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[Lars van Houten]

Lars hovered near the Hospital wing doors for a long time, debating whether to go in or not. He knew he had no right to visit Elliot after everything that happened, and Blake... well, he probably wouldn't appreciate Lars' visit either. But the boy felt compelled to do something, so here he was. He regretted plucking the flowers on his way here, they were both clutched rather limply in his hand. But there was no way to get rid of them now unless he just wanted to drop them in the corridor, and he felt weird going to visit someone in the hospital wing empty handed. That was why he'd brought them in the first place. After a long moment, Lars pushed open the door and stepped inside, nearly tripping over his own feet. He blushed as he straightened himself, looking up to see both Elliot and Blake lying on top of hospital beds. Lars waved a little awkwardly, realizing belatedly he was using the hand with the limp flowers clutched in it. "Hi." He said, not sure who to look at. "Good game. Uh, I brought you this." He said, placing the flower quickly on each bedside table. "Are... you okay?" He asked, looking vaguely in Elliot's direction but really meaning the question for them both. What was he doing here?

 

[Blake van Houten]

Now that the ache in Blake's shoulder was subsiding and the adrenaline of the match was wearing off, it was finally starting to hit him what had happened. The chase, the capture... he had played well, but even Blake could acknowledge that he had gotten insanely lucky this time around. It would have been all too easy for Sapphire's bludger to hit him instead of Elliot, they had been that close. A part of Blake's mind he desperately wanted to ignore the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about that. He had never really paid much attention to Elliot before, but something about the memory of that closeness made his good shoulder tingle. Stupid. He pushed the thought out of his mind as quickly as it had arrived, determinedly staring away from Elliot's bed while he waited for a nurse to come back and declare his dislocated shoulder relocated enough for him to be on his way. Blake had had worse injuries playing hockey as a kid, and he was ready to be over and done with this one.

His luck didn't hold though, looking over at the sound of the door opening he was disappointed to instead see Lars, of all people. Ugh. He had probably come to see Elliot. Blake had been subconsciously avoiding the Ravenclaw since their conversation on the train, the memory lingering in his mind every time Lars was around. He didn't want to think about why he was having those thoughts, didn't want to acknowledge they existed at all, so it was easiest to just stay out of Lars's way wherever possible. Now though, there was no escape. His heart sank further as he saw Lars was carrying flowers of all things. He had thought that Lars and Elliot had broken up, but maybe... maybe not. Blake looked away again, starting to make a very earnest attempt at ignoring Lars entirely, when he heard movement at his own bedside table, looking over in surprise to see that Lars had left one of the flowers for him. What was that for? Blake's heart froze for a moment and he felt a spike of adrenaline that reminded him of the rush he had felt during the game. Was this a test? Had Lars heard something? Assumed something? Blake was sure Tyler hadn't told, and definitely not Lars of all people. Then... what? Blake picked up the flower, staring at it for what felt like far too long before looking up at Lars with a frown. "What's this for?" He snapped quickly, the paranoid part of him urging his muscles to tense and crush the flower. He couldn't bring himself to move though, not when he was looking at Lars. He didn't want to see how the Ravenclaw would react.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot was tired. The match, the bludger, and the fall were all jumbled in his head like one big smear of motion across the back of his eyelids to the point he could barely even remember anything after it. Arvel and Analei had helped him until the stretch had brought him here and now that the nurse had helped fix up his arm he just felt drained. He couldn't help but feel guilty about hitting Blake, even if Blake was a jerk, and now they both got to sit in awkward silence as they got some rest before the nurse would release either of them. Elliot had secretly been hoping he could will himself to sleep so that Blake would be gone when he woke up, but despite the drained feeling in his whole body, Elliot's heart still hammered with lingering adrenaline from the match every time he closed his eyes.

