Rain Delay, Victorica

[ADRIÁN PAOLO PALERMO]

How Adrian hated rain. Gloomy and ever depressing, it never ceased to dampen his spirits, with the exception of summer storms. Still it showed his true dedication to Quidditch that he found himself out here on the pitch, alone, drenched to the skin. Over an hour he'd been here, taking shots from all over the pitch, then summoning back the quaffle. Playing chaser in the rain was a bitch, everything about it. The ball tended to slip when you hurled a hard shot, and catching a pass from teammates could be like scrambling after a bar of soap in the shower. Still, if anything would make that easier, it was the practice he was doing now. 

Outmaneuvering an imaginary defender, Adrian curled a long shot in from the far left wing, then summoned the ball. Sitting on his broom for a moment, out of breath, his long dark hair refused to stay out of his eyes, until he tucked it behind an ear. He couldn't tell if he was sweating or not, wet out as it was, but he imagined he probably was. Juggling the quaffle to himself, he debated going in for a minute, then decided he might as well stay for a little while longer. Shame he was in solitude out here. On his way out, he'd tried to convince his fellow chasers to maybe come practice their passing in the rain, but neither Lucy nor Cordelia were having any of it. Not that he could blame them, to be fair, but it certainly couldn't hurt. 

Juggling the quaffle, and weaving quickly back and forth towards the opposite posts, Adrian took one more shot, which clanged of the inside of the middle hoop, before calling it a day. As he pointed his wand at the falling quaffle, his eye was caught by an approaching figure. A girl, carrying a broom, was making her way onto the pitch, just as alone as he was, probably coming to do much the same thing. As the big red sphere zoomed back into his grasp, Adrian began to make his descent. He recognized the girl now, a Hufflepuff chaser, and a good one at that Victorica Dougherty. He knew of her, certainly, but he hadn't quite spent the time with he that he'd like, she seemed an intriguing type. Hovering a few feet above her, Adrian's most charming smile crept onto his features. "Well hello there, my dear. I daresay we seem the only ones who seem to be taking advantage of the conditions." he said, unable to keep his smile from broadening.

[VICTORICA ELISE DOUGHERTY]

She was fresh off of the holidays, so Victorica was feeling light, or alright, in other terms. She had decided to stay in Hogwarts just for the sake of it, and it goes by without saying that she pretty much enjoyed her stay, even though a few days prior to the holidays were days full of nothing but mess, regret, and bitching. She had spent her vacation as peacefully as she could, with methods including taking long baths, doing homework (that wasn’t really her forte, but she must have been getting too desperate if she wanted to do homework), or even staying in the library for quite some time. When the new term started, she was the Happy Vicky again, although it was evident that she was staying away from people she really did not want to cross.

Vicky was sure that she had a lot to catch up on, be it stories with Belle, or asking Callie for cooking lessons, and, most importantly, Quidditch. Vicky knew that sometimes her house could care less about the sport, but she wanted to win, even if it was just for that year, just to ruin the streak of Slytherin winning everything. It was unfair, she thought, how Slytherin could win almost always, with Gryffindor second. The professors always taught that winning wasn’t everything, but for a house that wasn’t particularly hope for the winners, Vicky wanted to do something that would raise her house out of the ashes. It was based on a dramatic point of view: plus, Vicky knew that her house wasn’t so bad. Hufflepuff was home to the fun people.

That thought being put aside, Victorica came to the conclusion that her Quidditch skills were getting rusty, so the redhead grabbed her broom and proceeded to the pitch, even though the weather outside was ghastly and potential bad things might happen. She loved taking risks, anyway, so she wouldn’t regret it if she was stricken by lightning or stricken by fever after her practice.

The girl was sure that absolutely no one was going to be in the pitch that day (okay, it might’ve not been a fact, but a hunch), so it came as a shock to see someone getting drenched in the rain and playing. Vicky squinted to see who it was, but grimaced when the player himself lowered his broom a few inches above her. It was Adrian Palermo, a Slytherin Chaser.

Every time she saw him, Vicky felt guilty. She hated Slytherins with a passion—that goes by without saying anything— but with Adrian, it’s different. She always felt drawn to him and his beauty, but that was because he was part Veela, and that was it. No muss, no fuss. If he wasn’t part Veela, Vicky would’ve written his off as another Slytherin who wasn’t good for anything (except for Regulus, maybe, since she liked him as a regular person and he was Sirius’ brother). She turned her grimace into a half-hearted smile. ”What conditions, exactly?” She spoke in a bitter tone, trying to hide the fact that she was feeling infatuated towards him. ”If you are talking about this rain, it makes the situation more pleasant. They did say that handsome men cannot be hurt by water.”

words: 544
outfit: the Hufflepuff Quidditch uniform
notes: sorry for the late and horrible post!
credit to MusicDiva1331 @ Caution2.0 for the banner!

