| Details for Discord in the Club Room |
| Summary: | Gabby unexpectedly finds Julian in a funk and Eibhlin only makes in worse. |
| Date: | Jan,1 1938 |
| Location: | Club Room |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Dinner time on New Years Day. Most folks in the Art Club had gone home, save for a few people. It was a guarantee that Julian would probably not be disturbed. Foregoing a trip to the Hospital Wing and instead learning to live with the problem of his hands being hurt, he wanted to be alone. Within the Club Room, there was a soft noise… a piano playing. Anyone with a keen ear for anything remotely related to Muggle Music could attribute the sounds as Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
However… there's something wrong with the music. Sour notes every few bars. Which… for anyone who's ever listened to Julian play, that's not like him. Not at all. With each chord and note change, there's a visible wince to those who enter to watch the young maestro quietly play at the piece. Looks on his face that could be not unlike the Great Beethoven himself when he would be laying against the floor, feeling the vibrations of his pieces so as to figure out how to write them.
Closer examination would give away to what is causing the problem: Julian's fingers. Wrapped up carefully, they all appear to have some kind of injury to them…
Gabrielle has too many project to finish, and not enough time to complete them , with everything going on. She'll start to open the door to the club room, and stops when she hears the music. Gabby has no real talent for that branch of the arts, but she does enjoy it.She'll listen for a moment, then wince as the notes don't all seem right.She'll push the door open enough to see who it is, and then sighs softly. she has a feeling she may know what this is about.She'll slide in, not trying to sneak, but not announcing herself either. Her arms are filled with drawing things.
The more the music is played, the more the young musician works through the pain. Julian seems to be lost in the music. However, before too long, the music stops in mid-chord change, and Julian's fingers and feet both come to rest as he looks down at the Piano. His fingers are given a bit of a flex, and he winces a little bit.
"Warming up is even a pain," he grumbles to himself, shaking his head and quietly moving to close the music book he had been pursuing. Another one is brought forward, and opened… this one is Chopin. And so, he begins to pursue it, steadily working his way into it. This song's not so downtrodden or depressing sounding.
He continues to play along until he pauses, realizing someone is watching him… or at least listening. Since he's facing away from the door, he just drops the volume level of his playing down, enough for his voice to be heard. He doesn't look away from the music, though, continuing to softly play…
"You know, the room's big enough for more than two people," he states, still not looking up.
Gabrielle nods, although Julian can't see it, "I know.I was just listening…I didn't know you played." She'll slowly make her way over to a table within his sight, but not directly in front of him, so as to not distract. "Are…are you ok?" She'll look down to his fingers and wince slightly, but not mention them for now.
"I've played since my first year here. I took it up and just… was natural at it. It comes as easily as my spellwork does." Jules continues on with the melody until the final chords, at which point, he breathes in deeply. Letting his fingers leave the keys with a soft gesture, he realizes where she's looking. His fingers curl in, but he otherwise doesn't try to hide the injured and wrapped digits. "Never better have been better." There's that smile that Julian is known for. Bright, warm… wait. What's wrong there? Something's off about it. "Happy New Year, by the way."
Trying to quickly change the subject and deflect it off of him, he glances toward her drawing supplies. "Working on a sketch?"
Gabrielle quirks an eyebrow, really, he's going to to try to play if off? OK then. "Happy New year." Her voice is soft, almost like she's nervous. She'll look down at her supplies, "I have a few to finish up, yeah.Working at Hogsmeade's has kinda eaten away at most of my sketching time." She'll set her supplies down on the table.Alot of them look fairly new. "Do you wanna talk about it?" She'll keep her eyes down, as she organizes her supplies and books.She's still standing.
There's shuffling as Julian begins to dig through his folio of music, and he looks for a piece to play. Since he's obviously going to have company now, he may as well shift to something that's obviously a bit more upright and bright. Otherwise it may seem odd. He listens to Gabby explain her backlog of sketchwork, and he smiles a little bit, chuckling. "I've got to catch up on some of my own compositions," he remarks softly.
However, the glance that Gabby is given when 'it' is mentioned is one of a quirked eyebrow. He knows where this is going. Gabby is like, one of -three- girls left that Eibhlin would likely talk to, right? Right.
"I haven't the faintest clue what you're on about, Gabby," Jules remarks, reaching up to rub his eyes a little bit. It's not frustration… but depression beginning to creep into his voice. The usual volume drops. At that point, he decides it's best to begin trying to play.
Gabrielle will just watch him for a moment,listening, "Then say you don't want to talk about it. Don't lie to me… You're better than that." She'll sit down and open up her sketchbook. She doesn't sound mad, more upset that she can't help.
CLANG.
If there ever was an off-put chord, it was that. Wincing as he lifts his previously-slammed fingers from the keys, Julian begins to look up, frowning. Yeah, okay, there was no sense in that. "Am I, really?" He just shakes his head, hands resting in his lap as he gives a rather… dour look toward Gabrielle. "Now, tell me, Gabby… just how the hell do you come to that conclusion? Inquiring minds would like to know." The voice isn't furious, or even -angry.- It's just quiet. It's like a rising tide rolling in.
