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?

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ He smirks. ] I've seen worse from some of my team's newbies, but I've also seen better. Still, not half-bad if this is your first time pickin' up a racket.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

I'll take that, I guess. I'll have to practice, maybe after awhile we can have a match, yeah?

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ He grins. ] Sure, but you won't win. Once you learn the bare basics, you've gotta build your own tennis. Everybody has their own tennis. And some people prefer doubles over singles, or singles over doubles.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Well, give me some time to practice and I'll see how I can do. Maybe by autumn, I'll be ready for a match. So, do you play any other sports?

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ He looks thoughtful for a moment. ] Depends. Does street-fightin' count?

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Ah, well I was hoping for football - actual football, not the American kind - but that's good too. I've been learning to fight since I've gotten to Mayfield, so sparring isn't out of the question.

I seriously just HTML-failed *twice*. /headdesk

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ He makes a face at the mention of the sport. ] Most of my school's sports teams blow more than a whore on a Friday night. Can't say I've had much experience with any of 'em besides tennis. [ A quick grin. ] But when it comes to street fightin', I don't play fair. Where I comes from, playin' fair gets you killed. [ A pause. ] Or 100 laps around the courts. Whatever.

it's ok, i do it all the time. XD

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, I-I never played in a school league or anything. But I do really like to play, when I can.

They don't really fight fair in Mayfield, either, so that's probably good. Plus, the first teacher I had here always said the same thing.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

My captain always told me not to knock somethin' 'till I tried it. So maybe you could show me sometime.

You had yourself a smart teacher, then.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

I'd be glad to. I'd like to get a game going sometime, if I can.

Ah, Jecht was... a pretty intense teacher, yeah.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Do many people around here play football? 'Cos I only know of one other person here who plays tennis.

I taught myself. It was that, or get my ass kicked for lookin' at someone sideways.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Not too many, but I bet I could rope some of my friends here into trying it out.

Ah... I never really felt a need to learn until I got here. But I figured self defense was something I really needed to know.