Closed Sticks With Hay PV Illowy

Avis focused on her breaths as the ride continued. In, out. in, out. As time went on, she focused less and less on her breaths and more on the ride. It was sort of like a rollercoaster, she reasoned, just without the harness. Which was not a comfortable thought in the slightest, but she tried her best to pretend it was, to pretend it was all just a safe ride that had no consequences.

"Now, how about you take the front seat? Still slow and low to the ground. I'll still have control of the broom from behind. Or, I can stay in front and we can go a little higher. "

Avis did not like either of the options. She was perfectly happy with how they were flying now and certainly did not want to control the broom. With her luck, she'd probably hurt the other girl. Nor did she want to go higher. The higher you are, the further you fall.

She didn't want to say that, though, she didn't want to chicken out or look like a coward in front of this girl. So she simply sat there, frozen, staring at the girl in front of her, keeping her arms around the girl in case of a sudden lift-off. She didn't give an opinion on the matter, she didn't want to be to blame if something went wrong, but she would follow Illowy where ever Illowy guided her.

@Illowy Magnard

Illowy waited a moment or two for the younger to respond to her question, though when no respond came, Illowy decided to make the choice for her. Gently, of course. Illowy considered herself to be many things, but she'd never force someone into a situation they didn't want to be in; and as long as Avis wasn't outwardly objecting, Illowy would continue with her little impromptu lesson.

Casually dismounting her broom, Illowy then moved to place a hand on the First Year's back to urge her to scoot forward on the broom where Illowy had previously been positioned. Throughout the entire resituating, the older girl took care to always keep one hand on the broom shaft to maintain some idea that she was still totally in control of her broom while the other was on it; which wasn't untrue. Though sometimes the school brooms could be a bit finicky at times, Illowy had never known her broom to do anything unpredictable. It wouldn't move without the explicit intent.

Once Avis was in her new place, Illowy swung her leg over and remounted behind the girl, letting them stay planted on the ground for a bit as she went on, "Alright, now, you want to hold where you feel the most balanced, it feels a little different for everyone." she explained, leaned slightly around the younger's shoulder, "You can change where you hold depending on what you're doing, how fast your flying." the witch gave the younger a moment to place grip wherever she chose before Illowy reached her arms around either side of the girl to place her own hands just beneath Avis'. As she did so, her mind flickered through how she wanted to further explain the concept in a way that might be more familiar.

"You're Muggle-Born right? Have you ever ridden a bicycle? Staying balanced, making your turns, it's sort of the same concept." granted, Illowy had never ridden a bicycle, but she did have a Muggle motorbike she kept with her father in London. She imagined there couldn't be too much of a difference in how to ride them, "Now to go up, we're just going to slightly pull the broomstick towards our chest. Not a big movement, just a tiny, controlled pull." she instructed patiently.

Hoping the girl would, at the very least, mock her slight movements, Illowy gave the smallest pull of the broomhandle to lift the pair back up off the ground, taking care that they weren't any higher above the ground than they were the last time they took off, "When you decide you want to move forward, just give a tiny little lean in that direction. The smallest you can do, and we'll move nice and slow." she promised, though she was mentally bracing herself to quickly correct if needed.

Avis gave no resistance, simply moving forward where Illowy guided her, before gripping the broom with an iron grip. Her feet were-mostly-on the ground, though the height difference between the girls meant the Avis was on her tippy-toes. That was a good thing, if Avis was all the way on the ground she probably wouldn't have been able to go back up.

"You're Muggle-Born right? Have you ever ridden a bicycle? Staying balanced, making your turns, it's sort of the same concept." Avis rolled her eyes.
"Yes but the bike...er, bicycle, is still on the ground." She flung out a hand and swept it towards the ground for emphasis, though quickly grabbed the broom again when she slid slightly off balance. "I'm also not what you'd call highly skilled at balancing.

