On your broomsticks! [OPEN]

[theboywhodied]

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!))

Comments

[theboywhodied]

"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.

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

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."

[theboywhodied]

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?"

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

"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'."

[theboywhodied]

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."

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

"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.

[theboywhodied]

"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."

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

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?"

[theboywhodied]

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?"

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

"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.

[theboywhodied]

"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.

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

"I am a superhero."

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

[theboywhodied]

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?

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

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

[theboywhodied]

"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?"

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

"Dope. I can do this." Punchy hunkers his shoulders like a hockey player, ready to go for blunt force. He knows Cedric just told him not to worry about protecting him, but Punchy plans to. Above and beyond the call of duty, he thinks.

[theboywhodied]

"Let's see what you can do," Cedric smiles. "Good luck." He flies back, and with a wave of his hand, the Bludger takes off. First it goes left, then right, then up, searching for players to target---ah, two! It flies at Punchy first, prepared to smash him in the shoulder.

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

Punchy whales on the Bludger with all his might, aiming to send it careening past a set of trees, where he hopes it'll get lost for a few moments while he and Cedric do...whatever it is the Bludger was supposed to be interrupting.

[theboywhodied]

The Bludger veers away! Cedric surveyes the skies. "Good...now it'll come back..."

And this time it opts to gun for Cedric. He yelps and swervs, practising his well-honed zooming for when Bludgers were in hot pursuit. As long as he doesn't stop or slow down, he won't break an arm.

"Go! I'll bring it around!" he hollers over his shoulder.

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

"A'ight!" Punchy goes into pursuit, leaning in close to the broom to get better speed. The goggles are going down.

When Cedric makes a turn Punchy speeds up and cuts the Bludger off, hitting it more with his shoulder than the bat but still managing to knock it away and not fall off the broom.

"You good, Cedric?"

[theboywhodied]

The crack is a welcome sound. Cedric swivels around, relieved to see the Bludger zooming away---but something sounded off. How did Punchy do that?

"Yeah, I'm all right. Are you? The club doesn't usually make that sound."

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

Punchy whirls around and doesn't even wince (although it is tempting). "Breezy. Still getting the ropes, but no harm. It'll be on its way back soon, right?"

[theboywhodied]

"Yeah, it will." Cedric stopped to peer at Punchy. Is he sure that nothing's wrong? Unfortunately, he fails to react to the Bludgers' rebounding back at them quickly enough---damn---can he dodge low?

"Now!"

[masterofnun.livejournal.com]

Punchy probably breaks some rule or other when he reaches out his free hand and hekps push Cedric, adding to that low dodge. He wields the bat in the other hand and puts some wrist into it, slamming it into the bludger full on. The bludger shoots away.

[theboywhodied]

Cedric's surprised but grateful. That shove on his shoulder keeps him out of harm's way, and soon they're safe. With a wave of his hand, the Bludger vanishes.

"That was excellent," Cedric compliments, still trying to catch his breath. "You'll be a fine Beater, but you'll need a partner. Is there anyone you work well with? We can find someone, of course, but it might help if you already knew one."