Who: Cav and Owen What: Management/Admin Discussion of the State of Pride When: Tuesday, 13 February 2000, Morning Where: Owen’s Office Warnings: Lots of Healthy Internalized Feelings
If there was one thing Cav wanted this season, it was a break. It seemed that every week he had another fire to put out, another roster spot to fill, something else unexpectedly eating up his time. It wasn't usual, and it was pretty clear by the fact that he didn't look like he was getting much restful sleep that it was all taking its toll on him. He stopped by Owen's office and knocked on the door. "Hey, got a minute? I want to review some options for Joy's replacement. Mind if I run them by you?"
Owen glanced up as soon as he detected movement at his door- a trick he'd picked up over the years without having to rely on any warning spells- but it still took his brain a moment to process the presence of Cav standing there, let alone translating his words into something intelligible. This is what sleep deprivation had reduced him to. He stared just a beat too long, and then rose with a smile and a sweeping gesture to the small couch off to one side. “No, not at all. Something to drink? Tea?”
"No, I'm fine," he said with a smile. He almost said that Owen looked like hell but thought better of it. Was the stress of this season getting to everyone like this? "I have a short list, and I thought I'd see if you had anyone to add or if you've heard anything about anyone who might be looking to make a change. I'd prefer not to go out of the country again for this, and Ellie made it clear she isn't interested in promoting a reserve and replacing them, so the options are somewhat limited." He spoke as he sat on the couch and crossed a leg over his knee.
Tapping his wand to his desk, the papers that had been in small, but neat piles flowed into into a large ledger that- when the spell was complete- showed itself to be color coordinated. Owen glanced at the book a little wistfully before joining Cav on the couch. “Budget for the Neep,” he said with a nod toward his desk. “Might be slightly less complicated than our current predicament. As to your question, I've been reviewing some of the current league rosters and a list of chasers that recently retired, and there are some possibilities there.
“Of course we could go the route we took with Okeke, and try to woo someone from another team, but I don't know how successful we might be, this late in the season. Same might go for anyone we can lure out of retirement. I can reach out to QUABBLE, see if they know of anyone, but that would almost definitely ensure that news of our dire straits made it to the press ahead of anything Gwen might send it. Do you know if she’s planning on sending anything out?”
Cav nodded a few times. He liked having Owen around, such a great asset to both him and of course to the team. "I think we'd be better off not poaching anymore, especially not again this season. I know I'm limiting us even more by saying that, but …" He flicked his fingers a little bit. "It's hard enough for us to lose people. I don't want to force that on other teams if possible. Someone retired or taking a break might work." He shook his head. "No, I haven't talked to Gwen about this yet." Honestly, he was avoiding it but he would do it.
Given how everything had gone down with Ellie, Owen wasn’t terribly surprised at Cav’s apparent reluctance. He even flashed the other wizard a sympathetic, knowing smile. “Best to not create bad blood if we can help it, no.” He let out a laugh, but it was cold and a little mirthless. In a rare display of true candor, he went on: “Why drag the rest of the league down with us, yeah?”
He sighed, and leaned forward, elbows going to his knees and head dropping into his hands for just a moment before he looked back over at Cav. “How’s the team holding up? Think we’ll survive the season?”
Cav couldn't help but smile, just a brief quirk of the corner of his mouth at the crack about bringing the whole league down with them. "Yes, well - " He sighed and moved a hand back through his hair. "I have no idea what's going to happen this season, honestly. I think it'll be a damn miracle if we all survive it."
Owen laughed again, more of amusement than anything else this time, and shook his head. “Or- and let’s be honest here- just the bloc.” He rubbed a hand down his face and leaned back again. “I knew coming back from the war and re-building years would be rough, but I never expected this.” Shrugging a shoulder, he regarded Cav again and tried to bring them back on topic. “Anyone in particular on your short list that you need me to start reaching out to, or any contacts I need to try to feel out?”
"By now, I'm just trying to tell myself that every day's going to be unexpected. It's easier that way than to expect normal." Honestly, Cav wasn't sure he even knew what normal was anymore. "I have a few." He gave a few names, solid choices if maybe out of reach. And another that included a former Wasps chaser who disappeared during the war and might be looking to take up Quidditch again. That was always a difficult way to go about things, but it could work.
“Mm, that's very true. ‘Normal’ is such a fluid concept in our profession anyway.” Owen made a few notes in his office journal as Cav went through his list of prospective names, but he paused over the last one. His brows rose, but it was in something between surprise and disbelief. “That… could be a pretty big coup, not only for the team, but for our image too. Have Ellie or Bart floated any names your way?”
Cav agreed. "It would be, but I wouldn't want to force him back to the sport if he's not interested either." He scratched his upper arm. "No, no names from them. We can check in with them but I told Ellie that I wanted her to concentrate right now on the team she has. That's where her focus needs to be."
Having hummed his ascent, Owen then articulated it: “Understandable. Merlin knows what the team needs now is at the very least the appearance of stability.” He sighed and leaned all the way back, letting his head roll onto the top of the couch as he gazed at the ceiling. “Think we’ll get there? To stable?” A thought occurred to him, making him let out a wry chuckle. “Maybe we should look into calling in that curse breaker they used on Galbraith.”
There, Owen had certainly hit the nail on the head. Stability at this point was all that Cav asked. At least with Joy leaving, it was for legitimate personal reasons and not for personnel or inter-personal reasons. "We'll manage the same way we've been managing it, I guess. As long as we're winning games, that's what matters." So he didn't really answer the question and certainly didn't quite laugh at the joke about bringing in a curse-breaker, but maybe that was lack of sleep.
A thousand and one arguments started and stopped once Cav had voiced that sentiment, and Owen’s throat burned with the bitter taste of bile as he swallowed each and every one of them down. Far be it from him to tell anyone the best way to do his job; best to make sure his own house was in order before casting aspersions on someone else’s. But it was The Game Above All that had seen them playing through the War Year, and now he couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of universal judgement for their complicity. Of course, that line of thinking wasn’t altogether helpful, so he shoved it down, like he always did. “Anything else I can help you with this morning? I’ll run down those contacts for you, and have Terry swing them by, unless you’re using him right now.”
"No, that's a good plan." Cav hesitated for a moment, pinched the bridge of his nose and was quiet for a moment. "Any information you or Terry can get in addition to what's already in my files, I'd appreciate it. I don't want this to go the way of some of the other change-ups we've had, and I feel confident we can take our time to get this to work. Will you let me know if you catch wind of any pressure to do otherwise?" He was worried about Ellie pushing at them to get someone in there, since she had already voiced those concerns to him. He wasn't sure if anyone else would have similar opinions about it.
For reasons he couldn’t immediately identify, Owen found himself giving Cav a lopsided smile. There were no leaps of logic necessary for him to work out who the manager meant. It vanished within seconds, however, and he nodded. “Sure thing. Not much sense in rushing into anything at this point, all things considered.” He made a few more notes, and then pushed to his feet and offered Cav his hand along with a wry smile. “As long as we’re winning games, right?”