Anyone else as bored as I am? on Teppenpaw Commons

Gil Idoya

July 24, 2006 3:20 PM

Anyone else as bored as I am? by Gil Idoya

Saturday had finally come, and Gil had worked hard all week to do his homework promptly so he'd have as much of the weekend free as possible. He still had a little bit of Transfiguration homework left, but it wasn't much and wouldn't take long.

The first person he'd sought out was Leo, who was in the library (no surprise) up to his eyebrows in books. None of them had anything to do with classes, though, and when asked he'd only say he was working on something for their grandfather. Gil had quickly bored of the silence of the library and fled to the Labyrinth Gardens, where he wandered for almost an hour without running into another living thing. Then he'd taken a walk around the Quidditch Pitch, and wandered the halls a bit. The joy of exploring soon wore off, though, and he found himself in the Teppenpaw common room, bored out of his skull, with an hour yet to go before lunch.

As anyone familiar with the Idoya twins would tell you, a bored Gil was a dangerous thing. Not that he meant to do stupid things - but when he had nothing to occupy himself with, he tended to get himself (and sometimes others) into trouble.

Determined not to let that happen this time, Gil had taken over a little corner of the common room and was practicing the jig necessary to get into his house. He certainly wasn't the better dancer of the two; half the time it took him four or five tries to get it right, and the other half he just ended up waiting for another Teppenpaw to come along and let him in.

Ten steps. A jig of ten steps shouldn't be that hard, should it? No problem for someone as athletic as Gil. Or it shouldn't have been. He muttered a Spanish expletive as he screwed up yet again, and started over. Wrong. He'd never get this right!

"I will so," he growled, frowning with concentration. Taking a deep breath and running through the steps again in his head, he began again - but only succeeded in tripping himself and stumbling heavily into a passing student.

He grasped at them, shouting in surprise, and dragged himself to his feet as quickly as he could. "Sorry," he said with an embarrassed grin, releasing them. "Blasted jig... can't seem to get it right. You okay?"\n\n

0 Gil Idoya Anyone else as bored as I am? 0 Gil Idoya 1 5

Pepper Jones

July 31, 2006 7:14 PM

Not really, but happy to help you out of it by Pepper Jones

Saturday was letter writing day to Pepper. It meant she had a week's worth of news to be sending, but had as long as she needed to write it; if she tried during the week, she would end up getting distracted and forgetting her homework. She gave herself Saturday off for writing and relaxation, and then caught up on any outstanding work on Sundays.

She had been to the owlery to post her letter - she still used school owls, even after a year of living in the wizarding world, because her parents weren't comfortable with her having one in the house (although they'd had to get used to one delivering their daughter's letters and taking their replies) and because it wasn't fair for her to have a pet that her siblings couldn't share. She accepted this easily, and made the most of the school facilities instead.

She was walking back through the Common Room when she caught sight of one of her first year flock clumsily practising the house jig. She made her way over, with the intention of offering her help, when he tripped into her, grabbing her for support. Her reflexes were quick, and she half caught him as he toppled, helping set him back on his feet.

"I'm fine, Gil" she nodded, smiling softly at him. She'd only ever heard his name, not seen it written, so she pronounced it roughly how he had introduced himself. She didn't think she was in a position to comment on its strangeness, given the family she came from, but she couldn't help but feel his parents had excelled hers. "Are you?" she checked, even though he didn't seem to have suffered. "Almost everyone takes a while to get to grips with it. The step you fell on... Even though you have to swing your arms to the right, it doesn't matter which way your body's leaning, so if you try to lean to the left, it should counter-balance," she added helpfully. \n\n

13 Pepper Jones Not really, but happy to help you out of it 74 Pepper Jones 0 5

Gil

August 02, 2006 10:04 AM

Thanks, Pep! (Can I call you Pep?) by Gil

His brown cheeks pinked a little, and he rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed way as his victim spoke. And, of course, it would be Pepper, the second-year who had been so nice about showing the firsties like him where to go. She was also the only person at school (other than Leo, of course) who pronounced his name correctly, instead of the Anglicized 'gill.' It must sound odd to someone not used to listening to thick Spanish accents all day, he reflected - though Gil was infinitely better than Gilberto. That was just too humiliating to even contemplate.

Humiliating like tripping over Pepper, he thought. "Oh - uh, yeah. Yes. Thanks. I'm fine, thanks," he stuttered out an answer. To his surprise, though, Pepper didn't walk away, but continued, advising him on how to do the jig.

His eyes widened a little. "Really? That's it?" That was the big secret to the Teppenpaw jig? Leaning to the left? He wanted to laugh with relief. "Well, makes sense now I think about it," he said with a rueful smile. "Though now I'm starting to envy Leo; he's only got to deal with a spooky painting."\n\n

0 Gil Thanks, Pep! (Can I call you Pep?) 0 Gil 0 5

Pepper

August 02, 2006 3:00 PM

Yeah, sure. by Pepper

"That's it for that step," she laughed, "I'm not saying it'll help you keep your balance on all of them though. Do you know whether the others are finding it hard?" she asked, "I could always... uh, give dance lessons," she suggested, and it was her cheeks' turn to redden a little. The words sounded a little bit ridiculous somehow, probably because 'dance teacher' was never something she would have put down on her resumé. Mind you, before two summers ago nor was 'Junior Witch'. Sonora had a habit of shaking things around.

