Missing Piece (Mercy)

When he had heard the rumor that Mimosa had been planning to sign him up to try out for the Ravenclaw quidditch team, Gaspard had sighed in exasperation. While he hadn't thought much if anything about quidditch, he had begun to pay more attention and at least show somewhat support when Mimosa had joined the Slytherin team. Then as he found himself with more friends and they were on their teams, he found that he couldn't dredge up enough energy to come with an excuse to not attend their games. He did find that he shared their enthusiasm when their teams won and would congratulate them.

Whenever Mimosa got something in her head, it happened. So that meant that he'd have to learn how to fly beyond the basics that he'd received in first year. He had gone to Karan who when asked, had been happy to teach him. The boys had spent more time together and Gaspad found that he didn't mind flying as much as he used to. Which now led him to where he was, standing in front of the Quality Quidditch Shop looking through the display window at the brooms. His parents hadn't minded giving him enough coin to get himself a decent broom. In fact, he was sure that his father gave him the money as a bribe. Apparently his mother had become pregnant while he was at school. According to his father, this pregnancy wasn't going as well as when she carried Gaspard. So, Gaspard had grudgingly agreed to go stay with his grandparents after his concerns had been alleviated and that his parents had promised to keep him updated in letters and fire calls.

Blinking, he thought he spotted a familiar face. Entering the shop he looked around and realized that this was actually the very first time he'd been in the store. It was a bit much to take in. Gaspard was at a bit of a loss. He knew there were other things he needed to get aside from a broom. The broom itself...how was he supposed to know which one he should buy? It was with a bit of relief when he saw whom he thought he had through the glass. "Mercy!" He called out and quickly made his way towards her. Maybe she could help him?

Mercy wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there, ogling the newest Firebolt model through its glass case. It was unattainable, of course - she didn't have nearly enough money to spare on such a purchase - but beautiful all the same, and as much as she longed to actually touch it and take it for a spin, she could almost convince herself to be content just admiring it from afar and imagining how glorious it would feel to ride it in some alternate reality. Almost.

She'd ridden the last Firebolt model - the Firebolt Flash - when Mimosa had one several years prior. And she'd ridden Mimosa's new broom, a custom model that was absolutely perfect and probably couldn't be improved upon in any way. Honestly, she still dreamed about it sometimes. But she wanted to know how the Firebolt Flare compared - if it was noticeably better than the Flash, or if it even held a candle to Mimosa's new broom. She really, really wanted to try it out, just once.

With a sigh, she finally ripped her eyes away from the display case, reminding herself what she was actually here for. She was still saving up for a new broom. Until then, she needed more polish to maintain her old one, a Nimbus model from 2020 that had seen better days but was still plenty fast. She could manage for another year.

Just as she was turning to scan the shelves, she heard a familiar voice call her name and glanced back to see Gaspard by the door. Gaspard? Looking for Quidditch supplies? It surprised her - he was the last person she would have expected to take an interest in sports - but she supposed Mimosa had been trying to get him to join the Ravenclaw team, and it was hard to say no to Mimosa.

Mercy grinned as the boy approached, greeting him with an enthusiastic "Hey!" and meeting him halfway.

"Are you broom shopping?" she asked, teasingly incredulous but unable to hide that she was delighted by the prospect.

A relieved smile met Mercy's own grin happy to have a friend nearby. Nodding, he felt a bit of heat raise in his face as he gestured about them his lost expression once again taking root on his face. "Karan didn't tell me there were so many kinds of brooms?"

Nor that there were so much accessories that came along with this...hobby. Granted, he had picked up the fact that certain positions were better off with different types of broom depending on the player. Having come to the conclusion that the best position for him was Keeper from the process of elimination, Gaspard didn't think he would need anything too fancy. Just something that would react quick and subtle in order to move between the three goal posts. It would be a bit of relief actually not to be directly competing with his friends, although, he would have to endeavor to keep Mercy from scoring when Ravenclaw and Gryffindor faced off.

Taking a fortifying breath, he explained to the girl about submitting to the rumor to join the team; the position he was going for, and his complete lack of experience to know if the shopkeeper would try and take advantage of that fact. Giving the other a pleading look he felt a bit embarrassed to say, "I bow to your expertise."

Perhaps while they were shopping he could also bring up something else that had been on his mind for awhile? While he truly treasured his friendship with Mimosa, she was not the type of person one would go to with something like this. Karan was out of the question as well seeing as he was involved in this mess. Mercy was the only one he could ask who knew all parties and would be straight with him.

Gasaprd didn't think Mercy would take offense to his monopolizing her time, but just in case he wanted to make sure he wasn't intruding too much. "That is, if you don't mind?"