Open Pride and Practicing

[Knox Ivers]

Knox needed to up his game, and better his skills as a chaser for the sake of supporting the Gryffindor quidditch team. It had been a difficult thing to admit to let alone to ask one of his team mates to practice with him, but as the second semester of the year was underway Knox understood the importance of Gryffindor’s upcoming game, and was thankful his friend Chloe had agreed to fly with him that afternoon. Arriving to the pitch with his broom in one hand, Knox paused on the edge of the grass and held his hand on his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun’s glare as he looked into the sky. He and Chloe wouldn’t be the only ones flying around that day, but having to dodge other players was part of the challenge, and a necessary one at that as Knox knew if given the chance to play in Gryffindor’s next game he would need to dodge other students flying close to him. Exhaling, Knox placed his broom on the ground and looked around for his teammate, hoping she would arrive soon if she wasn’t already nearby.

@Chloe Thompson​

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë was always up for some extra practice on the pitch. Whether it'd be trying to get faster and end up having a little race with one of her friends, just having some fun tossing a quaffle around or helping someone else practice she'd be the first to sign up. Especially when it involved being out there with one of her friends, which most of the time it did. The weather was pretty good today as well and it didn't surprise her to see various other students flying around the pitch as she was making her way over the lawn. At least having other fly around as well would provide them with a little challenge. It didn't take her too long to spot her friend waiting for her when she reached the pitch. "Hi!" Chloë smiled as she walked up right next to Knox, nudging him with her shoulder as she greeted him. "You ready?"

 

[Knox Ivers]

Knox turned when he heard Chloe’s voice and smiled as she nudged him gently. He nodded in response to her question, eager to begin practicing to better his skills and build his confidence for Gryffindor’s next game. “Hell yeah, I am.” He responded enthusiastically, moving to pick up his broom from the grass. “Do you wanna start by the north hoops cause there’s less people there?” Knox asked, squinting as he looked into the air again, then back to Chloe. “C’mon, I can race you.” Knox joked, moving to mount his broom and fly into the air, then flying to reach the north hoops and hovering to wait for Chloe to join him.​

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë chuckled at Knox's enthusiasm in answering her question, glad he was excited about it and happy to get some extra practice in. She looked up when Knox mentioned starting out at the north hoops, about to answer him when he joked about racing and was already up in the air. She shook her head with a soft laugh, hopping onto her own broom and following after him towards the hoops. "Sign me up for a rematch." Chloë laughed when she reached Knox at the hoops, always up for an actual race to see if she could somehow manage to get herself to go faster. "So, what do you wanna do?" She asked, looking around the pitch for another second to try and get an idea of what the other students on the pitch were doing and what the best way would be to get some practice going.

 

[Knox Ivers]

Knox smiled as he watched Chloe fly to catch up with him. He shrugged gently at her question of what they should do, knowing that really any kind of practice was good practice. There were a lot of things Knox wanted to improve on as an alternate, but he wasn’t sure where to begin. “Maybe we should start with a race, and fly as fast as we can around the pitch, the last one to make it back to the hoops smells like bubotuber pus.” He suggested and half joked, knowing that flying fast and trying to be faster than other players was necessary for a chaser. “Sound good?” Knox added, wanting to hear what Chloe thought.​

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë eagerly waited for Knox to answer her question, knowing she'd probably be fine with anything he came up to. He had proposed the practice so she figured she'd just let him take the lead. Practice was practice after all and she was sure anything they'd do would be useful for increasing their skills. "Oh, you're on!" She nodded her head when he proposed a race. She definitely wasn't going to back down from that. Even less so when the last part of his sentence really activated the competitiveness inside of her. "No cheating though." Chloë joked as she pointed a finger at him. Looking out over the pitch there were still plenty of other students flying around, which meant it would be a bit of a challenge to make a lap whilst having to avoid all of them. That did make things a bit more interesting and more interesting mostly meant more fun. "You want to count down?" She asked, shifting on her broom so she'd be ready to head off if he did.

 

[Knox Ivers]

Knox squinted and rolled his eyes sarcastically when Chloe pointedly told him not to cheat in their race. He stuck his tongue out jokingly, then flew to hover next to her. “Sure, I can count down.” Knox responded. “See where we are and where the colour of the banners on the stands changes-” Knox tried to explain, pointing his finger in an effort to explain where their starting line would be, which was conveniently right in front of where they were. “We don't pass this line until I say go. This is our starting line and lap line.” He added definitively, and then squared his shoulders and tilted his head to each side to loosen up. “Alright, ready, on Three, we fly. One…” Knox began, positioning himself to get ready to fly as fast as possible. “Two…” Knox added a moment later. “Three!” Knox then immediately soared forward, flying as fast as he could around the pitch. He almost flew into another student but managed to swerve past them, as he tried to make his lap around the field and beat Chloe in their race.​

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë laughed at Knox's response to her remark about cheating, trying to get her focus on when he came hovering next to her. She followed his finger with her eyes when he tried to explain what their starting line would be, nodding along as he did to show that she got it. Not that it was too hard to get it though, since it was pretty much their current position. She readied herself as Knox started counting down, trying to get a good view on the other students closest to them so she wouldn't bump into any of them right after they had started. Once Knox got to three she flew forward. Chloë swerved around a few different students as she tried to keep up with Knox, pushing forward in an attempt to overtake him before they would reach the finish line.