Closed Aiming For The Future

Eris Athanasiou

Eris Athanasiou

🏹Precision is key. Patience is power. 🎯 [Y50]
 
Messages
18
OOC First Name
Faye
Age
12/2053
She'd gotten her letter. Eris had gotten her Hogwarts letter on her eleventh birthday only a few days ago. Mama and baba had been delighted, of course, she was yet another child of theirs proven to continue in their steps. Of course, her mum and dad had both been magical too before their untimely death and her father's adoptive sisters family had taken her in as she was just a baby. She was more than happy to make the family proud and only hoped that maybe her biological parents were proud too, wherever they were.

What had not been such a fun idea though was her parents dragging her, and the rest of the children, to the other side of the world now. They'd done it both times her big sisters had gotten their letters in the past two years. All talk about familiarizing them with their soon to be living surroundings. As though they'd spend much of their time anywhere but the castle set to be their new school and home. Scoff. In all honesty Eris didn't mind the travelling, not as much as her sisters anyways, and as long as she was allowed to take her bow and arrows with her she was more than happy. While this whole trip had been cloaked as a way to get Eris around New Zealand more, it had really been just another excuse for her parents to travel and do fun stuff so it hadn't been hard to convince them to let her go to this archery club yard in town. The less children they had to worry about during the days activities the better, so Eris had drifted away from them and found her way to this field full of practice targets at different distances.

Stretching her neck from side to side the brunette aimed her bow, placing a nice arrow between the wooden arch and string, she was standing at a twenty-meter target. Not too far but not too close, she'd been training archery ever since she could remember. Having seen photos of her father in the sport had made the girl want to pick it up, to feel closer to him. Sofia and Jason might have been her mama and baba, but she would never forget where she came from, even if all she had were pictures. With that thought Eris released the string and watched her arrow pierce through the air all the way to no more than two centimeters off from the inner circle of the target. "Again." She huffed to herself, drawing another arrow from her quiver.
 
The wheels on his recurve case dragged quietly through the grass. The thing looked like it had been through a warzone. It hadn’t, but then again, neither had Alfred, and that didn’t stop him from looking like he had. The case was covered in stickers and autographs from famous archers he’d collected at competitions.

He gave a quick nod to the other shooters as a greeting, stopped to fist bump someone he sort of knew, then made his way back to the case. Alfred didn’t even know the guy’s name. Just that he’d once made a couple of solid comments about Alfred’s form and only ever spoke when spoken to. Which Alfred absolutely appreciated, because most of the time, what came out of his own mouth was pure acid. Plus, the guy was around here a lot. Another Olympic style archer.

He scanned the yard. All the 70-meter target bales were taken.
“Fine. I’ll work on form today,” he thought to himself. Technically, he could’ve shared a bale with someone, but he wasn’t in the mood.

There was a free 30-meter target next to a girl. Traditionalist.
He stopped a few meters behind her. Didn’t say anything. Looked like she was mid-session, and he didn’t want to disturb her. Or maybe he just didn’t want to open his mouth and end up saying something nasty, because he was Alfred, post-Hogwarts letter Alfred.

And he shouldn’t ruin this place. This was the only consistent thing in his life. The one thing that didn’t change, no matter where you were in the world. Longbows, compounds, recurves, Olympic or barebow, they all trained side by side. The same rhythm: shoot three arrows, walk up together in a line, collect them, walk back. Everyone at the same time, regardless of distance, trying not to make anyone wait too long.

It was predictable. Steady. Safe.

She’d probably notice him when she came back from collecting her arrows. Or maybe not.
Had she been here before?
Not that he was looking.
Why was he even overthinking this? New people came and went. And almost every person here was new to him.

