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 Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:14 am
"Then I'll 'ave t' teach you." He grinned, leading the way out the door and down the steps, carefully avoiding the remnants of the garbage spill and making a mental note to clean it up himself later that day. Stepping over to his discarded soccer ball, he gave it another kick towards the window, frowning in mild disapproval when again there was no sign of it shattering. He wanted his window, sure, but it was mildly unnerving knowing the glass was unbreakable.
Brushing off these thoughts, he retrieved the ball once more, scooping a toe beneath it and flicking it up into his hands. Returning to Natsumi, he offered it out for her inspection. "Football. Or, y' may know it as soccer."
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:22 am
Natsumi followed, doing the same with the trash-bits and the nitch she had tripped on earlier. Bag of trash in hand, and tied this time, so she could dump it on their way out.
She flinched as the ball hit the window, expecting a shatter and another mess... but nothing came. She let out a releived sigh, much oposite to Thom's opinion of the window.
She blinked at the ball, "Sou!" She smiled upon seeing the patternd ball, "Sokka... In Japanese. Soccar?" she repeated the more englishy version of the word, somehow morphing it into a mix of the two. Stumbling mostly on the double cs, and then holding the r a tad too long. "Mn. Football." She smiled, finding that word alot easier than the other.
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:17 pm
"Then y' do know of it!" Thom positively beamed, giving the ball a lazy spin on one fingertip and dropping it back to the ground. "I'd thought you must. Bit ridiculous if you 'adn't, eh?"
Stepping forward, he swiped the trash bag from her grip and moved to deposit it on the ground against the wall of the duplex. Returning to the soccer ball, he lightly kicked it over to her, quirking a brow. "So, now that y' know what it is, ever played?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 4:11 pm
Natsumi smiled, seeming to pick up some of Thom's cheer about the subject. "Yes." she agreed to the latter statement with a bit of a laugh.
She blinked as the trash was taken, "My..." she paused, losing her cheery attitude for a moment, "My old friend. He used to play." she swallowed hard, forcing her smile back as Thom returned. It wasn't hard to catch on that this meant they were going to play. "I have never played... But I know the rules." She bit her lip as the ball rolled over to her, cautiously kicking it back. "Sorry!" she squeaked when it went a bit faster than she had expected, but atleast it had still gone back to the man.
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 7:30 pm
"All of my close friends played," he replied off hand, smile faltering momentarily. However, almost immediately he fixed it back into place, even laughing at her exclamation and easily reclaiming the ball, kicking it back to her at about the same speed she had sent it to him. "It's a start, anyway. Not like we can play a real match with just th' two of us, after all. An' don't worry about kickin' it too 'ard, alright?" he insisted, laughing. "I've 'ad worse."
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:01 pm
Friends... Her smile stayed, although a bit more sad. She knew better than to ask about them, simply focusing on the game at hand. She nodded to what he said, keeping her eyes on the ball as it returned to her, flipping her foot to the side to stop the ball like she'd seen others do in their games. "Aa!" she piped happilly when the move worked, rather entertained by the simplest things. "It worked!" she cheered aloud to herself, then kicked it back to him, a bit more controlled this time.
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:34 pm
"Well done," he praised, amused, and mimiced her motion to stop the ball as it reached him. After sending it back towards her with anoher easy kick, he struck up the conversation once more. Football was a good ice breaker. "'Ow long've you been 'ere, then? I didn't know someone actually lived upstairs."
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:41 pm
She caught it with her foot again, stumbling some when it tried to roll off to the side and excape her grasp. It was so hard not to just grab it... But that was against the rules, so she held back. Once she was sure she had secured it, she kicked it back, looking a bit more at ease with atleast doing that much. "How long..." she echoed, trying to remember an actual date. "A little over a month..." she was almost suprised at it herself, in a way it seemed to have gone by so fast. And on the other hand, it also seemed to have been the longest month of her life.
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:14 pm
"That long?" He seemed just as surprised as she did, stopping the ball with his foot for the moment. "You must've arrived shortly after I did. I'm surprised we 'aven't met b'fore." He paused, watching her thoughtfully, then chuckled and snapped back to the present, punting the ball so that it would pass a good few feet to her side. "Let's make this a bit more interesting."
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:34 pm
Natsumi nodded in agreement, "I am too.." it really was odd that they lived right next to eachother and neither had noticed. Bad timing, she guessed. She was caugh toff-guard by the movement of the ball, only noticing it before it was too late and starting to pass her. She squeaked, running after it, catching up when the duplex wall stopped it. "O-Okay!" she responded, slightly preoccupied with how to get the ball away from the wall without using her hands. Those were the rules afterall, no hands. With her arms out to her side for balance, she stood on one foot using hte other to try and get behind the ball and pry it out. It worked, sending the ball at a slow roll foreward, in which she was able to get behind it and lightly tap it foreward. She smiled, pleased with herself, then returning her attention to Thom waiting to see if he had any specific instructions before she kicked it back.
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:54 pm
He chuckled softly as he bustled off after the ball, lazily shifting from one foot to the other as he watched her plight from where he stood. He laughed aloud as she struggled to retrieve the ball, meaning no harm by the gesture--it was just funny. Poor girl. "You can pick it up if y' need to, Natsumi," he explained once she returned, smiling. "This isn't a real game. We don't even 'ave goals. But we could make it more like a game, if y' wanted?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:14 pm
The fact he had laughed hardly phased her, it was always good to make people laugh after all. "Really?" she looked at her hands, then the ball. Well, even if she could she figured it'd be best to get used to not doing so. "That is okay. I will not use my hands." she smiled, rather enjoying herself. "A real game? I try to get it past you then?" that was the most basic point of the game. Get the ball past the other person.
Without waiting for much of an answere, she scooted the ball to her right, moving with it to give it a good kick, trying to get it past his left side. It wasn't as hard a kick as she could have, but she didn't want to send the ball flying off into god knows where.
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:48 pm
"If you insist," he replied with a shrug. If she wanted to play balancing acts trying to get the ball from tight spots, far be it from him to stop her. At her question, he nodded, glancing around for marks they could use as goals. "Yes, that's th' basic id--" Her quick movement caught his attention and, on instinct built from long practice, moved to intercept the ball as it was kicked out to his side.
Capturing it with relative ease, he started towards her carefully dribbling it from foot to foot, challenging her to take it from him with a look only to evade with a quick spin and wind up behind her, walking backwards while dribbling the ball once more. "Come get it."
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:59 pm
Natsumi laughed a bit as he caught the ball, sure she hadn't gotten it past him.. but she had still caught him off guard enough to interupt his sentance.
She shifted her stance some for better balance when he started for her, expecting something, though not quite sure what. For a second, she thought she coul dhave gotten the ball from him.. but then in a quick movement he was behind her. "Hey!" she piped, spinning around. "Not fair." She grinned, loooking much more at ease than she ever had before.
The thought occured that women shouldn't play sports... The reason she had never played before, but Thom didn't seem to care at all. It was a refreshing release of steryotpyes, which was the main reason she looked so relaxed.
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 11:09 pm
"Ah, but it's perfectly fair!" He argued good naturedly, continuing backwards and away. "I'm supposed t' be gettin' it past you, aren't I? No one said I 'ad t' kick it th' whole way."
Thom flashed a grin in response, pleased that she was finally relaxing and enjoying herself. The poor girl had seemed rather terrified earlier on--or, at least, self conscious and easily embaressed. On an island where people were turning into animals, there was no need whatsoever for that sort of behavior. Much less around a man who spent most of his free time back home challenging friends to make fools of themselves--or vice versa.
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