He'd been laying still, staring at the ceiling and listening to the muffled sort of quiet of the hospital wing after all the noise on the pitch when he heard someone come in, tilting his head and surprised to see it was Lars. It made sense that Lars had seen the match, but it was still a surprise to see him here, and the flowers even more so. If only it hadn't taken Elliot breaking his arm to get Lars to talk to him again. Elliot was surprised to see Lars leave one of the flowers for Blake though, furrowing his brow for a moment before dropping his head back on the pillow when that gave him a headache. "I.. Think so?" He answered Lars carefully, his eyes darting between Lars and Blake. It felt like the usual rules of engagement Elliot was used to didn't apply here and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to proceed with everything so off-kilter.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars had half expected Blake to just throw the flower away immediately, and shrugged at his question. He fidgeted a bit. "Well, I didn't have time to get a get-well card." He said, glancing at Blake with a weak smile. He glanced at the flower on Elliot's bedside table. "It's kind of... nature's get-well card, if you think about it." He joked weakly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "That looked painful." He commented, referencing the match. "Uh, congrats on the snitch I guess." He added vaguely in Blake's direction as he started edging towards the door again. Maybe he shouldn't have come here.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake felt a bit like he had stepped into some bizarre alternate reality. He stared at Lars for a long moment, trying to take in what the other boy had said. Nature's get well card...? He didn't know where to start with that, staring at Lars, bewildered. The spell was broken when Lars spoke again and Blake shrugged quickly with his good shoulder, tearing his eyes away at last. "Yeah, thanks. 's fine." He mumbled quickly, heaving his legs off the side of the bed. "I got a victory party to go to. I'll leave you two to..." He gestured vaguely to the space between them. "...whatever this is."

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot couldn't decide if he was more hurt or confused by Lars right now. Were things really so bad that Lars seemed to prefer being friendly to Blake right now over talking to him? He picked at the sheets absently, feeling his mouth twist in a sympathetic grin as Lars mumbled his way through a joke about the flowers. It was still weird to see them being so friendly and Elliot was beginning to wonder if he'd hit his head harder than he'd thought. Or maybe he really had hurt Lars so badly last year that he was on the same level of friendliness as Blake. "Yeah uh. Congrats," Elliot said lamely as Blake got up to leave. He was grateful Blake wasn't immediately rubbing his victory in Elliot's face, at least not yet. And while Elliot felt miserable that he'd lost, he still felt bad about hurting Blake so badly as well. He shot Lars a wary glance as Blake turned to leave though, wondering if Lars intended to stick around and talk at all.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars actually wanted to ask Blake to stay, partly so he wouldn't have to stay alone with Elliot. But that was crazy, he didn't even like Blake. "Bye." He mumbled, crossing his arms protectively in front of himself. He looked down at his feet again, waiting for Blake to go. "So... uh, how's your arm?" He mumbled, shuffling closer to the door a bit more. He definitely didn't want to hang around with Elliot too long, but he felt bad for leaving him alone in the hospital wing as well.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake didn't know what was going on here, but the vibe was weird. Very weird. He nodded in acknowledgement of Elliot's congratulations, feeling uncharacteristically disinclined to rub it in his face. It would feel... kind of silly, Blake realised, to be his usual swaggering self around... whatever this strange, uncomfortable air was. "Later." He said instead, making his way out of the hospital wing and heading downstairs to where he hoped his team was celebrating. And if he tucked the flower quietly into his pocket as he left... nobody had to know about that.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot realized somewhat belatedly that he'd not actually apologized to Blake for hitting him. But Blake was already part way out of the room, and even though Elliot opened his mouth to speak, the words just wouldn't quite come yet. This was all messed up- Lars seemed to be on at least cordial terms with Blake and would barely look Elliot in the eye, and Blake was acting almost like a normal person, at least for Blake. Maybe Elliot had hit his head harder than he thought out on the pitch. Although the weirdness with Lars was nothing new. He sighed, hating the stilted awkwardness between him and Lars once Blake was gone, but at least Lars was speaking to him again. Sort of. "It hurts a lot less now," He said honestly, glancing up where Lars lingered nervously nearby. "Thanks for uhm. Coming to check on me," He said lamely, wishing he could somehow get his thoughts together enough to say all the things that he'd been dwelling on over the holidays. But again, even though Elliot wanted to open his mouth and say more, the words just wouldn't come and instead he shrugged uselessly at Lars, giving him a helpless look. "I'll probably just- Rest here a little longer," He settled on instead, giving Lars the vague out if he wanted to take.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars moved a bit to the side to let Blake pass, then he sighed softly. He didn't want to be here alone with his ex, but he had been really worried about him. He shrugged as Elliot thanked him for it. When the boy said he would rest a little longer, Lars nodded quickly. "Probably smart. I'll let you rest." He said quickly. "Bye." Without another glance at Elliot, he quickly slipped out of the room.