Unusual Stomping Grounds

[Valentin Grimm]

Valentin waved nonchalantly as he was left alone by his grandmother, free to explore the area. He had lived in New Zealand since the tender age of three with some of his siblings. Others were not as lucky as he, and were still back in his homeland, Sweden. He could no longer recall memories of his old home, and was very pleased with his current living arrangement. The only thing that bothered him was that he was stuck with his older sister, Dominique, who had come over from Sweden just a couple of years ago. The young boy was still trying to adjust to her presence, but found it hard. She was so... well, she was such a girl. He could barely stand it. She had dresses and make up and everything all over the place, and seeing as she spent the first part of her life surrounded by magic, she still tried to convince their grandparents that it was necessary. He felt it wasn't. He couldn't use magic anyway - not without a wand and some actual training. He just hoped he wouldn't get bored with magic like he got bored with everything else he ever did - his grandparents would never forgive him if he stuffed up this time.

Valentin wiggled his nose with anticipation when his brown eyes found something of interest. He enjoyed jungle gyms simply because of all the things one could do. He looked behind him, as if expecting to find his grandmother standing around like she often did, but it seemed that this time she had actually left the area, and he felt momentarily concerned at this change of behaviour. That was, until he saw her lining up to buy some food at a little stand. He snorted, and continued onto the jungle gym. Takarokaro Park was not his usual stomping grounds, but seeing as he was coming to 'that age' as his grandmother said, it was time he made some magical friends. He was not that excited about it, but that was how life was. It was nestled in Brightstone, surrounded by some little stands, and then further off he could hear the bustling Brightstone stores with their merchants and customers, and decided that he might go over there for a wander if things here grew boring.

The gym appeared devoid of life, but he was not exactly looking into every crevice, as he was more of a solo-player. Besides, it was still rather early, and if children went to a muggle school, they would probably still be in it. Fortunately for him, he had always been homeschooled. He gripped the chain of the swing carefully, before excitedly hopping on and preparing to swing.​

 

[Dahlia Beauregard]

Dahlia sighed as she took in her surroundings. Takarokaro Park was the place where the youth ran off to escape, and to clear her head from distractions ever since she moved to New Zealand. She hadn't been in the country for long, just two months. Her parents had decided it would be best for her to move closer to her new school, since the family of three lived over thousands of miles away. Why in fact, they were actually much closer to the school that resided in Scotland, but Dahlia was convinced that her parents were simply trying to find a good reason for her to be out of the way. They did, and now she lived much closer to the school, in a residence near the park along with her good house-elf, Kobbler and a wizard who would check in on her every weekend.

It was terribly lonesome. Kobbler was good company sometimes, and most certainly useful to have around, but conversation with such a creature was limited. Dahlia found that she missed interacting with her family and parents, even if they were the cold sort and were annoyed by her presence. They were in fact the her mother and father, the two who she lived with for all the previous years of her life.

Now tired of sinking stones into the nearby pond, she decided she might try out the swings. Noticing a boy seemingly her age or older she couldn't help but feel excited of the possibility of having a real conversion with someone. She promptly plopped into the swing beside him and kicked off the ground to give the swing some momentum. After a few seconds, she felt herself ease into the seat and she turned to the boy next to her. "Nice weather we're having." she said with a small quirk of her mouth, her attempt at a smile.

 

[Valentin Grimm]

Valentin attempted to swing higher on the swing. His goal was to swing so high that he would flip around the bar, but he doubted that was possible. He had tried it many times, only for his older brother to tell him that it was impossible. But what did he know - he was a spoil-sport anyway. He relaxed into the swaying motions just as another approached. He paid her no mind, however, being a rather introverted young man. However, her voice caused him to pause his swinging motions, and his swinging became considerably less powerful as he allowed the swing to sway from his previous actions as opposed to egging it onward. "The weather?" he asked, her observation of something as trivial as the weather confusing him. It was like he was listening on on a conversation his grandmother would have with other old people. "I guess the weather's been fine but..." He trailed off, attempted to organise his thoughts in such a way that he wouldn't come off as insulting. However, he returned to speaking despite himself. "That's a really boring thing to start off with. Like, the weather's just the weather. Just sun and clouds and rain and snow and boring. We should talk about something fun!" He kicked off of the ground as his swing slowed to a stop, rocketing himself back into a swaying motion gleefully. "Like how fun swinging super high is!" He called back, releasing a laugh that caused his shoulders to shake.​

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[Dahlia Beauregard]

The boy in the swing beside her finally slowed down from his viciously fast pace, his voice sounding mildly confused as he questioned Dahlia's statement. "The weather?" He asked. "Yes, that's what I said." Dahlia replied with a quirk of her brow. Did people around here not converse about such things? Listening to her own previous statement she came off to the conclusion that it may have been something a bit formal to say. Her concluding this was abruptly interrupted by the boy.