He knelt by the case and got to work. Pulled out the bow stand, slotted in the limbs, slid the string over the tips and strung it with the stringer. Gave the string a quick pluck, just to make sure the limbs were seated right. Last thing he needed was his first shot sounding like a bomb going off.
Right, what else?
Bow went on the stand. Sight attached. Needed a slight adjustment since this was a new distance. No adjustment and he'd be launching arrows into the grass. Or the clouds. He did occasionally take his frustrations out on the unsuspecting terrain, but today wasn’t a landscaping session.
And he did all of it while very intentionally not looking at the girl.
Except… he kind of was. Her form looked solid. Not that he knew much about traditional bows.
But the again comment caught his attention. Misery really did love company.​
 
Eris was faintly aware of the people around her, but only faintly. Her full focus was on the target ahead of her, as it usually was. She did however notice when someone joined her somewhere behind her at first then maybe next to her? Trying not to let it affect her focus the brunette kept her eyes strictly on the bullseye, but she could feel someone else's eyes on her. Narrowing her eyes on the target she began to take aim again but she couldn't fully focus on it because her eyes had started to fight against the restraint she had on them to take just one peek at whoever it was that had their eyes on her every now and then. Eventually Eris lowered her bow, taking the arrow away from it just so she didn't accidentally hurt herself by shooting it to her own foot or something just as convenient and fun.

Making a full body turn she scanned the spot next to her, a boy stood there. He had a whole set up in front of him. Quite impressive if you asked her, but she tried not to marvel over it instead dragging her eyes over the blond working on it. Of course she hadn't expected to know him, but she did however expect to see someone maybe a bit older. Not someone around her age. Hmph. "Not my finest moment but hope you are enjoying the show." She said motioning to the arrow that nerve gratingly still stuck just inches away from the inner circle. She could say it was a new environment and that the wind was different here than what she was used to, but she'd be lying. Thanks to her parents she'd had to learn to adapt to new places and new conditions when taking aim and shooting arrows. Today what had affected her shot however was the million things running wildly through her mind.
 
Once the bow was ready, he took out the rubber band and started his warm up routine. He was still very much not looking at the girl. And while not looking at her, he noticed a shift in her form and already grimaced. Also she was holding it for too long. This one wasn’t going to land well.
But instead of releasing it, she withdrew and reset.
Hm. Good.
It’s important to know when to cancel out and start again. Some people just shot and prayed anyway. Canceling meant admitting you knew you were making a mistake, and starting over took composure. Inner strength. Canceling felt like failure, like weakness. And nobody wanted to look weak in front of the others.
That was something to be respected.
Alfred respected that.

Oh crap, she noticed I was paying attention.
Should he say something? Well yes, when people spoke to you, you were generally expected to respond. She clearly felt bad about that first arrow, which was still practically in the center. Or did she? Maybe it was sarcasm. Maybe she was just showing off. He couldn’t tell.

What he could tell, with the limited knowledge he had, was that it was way harder to land an arrow in the center with a traditional bow. And that was a legit bow. Not some hollow festival prop you got to shoot from three meters away that made people overestimate their abilities and severely underestimate how much skill it actually took to shoot a real one.

He had a sight, stabilizers, and a clicker for precise aiming and consistency. In high end competitions, almost everyone shot X's, 10s, and 9s and it was just about how long you could hold a form and not break under pressure. She had none of that. Plus, the bow itself was way less stable, compared to his.

If she could land it there, that meant she had spent hours practicing. A lot of hours. But then again, it was just one arrow. Maybe she got lucky. What did he know.

Still, would it really kill him to say something nice just once?
“Meh. Not bad for a stick and a string from the Middle Ages.”
Why yes, it would. Apparently, it would.​
 
Eris stared at the boy, unimpressed if anything. His comment didn't make her annoyed, no, it amused her a little. Without thinking too much of it she let out an unladylike snort, like mama would remind her if she heard the sound, before examining her own bow. It had her fathers initials carved on the wood. She didn't use a traditional bow because she couldn't or didn't want to use a compound bow or any other style for that matter. No she used this one because it had been what her father had used, it was something of his. "Ah this stick and string from the Middle Ages is my father's. Closest to him I can be, but I'll take that as a compliment." She said with an amused tone laced with soft intrigue. At least he seemed to know something about bows.

