WHO: Alex Smith and Billie Trimble
WHAT: Catching up since Hogwarts
WHERE: Some dive bar
WHEN: Tonight
STATUS: Finishing in comments

( Aren’t you a Quidditch player these days? )

Billie twisted her fingers anxiously as she paced back and forth across the width of the stadium where she had shed both sweat and blood over the last year. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, taking it in like she had the first time she had stepped foot on the pitch, decked out in black and white. She hadn’t known a single person when she had first joined the league – she felt like something of an outcast, a feeling she had hoped would subside over time, but never did. She wasn’t necessarily an assertive person – she wasn’t the type to try and make a lot of friends, because she was just so awkward about just about everything. It was like she didn’t know how to just be normal around people. Every now and then she managed to fool people into believing she wasn’t as messed up as she actually was, and Thomas McCormack was one of the people she had managed to befriend.

True, their friendship had been based on a mutual physical need, but he was her teammate, and probably the only Magpie who she had made a true connection with. She had tried to talk to the others, but she just…she never knew what to say to them, or how to act.

She started gnawing on the corner of her thumbnail, now walking with one foot in front of the other as she balanced on the thin white line that surrounded the pitch, marking its parameters. She had arrived about 5 minutes after she had written to Thomas, knowing she would have to wait for him to arrive. She needed some time to clear her head. She wondered if he would even care, when she told him, but tried to push her pessimism to the side, and closed her eyes as she let the cool spring breeze brush across her face.

She breathed in, and then out, wondering if maybe she should have just let him find out when everyone else did instead of wasting his time….

It felt good to be the host of the party, and not the one creating a scene and making an entrance. Though Charlie would never admit it, the therapy sessions with Healer Bonaccord had...well, he still wasn't happy with everything going on in his life, but it had given him an outlet other than the bar, and that was allowing him let out the pent up stress he'd been bottling in. It was hard to figure things out by yourself, and for someone whose ego was as fragile as his, Charlie was slowly realizing that he needed a complete stranger to release his anxieties.

Of course, he wouldn't feel like he'd completely found peace until he managed to get her in the sack, but that was just a personal goal of his.

At any rate, Charlie was finding that being the host was interesting. Everyone knew you were going to be there, so there wasn't a great surprise when they saw you, but after those greetings were done they were off to see who else had shown up. It looked like a good outcome, but Charlie felt a bit slighted as it was pretty deep into the night and a certain invitee had not appeared in the crowd. With a breath he pushed the door open to the balcony and stepped out into the cool December night.

He stuck his hands into his pockets, spotting some displays of fireworks over the tops of the surrounding buildings. Charlie grinned at the early celebrations and let his shoulder sag.


ooc: guests = quidditch related people + their guest?

Odette had actually been enjoying her relatively eventless holiday season. With Noah home, and Terry and Anna getting older, she had been doing wife/motherly things that there hadn't been the time for, or she simply had no interest in doing before. Who knew that making endless batches of Christmas cookies could be so rewarding? Or cooking lavish familial breakfasts? And don't get her started on gift shopping; she was definitely sure she had gone overboard this year, and therefore their children were well on their way to becoming spoiled.

But, nonetheless, she should have realized that things had been too quiet, and when this Seth drama started to boil, Odette knew it would be a matter of time before it completely blew up. The Magpies did not like having their teammates traded, regardless of who they were, and it notoriously never went over well when it was made obvious that the trading was of the player's own doing. Practice would be fun--- and by fun, she meant not at all, because if it did by some miracle start on time, then passive aggressive anger was bound come out later through the form of a push or a remark, or something, and then it would all be downhill from there.

Of course, she knew deep down it would be hard to make any promises herself. This growing burn in her stomach was not seeming to go away anytime soon, and--- Odette sighed, stopping herself before she entered the locker room. No, that was wrong. As a leader, she should stay unbiased and logical, only using her passive aggressive anger in appropriate manners. Like letting Seth run for a bit longer while the rest of them took a water break. For good measure, she rolled her head to crack her neck before knocking the door open and walk in.

Seth wasn't here yet. Sending a look to her teammates already present, Odette dropped her bag to the ground. "Well."

WHO: Billie Trimble and Thomas McCormack
WHAT: Walking back to the hotel after the wedding
WHEN: Tonight
STATUS: Posting so it's on time and we can finish in comments :D

( ...I think that all depends on what you think ‘this’ is. )

Billie knew, before she even stepped foot into McCarthy’s Pub that she was going to receive a warm welcome from the patrons there. The interior of the place was decked out in Black and White, jersey’s and lights that formed the words ‘Montrose Magpies’ blinked and flashed on the walls, making the smirk she wore cut deeper into one cheek as she looked around, not even able to take a seat at the bar without people whispering about who she was. It didn’t take long before a couple of guys approached her, asking if she was who they thought she was. Normally she’d tell them to fuck off, because she was someone who liked her animosity, but she was in a celebratory mood – not only had they won the game, but the teammate she had gotten closer to over the last couple of weeks had given that slimy Kestrel the beat down he deserved. Overall, it was a productive day for all the Magpies.

Because she had some time to kill, she joined the group of rowdy fans, her hand wrapped around the handle of a pint glass, a brow arching up at the somewhat attractive man who kept grinning at her. She knew the look all too well - that ‘I’m going to get in your pants tonight’ look – but she just kept rolling her eyes, looking towards the door frequently to make sure Thomas hadn’t entered yet.

She had a good buzz going by the time she looked to the doorway one more time, and finally saw the teammate she most considered a friend to be standing there. Billie grinned deviously and stood up on her chair whistling loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“Ladies and Gentleman…Thomas McCormack!”

She made a broad sweeping gesture with her arm towards the door, her grin growing in size as she got the reaction she knew she was going to get – the entire bar started cheering and clapping, Billie included, and some of them even went over to the other Quidditch star to shake his hand, and tell him what a great job he did on the pitch. Hopping down from her chair, she finally approached him with there was room, two full pints in her hand, one which she would extend out to Thomas.

“How’s the arm?”

She asked, once again smiling. She figured he needed a mood booster, and being surrounded by people who praised him for his actions in the game instead of scolding him seemed as good a plan as any. She had even invited some of the other members from their team to join in on their fun, but she really couldn’t be too sure of how many were going to take her up on the offer.

"You know what, I am a professional!"

Thomas pointed a stiff finger at Billie, his pacing stopping for a moment to illustrate his point and to also regain some balance. His face was scrunched, eyes squinting at his teammate as he thought about what should come next from his rant. It was rather difficult to think, so he took another swig of his almost empty bottle of rum, "I have worked my ass off to be where I am today---and all that stupid----slag can----"

He let out a loud, annoyed grunt of a sound and dropped down to the couch beside her. Thomas glared at the door, though everything seemed to be moving slower than his mind. He had so many jumbled thoughts and angry things to say, but he just could not get them out. He'd taken up Billie's offer of company, seeing as she was his teammate; he may not get along very well with the rest of the Magpies, but he valued loyalty and trusted them not to spread his business around like some other woman he'd wasted too much time on.

"Five years," he moaned, dropping his head to the back of the couch, "I was with Regina for five years and she---" Thomas pressed his mouth together tightly, unwilling to verbally explain what had happened. It was too embarrassing, even if people could put the pieces from that bloody magazine's clues. "And now she's going off, spreading our business to everyone!"