Author |
Topic: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield. (Read 1605 times) |
|
Katie Shephard
Fastodin Keeper
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender: 
Posts: 100
|
 |
When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.
« Thread started on: Oct 6th, 2006, 11:24pm » |
|
Katie was a morning person, not a evening person.
It was because of this that she tended to be early to bed and then early to rise; perhaps if she wasn't so early to bed, she wouldn't be so keen on rising early. It had been quite miserable and cold outside today, surprising for early October, so everyone seemed to nest in the common room for warmth. It had been her goal to spend as much time as far away from the Fastodin common room as possible because she was subconciously avoiding two different people for almost the same reason. She tried to convince herself that she wasn't avoiding them, persay...though she couldn't come up with another reason why she wouldn't return to the common room. And why she, instead of spending time with her friends (a most beloved past-time), spent most of her afternoon in the Drawing Room...doing homework.
That was hours ago, and now, as the sun was about to set...it appeared that the weather was finally turning better; Katie hoped that it would inspire most of her classmates to go into town this evening. Whether she wanted to or not, she had to return her bookbag to her dorm before she went off to dinner, it was getting painful to carry; she had taken out a good number of books for her classes, so, the bag was about ten pounds heavier then it normally was.
She winced as she lugged the saddlebag down the hall, the weight making her shoulder ache...and she considered herself pretty strong, you know, for a girl and a Quidditch player. Katie tried not to think about the twisting stairwell she'd have to climb down to get to the common room...oh boy, that'd be a treat. Swallowing heavily, her pretty face was already flushed, even though she'd barely gone a 1/4 of a mile since the library. After another twelve feet of straining, Katie stopped, dropping the bag and resting against the nearest windowsill. Maybe if she could just figure out that enchantment, she could levitate her bag with her, so she wouldn't have to carry it.
But, oh, that was a fat chance. Resting her forehead against the cool window, she sighed defeatedly, shutting her eyes for a moment as she struggled to think of a solution to her weighty problem.
[Saved for Nicholas!! <3 *hugs for Jared*]
|
|
 Logged
|
And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep…
And I will bear my soul in time, when I'm kneeling at your feet...
|
|
|
Nicholas Earnhardt
6th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender: 
Posts: 63
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #1 on: Oct 6th, 2006, 11:38pm » |
|
Nicholas had heard (completely by accident, he had convinced himself) that Katie had been completing homework all day in a chamber as far way as one could get from the Fastodin Common room. He had decided to take a stroll down the South corridor, which happened to be, by divine chance, directly in between Katie's location and the Common room to which she would have to eventually return. He smiled to himself as he walked down the broad corridor, thinking about a particular Quidditch game during which he had torn someone's pants with a bludger. That someone had been a particulary dorky looking boy with large glasses, completely deserving of having his pants torn. He had not, perhaps, been deserving of his pants falling off in front of the entire school because of the tear, but such was life. Nicholas wondered if the boy had transferred schools yet.
Around the corner came Katie, a look of pain on her face, clearly not noticing that Nicholas was in front of her. Darting behind a nearby column, Nicholas waited for her to pass, slouching against the stone nonchalantly as if he had been there for hours. After Katie had passed, clearly having been focusing on other things, Nicholas spoke up.
"Ahem," he coughed rather fakely, attempting to catch her attention. He eyed her over for a moment, letting the fact that he had found her sink in. "You look well today," he stated, far more seriously than a person who had actually been serious would have sounded. "Life treating you well?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow as he scanned over the large sack that Katie had just placed on the ground. "I hope nothing has penetrated... your serenity." He nearly laughed aloud, and had to stifle himself. He didn't want to be cruel; he had to be, for reasons even he didn't know.
|
|
|
|
Katie Shephard
Fastodin Keeper
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 100
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #2 on: Oct 6th, 2006, 11:59pm » |
|
Katie was startled by him; she froze, blinking, as she tried to (hoped) that she could connect that voice to a different face, though she already knew quite well who it was. Her heart skipped a beat. Like a deer-caught-in-the-headlights, she turned her head slowly in the direction of the boy that she, subconciously, was hoping to avoid for the last three months. She had, over time, gotten used to seeing him on the Field and in classes and in the common room...but she had to admit, they hadn't been alone together since they broke up; quite frankly, it was an experience that Katie had hoped to avoid at all costs...and now, all that subconcious planning had been for naught.
Her lips twitched into a half-smile, a familiar expression that she took on when she spoke to Nicholas. She felt a familiar lump grow in her throat as she faced her ex-boyfriend, her gaze shying away behind her bangs before she met his eyes, darting to the floor. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, she knew, because it skipped a beat when he...his use of a single word, whether it was intentional or not, caught her in a moment; her heart dropped shamefully.