"Come on then, show me what a bow from the modern age can do." Eris gestured for the boy to shoot his shot, placing one arm on her hip as she waited. She wanted to see if this boy was any good at archery, maybe he'd be a worthy training partner for the day. The wind shifted slightly making the stray hairs that had escaped the braid land on her face and it was all Eris could do not to smack them away with her hand but she held her composure, still watching what the boy would do next.
 
He was dangerously close to smiling. That whole compliment thing hadn’t come out the way it sounded in his head, but she could take it. There was a spark in his eyes. If the girl kept going like this, he might have to admit she was… tolerable.

But then she said that thing about her father.
Alfred lowered his arms. The half smile died. His face went cold, shoulders stiffened. He didn’t even fully register the part about it being the closest she could get to her dad. No, all he heard was the cheerful tone with which she’d announced it was her father’s bow.

Bet your daddy’s proud of you.
Bet your dad’s real proud of having a daughter with actual talent and pure, untainted blood, validating every shot you did.
Must be real proud of yourself.

“No,” he said flatly, staring her dead in the eye before looking away.
And then he went back to doing arm extensions.​
 
Eris watched with intrigue as the boy almost smiled, there was something that she'd said that had made him smile at least a little bit. She tilted her head a little when the spark left his features completely. In the same sentence she'd made him smile she'd also made him turn sour. Moody things these boys, he sister Mania was all about boys lately. There were apparently cute boys all around school meanwhile Gaia had sent a long letter home how she was sick and tired of the boys at her school.

Narrowing her eyes at the refusal Eris studied the arm extensions the boy started up on again. What had made him tick? Had she been arrogant with her comment about taking what he said as a compliment? Or had it been the comment about her father? She knew that mama seemed to always tick when she spoke about dad, but that was because mama had lost a brother in him, too. Surely this boy didn't know anything about her father. "Very well then, you can do your thing and I'll do mine." She finally spoke out with a sigh.

Eris turned back to her target, her mood sour from the fact that she did not know what she'd done to make the boy tick. Now baba said she was a perfectionist and liked to have everything in order. It was true, she needed to know what she was doing, when she was doing and why she was doing. Trying to regain her form and take aim again seemed impossible because quite honestly Eris' brain was now ticking too. it would tick until she found out what had gone wrong. "What was it that made you tick? Did I offend you by taking your comment as a compliment?" Perhaps it had been meant as an insult and she'd taken it the wrong way. Focusing on her form and aim seemed near impossible so Eris once again lowered her bow and traced her fingers over the initials, how had her father felt when he'd gotten his letter to attend Beauxbatons Academy with aunt Sofia or well mama, honestly she would rather call her aunt Sofia but it seemed rude, given the woman had raised her.
 
Why is she staring?

Well, a bit of an overstatement, really, but it took an embarrassingly large amount of effort not to even glance her way.
Should’ve just gone and asked someone if they wouldn’t mind sharing a bale.
He didn’t even understand why that comment had gotten so far under his skin. There were a lot of normal families with normal children and loving dads. New Zealand in particular, judging by his current experience. And if he didn’t want to stay hidden in some tucked away spot in the woods for the rest of his life, he’d have to accept that.

But the emotions... there should be a limit to how many feelings someone his age could deal with. He was sure his limit had long since been capped, but things just kept piling on.

Still, he didn’t move. He stayed. Either he was just dumb, or excellent at self-sabotage, or maybe he genuinely wanted to test the limits of his own suffering. He didn’t know.

He put the band away and started doing shoulder rolls.
Okay. She moved on, okay.
Good.

He didn’t feel the need to dignify her comment with a response and just proceeded with his routine.
It was peaceful for a bit. Quiet. Nice even. But of course, nothing good ever lasted and she just had to start speaking again.

