Cooling Off

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Sophia Stark

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OOC First Name
Kaela
Sophia dropped her overstuffed bag onto a bench before walking to the edge of the pitch. She mounted her Emerald Streak and kicked off, taking off swiftly into the cool evening air.

It was nice to be on her broom, flying effortlessly about the pitch. Sophia quite enjoyed the feeling of the breeze flowing through her long black hair. Closing her eyes she swerved about the pitch, not going anywhere in particular.

As she flew about Sophia wondered just how long the pitch would remain empty.
 
Bruin finally had his broom back from the "evil" Professor King and was anxious to get out onto the pitch and fly it. He had suffered through a disastrous practice with a house broom and vowed never again to place himself on anything so pathetically slow and cumbersome.

Spring had arrived, but the evenings were still cool and Bruin shuddered a little as he mounted his broom. As he lifted off, he was surprised to see that someone else was on the pitch at this hour. Whoever it was, they were really moving and Bruin couldn't quite make out who it was so he decided to fly up for a closer look.
 
Upon opening her eyes Sophia spotted someone else on the pitch. She made a quick, sharp turn and hovered on her broom, cursing inwardly as she saw that it was Bruin. Having no idea what he thought of her from the other night and a bit afraid to find out, Sophia whipped around and began flying toward the other end of the pitch.
 
Bruin recognized Sophia when she stopped and hovered for a moment. He hesitated for a moment and was just about to fly up and say hello when she abruptly headed off towards the far end of the pitch. Bruin pulled up and watched her fly off, wondering what her problem was. He was still confused as to what had happened the other day in the forest, although the general consensus was that Sophia had set him on fire in her little fit of rage.

What bothered Bruin even more was that she had done so only a few days after they had enjoyed an almost human conversation. Bruin had enjoyed joking around with Sophia at the Apothecary and thought they had established the base for a friendship. Apparently those feelings had been rather one sided though as not only had she lit him on fire for no good reason other than being told to relax a little, but now she wouldn't even talk to him??? Girls, Bruin thought to himself. Can't get them to be quiet most of the time and won't talk when they should!!!"

Bruin shook his head slowly, turned on his broom and accelerated quickly in the opposite direction. He could certainly share the pitch with Sophia, especially if she wanted to keep her distance. Bruin flew towards the centre hoop, determined to fly through it at full speed and not give the hot-head at the other end of the pitch a second thought.
 
Upon reach the hoops Sophia flew right around them and stopped as she was facing the other side of the pitch. She gave a bit of a sigh as she watch Bruin, unsure of what to do. Is he mad at me? she thought. She had been hoping he would approach her, because she was quite scared of trying to approach him. But it appeared that they were both being stubborn tonight.

After taking in and releasing a deep breath, Sophia flew at a moderate speed over toward the other end of the pitch, where Bruin was. She put a blank expression on her face and readied herself for the worst as she moved closer.
 
Bruin smiled as he slipped through the hoop at full speed and pulled up hard and leaned steeply to his left, his broom pulling a tight 180 so that he now faced the centre of the pitch. Bruin looked through the hoop and noticed Sophia approaching at a speed that suggested she wished to speak, at least he hoped that's what it meant.

Bruin eased himself forwards, past the hoops and stopped when he was approximately 20 feet from Sophia. He tried to read her expression as she closed the distance, but as was usual with her, she appeared completely devoid of emotion. "Sorry if I interrupted your practice Sophia, would you like me to leave?" Bruin said with far less animation in his voice than usual.
 
"Leave?" Sophia asked as she stopped near Bruin, trying not to appear hurt at all. "No, the pitch is open to everyone. I merely felt the need to have the wind blow through my hair."

Sophia sighed softly as she looked down, trying very hard not to look upset. She could sense Bruin's...was it anger? With another deep breath Sophia tried to look back to Bruin, but ended up looking down once again, not entirely sure why.
 
Bruin's features softened slightly, but it probably didn't really matter as Sophia didn't appear able to look at him anyways. "Okay, I just got the sense that you might want to be alone. I know that I like to come here sometimes when no one else is around.", he said, still not his usual jovial self, but with perhaps a hint of understanding woven into his words.
 
Sophia looked blankly up at Bruin, nodding a bit. "Yes, well, we cannot always be alone. Is that why you came out?"
 
"Not really, I've just missed my broom and this is the first chance I've had to use it since, well, since I got it back from Professor King." Bruin paused and looked at Sophia, cocking his eyebrow a little as he did so. "So, is there anything that you wanted to say to me?"
 
"Say?" Sophia asked, quite confused. "Oh. Say to you...Yes...Say...

"Bruin, I...I would like to apologize for what happened the other day. I did not mean to get so upset, and I very much did not intend for your robes to catch fire like that. I'm sorry Bruin." Sophia looked sadly at Bruin, hoping her apology was good enough. Sincerity and apologies were not things she was good at.
 
