Either Fly or Fall PV Avery Chen Closed

The air was starting to get nippy outside as fall began to settle over the Scottish highlands. However, it was the perfect weather to train, in Avery's book. He usually rode and tossed quaffles until he was well-exerted, anyhow. And, now that he had finally made first-string chaser this year, he was bound to train even harder.

With his new Autumn Cruise in hand, the chaser headed from the locker rooms to the training pitch. He was excited to try out this broom, which was practically a whole tree trunk and very different from the lean Silver Arrow he was used to. Our boy had a small stature, which made him look more like a second-year than a third-year, especially when mounted on this large, sturdy broom that was large enough to carry 5 people. Five, could you believe that?

He kicked off easily, feeling the breeze in his hair. This broom was definitely a bit more difficult to manage than his Silver Arrow -- the turns a little more difficult to maneuver given the size of the broom. However, for its much larger size, it was still quite easy. He did a couple of loops, whooping as he did. Up in the air, Avery truly felt free.

Soon enough, he spotted someone else on the pitch. A blond girl was struggling to maintain balance on her slow-flying broom. Perhaps a first-year? He chuckled as he watched the girl struggle for a bit, remembering how much terror he had caused himself and Maggie Hawkins when he was stuck in the air, unable to get down until Maggie dragged him from atop a big rock.

A mischievous smile graced his lips. Nothing like giving the firstie a bit of a teasing! "Hey, watch out! Get outta the way!!" he hollered loudly, as if she was the one who was in his way. He shot his broom right next to the girl's -- as if he was going to crash smack bang into hers -- then braked at the last second, skidding to a sudden stop centimeters away from her. It was reckless, he knew. If she had a fright, she might very well have toppled off her broom, but Avery was (maybe overly-)confident he could catch her. Plus, this Autumn Cruise was meant to catch falling players. Why not test it out?

'Thoughts' "Speech"

Quidditch Training Pitch

@Avery Chen

Sunday, 8th October, 2023

After a while, Elisa was getting the hang of the broom, even though she was still cautious about it, she finally decided to move on a bit faster, as she started moving, she suddenly heard someone scream "Hey, watch out! Get outta the way!!", frighted by the scream, she moved her head slightly to check who the voice had belonged to and if that person meant it to her, but the moment she looked at the side where the voice had previously come from, she saw a guy in an Autumn Cruise broom flying towards her like he was going to crash smack her for sure,

For a second, it felt like the grim was approaching her in another form, but Elisa's panic stopped the moment she saw the guy's face, It was a Slytherin Quidditch Player named Avery something, she had heard about him from a couple of people, There was no way such an expert would come crashing towards her, the young girl quickly changed her previously panicked face to an annoyed look, she knew deep inside that the boy will stop in the last moment, As the boy continued to pretend like she was in his way and was coming fastly at her, there was also her trauma that was getting triggered a bit, everything felt like it was in slow-motion, she felt like she was petrified, she couldn't move her body, the confidence in her which was there a couple of minutes ago was now replaced with pure fear,

The young girl closed her eyes due to fear if the boy was in real going to crash her then she must accept the pain at any cost, the boy was swift, and after a moment he suddenly broke which indeed frightened her and made her lose her grip from the Broom, as she fell from the broom, she screamed like some banshee, it was not her time to die so fast, she still had a lot of things to do in life and wished to fulfill but in the time being she felt like this was the end of her journey in Hogwarts and of life, she closed her eyes yet again while waiting to feel the bitter pain which she would surely get after falling from so high, the girl could only imagine the pain in her head after she would hit the ground because right now, it didn't feel like any guardian angel was coming to save her.

OOC NOTE-
Sorry for the delay in reply

Although the broom was large and bulky, it was still quite fast. The weight of the broom and the speed in which it traveled made it seem even more formidable as a charging force. He couldn't blame the girl for looking so panicked as this large tree hurtled towards her.

But, as a look of recognition settled upon her face, her expression turned from panic to annoyance. Did she know who he was? Maybe Avery had thought she'd looked familiar because she was a Slytherin firstie, instead of one from another house? If she knew he was a quidditch player, she'd certainly know he was just faking his inability to stop and teasing her.

Nevertheless, his sudden braking and the closeness of the possible impact seemed to startle her, and she lost her grip at that second, tipping over and falling rapidly to the ground. Okay, just as he assumed, she hadn't completely mastered her balance on the broom yet. "Whelp, too bad," Avery had only one second to say nonchalantly, watching her falling figure with a blink, waiting for a second (he had to make this challenging for himself, right??) before he began his rapid descent alongside the girl's falling body. He pushed and pushed, leaning forward into the handle and urged his broom faster, until he was speeding towards the ground faster than she was. The downward plummet was exhilarating as all his senses were engaged, flashing on red alert. It was at this point, knowing that they would both be screwed if he messed up, that sent the adrenaline pumping in his veins. This feeling was what made quidditch so addicting for him. He waited until the last second, waited until he knew he was going to make a successful catch, when their bodies were just a couple meters from the ground, before making a swooping turn underneath her to catch her.