"That's a really boring thing to start off with. Like, the weather's just the weather. Just sun and clouds and rain and snow and boring. We should talk about something fun!" Dahlia blinked her eyes in confusion. She had definitely not expected such bold words such as that , and couldn't help but go, "ehhh....", not knowing what to think.

He promptly launched back into his fierce swinging and called out, "Like how fun swinging super high is!" And then he laughed very loudly, indeed, as it caused it shoulders to shake.

Dahlia couldn't help but smile a genuine smile. The boy was certainly wild and silly, and usually such behavior would make Dahlia irritated, but instead, it simply made her feel a whole lot better. She began to try and match her new aquantence's sky high swinging. She growled, not able to accomplish the task, and called up to him, "How exactly are you able to swing that high? Keep that up and you'll end up flinging yourself over the bar." She wouldn't give up though, and continued pumping her legs out and under the swing seat furiously. "I'm Dahlia by the way. What's your name?" She asked, now up in the air when he had swung back down, and swinging back down while he returned upwards.

 

[Valentin Grimm]

Valentin grinned brightly, finding her comment something as familiar to him as his own hands. As if taking the comment as a challenge, he tucked his feet and pushed himself as high as he could go, to the point where the chain slacked a little, but still no where close enough that there was a possibility of going over the bars. He knew that it was impossible, or at least, he trusted Zephyr's knowledge in these things. He was pretty intelligent (although you'd never get Valentin admitting it to anyone else) and was older. He was bound to know a few more things than Valentin himself. As he swung backwards, closer to his new friend, he blew his fringe out of his eyes, and slowed his swinging pace in order to keep an effective conversation going.

"My name's Valentin Grimm," he said, before addressing her previous statements. He felt his name was more important than all of that. "I've been trying to flip over the bar for ages, but my brother said it's not possible. Like, I get it I guess, but you can't stop me from trying!" He released a short laughed, before shaking his head. "So, how old are you?" he asked. What he really wanted to know was, was this girl a possible friend for school.​

 

[Dahlia Beauregard]

The boy had apparently taken these words to heart, as he continued straining even higher. After a decent amount of time passed by, he finally slowed down to answer Dahlia's original question. "My name's Valentin Grimm," he said, then addressing her past few statements.

"I've been trying to flip over the bar for ages, but my brother said it's not possible!" Like, I get it I guess, but you can't stop me from trying!" He laughed afterwards, briefly shaking his head about, and Dahlia had to give him an admiring smile. He didn't seem to let other's words affect his goals. "I don't see me trying to stop you, Valentin." Dahlia said with a playful smirk. "And just so you know, pretty much anything is possible."

"So, how old are you?" He asked her now.
She dusted the non-existent dust from her skirt and smoothed out a small crinkle in the fabric. "I'm turning 11 in August," she said, her voice bored. "What about you? What's your age?" She sat up from the swing suddenly. "How about we go get a treat? I know there's a vender just a little ways up."

 

[Valentin Grimm]

Valentin decided he liked Dahlia. Some people could get so boring and stuffy, or had to look into everything and make it all realistic, and everything had to have a reason. He preferred a more imaginative take on life, and that involved trying to do things that everyone else said was impossible. It was nice to finally have someone that didn't shoot down his plans all the time - especially since he was sure there was probably a spell that would make it possible to flip over. He just wasn't old enough to cast it, but he would be someday, and that was what mattered. "I like the way you think, Dahlia," he mused.

He swung gently as she began replying. "I'm eleven right now," he replied, frowning slightly. "Since I was born after September, I couldn't go, so I've been waiting all this time and it's been so boring." Just as he was getting back into the swing, she abruptly stood, and he tilted his ear, but did not slow his pace. He then grinned, and jumped from the swing when it was still high, and landed with his knees bent and arms out, before cheering to himself and throwing his fist in the air. He turned to Dahlia, red-faced with enthusiasm.

"Sounds awesome!" He glanced over at his grandmother, before waving at her. "I can't leave for too long though, otherwise my grandma will have a heart attack. Let's go!"​

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