Open Bulking Up

[Connor Holland]

After a couple of years as an alternate, Connor knew this was going to be his year when it came to Quidditch. He was sad that he wouldn't get to learn from Analei anymore, but her graduation meant Hufflepuff had a beater spot open, and Connor was excited to finally be a full member of the team. He had spent the whole holidays training in his spare time, eager to prove himself to the new captains and help their team hopefully pull off a great victory. Now there was nothing to do but wait for tryouts.

And keep training, of course. Connor had always been on the strong side for his age, what with all the rugby he played at home, but this year he had finally actually started to work out, and it showed. He liked being able to flex his arms and see the muscles popping out, it made him feel a lot less vulnerable than he had as a kid. Maybe Eric had had some kind of point when he went on and on about getting tougher. Connor wasn't going to admit that though, he just enjoyed having his own workouts for himself. He was looking forward to getting some good beating practice in today, but he had decided to have a quick workout before getting on his broom. He had run a few laps around the pitch, gotten in some squats and burpees, and now he was doing pushups, enjoying how much easier they felt than they had when he started. He knew at least part of it was puberty; his voice definitely didn't sound the same way it had last year, but his hard work was paying off again, and Connor could feel it as he counted his pushups under his breath, wondering if he would manage a new record today.

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

Nikko was scared to admit just how badly he wanted to make the quidditch team this year. He had been crushed not to make the team last year but he wasn’t about to give up yet. He hadn’t really been able to train while he was at home so he thought he might as well take advantage of the time he had before tryouts to get ready. He had grown a lot in the past year and started to let his hair grow out, even if it was still at an awkward medium length. But despite the extra inches he hadn’t really filled out and instead was a little self conscious about how lanky he was now. He was almost relieved to find he wasn’t all alone on the pitch and he actually recognized the person. It was one of Emma’s friends he had seen around a few times. Tentatively Nikko approached. “Hey Connor right?” he asked to break the silence. “Do you mind if I join you?” he added, as if it was unclear what his intentions were.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor knew the pitch was an open space, but he wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings to realise he wasn't alone until someone addressed him. He jumped, quickly sitting up and looking over to see who it was. He vaguely recognised the other boy as a friend of Emma's, but didn't think they had spoken before. "Oh, sure!" He said when the boy asked to join him, giving a cheerful smile. "I'm just getting ready for tryouts. I really wanna make the team properly this year." He stood up, stretching out his slightly aching arms. "How about you, are you trying out?"

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

Nikko nodded enthusiastically as he started to stretch. "Yeah. Or at least I'm planning to." he said before bending down to touch his toes. "I tried out for keeper last year but didn't make it." he explained as he switched positions, feeling his muscles starting to wake up. "What about you? What position are you going to try out for?" he asked, and felt a little bad he didn't know. Especially since he had written one of the quidditch columns for the paper last year, and he had seen the line ups for each team. But he watched Connor and noticed how strong his arms looked but then again so did the rest of him. If he had to guess he'd go with beater but he didn't want to assume.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor nodded when the other boy said what position he was trying for, giving him an encouraging smile. "I bet you'll be awesome!" He said brightly, shifting to stretch his other arm. He laughed a little awkwardly when the boy asked what position he was trying for. "I'm going for beater. I was an alternate last year, but our captain graduated and she was a beater, so I'm really hoping I can take her spot." He smiled cheerfully. "I'm Connor, sorry, what's your name?"

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

Nikko smiled at the other boy, glad to find someone in a similar position he was in. “Thanks. The Gryffindor team is pretty competitive. So I think I’m going to need all the help I can get.” he said with a tentative laugh. “Right, that makes sense. I think I remember seeing you on the bench last year.” he said when Connor confirmed his suspicion that he was going to try out for beater. Immediately he felt like he needed to explain his last statement. “I went to almost all the games last year after I didn’t make the team, and then wrote about it for one of the issues in the paper. It felt like the next best thing.” he explained quickly with a sheepish laugh. He had liked writing for the paper and hoped he might get to do it some more even if he did make the team. But he wondered if being on the team might have counted as some kind of conflict of interest. “Oh yeah, my name is Nikko.” he said quickly, feeling a little dumb for not introducing himself sooner.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor nodded sympathetically as the other boy explained his plight with the Gryffindor team. "Ah man, I hope you get in this time!" He said sincerely. "It must be cool to write about Quidditch in the paper though, do you have to take notes during the matches?" Connor asked, wondering how you would even go about doing that. Quidditch matches sometimes felt like a blur to him even from the bench, and he didn't know how someone would remember it all well enough to write down afterwards. He smiled when Nikko introduced himself, nodding. "It's nice to meet you! I hope you make the team this time around."

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

“Thanks.” Nikko said sincerely and realized just how few friends he had at school. He knew people but it wasn’t like he was close with anyone, not really. It was nice to talk about this with someone, and it helped that they were kind of going through the same thing. “It was.” he said enthusiastically and nodded. He did like writing for the paper. He especially liked how normal of an activity it was compared to his classes full of magic. “Yeah I did, like which chasers made the goals and who got hit with bludgers.” he explained. As badly as he wanted to be on the team he wasn’t sure how he could manage to do both things. But that might be the benefit of the Gryffindor team, even if he made the team he was pretty sure he would be an alternate. It couldn’t be too hard to take notes from the bench. Maybe he could do it for a little while longer. “Yeah.” he mumbled as Connor smiled at him. Nikko wasn’t used to talking to people for so long. “You too. How many times have you tried out?” he asked, trying to keep an awkward silence from settling over them.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor nodded with interest as Nikko talked about writing about Quidditch for the paper. "Watching the games like that must give you a good eye for strategy." He commented, wondering if he would even be capable of paying so much attention to a game. When he was watching Quidditch Connor tended to get focused on the action, particularly when it came to favourite players or positions, and he didn't pay as much attention to the overall picture. Maybe he should try doing that next time, to get a better handle on the game. Connor shrugged when Nikko asked how many times he had tried out, putting his hands in his pockets a little nervously. "This'll be my second time. I played rugby at my old school, but that didn't have the same kind of try outs, you just signed up." He glanced at Nikko curiously. "Did you play any other sports?"

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

Nikko hadn’t really considered his time on the stands as studying strategy but he liked to think he probably picked up a thing or two. “Yeah I think so. I also tend to read quidditch books instead of doing homework more than I’d like to admit.” he said a little sheepishly and laughed. He felt a little bad about asking about the number of tryouts Connor had been to, realizing it probably wasn’t the happiest of topics. But he was glad the other boy brushed it off. “I played football at school, but mostly I used to surf.” he explained. As much as he liked quidditch he sometimes wished the school had more sports instead of just one. It didn’t really give that many students a chance of being on a team.