Match 3

[mathisradical]

Action: Outside 1249 Williams Road

[ Niou steps out the front door just to trip over a package lying there. He trips, letting out a couple of swear words, and looks around quickly to see if anyone saw him. ]

Who the fuck-

[ He stops his angry question when he actually looks down to see what he tripped over. It's a package, and the shape of it is very, very familiar. He bends down to pick it up, turning it over in his hands. Could this be...? Tearing off the paper, he discovers that yes, it is! It's his tennis racket.

Seconds later, he's heading down the sidewalk and towards the rec center. If he remembers correctly, they have tennis courts. ]



Action: Rec center tennis courts

[ The dull sounds of tennis balls thumping against a racket and the courts are accompanied by the occasional grunt. Niou is serving balls hard over the net. He's easily fallen into a familiar rhythm, and it might take a bit to catch his attention as he's in the zone. ]

Comments

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[Crowe's wandered into the rec center now that the event from the other day is long over. He's heading to the pool, but stops when someone is using the tennis courts, when usually they're empty. Oh. that looks like fun. Have a spectator, Niou.]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ This is Niou not noticing Crowe. But he can promise that it is fun. It isn't until he runs out of tennis balls and has to go to the other side of the court to retrieve them that he notices he has company. A slight blink of surprise before he masks it with a razor grin. ]

You play?

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Oh. Um. Actually, I don't, but I've thought about it. I-I haven't seem too many people playing here, though.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

That's because everybody here don't know a good sport when it's starin' them down. Now get over here, I'll teach you. [ He might take no for an answer. Maybe. ]

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[He's actually pretty interested in playing. He heads on over.] Oh, really? Alright. Ah, I'm Crowe, by the way. How long have you been playing?

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Niou Masaharu, and I've been playin' since I was twelve. [ Oh, look, a usual not straight answer. Expect a lot of these.

He strides over to the bench to grab up the racket he'd been using until he got his own back. It was older, wooden instead of aluminum, and they could usually be found lying around on the benches and in storage closets. This one was in better condition than most. ]

Think fast.

[ The words are barely out of his mouth before he tosses the racket in the air at Crowe. ]

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

[He catches it easily. Crowe's not good at a lot of things, but he's a very athletic kid. He looks the racquet over.] Mostly I've stuck to football - ah, soccer - but I've tried a few other things since getting to Mayfield. Like basketball.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ Oh, good. If his hand-eye coordination wasn't up to par, Niou wasn't going to be able to teach him anything. ]

Basketball's for losers. Tennis is where the fun is. Now hold the racket like you're shakin' someone's hand. Like this. [ He holds his racket in the air so Crowe can see his grip on it. ]

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Well, I do like basketball, but tennis does seem fun too. [He grins a little, and then does as instructed.] Alright, that seems easy enough, at least.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, that is the easy part. Probably the only easy part of tennis. Now you swing. Like this. [ He swings the racket he's holding in his left hand, and it looks surprisingly graceful and fluid. ]

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Looks like you've had a lot of practice. I guess you use your dominant hand? [Crowe does so too, using his right hand.]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I can play with my right, too, though. [ He tosses the racket to his right hand and then back to his left. Then he picks up a stray ball near his feet and serves it over the net. ] That's a basic serve. But a lot of better players have special serves and shit.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'll stick with the basics for now, yeah? [He grabs one of the balls, bounces it once or twice before tossing it up for a serve. He hits it pretty well, looking pleased with himself, and gives Niou a smile.] How did that look?

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here!

[ guess who else has his tennis stuff with him? And not just his racket - looks like most, if not all of his tennis gear has been returned to him. ]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ Marui is promptly ignored for several moments until Niou runs out of tennis balls to hit. Then he looks up, and doesn't seem at all surprised to see him. He figured he'd run into him eventually. So he just grins his razor grin and gestures to the other side of the court with his racket. ]

Well? What're you waitin' for? Go get warmed up and prepared to be slaughtered.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

[ that's okay, he'll just do his pre-game ritual while he's being ignored. It involves cake, naturally. ]

Slaughter, huh... we'll see about that! [ and he'll start on his warm-ups diligently, taking his time to do all the stretches properly. No sense in rushing things. ]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Damn right we'll see. [ Unfortunately, Niou's being unusually impatient today. So he's going to half-heartedly serve some of his retrieved tennis balls at Marui to hurry him along. ]

[myougi.livejournal.com]

[ maybe he's being purposely a little frustrating, but he moves through his warm-ups pretty much as slowly as possible. When he's done, he'll walk on over to the court. ]

Sooo, ready to see my genius first-hand?

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ A snort. ]

I've been seein' your so called 'genius' first-hand since we were like, twelve. Which is why it'll be so easy to beat you. You're gonna be about as much competition as the wall was a hour ago.

[ He's being a jackass just to see if he can wile Marui up enough to get a really awesome game out of him. ]

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you even think you'll be able to make me take my armbands off, huh? [ he doesn't seem particularly agitated, but it probably will be more intense than usual - it's been so long since his last match against an actual person, after all. ]

Anyway... rough or smooth?

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

I know I can get you to take your armbands off.

Give it to me rough.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Don't brag 'til you've actually managed it.

[ he spins his racket and checks it as it falls - ] Well, it's your lucky day! Rough it is.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Nothin' wrong with havin' all the confidence in the world.

[ He grins and snatches up a stray ball from the court, knocking a few out of his way as he makes is way to the base line. ] Better not've been slackin' off in your training, 'cos I'm not goin' easy on you. [ He bounces the ball a few times before serving it hard, not even bothering to check if Marui was actually ready or not. ]

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Would I ever slack o - [ and then the ball comes bouncing towards him - he manages to return it, though it's a bit weaker than he'd like it to be. ]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ Niou's grin widens as he returns the ball with ease and power. ] So you have been slackin' off.