

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daphne__g
2009-10-26 10:28 pm UTC (link)

"Or perhaps you're just scared of what I might make you do when I win," A broad smirk curled on that girls lips. The best part of challenges, in Daphne's mind, was the goading and coaxing. If this girl knew how to fly a broom well she would make an awesome quidditch player.

Daphne couldn't remember that last time she actually played cards. Her grandmother taught her the majority of the games that she knew. Her parents wouldn't dream of demeaning themselves to playing card games. They were too busy to play cards. Her grandmother, though? She had all the time in the world. The benefit of being a socialite she didn't have much responsibility since her son - Daphne's father - took over the estate and money managing.

Glancing up at him as he teased her, a brow quirked slightly. Was he really teasing her? Why did she find that amusing. Shaking her head, she hid that smile with the shadow of her hair. Glancing down at her cards, she reached for the top card off the spare pile, ready to turn it over and start the game.

"I am, are you ready to lose, Mister Vaisey?" Head tilted just slightly as she glanced up at him briefly before returning her attention back to the deck.

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besserwisser
2009-10-26 11:03 pm UTC (link)

"We'll see." he said, moving his head to the side. A few moments later, they counted off and the game began.

It was, to say the least, frantic. Nikolas didn't remember the game being this challenging to follow, but then again, he and Astrid never played after consumption of alcoholic beverages. She was, after all, only eight years old. He was relatively sure his hands were now moving without him even really thinking about it, which was probably a good thing. If he gave to much thought to this, he'd still have all of his initial cards in hand. He couldn't even spare the time to to steal a glance up at Daphne and see if she was similarly having a difficult time with this.

Manically, he kept placing and moving cards to one of the spit piles, all too aware that Daphne was keeping up quite well. He wasn't going to just let her lose this!

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daphne__g
2009-10-27 03:27 am UTC (link)

Ready?! As the game started, Daphne suddenly realized that maybe all her talking was for nothing. Her mind wasn't moving as fast as her hands wanted to. She kept having to count out loud to try and figure out what she could use. "Ace over ace, two, three, two, ace, four. Shit..." Pulling back to the four, she bit down on her bottom lip trying to figure out what moves she could do. To say the least the girl was becoming overwhelmed with numbers, cards, and counting.

Suddenly, she found herself unable to do anything with the cards she had, "Bloody hell, this is harder to do when you're piss drunk." Falling silent, she watched Nikolas finish his move. Were they going to have to slap a pile the first go? Daphne was stuck with twelve cards still, and no where to place them.

Not being able to do anything did give her mind a chance to slow down, and catch up with everything else around her. Why couldn't they play Go Fish? Or Old Maid? At least then it was calm, and not as frantic, and chaotic. Spit required stealth, which the girls was lacking at the moment. It also required a clear mind, something else she was lacking as well. The realization that she wasn't playing too well was a bit sobering.

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besserwisser
2009-10-28 03:55 am UTC (link)

Nikolas continued to play rapidly, still completely unsure of how he was managing to be winning - or at least placing his cards more quickly. Probably helped that his shuffling job had been completely shoddy, and he'd wound up with a particularly useful hand by chance. He wasn't about to tell Daphne that, of course. Suddenly...he couldn't place anymore cards. And it wasn't because he'd run out of viable placement options. Well, maybe he had. The fact was, Nikolas simply couldn't tell anymore. His eyes hurt, his ears were buzzing faintly, and he could vaguely feel the inklings of a headache beatin dully at his temples.

Great.

He stopped as unexpectedly as his opponent had, holding his remaining cards close to his chest and looking up at Daphne questioningly. "Spit?"

Instead of waiting for her to concede, Nikolas frowned when he realized that at the rate he was going he would soon have a headache, be completely out of sorts, and effectively lose, or else have to surrender the game. Neither of which he particularly wanted to do. But, if it was going to come to that, he may as well make it seem an accident. He leaned forward, as though changing his sitting position or hoping to catch a glimpse at Daphne's hand, only to "accidentally" lose his balance and fall fully onto the game setup.

Well, in his mind he'd planned to force an accidental topple forward. In reality, once he'd leaned, gravity and his impaired sense of balance took over and he could no more have caught himself if he'd wanted to. Gracelessly, Nikolas sprawled face first onto the tower floor, cards flying out from beneath him and pinned at disorderly angles beneath his body. Shit...didn't want to do that, exactly. When he'd conceived of this genius plan to get out of truly losing, it hadn't involved actually hurting himself - but he could tell that he had probably cut his chin on the stone flooring.

Picking himself up slowly, he looked at Daphne with a look that was both apologetic and, moreso, goofy. There was little mistaking that what had just occurred was not entirely unintentional. "Oh dear, that's horrible. We'll have to start again."

He began gathering the cards clumsily, reaching here and there, and practically falling over himself. This blasted headache was really getting worse.

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