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 Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:37 pm
Summer break was just a week away, which meant that the gyms would soon be filling with high schoolers who had nothing better to do during the week other than take over the basketball, volleyball, and raquetball courts. The relatively quiet gym would be turned into a madhouse, just like it did every beginning of January when dozens of people flocked in to attempt a new year’s resolution to get in shape. Even now, there were way too many high schoolers and college students crowding the place on the weekend.
The only plus side was that Michael enjoyed watching the team sports. Azure Valley wasn’t exactly known for its sports program, and he often thought about volunteering as a coach or assistant for the city. He didn’t think he would enjoy playing with a group of his peers as much as he would like to see others get the most out of something they enjoyed doing.
So Michael found himself leaning over the railing from the second floor of the gym, watching the group of students making their way on and off the courts as friendly games took place. The gym itself was quite large, despite its usual quiet reputation. It had nearly everything someone could think of to fit into a gym, probably because it was near the DCU campus and often used for overflow when the school gyms were overbooked. It had a pool, a rock climbing wall, rooms for yoga classes, spin classes, pilates, not to mention the huge room with exercise and weight training equipment, and the running track that went around the entirety of the indoor courts below.
It wasn’t uncommon for Michael to recognize people that he knew either from school, or from around the area, but there was one dark haired college student playing volleyball that had his small, content smile quickly fading.
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:23 pm
The gym wasn't, if he was honest about it, Caspian's favorite place to play volleyball, but considering the nearest beach was a little too far away to walk and it was too hot to board, the gym was good enough, even if it was ridiculously crowded.
Being inside, after all, meant exercising and playing sports in a nice, air conditioned building instead of sweating it out outside in the hot sun. Caspian didn't mind the warmth, but the prospect of walking or boarding several miles when the humidity level was reaching astronomical heights was unappealing.
"Set point!"
The yell came from the referee standing at the edge of the net. Caspian, in his place at the back of the lineup, was poised and ready, body bent slightly, legs in position for a dive that would come a second later as the ball was served up and over the net towards him.
He leapt forward, hands locked together, and the ball smacked into his forearms. Caspian snapped them up instantly, the reaction immediate, and the ball went flying towards his team's setter, who snagged it, set it, and there was a loud smacking noise as it was spiked over the net onto the opposing team's side.
A loud cheer went up, and Caspian was grinning as he high fived the setter, lifting the hem of his shirt to wipe at his face. Turning around, stretching his arms, Caspian trotted off the court to find his water bottle, nestled next to his bag, and guzzled a few swallows before wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
There were people on the upper level, some just meandering, some leaning to watch. Caspian let his gaze wander idly around -
- and noticed an all-too-familiar (unhappy) face looking (scowling?) down at him from the railing.
A grin spread across Caspian's own face and he lifted a hand, waving a casual greeting.
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:23 pm
Scowling indeed. Especially when the dark haired young man in question lifted his hand up to wave. Michael’s eyes narrowed slightly, and shook his head in clear disapproval. It wasn’t that he thought Caspian was bad at the sport, it was more of his expectation of what would come with any kind of conversation. He had half a mind to leave right then.
For someone he hadn’t expected to see ever again, he sure was running into him a lot. A voice in the back of his mind, the one more in tune with the whole magical nonsense, wondered if perhaps they’d always crossed paths and just never had an opportunity to actually meet. But that sounded absolutely ridiculous, and Michael shook his head more vigorously.
He pushed himself off the edge of the railing, and with one last glance in Caspian’s direction, he turned to leave. He’d already finished working out for the day, so there was no point in lingering. All he would have to do was grab his bag from the locker and head out, not even bothering to shower until he got home. Which was totally gross, but with the thought of not sticking around long enough for Caspian (or anyone else) to find an opportunity to talk to him was more appealing than not smelling like sweat.
And yet, even as he made his way down the stairs and headed towards the locker room doors, he found his pace slowing to stop, effectively blocking the flow of traffic with his indecisiveness.
