Kiara Woolfe
[Dexterity + Athletics: playing hoops! Can you play, Ms Woolfe?]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 10) ( success x 1 )
Kiara Woolfe
[That was terrible, let's try that again.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )
Grace
[Awareness!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 7, 7) ( success x 2 )
Kalen Holliday
[How awake are we?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN7 (1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )
Ian
[Awareness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )
Kalen Holliday
[And how distracted by Resonance are we?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 3, 4, 9, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )
Alexander
[Awareness too]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )
Kiara Woolfe
Washington Park at dusk is captivating.
The
days are growing a little colder in Denver, winter's claws are neatly
beginning to sink in, inch by inch, into the air, into the earth.
Hardening it, turning it into a slumbering beast awaiting the warming
rays of the thaw to come. The female on the courts is alone, but not, in
a broader sense. There's joggers doing the circuit of the park,
stepping in unison.
There's a couple entwined on the grass
some distance from her, a woman walking her dog, figures moving through
the grand expanse on their travels elsewhere. Heading home, most likely.
Most pay little attention to Kiara as she moves across the court,
bouncing a ball and weaving it this way and that, stopping short of one
hoop and neatly tossing it toward the net.
It sinks through, dropping and bouncing away to collide with the fence.
The
Verbena walks over to it, rolls it back into her hands and begins anew,
flicking the hair out of her eyes as it sticks to her brow. There's no
judge, no jury and surely no need for finesse when you train alone. Only
the surety of the rhythm of your heart, the air expanding your lungs
and the sound of your breathing. She enjoys it, the push and strain of
her muscles as she runs, twists, throws the ball.
Muscle
memory expanding and encompassing until its forgotten -- where body
begins and ends -- where the line is drawn. Until there is no line.
She's been at it long enough to be breathing hard and fast, to have
discarded her jacket, laying with a pile of belongings on top of a
wooden bench beside the court. The sun is banking the horizon now, it'll
be dark save for the lighting the park provides, but the brunette has
little urgency to her steps as she repositions herself to try for
another hoop.
Grace
Parks are cool. Especially
parks in the city where one can still get a good wi-fi signal. Nature
is fine, so long as you don't completely detach, right? Or at least,
that's how Grace sees it.
She's walking along with Kalen in
tow, wearing the coat he gave her (red, sharp, and a whole lot more
fashionable than Grace would ever do to herself). The coat is covered
with little additions -- doodads and plastic strips sewn into the
fabric. What purpose they serve? Who knows. If one gets a very close
look, one might see that they're all electronic.
She notices Kiara first, not the person, but that sense of her that's so reminiscent of... Ah, yes.
Don't
ignore the signs of the snake which shall appear in your daily life,
before the messenger appears, they said. There was the boy with the
ouroboros tattoo. There were the Auryn keys, there is Kiara.
"Hey, come on. I think I see somebody," Grace says, and starts walking down toward the court.
Ian
It
was evening in Washington Park, so of course Ian was running. His feet
beat out a steady, rapid pace along the path, keeping time with the lush
pulse of music coming from his earbuds. He'd been at it long enough to
feel the low, steady burn in his lungs and the flush of heat on his
skin. Exertion kept him warm, despite the season - though the
temperature in Denver had not been nearly so chilly as it had in days
past.
The park was busy tonight. There were other runners.
Dog-walkers. Couples. Mostly, Ian ignored them. But as he approached the
basketball court and felt a stirring of cyclic (rejuventating,
devouring) energy, he slowed his pace to a loping jog and cut across the
grass, finally coming to a halt beside the court. He pulled the earbuds
out of his ears and draped them loosely over his neck. For a moment he
grew still, catching his breath as he watched Kiara toss the ball
through the net.
"Need an opponent?"
He had on black
drawstring track pants, silver running shoes and a short-sleeved black
athletic shirt. His cell phone was strapped around his left bicep.
Kiara Woolfe
[How are our Mage senses tonight?]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 3, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )
Alexander
The
park is attracting Alexander a lot at the moment. Part of that is the
hope that The Message will make another appearance. Part of that is
simply because it’s a large open space in the city, a space with a whole
load of potential for getting out and doing things.
