Harder Than You'd Think (Yadiel)

[Deleted]

Things were kind of better now. At least, life was now formed into some type of a routine and Ev was getting used to it. Dustin and her were ... getting better, she thought. Slowly but steadily. Maybe someday they'd be able to repair their friendship completely and she'd have her best friend back. Right now though it kind of felt like starting a friendship with a stranger. She had no idea how he was going to respond to anything she said or did. Which was nerve-wracking, to say the least. At least he didn't hate her. It made practices better than they would be otherwise. 

Practices. Evelyn loved Quidditch and flying. When she was in the air, doing her job at games, she knew she was in the right place. During practices, however? Well, that was a different story. Ever since her accident and her two and a half week break from the team, Evelyn felt like she'd lost her place. Maybe it was because things weren't back to normal with Dustin, and maybe it was just her. She did her best, moves that she'd done for years, but she suddenly didn't know if that was enough. She worried she was losing her edge and that the team was looking down on her for it, not that she would ever tell any of them that.

So today they didn't have team practice. She still went to a practice pitch and flew around, practicing with bludgers and others who were playing Quidditch in their free time. She stayed there almost all day, until a boy joined them that looked and acted almost exactly as Rocco used to. She met him at one of those practice things, after all. That was when Ev ducked out and went to the lockers. She cleaned up quickly and walked out into London. She'd taken to walking a lot lately. Why not, since she was never in a rush. Without Rocco and Dustin, any time that wasn't practice was free time. Ev spent a lot of her time reading, but also a lot of time walking. 

She walked into a tea shop when she got tired, smiling to herself when she recognized it. This was the same shop she'd met her team captain in weeks ago. She went up to the counter and placed an order for some chamomile tea and some bread and then went to a booth to sit in, looking out the window as she ate and drank.

@yadi

[Deleted]

Yadi had a love/hate relationship with the tea shops spread across the wizarding world as a whole. One one hand, they had splendid selections for teas, usually ones that he wouldn't be able to find at any other shops around. He had his favorites that he would usually visit, where the love part of the relationship came from. The hate part of that relationship came from the fact that he was a famous quidditch player and all sorts of die hard fans liked to frequent those shops just to get a glimpse of him. He liked the fame. He loved it really. He liked getting recognized. What he didn't love was being bothered when all he wanted was to grab a nice, flavorful, hot cup of the stuff and to get out to return to whatever it was he was doing before he entered the shop. No such luck. Ever. At least not any time recently. He'd gone to his favorite tea shop nearer to Horizon Alley and he'd been accosted by a group of people. He hadn't been able to make it up to the counter. After begrudgingly signing a few autographs and glaring at a few people to back off once it became too much, he decided that it was much better to go somewhere he had less of a chance of being stalked. Muggle London had a few good places for tea. There was one shop in particular he could always count on to have some interesting blend for him to try so he decided on that one. He walked into the little shop and walked up to the counter, greeting the cashier who stood there. He knew he only wanted to order a cup to go so he could get in and get out. They had a roasted honey black tea on the menu that sounded delicious so he ordered that to try. With his arms crossed over his chest, he looked around the little tea shop only to notice a familiar face sitting at one of the tables. Her face was turned towards the window but he was pretty certain that was Evelyn sitting in the booth. He motioned to the cashier where he would be before he walked over to it cautiously. "Evelyn?" he called out cautiously, just to make sure he was correct.

Tag; @evelyn

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When she was in a mood like today, Evelyn often stared out the window. She couldn't really focus on anything, probably because she didn't have anything she was supposed to be focused on, so she watched people to keep herself from thinking. Thinking right now was a dangerous thing. It led to questions like: will Dustin ever forgive me? what is Rocco doing right now? among with quite a few others. All the questions weren't good for her, she knew that, but it was hard to stop thinking about them. The most effective ways she'd discovered were talking with people, reading books, and doing some pretty intense people watching. She paid absolutely no attention to the people behind her in the shop, figuring that none of them but the waiters would interact with her anyway. She'd just leave them a big tip to apologize for being so rude. 

So when Ev heard someone calling her name, she jumped a little and then turned around, her eyes searching for whoever called out to her. Yadiel. She smiled, feeling more relaxed since she knew who it was now. "Hi, Captain. Do you want to join me?" she asked. After all, talking to people was the easiest distraction. More than that, her last talk with him did her good. Maybe this one would too.

