Team of One

[matthias]

The thing about group sports was that they were a lot more fun when you actually had a group to play with. Now, normally Matty would not be off on his own, alone, playing by himself. Problem was, the start of the semester was making it harder for he and his friends to sync up their schedules. He seemed to be free when they all had class and vice versa. Of course, not being able to pick his own schedule had been a minor influence in that. Kathryn's schedule, quite frankly, sucked (or so he'd decided) and since he was her interpreter it meant it was his schedule too. Which meant he spent an abnormal amount of time following her around simply because he had nothing better to do and he was amused with how much it annoyed her.

At the moment, however, even his dear Kitten was nowhere to be found. She'd managed to give him the slip and, deciding he wasn't much in the mood to play hide and seek, Matthias had made his way to the stadium. A quick stop in the equipment room found a soccer ball in his possession and for the last ten minutes or so he'd been kicking it around the field. At first it was fun enough - dribble the ball here, slam it into one of the goals over there. It was getting repetitive though, and since there seemed the place seemed deserted he couldn't even try and convince someone to play a round of one-on-one with him.

So Matty continued to dribble the ball down the field, throwing in a bit of stupid, overcomplicated, fancy footwork simply because he could and there was no one around to laugh at his antics. When he reached the far goal, he took a shot and sent the black and white ball flying into the net. A few minutes later he'd retrieved it and started back down the field, repeating the process for the umpteenth time and wishing his ability let him teleport people into his presence instead of the other way around.

[cass]

Cassadee was, sadly, bored out of her mind! "Awww, man!' she sighed to herself, tripping through the school's grounds, arms stretched up to the sky. "What do people do around here for fun?" She halted, hearing something coming from the stadium, which she just so happened to be walking near. "Oo! Let's go see what this is, then, hmm?!" she whispered to herself in a not very sneaky way.

She crouched down and dashed to the stadium, as though she were in Mission Impossible or some ninja movie, even humming the theme song to herself. "Dun, dun, dun! Duhduhdun!" She clamored into the Stands, insisting on climbing up into them from below, rather than taking the steps like a normal person. Once at the top she halted, her big eyes staring ahead of her to the field, watching as a young man, obviously another student, dashed back and forth, zipping around and making goal...unit...baskets...Whatever they were in soccer.

She grinned as she began thumping down the stairs and stuffed her hands in her pockets. As she neared the field herself she leaned forward so she could make sure to project her voice properly. "That's some mighty fancy footwork you got, there, eh?!" she called out loudly, essentially making sure that anyone withing a 100 yard radius heard her.

[matthias]

Matty kicked the ball hard, sprinting after it and changing roles as once again it connected with his sneakers. To make the game slightly more interesting, he'd started pretending that he was playing against some invisible team. Now he was moving backwards with the ball, trying to find an opening around a very large, very make believe offense player from the other team. He was just about to cut around the invisible guy when a rather loud voice startled him. His concentration broken, he miscalculated his steps and tripped backwards over the ball. It went flying in the other direction while he landed hard on his back.

Turning to glare at whoever had caused this latest misfortune, the boy's cheeks turned a light shade of pink when he realized it was a pretty girl who'd caught him. A quiet voice whispered in the back of his head that he'd been making a fool of himself in front of a large number of pretty women lately, but he promptly shoved the thought from his mind. It was just a coincidence, right? It had nothing to do with the fact that pretty faces were easily able to fluster him.

Picking himself up, Matty rubbed at the back of his head (ruffling the mop of red hair) and tried to dust his clothes off. His shorts were effectively stained with grass and he was feeling a bit embarrassed. Somehow, though, his relief and excitement at having someone to finally talk to was the more dominant emotion. Not caring that he barely knew this girl (he was pretty sure they were in the same grade but that was about it), he called back with a hint of bashfulness and a lot of enthusiasm. A hopeful grin decorated his face. "Uh... thanks. Wanna play?"