“Not everything is about you, princess,” he said coldly.
But it was. At least this was.
“You’re not as important as you think,”
He didn’t look at her.
“As a matter of fact, you’re nothing to me. So why don’t you go collect your arrow,” he gestured toward the people who had started walking to retrieve theirs, “and leave me be?”

His stomach knotted and he regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Not that he did anything to show it.
And also, all he did was say no to some dumb invitation, so what’s her problem?
And so what if just a couple of months ago, this would've been exactly the kind of thing he'd have jumped into?
Okay, but if all of this was clearly her fault…

Then why did he feel worse?​
 
The boy's response reminded her of Gaia. Gaia could be vile when her limits were tested, she was perhaps the meanest in their family, if you didn't count aunt Sofia. Eris was used to indifference and remarks like that so all she did was snort, again. "Alright then, never claimed to be." She'd once been important to her parents, now she was just what was left behind of two people that had loved each other. "You know what it really isn't that much about you either. Maybe I don't want to be anything to you? Maybe I wanted to strike up a conversation with someone who seemed to share my interest, but suit yourself." Eris was done being belittled by a boy she'd only just met. By a boy that had been glancing at her effectively distracting her from her shooting. By a boy that had taken up a spot next to her.

Walking to collect her arrow Eris hurried back to her spot and turned to the boy. "For the record how many princesses do you know that can do this?" She said with a smile before getting her form back in record time and taking aim. She aimed a little bit to the left from the bullseye, because the wind was blowing right gently, took a breath in and released the arrow. Feeling a sense of pride as she watched it pierce through the air and hit smack middle of the bullseye. Nothing quite like precision fueled by a need to show off. She placed another arrow and made sure that her form was still solid and steady before aiming the shot and releasing. The arrow landing next to the previous one. If this boy wanted to be left be then so be it, Eris was here for the sport not to form connections, for all she knew this boy could be a muggle and having a muggle friend would be tricky after she went to Hogwarts. Though supposedly there were some magical folk around here, but you could never be too sure.
 
He flat out insulted her and she just… snorted?

Okay. So she did get it. That little speech about trying to make friends wasn’t nothing, his words must have hit at least somewhere. He didn’t respond. Just walked back to his case and started putting on his chest and arm guards. At least he warded her off.

And yet, here she was again. Still talking. Was that a girl thing? He honestly hadn’t met anyone this godsdamned persistent after being told to leave. And to think, just a few moments ago, he was starting to warm up to her. Guess she had grown on him.
But like cancer. Stubborn. Unkillable. Always coming back.

He opened his mouth, halfway ready to ask if she was wired differently or something, but then she released that arrow. And two more after that.

That.
Was.
Insane.

So that earlier shot hadn’t been a fluke. She was legitimately good. Come to think of it, had he ever seen someone shoot that clean with this type of bow? Especially someone his age?

While she walked off to retrieve her arrows, he found himself stuck. Not in resentment, and not guilt anymore either, because the thing about feeling bad after saying something stupid? If you didn’t see how your words affected others, it was oh so very easy to keep spewing whatever crap you wanted. Or so his parents used to say, back when they were still parenting, lecturing him on sites and comment sections after he got his first phone.

Was there such a thing as respectful jealousy? Because that’s what it felt like. She had talent. Real, earned talent and her dad was right to be proud.

My dad probably would’ve been proud of her too.

Sharp sting. He shoved it in one of his mental boxes for processing later, because sure as hell she wasn’t going to give him a break.

He watched her come back.

“You know, for someone who claims this isn’t about me,” he said, arms crossed, one brow raised, “you’re putting a hell of a lot of effort into getting my attention.” The corner of his mouth twitched.

“I’m assuming your dad’s the one training you?” His tone was lighter now. Not friendly exactly. But not hostile either. Since her father had passed down the bow, that probably meant he’d either switched to a different type or just retired. Because, you know, that pretty crucial piece of information hinting her father was no longer around?
Transmission failed. Recipient emotionally unavailable.



​
OOCOut of Character:
Godmod approved.
 
