Chapter 102: Marcus Belby, Deal of Friendship! (2/2)
Then there was Eddie, who had started playing and practicing Quidditch because he wanted to get a girlfriend. Eddie was a person who got dialed in when motivated, he devoted so much time and effort to Quidditch that if one was told the real reason behind his actions, they wouldn't believe it.
Of course, Marcus and Quinn knew about Eddie's ultra-competitive nature from their early days of friendship. Eddie liked to win and succeed, and when he didn't win, he would get upset, but instead of throwing a tantrum, Eddie would try again to see if he could win.
Quinn and Eddie had been playing the card game Concentration for three years, and despite not winning a single time, Eddie would challenge Quinn regularly. Even after losing for three years, Eddie's competitiveness didn't let him back down.
Eddie was so competitive that he even challenged Quinn at magic. The two would often play the magical game of Tug-of-Accio. In the game, two to more people would simultaneously cast an Accio spell on an object. The objective of the game was to pull the target object towards them. And the one who was able to get the target object near them would win.
Despite knowing that Quinn was better at magic, Eddie would often initiate a game, trying to defeat Quinn at magic, which for obvious reasons never panned out. But that didn't stop Eddie from time and time challenging Quinn. Such was Eddie's personality.
”You have magic. You love it so much, we all knew that just after a few days of our meeting in the first year. The time you put in just shows how much you love it. Even Eddie is dialed in on Quidditch and won't leave his broom in his free time. That always-wants-to-win idiot won't stop till he makes it to the team,” sighed Marcus, looking into his lap and whispering in a downtrodden tone. ”Only, I have nothing to do. I don't feel passionate about stuff like you guys do. And, well...” he paused because it affected him a lot. ”... I feel left out. Like I am wasting my time and that you guys are going to leave me behind.”
Marcus looked up from his lap and saw Quinn staring at him with wide eyes. Immediately, Marcus thought he had made Quinn would feel uncomfortable and felt embarrassed because of it.
He was about to speak up, but Quinn interjected. ”Marcus, do you remember my sister, Lia? You met her at Hogsmeade, remember?”
Marcus blinked at the question and silently nodded for the reply.
”You see, my sister travels a lot, like, a whole lot. She travels almost the entire year and goes to different parts of the world. One week she would be in Europe and the next week in Australia,” spoke Quinn, but Marcus wasn't following where Quinn was going with this. ”But you see, my sister doesn't decide where she goes. My grandfather decides where she is deployed, and he still sends her away. He's been doing that for a couple of years. Can you guess why he does that?”
Marcus silently shook his head. He barely knew Quinn's sister; he had no idea what Quinn's grandfather was like.
”My grandfather is trying to make Lia experience new and different things. He keeps sending her to different places to handle business, and while a representative is needed to communicate between countries, there is no need to send Lia as much as he has been sending her.”
Quinn beamed as he continued.
”My grandfather knows Lia quite well. He knows that if you give Lia new and exciting things, she will try to find more things about them and see what it's all about. So by sending her to different countries that are different from ours, he stimulates Lia's curiosity by introducing her new experiences.”
Marcus listened as Quinn spoke, and he felt like he understood what Quinn was talking about, though it was out of his reach.
”Eddie's character will make him pursue things just because he wants to win, but nobody knows how long he will keep doing things that way. He might get bored and drop them to pursue other interests. You say that you don't have anything you are passionate about. And I will tell you this, neither is Eddie. I think the reason Eddie does all these different things and tries to succeed is that he is trying to find something that clicks with him.”
Marcus saw Quinn raise his hand and bring it near him (Marcus) to repeatedly poke his chest.
”The only difference between you and Eddie is that he tries all kinds of things and tries to get better at them. Eddie is trying to find something he enjoys, and he has already found one thing. He enjoys playing games, and that might not be something of importance, but it is still something Eddie clearly enjoys. Marcus, if you want to find something that clicks with you have to do new things.”
Quinn then placed his hand on his own chest and continued.
”Yes, I love magic, and that is good for me, hurray! But don't you think I spend too much time on it. Look at the three of us. You and Eddie hang out and have fun while I am alone doing who knows what?”
Pointed out Quinn, and Marcus felt surprised to hear Quinn speak like this.
”I spend so much time on magic that I have barely any time left for other things. I love to play violin and piano, but because I spend so much time in the library in the A.I.D office, and practicing magic, I haven't played my violin for weeks, closer to a month, and that sucks! Then there is the piano which calms me down. And I haven't touched the keys for so long. I can't spend enough time with you guys. I miss so many things that you two do; many times, I don't understand the inside jokes and then realize that I didn't understand them because I missed things, yet again, and that sucks! I know it sucks, and despite that, I don't try to manage my time better.”
Marcus felt more and more surprised as Quinn mockingly chuckled at himself.
”You and I aren't that much different, you know? While you haven't tried to explore new things to see what makes you interested, I have wrapped myself in this thing so tightly that I haven't tried something new in a long while and am losing touch with things that I did earlier. Sure, I learn new magics, and it is so much fun for me. And while that might be seen as doing new things, to me personally, it is the same thing: magic is magic no matter what the branch. And my own view is what matters at the end.”
Marcus didn't know that Quinn felt like this about himself. The Quinn that Marcus knew was always prepared, confident; a person who commanded any room and company of people he was among. A person who had everything figured out and had his life set.
But now, here he was listening to Quinn vent about things that he didn't know existed a few minutes back.
And while Marcus knew that he should feel sympathetic for his friend, Marcus felt good. Quinn sharing all this made Marcus feel close to him. It made Quinn someone who wasn't flying miles above him, but someone who was right beside him.
”So step out of that comfort zone and try to do new things. Out in the wide world, many unique, intriguing, entertaining, mind-opening things exist. It is a complete waste and pity if you don't try them out. You only live once, Marcus, and it isn't too late to try them. Seriously. If you don't have something you aren't passionate about, then find things, try them out. I guarantee that you will find something that suits you, something that will feel like it was made especially for you.”
Quinn suddenly and abruptly stood up and stared down at the surprised Marcus.
”Let's make a promise. No, a deal. As long as you try out new things without worry, I will try to get out the bind I have trapped myself in and get myself back to try things, both old and new.”
Marcus felt his heart beat faster and felt his blood boil with enthusiasm as he stood up. He grabbed and shook Quinn's hand tightly as if the firm grip signified the sincerity of his determination and commitment to this deal with Quinn.
”Deal?” questioned Quinn, staring into Marcus's that now showed seemingly boundless energy.
”Deal!” affirmed Marcus, smiling a curve from the bottom of his heart.
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- (Omake: Two Weirdos) -
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Eddie Carmichael entered the Ravenclaw common room after performing maneuvers he deemed necessary to be in a Chaser's arsenal after an intense session of flying around Hogwarts.
'Ah, my chest hurts,' groaned Eddie as he stepped inside, and the first thing he saw with his tired eyes were his two roommates staring at each other with passionate eyes and ardent smiles on their faces, their hands locked in a handshake as they stood in the smack dab middle of the Ravenclaw room.
He stood there for half a minute, staring at his roommates, but they didn't move or break the handshake.
”What the hell are these two weirdos doing?”
But looking at them didn't give him answers, and he was exhausted. So Eddie acted like he didn't know them and walked past them to his dorm room.
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Quinn West - MC - ”Marcus!”
Marcus Belby - A deal of friendship - ”Quinn!”
Eddie Carmichael - Grinding hard - ”I am too tired for this shit...”
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