Shaky Start

[Tesla Wilde]

Tesla was still in shock that she could fly on a broom even after a whole semester of classes because it made no logical sense. She didn't understand how gravity could allow for such a thing to happen because planes she understood but brooms still seemed a little foreign. While some might shrug it off, call it too weird, Tess wanted to fit in so desperately and she had a feeling that those who played Quidditch were a fair bit cooler than your average student. She had never been able to be considered cool, being gawky and nerdy hardly allowed for that but clearly wizard logic was different. Maybe if she could ride a broom and play a bit of the sport she might fool them all. With this in mind she picked up a borrowed broom and kicked off the ground as taught in class and shakily began to fly around the pitch. She was hardly perfect but who could expect more from a first year?

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah Murphy was happy to be back at Hogwarts for the second semester in his second year at school. During the holidays so much had happened in his family that he eventually decided to cut himself off from the family drama happening downstairs and go to his room until everyone was ready to celebrate Christmas in a normal, cheerful way like it used to be but this was not the case as his parents and sisters were still going at it when he went downstairs. The only thing that made the Slytherin happy was that he could finally say goodbye to the stupid glasses he needed to wear because he got contact lenses as a gift from his mother and father. So in order to keep his mind from going back to the night that almost ruined a perfectly nice holiday break, Asaiah got his practice quaffle out of the brown trunk underneath his bed in the dormitory and made his way to the Quidditch pitch and towards the broomshed, grabbing his Sienna Storm before walking onto the pitch. As the young Slytherin reached the field he noticed a girl flying around the Pitch, a girl he couldn't recognize by face. He watched her closely as she was flying sometimes grinning because she was shaking a little bit whilst flying. "Hey!" he called out to get the girl's attention. "You're.. ehh, you're shaking a bit, you might want to hold on to the handle a little tighter if you don't want to fall off of your broomstick!" He told her. Asaiah hoped she could her him because he didn't want her to get hurt because of it.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess nearly jumped out of her skin when she was called out to. She hadn't realized someone else was there, never mind watching her. She wasn't a particularly shy person but she felt a bit nervous because she clearly wasn't skilled and he seemed to know a fair bit more than she did. "The broom wouldn't move when I held it tight last time," she said uncertainly, as if that was the brooms method of being stopped but she hardly knew much of anything. She could say 'Up' and get the response she wanted and hover then touch down but flying like they had during the last few games was still beyond her even if she really wanted to try. She tried his way though, it was less shaky of a flight but certainly more stop-and-go like she was a beginner driver. It might just take more practice and a little more self-assurance that she wasn't going to fall off the broom and horribly injure herself with no wifi and no social media to entertain herself with as she recovered.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah chuckled at the girl's comment. He knew all to well that brooms could be stubborn from time to time. He remembered that when he first started to learn how to fly on a broomstick his didn't care to move, at all, despite him trying his best to let the broom come flying to his right hand. ''Yeah, brooms tend to be a little bit shitty sometimes,'' He said, ''But don't worry about that, you will get better believe me.'' Asaiah smiled at her to reassure the girl that she'd be riding a broomstick without a problem eventually, even he managed to be able to control a broom at some point. Thinking that it would be fun to practice with the girl for a moment Asaiah kicked himself off of the ground and flew towards her. ''I know that you're new to flying but would you like to throw the quaffle back and forth?'' the Slytherin happily asked her.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess smiled appreciatively at the boy's encouragement. She really wanted to get better at it because one day she'd like to join the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Until that day she'd have to put her head down and work towards it just like she'd have to work towards anything in life to get what she wanted. She watched as the boy zoomed towards her, amazed at his skill even though he was clearly at least a year older than her. "Yeah that'd be fun!" She hoped that she would be able to catch it and stay steady on the broom because otherwise it might be more embarrassing than fun. The curly haired girl flew off, shakily but quickly, further away from the boy, forgetting to introduce herself and be polite about it. "Show me what you have," she teased, knowing his skill was likely to be far greater than her own.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

