bird brains [roxy]

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The Quidditch world was buzzing. It was always buzzing for some reason or another, but Dustin was expecting the buzz to grow much,, much louder over the next few months. Having new talent in the world was always an interesting thing, and with the Hogwarts graduation approaching in May, everyone seemed to be talking about which players would be joining their ranks. From what Dustin had heard from his sisters, not many seventh years were looking at going into professional Quidditch, which was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because it meant that he wasn't going to be losing his job to some young upstart while he was still a young upstart, but a curse because it meant that the status quo wasn't going to be upset. Dustin was always intrigued by large shifts, even if they were difficult to deal with - that went for his personal life, too. Upon hearing the rumor that Roxy Weasley had officially declared her intent to go into professional Quidditch, Dustin knew he had to talk to her. Roxy was the year below him, and the younger sister of one of the boys in his year, so Dustin would qualify their relationship as friendly, if not straight-out friends. The Falcons weren't officially looking for anyone, but Dustin had heard whispers that one of their players was going to be leaving, and having a contingency plan wasn't a bad thing by any means. He had sent Roxy an owl asking to meet during her Hogsmeade visit, under the guise of catching up, but if the conversation turned towards Quidditch recruitment, Dustin would be pleased indeed.

@roxanne

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Roxy had been following the Quidditch news with an extra degree of fascination. Ever since the scouting session, she'd been watching for which teams had players who were retiring or injured or being courted to go join teams abroad. The Falcons hadn't been one of the teams she'd noted, but they were in the paper for other reasons - being awesome, winning games, having an awesome Seeker. Said awesome Seeker was who she was in Hogsmeade to see today, because he just happened to be her brother's former roommate, and her former - several years ago now - teammate, and her friend. And she had every intention of getting the inside scoop on exactly how professional Quidditch went from someone who wasn't her mum.

So she was pretty excited when she say him on the Hogsmeade main street. She waved and grinned as she called out, "Dustin, hey!"

@dustin

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Being recognized in Hogsmeade was something that Dustin had anticipated, and when he heard his name, he instantly plastered on his photoshoot smile, before he realized that it was just Roxy who had called for him, not some adoring fan. He let out a little sigh of relief, and his smile relaxed into something a little more genuine as he waved back to her. “Hey Roxy.” He said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he sidled up to her. “How is my eleventh favorite Weasley today?” Dustin asked with a small smirk. He was pretty sure he didn’t even know eleven of the Weasleys, but what was the point in having friends with a big family if you couldn’t poke fun at them for it every once in a while? Dustin braced himself for a punch he was sure was coming. He might not have known eleven of Roxy’s family members, but he knew enough to know that they could have quite a temper, especially when provoked as openly as Dustin was provoking Roxy.

@roxanne

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Roxy saw Dustin’s plastered on smile, and his genuine smile, and made a mental note that Quidditch would mean she’d need to perfect that. She’d known that was a thing – obviously, her mum and her Aunt Ginny both did it – but it was the first time that she’d realised that was a thing she would do, if her career plans panned out. She didn’t mind.

But she did prefer the genuine smile, and the instant teasing. ”Eleventh? You know eleven Weasleys?” There were more than eleven Weasleys, but most people didn’t bother to know that many of them unless they had too. So teachers and family members. Anyway, there was an easy rebuttal to that. ”I’m fine, and how is my seventh favourite Bainbridge?” she answered with a smirk of her own.

@dustin

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Dustin snorted when Roxy asked if he knew eleven Weasleys. “Sure I do!” He insisted. “There’s that one with the red hair, and then that other one with red hair, and the one without red hair…” Dustin trailed off, winking at Roxy. He actually did know quite a few of the Weasleys, since some of them were sorted into Gryffindor, and in his year, no less, but he had to admit that he would be hard-pressed to name eleven of them without some serious struggle. Roxy shot back with a comment about him being her seventh favorite Bainbridge, and Dustin put his hand over his heart. “You wound me, Roxanne!” He howled. At least he had said that he liked some of her cousins less than her. Apparently he was just dead last as far as she was concerned. “Other than my hurt pride, I’m good.” Dustin said with a sigh. “But that’s a really big ‘other than’.” He added.

