Drag Me Down

[Kylie Ortiz]

Kylie was on a mission as she tied her laces in her soft padded shoes, designed to be lightweight to assist in shaving fractions of a second to allow her to duel even better. She wanted desperately to win today, she needed this much after a devastating defeat that had put her in the place of first loser - or second place if she could have a clear enough head to not beat herself up for this. Once she was strapped into her shoes, she tightened her thigh holster for her wand. Normally the girl wore this one to wear under dresses and skirts but she had done her share of research about the judges for the duel to see what their preferences were and nine times out of ten she saw that the guest judge preferred a thigh holster over holding a wand lackadaisically. It was a weapon and tool rather than an appendage so Kylie saw the logic in this. Once ready with her team jacket covering her arms she began to stretch her legs as she watched the competition intently at which point she noticed someone starring at her. She knew this only because their gaze caught each others. Inquisitively she furrowed her brow before moving on, some people liked to play mind games and Kylie would have none of that so instead of approaching which she normally would have she kept quiet and focused, going over her attack plan for the first person she would duel with. She knew it was an easy win but now was not the time to get cocky, she was smarter than that.

 

[Benito Orbon]

This would be Benito's final dueling tournament with his club and he was effervescently bittersweet about the whole ordeal. It was exciting to move on to bigger and better things since graduating from Castelobruxo, though disenchanting as the club was akin to a second home for him. He had learned as much from the club as he did within his school's walls and even from his family and it felt like a part of him was splitting in two as he walked into the venue and greeted the other people in his club for the last time. He then knelt down to unpack his bag and sort out his belongings as well as his mindset for the competition ahead of him. An important part of that day as he intended for this to be his big send off, a final win to secure him and his team another trophy before becoming professional and living the rest of his life to the fullest and without any regrets. He wanted to win and was sure it would happen regardless of the tough competition. After all he knew who his competitors would be. The blatant fact his club had some of the best, if not the best young duelists in the entire wizarding world did not change that this was still a competition where everyone would be on their best game, putting their best foot forward to secure proof that they were the best which was all any of them strived for. Benito could definitely speak for himself in that aspect.

He returned to his feet, assuming a confident stance while holding his wand to one side as he gazed over who would be his competition, soon locking eyes with a girl across the room. His lips curved into a smirk as she looked away. His intent was not to intimidate but he assumed that was the outcome of their eye contact despite the distance and his inability to read her expression. To confirm his assumption he approached the girl, arms behind his back instead of his sides as he said. "Scared you'll lose?" Hoping he could properly see her expression and instill some sort of emotion in her that would hopefully distract her mind from dueling which was the easiest way to lose. ​

 

[Kylie Ortiz]

Kylie had not expected to be approached by someone as she prepared herself so she did look a little taken aback but seeing who it was she managed a smirk. Yes, mind games were really his tactic. "I'm sure I won't but it's nice to know you're so threatened by me that you are trying to mess with my focus," she said cockily before leaning in further to her stretch, toes pointed and hands grasping them. She sat up straight again and said, "And you are?" Admittedly she did recognize him, but not just because she made an effort to get to know the competition and their faults. Instead she recognized him from a school that felt almost a lifetime ago. Castelobruxo. It was where she had been a social butterfly and made an attempt at getting to know most people whereas her current school she felt a little self-conscious and instead found herself sticking around the friends she had found by chance.

 

[Benito Orbon]

Benito hadn't noticed from such a distance away but the girl's face, voice, and overly confident, seemingly cocky mannerisms were familiar to him. He raised an eyebrow curiously as he observed her, keeping his stance strong and his posture straight as although he recognized the girl, he wasn't going to treat her any differently. He knew many people that ended up being future competitors and he never let his personal feelings interfere with a duel. It would make him not only weak but mal-practiced as his focus should always be on the spells he was casting and one-upping his opponent to achieve a win. While Benito was a kind, carefree guy outside of dueling, he knew the competition should be the only thing on a duelist's mind while in the midst of a tournament and he stuck to that rule harder than super glue. None of his friends were his friends when the competition began as far as he was concerned and this wasn't about to change. "I'm Benito. You should remember my name because I'll be the one winning this tournament." He said, matching the girl's smirk. "You should tell me your name, so I can know who'll be losing." ​

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[Kylie Ortiz]

Kylie could only be bemused by Benito as she saw so much of herself in him in the few seconds they had interacted thus far. Still no one intimidated while also allowed the competition to underestimate anyone quite like she did. A sweet looking feminine girl like herself would leave people thinking she had no place here but she was easily one of the highest ranking competitors in the youth leagues. It was just unfortunate that she would be graduating soon and this was one of her last competitions. She began to stretch out the opposite leg while listening to him prattle on. "Well Benito, I've seen nothing impressive about you so far. I don't think I'll need to remember you," she said, this time in Spanish as she could only assume he spoke it based off of his very hispanic name. "However, to indulge you I'm Kylie Ortiz." She clearly sounded patronizing as she had no fear at all that she would beat this boy who seemed more unprepared than most others.

 

[Benito Orbon]

Benito's arms moved from behind his back to cross over his torso. An evidently more defensive pose but it was not because he felt defensive and was more due to his impatience at the girl's inability to seem affected by his mind games. Usually competitors would be frustrated enough to leave at that point in conversation but this was evidently not the case for a miss Kylie Ortiz. A name he did know and recognized as she uttered it. He was then able to put two and two together with a face to match her name and could say for a fact he knew her from Castelobruxo. But he of course was not about to show this nor waste his time wondering how they might have been introduced. Instead Benito laughed as arrogantly as he could then said "Your confidence is clearly one of your flaws." in Spanish to match everything Kylie was giving him. "It'll be great to see you lose." He added as an afterthought, turning around and taking a step away before half-turning back to the girl to say "If you want pointers after this, let me know." then walking back to his team's allocated spot to wait for the tournament to finally begin.​

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