"I'm fine," she replied steadily, pretending she wasn't shaken by his words, as she glanced out the window nonchalantly. "How...are you?" She wished her hands would stop shaking.
|
And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep…
And I will bear my soul in time, when I'm kneeling at your feet...
|
|
|
Nicholas Earnhardt
6th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 63
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #3 on: Oct 7th, 2006, 7:55pm » |
|
"Oh, I'm excellent," Nicholas replied, rolling his eyes a bit and tossing his hair from one side to the other. "Things have been great ever since I was set free from this... dreadful relationship a few months back." Perhaps he had been too blatent with this insult. He decided to try for more subtlty. "I had felt so hindered... so," he searched for the word, "needed, in that hellish joke of a union" He squinted a bit, nodding his head slowly.
The newly created silence rendering him a bit too uncomfortable, Nicholas feigned pensiveness for a moment, staring at the bright sun that was squatting on the distant horizon. Orange light shone through the giant windows of the South Hallway, literally illuminating a scene that was dark in so many figuritive ways. He wondered if Katie were crying.
Turning to behold her head-on once again, Nicholas contiuned to speak. "Well, that's time I'll never get back; a chunk of my life that I'll always have to regret." He looked Katie straight in the eyes, smiling a friendly smile. "How's Tobey?"
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Katie Shephard
Fastodin Keeper
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 100
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #4 on: Oct 8th, 2006, 12:06am » |
|
As he spoke such harsh words, she averted her eyes to the ground, her face stinging. He hadn't always been like this, had he? She knew everyone said that she was blind...but no, he...she knew that Nicholas wasn't the most amiable, he just, he couldn't understand people without insulting them. It wasn't personal...was it?
"Well, that's time I'll never get back; a chunk of my life that I'll always have to regret." Katie knew that she shouldn't care what he said anymore, that she shouldn't take him seriously. But his words burned her as if she had come into contact with fire. Stop listening to him, stop caring, stop thinking about him. Katie thought she had been past the point of bursting into tears when she saw him, but, even now, a few terse words could reduce her to sobs. It was no wonder she had tried to avoid him.
A bare smile traced her lips. "Tobey's great," she answered as she swiped the back of her hand across her damp cheeks. She wasn't surprised that Nick knew about her and Tobey, though she felt a little apprehension to why he was asking in the first place. Every question had a reason behind it.
|
And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep…
And I will bear my soul in time, when I'm kneeling at your feet...
|
|
|
Nicholas Earnhardt
6th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 63
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #5 on: Oct 9th, 2006, 2:41pm » |
|
"Is he great?" Nicholas asked with a very theatric tone. He gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling above him. He continued. "Because he hasn't really talked about you all that much at practices." He looked back down into Katie's eyes. "Then again, he hasn't been to the drawing room in days; That is where you've been all this time, is it not?" Nicholas, at this point, wasn't even having to think anymore about what he was saying. It had began to flow; to flow in that ever insulting stream of words that he let loose oh-so often.
"He's a good lad, that Tobey." Nicholas laughed a bit. "I find it rather humorous that he should be so great after taking on that... brutal arm injury the other day. I really should be more careful about my bludger hits." Nicholas was boring into Katie's eyes with his own. "He took it rather well; didn't cry all that much." He laughed again. "Oh, wait. Yes he did. You two have an awful lot in common..." Nicholas was rather pleased with himself, but felt deathly sick at the same time. He didn't know why he felt the latter.
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Katie Shephard
Fastodin Keeper
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 100
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #6 on: Oct 9th, 2006, 3:58pm » |
|
Katie bit her lip, swallowing back her tears, as she tried to convince herself that Tobey wouldn't-- he was still her best friend, after everything that happened. Just because he didn't talk about her in front of her ex-boyfriend didn't mean anything at all. She knew that they hadn't talked, but that...that didn't mean it was over, did it? Because people...people still thought they were together. Most people. Her face was looking a little pale and she sank back into the wall a little, unsure if this was just a bad dream and she'd wake up.
She wasn't going to answer his question, it would just lead to some other brash comment that would wound her even more, more then she was willing to admit. It was strange how she had tied up all these feelings and just seeing him...was bringing everything back, pounding into her heart. Katie was ready to turn around and go back to the Drawing Room and hide until he left her alone...until he talked about Tobey.