[cass]

Cassadee winced when the red-head fell over onto his back, almost as if she herself felt it when his back collided with the ground. "Ouch!" she hissed, smirking down at him in an apologetic manner as she halted at the edge of the field, leaning from side to side. Now she almost felt bad for tripping the guy up, but, it hadn't been as though she had arrived quietly. She was a loud mouth by nature and surely he had heard her coming? But...Well...Maybe he had been a bit focused.

She looked over him quickly as he brushed himself off. No serious injuries were evident, but, he did look as though his pride had taken a mighty thrashing. She shook her head at the poor guy. He'd be alright. Especially since she was very likely to forget he had fallen at all within the next hour or so.

But the offer to join him had her giggling in an amazed fashion. "Oh, sure! I can play! If ya want me to accidentally mistake your head as the ball!" She waved a hand before her face, a huge grin spreading across her features. "I'm horrible at sports, y'know? Not that I don't like to play anyway..." She paused tilting her head to one side. "But if you show me more, maybe I'll learn enough to keep from hurting anyone, eh?"

[matthias]

Her declaration of little to no sporting ability caused Matty's face to fall. So close! He had been so close to having a way to pass the free period. Unless he could think up something else to do? Too bad on the spot thinking wasn't one of his strong suites. He jogged over to grab the ball and stuffed it under his arm before walking closer to the girl. When he stopped a few feet away from her, what she said next gave him hope.

"My head doesn't look like a soccer ball!" He grinned as he held the black and white ball up, letting her take a good look. He wasn't sure how she could possibly mistake such a distinctly marked item for his ginger topped head, but he laughed all the same. "And I can teach you! I mean, it's not that hard. You just gotta kick the ball into one of the nets. Just don't kick the ball at someone and you should be good."

Hope sparkled in his eyes as he dropped the ball on the grass. He then kicked it towards the girl gently, watching it roll to a stop just inches in front of her own feet. Surely she'd been forced to play soccer in gym class (or at least forced to sit on the sidelines while the rest of the class played), right? Matty had always found it better than when he'd been forced to play basketball or, even worse, baseball. He couldn't hit a tiny ball with a bat to save his life. Kicking one around a field, however, was definitely something he was good at and enjoyed. Soccer was probably his favorite sport.

[cass]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; height: 500px; background: url(http://i54.tinypic.com/m93pqx.jpg); border-radius: 20 20 20 20 px; padding: 10px;] . happy good i'm sugar coated me. anger bad Cassadee blinked at the drop of the guys face and bent forward, looking up at him with a pouting expression. "Aww, hey, now! No need to be so sad! I said I'd try, right?" She straightened up as he got closer, her hands tucked in her pockets and a grin on her face as she rocked back and forth, waiting for him to speak. The look on his face made her certain that she had confused him a great deal with her teasing. Ah, well. He'd get over it, if she spent enough time with him, hmm? She gigled as he held the ball out to her and reached out to flick it towards him. "I don't know. I think there's a striking similarity!" She hoped he wasn't going to be too offended with her teasing. But then, if he did, then he was no fun and she'd rather know right away whether or not she even wanted to be around the guy. She shook her head at his assurance that he would teach her. The last time someone said that, she ended up kicking a ball into a hotel. Through the floor to ceiling windows. And into the side of the host's head. Yeah, not very good stuff. But, hey! She was in the stadium, right? The worst that could happen is she kick the ball into Ginger's face, or knock over the benches and what not...Yeah. "Alright! But never say I didn't warn you! If something goes wrong, you hafta take responsibility, ya'know!?" As the ball came towards her, she energetically drew her leg back and swung at ball with all the force she could muster. In her defense, she was trying to get the ball to go toward a goal at one end. That didn't happen, of course, but she tried. Instead, the black and white ball flew through the air, zooming quickly up past Matthias' head nearly brushing against his face. Cassi winced, leg still bent up and curled against herself, her arms curled up around her as well. "Yikes! Sorry!" words // 358 // tagged // Matti // outfit // clicky

[matthias]

She continued to insist that he his head looked like the ball, which drew a playful glare from him. Matty knew how to take a joke. Heck, he cracked them so often himself that not being able to take what he could dish would have been a very bad thing. Growing up with four older brothers had helped too. As the baby in the family, he was a prime target for torment and abuse; he learned quickly to laugh it off too and of course get his just desserts. So instead of retaliating verbally, he stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes. He would get this girl for that comment later, after he had the chance to assess her skills.