[ADRIÁN PAOLO PALERMO]

( CRIMSON HANDS BRANDISH WORDS WHICH MASQUERADE, )
{ IF YOU FLEE FROM GRACE YOUR SOULS CANNOT BE SAVED}

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Adrian couldn't help but laugh. She certainly didn't seemed bothered by the rain. She didn't seem overly pleased to see him, and he couldn't tell if it was him in particular. Still though, her next comment caught Adrian slightly off guard. Perhaps her apparent displeasure was there to hide something else. The thought made him smirk. Doing his best not to feel smug, he guided his broom down the last few feet to the ground, dismounting beside her gracefully. As he looked at her, an odd sensation grasped him for just a moment. He didn't know exactly why, but something about a beautiful girl soaking wet from the rain was attractive like nothing else. Catching himself, he looked back into her eyes, hoping she hadn't caught his reverie.

Recovering quickly, his charming smile was plastered onto his face once more. "Who exactly says that? And more importantly, what else does it do to a handsome man?" he inquired, his eyes twinkling. Amazing that he'd never really spent time with Victorica in the past, it seemed foolish now. Probably the red hair, not his favorite, but this time, Adrian could certainly make an exception. Gorgeous, this lass was, and a Quidditch player no less. A damned good chaser, a huge turn on, though he didn't exactly express it. 
 
Shaking his wet hair, even though it wouldn't really help, Palermo slung his broom over his shoulder and cocked his head. "So Victorica, can you tell me how it is that a lovely girl like yourself has managed to avoid me over these past years?" His charm came natural now. When he felt himself intrigued by a girl, as he did now, the charisma came all of it's own accord. He wondered this girls opinion on him, narcissistic as he was. She had to have one, everyone did, girls especially. He was polarizing, to say the least. The great majority swooned over him, harbored secret crushes, sometimes it was adorable. But a few girls, he could almost count them on his fingers, saw him as nothing more than a womanizer and an ass, and would like nothing more than to see him in pain. Coincidence or not, most of those girls had loved him at one point as well.

Still here was a girl worth getting to know, that was for sure. In his mind, any lass that played Quidditch was . Especially in the position that the two of them played in. He didn't know about her, but Adrian played in the center, with the Slytherin's two other Chasers, feisty ladies both, on his wings. It was a position that required intelligence, vision, creativity. Above all else, Quidditch was an escape from the bullshit of societal downfalls. Just beating a marker, cutting open the defense, and hurling a bullet past the outstretched fingers of an unfortunate keeper.

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<span style='font-size:20pt;line-height:100%'>( WITH A LUST FOR SOLIDITY, AND THAT CRYPTIC HISTORY,)</span>
{ YOUR LUCKS RUNNING THIN }

( word count ) 658( status ) open ( outfit ) insert picture![/URL] ( place ) Quidditch Pitch
( notes ) partytimeyeahcoolfun ( credits ) ( m u f f i n ) of Caution!

[VICTORICA ELISE DOUGHERTY]

His laugh was strangely infectious: by the tie she had heard the timbre of his voice, Vicky found herself chuckling. It wasn’t the biggest chuckle, yet it wasn’t the smallest either. Her trying hard not to show him any affection completely failed. Was this really how Veelas get their work done? Vicky noticed him get to the ground and she had the opportunity to look at him in a much closer distance. From afar he already looked good-looking, but up close, he was more than that. Victorica tried to come up with a decent word and what she got was regal. He had facial hair, enough to make him look a little bit scruffy, which Victorica considers a semi-sign of maturity. She imagined what it would be like, her face getting close to the hairs on his face, the probable sensation she would feel as they scratch on her chin—

She coughed, realizing that she was getting way ahead of herself. It wasn’t her fault that he was such a handsome boy. The redhead’s grip on her broom tightened, and she directed her attention to what he was saying, and not to his damned goatee. ”It’s just a saying I’ve heard from my uncle.” She said back, her eyebrows rising. She looked at the Slytherin boy from head to foot. ”What else does it do? Maybe they make handsome men look even more handsome. I can’t say the same for you, though.” She was clearly contradicting herself. She could feel loud laughter rising from her throat but stopped it: she can’t just throw out an insult and laugh at the same time. At the very least, she still needed to protect her pride, even if she knew she rarely did.

He was very charming: in fact, Adrian was so charming that Victorica felt the need to punch something inches within her reach. His charm somehow made her feel irritated and amused at the same time. Maybe it was just rubbing her the wrong way: she did easily mistake charm and ego, although some people would argue that there was such a huge difference between the two. She cringed at his remark, and once again, tightened her grip on the broom. It was taking a huge effort, stopping herself from whacking his head with the broom, or even trying to sneak a kiss on his lips.

