Take a Little Time; Walk a Little Line (Maria)

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Maria smirked just a little, and couldn't help but feel proud of herself for getting Tatiana to shake her hand back. There was still a trace of that same dumbfounded expression from earlier but the younger girl looked slightly more at ease now. Good, Maria didn't wanted the other girl to be completely frazzle brained.

While Maria didn't enjoy playing sports that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the view. She also knew the sport well enough from Elias to know the rules and purpose of the game. "You'll have to let me know when you're practicing, I'm an excellent cheerleader." She suggested, though the way she was speaking made it sound like she wouldn't being called on any other time though. "What position do you play?" She asked, the next natural question for their current topic. She wanted to keep Tania talking though, because the more she talked the more comfortable she'd become.

@tatiana

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One thing about Maria was that she never seemed to notice when Tatiana said something awkward; either that, or she simply didn’t care. Regardless, Tania was thankful that Maria’s attention hadn’t been drawn to her embarrassing slip of the tongue.

“You'll have to let me know when you're practicing,” Maria told her, and she said that she was “an excellent cheerleader”.

That last comment got a laugh from Tania, who nodded in agreement. “Okay,” she replied.

Maria asked what position she played, and Tania couldn’t help her eyes from lighting up. “I play Beater.” She smiled and then noted, “I’m small enough to play Seeker, but hitting back Bludgers is more fun.”

@maria

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Maria grinned as Tania laughed. Finally! A laugh! Progress in the right direction. "You have a nice laugh." Maria complimented, lowering her voice so it was soft and whispery, to where she almost sounded... awed by the sound. Shifting, Maria turned just a little on the ground, so she was facing Tatiana more head on, her body language making it clear that Tania had her full and undivided attention. As she went on to explain that she played Beater, Maria's eyes widened just a touch with genuine surprise. "Beater?" She repeated, making sure she'd heard correctly. Well, Maria wouldn't have ever guessed that! Maybe there was a bit more fire somewhere in this shy creature. Now how to bring out that fire. "Well, you're full of surprises aren't you?" She slowly and thoughtfully added with a smile.

Running her fingers through her hair, Maria smiled. "So you mentioned siblings? Two sisters and a brother? Older or younger?" Yes, Maria technically didn't want to talk about her family, but Tania had already made it clear that her siblings were a safe topic for her.

@tatiana

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Maria told her that she had a nice laugh, and Tania couldn’t remember if she had ever been told that before. Maybe she had, but it didn’t matter; there was something about how Maria said it, with her voice so… soft. She watched as the older girl shifted how she was sitting so that the two of them were closer to facing one another.

“Beater?” She sounded nearly shocked. The position required a great deal of strength, which probably seemed strange for a short girl two years below her, Tania thought. “Well, you're full of surprises aren't you?”

Tania shook her head. She didn’t think that she was a very surprising person, but maybe to Maria she was. To her? “You seem like the mysterious one,” she admitted, giggling with nervousness. But that was probably because they were both foreigners to one another; they each found the other strange. (Not that being strange was a bad thing, of course. Tania could hardly take her eyes off of Maria.)

“So you mentioned siblings? Two sisters and a brother?” Maria had a good memory. Tania nodded. “Older or younger?”

“Older,” she confirmed, “all of them. My sisters are in their sixth year and seventh year, and my brother graduated last year and plays Quidditch professionally now.” It was odd to think that, someday soon, she would be the only Krum left at Hogwarts. She had some time before then, however. “You?”

@maria

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Maria forced her smile to soften and her shoulders to shrug as Tania called her mysterious. Yes, she was. To most people. Maria rarely divulged her 'secrets' to anyone. But Tania didn't need to know that. "Mysterious? Hardly, Compared to you I'm terribly boring." Again, turning it back to Tania like the entire conversation. The giggle was absolutely adorable though and made Maria's smile grow back into a grin.

The older girl nodded as Tania talked about her family, tucking away the information in case she needed it again. "So you're the youngest." Obviously, but the question would hopefully keep Tania talking. "That must have been exciting, growing up with so many older siblings." She added. As that single worded question was asked in return Maria forced herself to shrug. "Alas, I'm an only child." she sighed dramatically, intentionally making it sound 'dreadfully boring' being an only child. As if there wouldn't be much to really say about it.

