#7 Gobstones [OPEN]

On days like today with no classes the castle seemed to be busy and swarmed with students.
Reena did not feel like visiting the library yet was looking for a quiet spot for herself to muse about the latest events.

Why had the minister himself invited students to have tea with?
Why had her brother Jaxen be chosen?

It was rather exciting and confusing and- if Reena was being honest- she not only burned for answers to those two questions but also to a question she tried not to think too loudly: Why had she not been chosen?

The Alcove Courtyard was supposed to be her retreat for this afternoon yet she found it occupied by a fifth year Ravenclaw, Swallow or something was his name.

She was about to turn and leave when she noticed the gobstones laid out in front of him.
A game could help take her mind off of things.

Reena threw her hair back and approached the boy sitting on his own with half a game, cleared her throat and asked with a smile:
“May I have this game?“

It took a moment for Mathias to realise someone was talking to him, as he was engrossed in his book and hadn't expected someone to actually want to play a game with him. Bookmarking his page without looking, he glanced at the somewhat familiar Slytherin student. Was she serious? Oh, it looked like she was!

'Of course.' Mathias grinned, setting aside his book so he didn't seem rude. 'You're Jaxen's sister, right? Nice to meet you - I'm Mathias.'

Ever the properly-raised pureblood, he reached across the table to offer his hand for her to shake. He felt he'd covered it well that he couldn't remember her name, but hoped she'd fill him in. Though she probably knew his surname, he avoided saying it - not in the mood to deal with how famous his family was.

He set up the game, glad to have kept his gobstones in a little pouch rather than have to spend forever fishing them out of his pockets. He smiled at her again, happy to have someone to keep him company while he passed the time.

'All right, all set.' Mathias realised he should probably go first, since it was his idea to play. Or was he sitting in the player one seat? Who knows, but he may as well start.

He steadied his aim, partially glad Nyx wasn't around to realise he had good game or might kidnap him to try-out for the team or something. He thought it with amused fondness, then remembered he was supposed to NOT be thinking about Nyx right now.

He flicked the gobstone, hoping it landed where he'd intended it to. It was hard to tell, since he'd adjusted his aim at the last second. 

She perked up at the mention of her brother, although it was unsurprising that Jaxen's dorm mate would bring that up, she was happy to be recognized for anything. Of course she would be only Jaxen's sister to his house friends.

"Yes, I'm Reena. Pleasure meeting you, Mathias.", she said while taking the hand offered to her with an appropriatly firm grip.

Settling at the opposing site, she got out her own gobstones so they could get the game started. There was a small pause in which she waited for Mathias to make the first move and took the time to look at him.
Not that it would help her to know where he was aiming exactly as this was the first move and she could not change anything about it anyway...
Reena did notice however that he had a temporarily distracted look on his pretty face.

Oh.
He did score quite well and she thought about knocking his stone out already but settled with trying to get her own pieces in first and start an attack on his points later.

She took aim and flicked her gobstone onto the field.

"Did you talk to Jaxen at lunch?", she inquired in a casual tone after her turn.

And there her mind was back again at the topic of her brother and what the minister was talking about with him at probably this very moment.

Reena. Good, now he just had to remember it this time. Jaxen had a few siblings, so he couldn't really be at fault for forgetting now and again who was who. It wasn't as if they stayed up late chatting, though Mathias wasn't sure why. Maybe they should do that more often, not just for studying or to relax in the common room sometimes? That would be nice.

'Uh...' He pretended to be busy lining up his next shot, rather than shamefully not being able to remember who he talked to during lunch. Had Jaxen been one of them? Merlin, he was awful. Couldn't remember names or who he talked to? Mathias needed to reevaluate his social life, though it wasn't as if he usually had much of one until more recently.

In answer to Reena, he merely shrugged. That could be a yes or no. He had heard about the afternoon tea thing of course, but Mathias was too distracted with other things. He had a bad habit of that, apparently.

He flicked his gobstone, hoping he got a better spot this time to help him hang in there until he could correct his aim. Mathias glanced at Reena, realising she was in his sister Adeline's class. Different house, but still. He considered asking how she was, but decided against it. He knew it could suck sometimes to only be known for your siblings or family, rather than yourself. So he picked something more focused on Reena.

'Are you enjoying Halloween?' he asked, as the best topic he could think of. He definitely used to be better at this. 'I'm looking forward to the feast, of course, but all this free time is great for catching up on things. I know most people like to just chill out by the lake though. That's good too, I suppose.' Mathias shrugged, feeling hopeless but at least he'd tried.

Mathias took a while to respond to her question about her brother, busy lining up his gobstones for his next move. When he finally shrugged, Reena arched an eyebrow.
Did he not know if he had talked to Jax or not? Or did he simply not want to converse with her?
Ravenclaws were so weird sometimes...

She looked at the field infront of her, displeased with the result of her turn, yet not about to let it show as Mathias was doing his second move.
His stone ended up on her end and she started to line up her stones with a slight smile when he picked up the conversation the conversation again.

"Yeah. A holiday like this slows the pace down a bit", she said.

Reena did not let it show but she appreciated to be asked about herself rather than about her brother which was a tad unexpected coming from someone who was probably something akin to friends with Jaxen.
She decided not to ask more about the tea with the minister, Mathias did not seem to know more than her anyway.

"Although the castle seems to be more crowded during the day without classes."

She took a moment to concentrate on her aim before flicking her next stone onto the field. Perhaps she should start to aim for his stone in the centre.

"Are you playing gobstones a lot?", she asked, looking up and smiling.
No matter how this ended-perhaps they could have a rematch later. She was fond of the idea of rematches although she did not always take the time to play games with her trying to stay on top of her classes and check on the younger Ashworths.

Mathias watched her move carefully, though where it ended up was both good and bad for him. Her aim was good, just a bit off-center. He wasn't doing as well as he'd hoped, but at least she wasn't completely crushing him.

Wait, had she said something? He missed the first part. Something about holidays slowing something? Mathias wasn't sure he agreed with that, but merely shrugged. Everyone had different interests and goals on days like this.

'Yeah, I've been avoiding some more crowded areas like the Main Corridor or Courtyard,' he said. 'The feast will be awesome though. I'm hoping to catch up with people then.' Mathias steadied his aim, though put less concentration into it now it was apparent he kind of sucked at the game.

He flicked his gobstone and just hoped for the best.

'Uh, no - I haven't played it much.' Mathias paused, visualising a complicated conversation flowchart in effort to backtrack what she'd just said. 'Wait, were you asking if I played a lot or if I'm spending a lot of my afternoon here playing?' 

Ugh. Merlin's beard, she kept missing the centre. It put a slight damper on her enjoiyment of the game yet she did not let it show. She still had three stones to shoot and turn the game around.

Mathias fared better eventhough he appeared to be distracted or absentminded.

Reena nodded along to his words about the feast. Did he mean he would catch up with her brother? It was what she intended to do. Jax would not go and not tell her everything about what had happened with the minister.
Then again- she could always ask Lindsey Bryce or Elisabeth Doren later in the common room and get their insights.

She watched as Mathias landed yet again closer to the centre than her and decided to aim for one of his stones. May get herself into the actual centre after all.

"I guess both?, she said while taking aim again.
There was something about the way he had asked that struck her as likeable.

"If you beat me I will have to ask for a rematch after all"
There was a hint of laughter in her voice saying that.

She finally flicked her stone and watched in anticipation if it landed where she had intended.