"What could possibly go w--" Matty didn't get the chance to finish his sentence. The blond took a harder swing than he was expecting, her foot slamming into the ball rather than tapping it. Next thing he knew the boy had dropped to the ground, hands over his head as the ball narrowly missed his face. It went sailing quite a good distance away from them, bouncing once before rolling to a stop somewhere in the middle of the field.

Picking himself off the ground, he quickly took a glance to locate the ball. Once spotted, he turned back to the girl with a grin on his face. Now was his time to get her back for her comment about his head. "Man, you weren't kidding. You do suck!" This was accompanied by a laugh as he signaled for her to follow him and retrieve the ball. Just because she'd almost hit him once didn't mean he was ready to give up (yet). "Come on. This time you can aim for the net instead of trying to hit me. It's a bigger target and won't move so fast." He was still laughing as he reached the ball and used his feet to light it up with the closer goal.

[cass]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; height: 500px; background: url(http://i54.tinypic.com/m93pqx.jpg); border-radius: 20 20 20 20 px; padding: 10px;] . happy good i'm sugar coated me. anger bad Cassadee stared at Matty with eyes and mouth open wide as he laughed at her. Not that she really minded, but sometimes pouting was fun. Which is what she had every intention of doing. She leaned back, folding her arms in front of her chest, her bottom lip poking out comically. "Oh, fine then! Go ahead and laugh at me! Chivalry and good manners are dead!" And as he ran toward the ball she stomped her way after him, fully intending on stomping the whole way, playing the pouty baby. Until she got bored with it half way to her destination, changed her mind, smiled and trotted after Matty, taking a great leap to land just behind him and stand straight behind him, looking for all the world as if she didn't know she was standing far too close and probably bursting whatever personal bubble he had all to bits. She smiled a tight-lipped grin at him and looked away, as though looking at him so close still did not alert her to the fact that she was mere inches from him. Instead she just swung herself side to side, rotating a bit before swinging back and generally just being big, obnoxious and in the way. But then he mentioned her aim and she winced, looking back to his face, her arms loosening and coming behind her as she fidgeted. "Ah! Well, you see...About the whole aiming thing..." she glanced to the net as she paused then back up at him. "I...Kinda...Was...Aiming at the...Net." She shot him a huge fake grin that was both apologetic and ecstatic. She was having fun, despite being teased. In fact, she loved being teased because that gave her license to tease back and he seemed like a pretty relaxed fellow. words // 358 // tagged // Matti // outfit // clicky

[matthias]

He turned to face her only to take a wide-eyed step backwards. Matty hadn't expected to find the girl standing practically on top of him. His mouth fell open a little bit, as if he was going to make a comment but the words did not come. He could also feel a bit of heat rising into his cheeks, and for a few moments he spent more time focused on the soccer ball than he was the girl. Her sudden closeness had caught him off guard.

Thankfully her declaration that she actually had been aiming managed to bring him back down to earth. For a moment he felt confusion; no one was seriously that bad at kicking a ball, right? But the way she seemed a little unsure of herself and that forced smile on her lips only seemed to reinforce her lack of coordination. Matty thought fast, an idea popping into his head that would hopefully help her learn how to aim.

"Don't move! I'll be right back," he exclaimed, flashing her a reassuring grin. Then he disappeared in midair, teleporting to the equipment room to grab a few more balls. Moments later he was back at Cassadee's side, dropping three more black and white balls on the grass in front of them. Using his feet, he aligned three of them parallel with the goal. The forth he kicked up and caught with his hands, turning back to face the blond enthusiastically.

