Closed Last Minute Substitutions

[Raafe Khatri]

Dearest Cousin,

It pains me inform you that I will not be able to make it for our scheduled rendezvous for the school wheel barrow race. I took afoul of one of the moving staircases and the nurse says knees aren't supposed to bend that way. While it has been great inspiration for future knee-reversal hexes, I'm afraid it's impeding my ability to traverse further staircases to join you.

Sorry I can't make it. You know I'll always be the wheel to your barrow.

Love,
Your cousin and confidant,

Raafe

PS. Please win in my honour and come tell me about it, it's boring up here.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha felt a strange mixture of feelings after reading Raafe's note. She was frustrated with him but also amused at his funny note. Why did he have to make her laugh when he was disappointing her? How could she win in his honor on her own? She couldn't be a wheelbarrow on her own. Besides all that, she was also worried. Raafe made light of it, but it sounded really painful. Anxiously, Anisha looked around as everyone started to gather around and pair up before the wheelbarrow race. She would have to forfeit, and there was nothing Anisha hated more than giving up without trying.

 

[Dorian Fitzwilliam]

Dorian didn't understand what the hype about an event like a wheelbarrow race could be. The grass was itchy and there were far too many people cheering while other people did stupid activities, so really it was just like Quidditch in that regard. Still, Dorian knew Ezra liked these kinds of things and he was trying to not be a completely terrible friend, especially with Elise at school to look for too now.

He paused on the edge of the crowd when he spotted Anisha, unsurprised to see her here. She was competitive enough in class and duelling, he wouldn't be surprised if she planned to sweep the race too. "Is that your game plan for all this then?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow, nodding to the paper in her hands. "Does it just say 'run fast'?"

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha looked up distractedly as someone spoke to her. She sighed when she saw it was Dorian, why was he always around when she wasn't at her best? "No." She grumbled. "Raafe got hurt on the stupid stairs, he can't make it." She glanced at the people gathering to join. "So I either have five minutes to figure out how to be a wheelbarrow on my own or I guess I'll just watch the stupid thing from the crowd." She grumbled, clearly disappointed.

 

[Dorian Fitzwilliam]

Dorian's stomach twisted when Anisha explained what was actually going on, feeling like an idiot for poking fun at Anisha now that he knew her cousin was hurt. He had no love for either Khatri really, but it didn't mean he reveled in hearing Raafe was apparently hurt; Merlin knew how Dorian would be feeling if Ezra had gotten hurt. "Oh. Well," Dorian started stiffly, feeling a spike of annoyance at how embarrassed he felt for his faux pas even if he'd had no way of knowing. "Would forfeiting really be so bad? It's just a game," he offered gruffly.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha wondered for a moment if Dorian would say he was sorry about Raafe, but he didn't. She felt the urge to explain it wasn't too bad, though she wasn't entirely sure about that. "He'll be fine, he was well enough to joke around in the letter." She said, flapping it at Dorian vaguely. She huffed when he asked if forfeiting would be bad. "It would be! I hate forfeiting. And I like games, that's why it sucks." She told him. "You like to win too, right? Why don't you like games?"

 

[Dorian Fitzwilliam]

Dorian hummed when Anisha explained her cousin was fine, quietly relieved as it somewhat eased the knot in his chest that had formed since he'd teased her about it. He didn't know what it was about Anisha but he always seemed to say the wrong thing around her, it wasn't like he was trying to pick a fight.

"I like to be right," He corrected her. "I don't fancy parading myself around like an idiot to try and prove something to other people if I know for myself that I could do it," he said stiffly, watching Anisha curiously as she tried to passionately explain her need to be the best. Dorian could relate but he'd never have the guts honestly to put himself out there like she did. If he could prove it to himself it was enough. And it meant he wouldn't have to risk being proven wrong. The duelling tournament had shown him enough how badly that feeling felt.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha had thought Dorian would understand, but of course he didn't. Her shoulders sagged. "Right, totally different." She muttered. "You don't have to call me an idiot on top of it all, Dorian. I know you think that already and I don't have the spirit to call you names in return right now." She added, feeling strangely defeated. Why had she thought Dorian would be the right person to cheer her up? She hadn't really, but she was still disappointed that he had just turned to insulting her again.

 

[Dorian Fitzwilliam]

Dorian opened his mouth to object; he hadn't called Anisha an idiot, had he? He grimaced as he mentally replayed the conversation, shifting uncomfortably. He hadn't meant it like that, once again he'd said the wrong thing and Anisha had taken it completely out of context as an insult. One day he should learn to cut his losses and stop talking to her. It was just so rare he got to talk to someone who really was as clever as she was, as loath as he was to admit it. Right now it looked like Anisha didn't have any fight left in her for conversations, unpleasant or otherwise and Dorian's stomach twisted uncomfortably again. He really hadn't meant to kick her while she was down.

"I didn't mean-" He started, letting out a sigh, "If it really means that much to you, do you still want to compete?" He asked her stiltedly, taking off his robes and looking for a cleanish place to set them aside before looking at Anisha grimly. "You need a new partner right?"

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha frowned when Dorian started to say he hadn't meant it like that. How else could he have meant it? But before she could argue, he had changed his tone. She watched him in disbelief as he took off his robes. "You're joking." She said, staring at him. "You're messing with me."

 

[Dorian Fitzwilliam]

Dorian had to bite his cheek before he managed to say something else rude, even if Anisha was trying his patience. Couldn't he just do a nice thing without her second guessing him? "I'm not," he said gruffly, rolling up his sleeves with determined intensity, trying to ignore his growing awareness of the crowd around them. "But I'm not being the 'wheelbarrow'," he added, glancing briefly at Anisha before clearing his throat and quickly looking away before he lost his nerve.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha stared at Dorian in shock, seeing a whole different side to him. "Fine." She said, although in their practices, Raafe had been the wheelbarrow. She searched Dorian's face. "Why?" She asked quietly.

 

[Dorian Fitzwilliam]

"Fine," Dorian agreed, glad Anisha wasn't going to push him on this, though her question made him stumble. How could he explain it. "I'd rather see you lose properly than forfeit," he said simply, figuring that was easier than trying to explain the lingering guilt and sympathy he still felt for her. Besides, it wasn't entirely untrue. He may not like Anisha, but that didn't mean he wanted to see her look so defeated. Not unless he was the one actually defeating her.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha couldn't help cracking a slight smile. It reminded her of how she had felt after the duel with Terror, it had sucked. Losing was better than forfeiting, and it was nice that someone understood that. "You're being weird, but no taking it back." She told him. "And here I thought you would say something smug like how I can't possibly lose in a team with someone as smart and elevated as you."

 

[Dorian Fitzwilliam]

Dorian scrunched his nose when Anisha called him weird, deciding not deign it with a response outside of his scoff. He frowned more as Anisha kept talking, still focusing on cuffing his sleeves, tucking them carefully along his forearms. Was that really what Anisha thought of him? "Let's just get this over with," he said curtly, mentally preparing himself for what he was sure was going to be a very embarrassing ordeal. At least she was going to be making a fool of herself right along with him, really there were few people whose opinions he really cared that much about anyway.