And so
the pleasant weather and the wide open space pulls Alexander out
running. His route so far has taken various turns from the Downtown
area towards the park – still learning the lay of the land, the
shortcuts and backstreets that can make the journey from Point A to
Point B that much quicker. Call it useful knowledge for his current
career, or old habits from an old job. Either way, it’s fun to explore
the parts of the city that the tourist trails avoid.
So he’s
pounding the path through the park when he feels the coming-together of
their kind. Kalen, Grace and Ian are close – to Alex and to each other –
and their resonances begin to merge. But there’s another, an unknown
sensation in the air. Not exactly unknown. Certainly reminiscent of
someone else not so long ago, that Devouring sensation. He slows,
breathing steadily, and slowly makes his way to where he can see what’s
going on. His red running tee is wet with sweat, even in the cool air,
and black shorts and black-and-red running shoes clothe him for the
moment. A cable runs from his headphones and into his pocket, although
the headphones are pulled away when he notices the feelings in the air.
Kiara Woolfe
She's
got her stance down and shoots, but the ball rebounds off the back of
the board and ricochets behind her, rolling gently in the direction of
the man who's appeared, blackclad at the edge of the court. She feels
the stirring at the edges of her awareness, that prickling over her skin
that's more than just the fact she's suddenly stopped after long
minutes of exercise.
He's in black, she's in gray and white
the female, her track pants tied loosely around a narrow waist, shirt
short sleeved, cut close to her shoulders and leaving a fair expanse of
her arms bare. For once, Kiara's devoid of her jewellery and it's
striking how notable that is. She's stripped back, casual and flushed
from exertion.
"Hey," is the quick greeting he gets, though
she couples it with a breathless smile and moves closer, one hand on her
waist as she lets her breathing even out. "Sure, if you think you can
keep up." There are others nearby, Grace and Kalen are approaching and
another, one Kiara doesn't yet know is on his way, too. But her senses
aren't that keen tonight, distracted by the game. Focused, for the
moment, on reclaiming her ball and gently lobbing it at Ian.
Grace
Grace huffs a little laughing breath at Kiara's "if you think you can keep up." To Ian?
Ahh
yes, they're playing sportsball. Grace plops herself down by the side
of the court in the grass, waves at Ian and Kiara. But it doesn't look
like she's going to be playing tonight.
Nope, her cell phone comes out.
Kalen Holliday
Kalen
is dressed warmly and carrying a cup of coffee. Like Grace, he is
wearing a tailored coat. His is also long, but gray and not covered
with any extra bits. Not that he has not implored Grace to male him a
technocoat, he so has, he is just not wearing that tonight.
He
trails behind Grace until he registers not only Kiara but Alexander.
He does not settle into the ground beside Grace, just glances quickly
to where Ian is joining Kiara and then toward where he can sense
Alexander.
"I'll be back, Kit," he says. But her phone is
already out. Ian is right here. He and Alexander will not be far away.
Grace is certainly not the inexperienced Orphan he met a bit more than
a year before.
And so he doesn't even remind her to be
careful before he starts toward Alexander. Ian and Kiara, if they look
toward him, get a wave. But apparently Alexander gets his attention
first tonight.
Ian
Kiara tossed the ball at
his chest, and Ian caught it with a wry smirk. Did he think he could
keep up? "Guess we'll have to see."
He tucked the ball under
his arm and reached over to unstrap the arm-band from around his bicep,
setting it and his earbuds down on a nearby bench. There was a brief
glance tossed back at his things, then at the park at large, as he
walked onto the court (as though he did not entirely trust that someone
might not try to make off with his phone.) Grace walked up with Kalen
and sat down in the grass, and Ian shot them a quick greeting.
"Hey."
He nodded at Grace, but Kalen was already on his way to talk to
Alexander, so Ian let his focus shift back to Kiara. He rolled the
basketball out from under his arm and tossed it between his hands once,
then gave an experimental shot over her head at the opposing hoop.
[Dex+Athletics, wee!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )
Alexander
That
feeling in the air – the feeling of inescapable consumption – is
similar, but still different, to that Ravenous hunger that had been
plaguing the city. He’d thought that it had ended, but... Well, he’ll
see. That there are several familiar others gathering, and that there
doesn’t seem to be any conflict – not yet, at least – is slightly
reassuring. As is the feeling of the approaching storm.
