Swol Goals PV Flash Holmwood Finished

Flash didn't seem to have much to comment about Avery's interpretation of his sister. His face only showed some confusion, as if he struggled to know whether he agreed with Avery or not. To be honest, Avery's words might've been quite harsh now that he thought about it, but he shrugged inwardly as he continued his exercises. Here was a boy who didn't mind voicing his thoughts as he saw fit, unbeknownst to himself how much discomfort he might cause others by being as blunt as he was. He saw himself as quite the encyclopedia to human nature, really. Well, minus the part about having a filter.

He was never slow to point out his own conflicted relationship with his parents to anyone who had an ear for his complaints, verbose as he was. Sure, he loved his parents and they loved him and only wanted the best for their son, but man did they have iron fists and were often more disappointed than not, frequently making him question his own ability and worth. Maybe his plight wasn't so bad when compared to that of others, who didn't know for sure whether their parents cared for them.

It was quite a nasty fall, to be honest, but he tried to fool himself and Flash into thinking that he was better after a little water. Perhaps a small self-deprecating joke to make the situation less awkward and to lift their spirits again? But no. Flash, ever the responsible and insightful upperclassman, would have none of his BS. He opened his mouth to protest the very absurd idea to stop --

But oh boy, the greatest pain came the day after? "You mean this will get worse?" he asked, stunned, not quite sure he would be alive tomorrow if he was already broken today. He shook the thought from his mind as he realized the session was likely ending, and disappointment settled in once more. "But we have so much more to work on, I'm sure!" he continued, despite the fact that Flash was already sighing and massaging his forehead, much like a parent dealing with a very frustrating and unrelenting toddler -- a sight that was especially familiar to Avery whenever he dealt with the adults around him. "I want to become the best quidditch player there ever was!" he announced, raising his face with a smile as he imagined the glory that was to be: billowing robes, soaring high into the sky, zooming at 80 kilometers per hour, crowds cheering...

Patience. That was such an overrated word. Was it really a virtue? As with many muggle-born children his age, he wanted things now. He already felt that there was no time left, despite the fact that they probably had many weeks. He gave a long sigh of resignation himself. Was there really any point in arguing with Flash? He was the one who was helping him, after all. "Well, you have to promise that you'll work with me next week for leg days and arm days?" he asked hopefully, not quite sure whether he'd be able to miraculously learn those routines on his own. "Maybe even going forwards at least until tryouts and our first match if I get in?"

He gazed at Flash expectantly, hopefully.

To Avery's pathetic cries of pain, Flash nodded slowly. Stopping now may have prevented him from doing lots of harm to himself. Was the difference really so wide? He supposed he was at least two years older, and had been exercising long before that. What he could say for Avery though, was that he didn't give up for anything. He was asking over and over to keep going, even after hearing that the worst pain was yet to come. Reckless, really, though admirable in its own right. Perhaps he could finally see why such a friendly, outgoing child still ended up in the snake's den. There was a bit of a lack of perspective, though, which could have been due to his age.

"You don't become the best in one day." Flash explained, his frustration now soothed and his own patience returning. "You collect experience, but you are only awarded experience for meaningful effort. Pushing yourself needlessly only creates wasted effort, and negative experience."

He wished someone had told him that at Avery's age, but then again, he wondered if he would have listened. If he was being honest with himself, he could remember how sure of himself he had been then, how certain he was that he knew what was the right thing to do. Time was such a strange thing, how it changed his relationship to his own thoughts.

Avery seemed to relent eventually, moving on to begging for continued instruction. While Flash wanted to say he was surprised that Avery still trusted him after he let things get out of hand, he had also intended to help over an endured period from the start. As he was trying to explain, no exercise was complete in one day.

"Yes. Come on, don't look so downtrodden." Flash smiled, ruffling Avery's hair just as Falentra did to him. He knew it always made him feel better, for some reason. "We'll meet regularly, and get you in perfect shape."

People didn't become the best in one day. As frustrating as it was, it seemed to be true. Flash's words reminded him of what Allegra Steinway had advised him in the rehearsal room, when she found him struggling with his scales. Take the time to slow down when you need to. A one week break was not a step back when you're hitting a wall; instead, gazing at a painting from afar might give you more perspective than if you kept focusing on the same place up close.

Avery Chen was not the patient type, but perhaps there was such a thing as wasted effort, as both Flash and Allegra seemed to think. He sighed in disappointment one last time as he finally relented, but inwardly he was glad that the two of them cared enough to give him some perspective on the matter. Actually, he had definitely spent many evenings struggling with violin practice, tears streaming and angry at himself for not getting something right. When those nights accumulated, he only seemed to get into a negative spiral where his goal was to keep practicing out of a fear of getting worse, instead of an optimism that he could be better.

Even so, he had to at least try and see if Flash could help him in the weeks to come, right?

"Yes. Come on, don't look so downtrodden," Flash responded, apparently noticing his disappointment, ruffling Avery's already very messy bird's nest of hair. Somehow, the ruffling made it a little neater, if that even made sense, and when it settled in place, Avery smiled a bit at Flash's brotherly reassurance. "We'll meet regularly, and get you in perfect shape."

At that, Avery decided he felt much better already. "Hooray!" he exclaimed, and leapt up from the fountain ledge with a fist pump, only then realizing how much his arm hurt when raised. "Oh, ouch," he muttered, letting it fall back down to his side. Standing up, he began to realize how drained he actually was.

"Well, now that we're done, how about a nice hearty breakfast?" he asked Flash, already knowing where he was going to head next. "I could eat a hippogriff."

With that, he turned towards the Great Hall, before realizing that the lunges at the beginning of their workout were starting to get to him, too. "Do you mind?" He put a hand on Flash's left shoulder, and hobbled off to breakfast with his helpful new trainer. His laughs and pained cries reverberated across the Courtyard and hallways as they went. But, it was the good type of pain, he decided.