He felt her land on the back of his broom with a thunk. Did she even know how to land on another player's broom correctly, like his teammates did? He hadn't considered this at all when he played his little prank. He could only hope that she knew how to adjust her falling position and cling to the broom, so she didn't just bounce off of it and onto the ground. Just in case, he reached out with an arm behind him to help steady her, after her (maybe) painful landing. "You alright?" he asked, as if he hadn't just caused her to fall off her broom. As if the wind had just knocked her over. As if she had just fumbled everything herself and he just happened to be nearby to catch her. "Your balance isn't too great -- not very comfortable on a broom yet, I'm assuming? Did you just start flying recently?" he asked conversationally, playing the role of the innocent bystander, even though a hint of a mischievous smile graced his lips. "You know, I don't think you're even supposed to be flying out here by yourself without supervision!" he added for good measure.

Nothing was his fault, right?

'Thoughts' "Speech"

Quidditch Training Pitch

@Avery Chen

Sunday, 8th October, 2023

Just until a few moments, Elisa had imagined her death but before she could realize it, she had already landed on the broom of the guy who had supposedly thought it was a great idea to fly towards while acting like he had lost control over his broom, After a while of comforting her own mind, She finally made herself comfortable in the broom and shot a glare at the boy, "I am fine but if I had fallen and somehow survived then your demise would have been confirmed" she said while giving a annoyed fake smile at him, She then looked around her surroundings to stop herself from practically pushing the boy out of his own broom,

After a while, she heard him say about how her balance wasn't great and if she had just started flying, Elisa thought for a couple of minutes, if she should just say the truth or not but in the end mumbled in a low voice, "I know my balance isn't great, I used to be comfortable before but after a broom riding accident, I-I stopped riding brooms.", the previously annoyed girl then, at last, relaxed herself a bit, She had never expected to speak about this accident to anyone, especially not some quidditch player who would most likely judge her for it but maybe Hogwarts was changing her from her usual secretive self.

As she thought more of the incident, more flashbacks of it came into her mind, after a while to change the topic, Elisa asked "Y-You are a Quidditch player, right? A-Avery? Chen or Leveret? I am not very good with names so might have confused the names", She then yet again started looking around the field, hoping that the topic of her fear fades away, As the young girl looked around she heard the boy ask "You know, I don't think you're even supposed to be flying out here by yourself without supervision!", After a while Elisa slowly answered "I know but neither could I practice in the area where Professor Lin teaches us in since a lot of other students were there and I surely don't wish to advertise my terrible flying, this area seemed less crowded",

She slowly looked down with embarrassment, not only had she advertised her poor flying to some quidditch player,

He could feel the girl glaring daggers at the back of his head, and almost regretted turning around to see if it was true. Avery glanced back with a crooked grin, and the sharpness in her eyes told him that there was no doubt he could've met his demise if she had actually fallen to the ground. Ah, what a vengeful little spirit. How interesting. These underclassmen were getting more cheeky each year.

She was silent for a few moments, before admitting that she had previously experienced a broom riding accident. He hadn't expected her to admit this to him, but he supposed it had been weighing heavily on her mind throughout her flying practice this afternoon. Avery knew what it was like to fall and how it could ruin someone's confidence and experience -- the utter lack of control, the fright of impending impact as your body would hit the ground like shattered glass --

"Chen," he said, in response to her question, flashing another grin of pearly whites. "I'm the Avery who is a skilled user of longer tree branches," he explained, thinking about Leveret the duelist. "And a player of the more interesting sport. Because, quidditch fully engages all your senses: the environment is your friend and enemy. Your opponents never know where your next attack could come from, and there are limitless ways to win when you work with so many teammates on the field." And that was why he liked quidditch: the unpredictability, the infinite opportunities. Of course, a duelist might refute him and say otherwise, but there was no duelist in sight right now, was there?

"Oh, blasted rules; they just limit our potential," he said, rolling his eyes, glad that the girl had revealed a similar attitude about them. He had only mentioned the rules just to tease her for breaking them, anyway. Not that he actually cared much for them, since had had similarly broken rules about flying unsupervised during his first year at Hogwarts.

"Seems like you just need more confidence in your flying. Your skills don't seem half bad or terrible," he said, unfortunately giving her some credit. "As long as you have the willingness to improve, well -- that can take you anywhere you want to be," he nodded assuredly.