”Maybe it’s because you have girls fawning over you every time I manage a look at you. Merlin knows I wouldn’t want to be in the same boat as them. I really like playing hard to get at times.”

words: 434
outfit: the Hufflepuff Quidditch uniform
notes: eep
credit to MusicDiva1331 @ Caution2.0 for the banner!

[ADRIÁN PAOLO PALERMO]

( CRIMSON HANDS BRANDISH WORDS WHICH MASQUERADE, )
{ IF YOU FLEE FROM GRACE YOUR SOULS CANNOT BE SAVED}

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    

Sometimes Adrián even found himself amusing, though he'd never admit it to anyone else. Still, to watch the effect that one could have on another's behavior, this moment being a perfect example. No one was ever indifferent towards him, always, Adrián polarized. Maybe polarizing wasn't even the right term, since he had the tendency to make people feel internally contradictory like few others. Many people found individual traits of his abrasive, annoying even. But on the whole, it seemed that there was a likability to him that just couldn't be utterly comprehended. Likely it was that little bit of Veela that made its way around somewhere in his veins. 

Hearing Victorica speak, Adrián found himself liking the girl more and more. Too many girls threw themselves at his feet, and these days, self respect was few and far between. He could tell that she found him attractive, as he did her, that much was clear. They'd be lying to say otherwise, not that young Adrián would bring that little fact up, yet anyway. Her hair in the rain kept his gaze, the beads dripping of of it like liquid fire. How she'd gone under his radar thus far remained a mystery to him, probably because she was in Hufflepuff. 

People could say what they wanted about the house of the badger, but personally, Adrián found Hufflepuff to be rather intriguing. The traits valued by that house were far more than just the leftover students that the rest of the school took at face value. Some of the more interesting people he'd met within the castle were from Hufflepuff, and Victorica was proving to be no exception. Leaning on his broom he ran a hand through his sopping locks, pretending like she'd meant his hair would look better dry. Adrián knew the insult was their just to tease, and he had to give her that. "Yeah it really does do much for one's spirits either..."

She clearly did like playing hard to get. What's more, there was something about the way she spoke, as if she was flirting with him and goading him all at once. Adrián found it captivating, and the ease with which she spoke reminded him of himself for the slightest of moments. Taking a step closer to her, the rain will pounding from on him from high, Palermo's voice was softer this time, matching the languid staccato drum of the rain. "You aren't in the same boat, dove. I'd go as far as to say you aren't even sailing the same seas."

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<span style='font-size:20pt;line-height:100%'>( WITH A LUST FOR SOLIDITY, AND THAT CRYPTIC HISTORY,)</span>
{ YOUR LUCKS RUNNING THIN }

( word count ) 658( status ) open ( outfit ) insert picture![/URL] ( place ) Quidditch Pitch
( notes ) partytimeyeahcoolfun ( credits ) ( m u f f i n ) of Caution!

[VICTORICA ELISE DOUGHERTY]

She was partially enjoying how the boy handled her insults. He was taking care of it like a true gentleman, which he could easily be mistaken for. Well, who was she to talk? She had no idea if he could really be gentlemanly and respectful and good-mannered and stuff like that. Boys like those were hard to find these days. Sure, attractive boys were everywhere, but decent ones were rare, like her and her ginger friends (honestly, people around Hogwarts would immediately know who the redheads are. There’s probably Lily Evans, and the Prewett twins, and her. Not many options left). Victorica ran a hand through her wet hair. Winter rains were ghastly, and she wondered why they were still under the drizzle.

Victorica moved a few inches away from him, resisting his charm that was urging her to get closer to him. Merlin knows how hard Victorica was fighting against temptation that instant. She couldn’t afford any more stupid acts. She was reckless, yes, but that trait has caught her up in many situations and cost her so many things. Sometimes, she hated herself for being such a twat. Her eyebrows met, and she flinched at his words. Adrian was so full of himself that it was getting irritating and attractive at the same time. Vicky knew she was beautiful, and sometimes she tended to make the point go across, but unlike Adrian, at least she still had a sense of humility during the right times.

It really wasn’t her problem that Adrain’s voice was alluring. Damn these Veelas.

”It’s because I sail for treasure,” She snapped, quite unwillingly, looking at Adrian from head to toe and back, ”not for something—” she paused, looking him straight in the eye, ”—so common.” Victorica smirked and shook her broom. She took a few steps toward him (how idiotic she probably looked) and whispered into his ear. She was grinning like crazy, but at least Adrian did not see that. ”But venturing for a while into the sea those girls are sailing isn’t too bad at all.”

words: 347
outfit: the Hufflepuff Quidditch uniform
notes: late and horrible! Just tell me and I’ll add something if it’s not enough :>
credit to MusicDiva1331 @ Caution2.0 for the banner!