Closed A Game for Champions

[Louis Vernier]

With the new year underway, Louis wanted to try and improve and experiment with his gobstones skills even further, at least now that it was the beginning of the year and he hadn't been too overloaded with assignments just yet. The teen had made his way out to the courtyard with his gobstones and found a decent area to set up his game. He used the ground instead of his gobstones board, wanting to try and have some more surface area. The possibilities were endless this way, and it would definitely help him with trying to hit the stones further with still the same amount of accuracy. He used a piece of chalk to draw a circle on the ground and then began playing with himself, trying to knock out some of his marbles from the circle. He tried every angle, flicking them as best as he could, and just hoping this was going to help him improve.

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery knew it was time to test out his new gobstones set. He had considered getting Raahwiti to join him, but after the way he had thrown the gobstones around last time, he didn't entirely trust his friend to treat them carefully. He headed to the courtyard as the weather was pretty nice, and it was the best spot to play gobstones. To his delight, he saw someone else was already playing. Emery approached the older boy, watching his game. As the boy managed to hit two marbles out of the circle at once, Emery couldn't help himself. "Good technique." He said, crouching down to watch more closely, placing the case for his own gobstones down next to him.

 

[Louis Vernier]

Louis only ever did well when he didn't think anyone was watching him, and after making a good move the teen jumped a little as he realised someone had seen it. "Thanks." he said, smiling slightly. He didn't recognise the younger boy, mostly because he never paid attention to any of the junior students. There was really never any reason to interact with them, so he didn't think it was necessary. Louis noticed the boy had his own case of gobstones and suddenly became a little excited. "Oh! Do you play too?" he asked, gesturing to the case. It was a bit of a silly question, and he realised this as soon as he asked it. "Do you wanna have a go?" He offered his stones out to him. "Or you can use your own, if you want."

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery quietly studied the boy’s setup and gobstones, not responding to him until he asked him if he played as well. He looked up at him, eyebrow slightly raised. “Obviously.” He said, shifting his weight as he crouched. “How else would I know you have good technique?” He perked up a bit as the boy asked him if he wanted to play too. He hesitated. “Do you want to play with me?” He asked, a bit skeptical. He had assumed older students wouldn’t bother with him. He wouldn’t, in his position.

 

[Louis Vernier]

Louis frowned a little at the boy's response. He knew it wasn't the smartest question, but he didn't expect the boy to react so sarcastically. The Hufflepuff just shrugged, looking back down at his gobstones for a moment until the boy spoke again. "Of course I want to play with you. I mean, not many people ever want to play with me, so it would be nice to play with you." the teen said truthfully, hoping the boy wouldn't mind. He just wanted some company, and also some competition if the boy was good enough. "So do you want to play or not? I don't mind if not."