Closed How We Be

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah was exhausted from the Quidditch match he had just played, exhausted and embarrassed. He didn't know how it happened or how it was even possible, but he had managed to hit himself twice during the match, almost knocking himself unconscious by doing so. He had been playing terribly lately but to actually hit himself, well, Asaiah was convinced that he had hit an all-time low and could only hope that tonight was the end of it. For once he was actually glad that Freya decided to sit a match out, he didn't think he could bear the endless teasing that would've come out of it had she seen him hit himself. His 'accident' on the pitch was not something he was going to mention to his girlfriend once he was back at the apartment. Running a hand through his hair, Asaiah leaned against the side of the building, taking in a deep breath of fresh air now that the adrenaline from the match had subsided. He knew he had to step it up a notch if he wanted to stop letting his team down, so decided that he'd need to change up his training schedule a bit, starting by going back to the pitch tomorrow morning to fix whatever was going on with him lately. Thankfully, none of his friends had seen his blunder.

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol wasn't planning to stick around in New Zealand for long after meeting up with Alistair, but the temptation of seeing her friends again was too strong for her to ignore now that she was actually back where they had spent so many years together. When she realized there was a Macaws game the same week she was visiting, it felt like a sign she couldn't ignore. She had originally planned to watch Asaiah from afar and not let him know she was here, but after his terrible performance in the game, she just had to roast him.

It took a while for all the spectators to clear out after the game but Marisol waited for Asaiah to emerge. She was getting restless after a while, thinking he might've slipped out another way, but finally she spotted him up ahead. A wide grin instinctively erupted on her face at the sight of her old best friend. Carefully walking up to him she said loudly, "You know you're supposed to hit the bludgers, not your face, right?" She laughed again at the fresh memory of Asaiah's slip up in the game. "Hi Asher," she smiled at him softly, hoping he would be excited to see her.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

''You are such an arsehole, you know that?'' Asaiah said annoyingly as Marisol approached him. ''It has been literally years since we've last seen each other, and you decide to come and visit me on the day that I'm playing like absolute sh*t? F**k you.'' However exhausted, embarrassed or annoyed he was, it didn't stop him from hugging her tightly once she was close enough, though. He had for the longest time thought that she had been angry or upset with him over something, as she had never replied to any of her letters, not even when he very specifically told Axel to bite her if she was going to wave the owl off. His pygmy owl always returned to New Zealand empty-handed, however. He eventually decided to stop sending letters to her family's house in Puerto Rico, thinking that she wanted to talk to him, she knew where to find him. Asaiah took his time hugging his former best friend, even pinching her a little just to make sure that she was there with him. ''Well?'' He asked when he let go of Marisol, almost as if he was demanding an answer from her. ''How - where - are you okay? I've been worried sick about you.'' He knew that he couldn't stay upset with Marisol for long, she had been his best friend for ages after all, but it had been an awfully long, long time ago since the two of them had last seen each other.

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol laughed gleefully at Asaiah's response, not regretting her decision to say an insult as her first words to him in seven years. His response just solidified to her that their friendship had not changed despite the silence all those years. "Well now I'm glad I came, this was probably your last game ever after that performance!" she teased. Marisol squeezed him tightly and squealed in protest as he pinched her, though it hadn't hurt at all. When they finally released each other she smiled softly as he waited expectantly for an answer. She had been struggling to think of how she could explain why she had ghosted him all these years and even as she stood in front of him she still had no good answer. "I'm okay," she assured him, able to answer that question quickly at least. She didn't feel the need to mention how she had spent certain full moons without Wolfsbane Potion, she felt standing here alive in front of him was good enough to be considered okay.

