InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I love ... CARE BEARS!"

Once practice had ended and the team was packing up and heading to the locker room, Merc walked over to where Lex had just landed with his usual friendly smile. There had been a lot going on lately, especially on her end, and on both personal and professional fronts. But with their new replacement PR, a new beater on the pitch, and things finally starting to settle down, it was worth checking in.

“What do you think of our new lad?” He asked as the pitch was nearly emptied out.

Lex ran a hand through her hair and gave Coach a smile. "Georgi? He's good. Different style, but give us a few weeks and we'll be seamless."

"But a style that you both can work with?" Merc smiled and fished through his jacket for a cigarette, lighting it with his wand as he listened to her.

Lex nodded. "I can work with anything," she reassured MG. It was largely true. Having played professionally for ten years, she played with various style. Though she was most at home with a style similar to hers - or at least complimentary - she could adapt to play off just about anyone. "And I think he and Kal will work well together. Might be worth a few extra practice sessions though - to work through all the variations."

"I meant what I said about a beater week," he teased. "I want to test him next week for the match. I don't expect perfect coordination or anything close to it, I just want to see what we're working with and where to go from there. We have a long break and a good amount of time."

"You'll get no complaints from me, Coach," she said, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a drink. She'd prefer a few months to work with Georgi and Kal rather than a few weeks, but you didn't always have that luxury with quidditch, especially not with the injury ridden season they had. "Just let me know if there's any particular plays you want me to run with him. I don't forsee the language barrier being too bad when we're in the midst of it, but I'd rather go over that during practice when we're not in a rush."

Merc nodded and grew quiet for a moment, part thinking and part studying her. Finally took a longer drag and let a slow breath out. "You're doing well, Lex. You know that right?"

Lex gave MG a bit of a double take. She wasn't sure what had prompted the comment. "I'm doing my best. We've had some tough breaks but we're doing okay. S'always room for improvement though."

"And your best is working. I mean it, Lex. It's been a season that's hard on the beaters and demanded a lot of you. You've seen us through an undefeated half of the season, you've taken Kal under your wing in a way that's better than I could've hoped, and you've done it all in a season that's been rocky and full of changes." For all his issues with and frustration at her family, and his waning patience for Lex herself at times, Merc realized he perhaps hadn't been as clear about his opinion on her actual work. Not as much as he perhaps should've been.

"I've had a few good matches," Lex said with a bit of a bashful shrug. She focused her gaze on her broom. "We just need more time. Kal's been amazing and Georgi looks brilliant, we just need more time to get a good rhythm together."

"You will, I don't doubt that. But that's not what I'm talking about Lex." Merc sighed a little and wondered why he could never get her to stop looking at what she might've done wrong. "You're doing well. There's been a lot going on and I haven't gotten to make sure you know that so I'm saying it now. We've had a few bumps in the road, yes, but we haven't gotten off track. Things are going to be okay and I'm more than happy with your performance. That's all I wanted to be sure you knew."

She stared down at the ground, wishing she could believe him. Because she wasn't sure if it would be okay. Between the BiL stuff, the fact that she was getting older - thirty was only a month away - and the fact that there were plenty of days she still entertained the notion of leaving the BiL. Not to mention she was pretty sure it was her fault Aureliana had been dragged in to step in for PR. "Er… thanks, Coach.."

Merc pursed his lips and knocked off a bit of ash. He couldn't seem to do anything right with Lex. Even trying to reassure her and tell her she was doing a good job, to stop being hard on herself, was backfiring on him. Part of him wondered if he should throw his hands up and let Shona handle Lex, maybe he was doomed to never get anywhere with her. His trying certainly never seemed to make things better, sometimes he wondered if they made them worse.

"You don't believe me?"

Lex looked up at him, running a hand through her sweaty curls. "It's not that, Coach, I mean, I think I can do better still.. I know not everyone's a fan of me and Micah getting hitched, and the last thing I wanted was to make trouble for the team."

She couldn't exactly tell him this might be her last season with the team.

That's what had her so quiet? Merc couldn't help the small smile as he shook his head at her. "Lex...it doesn't matter alright? First of all it's your personal life and that's separate from this, and second...nothing on that front is going to make anyone more of a fan of it. There's nothing to be gained ruminating about it. Enjoy your newlywed life, take a honeymoon on the break, what have you, but the team is stronger than a little trouble."

She gave him a smile. "Thanks, Coach.. I…" there was a slight flush to her cheeks at the notion of MG encouraging her and Micah to take a honeymoon. "Just a lot on my mind, Coach.. And I'm sorry if it's been distracting me.."
"Lex...see the previous three mentions of 'You're doing well'," Merc responded with obvious gentle amusement in his smile.

Her cheeks flushed, and not just from the exertion of a hard practice. "Thanks, Coach. I… thanks, really. Just always feel I can do better and I mean, not getting any younger.."

"None of us are. Curse of being in sport, you've only got so many playing years in you. But you're still top of your game, and you haven't slowed down." Merc stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked out at the darkening sky, momentarily lost in a memory of back when he had played.

"Enjoy it as long as you can, Lex. Trust me, enjoy it now rather than look back later and wonder why you spent so much of it worrying about your shelf life." He turned back and smiled at her. "What you're doing now? Playing as hard as you can and doing your best? That's perfect, and that's the way to keep going."

She managed a bit of a nervous chuckle. "Working on it, Coach." Georgi and Kal were both younger than her and Lex knew she wouldn't be playing forever. She probably only had a few seasons left in her at best. "You planning on playing Georgi next match?"

“As I said, I want to test him out next week. He’ll play this and then I can see what we’re working with.” Merc stamped out his cigarette and vanished it away with a flick of his wand before looking up to smile at her. “And then we’ll have the break to figure things out, hm?”

She nodded, going over what she'd seen of Georgi so far along with some of his old match reports she'd dug up to get a better feel for his style. "You want me to match his style? Or should I let him handle more of the defence while I do more offence?"

Merc raised an eyebrow as he turned to walk off, amused as he shook his head at her. “You're the lead beater, Lex. I only have him for half a season, you I'll have for more. He's here to match you, not the other way around.” With that he raised his hand in goodbye and headed off back to the club rooms.

Lex raised an eyebrow at MG, smiling faintly to herself before getting back on her broom and kicking off into the air to run through some more flying drills on her own.