I've been expecting you, Mr Bo- I mean, Nadia.

R

Rodolph Murdo

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OOC First Name
Beth
Wand
Myrtle Wand 15 1/2" Tail of Charmed Newt
After another successful training session with his Quidditch team, Rodolph apparated to the nearest bar; a small establishment he had wandered past earlier while checking out what clothes were in fashion in the muggle world so as to blend in. He often did such a thing. He was careful to apparate into an alleyway under the cover of darkness and soon managed to traipse to the pub, pushing open the corner-shop-like door and stepping inside, grinning. "Ah, barkeep," he said cheerfully, walking to the bar and taking out his brown wallet- the one containing muggle money. "I'll have a pint of lager, please.." he said professionally. "Ooh, and a packet of nibbles." he added upon noticing some salted nuts.

After Rodolph had paid, he sat down at a corner table, smiling at those around him. He sipped his lager and set it down on the table, attempting to open his packet of nuts but- The bag ripped open. It was weaker than Rodolph had anticipated and his arms flew out, one still gripping the bag, the other smacking against the nearest wall. "My nuts!" He declared, diving under the table to retrieve what he could.
As he reached out for one, however, a foot landed heavily upon it.
 
Nadia Fletcher liked everything about the muggle world except for their lack of knowledge about the wonderful sport that was Quidditch. And even that came in handy sometimes. After all, Nadia was something of a celebrity in certain parts of the wizarding world. She couldn't even go in to a pub, sometimes - if a Harpies fan was there, no doubt they'd seek her out for an autograph. She wasn't particuarly famous, after all, she'd only been in the team a couple of years, but considering she was on the only-girls team of the league, she had quite a few male fans. It got fairly disturbing at times, so going to muggle pubs was quite a nice change. There was the occaisonal annoying man asking for her number - but Nadia was a beater, so she was a lot stronger than she looked. Harassment was no issue.

Stepping in to the pub, Nadia shook her long hair out of her face, and smiled as she saw a familiar face in the place. Ah, Rodolph. Smirking, she stepped over to him, stepping on one of his nuts with her boots. "Getting used to being on the bottom, Rodolph?" Chuckling to herself, she stepped back and folded her arms. "You'll have to like it once the Harpies are through with you guys. I see last place in your future."
 
Rodolph tried to stand up but bashed his head on the underneath of the table and swore loudly. Of course he recognized the voice, it had taunted him enough times. He pulled himself up from underneath the table and peered over it's scratched and worn surface. "Oh.. Hello, Nadia." He said, the slightest venom in his voice. He now, of course, expected her to be on her worst behaviour as per usual. "What brings you to this neck of the woods? Lost your bludger.. again?"

Rodolph sat back up in his chair and gulped down his lager. He needed it if he was going to be dealing with nasty Nadia again. He had never expected a girl to know such hurtful things about him and use them against him. And he knew that if he lost his next match to the Harpies, Nadia would never shut up about it.
 
Nadia sat down without an invitation, giving Rodolph the sweetest and most innocent smile she could. It didn't fool anyone, not even herself. Though she was mildly surprised by the venom in his voice. She'd always thought of him as a bit of a sook. She supposed she needed to pay more attention, no doubt there was a lot more to him than he was letting on. Still, he was fun to tease. And although she never really meant any harm (okay, she did, but that was always before a game), Nadia never realised how much words could potentially hurt.

Crossing her legs, Nadia leant an elbow on the table and looked over at Rodolph. "So how's my favourite opposition going, hm?" she asked, grinning. "I hope you've been working on your aim," she joked. "As for what brings me here, well, it's a nice change, don't you think? And yourself?" If she were to think about it, she'd come to the conclusion that Rodolph really was a nice guy and she ought to treat him a little better. Of course, while Nadia had a good heart, she had a tendancy to take things too far, to snark, and to act first and think later.
 
As Nadia sat down, there was a slight crunching sound. Rodolph had forgotten the packet he had and so, with a truly hurt look on his face, Rodolph said, "You've just sat on my nuts." He heaved a sigh and reached for his pint of lager once more, downing the lot. "My aim is fine, thank you very much." Rodolph said, face reddening slightly. She'd really hit a nerve there. Though he was good at gaining and keeping possession of the quaffle, Rodolph was not the greatest shot. In fact, he had once missed three time in a row. He had never been more embarrassed.