Perhaps the music was as far as his anger will extend.
There's a flash of something in Gabby's eyes and her gaze flickers to a table off to the side.When her gaze returns, her eyes are a bit colder."Yes…you are. And you'll not swear at me, or I'm leaving. Understood?" She'll search his face for a moment, "Look, Eibhlin and I…we're not really friends…but I consider you one. /If/ you'd like to talk,I'm here. If you'd like for someone to just sit with you, I can do that.If you want me to leave, ask. But I'll not be treated poorly, not by you, or anyone else any more. Understood?" Her tone isn't snarky, or even sharp. She's just trying to set boundaries…just incase it goes badly. The club room holds a few bad memories for her in that regard.
Swearing, especially at a woman… Julian had never been known to do that. Except to maybe one or two certain people. Staring Gabrielle down as she makes her ultimatums, he breathes in, frowning still. When Eibhlin's name is mentioned, though… there's a brief flash of something in his eyes. Despair? It's possible… sadness, to say the least. But the dourness returns after a second more "You may be my friend," he responds cooly, "but this is a matter of which you are not privy to… at least in my regard. I'm sorry."
With that, Julian begins to quietly gather his music books. "I'm also sorry I swore at you." It seems sincere enough. "My mind is in… several different places. It's certainly not where it should be." His cool voice is still even, quiet as he speaks. He looks toward her, tilting his head. "Your offer to listen means a lot, though." A pause.
Happier things. Let's talk of those. His tone changes, steadily growing a little warmer. "How is Jackson?"
A small little smile is on his face now.
Gabrielle rolls her eyes, but will shrug, "Then find someone to talk to. Make /someone/ privy.It'll help." She'll shrug again, "It's alright. I've had much worse things said to me…"she'll glance around the room and then give a small smile, "..in here, in fact." She'll nod and when he mentions Jackson, she smiles. It's not a smile that Gabby is known for giving, it's a truly happy smile. "He's fine, last I saw him. I'm sure he's getting into trouble somewhere."
"I had heard some little rumors here an' there, but I didn't want to go out of the way and completely make assumptions without confirmation."
That small smile remains in place on Julian's face… it's nowhere near his usual smile, but it's stll a little warm. "I'm glad for you. In the state of the world as it is now, it's hard to find someone who you can truly see yourself happy with."
Pausing for a moment, he considers his own words, before snickering at himself. He reaches up, pushing his hair up and away from his eyes as he kind of leans against the piano. He remains quiet after that, just thinking on it, apparently.
Gabrielle blushes, the idea of rumors hadn't even occurred to her. Rumors involving her are usually about bad things, not …nice ones. She'll watch Julian for a moment, then slowly get up and move over to where he is. "May I please see your hand? I won't ask what happened, I just want to make sure you're ok." She'll give him the most pleading look she can, without being over the top.
"Winterbourne's already looked at them. She -also- tried to make me go to the Hospital Wing." Julian just keeps his hands in his lap at this point, shaking his head lightly as she moves forward to look at them.
"I'm pretty sure that at least one or two of them may have small hairline fractures or something. If not deep bruising, at the least." He won't begin to talk about the knuckles. "But, it's what I get for being childish and doing what I did. It's my pain to endure," he snickers lightly, shaking his head a little.
He quietly looks down at the piano, frowning then. "It could be worse," he adds lightly, seeming to point out this with a bit of optimism in his voice. "My piano playing could've been completely off."
Gabrielle nods, as it sounds like maybe he should have gone to the hospital wing. She'll make a face when he says it's childish and his pain to endure, "No offense, but that's bull shit." She doesn't seem to acknowledge the double standard on the language. "I did that for 4 years, trust me, it's dumb." She'll lean a hip against the piano's side, "Pain is not meant to be endured, it's meant to be fixed. It doesn't make anything better, or more bearable."
How unfortunate. For whom? Everyone, perhaps. Eibhlin has chosen this time to step into the Club Room to drop off some more study guides she's written up for those trying to learn German. She's got a stack of parchment in hand as she steps through the door… and freezes.
"Yeah, eh. It may be," Jules responds quietly, shaking his head, "but I've got a pretty high pain tolerance. I -do- get heavy and dangerous balls knocked in my direction on a regular basis, after all." That's right. Quidditch player. He's a little bit tougher than the typical Ravenclaw boy. He just continues to shake his head a little, raising his hand toward her lightly to stop her.
"Gabby… your worry and concern is appreciated. It really, truly is. But I'm okay. At least… I'm -physically- okay. This?" He waves his hands around lightly… and yes, if Eibhlin were entering, she'd see that. Every single digit has a wrap on them, and they're bandaged. "This could be a whole lot worse. A -whole lot.-"
In truth, emotionally, it is. But he's not going to try and even -talk- about that yet. Or even mention it.
