hold on to me 'cause I'm a little unsteady
Late, 27th June, 1890 — Tyb’s boarding house
@"Elsie Beauregard"

Everything about the last world cup had come rushing back today. Memories of the match itself had been a blur - he remembered flashes, though perhaps that was mostly the lightning they’d had - but he remembered it had been slaughter out there, remembered trudging out after in the most dismal mood. Remembered Elsie being there, afterwards, flinging her arms round his neck as though she’d been scared she’d never see him again.

Strange how little had changed since then. A lot had, of course, but so much of it felt the same. The difference was they’d won the match this time... although that was only thanks to Lestrange’s seeking, really, and Zavala being the stronger keeper. Tyb had been a waste of space, and it had been just as gruelling, just as hard, and he was just as sore and aching and tired as he remembered being then, only this time he wished he’d had Elsie waiting for him when he made it back to the ground.

The first stop had been the medical tent, this time. The bludgers had really done a number, he felt like he was probably sporting bruises head to toe, never mind the hit to his collarbone that was going to take even more time to heal. And Longbottom had gotten badly hit too, which made things no better: what if the second-string beaters were needed again? Tyb wasn’t sure he’d be ready for the next match. Maybe he was more out of practice than he’d thought.

After the mediwizards had patched him up a bit, plied him with some potions that only seemed to make him more tired and prescribed the expected ‘rest’, as much as he could get, there had been the team celebrations, of course. Truthfully, the only person he really wanted to see was Elsie; they had arranged to risk seeing each other that night, whichever way the match went.

It was late, by the time he got back to the boarding house, climbed the stairs in mindless exhaustion and let himself into his room. Tyb might have passed out on the bed in less than a minute, only Elsie was already here, and sitting on it.

“Hi,” he murmured, thinking she looked a little pale.

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The following 2 users Like Tybalt Kirke's post:2 users Like Tybalt Kirke's post
   Elsie Kirke, Jupiter Smith

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If Elsie had to endure many more matches like that, she'd surely be put in an early grave. Britain had been victorious tonight, to everyone's delight but Elsie's. Of course it was good news that Britain had won today, but after that, she wasn't sure she'd make it through another game like this. Last time it was the lighting, this time the bludgers seemed to have a mind of this own and she felt every hit as if she were taking it herself.

Of course the distraction of Miss Delaney had been unexpected, though not entirely unwelcome, their interaction left Elsie with a fair few questions she'd rather not unpack tonight. No, tonight was a risk, as always, and she didn't want to discuss it now.

Tonight's rendezvous was planned regardless of the outcome and Els had every intention of making sure he was alright and tucking him into bed to sleep off that horrendous match. She of course beat him home, despite having to pry her brothers away from the celebrations and get home and undressed "for bed". She'd waited for the whole house to be quiet before sneaking away magically to curl up in Tyb's bed with a book.

The late hour (and exhaustion from a day full of fretting) must have gotten the better of her, causing her to doze off. The opening of the door startled her into sitting bolt upright, momentarily terrified it wasn't Tyb coming in. Thankfully his murmured greeting put her at ease with that concern before the rest came flooding back. "Do I dare ask how you're feeling?"

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The following 1 user Likes Elsie Kirke's post:1 user Likes Elsie Kirke's post
   Tybalt Kirke

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Exhausted as he was, the split-second sight of her asleep in bed with the open book half-sliding out of her hands was enough to make him smile, though he did flinch reflexively when she startled awake.

“Best not,” Tybalt advised faintly, the corner of his mouth a little taut. He was quite convinced nothing he could say would make her any less worried... and he was, admittedly, not entirely certain how to possibly condense all that adrenaline and triumph and guilt and terror and frustration into one sensible feeling that was not merely tired. He strengthened his own smile for her as he began trying to get his shoes off, though every muscle in his body protested as he leant down to do it. If Elsie hadn’t woken up Tyb suspected he might well have passed out without a moment’s notice, still fully clothed.

