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 Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:48 pm
Remus winced on Wendy's behalf as she dropped from the trapdoor and most likely popped her kneecap out of place and popped it back in again. But she seemed alright with destroying her knees before their time, a luxury he couldn't afford; if he had dropped from that height, he probably would have been embarrassingly injured. "I'll help," he offered, his want to help balancing carefully with his want to be away from her brothers' accusing looks for as long as possible.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:59 pm
Wendy smiled at him, then the two of them went about the relatively uninteresting business of setting the table, made difficult only by the fact that they had to be around the obnoxiously delicious-looking Christmas dinner her brothers had prepared and not eat it. Then they sat down at the table with the rest of the Riverses and started passing everything around.
"Looks delicious, you guys!" Wendy said appreciatively, shovelling some potatoes on her plate.
"Thanks," said Sam, smiling. Wendy passed the potatoes to Remus on her left side then wrapped both her arms around one of Sam's on her right, cuddling up to him as though he were a giant teddy bear (which, in her mind, was exactly what he was).
"Happy Christmaaaaaasssssss Sammyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!" she cooed. He chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Happy Christmaaaaaasssssss Wendyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!" he said goofily, rubbing his nose against hers. He then remembered that they had a guest and cleared his throat loudly, returning to his food. Wendy giggled lightly, noting the slight blush in her oldest brother's face. She didn't get a lot of chances to embarrass her older brothers, but whenever she did it was so worth it.
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:06 pm
Remus snorted into his potatoes, but otherwise made no comment toward Sam and Wendy's impromptu cuddle. He looked up at Wendy's father, remembering his manners. "Thank you again for allowing me to come for the holiday, Mr. Rivers," he said politely whilst subtly trying to engage Wendy in a game of footsie under the table.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:20 pm
Wendy kept her head facing her plate to hide the smirk that was growing on her face as she accepted Remus's footsie challenge.
Mr. Rivers smiled at Remus appreciatively. "It's a pleasure to have you with us!" he said, even though Wendy had to wonder how he would even know, having seen Remus exactly twice since he'd arrived.
"Yeah, definitely lots of pleasure going on between those two," Finn said with a rogueish wink. Wendy merely rolled her eyes and her father silenced him with a soft, "Finn, not at the dinner table."
"Well, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but, Remus mate, I'll admit I'm curious... exactly why did your parents let you away on Christmas Day?" asked Sam. Wendy looked up at him to make sure that there was no malicious intent - there wasn't. She smiled at him. She could always count on him to be a gentlemen when it counted.
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:32 pm
Remus felt a small amount of heat zip up his neck and settle over his cheekbones as he gave Wendy a little nudge with his toes and thought about Sam's question. He didn't particularly want sympathy, but...well, he had to vent his frustrations somehow before he exploded, and Sam had asked for it!
"Well, my parents...uh...well...you see...at home...there've been..." he huffed impatiently as he was unable to find the words. "Okay, basically, this is the gist: My mum's a jerk, and my dad understands that and let me get out of the house before I shot myself." He nodded to himself, satisfied with his explanation, and took another bite of potatoes.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:42 pm
Wendy looked up from her food to give Remus a half-shocked half-sympathetic look, but it only lasted a few seconds - her brothers had always hated to be pitied, so she'd basically grown up thinking it was some sort of low insult. When she nudged his foot back it was softer than she'd originally intended it, though. Almost like a caress.
Sam's brow furrowed as he chewed on his turkey. Then he nodded. "Hm." He seemed a bit awkward, as though thinking he shouldn't have asked that, but he let the matter rest.
It was quiet for a while.
"So, did you get anything of note for Christmas?" Wendy asked in a feeble attempt to lighten the atmosphere. "I mean, besides what I got you?" Stupid Sam... he would have to open up the conversation like that, wouldn't he?
