Open Playing The Role

[Xenia Nikolaidou]

Xenia loved Quidditch. It hadn't been an easy love affair - she'd tumbled straight off her broom the first time she'd mounted one in class and had sworn off flying for most of first year. She'd slowly built confidence up in second and third years and then it had just clicked, and suddenly she was keeping for the team. And she was pretty good at it, if she said so herself. Much better than she was at writing essays, or brewing potions, or being a glamourous, elegant Beauxbatons girl.

Xenia ripped the blue ribbon out of her hair with a sigh, gazing down at the captain's badge held in her hand. Flo had picked her to lead, which had been exciting to an extent. She'd held her tongue a lot in her first year on the team but knew she'd be able to yell directions and encouragement and do the logistical sides of captaincy, especially when she was on a broom. Off the broom though, Xenia was conflicted. She stretched out a leg, rolling her ankle and looking at her scuffed sneakers. Until she had gotten her Beauxbatons letter, she hardly knew a word of French. Greek and English were fine, but French had been a struggle to speak and understand with the level of fluency she needed. Not to mention there were no other witches or wizards in her family (as much as her uncle Con called her aunt Voula one), so everything had just been that bit harder for her.

Her nailpolish, redone before starting school, was already chipped and messy. Her fingers tightened around the badge, and she looked up at the clear blue sky, unable to hold back another sigh. She knew she was trying way too hard and she just had to keep doing what she was doing, but didn't she have to look and act a certain way to represent the school? It was so much easier when she could just keep her head down and not care.

 

[Eren Beste]

If he was being honest, Eren had expected to enjoy Quidditch as much as he did when he joined the team last year. It'd been a last ditch attempt by his parents to try and get him to 'calm down' at school and while he'd been willing to humour them if only to get them off his back, it was almost annoying how effective it'd actually been. Part of that could definitely be chalked up to some of his teammates as well, butting heads with them all practice was arguably more fun than messing with school staff and getting stuck in detention for hours instead.

And speaking of teammates... Eren had finished getting his broom put away when he spotted Xenia still lurking around after their tryouts. Her promotion to captain was definitely a better choice than some of their other teammates, Eren didn't think he was exactly willing to take orders from her if she decided to start bossing them all around but the team could certainly do worse. "Hope that new badge of yours doesn't mean you're expecting me not to give you a hard time in practice anymore," he said, purposely knocking a shoulder against Xenia as he moved past her before turning to face her.

 

[Xenia Nikolaidou]

Xenia couldn't help but smirk at Eren's approach, not bothering to say anything about the shove to her shoulder. At least he'd probably be able to call her out for wallowing over the whole thing. She shoved the badge and ribbon in her pocket, shaking her head. "If you didn't give me a hard time in practice, I'd be a bad keeper and a bad captain," she admitted, giving a small shrug. "I thought it was a joke when they sent me the letter." Surely someone like Elise or Ophelia would've looked better in the part than she did. Although it would've been really funny if they'd picked Eren, she had to admit. Possibly the only person on the team who would've looked more out of place as captain than she did. But she had the feeling he wouldn't have been half as bothered by it as she was. And she did love playing Quidditch, and she was happy with the show of faith in her skill. At least while Eren was still playing, she had someone to push her to play better every practice. "I just hope they don't want me to...you know, uh, be more elegant. Or something." Xenia was by no means clumsy, but she certainly didn't come out of training looking her best. "It's bad enough I'll have to give encouraging speeches."

 

[Eren Beste]

Eren nodded in satisfaction at Xenia's response, leaning back on his heels. He had to admit he was a tiny bit worried the whole captain thing would ruin their dynamic a bit considering Xenia was really the only person on the team Eren could actually say he liked, but he was glad that at least for now it seemed it hadn't all gone to her head. "Nah, I think the jokes on the rest of us," he said solemnly before breaking into a laugh at his own joke.

Thumbing his nose, Eren shrugged at Xenia's concern, rolling his eyes at the thought. It certainly sounded like something a school like Beauxbatons might expect. "As long as we're winning they can all shut up about anything else," he said forcefully. "Ah yes, big poetic speeches are definitely your forte huh. In French too, right?" He said, laughing already as he imagined Xenia's discomfort. "Uh une victoire," he said in a facsimile of Xenia's stilted French. "I've changed my mind this is the best choice they could have made for captain."

 

[Xenia Nikolaidou]

As much as Eren could be a pain, she appreciated him for keeping things grounded. He was a good practice partner and she just hoped the other team members could summon up even a fraction of that intensity. She rolled her eyes, but laughed at his comment anyway. No point in taking things too seriously, really. It was just school sport. "You think that was a good joke, you should have seen when Amelie tried to dress me up." It had been sweet of her, but it just wasn't Xenia, as much as she thought it might have to be.

Despite that, even as she laughed it off she still couldn't help but feel a knot of discomfort twist in her stomach. She felt so stupid with her accented and stilted French, even though she spoke very well in Greek and pretty well in English. It certainly wasn't as bad as it had been, she could usually understand it perfectly. Speaking was just hard. Even in Greek. "Maybe I just work on a scary look instead." She tried to copy Eren's stance, fixing a smug yet disinterested look on her face, and thumbed her nose in return. "Better?"