Looking for Brian on Teppenpaw Commons

Kirstenna Melcher

June 12, 2010 5:52 PM

Looking for Brian by Kirstenna Melcher

Kirstenna had had a fairly good midterm with her parents and all the people at the Borelli Brothers' Circus. They were all like a real family to her. More so than her actual biological family was.

She had told her dad all about the Quidditch game that Teppenpaw had won, even though Kirstenna had never blocked a single goal-as Aladren had never went for one-she was still happy about winning the game and her father was still proud of her.

It was a thing that had to be kept just between them though, as everyone else in the circus were muggles-and they certainly weren't going to owl her grandparents. Kirstenna knew they didn't approve of Quidditch, and especially for girls. At least Quentin was proud of her, even though it was his house they'd beaten.

Thinking about Quidditch-and family-made her think, again, about Brian and how guilty Kirstenna felt about getting Keeper when he'd wanted the position too. She was pretty sure he didn't like being Beater, even though from what she'd seen, he was doing okay with it.

Still, she felt she should apologize and make sure they were okay. Brian was her teammate and her housemate and in a way, a person's house was like their family. The first year didn't want disharmony in this family too.

Spotting her housemate, Kirstenna approached. "Hey, um, Brian," she started out, "I'm sorry about Quidditch. I know you wanted to be Keeper. I hope you aren't mad at me for getting it." She really wanted them to still be friends and hoped he would forgive her.

11 Kirstenna Melcher Looking for Brian 161 Kirstenna Melcher 1 5

Brian Moore

June 13, 2010 12:58 AM

Mending things with Kirstenna by Brian Moore

The more he thought about it, the more Brian was convinced that he had to be in two places at once. Only a few days after he had left his small town he had received a letter from one of his older sisters telling him about how much everyone already missed him. It made the blond feel guilty for pursuing something here when people back home weren’t as alright with him being away as he had assumed. Having a tight knit community, he had got the chance to see all his neighbors and friends and they all seemed proud of him for going to a prestigious boarding school (even if they didn’t know it was a magical one). Even his mother hadn’t cried quite as much when he left to go back to school as she had at the start of the year. But then, if everyone was supportive of him learning magic far away, how come he got letters telling him otherwise?

The tug of shame for not being able to figure out a win-win for everyone bothered by him at school had him feeling more lethargic than he usually was. Instead of going outside to play or racing around the school to see more interesting parts of Sonora he hadn’t seen yet, Brian collapsed in a heap on a particularly cozy looking maroon couch in front of a long coffee table. He had some of his assignments for school out on the table in front of him and hoped that as he did his work he might figure something out, or at least take his mind off of the matter.

He had been trying to work on what he thought was a confusing assignment for Charms when he noticed Kirstenna nearby. He put his work on the table and beamed at her as she walked over to him. “Hey, Kirstenna!” he greeted happily back after she did. He hadn’t seen her since break, so a catch-up was probably on her mind. He meant to ask her how her Midterm had been, but she beat him to the conversation topic.

Brian’s gray-green eyes widened slightly as she apologized to him. “No, no, I’m sorry! I had no idea you thought I was mad at you!” he sputtered quickly when she was done speaking, feeling more weight added to his growing pile of guilt. “I’m fine with you being Keeper, really. I mean you must’ve been better at it then me or Hannah wouldn’t have put you there, right? And you do well in practice and I’m sure you would’ve blocked any Quaffles if the other team would’ve had a chance to try and score. I mean I think you deserve it, and it’s what’s best for the team. What did I do to make you think I was mad?"

Of course, Brian wasn’t about to tell her that being a Beater wasn’t something he really enjoyed. That’d be selfish and rude, and he needed to be supportive of her if she was doing something she liked. He was genuinely happy for her, he just sort of wished Quidditch had two Keeper positions. But, like he said, he’d have to put the team first and himself second. If being a good, violent Beater was for the best, then… well it was a work in progress. He gave a small smile to Kirstenna, feeling embarrassed for whatever he had done to convince her he was off good-terms with her.

0 Brian Moore Mending things with Kirstenna 0 Brian Moore 0 5

Kirstenna

June 15, 2010 6:46 PM

Everything's fine by Kirstenna

Kirstenna breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, I would hate for you to be mad at me." She didn't especially like conflict and just wanted everyone to get along. "You didn't really do anything to make me think so, I just knew you wanted the position too and I got it so I felt bad about it."

The truth was that Kirstenna simply hadn't been very good at any other position at all. Well, she might have been okay at Seeker, she hadn't tried that one, but Kirstenna couldn't throw well and lacked the upper body strength and bloodthirsty temperment of a Beater. Of course, Teppenpaws in general were not bloodthirsty or they wouldn't be Teppenpaws and she assumed this was the case with Brian as well.

