I'll be Beating You!

(Um, yeah....as much as I'd love to write a detailed description of each rippling curve on James' wet body in the shower....I think I'll skip ahead a bit.)

James shielded his eyes with one arm as he stepped from the darkened stadium tunnel into the bright light of a risen sun. He had left his firebolt and gear locked up in the men's locker room. He could retrieve it during evening practice. Just wasn't practical for all that gear to accompany him to a luncheon.

As James waited for the rest of the team, he idly hoped that they would all be wearing muggle clothing. He was sick of all the same old wizarding places for a bite to eat and a drink. James thought it would be interesting to explore the nearby muggle city and see what the place had to offer.

(I'm smelling some interesting muggle/wizard interactions on the horizon.....)

((damn. XD ))

Jack had mastered the quick shower. She was never one to be prompt, and had often been running behind, so taking a quick shower had become a most. She dressed in her clothes from practice, but quickly transfigured the gym shorts into jeans, the Quidditch shirt into a tank top, and she conjured up a hoodie.

She had finished quick enough to scrawl out her measurements, track down the coach, give him the information, and thank him for allowing her to try out and accepting her.

Jack left the coach's office and jogged over to James. She still had her duffle bag, which sported her Gryffindor emblem. She waved her wand and the whole thing disappeared, along with her broom. They'd show up back at home.

She glanced up at James, unable to contain the grin on her face. "Where we going?"

James was sitting on a concrete slab, waiting for the others, when Jack came out. She was the first, and hopefully the others would not be far behind. He knew that Vance would take the longest.

"Well," James replied, reclining back with his fingers linking behind his head, "I was thinking of a change of pace for once. We usually apparate to the Leaky or spin by one of the restaurants in Diagon Alley, however I thought today we should check out what Falmouth has to offer. I know that there are some wizards living in the town, but I believe it has a fair amount of muggles as well, so we'd have to be inconspicuous..."

James trailed off as he witnessed Laurie coming out in his wizards robes. James sighed out of exasperation. They should know by now that they are supposed to come out of the stadium in muggle clothing as a precaution. He knew that when muggles laid eyes on the stadium, they saw a heavily guarded prison, however he was unsure as to how far that image extended. Did it extend to the parking lot? James wasn't sure.

"Laurie, shouldn't you be dressed in something more appropriate?" James asked in an unconcerned way, though giving Laurie a hard look.

Laurie looked down at himself and gave a bit of a startled jump, as though he had been wearing muggle attire only seconds ago, only to look down to see wizard's robes.

"Sorry, James!" he cried, turning to head back into the stadium, " 'Fraid I plumb forgot!"

James shook his head in a weary way, and waved off the man's apologies.

"Oh, right," James said, remembering Jack, "Suppose that would be something important for you to know. I know that during games, wizards will show up in wizarding attire. Though they are heavily encouraged to wear muggle attire, many do not, because; security measures are raised so much during games, that little notice is put into the matter. Between games when we are only practicing, however; security measures are at their bare minimum, so players and anyone else visiting the stadium are required to wear muggle clothing. We usually don't pay much attention to this rule in the morning, as when we arrive it is often still fairly dark, and it'd be hard to see us anyways. When practice is over and daylight is fully upon us, however...."

James trailed off, certain that Jack got the point.

(Now you get to help me come up with the muggle outfits for everyone. Laurie, for instance, probably isn't the most experienced as dressing as a muggle... )

James looked up at Jack, informing her of his plan for the team's night out to get a drink to celebrate her contract. Muggle bars were familiar to her, as she and Nemo got into too many scrapes. When you started mouthing off in a wizarding bar, you didn't have to deal with two fists. You typically had a dozen wands.

Ahhh... It brought back memories of her first night out with Nemo. Which had led to a giant bar fight. Which led to both Nemo's eviction, and trouble with the Minister. Which led to them switching jobs, and Nemo moving in, and Jack getting more involved than she ever would have suspected and-

Breathe.

Jack mentally shook these thoughts out of her head. James began to explain their dress policies and Jack nodded. "That's fine." She plucked her collar with a stroke of feigned pride, saying, "Muggleborn, remember? I never really got into the whole robes fad, anywho." Jack shrugged.