“Hey,”
he greets Kalen with. “Somebody new in town?” Kalen gets a smile, but
Alexander’s attention keeps getting drawn back to the basketball court.
Kiara Woolfe
[Dex + Athletics, he's totally showing you up, Kiara. At least get it in the hoop.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
Kiara Woolfe
Kiara's presence does take
getting used to. It's not overwhelming, not in the way some resonances
are but it's distracting, at first. For some people, it might even be a
little upsetting. Certainly the sensation of being devoured and then
restored, brought abruptly back into the moment was unsettling in its
own way. It was the beginning and end of a cycle. The woman it belonged
to however, was not by any immediate impression, a creature to be
feared.
Distrusted, perhaps. Wary of, certainly, any Awakened
meeting another for the first time carried with them that inherent
hesitation but Kiara Woolfe didn't strike you as the type to devour
anyone beyond what her pattern's imprint conjured up. At the present
moment that being said -- she was also feeling rather competitive. Ian
gracefully lobs the ball over her head and it sails into the net with a
degree of precision befitting someone with his natural athleticism.
Grace
is acknowledged, as is Kalen as she turns on the spot to watch it arc
through the air. She glances at him. "Show off." The jib isn't hostile,
not with the way the corner of her mouth curls up. If anything it's
playful. She jogs over to reclaim her ball, bounces it once and walks
toward him, balancing it against her hip.
She nods at the net
over his head and taking a moment to recalibrate her footing, aims for
the hoop and lets the ball sail, watching it intently as it hits the
board, teeters for a moment as if in deliberation about whether to score
or not and eventually sinks through.
Grace
She nods to Kalen, and smiles at Ian. "Hey yourself."
Ian can be a bit distracting can't he? And so he distracts her away from her internet to watch him be all perfect.
"He is a show off. Oh very
much so," she says with a roll of the eyes. As if she herself didn't
show off with regularity. Is it a Mage personality quirk perhaps?
Kalen Holliday
Alexander's
attention is drawn toward the court. And, in all honesty, so is
Kalen's, but not for Kiara. Ian is something to watch, when he's
moving. Kalen's attention returns to Alexander rather quickly, but
then, this is hardly a show to Kalen.
"Yeah," he says to
Alexander. "I haven't spent much time with her, but she is very willing
to do tequila shots and seems very friendly. I find her lack of
suspicion suspicious, but then...I'm kind of terrible like that, huh?"
He leans into Alexander for a second, casual and not really cuddly, as
if Alexander is a nice convenient column. Yeah...he definitely doesn't need more sleep.
"Come
meet her?" And there is, in that tone, an invitation. One that if
Alexander turns down will likely be followed up with invitations to
donuts. Or Thai. Or whatever thing Kalen thinks of that sounds
interesting for the moment.
Ian
It was a
perfect shot through the net. Better than he'd expected, if we're being
honest. But Kiara and Grace didn't need to know that. From the outside,
all they saw was how absolutely effortless he made it look.
Show off.
Ian grinned. Kiara grabbed the ball and tossed it into the other net, and maybe it wasn't a perfect shot, but it was still pretty good. She wasn't exactly out of her element.
"I
can stop if you want." He shot another look over at Grace and raised an
eyebrow teasingly. When Kiara's ball dropped to the ground, he jogged
over to grab it.
"Feel like playing for stakes?"
Kiara
was feeling competitive. Evidently, so was Ian. The look he shot her
was confident and flirtatious. Like a dare. He spun the ball in his hand
and bounced it on the pavement as he walked back to the center of the
court, turning around to shoot her another look over his shoulder. This
one felt more like a temptation. (Like thinly veiled secrets.)
Alexander
“Well,
everybody’s up to something. Maybe she just doesn’t care. But sure,
I’ll come and say hello.” Alexander fishes around in his pocket for
his phone, turning off the music. He knocks into Kalen, nudging him
with his elbow, as he starts the walk over to the basketball court. He
wraps his headphones around a hand before tucking them back into the
same pocket as the phone.