As they pulled up yet again, Avis found herself crossing her legs under the broom. In case it went upside down, maybe she could catch herself. "When you decide you want to move forward, just give a tiny little lean in that direction. The smallest you can do, and we'll move nice and slow." Oh. That was sort of like rollerblading, you had to lean forward to move well. Avis could do that. She forced herself to pretend she was rollerblading and leaned forward. Unfortunately, whatever leaning forward she had done for rollerblading translated to a much larger lean than what Illowy had recommended, and the broom shot forward.

Avis shrieked and curled back into Illowy, which conveniently slowed the broom. It wasn't a shriek of fear, rather, thrill, although Avis certainly didn't realize that. But she had made a mistake, and she had fixed it. And she was still fine. That was certainly a bonus. Whether Illowy had helped to slow the broom or not, Avis' heart was now racing out of adrenaline, not fear. Maybe she could control the broom.

With a quick glance behind her to make sure Illowy was still there, Avis slowly pushed forward again, creeping forward. She would continue straight, gradually gaining speed, until they were just bolting along at a super fast slightly slower than walking pace. As she came up on a wall, she misjudged her first turn, not leaning far enough sideways, and slightly slipping the other direction.

@Illowy Magnard

"It's all relative. You'll learn to keep your balance with practice." she assured casually.

Illowy was ultimately grateful she'd tightened her own grip on the broom when the girl leaned in and shot them forward suddenly. Rookie mistake, but Avis was a rookie so it wasn't totally unexpected. The First Year shrieked the whole way in a fashion Illowy couldn't totally decern if it was fear or excitement, but didn't pay it much attention. After all, her attention was required to make sure they didn't accidently speed into a tree or something during this lesson. Thus, Illowy maintained her patience and waited, smiling a bit to herself as the younger girl corrected herself naturally, leaning back into the older student and slowing them down once more, "See, you've got it all sorted for yourself. A natural." she encouraged, "Now you've got the idea how easy it is to change your speed."

For a moment, when Avis looked back over her shoulder at her, Illowy wondered if the little mishap was going to be what caused the other to quite the lesson. Instead, the child pressed them on at a minutely increasing pace, with arguably a little more confidence. So far, Illowy would say the lesson was a success. Each moment the girl took even the tiniest opportunity to keep trying was a success in the snake's book.

As the pair came up to their first obstacle with the younger at the helm, Illowy waited to see how she would handle it; once again, she waited for Avis to figure it out. It wasn't until it became clear they wouldn't quite make the turn due to such a tentative, unbalanced lean, that Illowy stepped in. Locking in her own shoulder and elbow in preparation for supporting the girl and maintain control of the broom if needed, Illowy took her other hand from the broomstick.

"Relax your shoulders a little," she instructed, "that's were your control to turn comes from." Illowy rested her hand on the ball of the girl's shoulder, "Don't bend from your waist, that's making your slip. Maintain your posture, guide the broom with your shoulders, and just give a little lean like someone's sharing a secret." she the spoke, she gave a small push against the girl's shoulder, pulling her lightly along as she leaned her own weight with enough time to clear the wall. It wasn't a full, proper turn, but it was enough of a direction change that they wouldn't pancake into the stone, "You're getting the knack of it." the girl encouraged.

Avis quickly tensed up as she felt her center of mass slide off the side of the broom. That was a sure sign that she was going to fall, she stretched out her hand as if she was on a balance beam but unfortunately, that did not translate to a broom, and she tipped over sideways. Her hand flew back to her broom and gripped it, as Illowy placed a hand on her shoulder. Avis relaxed a bit as she followed where Illowy guided her, comforted by the hand. They swerved away from the wall, and Avis bit her lip in concentration. Maybe she should practice turning before there was an obstacle that wanted to turn her into a pancake.

