Who: Seth and Odette, then Seth and Mira
Where: Magpie locker room
When: Nowish?
Flowers
Seth sent the first set of flowers three days after the whole disaster in the stairwell. He wasn’t exactly sure how long he was suppose to wait, but he figured at least he wasn’t showing up on her doorstep.
I’m sorry, I should of handled all that a thousand times better than I did. -Seth
Then, Mira, I don’t know all what you’ve found out about me since then, but I hope you’ll at least give me a chance to explain. Please. -Seth
And when he didn’t hear from her after the second bouquet of flowers he set one last one, this time with tickets to his next game. Mira, Yes, I know I’m probably on the border of being obnoxious and slightly stalkerish, but I just want you to know this all just wasn’t some game to me. I want this to work. Come to my game, and I’ll tell you what ever you want to know after? Just give me a chance. If you don’t show, I’ll leave you alone, promise. -Seth
And that was why he was sitting in the locker room, his leg bouncing up and down, scowling at the wall like it had personally offended him. Seth hadn’t heard from Mira in a week. A week and he was pretty sure that was a sign that he had fucked things up beyond repair. Today was his last hope. If she didn’t show up, he’d be mature and let it go. He wouldn’t pester her constantly and just be out right annoying.
He didn’t get up and pace, or joke about with his other teammates like he normally did before games, he just sat there glaring trying to figure out what the hell he would do if Mira didn’t show up. Or if she did. He really hadn’t thought about that either. He ran his hands over his face, he almost felt sorry for the Wimborne players, he had a lot of frustration to take out on the pitch today. He had already snapped at Drake twice for-- for well nothing because Drake was always getting on his nerves but today he didn’t want to deal with it.
Seth was interrupting her concentration time. That was all Odette could focus on as she sat on the bench, her eyes closed, readying herself for the upcoming match. It wasn’t that she was the wrong kind of nervous (please), it was just that to achieve her best and catch the snitch at the right time, she needed to stay calm and focused before stepping out onto the pitch. Warm up her senses, clear out all other wandering thoughts in her mind--- it was a necessary pre-performance ritual she had started a year ago and seemed to work well.
But Seth was ruining it with his huffing, snappiness and all around negative self spreading through the locker room like a poisonous gas. Alright, fighting with Drake before a match was expected, they did it every time, but this wasn’t pumping each other up. It was just being aggravating. Snapping her eyes open, she glared across the room at Seth. Uncoiling her legs from beneath her, she rose swiftly and glided over to him with a mission.
He better just be in rare form, and therefore preparing himself to literally knock the team out of the pitch. Odette bent down to his level and quickly proceeded to flick him in the ear. “Brooding much?” she spoke sarcastically, managing to flick his ear for a second time. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you better fix it fast. I would rather not get off-seated from my broom because you’re too busy having an internal crisis.”
“Ow! Uncalled for!” Seth said ducking away from Odette as she flick his ear but wasn’t quick enough to avoid her doing it again. “Would you stop that!” he fixed a glare at her.
“And I am not---” what not brooding? That was a laugh. He had been brooding for a good part of the week. “You won’t get off-seated. Wasps will be walking out of the pitch with a limp if I have anything to say about it.” He gave her the best cocky smile he could manage. “It’s gonna be a fantastic game, no need to worry about my internal crisis, I can multitask.” he said, giving her a wink as he stood up to stretch. “It’s nice to know you care though.”
She puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. Like she believed that little--- whatever Seth thought he was pulling. Her eyes tightened into two disbelieving slits, and she would have crossed her arms over her chest if she didn’t need them to flick him again. When he moved to stretch, Odette followed him, waiting for the perfect moment to flick him on the side of the face.
“I don’t believe you,” she responded, taking the time to dodge away from him. What? If he was going to act like this, she might as well be productive and get his energy up. When it was her ass on the line because of his foolishness, Odette didn’t take Seth’s mood swings lightly. She would rather not get knocked out to wake up two days later.