His smile widened as she agreed on his idea to throw the round ball underneath his arm back and forth. Is was a great exercise if you wanted to learn how to fly holding your broom with one hand specially for him since he had to keep one hand on the handle of his broomstick whilst holding and being able to successfully hit a bludger with the other one. For a first year Asaiah was impressed about how well she handled the broom, though had to admit that it was far from perfect but so was his flying skills. Asaiah grinned at the girl's tease and said, ''Alright, here we go!'' as he threw the quaffle towards her as hard as he could. He probably should've thought about how hard he would throw it towards the girl but if she wanted him to show her what he got then he would obviously go for it.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess was surprised at how quickly the quaffle flew through the air but she still managed to catch it although it made her broom push back slightly in the air until she flew as she through it towards Asaiah. It wasn't masterful by any means but she threw it as hard as she could, leaving her to fix her balance as she returned her now free hand to the broom before smiling wide at the boy and asked, calling out to him, "Do you play on a team?" She wondered if this was more for fun for him or if he was competitive about it because she wanted him to have fun with it as she was and felt worried that if he was actually on a team that she would slow him down because clearly she wasn't up to snuff but she would get there surely.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah chuckled when he saw that his throw made her broom push back a little. He definitely didn't want her to get hurt or anything so then decided to ease up the amount of power he would throw the quaffle with so it would be easier for her to catch it out of the air. When the girl threw the ball Asaiah could barely catch it, not because her aim was bad because it was actually pretty good but because he didn't expect her to throw it like she had done. ''Yes,'' he began when she asked him if he played, ''I'm an alternate Beater in the Slytherin Quidditch team.'' the thirteen year old said with proud. He was thankful to Esmé and Lucien for putting him on the team and letting him play his first match against Ravenclaw. ''How about you? Are you thinking of joining your team next year?'' Asaiah asked as he threw the quaffle back at Tesla, this time hoping that she would stay in the same spot.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess hadn't watched any of the games thus far just because she had slept through them with the castle so quiet it was hard not to especially as she was such a high energy person most of the time that at least once a month she really needed to be vegetative and just do absolutely nothing. It was for this reason she didn't recognize the boy as a player whereas she might have otherwise. "Ay that's cool," the South Islander said to the Slytherin. She caught the Quaffle a little easier this time although she would be sure to tell him not to go easy on her. "I hope so. I don't think Hufflepuff are that great of a team but I'd still like to join. I'm not sure what position though," she said truthfully while throwing the quaffle back, just as hard as before. "I'm Tess, by the way."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