Alright, we definitely gotta work on your aim. Why don't you kick one of the balls that way so I can see what you might be doing wrong?" With his spare hand he gestured towards the net. Then he flashed her another reassuring grin and moved a few steps so that he was standing behind her, hopefully this time out of the line of fire.

[cass]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; height: 500px; background: url(http://i54.tinypic.com/m93pqx.jpg); border-radius: 20 20 20 20 px; padding: 10px;] . happy good i'm sugar coated me. anger bad Cassadee stared wide eyed right back at Matty when he just about leaped away. Goodness, what on Earth had caused that reaction? While he focused on the ball she stealthily tilted her head to one side to sniff at herself. No, she didn't stink to high Heaven. She glanced at the rest of her. A far as she could tell, she didn't look like a monster Hell-bent on eating him and spitting out his bones. So the look on her face was one of confusion when she looked back up at him. Until she realized. Oh, yeah! Other people had this thing! What was it...? 'Personal space' or something like that? Cassi was always forgetting. But now that she had realized the mistake she sent an apologetic shrug his way. Oops. And then suddenly, he was gone. Well! Now Cassi was torn between doing precisely what he told her to do, standing right where she was in the position she was in without moving, or panicking, for she had just startled someone straight out of their place in the world altogether. She had not meant to do that! She didn't even know that was possible! So she settled on covering her mouth in shock, her eyes wide and standing precisely in the same spot she had been in when he left, hoping that if she held still long enough, he might come back! AND SO HE DID! Cassadee let out a hugely exaggerated sigh of relief when Matti simply popped back into her presence and she stared as he moved about, talking as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She waited until he was done, mouth agape in shock and her whole body somewhat slumped over with the weight of this thing that had just happened. When he finally paused behind her, instructing her to have at the balls, she nearly exploded, spinning about on her heel and reaching out to him, taking hold of his wrists in her hands. "Oh! My! GAWD! You can disappear and come back with stuff?! That...That...! Oh. My. GAWD!" She seemed completely flabbergasted at the mere thought. "Geez, that's such a cooler ability than me! No fair! Gimme! Share your uber cool power! I demands it!" She gave his arms a playful little shake, knowing full-well he couldn't share his power with her. words // 412 // tagged // Matti // outfit // clicky

[matthias]

To say he had been expecting the reaction he just got would be a total and complete lie. The boy couldn't have seen it coming if it was a bright orange tractor trailer aiming right for him. Her hand on his wrist made his skin flush with heat and her shouting had him wincing from the unexpected assault on his ears. At the time he had thought nothing of using his power; it was more convenient than walking all the way to the equipment storage. Apparently blondie thought differently because she was begging him to share.

For a few minutes Matty sort of just stared out her, mouth half open in shock and confusion. Then he was moving one foot backwards to better keep his balance as she shook his arm, the jostling snapping him back to the present. Her grabbed her wrist with his free hand and tried to pry her hand off his arm. And then he grinned, rather pleased at how impressed she had been by his little display of natural talent. He liked it when girls liked the things he did.

"It's just teleporting. No big deal." Of course he tried to downplay it, hoping to come off as smooth and cool about it all. Girls liked that, right? Of course, Matty wasn't all that great at being Mister Suave. Blondie's (for Blondie was what he'd decided to mentally call her considering they had never gotten around to introductions) enthusiasm was rather contagious, and if she was that excited by his unintentional display then just imagine how thrilled she'd be if he really started showing off. A bit conceited, Matty couldn't resist the idea of showing off.

Besides, she said she wanted to teleport too! While he couldn't exactly teach her or anything like that, his talents did extend beyond himself an inanimate objects. He had learned to take a person with him, two if he focused enough. His chest was puffed out a little as he made his offer, tone slightly bragging, proud of his own abilities. "I can take you someplace if you want. It's easy taking a person with me." Okay so it wasn't all that easy, especially depending on how far away she wanted to go, but she didn't need to know that.