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

[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.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Just 'cause I don't have four lungs - [ and there's a pause as he returns ] - doesn't mean I've been slacking off!

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ He clicks his tongue and returns before speaking again. ] Buchou would be so disappointed~.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

I'm a doubles player anyway! [ he manages to return this time, but he's run himself into a corner to do so. ]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

No excuse! [ Niou's first instinct is to do something that would be least expected, which would mean aiming somewhere besides that empty corner. But maybe doing the least expected is what's expected of him. So he aims for the corner anyway. ]

[myougi.livejournal.com]

[ aaaand tl;dr, insert tennis match here.

In the end, Niou manages to claim his victory 6-4 - though it's not a bad showing for Marui, either, who certainly makes him work for that win. By the end of the match, though, he's pretty much exhausted his stamina completely and is lying on the ground breathing hard, though he's smiling. ]

I told you, I'm a doubles player! Geez! [ he doesn't sound that upset, though. ]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ Niou's quite happy with the workout, not to mention his victory. Upon waking up in the fifties, his first thought, after the initial "oh shit where am I?" was "there's not gonna be any decent tennis around here."

He had to work to win, and he's happy about it, because it wouldn't be any fun if it was easy. He's sitting on the court, trying to regain his breath, although his stamina is in much better shape than Marui's. ]

Like I said, no excuse. You should work on that, though. That whole 'being a doubles player' thing. Bet I could whip your ass into playing singles.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

I don't wanna play singles, though. Doubles is more interesting, don't you think? [ he pushes himself into an upright position before slowly getting up to retrieve the wristbands he'd thrown away about two-thirds into the match, looking a little displeased as he puts them back on.

But if he didn't, that voice in the back of his head that sounds suspiciously like Yukimura wouldn't be very happy with him, so. ]

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ Niou stays sitting, not quite ready to get up yet. He grins a bit at the displeased look, but doesn't comment on it. ]

Yeah, doubles is more interesting, but being able to play both is more diverse. It's like playin' doubles and singles is the bisexuality of tennis.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Everything about you has to be carefully ambiguous, huh? [ he grins in spite of himself. ] Heh, well, I guess I don't have much of a choice 'bout singles or doubles, anyway. Unless Jackal shows up.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Of course. [ An eye-roll. ] I hope nobody else from our team shows up here.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Huh? Why not? [ ... ] I mean, I guess it would suck to see them dragged into all this Mayfield bs, but it'd be nice to have them around.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

Exactly. [ He glances over at Marui with a raised eyebrow. ] I don't know about you, but I'd pick not seeing them over them havin' to deal with all this bullshit.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

It'd still be nice, though. Guess I'm a little selfish, but I can't help really feeling that way.

Kinda embarrassing to admit, but I do miss them a lot.

[mathisradical.livejournal.com]

[ He's quiet for several seconds before pulling himself off of the ground. ] Yeah, I miss them, too. [ He grabs his racket and walks over to the bench. ] Anyway, we should start a tennis revolution. Kidnap a whole bunch of people and teach 'em how to play so we can form a Mayfield team.

[myougi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Yukimura was talking about doing something like that before he got droned, too. Dunno if I'm really up to teaching or captaining or coaching, but hey - it's worth a shot. [ he'll drag himself over to the bench, too, rummaging through his stuff for a water bottle. ]