| Manticore
Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: *Nom nom nom*
Posts: 43,197
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Mercer Branxton
Ravenclaw Seventh Year
  x7  x8
|  Max, Zeke, Selina, Kurumi, etc. Made of Awesome | Ern-la the Best-wa | TZ's Apogee
SPOILER!!: Cute boys are cute Quote:
Originally Posted by feeheeheeny  If the boy had objected to anything Max had said to him so far, the Keeper couldn't have suspected a thing. This kid was brilliant. So excited and so sweet and fist-bumping like a pro - Max beamed the whole time.
"So you come to our matches? That's awesome!" That was way cute, and likely meant the boy had a fairly wealthy parent, no doubt... Speaking of which, where was his guardian? Max glanced around at the people nearest to them at the table for someone who looked to be paying special attention to the boy, but he didn't see anyone who fit the bill. Hum. Had he snuck off? Was there a worried parent somewhere? Well... surely the parent would know where to look, since the kid was wearing an Arrows jersey, and Max tried not to worry too much about the possibility of an irate parent yelling at the boy in front of him for sneaking off when he was so precious and so happy in this moment.
"I think Zeke and Ezekiel are both way cool. But Zeke it is," he grinned, offering his nod of approval. "S'a pleasure to meet you, bud." Then, as if he was sharing a secret with him, Max lowered his voice and leaned in just a little more, "Y'know, so far, you're the only person I've seen today wearing a James jersey. I'm pretty sure that makes you my best and biggest fan." He was a modest man, but he knew that if his childhood favorite Quidditch player had told him that, he'd have died and gone to heaven at such an honor, so he was hopeful that would make the kid feel all sorts of special.
Zeke was his new favorite fan, at the very least, and Max wondered if the boy had brought something for him to sign. Or would he want the jersey he was wearing signed? Or could they take a picture together? Awww. Max would want a copy of that one.
How long had he been playing? Merlin. He had to think about it for a second before carefully elaborating, "Y'know, I went to Hogwarts, and I actually didn't even start playing Quidditch till my fourth term, so I was just fourteen. I'd always been a good flyer, even before that, and 'course my mum wanted me to play - she'd been a Chaser for the Arrows for years and years, but..." Was it good or not so much to share the nitty gritty details of his Quidditch career with a kid? Wasn't he supposed to be inspiring him?
He went on, deciding the direction to take with it, "I'd been kind of nervous about it. I was a really shy kid, and, y'know, people were gonna expect great things from me, being a pro's son and all, but my best friend, who was my house's captain, convinced me to try out. I was a natural Keeper, luckily, and even though I was still kind of nervous about playing and maybe not being good enough and letting my teammates down, I found that just having fun and not stressing over being the best or winning was the best thing y'can do. I got better and better and all the work that goes into it doesn't even feel like work with that kind of mindset. And lemme tell ya," Max leaned in again, "my secret for every match, even today? It's still all about having fun and loving the game." Even though the stakes were significantly higher and he had all sorts of higher-ups to please, at the end of the day, he made sure it felt like a hobby more than a job.
"You gonna be a Quidditch player, Zeke?" Important question. Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera
Zeke nodded eagerly, "Most of the time," he added honestly. If it were up to him, he'd be there for EVERY match, but Emily had plans and sometimes that did not involve leaving him at the stadium for its duration. Uuuuggghhh. And speaking of Emily... was James looking for her? He was looking. When adults looked around like that it was because they thought he'd die, or he was in other types of trouble. Was he NOT supposed to touch the table? TOO BAD! "She's not here. I mean, she's here, just not here here... she has work things to do so I left her to it." There was no way she was suckering him into being one of them undercover civilian type security peeps - not that'd she'd have let him, but still, he liked to think she would.
It was quite possible that today was THE best day of his life. Or at least, it seemed that way in this moment. BIIIIGGGGGGG moment here, yep. WAY COOL... his name was WAY cool.. apparently, which WAS cool in itself, coming from James. Wait, no, Maximus, Max? They WERE on a first name basis yes? The Keeper's use of the term BUD indicated that they were. BUDS were on first name bases, duh, everyone knew that. "It is a pleasure, more than a pleasure, to meet YOU." He was grinning and gawking when MAX leaned in closer and lowered his voice. Again, confirming that they were friends, buds, BBFs, bros, homies... cause squirrel business didn't happen between strangers or people that didn't like each other. Zeke was convinced that his logic was flawless. "I aaaaammmm!" he hushed back, a little too quickly. Although, perhaps he wasn't? He didn't go watch all of his matches, and he hadn't sent him a birthday card or a Christmas gift, MAYBE, just maybe, he was a terrible fan disguised as the biggest one? "Just.. don't tell him, yeah?" he added, a shifty glance towards Monty-what'shisface... ahem. Zeke grinned some more, thoroughly enjoying himself and perfectly content with hogging the STAR player.
This was easily better than a History lesson, school was such a bore, he didn't even know why he had to go. It seemed pointless - all things considered. There was so much for him to take in, that he hoped his brain would remember it later in the evening, there would be NO way he was going to forget this. Of the things he learned, first that Max had gone to Hogwarts, second that he didn't start playing until late, and lastly that his mum had been with the club too. "Epiiiiccc! I didn't know you started so late, you're just sooooo good, and I hear some people start when they're like, super young." Which had made him feel like he was behind on it all, but not so much now. All the stuff about being nervous and having fun and not stressing sounded familiar. It sounded like the peptalk he got when he had a test or something coming up. Still, he could relate. HE RELATED TO MAX!
Leaning his head in a little closer too, Zeke nodded, "Fun and loving the game," he would commit that one to memory as best as he could, though it seemed hard not putting wanting to win first. Considering though that he was hearing this from a Pro, he really oughtn't question it AT ALL, and on top of that, it had been a secret. He would KEEP this secret to himself.
"I dunno," he shrugged at Max's question. "I've only flown, haven't tried playing a game yet..." and he had to learn to fly properly first. "I lose control of the broom too much, it goes all wonky and dips and stuff." He could handle the erratic movements, just not when he was flying AT something, which was often the case. "Got any tips?"
Also, is this what people did when they met players? Stood and chatted? He could do this for hours, days even.
Vivi was trying SO hard to give Max and Selina space before she showed up and fangirled all over them, but it was too much for her nerves. And since she was properly patrolling, it was fine to saunter into the tent and give the bestie a finger wave and a million blown kisses, and to make broad gestures at Kurumi and her wild t-shirt and her basket because sharing was caring.
And then to make her way over to the Arrows. Dylan got a big wink and another blown kiss, but then all of Vivi's attention was for Max. And the mini Max. No, honestly, the young boy wearing a James jersey and eagerly swapping secrets with Max just did something to the stalwart Auror's insides. She felt like she was turning into jelly, and she didn't like feeling like that. Jelly feels were a bit too normal!girl for Vivi tastes.
"I thought I was your biggest fan, but it looks like I've been replaced." Vivi crossed her arms across her chest, across her OWN James jersey, and gave the kid a once over. The stern look only lasted a second before she offered her hand to him with a grin. "It was good while it lasted. Well played, mate. I like your jersey."
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