Since she was awake, he half-straightened up, pausing to look over at her in lingering concern. “Should I be afraid to ask how you are?” Tyb returned mildly, though even if the match had flown by without mishap he thought she would have suffered through it all the same just in fear of what might happen. Come to think of it, Tybalt wondered how much of this match she had actually seen. Regardless, his gaze softened to a knowing, teasing look. “I see you made it through.”

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The following 1 user Likes Tybalt Kirke's post:1 user Likes Tybalt Kirke's post
   Elsie Kirke

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The scowl that crossed her features was half-hearted, it was hard to be mad at him when nothing was actually his fault, but entire day had been spent worrying and she wasn't going to stop now.

"Oh I'm just ducky, Elsie watched him struggle to take care of his shoes for half a second before moving to help. She'd done enough sitting on the sidelines today. Padding softly across the room, she passed him a wry smile. "I have to admit, I feel fractionally less guilty about you retiring now." At least nothing appeared broken at the moment. Elsie was pretty sure the bruises would be enough to put her over the edge though.

Without really thinking about it, she moved to untie his shoes for him, so all he had to do was step out. "I'm not sure I'll survive the next one. How bad is the damage, actually?" She added as she straightened up, eyeing him carefully. Merlin's beard he really was going to be the death of her one of these days- for a wide variety of reasons.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

He had meant to strike up a protest when she got up and came to help him, but in the time it took to begin to voice it she had somehow already loosened his shoes. Magical. She was magical.

“So am I, to be honest,” Tybalt said with a half-hearted snort, feeling like the quidditch scene was probably better off without him anyway, for all the good he’d done today. The Howlers had won the league now that he wasn’t playing, hadn’t they? He didn’t even have the energy to dwell on it, but he did have a strange crumb of gratitude in his bones now that he had a Ministry career to fall back on. (Well - career was a strong word.)

Stepping out of his shoes, he was able to look at her face-to-face now, up close. Elsie looked almost as pale and tired as he felt. “Apparently all repairable,” Tyb said lightly, desperately wanting to hug her but worried even that would strain his shoulder and worry her with wincing; “except my pride.” He couldn’t even face the thought of the next one yet, in case he ended up having to play again. “I’m sure it looked worse than it was,” he added, hoping that probable lie would do something to reassure her.

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That was a bit of a relief at least. One minor bright spot on the day. If she could just get through this World Cup, maybe her days of being a quidditch fan were over.

Elsie hardly believed him when he said it looked worse. It looked positively brutal, it must have felt far worse to actually be in it. "To be fair, none of the beaters had a great game, according to Harvey anyway." Though apparently Mr. Longbottom was the bigger disappointment. Her brother had been incredibly honest in his appraisals, though had likely spared Elsie's feelings on Tyb, since he knew they were friends. Els hadn't bothered to listen to the commentating much, though had heard quite a few snickers in response to the commentator's quips. She'd been too busy worrying and then distracted by Miss Delaney to really pay him any mind.

"If you're not entirely purple under that shirt, I'd be shocked, so I highly doubt that." She added, eyeing him dubiously. It was the only thing keeping her from wrapping her arms around him and holding on tight, really.

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The following 1 user Likes Elsie Kirke's post:1 user Likes Elsie Kirke's post
   Tybalt Kirke

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MJ always makes her so pretty

“Well, let’s not test that theory,” Tyb replied wryly, shrugging off some of his layers, enough to be comfortable, but without giving Elsie any proof about the bruising. Since she evidently wasn’t going to, and against his better judgement, he reached out to wrap his arms around her in a hug, only a little gingerly - and if the motion made his shoulder twinge he made sure to wince silently when she couldn’t see him, and just hold on in relief, trying not to sway on his feet.

“And tell Harvey I’ll try and do better next time,” Tybalt said over her shoulder, readily able to imagine the tenor of the remarks from the stands, and feeling sorry for Harvey and anyone who’d had to watch that chaos of a match who knew anything about quidditch. (Especially with Elsie nearby; Elsie was not the kind of company best suited to watching quidditch.)

