Closed Practice Makes Perfect

[Arvel Ayers]

As far as holidays went, Arvel hadn't had the worst. His parents had mostly left him alone, he'd got plenty of homework done, and he'd even managed to persuade his dad to take him shopping well before the start of the new term, which meant there had been no last-minute rushing around Obsidian Harbour, fighting against the hordes of kids and their families for the last scraps of parchment. The only thing that could have made it better was Analei. He missed her. A lot. He ached when he thought about her. More than anything he wanted to ask her how her holidays had been, to share the highlights of his own and to complain with her about the weather. He'd been spending a lot of time with Abian lately, perhaps to fill the void, but though he loved his company, he still missed Analei so much it hurt.

But being as Arvel was, as his father affectionately put it, 'A bit dense', instead of apologising to Analei, he was actively avoiding her. Today he had invited Abian to the pitch for another practice session, just the two of them, passing the quaffle to one another and taking turns to shoot. Arvel didn't know any complex passes, but he was pretty sure they were both improving - if not at shooting then at anticipating each other's moves. As they pulled up at the northern hoops, Arvel threw Abian the quaffle - it was his turn to try to score.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian's holidays had been pretty great, with Jacob's visit as the part part of the break. It had been great to show him his video games and see how impressed he was. Abian wished the visit could have been longer! But it was enough to know that he was a good friend of Jacob's, despite the boy being older than him. Another older boy who had been spending more time with him lately was Arvel, and Abian was enjoying it a lot. It had taken him a while, but he had eventually picked up on tension between him and Analei It concerned him, as they were all chasers together and would have to work together well in the match. But he and Arvel were certainly working together better with all the practice they had been doing, which had to count for something.

Practice was a ton of fun without the added pressure of a watching captain, and Abian had found himself looking forward to these moments alot. Not just because of the practice, but also because he just really liked Arvel. The boy was so calm and cool, but also funny in an understated way. He was the sort of guy Abian knew he would never be, way cooler and less hyper than he himself was. Abian flew next to him, trying hard not to think about that too much right now. Arvel threw the quaffle to him and Abian caught it. With a grin, he sped up to the hoops and aimed the quaffle at the middle one. He whooped as it went through, throwing his hands in the air for a moment. "Wooo!"

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel grinned, though he didn't know what made him happier - the fact Abian had scored, or how excited he was about it. "Good job," he said. At this rate, Abian was going to be a better chaser than him. Maybe he already was. Retrieving the quaffle, Arvel rose back up to Abian's level. "OK, see if you can tackle me," he said, taking off towards the southern hoops with the quaffle tucked securely under his arm. Honestly, Arvel was having so much fun, it didn't feel like practice at all. He was a different person with Abian, and a different person up in the sky; combine the two, and anybody would have been hard pressed to recognise him.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian watched happily as Arvel retrieved the quaffle, curious to see what they would practice next. Arvel always seemed to know what needed to be trained next, and Abian was happy to go along. He grinned as Arvel said he should try to tackle him, and sped off after him as he headed towards the southern hoops. Abian let out a yell as he flew at him, then tackled him and attempted to take the quaffle. He was laughing the whole time, though, and perhaps not trying quite as hard as he would have in an actual match. But it was hard to forget Arvel was a teammate and a friend.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel considered holding on to the quaffle as tightly as he could, but chose instead to let Abian take it. The younger Hufflepuff's laughter was contagious; Arvel was still giggling as he suggested they touch down and have a break. They'd been working hard, and though they were here chiefly to sharpen their Quidditch skills, Arvel just as much wanted to hang out and chat, which was difficult a hundred feet in the air. "You played well," he told Abian, grinning. "You'll be better than me, if I'm not careful." Truth be told, Arvel wasn't sure that Abian wasn't already better than him - not that that was saying much. Arvel hadn't scored a single goal yet, not in a real game. It was just so much harder for real than in practice.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian let out a triumphant roar as he grabbed the Quaffle from Arvel, laughing all the while. But a break after that sounded very nice, and he flew back to the ground with the quaffle before dropping it into the grass. Abian beamed with pride as Arvel said he'd played well, looking at him happily. "You play well too!" He said eagerly. "And I won't! you have more experience." He told him firmly. "But we'll both be better if we practice together." He added with a smile. He sat down on the grass, patting it in the hopes that Arvel would do the same. "Let's just chat for a bit. Catch up!" He suggested brightly. "How were your holidays?"

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel blushed. "Yeah, I guess," he said, suddenly wondering if he and Abian were spending a bit too much time together. They were only friends. But there had still been that moment in the changing rooms, when Arvel had almost kissed him, and he couldn't help but worry his reasons for wanting to spend time with him were selfish. He didn't think they were. He liked Abian's company for all sorts of different reasons. In fact he suspected now that he would have much preferred to be his friend than anything else. Sitting down on the grass, Arvel stretched out his legs. He shrugged, suddenly feeling awkward. "Just... boring," he said. "My parents are birdwatchers. I live in the middle of nowhere. What about you?"

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian was having a great time together with Arvel, and was glad to have made such a good friend on the Quidditch team.In truth, he liked spending time with Arvel more than he did with most other people, getting a similar tingly feeling that he got around Jacob. But it was easy to ignore that when it was clear Arvel would never look at him in any special way. He was a bit sad to see Arvel's enthusiasm for the conversation wane, and hoped to make up for it by being more fun to talk to. He bit his lip for a moment, but then was quickly distracted by Arvel's information about his parents. "Birdwatchers? Is that their job? Are they magical birds? That sounds cool!" He said, trying to picture it. "Or are your parents not magical?" He added, realizing he had no idea. "My holidays were pretty cool. Jacob visited and stayed over, and besides that I just spent time with my mum and sister. We live in the city, and I do miss that sometimes when I'm around here."He sighed. "Not enough good spaces to skate around here."

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel was completely bemused by Abian's enthusiasm. He'd never heard anybody get so excited about the prospect of bird-watching before. Well, besides his parents. "Sometimes. All sorts of birds," he said. "My dad's magical, but... it freaks my mum out." His dad hadn't even told her until Arvel was born. Sometimes he wondered if his mum would have stuck around if she'd known before. "Oh," he said, nodding slightly. Jacob. Arvel didn't really want to think about Jacob right now, though he always seemed to pop into his mind for some reason or another. It was hard to get away from him. "You skate?"

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian grinned at Arvel's words, quite amazed that they sometimes looked at magical birds too. But then the boy admitted that magic freaked his mum out, and Abian immediately felt bad for him. "Oh... I can get that. My mum was convinced it was a hoax at first. My cousin had to come and explain it all to her, and then she was mad at him and his side of the family for hiding it from her all this time. I think she's still a bit weirded out about it all, though she tries to pretend not to be." He said with a shrug. "My dad was a muggle too. I'm pretty sure." He added, though he wondered if it sounded like he was talking about himself too much. He bit his lip, uncertain for a moment. Abian's grin returned when Arvel asked if he skated. "Yeah! Skateboarding! Do you know it?" If Arvel grew up with a muggle mother, he probably did. "I could show you sometime? I taught my friend Vader!"