A Rising Star (Keona & Christopher)

Guest

Being an athlete would always take dedication.

Dedication to the sport you had chosen. Dedication to the diet. Dedication to the regime. Christopher had taken on all of these in the past year, working hard at all of the sports he was interested in. Which, was quite the list. Muggle and Magical sports alike kept Christopher's interest more than anything, though books were a close second.

He was a hybrid, really, clever and sporty. Though, he wasn't overly keen on crowds. Which had made Christopher question whether a high profile job of an athlete was a good career move or not. Not that he would need a career with his family's fortune. However, Christopher knew he wanted a job, he just hadn't decided what.

Today was Quidditch practice, the Ravenclaw team had descended on the Quidditch Pitch and they were being put through their paces. Christopher was sporting the new Firebolt that had come out a few years ago, faster than all of the brooms on the rest of the team. His moves were seamless, moving in to dips, turns and tricks without breaking a sweat.

He was a young talent, of that much no one in the school could deny. Christopher had potential, and he knew it as well as anyone watching.

The Ravenclaw pressed himself lower on his broom, picking up his speed before he barrel rolled beneath a team mate, stealing the Quaffle from her grasp and turning sharply in the opposite direction. Streaking up the pitch, Christopher faked left and let the Quaffle fly out of his hand in to the right hoop, scoring superbly. With a smirk on his features, Christopher turned back just in time to see his captain thundering up the pitch.

"What do you think you're doing, Chris? We're practicing a team move, not watching the Christopher Richardson show!" Mary yelled, but Chris' satisfaction with his move did not falter.

"Chill out, Mary! It was a brilliant move, and now Sophia knows not to be so complacent in possession!" He insisted, but Mary did not seem to have liked that answer.

"Training is finished. I'll talk to you all next session." Mary insisted, turning away from Chris and lowering herself back to the ground. Christopher simply let out a soft chuckle. They were all so... touchy! He couldn't help being better, could he? Letting out a soft sigh, the Ravenclaw turned around and headed off towards the Quaffle, collecting it and deciding to practice some more by himself.

Guest

Keona wasn't the best at dealing with problems with her friends. In particular, she wasn't terribly wonderful at dealing with drama. Josephine was dating Ryan, but was desperately in love with her ex, Alexander, who was spotted at the Christmas Ball with a third year apparently. Who would have known that Hufflepuff's had such a flair for romantic drama? If anything you would have guessed Gryffindor's would prefer that flair.

However, it was also Keona's fault she associated with the Hufflepuff's so closely. With a heavy sigh, she ran a hand through her hair, wondering where she could go where she wouldn't be bothered by anyone. She was desperately trying to ignore Josephine, who was trying to find a way to grab her opinion on what to do, which Keona was freaking out about because she didn't want to be held accountable for a mistake in her friend's life. The library was no good because Josephine would find her way there, and the Common Room was where Alexander would be and Keona had enough sense to know that there was no avoiding a confrontation that would be necessary on her part as the only person who was a Ravenclaw in that friend group.

She wasn't keen on heading toward the Astronomy Tower, because Ryan liked looking at cloud formations during the day time and stars during the night time.

Which left Keona with one place, her cheeks flushed as she thought about going there. Wouldn't she look odd? A single person sitting in the stands while her fellow Housemates flew at wondrous speeds, playing a dangerous and exciting game with fate, she admired them entirely too much. She bit her lower lip and straightened out the robes she wore over her burgundy turtleneck sweater-shirt, grey skirt, black tights, and burgundy boots. She was glad that her parents had such an affinity for muggle clothing, her outfit was utterly cheap but she wore it in a way that was elegant enough to pass for a prestigious one.

Keona smiled as she climbed into the stands, she sat on her hands, and bit her lower lip watching in avid address.

One figure in particular caught her eye, a lithe, muscular one, that completely stole the show from the other players. Her eyes widened as she watched the figure travel around the Pitch, she watched with even more interest after he'd gotten chewed out by his captain, she winced but he took it with little to no disinterest and continued on.

She watched him silently for a couple more moments.

"Hello!" Keona called out as the figure was slowing in the air, she waved her hands, bit her lower lip and waited, hoping he'd take her invitation for conversation. "You fly in a very enchanting way!"

Guest

After a few more shots - and no one to play with - Chris retrieved the Quaffle once more and then sat back on his broom. Why did people always have to be so... irritably around the talented? It wasn't his fault he was better than his teammates, was it? And, of course, they were only bitter with him because they were not as good as he was. If they practised more, though, nothing would stop them - that was why he was so good, because he trained hard.