Eris felt pride at her shots. She had trained since she could walk and talk. Aunt Sofia, sorry mama, had shown pictures of her father and Eris had said one thing and one thing only. 'Please can I?' There had been a bit of hesitation but eventually she'd given her a chance, she started off on silly little toy bows, they'd even hired a teacher to teach her directly. In aunt Sofia's words: why go to class when you could just get them come to you. Mental snort. Talk about clinging to your privilege, though she hadn't minded. She'd put every second of her free time into practicing and she'd received this bow only a few years ago, it was the smallest one that her father had had, but it was perfect.

Leaving the boy behind Eris retrieved her arrows, proudly, she'd shown him up. She might have always been quieter and more polite than her other sisters, but she knew how to stand up for herself. As she returned and the boy spoke to her she gave a theatrical bow. "Nope I'm trying to show everyone around here that just because I'm a little girl don't mean I can't shoot." She said motioning to the people around them, which mostly consisted of adult men. One had given a remark about a little girl not needing a bow. Yeah right Matthew, I'd like to see you do what I just did.

The mood had shifted again, but like before it didn't stay like that for long. The mention of her father training her stung, she wished. Oh how she wished she could have seen her father shoot and not just in videos. Her face fell, but only a little as she cleared her throat. "No, he passed when I was younger. I had teachers and I devoted every second of my free time to train on my own." The statement was flattened by the sadness etching into her tone. Would she have been better if her father had trained her? Would she never even picked up the sport? So many questions that would go unanswered. "This is the only thing I have to be closer to him. I want to excel at it, like he did." She never knew him, but she knew he loved archery and she did too. So in a way maybe she did know him after all.
 
He rolled his eyes at her theatrical performance, smirking.
“Don’t you get tired? Constantly worrying and having something to prove to every jerk you encounter?” He gestured to himself, then nodded vaguely toward the others.
That was big of him to say. Then again, there was only one jerk he personally concerned himself with.
And his mother. Mom. The one who just stood there, watched his father say those things, and didn’t do anything.

He reached for his bow but paused at the shift in her voice, and then… oh.
Ooh.
He resumed, throwing her a quick glance. She was sad.
And pretty with all that hair in the wind.
Not helpful. He shoved the thought aside immediately.

She was also weirdly admirable in the ask and you shall get answered way. Said things without a filter, even if they left her exposed. That part got to him.
It was… a contrast.
His parents had been polished, poised, perfect. The kind of people others envied. The kind he’d once worshipped. But when it came down to it, turns out their principles had the backbone of a paper straw.
There was a tug. To say something about his own dad. Not a deep dive into the full trauma saga, maybe just a quick confession that it had indeed been the mention of her father that made him tick.
But he had just met her. And people were great at saying things that hurt him, even when they didn’t mean to, so why hand out free ammo?

He also felt the nudge to say he’s sorry. Like any halfway decent person might in this situation, but he ignored that too.
Figures.

“So basically, you got top tier private coaching, a legacy bow, and a ghost watching over you,” his tone lacked bite, more statement than sarcasm. “That’ll do it, I guess," he jerked his head toward her bale.​
 
Eris gave a soft shrug, indicating that she didn't really care. In her family it had always been about proving yourself. One way or another, so it wasn't like it was something she wasn't used to. "I mean what's the fun in having skill if you can't at least show it off every now and then? Who better to show off to than every jerk I encounter?" She asked with a smile, deciding to take a little break from her shooting.

Missing her father wasn't a bad thing, it meant that he'd once existed. It meant that someone remembered him. She knew aunt Sofia missed him, but she never spoke about her dad. Hera said it was too painful, it made sense. It had usually been either uncle Jason, sorry baba, or Hera who'd told her stories about him. While Nia and Gaia asked for stories about dragons and adventures before sleep, Eris asked for just one story about what her father had been like. Hera always told her, she really appreciated Hera.

