Closed The Very Basics

[Emery Mettlestone]

The weather was too nice to stay inside, but outside on the great lawn it was more difficult to play gobstones. The courtyard was much better suited, so Emery had marked a spot for him and Rāwhiti by putting his bag and cloak down on the ground. People would just have to walk around them. Emery started by marking the ground with a piece of chalk, he usually had one with him. He drew a circle, placing several gobstones inside it before snapping his fingers to get Rāwhiti's attention again. "Alright, pay attention. I'm going to teach you the basic game first." He said, gesturing to the circle with the gobstones. His tone was slightly exasperated, as he still couldn't believe he had to explain the basic rules to someone Rāwhiti's age. It was downright embarrassing. "In a classic game, you have to knock seven gobstones out of the circle before your opponent does." He said with a smile. "There are more than seven in it, so you have to be strategic." He glanced at his friend. "Are you following?"

((Full disclaimer idk how gobstones works and I think the info on the hp wiki is from Hogwarts Mystery mobile game so I have no idea how canon this is but... shh))

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

While Quidditch was his true love, Rāwhiti had always adored games of all kinds. Having fun with friends, learning new rules, it was all exciting and he looked forward to every opportunity he got. So of course he had said yes when Emery offered to teach him how to play gobstones properly. He looked around while the Ravenclaw was setting up, studying the courtyard. If a few benches were moved they could probably get a wicked game of bullrush going some time. His attention was brought back to the game by Emery clicking, nodding as he listened to the explanation. Rāwhiti had messed around with gobstones, sure, but he had never really learned the rules. He took in the rules Emery explained, laughing lightly as the Ravenclaw checked in with him. "Good as gold, mate." He said cheerfully, gesturing for him to continue.

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery narrowed his eyes at Rāwhiti, not entirely sure if the other boy was paying as much attention as he should be. But after a moment, he nodded and continued. "I think we'll just start with the classic ruleset." He said, grabbing his bag of gobstones and opening it carefully. You always had to be careful with gobstones if you didn't want a face full of pus. He neatly arranged three rows of five gobstones in front of Rāwhiti before doing the same for himself. "Players get fifteen gobstones each," Emery said. Then he placed seven extra gobstones in the circle, careful with their placement. "And these are the ones we have to knock out." He continued to explain. "Do you want to start?"

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti leaned his chin on one hand as he watched Emery set up, mostly listening to the Ravenclaw. He started pondering what this would look like on brooms - some kind of flying dodgeball, with 2 Beaters versus the rest of the team trying to run? He was pulled out of his thoughts as Emery asked him to start, grinning in agreement. "Hell yeah." Rāwhiti grinned as he took his first stone, grinning as he lifted it up and chucked it hard at the stones arranged in the middle from an upwards angle, trying to do as much damage as possible. "BOOYEAH!"

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery could only hope Rāwhiti was paying any attention, it was hard to tell with him sometimes. He nodded as Rāwhiti agreed to start, but then gasped in horror as he watched the boy throw the gobstone at the others, throwing it with force. "Don't!" He said, scrambling back just in time to avoid the stinking liquid that almost exploded out of the gobstone. He groaned. "That's not how you do it!" He whined. "They're sensitive." They weren't really, but they also weren't made to be thrown like that. Gobstones were only supposed to spew the foul-smelling liquid at the loser of the game, but now it had malfunctioned. Truthfully, Emery hadn't told Rāwhiti about that part of the game because he wanted to see his face when he lots and got the nasty surprise. That had definitely backfired. Emery pinched his nose. "Ugh."

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti had no sooner celebrated his terrific shot than a foul-smelling liquid erupted from the stones. "GROSS!" He yelled, throwing himself backwards, but he didn't quite manage to escape the spray, shirt soaking with filth. "Ew, rank!" Rāwhiti wrinkled his nose, giving Emery a disbelieving look. "Why do you like this?!"

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery felt anger building inside him fast, especially as Rāwhiti insulted the game when he had been doing it wrong. He rounded on his friend angrily. "You did it wrong! You ruined it! You're not supposed to throw like that, if you hadn't that wouldn't have happened!" He yelled, losing his temper in front of the Gryffindor for the first time.

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

In all the time Rāwhiti had known Emery he hadn't ever seen the Ravenclaw angry, and it was alarming to see it now. "Bro, calm down!" He said quickly, holding his hands up. "It's just a game, chill out! That's how I play with my brother, I didn't know it was gonna do that! Let's just clean up, we can start over. It's not a big deal."

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

To his frustration, Emery could feel tears prickling in his eyes. He hated losing control like this, but he also hated it when he didn't feel taken seriously. He took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm down. "It's not just a game to me." He said, pronouncing each word carefully. "If you truly want to know why I like it, you have to play it properly and listen to me." He said, frowning at Rāwhiti. "Think you can do that?"

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Any frustration Rāwhiti felt dissolved at once at the sight of Emery, as he realised abruptly that the other boy was nearly crying. "Hey, I'm sorry." he said quickly, guilt curling up his throat. He supposed he would have felt the same if Emery flew around hitting the snitch with a beater bat or something. "I get it, I'll listen." He said with a nonconfrontational smile. "Let's try it again, aye?"

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery took a few more deep breaths, hating how vulnerable he had been a moment ago. He nodded as Rāwhiti apologized, looking down for a moment as he blinked back his tears. He looked up at him again, a little suspiciously. "You'll listen properly?" He asked quietly.