"I'm here," Rodolph said, wanting to move the conversation on as fast as possible before he showed how truly pathetic he was by crying at his terrible failings as a chaser. "Because I needed a drink. And I happen to like the area- The muggles are really friendly.." he trailed off, "Most unlike you." he muttered under his breath, glaring a little at Nadia. "Are you looking forward to losing our next match?" he said, attempting to be nasty but his insults were really rather childish.
 
Nadia had to stifle a giggle at that comment. She was really quite childish at times. Well, most of the time. Her snarkiness made her come across as pretty immature. At least she was damn good at Quidditch. She wasn't the fastest flier, but her arm strength made up for it. Her aim wasn't brilliant but she hit pretty hard. Still, her arms were in near permanent bandages - especially her wrists - because of all the aches and bruising she got from wielding a beater's bat. The weight was nothing now, but there were still the odd speeding bludgers that really hurt to hit.

"Fair enough," she said, leaning back slightly. Sure, Rodolph probably didn't want to see her, but Nadia wasn't going anywhere now. "Losing the next match? Hah, I think not! I'll bet you anything we'll win, even," she said, quite childishly indeed.
 
Rodolph decided to take hold of this golden opportunity, smirking. "Anything?" he parroted, many ideas flooding into his head. "Alright, you're on. If you lose the next match- which you will- you have to take me on a pub crawl, you buying all the drinks, and you have to be dressed as a chicken." He smirked. She would never do something like that, he was sure of it. Rodolph was, on the inside, desperately hoping to win the next match. On the outside, however, he was as cool as a cucumber, eyes fixed on Nadia's, a smile on his face.

He would give her a moment or two to think about this bet and wandered back over to the bar to order another lager and a replacement bag of nuts. Rodolph joined her back at the table and placed his pint glass down, sitting and opening the packet of nuts: all was well. He took one out for himself and crunched at it, offering one to Nadia, wordlessly.
 
"Anything," Nadia confirmed, before listening to his conditions with a smirk. "Deal. Except for one small issue - you're going to be the one losing the next match," Nadia winked, before looking pensive. "And then when I win, you'll have to do the same. Except dressed as a grizzly bear," she giggled, pretty confident in her and her team's abilities. They'd be fine. And having Rodolph dressed up as a bear would make for good, shameless fun. Why a bear? Nadia honestly had no idea, but it sounded funny.

Without a word, Nadia took one of the nuts Rodolph offered and crunched it, looking pensive for a moment. It was so rare for Nadia to actually look thoughtful, but this was one of those moments. She really hoped they could win. It wouldn't be cool to be dressed as a chicken, and she'd so much rather have drinks bought for her than actually have to buy them herself.
 
Rodolph wanted to ask why she thought he should dress as a bear, although the more nagging issue was why she thought she would win. The next match was a a week away. He knew that to win he would need train hard and stop spending all his free time lurking in pubs, having a laugh with muggles who had no idea who he was. It was kind of nice not being recognized but he did occasionally enjoy the attention from fans. He was, by no means, the most talented player on the team but- and this was partly why Rodolph believed he was still on the team- he was perhaps, the most popular. He was often swamped by fangirls, which surprised him as he had never been the well-built, masculine man that the other male teammates were.

Rodolph now wanted to win this game more than ever. "I look forward to seeing you in chicken form," he smiled, "and seeing as you're going to be buying all the drinks next time we see one another, I suppose I ought to be a gentleman and buy you one?" Yes, he ought to be a good sport but would he be? Of course he would Rodolph was a softy really and he was highly trained in minding his manners. He stood up, leaving his lager and walked to the bar, calling back to Nadia "what do you want to drink?" As he had spoken quite loudly, most of the people present looked up at him. One man, a white beard formed on only half his face, beamed at Rodolph.
 