He settles at the side of the
court, near Grace. “Hey, Grace. How’re things?” She gets a smile,
although maybe not as open and warm as it would have been a few weeks
ago. Not for anything she’s done. More for other things.
And
speaking of other things, how does he greet Ian? Ian will get a wave
if he looks towards Alexander, but he doesn’t call out to him. Mainly
because he doesn’t know what to say. And so he stays quiet.
Kiara
will get a hand raised in greeting if she happens to look over. Her
resonance isn’t the easiest to get used to, and between that and the
awkwardness of not quite knowing how to interact with Ian? He’s not
looking all that comfortable, and it’s nothing to do with the surface
that he’s sitting on.
Kiara Woolfe
Kiara
shoots Grace a smile that is accompanied with a dramatic roll of her
eyes heavenward when Ian decrees he can stop. She's flushed, but the
exertion suits her, somehow. It makes her more focused, for one thing.
Her smiles come freer, there's less calculation to the manner she
approaches the world when she's like this. Surrounded by nature.
Grounded by it, thrilling in the physicality of the moment.
"Ante
up, buddy," she calls as she approaches, there's amusement in her
voice; a gleam in her dark eyes that matches Ian's. The flirtatious
banter comes easily, apparently. So does getting in his space as soon as
she's near, crowding up close and trying to steal the ball out of his
hands in a dirty maneuver.
As she does, two new figures
appear on the sidelines, Kalen she recognizes and he gets an
acknowledgement of sorts and Alexander -- a curious look, a brief
incline of her head toward him in unspoken hello before she returns her
attention to the stakes at hand.
She wants her ball back. Nobody would ever say Kiara Woolfe was above trickery in sports.
Grace
Grace's
eyes flit up from her phone to Alex. "Things are ridiculous. We've got
White Knight problems again," she says, keeping her voice low. "He, she,
it, whatever seems to like contacting apprentices and telling them all
about the wonderful fuzzy goodness of the Techs, and how they just want
to help. Which, yeah. No."
She bites her lower lip, looking at
the court, but not really watching the players. "Something's going to
go boom again soon, I can feel it."
Ian
[Dex+Ath keep the ball!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
Kalen Holliday
Kalen
settles next to Alexander, opposite Grace. He looks over at Grace, and
his eyes are serious. But he doesn't really address the question about
their (self-proclaimed) White Knight. He has a different read on that
situation, but he does think it's dangerous. Still, for someone who can laser focus on the thought that they are besieged by monsters and evil, he seems oddly willing to let it go. Technocrats and vampires and things that are not the five of them in this park.
All
he says, without any real sense of urgency, is, "That's always how this
place is. But, at least I hope, not tonight. Let's get to know our
new friend shall we? It would be a shame if we lost sight of doing that
just because the world threatens to end once or twice a season."
Ian
Back
on the sidelines, Grace started talking about technocrats, and Ian...
chose not to let it distract him. Not because it wasn't a valid concern
(of course it was - there was always some kind of potential threat
looming) but because it wasn't a matter that immediately involved him,
and sometimes one just needed to play a fucking round of basketball
without worrying about the world ending.
Kiara tried to steal
the ball, but Ian held it close and rolled it around his torso, keeping
it teasingly out of reach. She answered his challenge with one of her
own, and he grinned broadly enough to show a flash of teeth. Then he
leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
And there was
Kalen suggesting that they all get to know each other. Whatever Ian was
up to, it probably wasn't appropriate for a larger game. But of course,
they didn't need to know that.
"First to five wins?"
Ian
"How about if you win, I'll go down on you in the parking lot."
Kiara Woolfe
Say
what you would about Kiara, the girl certainly knew how to throw
herself into the thick of things. Drinking tequila into the early hours
one night, keeping pace on the basketball court the next. That sort of
general exuberance for life was almost exhausting to watch,
but, looking at her now, half arguing, half smiling at Ian as they
fought over possession of the ball -- it seemed fitting, somehow, for
who she was.
Or at least, the impression she offered (rejuvenation).