It was then, though, that Chris' attention was taken by someone calling to him. Turning his broom towards the source of the noise, Christopher did frown (to himself) a little at the girl who stood before him. She was waving in an extreme fashion which made him question her lineage in an instant.

But, he moved closer to the witch, hovering on his broom before the stands and wondering where he might have seen her before - because she was somewhat familiar, but not someone he knew entirely.

"You fly in a very enchanting way!"

Enchanting was not a word Christopher had heard his flying being called before, but it wasn't a negative summary of his work. It was flattery, that much the Ravenclaw could work out. "Thanks for noticing." Christopher responded to the witch's words, showing he already knew his flying to be exquisite, and half thanking for her words, though he didn't really mean it one hundred percent.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked. It was January. It was very, very cold. So why anybody would want to be sat outside was beyond him. Though he had seen stranger things in his life tie, of that much he was sure.

Guest

Sometimes Keona saw beautiful things-or people in this case- and she was met with this strange feeling in her gut.

She remembered the first time her parents brought her to the Lourve in France. Marius was marching ahead reading all the facts he could, but Keona was scared, nervous; she was only six and they hadn’t been in the business of leaving the comfort of their own home quite often. Her mother assured her that everything was fine and that she was perfectly safe, and her father’s hand was strong and holding hers tightly. She had nothing to fear, he told her, smiling broadly. As they walked around, they came across a painting that was elegant and lovely and one that took Keona’s breath away. She had to stop walking because she was so taken aback by it; it was the portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Riviére. Her father informed in a low tone as he lifted her that she was the daughter of a court official under Napoleon, when she asked who that was he told her they’d talk about it more when they got home, but she continued to ask until finally he explained that the image was meant to show the pure youthful femininity and sophistication that the French court required.

As she continued to walk, she made her parents go slow even as they wished to chase down her brother, because it was from that day forth that Keona had an eye for beautiful things.

When she was twelve years old she kissed her first girl. The other girl’s name was Isibella Lourcts, and they were friends as Issi was traveling with her parents through their part of the world. Issi had long blonde hair and the eyes that sort of stayed with you for the rest of your life no matter how hard you tried to forget them. She was lovely, elegant, and beautiful and Keona couldn’t help herself when she leaned in and pressed her lips to hers. Girls kissed softly, she remembers, as opposed to the hard and sloppy kiss from Greger Clor, her first kiss when she was 11. She thinks about how whenever she remembers the way beautiful things affected her so deeply, her heart stopped in her chest, and her stomach clenched in nervous anticipation; something she didn’t feel all too often.

“Oh,” she breathed out when he came closer, noting the sharp lines of his jaw, the flippant style of his hair, and the ever so enchanting hue of his chocolate eyes so reminiscent of hers, the words: You’re beautiful became caught in her throat as she let out a soft sigh. She shook her head trying to expel the thoughts from her head of how desperately she wished to taste the softness of his lips, pepper the lines of his jaw with kisses, run her fingers over the broadness of shoulders. “Hello.” She blinked. “I said that already huh? Sorry I- I’m Keona.” She answered smiling nervously.

“Avoiding annoyances, I see practice is good. Where’d you learn to fly as so?” She asked tilting her head, her fingers clenching the rail, her knuckles white not from the cold but from trying to restrain herself from reaching out to touch the art. Mustn’t touch, she thought shakily, as she let out another breath and offered another wan smile.

Guest

Christopher couldn't help but notice the way the witch before him had appraised him as he came closer. He might not have seen the 'oh' that had left her lips, but her eyes were not one hundred percent subtle. Though, Christopher did not mind, it fed the overly inflated ego that he had built over the years.

The information that included her name with another hello made Christopher double take. Keona... that must... Keona Brisby. Of course he knew the witch, anyone who knew the other pureblood families of the country would have been able to place that name. But he couldn't help but think he was wrong, because she didn't seem... quite right.

Not in a bad way, he just had expected a little more refinement - maybe the waving of her hands had been a moment in which she forgot who she was. Accidents happened, after all, that was how Serafina managed to lecture him so often about the things he had, or in some cases hadn't, done.

"Christopher." The Ravenclaw responded after she had given her name. It was fair, after all. Though, in that moment, his lessons on how to deal with women - girls - his age was gone and he simply left it at the single word answer instead.

"Annoyances?" Christopher couldn't help but ask before thinking about the implication of the question. She might not have wanted to share, a voice very much like Serafina's chimed in his head, but Christopher didn't move to correct himself. Especially when the subject moved back to his flying.

"My tutors taught me from a young age. Together with all my other sports. Polo, squash, badminton, tennis, rugby... But I have a natural talent for flying, that's what they told me. Though, you can see that for yourself, so I don't have to tell you that." Christopher explained, giving a short pause before he continued. "Do you fly?"

