Whatever It Takes (Mickey)

[dreama azurovna nightshade]

Mid-April 2025
Magical Gymnasium, British Isles

The league finals match against Yorkshire would be the biggest Quidditch match Dreama had played in her professional career, and everything was riding on it. Aiming for a professional Quidditch contract had been hard enough, but aiming to win the League Cup was on another level. There was no question of "want"; she needed to be at her peak for the tenth of June, physically and mentally. If the Wimbourne Wasps won, then it would be a turning point for her. She would be one step closer to being on a national team, maybe even playing in the Quidditch World Cup someday, if Hag's Fever ever went away and brought travel back to normal.

Dreama ate, slept, and breathed Quidditch regardless, so it was all about ramping up her preparations to the highest level she could without succumbing to illness or injury. Flying, while important, wasn't the only factor. She had to ensure her endurance, so she was adding in running laps and various non-magical exercises as well as the standard Quidditch drills from her scheduled team practice sessions. Working out on her own gave her an opportunity to think, whereas the team practices with the rest of the Wasps were more about doing. How quickly they could maneuver from this place to that place and the countless formations for catching Quaffles and dodging Bludgers were seared into her memory.

With weeks to prepare beforehand, Dreama was taking no chances, and she knew that the intensity of it all was only going to increase as time went on. To avoid being bombarded by the magical public, though, she had decided to go to a gymnasium to which the British and Irish Quidditch League had given its teams access. With the season over for all but two of the teams, she Apparated there with her gym bag slung over her shoulder and hoped that it wouldn't be busy.

michelangelo tiberius mclaggen

[michelangelo tiberius mclaggen]

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While the season was 'over' for the Bats, that didn't mean Mickey was completely free from practicing and keeping in shape. Letting himself go longer than a week was terrible for his body, and it was honestly amazing how quickly muscles atrophied and put him in a poor mood. Especially as a Keeper. He was sure the Chasers could get away with zooming around on their brooms every couple of days and making sure they're throwing arms were in working order. The same could not be said about him. Every aspect of his position relied on staying mentally sharp and as flexible as humanly possible. He felt like a piece of rubber sometimes. Even though he could stretch every which way both on and off the broom, everything always seemed to snap back in place when he needed it to. Being tall and lanky helped greatly too.

So finding himself at the gym that was created for Quidditch players wasn't uncommon, especially in the off-season. Mickey tended to work out on his own, his goals different than the majority of the players. Keepers were weirdly the black sheep of most teams, despite being the final defense on the pitch. They were just different enough that he personally got along better with the Keepers on other teams than he did with some of his own teammates. A lot of them were new to the Bats or rookies though, so that was to be expected. Being considered a veteran of the team only a few years in was definitely a strange concept. But it was what it was.

Needless to say, there were not many other players at the gym today. A few of the old guard that was already trying to get in better shape to avoid team cuts the following season, and a few incoming rookies that wanted to make names for themselves. Mickey hadn't expected to see anyone from Yorkshire or Wimbourne, simply because they had bigger fish to fry with the league cup match coming up.

In walked Dreama Nightshade, apparently thinking otherwise. Mickey had admittedly only managed to stop a few of her shots this past season. Some of the faster Chasers had managed to learn that he was a tad slower on the side with his bad ear. Only if they managed to come in at an almost horizontal angle to the goal posts though. Still, she'd gotten the best of him on more than once occasion. Nodding in her direction, Mickey returned to his weirdly aggressive side stretching. He wasn't going to bother her right when she arrived, but he was already thinking of offering himself up as a practice partner if she wanted to practice taking shots.

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[dreama azurovna nightshade]

Mid-April 2025
Magical Gymnasium, British Isles

Since the regular Quidditch season had ended, the gym wasn't overcrowded. Dreama looked around as she entered the facility, trying to figure out where to start. She recognized the other players there and could have told some of them that they were probably wasting their time. Though a few of her teammates would have been aggressive enough to tell them that to their faces, Dreama was not, and she went to go change into her workout gear.

A few minutes later, she was back out in the main area of the gym. Warming up would be her first order of business. After that, she would need to see what equipment happened to be free. Dreama knew that being on one of the final two teams left standing wasn't going to get her any special treatment. Getting a frosty reception was more likely, so she played it safe, claimed herself a spot with her bag where she would be out of the way, and began stretching.

michelangelo tiberius mclaggen