"Leo?" she asked, "Is he a friend in another house?" she guessed, it wouldn't be unlikely, she'd seen Gil with plenty of people during Potions. She tried to remember if anyone had mentioned their commons being guarded by a painting. Most people didn't tend to talk about the entrances to people in other houses, given that they weren't meant to go there. "Which one?" she asked curiously, "And how spooky?" she added.
\n\n

0 Pepper Yeah, sure. 0 Pepper 0 5

Gil

August 04, 2006 9:44 PM

Woot. = ) by Gil

"Um," Gil said eloquently in response to Pepper's question about the firsties' issues with the jig. "I'm not sure, actually. I haven't noticed if any of the girls are having problems, and half the time I'm not sure if my roommate is a real person or not. He's not really around very often," he confided. "I could try to find out, if you want me to; they might just be too shy to ask for help. But you've been so great helping us firsties out so far, I bet they'd be really grateful if you're offering," he said, giving the older girl a reassuring smile. Pepper really was being awfully good to them all. Gil made up his mind then to keep an eye out for anything nice he could do in return, to thank her for all her help and friendliness.

"Leo?" he asked, surprised. He was so used to everyone seeing them as a set, two halves of the same whole, that it threw him momentarily to have someone not know of his twin's existence. "Oh, no... he's my twin brother. You might not've met him yet; he was sorted into Crotalus. And yes, we're identical," he said with a smile, answering the question that seemed to go hand in hand with knowledge of Leo. "Well, mostly. He has one green eye and one blue, and mine are - obviously - brown."

Then Pepper was asking about the painting, and Gil realized that he probably shouldn't have mentioned that. No one else seemed to have much knowledge of the inner workings of the other houses, not even the few older students he'd spoken to...

"Oh, uh..." He took a step closer, and leaned in towards Pepper. He was a little taller than average for his age, as was Leo, so he was already an inch or two taller than the second-year. Gil beckoned with one finger for her to come closer. "Listen," he whispered, "I... well, I have this thing about not thinking before I speak. I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it - you don't think the professors would be angry, do you?" he asked a little anxiously.

But Pepper had been so accomodating, and so ready to help - a paradigm of a Teppenpaw, really. And Gil trusted her completely, even though they'd only met a few times. He flushed and bit his lip for a minute, then continued in a whisper. "Don't tell anyone, but the painting's of Gunter the Zombie. It is pretty creepy," he said, still whispering, though there was a little bit of a laugh in his voice. "I could show it to you, if you want. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."

Merlin knew if Leo found out Gil had been letting secrets like that slip, he'd have a lot to say about it...\n\n

0 Gil Woot. = ) 0 Gil 0 5

Pepper

August 07, 2006 7:44 AM

My author calls me 'Pepper-pot' so.... by Pepper

"If you could find out," she nodded, feeling her chest swell with happiness as he said how helpful she'd been to them all. She knew she had, and she didn't do it to have them be nice back to her, she simply did it because she felt she should, but it was nice when someone told her how much her efforts were appreciated. "Thank you," she smiled at the compliment. "And if you have any more trouble with it, or anything else, you know who to come to.

"Oh!" she said, taken by surprise and feeling a little guilty that she hadn't found out enough about her charges to even know that Gil had a brother here. She'd remembered seeing another head with the same colour hair bobbing around just behind him in Potions, though hadn't really seen them closely enough to notice. She guessed any other time she'd seen Leo she must have thought he was Gil. "It must be nice having a sibling with you," she sighed, almost enviously, before realising what a potentially stupid statement it was. Even though they were twins, they were in different houses, so perhaps they didn't have much in common. She wouldn't necessarily have wanted to be at school with Demetrius, even though he was her brother. Altough if he'd come to this school, there were enough unusual names that he might not have been bullied and teased so much, and wouldn't be so anti-social now.... She dragged her mind back to Gil and Leo. They had been working together in Potions, probably. So perhaps they got on alright, or at least stuck together. "I miss mine," she added, by way of explanation if her statement was wrong.

"They'll only be angry if they find out," she winked at him, "Girl Guides' Honour," she swore as he asked her not tell. Then realising that, if he didn't have a Muggle background he might not understand, she added, "That means I promise. And anyway, it's not like we know passwords or anything. Or are planning a break in. People share things with their siblings all the time. I dread to think how much I've casually let slip that I daresay I shouldn't telling my younger ones about my first year. If any of them come here, I might have to learn some memory charms." She considered his offer of going to see the portrait. She was curious, and she knew that, creepy as it was, it couldn't hurt her. "Probably best if we're not seen hanging around another house's entrance," she decided, keeping her voice low. "Perhaps another day, we could detour past it, or be looking for Leo, but a mission to specifically go and look it sounds like asking for trouble to me." \n\n

0 Pepper My author calls me 'Pepper-pot' so.... 0 Pepper 0 5