Brought back into the moment by the boys words Eris gave a soft smile. "I suppose I do," She said, tipping her head backwards just a little to look at the cloud lined sky as if she could see her mother and father looking down from the edge of one of them. She couldn't but she hoped they'd see her. "I'm Eris by the way, what's your name?" The brunette asked returning her eyes back to the boy.
 
“I’m currently going by Unapproachable,” he leaned in just slightly, voice low like he was letting her in on a secret he’d deny later, “but you’re kinda ruining it, Eris.”
He straightened up, adjusting his bowstring. Didn’t need to, just gave his hands something to do while he buried all traces of amusement. And again, Eris could’ve easily taken his comment about coaches and bows and external forces as him downplaying her skill. But of course she didn’t. He was the one walking around with every nerve exposed.

“Anyway, the fun is knowing you’re good, even if no one claps for it.”
Not anymore, anyway.
“But if you want my advice... don’t try too hard to impress people. They’ll just change the rules once you get there.” That was dangerously close to admitting something she had no way of knowing. His pops used to say when people gave unsolicited advice, they were really talking to themselves. Maybe the old man did have a point.

But this wasn’t a place he wanted to linger. Noticing she still wasn’t getting ready to shoot, he motioned to the line and took a few steps forward.
“Well, don’t back out,” he said, tilting his head just slightly. “Another thirty points if you want follow up questions.” What were the odds she’d land three more clean 10s with that bow?
High, he was hoping.
Not that he would ever admit.​
 
Eris rolled her eyes at the statement of him going for unapproachable and her ruining it. Sure thing then. She gave a grin at his words about the fun being knowing you got skill even if you had nobody clapping at it. Had anyone clapped at her shots? No. Had their faces been worth it everytime she'd shown off though? Yup. "It's not about the claps or validation. it's about the face of subtle disbelief and then its the fact when they start focusing far too much on their own performance and actually fail to deliver." She explained grinning, her mind going back to a few occasions in the past. She'd once gone to an actual class for her age and the boys there had belittled her just because she was supposed to be home playing with dolls or whatever.

"Lucky for me the only people I really want to impress well they are no longer around so, can't really even try." She gave a nonchalant shrug, as though it didn't affect her that she never would get to impress her mum and dad. "Though I'll keep that advice in mind," Eris gave a smile. Perhaps she'd pass it onto Nia who always tried o impress her parents, which only caused her more harm than good. Mania was already impressive, she may not say it a lot but Eris looked up to each of her sisters, even Gaia.

Eris gave another snort, which seemed to be her go to thing to do these days. As long as aunt Sofia wasn't around to hear it she'd be fine. "Alright, though if I were you I wouldn't put my money on me missing a single shot. I have shot blindfolded before." She'd seen it in a movie and wanted to try it out. First time was terrible. Second time almost worse, but Eris didn't accept failure so she'd done it until she landed shots somewhere around where she'd aimed and then kept doing it over and over. Although aunt Sofia had had a freak out of sorts. "You owe me your name though, Mr. Unapproachable." She told him before turning towards her bale and stretching her neck. Now to get those thirty points.
 
“It is virtually impossible not to miss sometimes, no matter how many party tricks you know." The world records in any bow class were still hundreds of points away from the maximum possible score. “So I’m guessing my odds are still better this way, instead of letting you rain down questions.” He shot his first arrow. It landed in the 10.

But for him, it wasn’t about aiming. At least not at this distance, and definitely not with this gear. Missing would’ve taken effort. Or distractions. So he could either work on breaking every shot at the same second, or just shoot until he got tired, then start fixing his collapsing shoulder or pulling with his back instead of his biceps.

Since he had given up on Eris leaving him alone about ten minutes ago, option two was probably it. He loosed another arrow.

“But you’re right. Intimidating your opponent works really well too. Once, at a comp, I messed up the schedule and missed my start because I was in the bathroom.” He grabbed the third arrow. “So the guy shot alone. Got an automatic 2–0 lead. Thought it was a free win.”

Alfred smirked slightly. “But I came back, dropped three 10s, and he completely lost it. Couldn’t focus after that. I won it 6–2.”