She focused on Illowy's tips. Relax her shoulders. Avis took a deep breath, and another. Don't bend from the waist. Her posture straightened, slightly ramrod, keeping her torso above her waist, which had the effect of tensing her shoulders. She slowed the broom a little bit, hesitant. Deep breaths. When her shoulders were relaxed again, she picked the pace back up. Guide the broom. Avis tried to envision the broom as a part of her and pulled sideways into an around 30-degree turn. She leaned to the side with her broom, and straightened up, smiling, when she completed the turn and was still on the broom. She shrugged off Illowy's encouragement, encouragement meant nothing to Avis. In her opinion, she had done nothing of worth and therefore didn't deserve praise. Avis didn't like empty praise, a term she found synonym for encouragement. She pulled into another turn, with no obstacle in front of her, and another, working her way up to a 75 degree turn. She allowed herself a small smile.

"How do I go up?"

@Illowy Magnard

Though she would deny it if anyone ever said anything, there was a small swell of pride in Illowy's chest as the girl responded to her ministrations. The girl listened and complied as they were soon turning back and forth about the ground. Gradually she watched Avis' confidence grow as the turned sharpened and their speed increased and Illowy found herself relaxing a bit behind her with the faith that the younger was in better control now. Part of her could understand now they people became teachers. It was certainly something to watch a task that previously seemed so monumentally difficult, finally click into place in a person's head. Watching them suddenly thrive in understanding, even if it was just a simple task.

There hadn't been many things that Illowy had struggled with in school. It more or less felt like it came naturally to her, aside from flying of course. And aside from a few attempts made by her friends to teach her, it ultimately never clicked until she didn't have a choice to fail at it many more. There hadn't been anyone to see her figure it out or be proud of her. Granted, she doubted the First Year wanted any of her praise or pride, but it was there all the same.

Finally, the girl asked the question that seemed to freeze her to the bone just earlier in the lesson; how to go higher.

Illowy suppressed a smirk as she spoke, "Same way we took off the ground. Tiny movements. Pull the broomstick towards your chest." she instructed, "When you're ready to level out, make it parallel to the ground again. To go down, gently push it back towards the ground." invisibly, Illowy held a little more firmly, mostly in preparation of if the girl accidently shot them upward the way she had when they went forward. However, by this point in their lesson, Illowy was maintaining faith in Avis' control

Avis bit her lip. Well, she knew how to go up now. That had been what she wanted. But did she really want to go upwards? That was the dangerous part. She pondered for a moment, lost in her thoughts, before realizing that she was in fact controlling a broom, and it might be a good idea to avoid the tree that was coming towards her. She somewhat sloppily curved the broom around the tree, and firmly shook her head, as if the doubt was simply water, and she was a dog. It did not work. She continued, telling herself she was simply practicing her turns.

Eventually, however, the fear of judgment and embarrassment overtook her doubts, and she forced herself to pull the broom upwards. It did not work too well. Rather than going up, Avis had somehow managed to spin the broom upside down. Before Illowy would have a chance to correct it, Avis' flight or fight instinct kicked in, and she launched herself off the broom towards the ground, which was thankfully only a few feet away. Thankfully, her years of Taekwondo had taught her something, and she managed to pull herself into a roll, and land, bruised but uninjured. She let out a frustrated sigh before looking at Illowy. "See, its the ground that's the danger"

@Illowy Magnard

Illowy had expected the other to follow her instruction initially, though it seemed like as she still content to keep practicing turns... albeit somewhat daring turns that made Illowy a little nervous that the First Year's focus was breaking. That was only confirmed when the girl seemed to snap back to herself and make the sudden choice to lift them up; not that the had the chance to rise much as they started to roll over.

The snake hadn't even had the chance to correct them before Avis let go of the broom entirely to throw herself towards the ground. Yet another choice Illowy hadn't the chance to prepare for; and as her arms had still been firmly around the girl's waist the whole ride, and she was knocked off the broom in turn. Her crashlanding was far less graceful in comparison to the younger's, landing in a heap next to the other.

Illowy groaned, trying to swallow her frustration and her racing heart. She might've been decent on a broom now, but that didn't mean she didn't still nearly have a heart attack when she did fall. Sitting up on her knees, she rolled her eyes a bit, pulling off her gloves to unbutton her cuffs and push up her sleeves to inspect her forearms that broke the majority of her fall. Nothing serious, mostly just bruising and abrasions from the actual fabric of her shirt; but it didn't make it any less annoying.