Katie looked visibly startled by the news-- she was used to him saying bad things about her and about Tobey and her friends, but actually...doing bad things? "You hurt him?" she asked, looking wounded, as she took a tentative step towards him. "Nicholas-" She used to call him Nick, didn't she? She had forgotten. "Nicholas, you didn't hurt Tobey on...on purpouse, did you?" Nothing he did was accidental. Whether it was what he said or did, it was always intentional.
|
|
Logged
|
And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep…
And I will bear my soul in time, when I'm kneeling at your feet...
|
|
|
Nicholas Earnhardt
6th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 63
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #7 on: Oct 9th, 2006, 4:10pm » |
|
"No, of course not," Nicholas replied as seriously as he could. "I was just being careless, and he just happened to fly directly into the bludger's path." He smiled warmly, but his voice shook slightly as he continued to speak. "How he didn't see it coming from, oh, all the way on the other side of the pitch, I have absolutely no idea." He gazed at Katie. "But clearly you have an idea." Nicholas thought about the bludger's hit, and the ensuing blood. It hadn't been all that horrible to behold, and he had acted very cordially after the "accident" had taken place. He had brought a candy bar to Tobey in the Hospital Wing.
"Don't worry about him. He'll heal, in time, with some potions." Nicholas was beginning to grow disgusted with the topic of Tobey, even though he had brought it up. "Were you heading back to the common room just now?" He had no idea how he could torment Katie about this, but he was sure, to his slight dismay, that he would find some way...
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Tobias Hanson
Fastodin Beater and Co-Captain
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Come on, come on, we were once upon a time in love...we're accidentally in love.
Gender:
Posts: 102
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #8 on: Oct 9th, 2006, 4:21pm » |
|
(( *restrains her character from bursting into the thread and ripping Nick's throat out...then drags him away so that she can go back to her homework* ))
|
|
Logged
|
How much longer will it take to cure this?
Just to cure it, cause I can't ignore it,
If this love, love makes me wanna turn around and face me,
But I don't know nothing 'bout love.
|
|
|
Katie Shephard
Fastodin Keeper
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 100
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #9 on: Oct 9th, 2006, 7:37pm » |
|
Oh, she couldn't take it any more. She couldn't help herself, like always, it was too much for her to handle. Katie brought a hand to her mouth as she tried to resist a sob; she was already having a tough timebreathing, crying would just make everything much worse, especially since it seemed that she always cried when she was around him, a fact that certainly didn't help her in trying to convince everyone that she didn't care- that she didn't love him anymore. Her vision clouded with tears as she bent over to hoist her heavy bookbag over her shoulder.
She almost doubled over from the physical (and emotional?) weight again, as Katie placed a shaking hand against the cold stonewall to steady herself. She knew that it was just going to worse, but she couldn't help it, just like the way she didn't hate him as much as he made her cry. She hung her head as tears ran little rapids down her cheeks and she took a wavering step back in the direction of the Drawing Room.
Katie couldn't look at him. "I-" she choked on her words, fumbling for something coherent. "I think I forgot a book on the Drawing Room--" and she started off, bowing under the weight as she tried to keep her pace steady.
|
|
Logged
|
And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep…
And I will bear my soul in time, when I'm kneeling at your feet...
|
|
|
Nicholas Earnhardt
6th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 63
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #10 on: Oct 9th, 2006, 8:23pm » |
|
"Well, perhaps you should go to the Drawing Room, then." Nicholas watched Katie gather her things and start scampering sadly down the hallway. "Generally people go to the place where they left something in order to retrieve it, right?" He raised his voice raised a little as the distance between the two grew.
Nicholas looked out the window at the sun that was now half-shrouded by distant hills. Orange light from the west continued to assault the South Hallway, creating shadows of columns and window outlines against the east wall. It was a stunning afternoon. It should have been a stunning afternoon, rather; it had not been very stunning thus far. Nicholas had taken on a headache and felt surprisingly ill. What a disappointing twist of events this day had offered him. He looked over at Katie's dwindling outline, which moved ever further from away from him. He turned back to behold the horizon, waiting for the sound of Katie's clicking shoes to diminish completely.
"Wait," he suddenly called out loudly, to his own surprise. What was he doing? "Wait." He turned his head to Katie once again, to see if she had stopped. "Please don't go." Nicholas thought that sounded rather strange coming from him. "Don't you leave," he attempted a second time.
