trans_9 | On your broomsticks! [OPEN]

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On your broomsticks! [OPEN]

Following the instructions given to him by crew members here and there, Cedric stepped through a green archway tucked on a corner of the fifth floor and entered a grey void. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the sort of place that would be perfect for a day of flying. He imagined a bright grassy plain, a large lake, and a forest off to the side. Vague memories turned into vivid images surrounding him, so thoroughly convincing that he really believed he'd been taken from the ship and placed on a field back on Earth. It was quite a convincing illusion
.
All it needed now was the key piece: a group of brooms. He thought for a moment on which brooms to provide them with. Firebolts were the world standard, but he'd never known one well enough to be able to picture it accurately. The school brooms, Shooting Stars, were nice and safe for new riders but not quite reliable. In the end, he knew his own broom best: a sleek Nimbus 2001, gifted by his father. As long as he instructed the fliers to go slowly, they should be safe on those brooms.

Visitors would find Cedric side-mounted on a broom in his black and yellow Quidditch robes, gliding just slightly over the grass. As soon as he spotted them, he'd greet them enthusiastically and move to touch down. "Hi!"

((ooc: wide open for everyone to join in! We'll be doing some group exercises too, so thread around! Fly as a group when you're ready!))

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Cedric needs a minute to puzzle that out. He's certainly never heard that expression before.

"If you're asking whether I'm serious, the answer is yes. I'm a wizard, wizards and witches fly these."

He looks down at the brooms, then up at Punchy. What on this ship could he possibly charge? "I don't see how I would charge, none of us have any money. It's not taking much of my time or effort, I'm just happy to see everyone enjoying the brooms."

"That's downright church, man." Punchy shrugs. "I don't know. Lotta peeps round these parts might charge a favor instead of green, you know? I scratch your back, you scratch mine? I could pay you in candy."

He means literal candy, oddly enough. He stocked up on sweets at the Theme Park.

"Candy?" Cedric has to think about that for a moment. "You mean sweets? I haven't had anything other than that waffle in a while. I couldn't believe that was breakfast!"

Oh, he'd like to try one again sometime. "It should be a fair trade, but I'll give you the lesson first. If you're not satisfied, there's no need for any payment."

In his mind, that settles the matter. He steps over to the brooms and grins. "So, are you ready?"

"Yeah, you know. Sugar. Part of every homie's balanced breakfast." If Cedric were to lean close enough, he could tell Punchy believes this - Punchy sort of exudes the scent of gummi worms and Red Bull.

Punchy shrugs. "Long as I get up in the air I can't bitch, right? Show me how it's done, homeboy."

"Breakfast, really?" Cedric laughs. "You would've fit right in with my friends at school. They were always nicking sweets from the kitchen."

Cedric didn't like to make the house elves work harder just to feed some snack-frenzied young Hufflepuffs, but everyone had seemed happy with the arrangement. He smiles wistfully, wishing there were still kitchens like that to visit. Anything made at Hogwarts was better than what they eat now.

He raises an eyebrow at this person's colorful expressions. "My name's Cedric, actually. Would you prefer to be called by your name, or is there a title? Homie?"

By the way he stumbles on that word's pronunciation, it's clear that he's uncomfortable. "Right. I'll get to the lesson. First, you need to extend your hand over your broom and call it into your hand."

He demonstrates this, watching the handle jump one more time.

Punchy misses Cedric's discomfort. He's never been very good at picking up body language, tone of voice, verbal cues, or just about anything that would cue him into other people's feelings; if it isn't in text, it's somewhere out of his eyesight. "You can just call me Punchy, dawg. It's my hero name."

He holds his hand out for Cedric to shake, still grinning with general excitement for being able to fly.

"A'ight, I'll give it a spin."

"Hello, Punchy," Cedric says carefully, testing the new name. It's not the strangest one he's heard, not by a long shot. He might be able to slowly warm up to this person. The offered hand gets a firm shake.

"So let's get you acquainted with the brooms. These are Nimbus 2001s, some of the best racing brooms available. Any questions, or are you ready to take off?"

Punchy grins even more widely at the handshake. Finally, someone who returns his friendly advances in the spirit they're meant!