Guest

Growing up there was definitely a pureblood influence in Keona’s life, but she was taught that more important than upholding silly practices like behavior (although they were to practiced and obeyed in the proper presence) was the ability to fool and ability to enchant. Her charisma spread throughout her body, and her smile was infectious. At least that’s how her friends and family described her, which was good for her self-esteem. Except she kept a level-head due to the natural tendency to think down upon herself. She was the type of person to believe that there was always room for improvement, which would keep her ambitious.

Growing up she remembers distinctly being very jealous of Marius; for the sole reason that he was a boy. As a boy he got to sit in on the meetings while she got stick sitting with all the other little girls. She was a restless soul, but her mother was attentive and saw that quickly she needed more hobbies. Thus came the up the variety of singing, acting, and dancing lessons making her more than proficient in those areas. They were better ploys to distract people, her parents reassured her, whereas Marius just remained smug because he knew. He knew how jealous she got whenever he got to go out to the Pitch and practice with his mini league friends while their fathers all spoke business. He knew how uneasy she got whenever her parents caught her staring longingly at the broom. They explained it wouldn’t do anyone any good if she ever got injured.

Her envy eventually disappeared when Marius got a bad case of Athlete’s Bum Rash when he was twelve, and she laughed herself into a stupor.

But her excitement when she got to her first flying class where no one could stop her was palpable. Even though she flew for class, she knew that her parents were at home anxiously wringing their hands hoping she wouldn’t get hurt. She never understood why they were so overprotective over her, but not even half as worried about her older brother or younger sister; she was the middle child. Wasn’t she supposed to be ignored? Apparently not, she remembers thinking the time she went home her first year to a six hour lecture on proper broom flying and times while Marius snickered and rolled his eyes.

Christopher, it was a nice name, she thought, still staring at his lips before shifting upwards to focus in on his eyes instead. She liked the ways his lips curved at every syllable, liked the flash of pearly whites, the shape of his finely colored lips. She flushed thinking about them all before focusing on being a lady for once.

“If you’d care to hear them, then I can explain,” she started remembering how her mother once told her that men would be quick to turn an unhearing ear if a woman blathered on too much, she smiled softly, “but otherwise I wish to be no annoyance to you.”

She listened intently to all the sports he listed; impressed with herself for knowing polo, badminton, tennis, and rugby. “What’s squash?” She asked, her brows furrowing the slightest bit, she nodded at his comment because it was true; he was an excellent flier. “I do,” she started before letting out a soft laugh, “not as much as I wish, but I do from time to time. There’s something inexplicably pure about the air and unexplainably peaceful about the singular strength one feels when they’re up in the air.” She flushed a brighter, more prominent red from embarrassment when she realized herself and she winced, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, as her eyes focused instead of on him on the ground of the Pitch below.

“But you probably already know that.” She mumbled, cursing her stupidity.

Guest

With the idea of the witch being an annoyance, Christopher gave a small shake of his head to show that this would definitely not be the case. "If I hadn't meant the words, I wouldn't have asked you as to what your annoyances were." Christopher responded, a small smile on his lips. He was most certainly not the kind of man who was going to just say those words, and not listen.

Though, he couldn't help but hope that the story he was going to hear was actually interesting and not a mundane girl thing that really wasn't that much of an annoyance.

The question on squash, though, made Christopher frown a little before he caught himself. "It's... like tennis, except instead of playing over a net, you play against a wall. You have to get it over a line on the wall each time, and, the ball is slightly different. But, basically the same kind of game, just much more gruelling than tennis could ever be." Christopher explained, making sure to point out the sport was a tough one because he wanted the witch before him to know sport was his thing, through and through.

The thing that caught his attention, though, was the way Keona spoke about flying. Flying was something he was passionate about, so when she also showed that she was passionate about flying, it drew him in to her. Quite literally as he moved closer to the stand, right before her as he hovered easily on his broom and leant against the side. Christopher wouldn't like to be known as easy, because he really wasn't, but he couldn't help but find himself wanting to kiss the girl before him for her words.

She understood. How it was to fly. The feeling when you moved through the air. The elation, the freedom, the thrill of the speed.

Christopher realised he hadn't spoken for more than a moment after Keona had finished, his eyes moving very quickly back to her eyes from her lips. No. That would be improper... Even if ever so tempting.

"I know that, but you phrased it in a manner I never could have." Christopher responded softly, his smile showing how he was grateful for her words. The Ravenclaw wasn't sure what else to say in that moment, either, so he simply stayed where he was, before her, gazing in to her eyes, and trying to keep his eyes there, and not back on her lips.