"That's
my ball you're getting handsy with, Sir." She calls loudly, her voice
carrying across the court as she quests relentlessly for it, twisting
around Ian, one hand still half tangled around his torso when he leans
in and whispers something in her ear. It's hard to imagine (or maybe not
at all considering) what it is he says from her expression. It's still
taunting, still bright and set with determination but she does lift her
chin a little.
Says something in return that doesn't carry and then, lifting her eyebrows, makes another play for the ball.
"Deal."
[Dex + Subterfuge, only diff 7 cuz Kiara can't be stealthy at all.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (3, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )
Kiara Woolfe
"How about no matter who wins you do?"
Alexander
Truth
be told, Alex hasn’t been on Ginger for a couple of weeks. Not since
those last updates before they went to confront Victoria. So he’s a
little out of touch when it comes to people being contacted by the
Technocracy. He knew that was why Elijah had moved into the warehouse,
but developments after that are still to be discovered.
There
isn’t even a sigh when he pushes himself back up from the ground,
although it’s not to follow Kalen over to the basketball match. He
sounds tired when he tells Grace, “there’s always a boom tomorrow. Law
of the universe. But I should really be getting back before it gets too
late. Grace. Kalen.”
With a look back and a wordless wave
to Ian, Alexander heads back towards the exit to the court and pulls his
headphones back out. If he’d been in a better mood, if Kiara wasn’t so
reminiscent of that hunger, if he was more sure of how to be around
Ian... It’s just better that he be somewhere else right now.
Grace
"Mmm. Okay, I'll see you later, Alex," Grace says, warmth in her smile (yes, even toward the cop). He's had his troubles lately.
"Also,
yeah, I know. We can't stop living just because the world wants us to
so very much," she says to Kalen, gives a little sigh. "Look, who do you
think's going to win? I'm thinking Ian. Because that guy can jump."
See? Grace can lay down her troubles too. Sometimes.
Kalen Holliday
Kalen
tilts his head back to look up at Alexander. "Hey," he says quietly.
"Call if you need me. Have whiskey. Will travel."
And
then he turns his attention back to Grace. "Mmmmmmm...I don't really
even know much about basketball. Or...you know...sports. Soccer was
kind of neat. But I think my sport is laser tag." He takes a sip of
coffee and looks to where Kiara and Ian are playing. "I may miss the
end. I have errands, yet."
Ian
Alexander
didn't know how to talk to Ian. And Ian... wasn't terribly focused on
Alexander at that moment. He was more aware of Kalen, who he'd yet to
really acknowledge beyond that initial hey as Kalen walked over
to see Alexander. But in either case, it was difficult to pay attention
to both the basketball and the other conversation at once. He did
notice when Alexander got up to leave, and there was a brief moment of
distraction when Ian glanced over and returned the man's wave with a
nod.
Only a moment, but it was enough to give Kiara a chance
to steal the ball out of his hands as she leaned in to whisper something
to him. And Ian? He just laughed. There was a strong implication in the
fact that he didn't attempt to debate the matter with her.
But
there wasn't time to dwell on these things. Kiara had the ball, and Ian
darted in to try and steal it from her before she could shoot.
[Dex+Ath Can he steal the ball?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 5 )
Kiara Woolfe
[Gasp! Rudity. Keep the ball, Kiara.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 4 )
Kiara Woolfe
Kiara
does spare a moment to notice Alexander's departure. She doesn't know
the guy, but it didn't take much to gauge some level of discomfort,
however surface it was. She doesn't have time to consider it beyond a
brief measure of curiosity about who he was however, because she finally
finds her triumph in stealing the basketball out of Ian's hands.
She dances out of his reach, the ball above her head and jogs backward a few steps --
"Thank you very much."
--
before twisting around and jogging toward the opposing net. Of course,
momentary distractions aside, she's still trying to keep pace with Ian.
Who, in all fairness, could probably lap her a few times over. They dart
around the court, though. Kiara's eyes on him, she feints one way and
then another. Smiling over her shoulder as she denies a grab for the
ball and twists, aiming to shoot -- when its snatched from her grasp and
she breathes out what sounds decidedly like a curse.
Pushes the heavy fall of her hair from her face and gives chase.
"You play dirty," she calls, though it sounds less like a reprimand and more a compliment.