"So!" he continued, a mischievous twinkle returning to his dark brown eyes. "I have a plan for you, freshie. Are you ready for the thing to help you with your confidence?" he asked. "If you are, you better hold on tight to the broom." He lowered his chest to his broom handle, then turned back to see if the girl was in. There was no doubt that he was going to take her for a rapid roller-coaster ride around the pitch if she was ready for it. "I'll just catch you if you fall, anyway," he added confidently. Would she trust him, though?

Something about the boy was urging Elisa to trust him but also push him off the broom, her sense of anger remained deep inside her and kept on getting worse as the previously occurred scene of her falling from her broom kept flashing in her mind,

Her mind was slowly flooding with different emotions, from anger to fear to even embarrassment for speaking out about her trauma to a cheeky quidditch player, she stayed idle without making any noise or movement when she heard the boy speak. 'So he is the Slytherin chaser Avery Chen' Elisa thought as she continued to listen to Avery praise Quidditch, it wasnt something Elisa enjoyed hearing of since Quidditch wasn't a sport she was too fond of but neither could she seem rude by ignoring the boy,

After a while, Elisa finally decided to introduce herself to the boy in front of her, "I am Elisa, Elisa Shakestra, pleased to meet you, and thanks for catching me", her voice was barely a whisper but what caught her off-guard was her sudden gratitude to Avery for catching her, but not like she could change her words now.

Elisa remained quiet as the boy continued to speak, it seemed like he was a bit of a rulebreaker like her which helped divert her mind from overthinking,

Avery didn't seem as bad as Elisa had thought as he continued to talk about how her skills weren't bad but needed confidence and finished off by offering her an idea that would help her overcome her broom fear, the plan seemed worth the try but the more she thought of it, the more the feeling of skepticism spread in her mind,

After a while, Elisa finally muttered reluctantly "Let's try your plan but please catch me if I fall", Elisa finally sighed as she slowly made up her mind to put her trust in the guy, after all, he had caught her before too..

Classroom	@Avery Chen
'Thoughts' "Speech"	Notes: -

When the girl thanked him for catching her, he waved it off with a small grin like it was no big deal. It really wasn't much, but he was inwardly quite proud he pulled it off so seamlessly. "Nah, it's what I do everyday," he shrugged with a lopsided grin, only with just a bit of exaggeration. A tiny part of him still liked to show off with a bit of bravado, even though he'd never admit it to himself.

He saw the girl hesitate as he asked if she was ready for the part of their flying sesh that would tackle her lack of confidence. "Don't think, don't worry, just do," he suggested. "Sit back and relax, or hang tight, whichever you prefer!" he hollered, before rearing back on his broom as if it were a trusty steed, likely shaking Shakestra back if she wasn't ready, but knowing that he would feel a change in the weight of the broom if she were to fall. They hovered in the air for a split second. Then, he dove.

Down, down, down they went, almost perpendicular to the ground. Wind whipped through his messy dark hair, air screaming past his ears, wind making his eyes water. Dammit, why didn't he bring his quidditch goggles?? Never mind that. He bared his teeth in a wide grin, clenching in concentration, and tugged with all his might on the handle right before they hit the grass.

Up they shot, heading in the direction of the sun. "Stay low and tight to the handle! Lower your center of gravity!" he shouted through the wind, hoping that the little frosh had taken in the sudden shift in gravity sturdily. "We're gonna practice tight horizontal turns next!" He probably should've warned her about their dive just then, too, but quidditch was about improvising, wasn't it?

Once they reached a good height, he leaned to the side and made a sharp left along the outer rim of the pitch, left shoulder pointing directly towards the ground, as if they were riding a motorbike on a banked surface. Through his peripheral vision, he checked to see if the girl was still hanging on. If she was, great. If she wasn't, he would make another dive to catch her without letting her fall too far. "Whoohooo! THIS IS THE LIFE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Then, he came to an abrupt halt and turned the other way, banking right at top speed, until they made it halfway around the pitch again, whooping loudly as he went before slowly bringing them back upright to a comfortably cruising speed.

"So, how're you doing?" he asked, peering back at the frosh, who was either severely traumatized, extremely relieved, exorbitantly proud, or all of the above. "You just whipped around the pitch at about 80 kilometers per hour," he said, breathing heavily through the exhilaration. He hoped she would give herself some credit for staying in one piece through such a ride, somehow forgetting that not all people had the same optimism as he did. Sometimes, people needed a bit of a push to prove to themselves what they were capable of, but he often neglected to acknowledge that people may disagree on what counted as an appropriate 'push'.