Bruin wasn't sure why he had forced Sophia's hand the way he had. He wasn't the type of person to hold grudges and he got the sense that Sophia hadn't intended him any harm. Nevertheless, Bruin was glad to hear her apology and decided that it was time to mend the fences from his end as well using a technique for accepting apologies that his parents had worked hard to instill in him. Bruin looked at Sophia with sincerity.

"Sophia, I accept your apology, but please don't set me on fire again." Bruin couldn't help, but crack a small smile at this point. "...unless I deserve it, of course. So, are we friends then?"
 
Sophia smiled weakly. "Yes, I suppose we are friends. Although for the record I did not light you on fire on purpose. In fact I would love to know how it happened at all."
 
Bruin could not conceal a look of dismay. "Oh, well that's comforting, I guess. I mean that it wasn't on purpose, although perhaps a little scary that it just happened." Bruin did a slow rotation on his broom. "So, do you have any ideas why it happened? I mean if it's all the same to you I'd just as soon avoid a repeat performance as well."
 
"Believe me, I would also not enjoy repeating it. Did you ever accidentally make things happen when you were really upset, when you were little?" Sophia began moving around a bit on her broom, seeming surprisingly at ease.
 
Bruin smiled when Sophia indicated that she didn't want to set him on fire again and thought about her question for a moment before coming to a rather interesting conclusion.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't get upset that easily and I don't remember ever getting really upset as a kid. The only thing special that I remember doing was skipping a rock across water one time. I was trying to skip rocks and they all kept just plunking in the lake and then this one time I concentrated really hard and the rock skipped like 20 times or something. I have no idea if it was magic or just a lucky throw, but it's the only thing I remember that was out of the ordinary." Bruin shrugged his shoulders as if to indicate he was sorry he didn't have a similar experience to share.
 
"I also did not get very emotional as a child, but it is quite common for strange things to happen around those who possess magical powers when they are emotional during their younger years. That is the only explanation I have for why it happened. Although, my father can do the same thing, only he can control it.

"So you like to skip rocks? I simply cannot get the hang of it." Sophia did a quick zig zag which led into a barrel roll. It had been quite some time she had really flown and she did miss it.
 
Bruin watched as Sophia buzzed around, apparently enjoying herself. He had never really given "skipping rocks" much thought as a favourite activity. "Well, I suppose so, although I think it's more I just enjoy being near water. There's something calming about waves and reflections and stuff." Bruin did a quick spin of his own and then added. "And I suppose being near a lake would be a good thing if I hang out with you in the future. You know, just in case I accidentally upset you again."
 
Sophia stopped to hover and gave Bruin a playfully angry look. "You never tire, do you?"
 
Bruin pretended to think deeply about Sophia's comment for a moment and then looked at her with a grin. "Ummm, nope!!!", he replied simply.

Bruin thought back to something Sophia had said earlier. "Did you say your dad can set things on fire without a wand and control it? That'd be kind of cool, I suppose. Are you more like your dad or your mom then?"
 
"Well, I sort of saw him do it once. But I might have been imagining things. As for my parents, I was always told I was the spitting image of my mother. I look just like her and inherited her aptitude for Potions. Although my flying skills would have to be from my father, as my mother detests Quidditch.

"What are your parents like?" Sophia asked, trying to get the conversation away from herself.
 
Bruin listened to Sophia's response and then considered her question about his parents. "Funny, I've never really thought too much about who I take after. I suppose my dad's a little more outgoing and social, he's a teacher. My mom is a little quieter, but just great all around, caring and stuff." Bruin smiled, thinking about his parents. "Pretty boring really, no special powers or abilities or anything." Bruin spun around on his broom again and mumbled something about having a cute mom under his breath.

Bruin motioned towards Sophia's Emerald Streak. "So, are those as fast as advertised?" wondering how much of an advantage that those who had upgraded might have over the others like him, who were still flying on Nimbus 2001's or Firebolts.
 
Although she was sure she heard Bruin say something about cute mom, Sophia decided to ignore it and respond to his question about the broom. "They are definitely faster than the Firebolt. Great handling too. Not entirely sure just how much faster or better, but there is a difference. Would you like to try it?"
 
Bruin thought about Sophia's offer for a second and was a little tempted, but opted to resist. "Nah, thanks for the offer though. I'm pretty happy with my own broom, just a little sad that those came on the market so soon after I upgraded to this one." Bruin looked at Sophia with a mischievious grin. "I would be interested to see if I could keep up with you through a little flying. Care to lead and see if I can follow?"
 
"All right then," Sophia said with a smirk. Without warning she took off toward the other end of the pitch at about half speed.
 
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