Grace
"I think mine is laser tag too," Grace says, appraising the stealing of balls and the general sportiness going on. Huzzah, Ian.
"Errands?
Really? You going to pick up some cupcakes for Elijah or something?
Just no red ones. You know. He's a lot like I was about this time last
year, if you get my drift."
Elijah's been very vegetarian
lately. He's staying away from anything that might remind him of flesh.
Grace remembers a pancake breakfast wherein the bacon was avoided for
similar reasons. She remembers how red sauces and fruit juices were
abhored as well. It doesn't result from a desire to save the animals,
exactly.
Kalen Holliday
Kalen nods. "I
probably should get cupcakes too, yes. And groceries. And cookbooks."
He laughs, tired but warm. "Alexander and I are going to learn to make
cookies."
There is a pause. "Maybe also another fire
extinguisher. Or three." He rises and looks over at Kiara and Ian
again. There is still something warm in his expression, though maybe,
for a second, a bit wistful. But then his smile widens a little and he
waves to Ian again.
"Am I forgetting anything else," he asks Grace.
Ian
"Always."
Whether
or not Kiara meant it as a compliment, Ian certainly seemed to take it
as one. And it was an easy enough statement to believe, coming from
someone whose very essence radiated cunning. They raced down the court,
Kiara fighting to keep the ball while Ian tried to snag it from her
grasp. They were both such agile creatures. Beautiful to watch in their
own way, if one had an eye for athleticism. But ultimately Ian managed
to wrest control of the ball back into his own hands. He dribbled it
quickly as he turned back to run for the other goal. And as soon as he
had a shot, he took it.
Maybe Kiara would catch him by then
and try to block it. Either way, he caught the ball in his hand, leaned
back and tossed it toward the net.
Kalen was leaving. Ian
didn't spare him a glance until after he'd thrown the ball. He caught
the smile Kalen offered him and returned it, though his expression
seemed reserved.
"Later, Kalen."
Ian
[Dex+Ath - does he score?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 5, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
Kiara Woolfe
Ian steals the ball, Kiara gives chase.
It's
not a question of which of them is innately the better athlete. One has
all the cunning and grace of a jungle cat and the other, well, she
gives as good as she gets. Which is more than some might expect. Kiara's
no athlete, not the way Ian Lai is but she is a runner. Keeps pace with him surprisingly well when he moves after the opposing net.
She's
not necessarily as quick as he is, but she's opportunistic which can
make up for many shortcomings, especially in competitive sport. Ian
throws the ball, she attempts to block it and snag it back into her
grasp, succeed or not she's panting lightly, bent forward a little with
her hands on her thighs when Kalen gets up to leave. Night has well and
truly fallen around them.
The park is inky black beyond where
the dim illumination of the lamps cast light and for a moment, Kiara is
distracted by it. She straightens and reaches to reclaim the ball. "Sure
you don't want to join in, Grace?" She directs a challenging look Ian's
way.
"We're playing dirty anyway."
[Block that shot, grab that ball.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )
Grace
Grace
laughs at the need for three fire extinguishers so that he can learn to
make cookies. "Kalen, if you set fire to the kitchen while baking
cookies, I will never let you live it down. But I am not against
homemade cookies, oh no."
She seems to think for a bit. What do they need?
"Mirrors. For the laser tag."
She laughs at Kiara when she suggests Grace join in. "I'd get owned, no contest."
Kalen Holliday
Ian gets a little nod in return. "Later."
"I
think, Kit, that she is suggesting she needs you to level the playing
field. Or possibly that you should take this opportunity to demonstrate
who you love most.
"Anyway, fuck if I know what mirrors we
need. Can you text me part numbers or something?" But whatever her
answer, he is already walking away.
Ian
Ian
took the shot, standing up on his toes to avoid Kiara's attempt to block
his path. And just like before, the ball sailed right through the net
and bounced off the asphalt. Kiara caught it.
"I don't
know..." Ian contemplated the possibility of a third player. "Two
against one? You might get lucky." He winked at Grace and grinned as he
jogged down the court, aiming to get in front of Kiara to block whatever
throw she was about to make.