"Au contraire, my friend, I look forward to seeing you as a giant teddy bear," Nadia giggled. She was going to have to train hard, though. No more going out to pubs after tonight. She had a strict game diet, too. She'd have to follow that religiously for the next week. She figured she had to follow it more in general, too. She was by no means fat, but she wasn't a rake by any means. It was quite embarassing trying to squeeze in to her jeans tonight, for example. Though she had enough male fans that at least her ego and self-esteem was boosted whenever she allowed it to be.

"I'll have what you're having, mate," Nadia called back, feeling quite in good spirits despite her strong competitive nature. Oh, this was going to be fun. She couldn't wait to stick it to Rodolph once he lost - of course, she supposed she'd have to be a little nice to him if he was buying her drinks...nah. And if she lost? Ha, not possible.

((lol, should we timeskip or something and be lazy, or should we start a new thread?))
 

The day of the match had arrived Rodolph had put in a lot of extra hours training. He'd also done another interview with some young witch's magazine. He had been asked some very odd questions such as "when was the last time you cried?" and "what's your favourite romance novel?" these were the sort of questions Rodolph didn't know how to answer. It wasn't like he kept a tab on all the times he had shed tears and as for romance novels.. Well, he had read one in his younger days when he had gone through a phase of writing poetry but he never read that sort of thing nowadays, he was too busy with his career.

Rodolph walked out onto the pitch in his Quidditch gear, head held high, a member of the team. On the outside, he was his usual, proud self, confident in his every move. On the inside, however, he was shaking. He always was just before a match. That was, perhaps, his biggest secret: Rodolph had a phobia of large crowds. Which was an awful thing for a professional Quidditch player, especially if their team got through to the championships. The whistle was blown and he was off like a flash, mounting his broom, straight up into the air, taking possession of the quaffle..

There had been a lot of close calls and Rodolph had only narrowly missed a bludger from Nadia. But his team had won. He had managed to do it, to beat Nadia in the bet and now, feeling stressed from a hard game, he decided to claim his reward. "Go and get your chicken costume," he beamed at Nadia, "and we'll head to Brighton- Plenty of good pubs down that way."
 
Nadia, along with her teammates, held her head high as she walked on to the Quidditch pitch, beater's bat in one hand and her Streak in the other hand. Montrose Magpies? Bah, the Harpies would crush them in to the dust. Well, so Nadia thought, anyway. But as most people know, pride comes before a fall, and although she and her team played valiantly (especiallly Nadia, she was determined to win this game more than any other, after all), they were defeated in a very good game. Of course, Nadia was disappointed. It wasn't just her team's pride on the line, it was her own. But she was a reasonably good sport, and a bet was a bet. Tonight would be fun, regardless of today's match. Taking a bow, she grinned back at Rodolph. "As you wish, good sir."

Of course, Nadia owned nothing like a chicken suit, and there was no way she was bothering to find one or conjure one up. So instead, she decided to improvise. After taking a shower, she decided to dress up. And Nadia's idea of a chicken suit was a short, frilly white dress, with white gloves (they covered up the bruising), gold heels, a red and gold headpiece, and a beak mask, which no doubt would disappear within fifteen minutes of boozing it up. Meeting up with Rodolph again, Nadia smirked, evilly, before clucking and doing the chicken dance with a roll of her eyes. "To Brighton, then?" she asked with a grin, offering an arm to Rodolph in order for them to apparate to their first destination. Thank goodness she had a good amount of money on her.
 
Rodolph stared for a moment. It didn't look much like a chicken costume but then again, he had never specified his expectations so he felt it his own fault. He decided to accept this 'outfit' and took hold of Nadia's arm. Within moments they under Brighton pier, the noise of the ocean covered the sound of them apparating. Rodolph loved Brighton, day or night. He turned his head to Nadia, smiling. "Right," he said, making a map in his head, "Just up here and... left.. That will be where we start our pub crawl.." At this, he pulled a sketched map from his trouser pocket; he had changed into some dark jeans, a pair of white trainers and a grey shirt with a skull on the front. These were his clothes for 'clubbin' muggle style'. Rodolph held the map up and examined it, showing it to Nadia. "If I've calculated correctly," he started, "Which I think I have- we should be able to make the whole crawl if we spend a maximum of fifteen minutes in each bar." He smirked and took Nadia's hand, leading her off to the first bar.