“Uck” Odette let out in distaste, brushing him off with her hand. Her hair fell in her face as she spoke, reminding her she had to braid it.
“Seriously! Stop that!” he bellowed batting her hands away from him. If anything, that was not helping. “I don’t care what you believe, or don’t believe.” he huffed as she turned away from him. Of course. Women get angry and turn and walk away and ignore you for days even when your trying.
He shook his head and grabbed his broom. He couldn’t let things get tangled up. He had a game to play. “Don’t worry so much MacFarlan,” he said closing his locker. “When have I ever let you down? Wait-- don’t answer that. My point is, just like always, once we’re up in the air, all I’m focused on is the game.” At that point someone came in to announce five minutes til start.
“See you on the pitch.”
Mira could confidently say she had seen not one play of the match. She hadn’t intended it to be that way, but one thing had lead to another, and she and Bianca had found that by the time they arrived at the pitch, the game was over. While grateful she no longer had to feel uncomfortable by sitting through the game, it kind of was imperative that Seth see her, wasn’t it?
She would just have to find another way to see him. So with a push from Bianca, Mira steadily made her way through the maze that was the pitch, randomly showing her ticket and producing Seth’s name in hopes that it would get her somewhere. Eventually it did, with two women that suspiciously looked like quidditch players themselves directing her toward the locker room.
Feeling that uncomfortable feeling rise within her, Mira took a few moments to ease herself down before propping the door open. “Seth?” she called out, hoping for a response. Mira continued to say his name, wondering what the hell she was doing here until she found him.
Oh--- oh---
“Hi,” she spoke, her hands locking behind her back. “They just let me through,” Mira spoke again after a short silence, raising her hand to point back toward the door.
She wasn’t there. Not when the game started. Not when the game ended twenty minutes later. Wasps’ new seeker didn’t have shit on Odette and they were down a chaser five minutes into the game thanks to him.
Seth was shoving his pads into his locker with unnecessary force after the game, almost as if they had lost. Well he felt like he had lost. For a moment he considered the possibility that she was just late, the game had ended far quicker than they normally do she could be just late. Or she could have just not shown up. What was the point of getting his hopes up and waiting around the stadium like some love sick girl just to be let down again.
He shoved his barely dirty robes into the bin so they would be cleaned and grabbed a fresh shirt out of his locker before slamming it shut. He ran a hand over his face and though his hair. Whatever, it would be fine.
Seth turned when he heard his name from behind him, stopped and stared, as Mira was standing right there. Why they just let her through... well she did have his personal box tickets, either way he was happy that they did. “Hey.” he said with a small smile not sure where they stood. “You came, I didn’t see you, I had thought, well” he shrugged trailing off, it didn’t matter now. “I could give you the grand tour if you’d like. And we can talk. I’m sure you have questions.”
She shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips to match his. “No questions,” Mira responded. And that was true. She had been thinking a lot during the past week about whether or she wanted to go through with this. It hadn’t been difficult, there had just been a lot of... elements to consider. And she had decided, somewhere between two and three of Seth’s guilt gifts that all of this had been a big mistake and misunderstanding. She liked Seth; why should his profession, which was good, stop them? She had been overreacting.
And... who knew, maybe she and his daughter would get along really well. She would cross that bridge when they got there.
“Bianca gave me a lot of research material,” Mira explained, taking a tentative step toward him. If she was going to be honest, she had zero interest in getting a tour of this quidditch stadium, or any for that matter. Mira hadn’t come here for that she had come here for him. And while the thought of being shoved into the spotlight was unsettling, there could be worse things. She just knew she wouldn’t enjoy it all that much.
“I’m sure she did, there’s certainly plenty of it out there.” he said with a small smile surprised that she didn’t want to ask him about any of it.. “Apparently I’m very photogenic.” he teased trying to cut some of the tension.