Kiara Woolfe
Kalen
opines that Kiara wants to level the playing field. She grins, dimples
surface in her cheeks that suggest all of their own that he's not so far
from the truth of the matter. There's a shrug of slender shoulders and
she bounces the ball once, for good measure.
"I'm just looking
to maintain my reputation on the court." She cusps the ball under one
arm as Kalen departs, waving after him before steadying it back between
her hands. Ian jogs down to block her play and she narrows her eyes at
him, body curling forward slightly. "Not this time, buddy." Her eyes
glint under the lights of the court.
She darts around him, throwing the ball toward the net.
[Dex + Ath, shootin' for the net!]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )
Ian
[block!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 4 )
Kiara Woolfe
[We're in a fight, dice roller.]
Grace
Grace rolls her eyes. "Fine, fine! I'll send you some mirror links, then."
Kalen
walks away. He cannot pick his own mirrors. For laser tag. As if she
needs to curate every single decision about anything slightly technical.
Then again, left to his own devices, he might have gone out and bought
mirrors framed in solid gold or some ridiculous thing.
At least she'll go with the wholesale type. Maybe she can find some first-surface ones...
Oh yeah, sportsball.
"I
don't know if I'd be a benefit or a disadvantage, really. But
whatever," she says, and ditches her phone in the laptop bag next to her
seat so she can stand and join them. "It's official. I love Kiara more
than you, Ian."
Ian
It really wasn't a fair
fight, truth be told. Ian had a good five inches of height on Kiara,
which... in basketball? Was definitely an advantage. Ian certainly
seemed to enjoy the competition, but it wasn't only because he was
winning. He watched the way Kiara moved with the ball, feeling her
resonance brush against him as they dodged around each other. She took
her shot, but...
Ian's arm shot out and slapped the ball back
to the ground. He caught it on the way back up and immediately took off
for the other end of the court.
"Ouch, I'm so wounded." Ian
clutched his free hand over his heart in mock injury when Grace stepped
in to join Kiara. But now that there were two people trying to wrest the
ball from him, there wasn't much time to contemplate the change of
odds. So Ian stopped running and took the shot.
[Score?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 7, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
Kiara Woolfe
Grace loves her more. The smile flashed her way at that pronouncement is toothy. Wolfish and satisfied and she turns a very
self assured glance down the court at their mutual enemy who, presently
... was about to attempt to score again. Kiara gestures for Grace to
dash in and cover his other side as she attempts to block his access to
the net.
There's a certain determination to the set of the
brunette's jaw. Competitiveness, yes. Playfulness, absolutely. But also
resolution. Tireless resistance to the idea that she can't find a way to beat Ian. There's a lot that says about who she is, when you strip it all away.
[C'mon dice roller! Block that shot, snag that ball.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
Grace
[Oh! Oh! Stop the Ian! Dex + Ath!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 10) ( success x 1 )
Grace
Grace
harries Ian off to his side, trying to keep him from shooting anywhere
other than where Kiara waits to grab the ball away. Amazingly, she does
not trip all over herself in doing so, but it's a close one.
She
doesn't have much of what you might call raw athleticism, or... well...
grace. But she makes up for it with a certain agility.
"Haha! Go Kiara! Woo!"
Ian
Kiara
put up a valiant fight, and inevitably her efforts paid off. Ian ought
to have been disappointed, but he wasn't really. Well, maybe a little,
in the way that Ian was always a bit annoyed with himself when he wasn't
able to succeed at something he'd set out to do. But mostly? He was
just quietly impressed. He started to take the shot, but Kiara leaped up
and blocked him as Grace harried him from the side, and the ball fell
into Kiara's hands.
"Oh fuck you," Ian laughed. There was
warmth to his voice, despite his words, and as Kiara inevitably ran to
make her next shot, he called after her, "Changed my mind. Whoever has
the most points after this shot wins."
Which... either meant that they'd tie, or that Ian would win.
[Block Kiara's next shot?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 6, 9) ( success x 3 )
Kiara Woolfe
[Doo de doo. One last try!]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 3 )
Grace
[Manip + Performance = 2, spending WP -- Dazzling lights, Ian! What's that? Look over here!]
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (2, 7) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Ian
[I'm
going to say that Grace's performance gives Ian a distraction penalty
to his difficulty, and so, he actually only got 1 success. Kiara totally
scores.]