"I've been staying with my grandparents in South America," she explained. "It's nice there, warmer than Puerto Rico," she chuckled, running her hands through her short hair. Puerto Rico was already hot to begin with, but Colombia was a lot closer to the equator. "So if you sent any letters to my house I never got them," she added apologetically. That wasn't to say her parents didn't tell her they arrived, but she just didn't feel safe enough to reply and have his owl traced back to her location. She felt she owed it to him to at least try and say something more. "As soon as I graduated I got paranoid that I was going to be hunted all of a sudden and I thought the safest thing for me to do was go somewhere I couldn't be found," she admitted. "You had already involved yourself too much by searching for a cure, I was afraid if I wrote back that you would become a target too," she explained. Her friend's proximity to her had always been a worry to her, but being at school had given her a false sense of security. Without the castle walls to literally and figuratively protect their friendship from prying eyes, she felt like she was exposing them to unwanted danger. "But I'm glad to see you're playing professionally now, I always said that'd be much better use of your time," she grinned at him.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

''Laugh it up, fuzzball,'' Asaiah said in reaction to her teasing. He could only hope that the coach would forgive him for his terrible display tonight as well as the other game nights. If not, well, he was sure that there was another team in the league that would want him on their team. He smiled when she hugged him back just as tightly, knowing right then and there that their friendship was just as strong now as it was the last time they saw each other, even if she had ignored him for the last seven years.

He listened carefully and smiled again when she told him that she was okay and that she had stayed with her grandparents in South America, only noticing the shortness of her hair when she ran her hand through it. It made her look older. He knew that she'd be afraid of the wizarding world without the castle's walls around her, Marisol had confided that piece of information to him on multiple occasions, and thought that it was only fair that she would get paranoid because of it, especially with the news that werewolf hunters had been active back then. What Asaiah thought was unfair, however, was that she in her paranoia decided to cut their back and forth communications via owl afterwards. They had not been best friends for seven years only to have their friendship be dropped once she'd graduate and leave Hogwarts as well. It seemed as if Marisol thought that he did not know that being friends with a werewolf whilst werewolf hunters were active was a dangerous thing. He did know it could be dangerous, and it knowing that it could be only wanted to protect his best friend even more. But apparently, Marisol thought differently about it, which was the thing that hurt him the most once he realised that she was not going to reply to any of his letters, not even the really rude ones. ''Yeah, about the letters I sent to your house, you might not want to read some of those,'' Asaiah replied, feeling himself become annoyed again now that he was thinking back on how any and all communications between them were dropped so abruptly. Looking around him for nothing in particular, it took him a moment to suppress those feelings. ''Quidditch has been fun,'' he said to break the silence he'd created, as he did not want things to become awkward now that she was standing in front of him. ''Though it's been really more of the same you saw tonight lately. I think I'm losing my mojo a bit. What about you? Done any flying around whilst in South America?'' While he was genuinely interested in what she had been up to, he was also curious to hear if she had done anything fun while away.

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol laughed as Asaiah warned her not to read some of the letters. "I guess I had that coming. Consider us even for the letters I sent you when we were eleven," she laughed, shaking her head as she remembered how angry she'd gotten when he never wrote back to her one summer. That had only been one summer without contact, and yet here they were seven years without a word and Asaiah didn't seem to be holding a grudge. She felt guilty for pushing him away because he'd proven loyal to their friendship time and time again. She suddenly remembered a time when Wyatt had called her a fair-weathered friend and felt a pang in her chest because perhaps he was right all this time. Asaiah had deserved better than that.

Glad for the change in topic, Marisol's eyebrows shot up as he mentioned losing his mojo for the sport. "Do you not enjoy playing anymore? Are you thinking of retiring?" she asked with a worried frown. She didn't ask what he would do if he did because she knew that'd be a loaded question. She still didn't know what she wanted to do. "I played a few games with some other wizards I met who went to Castelobruxo, but not much." She didn't want to get too friendly with any wizards she met in case they caught on to her condition so she always kept them at arms length. "They showed me how to play Quodpot!" she added excitedly. "They were surprised I didn't know how to play it because they thought I went to Ilvermorny since I'm Puerto Rican and apparently Quodpot is like the American version of Quidditch," she chuckled a little. "It was pretty interesting I guess," she shrugged. "Maybe I'll show you one day," she offered before she could stop herself. She still wasn't even sure if she was going to be sticking around, but she couldn't just skip out on him again after one brief reunion.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah wondered if his letters were comparable to those she sent him back when they were eleven, and decided not to tell her about how rude he had been to her in one of them on the off chance that she wasn't going to read them at all. And if Marisol was going to read them at some point, well then he could only hope that she would forgive him for the series of rather rude curse words he had thrown at her on paper.