@roxanne

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Dustin made a joke about Weasleys and their red hair - completely justified, there were a lot of ginger Weasleys - but she was clearly not eleventh. "So that's two, plus me," she answered with a smirk, "nice try." Although, she probably couldn't name seven Bainbridges - were there even seven? - so fair was fair.

But Dustin moaned about his injured pride, and Roxy just started to laugh at his dramatics. "You'll live. And I'm still excited to see you," she added with a grin. "I hear you've been having a good season, and I definitely want the inside scoop."

@dustin

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Dustin snorted when Roxy said that he only knew two other Weasleys, and then her. “Excuse me, Miss, but I believe there are other Weasleys who aren’t redhead!” He protested. “Your brother, for example.” He and Fred had been in the same graduating class, so of course Dustin knew about him. Besides, it was fun to keep on pulling Roxy’s legs with the whole ‘favorite Weasley’ scenario. Anna would probably kill him if she knew he joked about this sort of thing, because she would definitely want to be his favorite.

“I’ll live, but what kind of life?” Dustin asked, still not ready to give up on his dramatics. But when Roxy asked about his season, Dustin decided that it was time to be an adult (or as much of one as he could be) and give her the details. “It’s been good, but that’s just because we’ve been putting in a lot of work.” Dustin would be shocked if any other team practiced as much as the Falcons; there were some weeks he felt like he didn’t see anyone other than his teammates. It was worth the work, though, to see their results. At least, that was what Dustin thought.

@roxanne

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"Fine, you know a few more Weasleys than that," she conceded. And there were more Weasleys that weren't red-headed - Fred, yes, but also Victoire and Rose and Hugo and Louis and Ondina and that was before you started in on her aunts and uncles - but Dustin was talking to her.

She rolled her eyes at Dustin's antics and shot back "Yours, obviously." But he actually answered her question, and that just meant she had more questions. "Well, as long as the work is fun and with people you like, then a lot of work is a good thing, right? Especially if it gets you results." Roxy wasn't afraid of a bit of hard work regardless, but good people and good work made it way better.

@dustin

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Dustin gave Roxy a smug, victorious grin when she said that he knew more Weasleys than just her and two others. They had both known it from the beginning, anyways, but it still was a good feeling. “Oh, you’re so clever.” Dustin said drily when Roxy commented that he’d be living his life if he continued living at all. He didn’t think the joke was that clever at all, but he was all about constant affirmation, and his tone of voice did leave it ambiguous whether or not he actually did think that Roxy was funny. “Work is fun, but it’s also very physical.” Dustin said with a shrug. Anyone who was doing as much physical activity as he did every day would be exhausted physically, which was why breaks were important, as was self-care. Now that he was thinking about it, Dustin thought he was rather overdue for a long, hot bath. “It is a good thing, though.” He asserted, before Roxy could go getting the wrong idea about Dustin and his work ethic. He loved working hard, especially when it did get results. Sometimes it just got to be a little much.

@roxanne

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Dustin was pretty sarcastic about her comments on Weasley counts and his wounded pride, but that didn't bother Roxy in the slightest. She could practically hear the eyeroll, but that had never bothered her before, and it wasn't about to start now. And Dustin said that the work, no matter how hard, was fun, and physical, and good. "It sounds awesome," Roxy said almost longingly - the lack of official Quidditch this year had left her craving it something awful.

She wanted to ask more, but she'd seen all the gossip rags unattended in the Common Room, and that some of Dustin's teammates were embroiled in complicated relationship scandals. She wanted the inside scoop on Quidditch, not about that, but she was worried that if she asked the wrong question Dustin would get the wrong idea. But Dustin knew her, so... maybe she'd be okay. She picked her words carefully, because she knew she couldn't not ask. "Any insider news an aspiring professional player should know? Spots opening up on teams that aren't the Holyhead Harpies, gear upgrades, you know?"