@yadi

[Deleted]

The person jumped a little before turning around and he confirmed that it was indeed Evelyn sitting at the table. He wondered what brought her back to this cafe. He scrunched his face up in a bit of an apology for surprising her just as she greeting him with a smile and a request of him to join her. It hadn't been quite a part of his plans for the day but he didn't see why not. He had been curious as to how she had been doing. She had been doing well in practices as of late, steady and strong. The game night he'd held at the Three Broomsticks had been a bit interesting as well, with the addition of a friend of hers but he could still tell that her and Dustin were still a bit awkward around one another and hadn't quite patched things up. They were young but they were still considered adults; they would get to it at some point and if they didn't, that was something they would have to deal with. He just hoped it didn't ever interfere with team operations. He gave a shrug. "Sure why not." he replied before taking his seat across from her. "Do you come here a lot? I wasn't expecting to see you here," he commented and asked simply. When he'd invited her there to talk previously, he'd been under the assumption that he was the only one on his team that knew about the shop. Or at least she had never been there before. She had a cup of tea and a bit of bread in front of here. He wondered how long she'd been there.

Tag; @evelyn

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Evelyn wasn't entirely surprised when Yadiel agreed to join her. After all, maybe he would think it strange to approach someone and then go sit somewhere else. Of course, Ev wouldn't have been upset if that was what he wanted to do, but maybe he didn't know that. Then he asked if she came here often, saying that he hadn't expected to see her. Evelyn shrugged, "No, not often. I've been doing a bit of walking lately. When I'm tired or cold, I go into the nearest shop for a drink of tea. Today it was here. So you really just found me by coincidence," she answered honestly. She did choose this place over two others on the street because she'd been here before, but that was neither here nor there. It wasn't particularly important. "What brings you all the way out here, Captain?" Ev asked curiously, then adding, "if you don't mind me asking, that is." Some people didn't like talking about why they went to specific places so Ev wanted to make sure that he didn't feel like she was pressuring him to talk about anything he didn't want to. Not that anyone could do that. 

@yadi

[Deleted]

"Coincidence or not, it's good to see you getting out. And good tea is as good a reason as any," his words were serious when he nodded but he gave a small smile for emphasis. He was always up for getting out when it came to getting tea, hence his reasoning and willingness to travel to that part of muggle London to get a cup. He looked back up at the cashier to see how far along she'd gotten with making his cup, not worrying because he knew it wouldn't take too much longer. Giving her a once over, he could tell she was doing much better than the last time they'd been there but he decided to ask anyway for confirmation. "How have you been doing? Outside of practices, anyway." her performance at practices had been very demonstrative; it was like she'd never left and hadn't been forced to suffer through playing with the reserve players. Really, the reserves weren't that bad, it had just been noticeable that something was missing and the balance had been interrupted. She then asked him what had brought him out that way and he snorted. It was technically a bit of a journey getting there considering he didn't live on that side of London. Magic made the trip much easier even though it wouldn't be a big deal for him to jump into one of his cars to make the drive. "The tea. Ran into a few too many fans on Horizon Alley and most aren't bold enough to approach me here so I thought it was the best option," he commented, slight annoyance creeping into his voice at the thought, "I'm sure you run into that problem too."

Tag; @evelyn

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Evelyn smiled when Yadiel said it was a good thing she was out and that she had a good reason, that being tea. Ev smiled and nodded, though that wasn't really her reason for coming out. Her reason was to walk and make herself tired enough that once she got home she'd be able to sleep without Dustin or Rocco keeping her up. She wasn't going to come out and say that though. Besides, he probably was aware that she was still struggling a bit. Or ... maybe not. The next time he spoke, her captain was asking how she was, other than practices. Evelyn shrugged a little as she opened her mouth to speak. "I'm all right. Things are getting ... better. Sometimes it's harder than others." She was proud of herself for not getting emotional as she spoke. Maybe she really was healing. 

Yadiel was clearly amused by her question, but Ev waited patiently for a response. He wouldn't have joined her just to ignore her. She smiled as he started by saying the tea, and then elaborated by saying that his adoring fans wouldn't follow him here so it was a better choice. Ev found herself smiling as well, amused that he chose this location to get away from others. He commented about how she had that problem as well and Ev shrugged a little. "More so now than I did before ... my accident." Though in all honesty it wasn't the accident that got her all the publicity. It was dying down though. "I'm too good at hiding to have too many fans, you know," she added with a smile. Sure, she had fans and she didn't necessarily think it was her hermit-like tendencies that kept them away ... but it might help. 

@yadi

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Yadi watched as she shrugged and answered his question regarding her well being after everything. She said she was alright and he believed her, though she added in that some days were harder than other. He nodded in understanding at that, an understanding that would only come from someone who'd been through something similar. Evelyn hadn't been apart of the team when him and his ex-wife had decided to split but it had been hard, no matter how much they'd both agreed that it was for the best. He'd loved Ines, even when he'd realized that their marriage had been falling apart. And while he could admit that Evelyn's situation was different from his in more ways than one, losing someone like that was hard. "How do you handle the hard days?" he asked suddenly. She'd told him last time that he could ask her any questions he had. He wasn't stupid enough to think that folded over to now but he also could be brash enough to tell her that he thought it should. He was concerned about her and if he had to be a bit pushy, so be it.