Grace
[Woo!]
Kiara Woolfe
She does try for the last shot, of course, so does he.
There's something invariably about knowing its the last attempt of a
game, even one without any real pressure behind it that make you want to
press harder, dig deeper, throw better. Feel the sweet burn in your
muscles and the sting of sweat in your eyes.
It also helps a lot when you have someone there covering your back.
Kiara
goes for the final hoop and Ian's right there in her space with her as
he has been the entire game, dogging her footsteps when she isn't his.
He can feel the sharp inhale as she throws the ball, the quiet catch of a
laugh as it snags in her throat, breathless as she is from hard play.
Grace does something which, in the moment, Kiara can't quite glimpse
aiming as she is for the net.
Apparently, it's enough to
sufficiently distract Ian, though. The ball sinks through. Kiara's
breathing right into Ian's face. "Game, then." Her hair is wild, now.
Dark waves loosened in a riot around her face as she smiles over his
shoulder.
"Thanks for the distraction."
Grace
Grace
has a trick up her sleeve. Literally. That coat of hers, the red thing
with tiny metal and plastic things stitched upon it, is no ordinary
coat.
It's a coat modified for laser-tag. It's got infrared
sensors and strips of brilliant LEDs which suddenly burst into rainbow
brilliance just to Ian's side. The lights scintillate. She waves her
arms. She's showing off.
The ball finds its home, as Ian can't help but be a little off-kilter at the sight of something that unexpected.
Grace laughs, and gives Kiara a rainbow-hued thumbs up. "No problem."
Ian
Ian
wasn't generally the type to be easily distracted, but a light-up coat
wasn't something he'd been anticipating (who would?) There was an
involuntary flick of his eyes away from Kiara at just the right moment,
and then the ball sailed over his head, evening the score at one to one.
Ian shot grace a pointed look, then leaned towards her and said, "I'll get you back for that."
Precisely
when, or how, he planned on doing that, would have to remain a mystery.
But he followed up the threat with a broad grin, catching his breath,
and in a moment he turned back to Kiara. "Good game."
His
smile remained, but it shifted to something else. Something a little
more genuine, a little less playful. And when it slid away, he wet his
lips briefly with his tongue.
"I should get back to my run. I'll catch you later, Grace."
Ian
jogged over to the bench where he'd left his phone and his earbuds. The
latter he stuffed into his pocket while the former he strapped back
onto his arm.
He did not say goodbye to Kiara. Instead he shot
her a meaningful look as he turned around. Then he started to run,
loping off down the path toward the parking lot.
Kiara Woolfe
She
reclaims her ball, hugging it against her chest as Ian catches his
breath. She's doing the same, breathing hard, red cheeked, smiling in a
sort of exhausted elation as he turns back to her. His expression
shifts, schools into something else and for a minute, she looks on the
brink of saying something but he's heading back to his run and she drops
her eyes to her ball, twisting it in her grasp and frowning.
It's
momentary, though. The flicker-catch of something there and gone. A
ghosting expression before her smile resurfaces and she's all curling
smiles and careful, easy camaraderie. "Thanks for the game," she calls,
holds the meaningful look he casts for a beat and then turns her
attention on Grace, offering her the same.
"And that coat is
-- wow, it's a thing. Is that available on order or ..." she engages,
moving to collect her belongings from the bench where she's left them.
Re-zipping her jacket. Shouldering a bag easily over one shoulder. A set
of keys jangle in her pocket.
"I'll walk you back if you want." Dark eyes appraise her coat. The flashing lights. "I might need you to navigate my way."
Grace
"Oh,
I made it," Grace says, and turns off the lights. It's probably not the
best idea to walk around in the park at night looking like a mobile
Christmas tree.
"Well, not the coat itself. But I sewed the
special pieces on. It's for laser tag, which you can totally come play
with us if you want," Grace says and goes to retrieve her things at the
edge of the court.
"Kalen will likely insist upon buying you
your own special coat, which I will fix up for the game. Kalen is like
that. Thanks for walking with me. It can get a little weird at night,
you know."
They walk together, these two with their somewhat uncomfortable resonances twining.
