Closed Variations

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

The best part of winter was always rugby season, and the worst part of going back to Hogwarts was not having enough people to get a proper game together with. Not that it would matter today anyway, Rāwhiti mused as he looked out the window, sighing slightly at the torrents of rain pouring down outside. He wasn't afraid of a bit of mud, but everyone had their limits. Looking back to Emery, Rāwhiti stuck his hands in his pockets and hunched up more in his seat. "Man, I want it to be summer already." He grumbled. "I miss Quidditch." Not winning the championship in his first year on the team had been a huge disappointment, and Rāwhiti was determined to make it up this year when he got the main Seeker position. "Bet you'll miss me when I'm back on the pitch all the time." He added with a cheeky nudge.

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery was trying to read. It was the perfect weather for it, the rain pouring down on the windows and the wind blowing outside, the crackling fire. It was the perfect ambiance to get some good reading in. But Rāwhiti never seemed to think a book was a reason not to talk to Emery, so he just complained about the weather again. Emery licked his finger and flipped the page. "You always miss Quidditch." He said, fairly sure it was all the other boy thought about even when he was asleep. He frowned when Rāwhiti spoke again, looking up from his book. "I won't miss getting interrupted all the time." He snapped, nudging him back hard. "If you miss Quidditch so much, why let a bit of rain stop you?" He then suggested, thinking it would be funny if he really tried to do that in this weather.

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti laughed when Emery called him out, lounging back in his seat more. "Fair shout." He grinned, snorting at the suggestion. "I'll go out for a fly if you promise to give me a big hug when I get back. Nice long one too, aye? Really soak in the friendship." He grinned, thinking about how being murdered for getting Emery's book wet wouldn't be the worst way to go. "Suppose you wouldn't be totally lonely aye, Savannah's been keeping you good company..." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows teasingly. After three years, Rāwhiti had come to the conclusion that Emery didn't actually really want to have friends, and would probably describe this as a hostage situation before a friendship. Seeing Emery hanging around the Ravenclaw girl last year had been a surprise then, and Rāwhiti was pleased that his influence was finally working. Maybe Emery even had a crush...

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery rolled his eyes at Rāwhiti's comment. "I don't even hug you when you're dry." He said mildly. He frowned when Rāwhiti went on to talk about Savannah. He hadn't really known the other boy had noticed their friendship, nor that he even knew her name. Emery stared at his friend as he wiggled his eyebrows, realizing slowly what he meant. Despite himself, his cheeks flushed. "What are you implying?" He asked, clearly annoyed. "Stop looking at me like that. It's not- she's my friend." He said firmly.

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti laughed, pulling a toy snitch from his pocket and tossing it back and forth between his hands a few times before it could get its wings out. "True, but I hug you." He grinned. His grin only brightened at Emery's denial, eyes lighting up in excitement. "Oh yeah, just a friend." He teased. "Explains why I saw you hanging out the Yule Ball, and Valentines..." He smirked "She obviously likes you bro, you should go for it!"

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery felt slightly uncomfortable. He frowned at Rāwhiti and shook his head. "It's not like that." He said quickly, feeling vaguely queasy. Was he right? Did she like him? Had he been disappointing her by not picking up on it? "The only reason we hang out at events is because everyone else sucks and is boring. We bring books." He said, gesturing to the one he was reading. "She's just my friend, stop making it weird."

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti pouted, surprised that he was actually a little hurt. It wasn't often that Emery's comments genuinely got to him. "You never hang out with me at events! I'm fun and cool!" He teased, quickly trying to play his feelings off. If Emery thought he was too boring to spend Valentines with, that was fine. It wasn't true anyway, not really. Emery was just trying to brush off his girlfriend. "Sounds fake to me anyway. You both just happen to be the only friend either of you wanted to spend Valentines with? She totally likes you."

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery threw up his hands. "I did hang out with you at the yule ball, but then you dragged me to the ice skating ring. No wait, you actually picked me up when I said I didn't want to go." He said, annoyed at the memory. "So yeah, I went to hang out with someone who actually listens when I talk. Big deal." He snapped. Then he glared. "I asked you to stop making it weird, like twice now. I do not like her like that." He said angrily. "Are you mad because I have another friend that isn't you? Is that it?"

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and it was fun! You're sh*t at having fun by yourself, bro." He said with a small smile. His smile slipped though as he realised how genuinely annoyed Emery was. "Ease off mate, I wasn't trying to be a d*ck!" He said quickly. "I just thought you might wanna talk about it if you had a crush or something. I'd tell you if I had a crush!"

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery scowled. "I'm just telling you I didn't think it was fun!" He snapped. He closed his book with a snap. "And even if you weren't trying, you were being a d*ck." He said coldly. "You were teasing me and trying to embarrass me, don't deny it now." He said, putting the book on the table. "I don't have a crush. And now I'm not sure I'd tell you if I did." He huffed.

