Denison Frisby, Appleby Arrows Keeper (denisonfrisby) wrote in quidditchprose, @ 2014-03-30 13:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | denison frisby, mei chang |
Who: Denison Frisby and Mei Chang
What: An unexpected meeting -- for the weekly prompt challenge
Where: At the Chudley vs Montrose match
When: Backdated to March 22nd
Rating: Low
Status: Complete
One of Mei's most fervent hopes, most days, was a time turner. As Manager of the Pride of Portree, her work didn't stop when player practices and games did. She was also always actively scouting other teams, other matches, whether in preparation for upcoming games, studying techniques or plays, or trying to find talent where available. She arrived at the Montrose game, in particular, to watch Lennox Campbell. The man would be a phenomenal fit on the Pride, but she doubted that the Magpies would trade him away for nothing. A straight-up Seeker for Seeker trade wouldn't work, since Lennox was by far the more superior player, and she knew that the Magpies would be gunning for a championship this year, even though they were struggling early, inasmuch as a top team like them could struggle. Knowing this, instead she opted to watch him to see what she could learn from the way he flew. Maybe she could run the game reviews with Dougal and work with him so he'd be able to Seek better. The stands were almost nearly filled by the time she arrived, and she forgot how crazy the crowds could be. She bumped and squeezed and apologised her way through the throng in an attempt to find her seat. A game where Denison didn't have a personal stake in how it ended-- kind of-- was just the kind of thing Denison was looking for. He was still smarting from the last loss, and he knew a lot of the blame lay on him. He hadn't been playing very well, plain and simple, and it seemed no amount of extra time spent on the pitch did anything to fix that. He was doing everything he could think of to get ready for the next match, even though it wasn't until after two weeks. The bye week would be a great chance for him to continue practicing, and with transfers coming up-- well, he didn't want to think about that. The Arrows would be playing Montrose after the break, and they'd had a less than stellar run of chasing lately, with Seeker Campbell doing the best he could to pull out wins for the team. But Denison knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Magpies chasers found their stride, and he didn't want to be the keeper acting as their slump buster. He had arrived a little later than intended, however-- some fans caught sight of him outside the pitch and he felt obliged to stay and sign autographs-- and by the time he went up to the stands, he found the crowd rather intimidating. He dove in, picked a direction, and committed to it, but found himself needing to backtrack when a gaggle of Cannons diehards (was there ever any other kind?) blocked the way. But when he tried to turn his elbow caught someone's chest or rib or something, and he let out an apology right away. "I am so sorry!" Mei wasn't sure what hit her. One minute she was carefully, cautiously working her way through the crowd. The next the air was whooshing out of her lungs and a searing pain shot up her side. She thought she heard someone babbling apologies, but forty-plus years of being a tiny lady in a crowd of, frankly, inconsiderate men had made her rather weary of the experience. "Watch it!" she hissed, rubbing the spot that hurt most. She hoped that wouldn't bruise. The game was about to start in a few minutes and she was nowhere near where she needed to be. That only added to her irritation. "I said I was sorry," Denison said defensively, glancing down at who he'd hit and blinking when he realised who it was. He fought the impulse to run-- what would Mei Chang think, having the rival keeper beating her up on the pitch of another team's game?-- because he didn't mean it, for one, and for another, he was a Hufflepuff and honesty counted for a lot in his book. "Shit," he said, because that was also his very honest assessment of the situation. "I really didn't mean it. I didn't see you there, and also--" Another wizard in the crowd jostled him, and he caught himself just before he then also fell on top of Mei. "This crowd," he explained feebly. Mei caught him just before he fell on top of her, palms flat against his chest to keep him away. It was instinctive, and only when Mei finally looked up did she realise who was trying to crush her under his weight. "It wasn't that bad a loss, was it?" she asked wryly, her thoughts flitting immediately to poorly executed sabotage attempts by Manager death. She knew Denison by reputation, though, and was a little comforted by the fact that at least he wasn't like the Falcons. Those players usually meant it when they hurt you 'accidentally', even outside the pitch. The crowd wasn't lessening any, so Mei sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure why I thought the stands was a good place to watch today." "I'd probably be going after the chasers, not you," Denison replied, wincing when he heard himself talk. "Sorry, not how I meant to sound." He stepped back, grateful that Mei had managed to put some distance between them before it got truly awkward, and shook his head. "I don't know-- hey, over there!" Without thinking, he grabbed Mei by the wrist and led them both through a small narrow space that had opened up between fans. "I'm sure it wasn't," Mei said, lips pursed. There was someone who may still need some PR training, but at least it was a relatively private conversation. She couldn't say that anyone could hear anything outside of their own conversations, what with the noise and the pitch theatrics that accompanied the start of every game. She bit back the protest at being grabbed when she noticed that Denison was at least trying to get them both out of what felt like no man's land, and followed him until he finally found the stairs up to some higher seats. "Now, is this anywhere close to where my seat actually is?" she asked. "I don't even know if it's anywhere close to mine," Denison admitted, laughing. "But hey, there's some fresh air. You can't say this is worse than being down there." He gestured vaguely down, at the thick crowd of fans attempting to move in a million different directions and succeeding in going absolutely nowhere at all instead. "Besides," he added, beginning the ascent up the stands, "we might as well just get to the nosebleeds." Mei followed his gaze and nodded. "Right on one point," she said, conceding his wisdom in rising above the crowds. She followed him as he walked further and further up. There weren't many rules that Mei felt comfortable breaking, but she was sure that taking a seat she hadn't paid for was one of them. "Are you sure about taking seats up here, though?" she asked. Denison didn't answer until he found a few empty seats high up in the stands, towards the very last rows of the highest section. He headed over two middle seats, making sure that Mei followed, and when they were both seated he began to explain. "These seats never really fill up," he said. "Not all the way up here, anyway. I figure if their rightful owners ever show up-- and that's a big if-- we'll get stadium workers over to sort things out. We can just explain ourselves, offer our better seats to the fellows, or get escorted down. Either way, it doesn't really matter, does it?" Mei considered his words. "Reasonable enough, I suppose," she said. "And you don't think they'll use your being a Quidditch player against you somehow?" She couldn't care less about public relations, let alone one that involved a rival team's player, but Davey must have imparted a few basic nuggets that had stayed with her regardless of her position on PR. "I honestly don't think so," Denison said, his serious answer replaced by a wide grin. "But even if so, then that's what we've got Lee for. Now, I do believe I owe you a drink for elbowing you earlier. Any preferences?" "If you insist," Mei said, shaking her head with amusement. "A beer will do, please." |