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Katie Shephard
Fastodin Keeper
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 100
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #11 on: Oct 9th, 2006, 11:08pm » |
|
Katie knew she should just keep on walking and pretend that she didn't hear him; she didn't have to, but... Her feet felt like lead as she slowed and after a few reluctant steps, stopped. Her heart was thudding painfully against her ribcage, as she stood, trying to pull herself togethere here. He knew she hadn't left a book in the Drawing Room, he knew she was just trying to get away from him...it could very well be that if she turned around right now, he'd just subject her to more words that made her think that she was never ever anything at all to him but a--
Her eyes stung once more as she turned around to face him, her countenance still quite wet from her tears. Katie met his gaze hesitantly, sniffling a little as she tried to speak. "What?" she asked, wrapping her fingers around her bookbag for security as she waited, preparing herself for a sardonic response or some other barb he was sure to throw at her. No matter how much she was aware that he was going to hurt her, she couldn't say no.
|
And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep…
And I will bear my soul in time, when I'm kneeling at your feet...
|
|
|
Nicholas Earnhardt
6th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 63
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #12 on: Oct 11th, 2006, 10:27pm » |
|
Nicholas was now looking up at the ceiling again; he could not look Katie in the eyes at the moment. His thoughts flowed this way and that within his mind, trying to organize themselves in some understandable way.
He snuck a brief glance at Katie before reverting his eyes back to the ceiling. "You better allow me to come along. Knowing you you'll just get lost along the way, or something equally as ridiculous." Nicholas spoke with diction that contained the same amount of severity as all of his words had wielded all evening, yet his tone was much softer: it was far more sympathetic, and claimed only a subtle hint of sarcasm and condescention.
"It's getting late anyway; and you'll need help looking for that book if you want to get any studying done in the Common Room before it's too late," Nicholas added, as if to justify to the world his intent to help a girl whom he only ever ridiculed in public. "It's the least I can do for you, as a gentleman and all." Growing up in a wealthy, pure-blood family, he had always been drilled with expectations to be a gentlemen to the poor, the needy, the upset; all those whose families had not worked hard enough throughout their lives. Nicholas felt, however, that there were other strings attached to this sudden desire to aid the crying girl before him.
|
|
|
|
Katie Shephard
Fastodin Keeper
5th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 100
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #13 on: Oct 31st, 2006, 10:23pm » |
|
The bag was really becoming quite a burden on her shoulder, she painstakingly switched it to her opposite shoulder to give her other a break; she stood very still as she satred at him, a little dumbfounded by his response. As silly as it sounded, the fact that he was being kind to her all of a sudden (yes, she knew he was being kind; it was something she could recognize in a heartbeat), made her want to cry even more. Katie blinked back a fresh wave of tears (her face was already rather wet) as she sniffed somewhat pathetically, trying to pull herself together.
"You-- you don't have to do that," she said after a long moment, staring at the ground. Didn't he understand? Although it was painful enough when he teased and humiliated her, being kind was just another stinging reminder that she...why she...no. Katie bit her bottom lip as she struggled to forget those things that she did, those things that were worthless and meaningless now...
Besides, quite honestly, she didn't forget a book in the Drawing Room...and explaining that was going to be, well, awkward. More awkward then it already was.
|
|
Logged
|
And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep…
And I will bear my soul in time, when I'm kneeling at your feet...
|
|
|
Nicholas Earnhardt
6th Year; Fastodin
member is offline
Gender:
Posts: 63
|
|
Re: When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yie
« Reply #14 on: Nov 14th, 2006, 8:36pm » |
|
Nicholas stood there, Katie before him. His eyes had formerly been on every obstacle of the corrider but her; now he was profusely attempting to catch her gaze.
"But I would very much like to..." he began, taking a deep breath and trying not to appear too lenient "...to help you;" he contemplated adding "and your pathetic situation" but decided against it. "...out." Damn it all! Help you out. Now he was in for it. He had been civil, even kind. She would know, now. She would know that he didn't hate her; that he saw her for more than he wished her to know.
He struggled to intensify the statement. "Because you clearly need help." He was falling apart. "Obviously." He turned and looked at the ground once again. Where now was the free-flowing, snarling sarcasm that had risen to an orchestral climax just minutes before? "What has she done?" he thought as loudly as one can think something. "How has she turned me into... this... again!" Nicholas's mind raced, trying to figure out how such a transformation had taken place. He had been in control. She had taken not even a hint of the offensive. She always did this to him. She hadn't even tried, and she had done it again: he was feeling badly for her. He wanted to be a gentleman; he wanted to escort her to find her books. He desired to buy her flowers and chocolate, and to apologize for everything he had done. She had pulled at the best parts of him. They wanted to come out of hiding.
Nicholas would not let them. Clenching his teeth, and retaining his air of pride and cruelty, he jutted his eyes back to Katie. "Would you answer me, damnit?" There it was! Success.
Failure...
|
|
|
|
|