Rodolph sat at the bar with Nadia, half an hour later, having done several dozen shots. He had had nothing to eat and the alcohol had gone straight to his head. Nadia's bird mask had, strangely, disappeared. But Rodolph didn't mind and he sat there, grinning at her, a mini umbrella behind one ear, another being rolled between his teeth. That was another reason why he liked muggles- they gave free mini umbrellas with drinks.
 
Thinking about it - not that thinking was something Nadia would win a gold medal for - she actually found that she enjoyed Rodolph's company once she stopped with the psychological warfare and just had a good old drink. Of course, there was the fact that when Nadia was drunk, she became exceedingly affectionate, so it was probably the alcohol talking. She'd already hit the dance floor once - until an unfortunate incident involving her tripping over (oh why did she wear stillettos?) had sent her back to the bar to do more shots. Still, the fall hadn't been too embarassing, and she'd been all too grateful to the couple of guys who had helped her up, rewarding them with slightly slurred words of gratitude and hugs.

Laughing as she threw back another shot, Nadia looked at Rodolph with a huge smile on her face. Honestly, she could barely remember the outcome of the morning's game. Her memory wasn't terrible when she was drinking - in fact, it was pretty good - but she was having too much fun to dwell on the loss. "We're not very good at pacing ourselves, are we?" she giggled, twisting one of the mini umbrellas between her index finger and thumb. Giggling some more, she smiled at Rodolph, honestly. "You know, you're not as bad as I thought you were. You're a good guy, Rodolph. Even if you are the opposition."
 
"How bad did you think I was?" Rodolph as, looking a little dopey from all the alcohol, his eyes a little red round the edges. "I'm not.. I'm not a.. erm.." In his drunken state, Rodolph couldn't even remember the name of a large winged, fire breathing creature. "Well," he said thoughtfully, though he didn't add all his thoughts into the equation, "I'm not one of those." He listened to the murmur all around them, unable to distinguish between conversations. It was all becoming a blur in his head. He could see.. Sort of. Well enough to see Nadia and he was grinning at her.

Rodolph ordered a martini and sipped at it, adding another umbrella to his ear. "You know," he said, trying not to stare at the spinning room, "You're not so bad yourself." And then he leant in to kiss her, to kiss Nadia Fletcher. He was almost there but- There was a thump as he slipped off his stool, landing on the floor. Hard.

Rodolph had no idea how much time had passed but when he eventually came round, he was laying on a sofa. Perhaps it was a back room of the bar? Had they moved him out the way? There had been sofas in the bar but the bar would still be crowded.. Wouldn't it? Rodolph attempted to sit up but his head spun and straight away he was laying back down again. He turned to rest on his back, staring up at the ceiling. It was a pity he hadn't noticed what colour the bar ceiling was or he might have known where he was.
 
Nadia giggled, the alcohol leaving her feeling quite lightheaded and silly. "I don't really know!" she exclaimed, in a good natured manner, trying to focus on Rodolph. She wasn't sure if she'd had as much as he had - probably not, but she wasn't in a good state, so she was somewhat wondering how he was going. Though she decided he must have been pretty drunk to try and kiss her. She must have been drunk, too, because she was about to kiss him, too, for the sake of it, when he fell over and hit the ground. "Sh!t," she muttered, sober enough to know what had happened and know that their pub crawl was over for now. She had to get him home. Of course, she had no idea where he lived. Well, she supposed he could stay at her place, sleep on the couch or something. With a sigh, Nadia lifted him up - being a beater meant she had pretty good arm strength - denied all offers of help and cabs, got out the back and apparated back to her place, before putting him on the couch with a blanket over him.

Nadia appeared in the lounge the next morning, looking rather dischevelled in pink pyjamas and bags under her eyes. "Mnergh..." she moaned, running a hand through her hair with a tired smile as she looked at Rodolph, who was awake but looked awful. "Good morning, sunshine," Nadia joked, her head feeling quite awful. "So much for a pub crawl, hey? Honestly, you need to learn to pace yourself, you know. Need some water?"
 