@tatiana

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“Mysterious?” Maria said, apparently disbelieving how very interesting she was, at least in Tania's eyes. She said that it was “hardly” the case; in comparison to her, she was “terribly boring”.

Tania wasn't going to go back and forth about which one of them was the more interesting person; really, she was inclined to believe that Maria might have been right about her. Maybe she was interesting. She didn't know what made her that way, but maybe she would find out.

“So you're the youngest.”

“Yeah.”

“That must have been exciting, growing up with so many older siblings.” Was it? Tania was curious now. It had always been completely normal to her, yet Maria shrugged and said that, “alas,” she was an only child, sighing after she spoke.

“I guess it was—is—interesting?” Tania replied, considering it further. “I can't imagine life without my siblings,” she shared. She had always been close to them, but her anxiety had made her dynamic with them… different. “Sometimes,” she admitted, “I feel like they don't treat me like I'm sixteen.” It was understandable when she was in the midst of a panic attack that Irina would try to help her through it, but, nevertheless, “It's nice to talk to someone who doesn't think of me as a first-year…”

@maria

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Maria nodded as Tania spoke about not being able to imagine life without her siblings. Maria couldn't understand that fully, but she had Elias. He was the closest thing she had to a brother, their relationship much closer than typical cousins. But that relationship hadn't started until first year. Before then... Well, there wasn't really anyone that Maria couldn't imagine life without. Everyone was expendable. "I'm jealous." She smiled, only half meaning it but sounding genuine.

As Tatiana went on though, Maria tilted her head, letting strands of hair fall into her face. "Then why don't you show them?" She slowly asked, a subtle sultry edge to her voice. Just a hint of Maria suggesting her interest in the younger girl. Maria rolled to her feet and held a hand down to Tania, offering to help her up. "Prove to them that you aren't a 'first year', and can take care of yourself. Act the way you want them to treat you." She went on to suggest. While her words sounded completely motivational, there was still that subtle hint. That there was definitely one way to prove to her siblings that she wasn't a child anymore.

@tatiana
(maybe one more each then end? I don't want Maria to push Tania too much this first meeting I want Maria to mostly make Tania comfortable enough around her that in the next one she can push a little more.)

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“Then why don't you show them?”

Tania had never thought about it that way before. She had thought about what she could do to change things, but nothing had seemed so possible before Maria had said it. There was no way of changing that she was “the baby” of the family, though that didn't mean that she needed to be babied.

Getting to her feet, Maria offered out her hand. “Prove to them that you aren't a 'first year', and can take care of yourself. Act the way you want them to treat you.”

It was true that she hadn't been helping her case, Tania realized. All three of her siblings had significant others, while she hadn't even had a date to the Yule Ball. She nodded as she took Maria's hand, smiling as she stood up again. “Yeah,” she agreed. “You're right.”

Having Maria as a life coach would have been nice, Tania thought; the older girl was full of good advice. Somehow, though, “life coach” didn't seem good enough. There was something undeniably magnetic about Maria, and Tania liked the way it felt.

“Maria,” she began, “maybe I'll see you around?” She hoped that she would. The school wasn't that large.

@maria

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Maria made her to squeeze Tania's hand as the younger girl took it, just enough to make it clear that she was there for her, but not to hard. Maria also made sure to match that smile with her own. "I'll just say that I'm sure they'll love you being yourself." And if they did, screw them. But Maria made sure to hold that part back. She didn't want to come off as too aggressive right now. She'd scare the girl off.

Maria hadn't released the girl's hand yet, instead still holding it firmly as she mentioned seeing her around. Oh, most definitely. Rather then respond immediately Maria lifted Tania's hand to her lips and lightly planted a kiss just over her knuckles. Only then did Maria release the captive hand and take a step back. "I hope I see you around too, Tatiana." She made sure to let her accent, her brazilian accent, come through strong as she said Tania's full name, the sound rolling off her tongue as if it were butter.

With that, Maria left, smiling at this interesting new development in her life.

@tatiana
(eeeeeend <3)