Anything else Julian was going to say is evaporated instantly, though, as Eibhlin enters… hearing footsteps, his head turns to see who it is. Almost immediately, color drains from his face and he falls silent…
However, he is quick to try and recover. Sitting up straight, he shakes it off… "Hello, Eibhlin." Civilized. Calm, cool.
Gabrielle makes a face as he tells her he has a high pain tolerance, cause, wow, he has no idea. She'll let him rant, maybe that will help some. She'll turn as well when she hears foot steps, and can't quite keeps the "worst timing ever" look from her face, although she's quick to smooth it out.
And it's likely clear to Julian that Eibhlin saw his hand bandaged. Her emotions, however, stay cool. Gabrielle may only be able to guess at why the redhead's features remain smooth as she steps into the club room. "Don't mind me," she offers after a moment, taking in a deep breath. "I'm just dropping these off." She'll turn then, making quick strides to a shelf to the side for club materials.
It will cost 4 XP to raise Awareness.
Oh, wow. She didn't even greet him.
That's a little harsh. Perhaps too much so. "I should be going." Reaching into his pocket with a bit of a wince, Jules checks his pocket watch, clicking it open… Yes. It was getting a little late. Closing it and re-pocketing it, he begins to stand, taking his music folio with him. Taking out his wand, he begins to mutter a small incantation, and the piano begins to move itself away toward the storage.
Once done, he does toss Eibhlin a cursory glance… just… trying to see if she'll even acknowledge him in that manner. He's not hoping for much. Once done, though, he'll prepare to depart, shouldering a bag and moving toward the door.
Gabrielle will watch Eibhlin for a moment, frowning slightly, then will look over to Julian as she starts packing up. there's nothing she can say /now/ that will help, so she doesn't. She will push herself off the piano, so she doesn't fall when it starts moving from Julian's spell. Thankfully his hurt hand doesn't seem to be bothering his casting. She'll look to Eibhlin again, and then shake her head going back to Julian, "I'll see you later, Julian. Maybe you can look over my Charms casting. I think I've gotten pretty ok at it." The offer's there. It's all she can do.
Is she that uncaring? Is she that detached? No. Eibhlin is just trying to manage this. She's trying to pull away. Trying to give Julian his freedom. As the Ravenclaw boy takes out his wand to start casting, she cannot help but look over. She's trying to keep it sly, making it look like she's filing away those parchments for the German-learners, but it's obvious. She's staring at him as he gets ready to go.
It's quite elegant, really. Julian's always had a knack for being a very well-learned caster. His vocation is always clean and crisp, and his wand motion fluid. Tonight is no exception - even with a bummed hand.
With his bag shouldered and everything else done… when he does his cursory check and sees her staring, his face burns and his eyes close.
All the more reason for him to keep on moving. He's trying really hard to fight the urge to speak to her. He really is. He's fighting that little demon inside of him that is stomping and screaming for him to talk to her about something he had thought about earlier in the night…
But it's too much. That little nagging jackass wins.
"Going my way, Eibhlin?" He stands at the doorway, facing away as he asks, arms crossed as he leans against the door frame.
At this point, Gabby just walks as silently to her things as she possible can. This is only going to get more awkward. She'll keep her eyes down, slowly stacking up her sketchbooks and drawing things.
There's a deep draw of breath and Eibhlin freezes once more. She adjusts the parchment, making sure the notes for it lie on top. Just what the worksheets are, the details about it, and so forth. "Are you going back to the dorm?" Her voice is kept even in that tell-tale sign of one trying to keep themselves under control.
"It's getting late… so yeah. At least, that's the plan. I'm not dressed for one of my patented strolls 'round the grounds," Jules responds softly, still not looking back. He just kind of stands there, trying to keep his own voice even.
Gabrielle , again, trying to be silent, finishes stacking her books. She'll bite her lower lip, not sure if she should even intervene or not. Or who to intervene for at this point. She'll start to pick up her stuff, then stops herself and just sits down with a huff, flipping open the book on top. No longer trying to mask any noise, she quickly start scratching something in the book.
There's a sharp look in Gabrielle's direction and Eibhlin's cheeks turn a bit red. "Then we are going the same way," she finally says, making her way towards the door.
And with that, Julian begins to kick off as well. "I'll be glad to give your spellwork another critique, Gabby," Jules adds softly as he begins to leave. "Just grab me sometime and tell me when. I'm pretty much open to that." He turns his head, then, smiling a little toward Gabrielle. Eibhlin gets an odd look, though, as she affirms she will be heading the same direction… and she blushes. Unsure of what to make of that, he just makes his way on out the door, moving along quietly… and whether or not Eibhlin decides to keep up is entirely up to her.
Well…that did…something. Hopefully they'll talk.That is….if Eibhlin follows him. Gabby will give Julian a smile, "Ok, I will."
Pure embarrasment perhaps. Just at the situation. Of having made such a weirdo out of herself. Unfortunately, walking through the halls, it's even -more- awkward and weird to try to seem like you aren't with someone when you're walking the same way. So Eibhlin just falls into step with Julian after a moment.