Atlas Primred, Pecari
March 29, 2014 4:32 AM
Getting some practice in. by Atlas Primred, Pecari
Just as the sun was starting to go down, creating a soft hue that illuminated the sky, Atlas and Liliana arrived together at the Pitch. Atlas almost wished he could just sit inside and paint it. He had been feeling more on edge in the past few weeks which meant he was churning out more paintings and drawings than usual. Art calmed him down, but now that Quidditch tryouts were approaching, he would need to stay as focused as possible.Earlier that night while eating, Liliana and Atlas had decided to practice Quidditch once they both got settled in. She even said she wouldn’t mind giving him some pointers. It was nice to have a friend to play Quiddith with but Atlas was most happy that now he had someone to confide in. Well, as much as he could confide in Liliana anyways. She was very hard to read, so he never knew what might upset her.
After dinner, Atlas and Liliana walked up to the Pecari common room, lightly chatting about random things. He didn’t particularly want to waste much time talking while at the pitch but now was fine, seeing as they had to walk to the common room anyway. Upon arrival, Liliana turned to him, abruptly cutting off the conversation.
“Want to meet back down here in five minutes and then head down to the Pitch?”
Atlas nodded in response and headed to his room to get dressed. He decided to wear a graphic tee-shirt and his soccer shorts. It was cooling down outside, but because they were in the desert he didn't have to worry about it being too chilly. After slipping into his shoes, he looked through his belongings to find his gloves, then hurried downstairs to discover that Liliana wasn't there yet. He sat on one of the nearby chairs while he waited for her to come down.
“Ready?” He asked once she arrived carrying her broomstick, offering his arm to her- deciding, in a spurt of random bravery, to play the part of a gentleman as they had talked about at dinner. He smiled wickedly at her, challenging Liliana to say something about it.
“I’ve got to go get my broom from the shed, I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, once they got to the Pitch, dashing off to the old shed without a second thought. It wasn’t actually his broom, per se, but ever since his first flight during Flying lessons last year he had been using the same broom. It was his favorite to use. It was old, so it might not have flown as good as some of the other brooms, but he liked how old and sturdy it was. He liked to think a broom that aged would have some hidden secrets.
Along with his broom, he looked around for supplies that they would need for practicing. An old battered Quaffle that people like him and Liliana could use for recreational practice, a Beater’s bat, and a lightly enchanted bludger were among the things he found. He decided it would be best to not bring out a Snitch as it was night time and neither he nor Liliana had played much in the Seeker position. Besides, that was Jade’s position and as she was probably going to be captain it wouldn’t make sense to practise at her position. It was guaranteed she would get it. As he stood back, contemplating how to take everything out to the field, Liliana appeared beside him.
“You were taking too long,” she shrugged by way of explanation, and helped him to take the two balls and bat out to the field. Once they reached the center, he turned to Liliana.
“Ready to get started?” he asked excitedly. “Any preferences on what to practice first?”
OOC: Liliana’s author gave me permission to write for her here, her parts are written in italics just to be more clear.
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Getting some practice in.
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Liliana Bannister
March 29, 2014 4:51 AM
Getting some coaching in. by Liliana Bannister
Once she got to her room, Liliana opened her trunk. It was getting to be dusk so it would probably be a lot cooler outside than it had before when they’d arrived for the feast, but she also didn’t want to overheat while they were practising. In truth they’d only be quite warm during the warm ups- flying around quickly really cooled down the players, creating their own wind. She ended up deciding to change into a Harpies t-shirt and matching dark green skort*, wanting to keep it ladylike but also knowing that it was silly to wear a skirt to Quidditch practise. She grabbed a light zip-up and threw it on over her outfit before braiding her long hair tightly and tying it back with a gold ribbon. Even in her scrubby practise clothes Liliana fit the word princess to a T. She grabbed her broom and head down to the common room.“Hey,” she said. “I’m ready.” She took his arm, only rolling her eyes but refraining from saying anything. She knew that grin. It was one that frequently graced the faces of her cousins and a grin that she always had much more fun ignoring rather than indulging. “I hope you’re ready for this work out. I plan to work you harder than you’ve ever worked before!” This speech was not exactly original but one that she’d heard her cousins say to each other before they practised Quidditch.
At the Pitch, she watched as Atlas rushed off the the broom shed to fetch “his” broom. She smiled after him and placed her broom on the ground gently- not dropped, placed. She respected her broom greatly. It was the best (in her opinion) in the line of Firebolts and her most prized possession. She lay down next to it and began to stretch wanting to limber up before they began, thinking that Atlas would soon join her. He took too long for her liking though and she got up impatiently, leaving her broom unattended knowing it would be safe- no one else was out there.
“You were taking too long,” she said, shrugging when he turned to look at her. Wordlessly she collected the Bludger and Beater’s bat for him leaving the Quaffle and his broom of choice- a rickety looking thing, to him.
“Ready to get started?” he asked. “Any preferences on what to practice first?”
Liliana nodded her head. “First,” she said, pausing for effect. “We warm up. I trust you know how to properly stretch yourself? I want crunches, sit-ups, leg lifts- the lot.” She grinned at him and lay down, gesturing for him to follow.