“So, where do we stand then? If there are no questions.” he asked pulling on his shirt. “I didn’t see you in the stands, so at first I thought you weren’t going to come at all, but here you are, braving the Magpie Locker room. So I’m hoping that I get to take you to dinner, and you aren’t just here to let me down in person. Either way, I recommend not staying in here. I can’t imagine it’s pleasant.” he wrinkled his nose a bit, because it was true. He played and didn’t even like being in the locker room longer than necessary, he couldn’t imagine what it was like for someone who didn’t play at all. “That and there’s the chance of teammates lurking about and eavesdropping.”
Her lips pressed together in an amused manner. He really was cute. The Seth she knew was different from the one in all of those magazines and postings. He wasn’t like that, not selfish and mean and arrogant man they portrayed him as. Maybe he had been like that at one point, and she would deal with that if it ever came. But not now.
Mira stopped walking toward Seth, planting her feet to the ground. “Why don’t you come over here and I’ll tell you,” she spoke, her left brow raising as she spoke. With every passing second her confidence seemed to increase. Really, he was much too fussy. She barely noticed their current surroundings. Well, alright maybe she had before but, that wasn’t important.
“Oh, will you now?” A smug smirk settled on Seth’s face as he made his way towards her, no longer worried about what she might say. He had a pretty good feeling that things where going to work out just fine.
“Well, you have my undivided attention.” he said stepping into her space, reaching out and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Waiting with bated breath, even.” He rocked on his heels and raised he brows at her trying to keep his face straight.
Hm, yes, this fitted her suiting much better. A sly look took over Mira’s face as she reached up to grasp the sides of his face with her hands. Her fingers began to play with the hair behind his ears as she took her time with him. Oh, she had missed this. The excitement of finding someone new, getting attention from them--- it was wonderful.
“Good,” Mira said, sticking her chin up to him as she spoke. “Can’t have you distracted for this very important message.” She rocked onto her toes, tugging Seth down toward her. Lingering close, she waited a moment before pulling him in for a fierce kiss. It might have been slightly inappropriate for public, but she really didn’t care.
Seth did not care at all that they were in public at this point in time. If fact he would even venture to argue that it was a rather private place considering only a handful of people had access to the locker room. He broke off the kiss after a moment, owing mostly to the fact that they still needed to breathe. “I’m sorry. I didn’t quite catch that. Would you mind repeating it for me?” he asked before dipping down to catch her lips in another kiss, this one tapering off into shorter, sweeter ones.
He ran his thumb along her chin as he looked at her. “I’m so glad you came.” he said honestly. “I was worried I screwed up big time and I’d never see you again.” He smiled at her trying to figure out just how he got so lucky.
“So, was it the flowers or my charming personality?” And there, just as quick as it was there, the serious Seth was gone again. “You know, for future reference.”
His grip on her made Mira feel warm, her cheeks especially feeling brunt. But that was good, he made her feel--- good. His smell, his touch, his smile... she felt incredibly ridiculous thinking about it, so of course she didn’t want him to know it (not yet, anyway). Mira had been close to burying her face into his chest to hide her excitement, but then Seth opened his mouth for the worst.
She rolled her eyes as he broke their perfectly romantic moment. Putting her hands on his chest to push away from him, Mira removed as much blush from her face as possible. “Neither,” she spoke dryly, shifting in his grasp. There was no need for this, now. She would beat that absurd need of his to be cheesy out of him eventually.
Though it was proving difficult to be serious now. Even as she moved against him, Mira felt his hands tighten across her waist. Try as she might, all she could manage to do was shift her back to him. And even though she accomplished that her soft laughs destroyed any hope of conveying faux annoyance.
Seth just chuckled as she tried to get away from him, her laughs giving her away in a second. He leaned over and buried his face into her neck. “Mmm so I’ll take that as a both then.” he said trailing kisses along her neck.
After a moment he stopped, and turned her around to face him again. He was just all smiles. How he ended up this lucky, he had no idea at all. He leaned over and stole another kiss because he really couldn’t help himself at all. “Alright, as much fun as my locker room is, I don’t quite fancy spending the rest of the day here. So,” he hooked his arm behind her knees and picked her up effortlessly. “Off we go.” he grinned, kissed her again, disappearing with a pop.