He couldn't do anything but nod his head when she alluded to the fact she had more fans now than before her ordeal with the Puddlemere United player. He didn't really know; he'd thought that she'd had plenty of fans before then but he could see the fact that it had been seen as a scandal. That had made her more well known to fans. She was doing well with avoiding talking about it though, her previous engagement to the player. That was her choice and he would respect it. "I forget to try that when I'm just going out for tea. Maybe I should take a page from your book," he replied with a snort, "It's a bit of a bother actually." The cashier chose then the bring over his cup of tea and he thanked her gracefully. The steam rising from it was delightful because the tea smelled divine and, taking a sip, he found exactly what he'd come out for. "Before you know it, your fans will be better at seeking you out."

Tag; @evelyn

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Ev wasn't really expecting him to ask any other questions, but he was her captain. She definitely wasn't going to lie about how she was doing. She shrugged a little, "Depends on what the plans are for that day. When I have practice, I go anyway and work through it. Some other days I leave the house and try to work through it. On the really bad days I stay home." And cry, and sit on the couch watching movies and doing nothing. She wouldn't explain that unless he asked though. Besides, those days were few and far between now. At least, comparative to how they were before. 

She smiled when he said that maybe he should take a page out of her book. "Sometimes it works better than others," she admitted. It didn't happen often, but every once in a while someone recognized her. Those were not her favorite days. Ev nodded when he said it was a bother, "I know what you mean. If you walk around though, there are plenty small places you can try out. Most of them are pretty good too." She made a face when he said that her fans would soon get better at seeking her out. "Maybe I'll pick and choose my battles then," Ev commented, more thinking out loud than anything else. "Choose a day when I wouldn't mind being seen and let them come and then other times going to my secret places carefully." She rolled her eyes, "But nothing stays a secret forever." Her eyes darkened slightly. She learned that the hard way.

@yadi

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She began to list off the things she did and he wasn't really surprised. Evelyn was strong. Or at least she wanted to be strong and he saw nothing wrong with that. He also knew there was nothing wrong with letting yourself grieve for as long as you needed. Attempting to pick yourself back up before you were ready wasn't good for you or anyone around you. He gave a nod of approval, though he knew she didn't need his approval, just as she finished. "Speaking from experience, forcing yourself to go to practice isn't always the best course of action," his words came out on the ends of a exhale, thinking back to when he'd been in the middle of his divorce. He'd forced himself to come to practice, irritated and not doing very well. One of his fellow chasers hadn't been catching on to a new play they'd been practicing and he'd blown up on them. His captain had sent him home. She'd understood what he was going through but she told him he needed to calm down before coming back. "As I said before, if you need a break, just let me know."

"If it might give me an advantage, and some peace, it's definitely worth the try," he gave a small smirk before taking a quick sip of his tea. He listened, a bit amused, as she described that there were small places that she could hide. He could see it happening but imagining it, her ducking into a smaller alleyway, made him want to laugh. "They'll love you for that," he replied when she began talking out loud about plans to meet with fans. He didn't think it would work, not really anyway, because they might start to demand more time from her than she was willing to give. That was why he always ended up being viewed badly by the press, they tried to take too much from him and monopolize his time. He noticed her demeanor darken at her last words, that nothing stayed secret forever and everything seemingly stilled around them. She was still being affected by what her ex-fiance had done. He hoped she didn't believe that everyone would do that to her, break her trust. "Don't let him change you," he stated clearly and simply.

Tag; @evelyn

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Evelyn shook her head when Yadiel mentioned that forcing herself to go to practice probably wasn't good. She disagreed. Practice was the one constant in her life, the one thing that she had to pull herself together for and she was glad for that, but how was she supposed to outright disagree with her captain. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to come up with the words to describe it. "I .. need practice though," she started slowly. "I mean, it gives me something to look forward to and can generally pull me out of the hard days." Ev still didn't feel like she was describing it adequately. "I know exactly what I'm supposed to do and how and it gives me somewhere where I can feel like I'm doing things right." As opposed to everywhere else. Crap, she hadn't meant to reveal that much to him. She nodded when he mentioned her saying something if she needed a break. "I will ... but I don't think I'll need one."