After she was content with the amount of warm-ups they had done she stood up. “We’ve got to run now,” she said. “Get our blood going and the adrenaline rushing.” She paused, not for effect this time but rather to gauge how far the distance around the Pitch was and think about how tired she way. “We should do four or five laps, alternating jogging and high-stepping on each side, okay? And then, then we can work on our Quidditch. I’m thinking we’ll go over all the positions but since Amira graduated, leaving her spot open, and everyone else is coming back, hoping to renew their old positions we should really focus on your Beating skills.”
She looked at him to see if he understood what she was saying. It only made sense to her that he tryout for a Beater’s position or at least work the most on it seeing as Jade would be Seeker, the Anns would definitely be Chasers and Adam worked so well with them. The two Beater position and the Keeper positions was all that was left and she didn’t really think that she wanted to coach him into stealing her old spot.
*OOC: The Holyhead Harpies colors are green and gold :)
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Getting some coaching in.
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
March 29, 2014 5:41 AM
Don't get too crazy. by Atlas Primred, Pecari
Atlas was a little surprised that Liliana had actually taken his arm. He walked arm and arm with her through the halls, in the same way he did with Katie when she wanted to be escorted. He felt a little embarrassed, but he liked it that they could do silly things together.Liliana nodded her head. “First,” she said, pausing for effect. “We warm up. I trust you know how to properly stretch yourself? I want crunches, sit-ups, leg lifts- the lot.” She grinned at him and lay down, gesturing for him to follow.
Atlas gave Liliana a sarcastic look. "Of course I know how to stretch myself. I have been playing on the team for as long as you." Although he did ask her to give him some pointers, it seemed that she took it to mean that she was going to be coaching him, or at worse, training him for an upcoming dog show. However as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers. Atlas layed down next to her and began doing crunches. He felt some odd need to try a little harder to do all the exercises, he couldn't have Liliana showing him up now could he.
“We’ve got to run now,” she said. “Get our blood going and the adrenaline rushing. We should do four or five laps, alternating jogging and high-stepping on each side, okay? And then, then we can work on our Quidditch. I’m thinking we’ll go over all the positions but since Amira graduated, leaving her spot open, and everyone else is coming back, hoping to renew their old positions we should really focus on your Beating skills,” Liliana said.
Atlas nodded his head in agreement. Liliana had a point, it would be the best chance for him to really play during the games. Still he wondered if he had what it took to be a beater. They were supposed to be the biggest and strongest of the team and he well...wasn't. Even so, if Liliana said that’s what he should practice he was going to. “Sure that sounds great El Capitan,” he said as confidently as he could giving her a little salute. “And the running sounds like a good idea too. But are you sure we should do that many?” he asked looking around at the field. “I mean, it sounds like we have a lot to practice tonight don't we?” He didn't want her thinking that he didn't like her coaching, he just thought 4 or 5 laps might be a little overkill when they weren't even playing a running sport.
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Don't get too crazy.
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Liliana Bannister
March 31, 2014 3:16 AM
A lady is <i>never</i> crazy. by Liliana Bannister
The look that Atlas bestowed upon her as she told him what she wanted to do first was quite frustrating but she didn't allow it to bother her and instead smiled at him. Liliana pursed her lips slightly and raised an eyebrow at him. "Of course," she mimicked. "I just wanted to make sure. I never paid much attention to what anyone else was doing during stretches as I was concentrating on bettering my flexibility."Liliana had always loved stretching. When she'd first started ballet she had hated it, but she had come to love the barre and floor stretches and always felt most limber afterwards. It enabled her to dance better, she found, which was probably the whole reasoning behind it, but (strangely enough) it also helped with Quidditch. Her cousins had laughed at her when she used the fence for stretching before one of their daily practices over the summer but instead of lashing out at them later on, getting them in some sort of trouble "avec La Grand-Mère Brouard*" like she normally would have done, Liliana held it in and played better than she'd ever before. Not long after that they had stopped teasing her and the looks on their faces as they tried to figure out when she was going to get them back was enough punishment for her.
“Sure that sounds great El Capitan,” he said saluting her. (Liliana wanted to hit him.) “And the running sounds like a good idea too. But are you sure we should do that many?”
What a weird question. Maybe she had misjudged him. Was he a lazy athlete? Was that why he hadn't made the team? Perhaps Amira had picked up on something she hadn't. Liliana shrugged that thought away. He had asked for some pointers and she had agreed. It was only honorable to follow through on her promise. "Absolutely," she replied. "Just because we fly around a lot does not mean we need to neglect our bodies. If we are to train our arms to be strong enough to wield bats and catch balls it is only balanced to continue to work our legs so that our whole body can grow strong together. But if it's too much for you we can cut it in half. After that we can fly around the pitch a few times- race maybe?" She smiled at him, eyes twinkling. She loved a good race.
Liliana took off jogging along the long end of the field, changing to the high-step when she got to the short end. Rinse and repeat three more times as Atlas only wanted to run around the Pitch twice. She mounted her broom and looked at him. "Ready? Set. Go!" She urged her broom to go faster, laughing and yelling towards him, "After this round go grab that bat there and we'll work on your Beating."
She was excited to begin practicing with him, she did need to keep herself on his good side so she could use that favor he'd offered her in the most strategic way, but she also kind of missed having someone she could laugh and joke around with. Who said people can't be friends with their minions, anyway?
*avec La Grand-Mère Brouard = "with The Grandmother Brouard"; as Mme (Madam) Brouard is the matriarch of the family and, as everyone knows, "the man [may be] the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants."
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A lady is <i>never</i> crazy.
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