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:50 pm
Remus smiled in a polite way that showed there was no harm done. He then turned to Wendy's question, pumped both fists into the air as if he had just won a marathon race. "I got socks!" He gave her a goofy grin and raised his eyebrows at her while he wiggled his toes against Wendy's. Then, as if it were truly impressive, he added: "And I'm wearing those bad boys right now." It was easier than turning red and saying no, he hadn't gotten anything of note for Christmas because he had no money, as per usual.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:54 pm
Wendy and her brothers laughed.
"Oh, tell me they're argyle! Can't go wrong with argyle!" said Finn.
"Mismatched argyle is the way to be!" Wendy said, prodding Remus's foot. "Argyle is cool but wearing two different argyle socks boosts the awesome level about 600%. And that is a fact!"
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:57 pm
Remus put one hand over his eyes, and leaned that elbow on the table as his entire face turned red and he fought not to laugh his arse off. "They're argyle!" he announced before completely losing it to laughter for the second time that day. "But, like I said, they're new, so they aren't mismatched yet. Eventually one will get lost and then I'll have argyle and a solid color," he said matter-of-factly.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:05 pm
Wendy and her brothers busted out laughing, and even Mr. Rivers gave a few chuckles. "Most - hehe! - excellent!" she giggled, clutching her stomach.
"Jude's wearing mismatched argyle!" Finn announced after a quick glance beneath the tablecloth. "Jude wins!"
Jude shook his head, chuckling.
"Wait, wait, but Wendy is, too," said Sam. "We'll have to have a color tie-breaker - what colors does Jude have on?"
"Grey and red," said Finn.
"All right, Wendy's got green and blue. Remus, quick, who wins?" asked Sam.
Wendy shamelessly nudged both Remus's feet with both of hers. "You'd better pick me!" she said through her laughter.
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:10 pm
Remus, suddenly put on the spot, froze. Even his face froze, in quite the comical appearance as well. "Uh...well..." he stammered uselessly for several moments, trying to decide whether or not to side with the girl he was trying to impress or the cool older guys that he wanted to impress.
Well, they can't kiss you...
"It's Christmas, so Wendy wins!" he decided at lightning-speed before ducking under the table for protection.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:21 pm
Finn groaned and tossed a balled-up napkin at Remus while Wendy and Sam cheered, and Jude and Wendy's dad just laughed.
"Wendy Rivers, how does it feel to be the winner of the first ever Argyle Sock Competition?" Sam asked in his best reporter voice. Wendy pretended to get choked up and emotional.
"Well, this is... it's just such a big achievement in my life... and all the hard work I've put into this... it's just... there's no words for it, really! And I just want to thank my good friend Remus, because without him none of this would've been possible!" She promptly dissolved into fake sobs as her brothers applauded her heartfelt speech.
"Hahahaha, you said it all, Wendy girl, you said it all," Sam chuckled, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
"All right, pipe down, then. You may have forgotten, but we are at the dinner table," Mr. Rivers said quietly, but he was smiling good-naturedly around at them all.
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:16 pm
"Congratulations, Wendy," he muttered from under the table. Remus, realizing that goofy fun time was over now, also realized that it was time to get out from under the table and be a civilized gentleman again. Now, if only he could get up without embarrassing himself. He would have to meneuvre it carefully.... Yes, almost in a crouch and so far not an irritating creak or pop! So far so good.... Okay, almost up....
Pop.
Ehhh, my spine!
Remus pushed himself forcibly up into his chair again, stubbornly refusing to pull a face even when he was pretty sure that he had dislocated half of his spine.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:22 pm
Wendy was returning to her dinner when she heard a Pop! that seemed to issue from Remus. She gave him a confused and slightly concerned look. "All right?" she asked as he reasserted himself in his chair.
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:37 pm
Remus turned red and stared at his plate until the blush went away. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied easily, and forced a laugh. "Sometimes I'm half-convinced my dad did some weird voodoo to switch our bones around, leaving him with the better deal; I swear I'll have arthritis before I'm twenty." He then grinned to show that he was being sarcastic (though not entirely about to throw that possibility out the window). "I think the blokes back home - well, I mean, at Hogwarts - have a book running on when I go gray."
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