He snorts a bit. Asking questions is for dumb mofos, according to Punchy.

"Nah, let's give this shizz a try! Ain't gonna learn nothing if I don't get a handle on it straight-up." No pun intended there.

"All right. First, we're going to make sure you have your handle...on it," he replies, just a little uncertain. Is that how it's meant to be said? He doesn't know.

He demonstrates the proper broom-calling exercise, laughing. "I know it feels ridiculous, but trust me. It'll make flying so much easier."

Punchy approaches this with the same enthusiasm he approaches any and everything new and exciting. "Up!" He winces a little as the broom veritably slaps into his palm, but the grin doesn't let up for a second.

You are talking to a kid wearing a bright orange trenchcoat with a nun puppet on one of his hands, Cedric. 'Ridiculous' went out the window a long time ago.

"Great! You're ready. Just throw your other leg over the broom and kick off. We'll find your balance once we're hovering." That might sound counter-intuitive, but he's found it's the best approach.

Punchy, continuing in his age-long tradition of having very little balance, topples off the broom almost immediately, although he's right back on it almost as quickly as he fell, with a distinct look of 'nobody saw that'. "This is super fly, man, no pun or nothing. Totally aces."

Mistakes are ignored. Cedric's perfectly happy to do that. It's more encouraging to focus on success, after all, and he does seem capable of that.

"It's...good?" He still might need some help translating between Punchy and English. "Just wait, it gets even better. Are you ready to head up?"

"Fo' shizzy." And Punchy, not heeding safety or common sense much, shoots straight up about thirty feet. "Holy shiznits. You some kinda OG at this, real experienced at all? This is ballin'."

Cedric follows him up, twisting around the broom with a laugh. It's fun, even if he can't entirely understand his companion.

"I've gotten better with practise, if that's what you mean. And I'm glad you're having a ball."

If that's indeed what Punchy means. "But you haven't even seen the flying balls yet."

"You mean there's sport to this? That's church, man. You game to show me?" Punchy does seem to be picking it up fairly quickly, although he never quite seems balanced on the Nimbus.

"Sure, I'd be happy to show you." Cedric clears a spot in front of them, somewhere in midair, and conjures a miniature model of a Quidditch field before their eyes. From there, he explains the purpose of every ball and position, a rather exhaustive account. He hopes everything makes sense...or whatever Punchy calls it.

"If you want to try it with the real balls sometime, I'd be happy to do that too. I'm thinking about rounding up teams."

It's a little complicated but Punchy things he's got a good idea of what's going on. He pokes at the model, but it doesn't do anything besides what Cedric commands it to.

"Sounds aces. You gonna be sending around sign-ups or do I just tell you I'm jonesed for it?"

Cedric thinks about that for a moment. He'll need to start thinking ahead if he wants to get this project off the ground.

"I'll remember that you're interested. I'm not sure I can get fourteen players, but you'd be on the list. What position would you like to try for?"

"I'd be guessing that Beater position sounds pretty dope. I mean, I ain't scared of shit, so if that's where people get hurt the most I can take the pain for someone else on the team." Also he likes to hit things with brute force, true to his codename.

"That's rather brave of you. So you have experience with being a protector?"

Cedric has his critical eye out again. He's checking Punchy's posture, his build...can he do it? It's possible, yes.

"I am a superhero."

Kind of. Don't check his credentials too closely, Cedric.

Cedric is so surprised by this information that his grip on his broom nearly slips. Fortunately, he catches himself in time. Of all the things he'd expected Punchy to do, that's not one of them.

"Another one, huh? Well. All right. Shall I introduce you to the equipment?

"Fo 'sho." Punchy tries to do a loop-de-loop on his broom. He very nearly falls off, but doesn't quite.

"All right," Cedric nods, approving of the boundary-testing. That was good for a player, though he certainly doesn't want Punchy to fall off.

When Punchy's ready, he passes him the traditional Beaters' club and conjures a stationary Bludger. "When I give the signal, that Bludger will start chasing us. It's your job to hit it away. Don't worry about guarding me just yet, just get used to hitting it. Ready?"

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