"The ground is not the danger, its the lack of focus. You became distracted." she said firmly, trying to temper her tone that clipped, mostly due to the fright she'd had actually falling more than any real upset towards the girl, "You cannot just bail out of a problem just because its hard or scary to fix. Especially if you have someone with you that is there to help. You can't abandon them because you're scared." the older girl swallowed hard and inhaled a deep breath to try to reground herself.

"You get hurt when you get reckless. And that was reckless." her tone calmed and returned back to a more neutral state as she shook out her arm. It wasn't a far fall, nothing broken, but certainly a little sore, "Are you alright?" she asked, getting to her feet as she shoved the abandoned gloves into her back pocket and rebuttoned her cuff.

Illowy had expected the other to follow her instruction initially, though it seemed like as she still content to keep practicing turns... albeit somewhat daring turns that made Illowy a little nervous that the First Year's focus was breaking. That was only confirmed when the girl seemed to snap back to herself and make the sudden choice to lift them up; not that the had the chance to rise much as they started to roll over.

The snake hadn't even had the chance to correct them before Avis let go of the broom entirely to throw herself towards the ground. Yet another choice Illowy hadn't the chance to prepare for; and as her arms had still been firmly around the girl's waist the whole ride, and she was knocked off the broom in turn. Her crashlanding was far less graceful in comparison to the younger's, landing in a heap next to the other.

Illowy groaned, trying to swallow her frustration and her racing heart. She might've been decent on a broom now, but that didn't mean she didn't still nearly have a heart attack when she did fall. Sitting up on her knees, she rolled her eyes a bit, pulling off her gloves to unbutton her cuffs and push up her sleeves to inspect her forearms that broke the majority of her fall. Nothing serious, mostly just bruising and abrasions from the actual fabric of her shirt; but it didn't make it any less annoying.

"The ground is not the danger, its the lack of focus. You became distracted." she said firmly, trying to temper her tone that clipped, mostly due to the fright she'd had actually falling more than any real upset towards the girl, "You cannot just bail out of a problem just because its hard or scary to fix. Especially if you have someone with you that is there to help. You can't abandon them because you're scared." the older girl swallowed hard and inhaled a deep breath to try to reground herself.

"You get hurt when you get reckless. And that was reckless." her tone calmed and returned back to a more neutral state as she shook out her arm. It wasn't a far fall, nothing broken, but certainly a little sore, "Are you alright?" she asked, getting to her feet as she shoved the abandoned gloves into her back pocket and rebuttoned her cuff.

Avis flew up, bolting over to the older girl. "Oh for holden's name I'm sorry." In the moment, she hadn't realized that by jumping off, she would pull off the girl behind her. "I'm really sorry" The girl didn't seem to have nearly as graceful of a landing as Avis, and she felt real bad as the girl examined her arms, which had gotten a bit scratched.

"The ground is not the danger, its the lack of focus. You became distracted." The older girl's sharp tone frightened Avis a bit, and she shied away from Illowy, biting her lip. She hadn't been distracted. Well, maybe a bit but not while she was trying to go up. Right?

As the girl continued talking, Avis bit her lip harder. She wanted to argue, she really wanted to argue. Her defense mechanisms had sprung into gear, trying to avoid judgment at all costs. She didn't think that the older girl would appreciate her argument, and she had to admit, she would really just be spinning nonsense. Avis was pretty good at spinning nonsense, but it didn't change the fact that it was nonsense. So she fidgeted, her fingers beginning to tap a rapid dance along her leg as she listened to Illowy quietly.

"You get hurt when you get reckless. And that was reckless." Avis let out a small sigh. She hadn't been trying to be reckless. She was trying to go up. Just a small movement. Which obviously failed, but still. When the girl asked if she was okay, Avis muttered a small, "Yeah". Clearly she wasn't very good at brooms. She cast a weary glance towards the castle before turning back to Illowy. "Maybe I'm jus not meant for flying."

@Illowy Magnard