OOC: I had this in my head the whole time. Sorry, not sorry.

Guest

Keona brightened a bit at the knowledge that he was actually curious about her “annoyances”, she inwardly winced however. She doubted any of her friends wanted to be considered an ‘annoyance’ but Keona couldn’t lie to herself. That was just immoral! The irony of the idea of being moral on ‘lying’ caught Keona’s mind briefly. Her family made a living off of lying, she made a living off of lying, it was ridiculous to even consider that she’d hesitate to lie in order to save someone she loved or for her own benefit. Except, she’d never do anything to intentionally hurt another person unless it was the absolute last resort. She shook the thoughts slightly of her head.

“Well in that case, the annoyances plaguing me just so happen to be the dramas that idio-um- my friends seem to enjoy so much,” she rolled her eyes at the idea, “it’s tedious and unnecessary. I don’t see why they enjoy drama so much.” She grumbled a bit, brushing hair from her face as she looked back up at him, meeting his brown eyes with a small skip to her heartbeat. At his small smile, her heart pounded unnecessarily against her ribcage, the delicate curvature catching her eye. Somewhere a star-gazer had missed the sight of the one before her, she thought as she lifted her arm up to her neck to try and gauge just how quickly her heart was going.

When he frowned, she did too, well more like she pouted a bit as she tried to focus on the words he was saying. She tried to picture it, and it didn’t seem so bad once she pictured it. “It’s got a funny name,” she commented, giggling a bit at the idea of a squash being thrown instead of a ball, but opted to not say it aloud. “How long have you been playing this sport?” She asked tilting her head to the side, biting her lower lip in the slightest out of confusion.

As he moved closer, there went her wildly beating heart again. She almost groaned in irritation at how wildly it was going, but figured it wasn’t safe to groan in this instance. She could read bodies just as well as the next, but oh gods did he- she gulped a bit, smiling softly, her face flushing from the idea of kissing him. She’d put on money that behind all this prim facade there was something much more… primal and base at the heart. She flushed even further at the idea and tried for conversation again: “Aha,” she breathed out as she straightened up in the slightest. “That-that’s the Ravenclaw mouth my parents say I’ve got.” She murmured, still flustered at the thought of sliding her fingers up into the lazily but perfectly styled crop of hair, the press of body to body, the pull of desire… She almost slapped herself to get her wild brain under control. “I didn’t mean to ramble, but it appears I did... Sorry... You’re a Fourth Year too, right?” She asked, trying to wrack her brain for any conversation topic that would derail her brain. “How long have you been flying again? Did you take Professor Newbury’s class back in our First Year?" She bit her lower lip.

"Were you already flying before Hogwarts?" She asked, knowing it wasn't that uncommon of an occurrence.

Guest

At the explanation as to what was troubling Keona, Christopher gave a small nod of his head to show he had listened to her statement. Typical girl things, he thought to himself. "That sounds... annoying." Christopher responded, trying to sound like he meant it, but he'd never been very good at being interested in trivial, female things. Serafina had told him off for as much over the holidays. "I guess you need new friends, then, huh?" He added, trying a little bit to try to make it seem that he was, indeed a little bit interested, and trying to provide a solution.

Christopher gave a small smile when Keona commented on the name of one of his favourite sports. "Maybe, but it's not a funny sport." Christopher responded, not in a tone that was like he was telling her off, but one conveyed that he took the sport quite seriously. "I've played since I was three, though that was more hitting the ball against the wall to myself than playing properly. But you have to start somewhere." He told the girl, quite clearly happy she was taking an interest in him, and the things he liked.

But it was the biting of her lip that was driving Christopher closer to the decision of stealing a kiss. Even though he knew he mustn't do it, Christopher was more than tempted to do it in that moment.

As he went to move in to do what he wanted, though, Keona continued on with more questions, and Christopher stopped himself, with great difficulty from doing the thing Serafina would likely string him up for.

"Yeah, I'm a fourth year." Christopher responded, trying to keep his tone from showing his frustration at her talking again. It was what Serafina had told him, though, Pureblood women were trained to entertain you, and Keona was (whether she meant to or not) keeping him entertained with conversation. "Since I could walk. Yes, I took it, waste of time that was, though." Christopher responded to her question on classes, for a moment, he thought of asking her the same question back, but that was boring.

"Are you betrothed?" Christopher asked outright, not helping himself because he wanted to know. Whether the answer would make any difference, he couldn't be sure in that moment...

But he had to know.

» (Mis)Communication (Keona)
» The Curious Case Of The Rising Dead [Azalea & Josh]
» Keona Naimah Brisby
» First Impressions Are(n't) Everything [Christopher]
» Christopher Richardson