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 Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 11:05 pm
His gym clothes hadn't been hard to find, and he'd shown up a bit early to where Hafwen had told him to be. He didn't want to make her think he wasn't serious about this challenge. He didn't even know what it was, but at this point he was wiling to do anything to secure a chance at a date with the girl. She was pretty much the first girl in a very long time that had captured his attention this strongly. He figured it was fate. They were obviously meant to be together, they kept bumping into each other and even if she denied it, he felt there was something between them. She may have been pulling his chain at the gig, but she'd done a really good job of getting his attention. He wasn't going to lie, a lot of that lay in the fact that she had really pretty hair. It sounded weird to admit that, but it was a large factor in his enamored attraction of her. He just wanted to run his fingers through it and play with it. Okay, yeah - that sounded a bit creepy. Shaking his head, he waited for Hafwen to show, hoping that he'd be able to prove he was worth taking the time for.
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 4:48 am
Hafwen had taken a break from practising her free kicks in the park just for today, settling for a light jog on the track at Crystal Academy as a warm up of sorts before gathering what she needed for the challenge that she had in mind ahead for one Darren Waughner. She didn't even bat an eyelid when she reached the park and saw that he was already there way ahead of her, still maintaining a standoffish and unapproachable front as she gave him a small wave in greeting before going on to set up the little cone markers at the exact same distance between the actual goal posts that they were supposed to represent.
Once she was done with that, she tucked the soccer ball she had brought with her as well under her arm, crossing the grassy patch with practiced ease till it was the correct distance from the 'goal posts' following which she set it down, resting her foot atop it whilst she turned to address him. "As you might already know by now, I play as a striker for one of the private soccer clubs in Destiny City."
She paused to let him take that in. Surely a smart cookie would be able to figure out on his own exactly what kind of challenge she had waiting for him by now. "And even if you didn't well, now you do. My challenge for you is simple - you'll be the goalkeeper and I'll be the one firing the shots towards the goal behind you. You get five chances to defend the goal. So long as you manage to successfully prevent me from scoring just once, you win. If not, you'll leave me alone from here on. Deal?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 2:15 pm
Her arrival had of course, caused the young man to smile. He couldn't help it. Seeing her made him happy. He didn't care if she was delivering to him the ultimatum that outlined the future of any possible relationship they could have. He'd honestly settle for her friendship at this point - even if he really hoped for so much more. Was he being stupid? Oh more than likely. Did he regret a second of it? No. He had not known she was a striker for a private club... whatever the hell that was. Darren knew next to nothing about soccer. Just that you ran around the field and tried to kick the ball into a goal. He didn't know positions past people on the field and the goalie. He'd played P.E. edition soccer. The rules there had been pretty simple. Keep the ball on the field, kick it into the opposing goal, don't be a d**k and knock other players down. That was pretty much it. Beyond the basic rules of soccer he knew nothing about the sport. But what he did know, was that a properly placed kick could hurt like nobody's business. If she played what was pretty much pro level for their age group. Well suffice it to say this game was rigged. Rigged or not though, he wasn't about to back out now. It was time to put up or shut up. Man up and put on his big boy shorts. Though to be fair, his gym shorts covered more of his legs than his uniform shorts did - but that was beside the point. Cracking his knuckles, he flexed his hands and rolled his neck slowly, watching her as she spoke. When she laid out the rules for the contest, he winced a bit. So she was going to be kicking the balls AT him. Well that was just fine and dandy then. The odds of him being successful were of course, slim to none, but he wasn't about to let the impossible dictate his life. After all, he was fighting evil by moonlight, so why couldn't he win love by daylight - he wasn't one to run from a real fight. He was Darren Waughner, son of Christopher Waughner. If his father had faced gunfire and death on a daily basis, why couldn't he face a few soccer balls. Moving between the "goal posts" his face took on a far more serious look. "Deal," he said, watching her and the ball. Rubbing his hands together, he got into the position he'd seen goalies take on the rare chance he'd caught a soccer game on T.V. "Ready when you are, Blue." He didn't know why he had added that last bit - he had a feeling he was going to pay for it shortly.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:17 am
Was Hafwen being remotely fair to Darren? Well, he did say that he would do anything for a chance at a first date with her plus she was going to give him five chances at defending the goal. It didn't matter how he did it really. She wasn't expecting him to know much lest adhere to the rules of goalkeeping and if he managed to succeed despite the odds that were clearly stacked against him, she would grant him his wish since he had rightfully earned it.
She saw him pale visibly as she elaborated on her challenge, half thinking that he was going to admit defeat and back out now that he knew what he was exactly in for. When he started moving to take his place between the 'goal posts', she shook her head with an exasperated sigh and tapped the tip of her boot on the grass while she waited for him to indicate that he was ready.