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti's stomach sank to his toes. This wasn't what he had wanted at all. "Bro, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just being friendly, I wasn't.. trying to upset you. Swear. I'm sorry." He said quickly, heart racing. He was used to Emery being annoyed with him, that was the status quo. But he didn't think he had ever seen Emery angry with him, and he immediately knew he never wanted to see it again. "They were just stupid jokes, I didn't mean to hurt you."

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery felt himself calm down even though he wanted to stay mad. He sighed deeply. "Fine, I didn't... mind the picking up too much." He admitted. "Though it was embarrassing." He added quickly. "I guess you surprised me, okay? I never even considered- you know. She's just a friend, and I don't have that many of those so I didn't want it to be different." He said, frowning.

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Relief hit Rāwhiti like a tsunami, and he grinned slightly. "Not embarrassing to goof around, bro. We were just being silly, it's not a big deal." He nodded, smile slipping a little as he listened to Emery, taking it more seriously. "That's cool, bro. I'm sorry for making such a big deal of it. I was just teasing, but I'm glad you've got other friends. Can't have you too lonely when I'm out flying in the rain." He added with a small smile.

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery shrugged. Rāwhiti sometimes seemed to live in a different reality than he did. How was it not embarrassing to be picked up and carried around like a baby? Emery shrugged, wondering if he should tell Rāwhiti he didn't think he would ever have a crush on a girl. But that was probably a conversation for a different time. If ever. He shrugged. "So you don't have a crush either?" He asked, ignoring Rāwhiti's teasing. He couldn't tell if he was being generous or dumb for implying Emery had more friends than one to hang out with if Rāwhiti wasn't around.

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti was relieved when Emery turned the conversation back on him, shrugging a little sheepishly. "I mean, I know he's way too old, but Louis Alcott is real hot." He commented, thinking of his teammate idly. "He's hooking up with my brother I think though, so... gross." He sighed. "He's so cool though, I get distracted looking at him in practice sometimes..."

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Well, that answered some of Emery's concerns. Though he was pretty sure he had heard Rāwhiti talk about girls too. He wrinkled his nose. "He's obnoxious." He said, pretty sure Rāwhiti was talking about the guy who walked around like everyone in the world should bow down to him. "But I guess that tracks," he said mildly, raising one eyebrow at Rāwhiti. "Birds of a feather, and all that." He mused for a moment. "I bet his French accent is fake."

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti snorted at the insult, kicking out at Emery even as he mentally celebrated things being back to normal. "Shut up, he's cool! You just hate extroverts." He said pointedly. "And it's not fake, he's got a sister in sixth year and she's even more French. And the opposite of him in like, every way, it's totally weird." He shrugged. It wasn't like Rāwhiti stalked his teammates or anything, but it was a good thing to know as much as possible about players you looked up to, so you could be more like them.

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery nodded in agreement. "I do." He admitted. He couldn't help smiling slightly at the information Rāwhiti had about Louis' family. He laughed. "I see. "He said. "And it's not totally weird that you have detailed family profiles on your teammates?" He asked innocently. "Do you keep that information in a book somewhere or is it all memorized?"

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti scowled, warmth in his cheeks. "It's not weird to know stuff about the people I play with!" He said too quickly. "It's just being a good teammate! We should all be friends!" He could hear the tension in his own voice, but couldn't do anything about it. "Besides, he's dating my brother. Or... whatever. It's not weird to know my brother's boyfriend has a sister!

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery liked having the upper hand in the conversation, but he knew he should back down now. He didn't want to make Rāwhiti angry like he had just been. There still seemed to be a weird tension between them. "Yeah yeah, I know. I was just teasing." He said with a smile. "But I do think he's dating half the school, not just your brother." He added, making fun of this Louis guy seemed safer than making fun of Rāwhiti

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

Rāwhiti relaxed when Emery said he had been joking, nodding. For all their differences, going over the top in their passions was the biggest thing he and Emery had in common, and he was relieved to at least feel somewhat understood on that front. He snorted softly at the comment, rolling his eyes. "Wouldn't bother Manaia. Marama said he was just standing there flirting with some random guy the whole time he took her wand shopping. I don't even know who it was, she said she'd point him out if she spotted him around." Rāwhiti had enjoyed having bro time with Manaia since he started school, but having Marama around to help make fun of his big brother now was even better.

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery raised his eyebrows at Rāwhiti's description of his brother flirting with a guy when he took their sister wand shopping. He shook his head. "See. This whole crush thing is just weird, man. I'm fine putting it off for a bit." He said decisively. He opened his book again and started to read more.