''I can't say that I haven't thought about it after how terrible I've been playing lately,'' Asaiah answered truthfully. Although quitting Quidditch had crossed his mind once or twice, he knew full well that he would never be able to stop playing it. Quidditch was in his blood, it was the one thing he'd been obsessed with for as long as he could remember, of course he wasn't going to stop playing it just because he was playing horribly for a bit. It stung to hear that Marisol had been hanging out with other people during the time that she ignored him, but he tried not to show it to her. He was happy that she wasn't alone in South America, as that would've been a dreadful thing to find out. ''Why would you be playing Quodpot when you could be playing Quidditch instead?'' the man asked, perhaps a bit too harshly. ''Those silly Americans and their weird sports, they know nothing about flying anyway. I bet I could beat them at their own game.'' He really wasn't trying to sound or act so hostile but the thought of his former best friend having all the fun whilst he was worried sick about her, he just couldn't stop himself.

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol didn't like to hear that Asaiah had thought of quitting Quidditch because for as long as she'd known him he loved the sport and wanted to play professionally. He was pretty much the reason she learned the sport and had taken her to her first game. The Macaws were her favorite team because they were his favorite team. He could've shown her the worst team in the league and said they were his favorite, and they would've instantly become her favorite as well out of loyalty to him. "Maybe you just need to feel challenged again," she offered. "I guess I'll have to join an opposing team so you can try and beat me," she sighed dramatically. "Gryffindor was always better than Slytherin after all," she teased. She wasn't really planning on joining a team; once upon a time she had dreamt of the day she, Wyatt, and Asaiah could all play on the same team together. She and Wyatt had as Gryffindors but not Asaiah. Now she had been out of practice too long she didn't think she could make a team anymore.

Asaiah's tone took her slightly by surprise but she quickly understood where his attitude might be coming from. Of course it sounded like she had just abandoned him and made a whole new set of friends, but she had only come across them in her search for wolfsbane potion ingredients, and spent a majority of her time isolating herself from others, most times in the muggle world more-so than the wizarding world to go as undetected as possible. She laughed a little at his distain for the American sport and said, "I don't doubt you can." She took a step forward and ruffled his hair affectionately as she said, "Like I said, it was just a few games," hoping he could understand that she didn't have a new group of friends waiting for her back home. "And I'm on your side, Quidditch is definitely way better. Stupid Americans," she repeated, smiling at him softly. The few times she had hung out with the wizards had always included debates between the two flying sports, but Marisol had always been adamant that Quidditch was better.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah snorted at Marisol's comment about Gryffindor being the better team. ''Oh, yeah, sure. Do you remember who always finished first at the end of the season, though?'' He found that it made him a little sentimental to talk with her about things such as inter-house Quidditch and letters again. Despite the year that they had been confined to their common rooms for getting caught breaking into the Ravenclaw common room, school had been really fun, their friendship had been really fun. While he did not miss most of his classes, he did miss roaming around the many corridors and hallways with his best friends, the many hang out sessions they had in the Room of Requirement or the many dances they went to just to have a bit of fun. They had definitely been through a lot together in those six or seven years.

Was he going to stop talking to Marisol because she had basically ended their friendship? Probably not, he still cared enough about their friendship and her to drop it entirely. He was, however, not going to make it easy on her. If she wanted to be friends again, she had to make it up to him. The fact that she came to watch him play and stayed around afterwards to chat was a good start. Asaiah smiled proudly as she reaffirmed her loyalty to Quidditch, the stinging feeling he had felt earlier slowly subsiding. ''Do you want to come back to my house and grab a drink?'' he asked. ''You might still catch Freya if she hasn't left for work yet.''