One, two, three.
The expression on her face turned serious when he got into position, her feet already taking a few steps back so that she could run up to the ball and give it a good kick towards the makeshift goal. She gave a big disapproving frown when she heard the impromptu nick he had seemingly plucked out of the air for her, her leg pulling back to kick the ball and send it in an arc towards the lower left corner of the goal. Of all things for the love of everything that was holy, Blue?! Really?
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:29 am
He saw the ball rushing toward the goal and he dove for it - way too early, landing hard in the grass and skidding, bruising up his entire left hand side as the ball smacked him square in the face, bounced off upward and over his body, landing behind him in the goal. He just lay there, his eyes welling up and his nose starting to bleed. All he could see was red at the moment from the pain. His body shook a little and he bit his tongue really hard to keep himself from crying out. It hurt - it really, really, hurt. His ears were ringing his head was splitting and it was taking all of his will not to puke. Slowly, he got onto his hands and knees, dry heaving a few times before standing and rubbing at his face, tears and blood and snot wiped away as he knelt to pick up the ball and throw it over his shoulder. Turning around to face her. So what if there were two of her now. A concussion wasn't going to stop him from trying...
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:04 am
She might have put a little more force behind that kick than was necessary because of his attempt at playing it cool, but never never was it her intention to cause another serious grievous hurt as a result of her actions. She felt her heart stop when she saw the ball hit him square in the face, sucking in her breath and looking genuinely horrified when she saw that he was bleeding and how he suddenly looked as if he was trying to keep his stomach contents down.
All of this for a stupid first date with her? Was this guy for serious?
Chewing on her lower lip, she waited for him to pick himself up, almost afraid that she was going to have to pull out her phone and call an ambulance for him. She waited for him to call out to her, say that he was quitting this stupid challenge of hers that he had little to no chance of winning and that she wasn't worth risking anything more serious than what he had already sustained. But it never came.
She looked at him for a long while, momentarily speechless and at a loss as to what to do. And then she moved to do the only thing that was as natural to her as breathing and required no thinking on her part which was to send the ball sailing in the air towards the opposite corner of the goal this time round.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:08 am
Darren wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was seeing double, or if he was just getting his timing better, but when he dove for the ball this time, he felt his finger tips barely scrape it. Hissing as the ball slipped past them, he shook his hands as he sat up. That had been less than pleasing. Standing up again, he grabbed the ball and sent it back to her, getting ready to receive another kick from her. That wast 2/5, with any luck he'd get the next one - otherwise things were gonna start looking dire. The good news was that his double vision was fading, but the headache was still pounding away.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:42 am
After witnessing how the very first shot had gone, she was bracing herself for the worst and she couldn't be more relieved when she saw that there wasn't a repeat of the initial disaster this time round. She heaved a sigh of relief, rolling the ball beneath her foot to the starting point before putting some pressure on it to stop it from moving further.
Looking him over, she took a deep breath to compose herself, trying to tell herself that he was actually alright and that all that bleeding and swelling of his face looked worse than the actual damage. Of course she had not the knowledge to know for sure on that and her pride kept her from throwing in the towel and calling this silly thing off entirely so that they could get his injuries looked at or tended to or something.
Perhaps she was starting to feel sorry for him but she had actually been hopeful that he was able to catch that ball and score himself that first date as a consolation or something - nevermind if it actually turned out to be a total disaster since his partner would be her of all the other girls he could have chosen to go after. She looked his way again, her resolve from earlier rapidly crumbling as she sent the ball right down the centre for this round.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:46 am
Darren had been prepared for another corner shot, so he was completely off his center when she sent the ball barreling down the middle. Running toward it, he pulled his leg back, trying to meet it with a kick. Only to miss completely and overextend his leg, causing him to loose his balance and fall completely on his a**. Huffing, he flopped down in the grass for a minute, looking up at the sky. 3/5... He had two more tries. He had to stop the next one - or he might as well just call it quits. Slowly he stood up again, ready to try one more time.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:18 am
She looked frustrated when the ball was returned to her for yet another round. For the very first time since she decided that she would join a private club so as to hone her skills for the professional field that she aspired to compete against some day, she felt perplexed and helpless at her current goal which completely went against what she had trained over the years for.
How was she supposed to go about the next shot such that an amateur like Darren would be able to successfully block it subsequently?