She turned to Laurie. "So he needs a makeover. What about this?" She waved her wand and his robes morphed into baby blue feet-y pajamas, yellow ducks all over them. Laurie looked up, looking between Jack and James with earnest. "Is this in style right now?"

Jack nodded, looking incredibly serious. "Definitely. It's on the cover of every magazine." She'd leave James to honor the dignity of their teammates.

James roared with laughter, tears leaking down the side of his face as Laurie frowned.

"I'm going to take a stab at 'no'," Laurie said, looking a bit distressed.

"Oh, sorry Jack," James managed to breathe, holding his ribs, "as much fun as it would have been to bring him out with us like that, I wouldn't want to damage my reputation by being seen in that sort of company!"

James waved his wand to transfigure Jack's work into more appropriate attire. Well, as appropriate as that could be. James doubted that Laurie was even aware of who Flash was, and the shirt clashed horribly with the striped pajama pants.

"Better?" he asked Jack, grinning.

(When I envision Laurie, I just can't get the image of Sheldon, AKA Jim Parsons, out of my head)

((YES. We need a thread for "team pictures." We can put all of the pictures up of them!))

Laurie looked a bit nervous, and Jack maintained the joke, frowning over at James, though when she turned to him, she grinned. She turned back to Laurie and waved a hand at him. "It's just James. The style is very progressive, and he's intimidated. You look great! I'll have to buy you a pair!"

James fixed the outfit and the rest of team walked out. The girls were wearing proper muggle clothes, even though Faye looked as though she had found them all in a vintage bin at a thrift store. It was then that Vance walked out, wearing his robes.

Jack turned to James, lacing her hands together and bringing them under her chin. "Can he please have bunny footy pajamas!?"

James chuckled, shaking his head in a bemused manner.

"Unfortunately, I think Vance knows style, be it Muggle or Wizard. I don't know, though, we can try it. Myself, I'd love to dress him in a pair of Lederhosen, but I'll leave this one up to you."

James leaned back on his concrete sofa, lacing his hands behind his head. This would be interesting.

(Sorry for the short post. I'll make a thread for the team in extras. I'll pm you my ideas for playbys, and you pm me your ideas, and we can haggle.)

Jack sighed. "Well, if he already knows fashion, I guess much can't be done." She gave him a simple outfit of jeans and a rock n' roll tee-shirt, but she did give him a little accessory, if it could be called that. A sign, taped on his back, that pointed down to his read. The words read 'Pinch if you think yours is better.'

"Thanks," Vance drawled as he glanced down his outfit. Victoria, who had been walking by, quirked an eyebrow and she reached out to pinch his butt. He whirled around to stare at her, but she continued on, smirking.

Jack looked at James. "I think we're ready. Lead the way?"

"Very nice outfit," James said smirking, also grabbing himself a handful of Vance's hind end, earning a shocked look from the violated man, "Let's head into town!"

Vance hung behind everyone for a bit, rubbing his rear as though testing to see if there were any extra accessories down there.

"Virgil!" Nora called back to him, "Quit playing with yourself and get up here with everyone!"

Nora slowed up, so that she was beside Vance, and grabbed him by the arm to lead him up next to the rest of the group. He mumbled something about how she should know not to call him by his first name, but he looked oddly pleased none-the-less.

"They fancy each other!" Glen said to Jack in a stage whisper, earning a glowering glare from Vance and a wink from Nora.

Glen finished off the comment by swinging an arm around Jack and giving her a squeeze around the shoulder. James tried to hold back a laugh and snorted. He tried to disguise the motion with a fake sneeze. He would enjoy watching Jack get used to Glen. The man just couldn't keep his mitts to himself.

Jack could not keep the grin off of her face. She had never been one to enjoy, well, any sort of social interaction of any kind, but the exception had always been for the team atmosphere and environment. The fact that James had been on her Quidditch team was probably why the camaraderie had been so easily rekindled between the two of them.

Jack put a hand in her pocket, finding one of the many sweets she always had in her pockets. As she did, she felt an arm fall around her, and she glanced up at James, who was busy looking incredibly entertained. She looked up at Glen and smiled. "You're a bit ripe. Need a mint?"

She pulled out the candy, and held it out for him. What he didn't know, was that she owned Weasleys Wizards' Wheezes, and there was a new line of candies that came in mint tins. And the mints came in various zoo animal themes. She may or may have not had the reptile one in her pocket that day.