Love Struck || Darcy ||

Darcy didn’t mind being surprised, but not being in on the planning of an event, even just a date with Cora, meant that she wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone for and she needed to plan ahead to ensure the animals she was in the process of either rehousing or releasing into the wild (with proper care of course!) would have enough food, water, and exercise to stay healthy and also to not tear her flat apart in her absence. She had taken the larger animals out for their walks before meeting Cora, and triple checked everyone’s food dishes. Darcy was well practiced in locking away anything too important to get chewed up a bit before leaving a room, or the flat entirely, so that wasn’t an issue. She turned the lights in each room on, as well as the radio in the living room so that no one felt too lonely while she was away. Darcy was hardly a crazy pet lady, but the animals she protected meant a lot to her. They had only come into her care because something (often times someone) terrible had happened to them and they needed a bit of care and nurturing or an escape plan back to where they ought to be. If one of them was hurt while in her care, she would have felt wretched, so the extra steps ahead of time to ensure a fun, stress-free evening out with Cora was no trouble at all for the self-proclaimed activist.

Fingers entwined with Cora’s, Darcy felt her feet touch the ground and she sighed happily. Side-along apparition was not the most enjoyable mode of transportation but it wasn’t horrid, so she hadn’t even thought about complaining. A few tender elbows and thighs from crashing into each other was well worth the surprise date night activity from her girlfriend. And what a surprise it was. “Oh, brilliant! I haven’t been bowling in ages. Prepare to be amazed at my impressive skills.” She grinned happily as they headed toward the end of the building and to the bowling alley. Darcy very much enjoyed a round or three of bowling, but she was absolute rubbish at it. Her low scores never troubled her, however, it was all about having fun in the moment and honestly, what could be more fun than hurling a huge ball across the room and knocking shite over?

“Tip number one,” Darcy started, “do not stand behind me when it’s my turn.” She didn’t explain why, and hopefully no one would have the pleasure of witnessing the reason firsthand, but Darcy may or may not have been known to lose grip of a ball mid- release on more than one (but less than three!) occasions. And she may or may not have knocked over a bench of elderly women who were just innocently waiting for their league match to start.

Darcy pulled off her boots and set them on the counter, not bothering to comment on the state of her bowling shoes. They had been sprayed, so they didn’t smell too horrible, but you could accurately estimate how many feet had been in them just by looking. It was all part of the charm that was bowling, though she did wish muggles could figure out a better way of cleaning their shoes that was a bit more effective. “Promise,” she grinned. Pulling on her bowling pair, Darcy needed to sit in order to tie them, so she plopped right on the floor without a second thought.

Shoes tied, she stood and headed toward lane six, scanning the racks of balls for a lighter one. If she was going to potentially throw a heavy ball around, she wanted it to be a little easier to take to the gut. “How do I look?” she asked, holding up a hot pink ball that was flecked with large pieces of glitter. She posed in several positions as she modeled the ball. “It matches my outfit, don’t you think?” It did not, but it was light and fingers fit comfortably in the holes, which was all that mattered.

She was up and Darcy carried her ball up to the head of the lane confidently. She was very confident, not so much in her skill or ability to not accidentally disable her girlfriend, but that they were going to have a brilliant evening together. Darcy held her ball up in front of her chest and looked strategically down the alley. Her strategy was simple; avoid the gutters. She pulled back her arm and then swung it forward, releasing the ball precisely when she meant to. She stood there hopefully as the ball traveled down the wooden planks and smacked into a single pin on the right side of the triangle. “Oh yeah! That’s how it’s done.” She turned around to look at Cora as her ball traveled the tube making its way back to her. “Expect to see loads more gold like that tonight.” She wiggled her eyebrows proudly as her ball clunked into the ball table. On her second go, she knocked an additional three pins down.

Darcy was happy with her four pins, though she was expecting to get a little better by the end of the night. Well, better by the end of their first game at least when she was warmed up and before she insisted on playing one too many games and her arm would start to get tired. It was a nice arch of crummy to middling back to crummy but the fun would last the whole evening. Darcy took her seat behind the score card and filled in her points with the little half-pencil the alley provided, lifting her head just in time to shout “Good luck!” as Cora took her place at the head of the lane. Preparing to console Cora on a gutter ball with the standard “you’ll get it next time,” Darcy’s eyes widened as the ball curved back and slammed into the center pin, knocking them all down in the process. “WOOOHOOO!” Darcy leapt up from her seat, arms in the air. It was perhaps a tad too excited a reaction, but having never been bowling with Cora before, she wasn’t prepared for that level of skill straight out the gate. “You didn’t tell me you were a shark!”