She smiled, "Well I hope it helps." She really did. Evelyn knew how important peace and quiet could be for her and assumed that everyone liked it, at least every once-in-a-while. If it did help, at least she could feel useful to her captain off the field a little bit. She shrugged when he mentioned how her fans would love that. "Eh, it might not work, but I'll give it a try. I need my own personal time, you know." She looked up in surprise when Yadiel told her to not let him change her. It was obvious that he was referring to Rocco and she nodded. "I'm trying not to," she said. There was a "but" implied there, but Ev didn't know what it was or how to explain her feelings to anyone now, even her team captain. "It's hard," she breathed a few moments later.

@yadi

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Listening describe her need to be at practice made him a bit worried about her. He really hoped she wasn't just using practice to ignore how she felt, to momentarily deflect how she felt. He nodded along as she stated that at practice she was somewhere she felt like she was doing things right. That surprised him. Did she feel like she was doing things wrong in other aspects of her life? Was she still having issues with Dustin and her parents?
As worried as he was, he reminded himself that she didn't need him prying. She was his player though and he wanted to make sure she was doing okay. She continued by saying that she didn't think she'd need a break but that she'd let him know if she needed one and he nodded once again. He knew there were plenty of people that would take advantage of that when they didn't need it but she wasn't, even though he thought she might need it. He couldn't decide if he should be grateful or even more worried than he'd initially thought he needed to be. Her not out meant not having to use the reserve players.

He snorted when she said his thought aloud, that her spending time with fans probably wouldn't work though he didn't comment his agreement. She was pretty good at hiding, she'd said, so that would come in handy later on. He watched the surprise cross her features at his comment and he took a deep breath, sipping his cooling tea. He didn't really expect her to say much to the comment but she replied that she was trying not to let him change her. He could get mad all over again at that guy because of everything she was going through now. Just the fact that she was starting to feel like that she couldn't trust others was maddening. Time. She just needed some time. "I know. I'm just saying. Fight it. Because not everyone will do that to you," he explained with a slow nod. It had been a selfish and thoughtless move on his part but that had been him and him alone. She had people around her now who wouldn't do that to her now and that cared about what she wanted. He hoped that outweighed what the Puddlemere player had done.

Tag; @evelyn

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Yadiel looked worried, but Ev tried to not feel judged by that. She knew that he cared about her and wanted her to have success, on and off the field, so she assumed it was because of that that he seemed so concerned. It wasn't him thinking she was failing. If he thought she wasn't doing things right, would he call her out on it? Ev wasn't really sure. Still, he didn't say anything to her comments about not needing a break because she needed practice. Maybe she was exaggerating a little, but if she was it wasn't much. She just wanted to feel happier, lighter again and wasn't sure how to get that back.  

He snorted when she said that her planned time wouldn't work and Ev assumed that he was agreeing with her. Otherwise, he would have said something, wouldn't he? She nodded when he told her fight the urge not trust the people around her. "I am. I think I need to meet more people and make more friends," she was speaking more to herself than to him now. "I just am not quite sure how to do that. But I'll do my best." Maybe that would help him feel better about her. She didn't want him to be too worried about her.

@yadi

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Evelyn mentioned then that she wanted to meet more people and make more friends and that lead him to wonder how often she was seeing Dustin. He wouldn't ask because it more than likely that they still hadn't completely patched things up since the ordeal. Making some new friends could only be something positive for her. Her guess was about as good as his on how she would go about doing that. She was still young though. She could go out some place and meet new people. She was a famous Quidditch player though, which could be a blessing and a curse at the same time. She would meet people who knew her already but there was always a chance that it wasn't genuinely her that they liked but the fame she represented. He'd had that happen to him before. "What about Ms. Oliveira? She seems like fun. Do you see her often," he asked remembering back to the previous month when they'd had a game night in the Three Broomsticks. A young woman had joined them, Mina Oliveira, who acted as if she knew Evelyn well enough to speak to her. he hadn't meant the words sarcastically but he probably should have considering the way she'd been when he had met her. She probably went to pubs far more often than Evelyn would like but a new friend could lead to other friends.

Tag; @evelyn

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When Yadiel brought up Mina, Ev couldn't help but smile as she shook her head. "She works at Flourish and Blotts. I met her there once when I went in looking for a book. Other than our game a while ago, I haven't seen her." Ev hesitated. She didn't really dislike Mina. In the bookstore she thought Mina was cool and collected, but after their monopoly game she'd realized there was a whole other side to the girl. Perhaps fun, as her captain stated, but also ... drunk. If she didn't mind doing things with someone that didn't want to get drunk, Ev could see herself doing things with Mina, but otherwise she wasn't really interested. Ev liked being in complete control of herself and her actions at all times. "I ran into a former schoolmate the other day," she commented, hoping that maybe this would help Yadiel worry less about her. "She invited me to go kickboxing with her and I did. It was actually pretty fun." At least, Ev thought it was and Ella had to feel the same, since she was the one who invited Ev in the first place. 

@yadi