25 august 2002 | teresina
Retirement. Retirement? Retirement. ÔÇ£Did he say ÔÇÿretirement?ÔÇÖÔÇØ The words were being magically translated through the conference so there was no way he had misunderstood, yet Arkasha still turned to his wife for confirmation. They made eye contact for a brief second before the man looked back to the panel of quidditch players at the front of the room,
http://www.magical-hogwarts.com/index.php?action=profile;u=25399' rel='nofollow noopener' target='_blank'>@Viktor Krum sat directly in the middle. His lips were still moving, and Arkasha was sure the
sonorous charms were still working, but he was only hearing a low buzzing sound.
Arkasha dug into his ear with his pinky, trying to makes sense of it all. He wanted to blame the alcohol, but he was more than aware that he was mostly sober by now. The match hadnÔÇÖt afforded him too many opportunities to celebrate; he was waiting for the victory, after all.
He had to go, to intercept Viktor. Florence understood -- she really
was the best -- and would make his excuses to both his parents and hers, who were waiting to see them after they were done with this little conference. Arkasha and his wife were holding special passes, and he was sure that had only happened because Bulgaria was expecting a press conference with a bit happier tone.
Elbowing people aside as he slipped out of the room, Arkasha dipped around to the side of the building, hoping Viktor hadnÔÇÖt changed his usual exit strategy. He was a creature of habit, wasnÔÇÖt he? Until things went wrong, he realized with a queasy feeling in his stomach. He shook his head clear of the thought as he passed the first side door, the one he assumed the decoy-Krum would come out of to distract the crowd before apparating away, pretty effectively distracting everyone while real-Krum left out a different door. Arkasha had come up with the whole scheme himself, had even worked with the decoy to make sure he walked correctly.
Maybe it was wishful thinking that Viktor was still using his plan, that he hadnÔÇÖt let his new manager come up with something better.
But as people started spilling out of that first door, Arkasha heard cries of ÔÇÿViktor!ÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿKrum!ÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿOver here!ÔÇÖ; he kept walking around the building, turning the corner before picking another door to wait around. After a few minutes -- and after sounds of the reporters had died down -- the door popped open. Arkasha crossed his arms across his chest as he moved to intercept the
former seeker.
ÔÇ£We have to talk.ÔÇØ