He had felt cool that day. Nobody saw how stressed he actually was. Nobody heard the warning from the judge about a possible disqualification that kicked him into hyperfocus. What they saw was some dude who skipped the first round just to make a statement. Like he could stroll in and crush it any time he felt like it.

The third arrow ended up between the 9 and the 10, but since it was touching the line, it still counted as a 10.

“And as for my name, you get to name me for just 28 points. Discount deal. Grab today.”
He set the bow back on the stand and waited for the others to finish so they could collect.
​
 
Eris' grin grew. "Lucky for me I missed that one shot at the start," Oh the game was on now. He wanted her to miss so she couldn't miss. Not when he was so clearly counting on her doing so. There wasn't any real question she wanted to ask the boy in this moment, but she wouldn't tell him that. Instead Eris go back into form. Getting her stance as stable as she could. Eris made sure her legs were placed apart just the right amount and then she made sure her weight was evenly on both legs.

Placing an arrow into the bow she brought it up. Finding an anchor spot on her face and making sure her bow arm was straight but relaxed. Drawing the string back her eyes scanned towards the bale and the ten point mark. Taking a deep breath she released the first arrow, watching it hit ten points. Allowing a small smile to herself the brunette kept her focus on her target and actions. Mechanically drawing another arrow from her back and placing it on the bow. It was so easy to fall into the routine she'd been honing since she could pick up her first bow. Testing her stance and arm, finding an anchor spot Eris drew the second arrow and aimed. Releasing the arrow she held her breath as she watched it hit just inside the inner circle, only inches away from not giving her that 10 point reward. Two down one more to go.

Eris' full attention still remained on her bow and arrows and the target ahead. She had learnt to focus even when there was chaos all around her and Merlin knew back at home there was plenty of that at all times. She placed her third and final arrow of the round into the bow, she couldn't miss this one. No, she would not give this boy next to her this piece to hold over her. She'd already missed that one shot as he'd arrived. That was what? One out of six shots now? She could make it one out of seven. Taking a deep breath in Eris released the arrow at the same time as she exhaled. Everything around her blurred and stilled as she waited to see whether or not it would hit the ten point mark. It better hit, she'd done everything right. Her odds might not have been high in the boys opinion but maybe she was delusional because in her opinion she could do it, easily.

The arrow hit the target. Right next to the other arrow. Yeah the one in the middle of the ten point mark, not the one on the border of the two circles. A smug grin took over her face as she relaxed her body. "Alright now I can miss another shot in peace. I believe you owe me your name aaand then some?" He'd made a bet, sort of, she'd delivered. His turn to do so too.
 
Now that he was done shooting his arrows, he could finally pay attention to what was happening over at his friendly neighbor’s bale, and no surprise, it was well over 28.

“Okay, you win. You get to name me. That was the deal.”
He paused, let that hang a beat, wind tugging at his shirt. Then tilted his head with a smirk. He wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling she might have missed that part.
“Should’ve read the fine print, though, princess. You get to name me. I never said I would tell you mine.”
He stretched his arms overhead like the whole thing had been some boring formality. The signal sounded, and they started walking toward the bales together.

“And as you can see, I am sitting at 30, so I get to ask a question too.” That was never part of the deal, but he needed to get the spotlight off himself.

“Alright, imagine this,” he said, still smirking, not waiting for her confirmation. “You get to erase your biggest insecurity. Forever. Gone.” He threw in some dramatic hand gestures. ”Like it never existed. But in exchange, every time someone compliments you, you uncontrollably scream I KNOW at full volume.”

He glanced sideways at her.
“Do you take the deal and why? Come on. Trade for trade.”




OOC: Godmod approved​
 
Eris huffed and rolled her eyes as the boy repeated himself and it clicked finally he hadn't meant it as in naming him that he'd reveal his name to her but she'd get to give him a name. She blamed it on the fact that English wasn't her first language, nor second. it was actually her third even though she was fluent at it, too. Surely there was some sort of a language barrier that could be blamed for this small misinterpretation. "Fine, I'll name you... Fluttershy, after that my little pony. Or would you prefer Sparkles? Hmm." She said giving him a sweet smile, two could play the game. She wasn't giving him a name he enjoyed.