 

[Marisol Woods]

oop he definitely said silly americans not stupid americans, freudian slip!

Marisol rolled her eyes playfully as he brought up their old house standings in Quidditch, but smiled fondly because it felt so familiar to banter with him. "I don't know, I seem to remember you always losing bets to me but whatever," she shrugged her shoulders casually, laughing a little. She had no idea how seeing Asaiah today would go after so long without contact but now her nerves had worn off and she felt herself finally relaxing. For the last seven years she had tried not to get too close to anyone so they wouldn't discover her secret, it felt like she was back at Hogwarts all over again except this time the consequences were greater as it could lead to her being hunted and killed. She always felt like she was on edge, having her guard up, so being with Asaiah felt like she could finally let those walls down for once in all those years. It was a huge relief that he hadn't told her to eff off once he saw her.

She smiled happily when he invited her over to his apartment for a drink, forgetting for a moment that they were actual adults now since they kept reminiscing about their time in school. Even with strict rules and boundaries in place around the castle, they had always managed to get into trouble, doing things and breaking into places they shouldn't have. There was no telling what kind of mischief they could get into with the freedom and magic being an adult provided. "Sure!" she replied before she could hear the rest of his statement, then it registered in her mind belatedly. "Freya?" she asked as casually as she could.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Of course Marisol had the perfect retort back to his teasing, she always had. If only Slytherin would have won their matches against Gryffindor, it'd have saved him a lot of extra homework. Asaiah smiled. ''Yeah, you remember her right? She was in our year, too.'' He didn't know if Marisol still remembered his girlfriend, but he sure as hell still remembered the first time the two of them met each other in the Hospital Wing. While nothing had happened, he still remembered the way his best friend tensed up once she realised that Freya had joined them in checking up on Asaiah after his first Quidditch match. He also didn't know if either of them had spoken to one another after meeting each other at his bedside, but he hoped that they get along nicely. They had been his friend since pretty much day one, so he kind of needed them to like each other. ''But like I said, she may have gone to work already.'' He tightened the strap of his duffel bag once he had put it around his shoulder. ''We could also just go downtown and go to a bar if you want?'' he added.

 

[Marisol Woods]

It had taken a moment for Marisol to place a face to the name but once she did she recalled the moment they had been introduced. It hadn't exactly been a nice encounter, not against the Hufflepuff personally just given the situation at hand, so she didn't think she had left a good impression. After that scene in the Hospital Wing she wouldn't have been surprised if Freya had chosen to stay away from Asaiah's crazy friends for her own good which is probably why the girl never hung out with them again. "She was the Hufflepuff!" Marisol finally answered to let him know she remembered the girl.

Marisol shook her head when he suggested going to a bar instead. She wasn't keen on being out and about in public where she had to be aware of her surroundings when she had just gotten comfortable catching up with Asaiah again. "No your place is fine!" she assured him. She was mostly still curious why Freya would be at his house. Was she a roommate or his girlfriend? As much as she wanted to know she wasn't going to ask. She just wanted to know what she was walking into. Would it be weird if she showed up? Marisol shook the thoughts out of her head, she was overthinking things. Sure they had dated once but that was practically an entire lifetime ago, it didn't matter anymore. "Let's go," she said, linking arms with him so he could apparate them to wherever he lived.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Glad that Marisol seemed to remember Freya from their time at Hogwarts, and that she was fine with going back to his apartment, Asaiah held onto her arm as she linked them together. If tonight was going to end up being a lot of fun, perhaps he could convince Marisol to stay in New Zealand a little while longer. He had a place for her to potentially stay at if she wanted to, and since they could apparate, it really wasn't that far from his apartment. Giving his friend a smile, both of them turned on the spot and vanished with a PLOP!

Fin