She bit her lip and continued. "It's just that, well, I could tell you don't like being beater that much so I felt guilty that you got stuck doing something you don't really enjoy. Maybe next year, you can try for Chaser or Seeker though." Kirstenna suggested. "Hannah will be graduating so Seeker will be open. Or maybe someone else will quit."

"Anyway, um I'm really really glad you're not mad at me though and that we can still be friends." Kirstenna grinned at Brian. "So, how was your midterm?"

11 Kirstenna Everything's fine 161 Kirstenna 0 5

Brian

June 16, 2010 3:18 PM

What a relief by Brian

Brian looked away rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. He felt embarrassed that it was so obvious he disliked being a Beater, he was hoping he wasn’t. He was a terrible liar so telling her that he liked Beating was out of the question and would probably only make her feel like he was being insincere. So he opted to just be honest. “The Beater isn’t exactly my favorite position, but I’m sure I’ll come to like it. It just takes some getting used to.” He was assuring himself of this as he tried to reassure her.

“But I didn’t do too well when I tried out for Seeker, so I guess I might consider being a Chaser next year.” In truth, he thought he was stuck at his spot. He didn’t really want to try and be Chaser because he knew it was a hot spot to try out for and he didn’t want any problems like this arising again because of his indecisiveness. But maybe if the possibility was at least somewhere in the back of his mind he could make it through the season in one piece.

He laughed out of light heartedness when mentioned she was glad. “Good, because I’m happy too. I’m glad you’re not upset anymore,” he replied cheerfully. He liked being Kirstenna’s friend. She thought about things no one else he talked to so far had, like where on earth the Transfiguration professor ~~stole~~ got her materials from for class.

Being reminded about his Midterm made Brian smile wider. “It was awesome! I mean, I live in a small town, so everyone’s one big family, and seeing them again was great. Even some of my cousins came down, so it was really busy and really loud in my neighborhood for a few weeks.” He got a little disheartened as he continued. “It’s a big deal for someone to move away so they all know I go to a boarding school, I just wish I could tell them it was for magic and not the military. That bothers me a bit. But, anyways, it was a lot of fun being home.”

“And how was your Midterm? Did you get to spend a lot of time with your family, too?” He hadn’t spoken to Kirstenna about her family, not that he could remember, so he couldn’t help but wonder if they were all like older versions of her.

0 Brian What a relief 0 Brian 0 5

Kirstenna

June 19, 2010 4:39 PM

Quidditch and family. by Kirstenna

Kirstenna nodded. It probably wasn't obvious to everyone that Brian didn't like Beater, but she'd been paying closer attention because she felt bad that she'd gotten it over him. Kirstenna had watched Tobar at first to see how he was taking it too, but he seemed pretty okay with being Chaser.

She was slightly confused when Brian said his try-out for Seeker hadn't gone well, as they had never tried out for the position with it already being obviously taken. Still, she didn't bother to point this out, as being corrected might make Brian feel bad and Kirstenna wouldn't want to make anyone feel bad.

Or it would make her sound stupid and she didn't really like people thinking she was stupid either. That was how her grandparents and uncle treated her and her parents.

Instead, Kirstenna responded. "I don't think I was very good anything except Keeper. I'm horrible at throwing, which is why if someone actually had gone for a goal, I might have caught it, but it might not have made it to where I was aiming when I threw it off." She was perfectly comfortable with admitting this lack of ability to Brian. It was just a fact of life and there were other things Kirstenna was good at, like singing which was sort of her passion.

"That's kind of like the circus!" She replied to Brian's comments about his small town. "We all travel around together from place to place and are a tight knit group. My mom and her family are trapeze artists and my dad-he's a wizard-is a magician and they've been more of family to my dad and me than most of his real family has."

Kirstenna continued. "My parents and circus family are the only family I saw over break." Her dad rarely ever visited his parents and the rare occasions they had, had not gone well. Her great-grandparents were all right and Quentin of course, but other than that, it was generally not a pleasant experience.

"I actually see more of my family here at school." She went on. "My cousin Quentin is in Aladren." Brian may or may not have heard about him, from what Kirstenna gathered, her cousin had quite a reputation. "And then I have a lot of really distant cousins, the Brockerts-Pippa is a fourth year in our house-and Autumn Collins, in our class, in Crotalus."

She had grilled Quentin for this information because after meeting Pippa, Kirstenna had wanted to know who else she was related to here. He had given to her, warning her to steer clear of Chelsea and Tawny. "Oh, and Alessa Hinckley. She's a second year Aladren so we've had classes with her."

11 Kirstenna Quidditch and family. 161 Kirstenna 0 5