Walking to get her arrows Eris looked at his bale and he wasn't lying. He also had 30 points but now he was the one that hadn't read the fine print. It was only said that she would get to as questions, not him. "No no, now you should have read the fine print, Sparkles. See you only said I get to name you, not that you get your round of questions too. Not part of the deal I fear, or well you can ask them I just won't answer unless I feel like it." Eris spoke while walking.

As they reached their bale's he'd started his question already and she just let out a sigh, he wanted her to imagine a situation like that? And not just anything but a really stupid situation where the answer should be very clear unless you were deeply insecure of course. She wouldn't trade any of her insecurities for that bad of a deal, you could always work on the insecurities but uncontrollably yelling rude things like that? Nope. Not a chance. "No." She said plainly as she took her arrows out. "Would you take that deal?" Eris then asked glancing his way as she started making her way back towards the shooting spot.
 
“Sparkles?” he barked out a laugh, loud enough that a couple of nearby heads turned their way. The ridiculousness and stupidity of it, he couldn’t help it. He laughed. And the sound startled him, because when was the last time he’d actually done that? Probably not since his birthday.
For a split second, it felt like the weight of the past few months had lifted. Strange how that worked.

“Have you met me? Sparkles...” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, it’s your first time, so I guess I can’t blame you.” The smile lingered, soft at the corners of his mouth.
“Sorry, what did you say?” The second time she said it, he barely heard. The past few months were rushing through his head like a movie on triple speed, and he wondered how the name Sparkles could fit into any of it.
“Oh, the deal.” Just as he repeated the question, her words finally sank in. “Yes, I would. I’d take it in an instant.” He felt disarmed in that moment and didn’t even think about how reckless this admission might be, given how well practiced his defenses were. He didn’t look at her when he said it, just kept his gaze fixed somewhere far down the range.

“Tell you what, you get to ask me one of your questions, free of charge. For making me laugh. Again, you don’t know me, but that’s a fairly difficult thing to accomplish, so you have until we get back to the shooting line to ask.” He was still smiling. “Sparkles, that’s so stupid,” he said to himself and laughed again, quieter this time, brushing a hand through his hair to fix the mess the wind had left behind.​
 
Eris looked at Sparkles curiously as he laughed, loudly might she add, he then asked if she'd met him. Yeah she had and she hadn't chosen the name because she thought it described him in any way, quite the opposite but it seemed to work out in her favour. Getting a laugh out of him seemed like a win.

As Sparkles answered the question about the deal, Eris couldn't help the curiousness of what insecurity he might trade for that, but she decided not to press on the matter. She didn't want to ruin the good mood they'd finally settled on. God forbid make him try to insult her again. Glancing sideways towards the boy she considered his offer, ask any question she wanted free of charge because she made him laugh? Why was it such a hard thing to accomplish?

"Do you have any siblings?" Eris asked suddenly, well that works too she supposed. Important question. Whether one had siblings or not could tell a lot about them as a person. She kept walking as she waited for the response.
 
Aaaaand the blissful moment was gone. Just like that. The weight slammed back into his chest and settled where it always did. He tried not to show it.
No, he didn’t have siblings. He was a one man circus. For some reason that thought echoed in his dad’s disappointed voice.
“No,” he said at last. A simple answer to a simple question, delivered with a suspiciously long delay. He was still smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
They probably regretted me. Big project gone wrong. Damaged.
They probably regretted not having more. To replace me with.

“But I have a scar. Wanna see?” he offered, voice a little too cheerful to be real. “Here, under my left eye,” he stopped and pointed to a fine, pale line, subtle and barely visible at distance, but sharp up close.
“Dry fired a bow when I was six.”​
 
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