She cast her gaze over at the dark-haired youth again, a part of her heartened somewhat by the fact that he had yet to give up entirely on her. She felt the edges of her lips curl slightly into a weak smile that she kept only for herself, taking a deep breath as she made a half-hearted kick towards the middle for yet another time, hopeful that he would be able to catch it and spare the both of them any further agony with how awry this whole thing had quickly become.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:39 am
This time Darren was ready, well - sort of. He saw the ball coming toward the middle, though he was a little surprised it seemed to be going a lot slower than before. Maybe Hafwen was getting tired? There wasn't any way she was going easy on him. No - girl had moxie and was tough as nails and didn't take anything from anyone. All part of her charm, really. Diving forward, he winced as he felt his chest hit the grassy ground, bouncing painfully and busing what LITTLE of his chest wasn't already going to be an ugly purple mess. Knocking the air out of his lungs. He reached out as best he could with his hands to try and stop the ball, fingers outstretched to try and snag it. Worse case scenario it bounced over his hands and bounced back the other way off his head - he'd count that as a good enough. When he felt the ball touch his fingers he tried to grip it, but it fumbled a bit and it bounced out of his grip and tried to scoot off to the side and around him. Growling, he forced his body forward, finally catching the ball, and with a defiant shove, knocking it away from the goal and back toward Hafwen. Granted it petered out halfway there and just sat there. He'd done it. He'd won the god damn game. He won a date with the blue haired beauty that was Hafwen. Rolling on his back in the grass he looked up at the sky. Then he started to laugh, it was a mirthful "I can't believe that actually just happened, there is a god" laugh. Nothing could ruin his day now. Nothing.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:38 pm
The look in Darren's eyes was one of hope and yet it tethered dangerously close to tipping over into sheer and utter despair. Ordinarily, Hafwen wouldn't have lapsed or slowed the ball down deliberately to try to help him win her challenge. It was probably his tenacity and refusal to back down despite the gravity of his injuries that got through her really. Sure she had meant to give him a hard time to discourage him in his efforts to win her heart, but she wasn't one to go as far as to maim or get him killed over it.
Before she herself even realized what she was doing, she was already running across the grassy ground to go to him, a look of worry crossing her face as she knelt beside where he now laid to sweep her gaze over him and gently prod at his facial injuries. "Are you... alright? Should I call in an ambulance to get you to the hospital to get this looked at proper?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:00 pm
Darren realized that one thing could PROBABLY, MAYBE ruin his day. He hissed a bit when Hafwen touched his face, sitting up and making quick tsking noises with his tongue, he probably sounded like a snake attached to a sprinkler. "I'm okay, I'm okay, really..." He smiled at her, that dumb goofy kind of smiles boys tend to get around girls that were interesting and/or cute. "The double vision is gone now, the headache is dying down a bit and I think my nose has stopped bleeding. You've got a really strong kick there, I'm impressed." "Would it be okay if we postpone the actual date until I've recovered from some of these tho?" He said with a weak, sheepish laugh. "I want to be able to make sure you enjoy your time and aren't waiting me."
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:52 pm
She immediately pulled back her finger at his hissing, already starting to wonder if something was really broken beneath all the soft tissue swelling that had his face all puffed up like that. "You sure..? I mean... the last thing we'll want is for you to collapse and die of a brain aneurysm or something because of that hit you took to your face." Frowning, she briefly contemplated dragging him to the hospital just to make sure that he was really alright and not bleeding in the head or something as serious as that, twiddling her fingers as she quickly got the apology that was due out of the way.
"... what I mean to say is yeah... sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt this bad. I actually wanted to stop the whole thing so we could go get that looked at but yeah..." She probably sounded like a horrible person when she put it all that way but she somehow had a feeling that he wasn't the type to quibble over something like that if he really wanted a first date with her this much. I'm... glad that you made it through though." She added sheepishly with a mumble, a soft blush dusting her cheeks at the same instant as she nodded to indicate that she was fine with postponing the date till whenever he felt up to it.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 4:20 pm
Darren smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you for the concern but I'm fine, really. I won't die cause I totally need to cash in on that date." He said before laughing warmly. "It's good to know that you care though.""I knew you liked me," He stuck his tongue out at her momentarily, even if it was a little swollen as well from when he'd bit it to suppress his scream earlier. "Also, you're cute when you blush. I like that."He wasn't really in any hurry to stand. His legs felt weak and the world was listing a little bit to the left. No - wait - that was him. Hitting the ground with a dull thud, he winced as the ringing in his ears once again made it very hard for him to hear. His skull split in two - well felt like it did at any rate, and he ground hiss teeth and rolled, pressing his forehead hard into the grass as he tried to relieve the pressure that was building up in his skull. "On...second... thought..." He said between pants and grunts of pain. "Maybe... a... quick... ER... trip... is... warranted..."
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