He smiled brightly when she commented that him being on the team was cool because it was. He liked being part of this Slytherin team a team that played very well this year with two games won already although he wasn't so sure if they would continue playing this well next year since their two chasers - and co-captains - and best seeker would've graduated from Hogwarts and no longer be apart of the team. The Slytherin laughed slightly at her comment on the Hufflepuff team not being that great of a team and couldn't help but to agree with her on that. ''Looks like you would be a pretty good chaser or keeper.'' he told her truthfully as he was still impressed by how well Tesla threw the quaffle towards him while also not moving much which he knew was difficult at first. The second year smiled when she introduced herself and said, ''I'm Asaiah, nice to meet you Tess.'' with a friendly smile on his face whilst throwing the ball back to her.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess wondered if the Slytherin boy had played for that super long game that she had heard about because she couldn't imagine how exhausting it had been to play for that amount of time. "Do you get to play much?" she asked, hoping that he did because based on this he seemed like a really good player. As he suggested two positions for her she smiled, considering it because she could just imagine how much fun it would be to play. Keeper might not be as fun though because they barely left the goal posts and she would want to zoom all around, interacting as much as possible. Her eyesight was definitely not good enough for seeker, that much she knew for sure. Her glasses were a very important feature on her thin face even this high up in the air. "You too," she said after catching the quaffle. It was at this point that she threw it towards him and grunted while doing so because her broom lowered her slightly as she had put the nose down slightly. She quickly returned to where she was, putting both hands on her broom and tightening her grip nervously before she steadied and relaxed again.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah shook his head at Tess's question. ''Only if one of the other beaters cannot.'' He told her. Although he was grateful to the co-captains that they had given him a spot on the team, Asaiah hated that he had been benched for two games as he was determined to show them his beater skills. ''I got to play against Ravenclaw.'' Which was the boy's first match as a player for the Slytherin team, and though it had been pretty brutal, so brutal that he even broke his right arm, Asaiah absolutely loved it and could only wish for more games like the one against Ravenclaw to happen in the future. As the boy managed to catch the quaffle he chuckled slightly at seeing Tess unintentionally put the nose of the broomstick down, and couldn't help but to smile as she recovered herself. Asaiah waited for the girl to sit still on her broom before he threw the ball back towards her.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tesla smiled sympathetically at Asaiah when he told her that he only got to play sporadically because he very likely wanted to be a more permanent member. Why else would he be practicing when no one else was? She admired that work ethic in a person, that was certain. "I heard about that," Tess said excitedly when he told her that he got to play against the game with Ravenclaw. "The Captain got smashed in the head or something?" she asked, unsure of what the truth was entirely as she hadn't watched it as she had been busy with other things that day and the crowds had been a bit too much for her to bare at the time. She tucked her curly hair behind her ear just before the quaffle was returned to her, at which point she caught it. This time it had been a bit easier and was without a nose dive. "What made you choose beater?" she asked while throwing it back at him. She was quite curious to hear what he might say about the position.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah chuckled again, this time when she mentioned Jeffreys. ''Yeah, I might have sent a bludger toward his head.'' At the time he didn't want to hit the Ravenclaw captain against his head with the bludger because he knew that it would hurt a lot, but unfortunately for Jeffreys, and lucky for him, it was the hit that put the captain down so regardless of where Asaiah had hit him with the bludger, he was still proud of it even though he thought that the captain disliked him, specially since he also hit the guy with his bat. Asaiah shrugged at Tess's question. ''I don't know,'' he began while playing with the ball. ''I guess I got drawn to the danger and excitement of playing as a beater, you know, protecting your team from incoming bludgers while also aiming bludgers towards the other team. It's kinda fun.'' Asaiah hoped that this would answer Tesla's question, as he had never thought about why he choose to play beater rather than chaser or keeper, or even seeker. He then stopped playing with the quaffle and threw it in a straight line back to the Hufflepuff.

 

[Tesla Wilde]

Tess didn't want to find it funny because someone getting hurt wasn't but she did just enough to force a laugh into an awkward and shameful smile. "That's awful," she said, letting out a small giggle because Asaiah was so clearly proud of himself which made it very funny. She watched him now playing with the ball and flew in just a little closer to him as he explained why he had made the choice to become a beater. She was certain now that it wasn't exactly the position for her. "Are you sure you're not in the Gryffdor house?" she said, unknowingly misnaming the house because she still sometimes got confused with them as they were all so ridiculous. How they had been named confused her to no end but the Hufflepuff knew that the red house was meant to be brave.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Apparently Tesla didn't share the same opinion as him on his favorite Quidditch position, which made Asaiah slighty pout, but to make sure that she wouldn't think that he liked violence the Slytherin quickly opened his mouth, ''Just so you know, I only like to hurt people whilst playing a match. I'm usually not really into getting hurt and hurting people.'' Smiling while he said it, Asaiah looked around the pitch before the girl would throw the brown ball back towards him. It was quite peaceful outside for this time of the year, though he totally understand why as it was getting colder and colder now that winter was really settling in. The thirteen year old jerked his back at Tesla when she asked him if he wasn't sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. ''I wish,'' he said truthfully, ''It'd be a lot easier seeing my friends that way. But no, I'm really in Slytherin.''