Rodolph had no recollection of coming to be here but now he knew where he was; this was Nadia's house, her sofa. Rodolph suddenly became very conscious of how he must have looked. He probably looked as bad as he felt and he rubbed at his eyes, forcing himself to sit up. His face fell into his hands. "Eurgh," he said, feeling sick, gravity attempting to become too much. He looked up at Nadia. "Water would be great.. Do you have a bathroom?" Why was he asking? Of course she would have one somewhere. He needed to find a sink, needed to splash some water on his face and wake up.

Rodolph had a pain in his back from Nadia's couch. It was a welcome change to that of Nadia herself. He knew that Nadia had no idea where he lived so there would have been no chance of her apparating him home.
 
"Woah, easy there," Nadia said, forcing herself to smile, though she really felt too sore to. Wincing, she rubbed her temples, moaning something to herself about 'never again'. She knew she'd be out again next weekend, it didn't matter, but the thought was still there. "I figured you were wasted when you tried to kiss me, but it's okay. We can pretend it never happened," she winked. "Bathroom's down the hall, first door on the left. Don't make too much of a mess," she said, pointing, leaving him to go before shuffling off to the kitchen to get some toast, water, and some pepper-up potion for the two of them. She found that it was pretty good for hangovers, in fact, she swore by it.
 
He had tried to kiss her? It was only then that the memories started to shoot back to him and, by the time he had made his way into the bathroom, locked the door and splashed his face with cold water, he remembered that as he had leant in, the room spinning, she had leant in also. Rodolph looked at himself in the mirror. He was pale with bloodshot eyes, a piece of mini umbrella was still resting behind his ear. He brushed it from himself, leant hard against the sink and sighed. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall.." He shook his head at himself and turned to leave the bathroom, heading for the lounge.

Rodolph sat back down heavily on the sofa, waiting for Nadia to return. Though it hadn't lasted very long, it had been a great night and Nadia was a much nicer person than he had originally thought. Still, she would probably turn back into the woman he recognized, the next time they were opponents in a match.
 
Nadia sighed as she walked in to the lounge, carrying a tray with everything on it, including different spreads for the toast. Awkwardly, she smiled at Rodolph as she sat a few things down in front of him. He didn't look good at all, but she supposed she looked no better. At least she'd had a chance to make herself somewhat presentable before she slept (as absurd as that sounded). She'd still have to clean herself up after Rodolph left, but that would be fine. Then she'd go fly or do weights in the afternoon, whichever she felt like.

Throwing back the pepper-up potion, Nadia shuddered, before smirking at Rodolph, feeling better already. "I suppose this means we're friends, yeah? Dad always said a night of booze always leads to friendship, especially if you end up passed out on the couch of someone's house," she chuckled. "Dad was never good at poetic phrases, you see. But still. We've gotta still be rivals, though. I mean, it just won't do to have us looking too friendly, would it?" It was one thing to be said for Nadia. She sure recovered quickly. It was what made her such a good beater, getting knocked about by bludgers didn't hold her back for too long.
 
Rodolph smiled as Nadia entered the room and was given some pepper-up potion. Instantly, Rodolph felt miles better. His head had stopped thumping completely now and he could finally think straight. Nadia seemed a lot better, also. "Friends?" he repeated softly, a little struck for words. He supposed that only seemed right. She had, after all, let him sleep on her lovely uncomfortable sofa. But just as soon as she said that, Nadia seemed to be on another track. So.. they had to hide their friendship? Well, of course it wouldn't look good for Quidditch but.. So many thoughts raced around Rodolph's head. He stared blankly.

"Right," Rodolph said, attempting to gain some form of clarification. He was always like this when he was hungover, even though the pepper-up potion had helped, somewhat. "So we're friends, yes? But it has to be secret? ..I think I've got that." Still, he had another thought he wished to voice. "You were going to kiss me back.." He muttered, standing up. "Right, I should be off. Thanks for letting me crash on your sofa. I have a practice game to get to. He turned to walk across the room, wand now in hand, turning back to smile at Nadia, "We should do this again sometime." With those words left hanging in the air, there was a loud 'CRACK!' as Rodolph disappeared.
 
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