All the same, Tyb had been excited enough to try and finagle that situation for himself before he’d decided to try out or known that he’d been playing. “If there is a next time, anyway. Hopefully next time I’ll be in the stands with you, save you scaring Harvey,” he teased.

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At the hug, Elsie initially froze, but softened into it slowly, wrapping her arms around him as gently as she could. The last thing she wanted to do was aggravate any injuries he wasn't telling her about.

Waving off the comment about Harvey, Elsie simply chuckled. "I think he was rather more upset with Mr. Longbottom." If she'd bothered to listen to him closely during the match, she was sure she'd have heard some colorful language. "I had some different company anyway, she was a pleasant distraction during the match itself." Miss Delaney had done well with putting up with her during the match, though Elsie feared she'd been quite transparent at certain points.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

He’d be lost without her, Tyb thought to himself as Elsie relaxed into the hug and he found that all the day’s tension - in his limbs, mentally, emotionally - was finally beginning to ebb. He was almost too achey to let her go. But that was a problem for a minute or two in the future; for now he would just contentedly breathe in the familiar scent of her hair.

He managed the slightest of snickers at the mention of Longbottom, if only because at least Tybalt hadn’t been alone in his less-than-stellar game. He would think about the game for hours on end still if he were to let herself, so again, it was fortunate that Elsie was here to distract him. There was no one better.

“Different?” Tyb said, pulling back slightly to quirk his eyebrows at her. If different was her having dragged along a friend like Mrs. Keene, he would have to apologise to them for having to do all that distracting to keep Elsie’s heart beating for the duration. “Who? I’ll have to write to thank her for her service, looking after you,” he teased absent-mindedly, hands sliding down to hold her, a little more loosely, about the waist. “Anyway, I’m glad you survived.”

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   Elsie Kirke

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Elsie finally felt at ease again after the hug. There was just something about having him physically against her that could calm her better than anything else. When he eased back though, she could see the clear exhaustion he must be feeling. Though there was nothing more she'd enjoy that curling up in bed with him and chit-chatting about her encounter with Miss Delaney. Elsie rather thought he should get to bed.

"As much as I would love to tell you about it, you need to sleep." She chuckled. Plus she was still kind of mulling over her interaction with the pretty American and just how she felt about her. She'd been perfectly delightful and a wonderful distraction for the match, but Elsie was unsure of how she felt about Tyb being friends with her. She was probably overthinking it as she wouldn't mind being friends with Miss Delaney as well, but she still needed time to sort her own head.

Resting her head against his shoulder again, she squeezed gently. Feeling better meant she could properly fret and bully him to sleep. "Off to bed, Love. Wish I could stay, but I don't want to get us in trouble." Oh how she wished she could stay; they would probably both sleep better, but she couldn't risk it tonight.

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The following 1 user Likes Elsie Kirke's post:1 user Likes Elsie Kirke's post
   Tybalt Kirke

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Well, there: she was definitely herself again. He was still exhausted, but in the comfort of his own room and faced now with the prospect of passing out for hours, he almost felt a second wind, a little spark of awakeness again.

Probably because Elsie was here. “Come on, Els,” he pleaded, “stay for just a minute.” She was here already, so more trouble was unlikely if she got back to her own bedroom eventually; selfishly, Tyb just wanted her company. It was a good distraction from the details of the match, a good distraction from the lingering pain.

Tybalt shuffled onto his bed to prove that he was making some headway towards going to sleep, but he stretched out a hand to beckon her to him as he made himself comfortable. He adjusted his head against the pillow. “Talk to me ‘til I fall asleep.”

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The following 1 user Likes Tybalt Kirke's post:1 user Likes Tybalt Kirke's post
   Elsie Kirke

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It was incredibly hard to argue with him when he was being somewhat reasonable. She chuckled as he crawled into bed, and she absurdly felt like she was tucking a child in for the night, but she wasn't about to put up a fight.