@dustin

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Dustin didn’t quite know how to qualify the tone in Roxy’s voice when she said that his job sounded awesome. She was obviously going professional, so why did she sound… jealous? This life was going to be her life too, soon enough. Roxy asked if he had any gossip, and Dustin knew that it was his chance. “Well, I know this team that has a very handsome Seeker, and one of their Chasers is thinking about leaving to pursue a career in professional knitting…” Dustin said, trailing off. He personally thought the switch from Quidditch to professional knitting was going to be maddening, considering that knitting required sitting still for a long period of time, but he never pretended to know the motivations of his teammates when they made their decisions. He understood Yadi and he understood Ev, and he could pretend to understand the others occasionally, but he was far from professional at determining others’ motivations. “I heard that they’re developing a new style of gloves that are closer to skin-tight, for better ball-handling.” Dustin didn’t know if that was more than a rumor, but he hoped it distracted from his primary motivation of getting Roxy to consider joining the Falcons.

@roxanne

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Dustin handed her the knowledge she wanted on a silver platter, and the news was better than she expected, because it sounded like there was a spot - a Chaser spot, no less - opening up on Dustin's team. It was almost too good to be true, so she followed it straight up to make sure she was understanding right - without being a gossip leak. "Would said handsome Seeker happen to know more than three Weasleys?" Not half a moment later, she had to ask "and since when is professional knitting a thing?" What did a professional knitter even do? It was an odd career switch, but if it happened then she was not going to complain.

But there was more general gossip too, and while it paled in comparison, Roxy was still grateful to hear it, and consider it. "That could be good, especially for Chasing. Might mean blisters if they don't fit right, though, and that'd be a disaster."

@dustin

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Roxy seemed to have followed his rather heavy-handed hint easily, asking if the professional Seeker – him – knew more than three Weasleys. He nodded, though it was her second question that got more of his attention. “People are willing to pay a lot for a sweater knit by hand, instead of with magic.” Dustin said with a shrug. He didn’t really understand the point of it, since magic just made the needles do the same movement without hands needing to control them, but there were some people who insisted that it was more loving or something like that. Dustin was all about love, but not when it came at such a high price. “Something about artisan goodness? I don’t pretend to understand art.” His sisters were the artsy types – he just played a sport.

At the comment about the gloves causing blisters, Dustin shrugged. “I’m sure they’re going to offer custom fits for anyone who’s serious enough to shell out the Galleons.” The people who weren’t willing to pay for custom gloves probably didn’t wear them enough to justify the expense, which meant they probably weren't a part of the target audience anyways.

@roxanne

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Dustin confirmed her suspicions with a nod, and Roxy's face lit up into a grin. Oh, sure, it wasn't like it was an offer. But it was an opening, on a team with a friend in it, and a good team at that. But she didn't dare say anything else in public, lest she jeopardise the whole thing or have someone who shouldn't know hear. Professional knitting it was. "But it's so tedious! I've seen Grandma Molly knitting, and even with magic it takes ages to make a sweater. She has to start in like July to be done the family collection by Christmas." Of course, with the annual Weasley sweater, she wasn't exactly the target market. Artisan goodness was all well and good, but you couldn't beat made custom with love.

As for gloves - Quidditch gloves had not traditionally been her friend. She only wore them in bad weather, but if she was playing that often, then maybe she'd need to consider wearing them more often. "I guess if they're seamless. I've had a few pairs that went into the bin after two practices because the calluses were better."

@dustin

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Dustin shrugged when Roxy insisted that knitting was tedious. He wasn’t the one who was paying insane amounts for knitwork, and like he had said, he didn’t pretend to understand why people would. “There’s also about a hundred of you, though, so I’m not sure that’s an accurate example.” Making sweaters as gifts in your spare time was a lot different from making a business out of it.

“The best part about being a Seeker is that you don’t really need gloves.” He said with a laugh. It was true that Seekers could help the Chasers out in a game, but more often than not Dustin stayed out of the way and kept his eyes peeled for the Snitch so that the Chasers didn’t have to do much work at all. While some argued that having gloves helped them catch the Snitch better, Dustin always felt like he had a better grip with his hands, since it was harder for the metal to slide against skin than against leather or some other soft cloth. “Your parents must have been thrilled about the gloves, though.” His mother would probably flog him if she bought something that he only used twice before throwing away, no matter how much it hurt him to do so.

@roxanne