"Just for a little while," She warned, as she perched herself on the edge of his bed. Tucking her legs up and her skirts around her, Elsie rather thought it wouldn't take too long to meet his request. "I met a Miss Delaney today," She circled back to the previous conversation. And while Elsie had enjoyed the American's company, it was hard to ignore the curiosity that popped up in regards to her acquaintance with Tyb.

"She seemed to know you rather well?" Green was not a good color for Elsie, but she couldn't help it.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

He grinned a daft grin when she agreed, glad that she was getting comfortable perched there but also wishing she was a little closer.

And wishing that all his limbs didn’t feel like lead, as he tucked an arm underneath his head to listen. “Oh, Caroline?!” Tyb exclaimed brightly, not having expected Miss Delaney’s name to be the one to come up in the least, but too tired to think much else of it.

Elsie sounded a little doubtful, but she had said she’d been a pleasant distraction, which meant - well, he wasn’t sure what that meant. Had they made friends? Hopefully they’d gotten along. Well, ought they be friends? He wasn’t sure. Hopefully Miss Delaney hadn’t... Tybalt had to let out a pre-emptive laugh thinking about it, not certain whether he should be nervous or amused. “Merlin, she didn’t tell you how we met, did she?”

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"Caroline is it?" Elsie's eyebrows raised comically high, head quirked to the side. That was an awfully informal way to address a woman she didn't know he was acquainted with. She was sort-of teasing him though. They'd had their ups and downs, but she also knew that any jealousy she was feeling was ridiculous at best and entirely misplaced.

Making herself a little more comfortable on his bed, as he was now obligated to tell her the story he brought up, she leaned against him, the opposite of what she should be doing. "She did not, but now you have to." She chuckled, looking at him with wide, expectant blue eyes.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

“That’s her name,” Tyb said, just as teasing in return. He needn’t be defensive about it; she was only joking, and although she might be surprised by the friendship - to be fair, it wasn’t the most usual - he doubted there was anything more in her reaction.

Still, as she settled in beside him, Tybalt did half wish they were doing something other than discussing Caroline Delaney. He would have kissed her if he didn’t think even leaning that far in would reawaken the pain in his shoulder, so he settled - a little disgruntled - for curling his hand around her arm, glad she was staying.

And less glad she wanted that story. Not that he didn’t mind fashioning funny stories out of making a fool of himself, but the memory of meeting Miss Delaney was tinged, at the edges, with a context he didn’t much like going back to - back then he’d never have thought Elsie would ever be here again. There was also the fact that he hadn’t mentioned Miss Delaney to her before, and the fact that he had told her - well, told her about them, though he hadn’t brought Elsie’s name into it. But they had kept this so secret for so long... and he’d gone and blabbed to a girl he’d hardly known. If Elsie didn’t think he was stupid already, that might do it.

And never mind what they’d already discussed today during the match together. He winced at the thought. “Nah, I can’t, it’s too ridiculous even for me,” Tyb implored with a groan, backtracking as Elsie looked at him so expectantly. “We’re good friends now. And it was ages ago, and she’s probably forgotten it, so.” Well, that was a lie; Miss Delaney would not let him live it down. But Elsie too?

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The following 2 users Like Tybalt Kirke's post:2 users Like Tybalt Kirke's post
   Caroline Darrow, Elsie Kirke

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Feeling the day wearing on her physically, Elsie, against her better judgement laid down and curled up next to him. It was tough not to do so when they so rarely got the be close like this. All she wanted to do was get under the covers and snuggle in for the night, but she knew that was not an option. Merlin she could not wait until it was their every night though.

Passing him a pretty pout when he declined to share the story, Els wanted to tease him about chatting with another girl, but couldn't bring herself to. Not that she didn't trust him, jealousy had gotten them nowhere in the past, but it was more like she had been the one causing trouble in that department- unintentionally of course, but she felt a little guilty still. "If you say so," She hummed out quietly, just a hint of disbelief to her tone. "She only had good things to say, of course." There really wasn't anything bad to say about Tyb anyway.

"We may find time for tea at some point in the future, apparently she lives near to the library." Pretty much all of London was easy to access from the library though.

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MJ always makes her so pretty