Michael swore under his breath and turned on his heel, heading back towards the gym doors and slipping inside just in time for the next, and possibly final, round. He leaned up against the wall near the door, staying as inconspicuous as he could while the college students continued their game.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:03 am
The obvious annoyance was exactly what Caspian had expected. He knew perfectly well that just because Michael had agreed to mentor him (sort of) as a senshi did not mean that they were suddenly best friends - but it was back to the fact that Caspian just had a desire to needle him a little more. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he could get him to make a different expression, or maybe even - in another universe - smile.
Michael had disappeared now, back into the throngs of people, likely on his way home and far away from where Caspian was; and Caspian, grinning to himself, went back to the court. Someone slapped him jovially on the back, and within a few minutes, the game had restarted. It was the final set now - each team was tied, one set to one set, and this one was the match decider.
One point. Two points. Ten minutes later, they were tied, sixteen to sixteen. Caspian had been shuffled out of the rotation and was sitting on the bench, waiting for the lineup to come back to him and yelling enthusiastic encouragements to his teammates. They were a summer team, practicing at the gym for their later matches, and most of them Caspian didn't know well enough to hang out with outside of their team, but he still liked them all the same.
By the time they were at twenty-four to twenty-three, everyone was sweating and tense, and Caspian was back in the lineup, near the back row. Liberos were the ones who did the best when it came to receives, and that was Caspian's specialty.
The ball vaulted over the net and he dived, hitting the ground hard and banging his elbow in the process, but it was a perfect dive; the ball smacked against his arms and flew up towards the middle blocker, who pushed it into the air towards the setter, who sent it careening towards the ace, who spiked it neatly and powerfully down -
- and was blocked by the other team's blockers.
Five minutes later, with a whistle from the referee, the match had ended. Caspian's team had lost, but they still slapped his back and fist bumped him as they all trundled off. Caspian gathered his things, slung a towel around his neck, and decided to head towards the doors instead, bypassing the locker room in favor of a shower at home.
Head bowed in thought, he did not seem to notice the figure standing by said doors.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 2:24 pm
For how scrawny and short Caspian was, Michael was impressed with how he handled himself in the court. His height made it easier to get under the balls sent to his side, and he had good control over where the ball went in return. He was quick and light on his feet, which would definitely be good when he was trying to escape youma and negaverse officers. And cops. And he seemed to have good intuition for what the other team was thinking, managing to move in the direction the ball would be sent before it was even hit.
Once the match was over, Michael had every intention of slipping back out of the gym and being on his way. He'd just been curious as to how well Caspian could play, but didn't want to stick around for teasing and potentially inappropriate comments.
But as he was turning to leave, he couldn't help but notice how, while Caspian seemed to have a good relationship with his teammates, he didn't seem to be sticking around them once the game was over. Perhaps they were just teammates but not necessarily friends? There was nothing wrong with that, but it did have Michael pausing.
Caspian didn't seem to notice him as he headed towards the exit, and for s few moments Michael was fine with just letting him leave on his own. Maybe it was something about seeing Caspian more subdued than he normally was that had Michael following after him against his better judgement.
"You looked good out there," Michael heard himself saying, wanting to at least catch Caspian before he completely left the building. He figured their conversation would be short enough, seeing as the other probably had somewhere he needed to go, and Michael had left his bag in the locker room. They would simply exchange pleasantries and then be on their way. That seemed painless enough.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:05 pm
He could have perhaps done better at passing, Caspian thought as he stepped off the court, contemplating the game. He was good at receives; diving required a precise movement of knowing exactly when to jump and exactly how far to extend one's arms. But passing was still a bit of a weakness for him overall.
Head dipped, bag slung over his shoulder, Caspian had both hands on the ends of the towel around his neck and didn't see the familiar figure standing beside the door. It wasn't until he spoke that Caspian's head snapped up, a look of surprise on his face that morphed rather quickly into one of amusement. A grin tugged at his lips.
"Hey," he said lightly, eyebrows raised. "Thanks. You watched the game? I thought the ending was a little muddled, but, well, new team and all that. Takes a bit of getting used to."
The urge to make a snarky comment was buried, at least for the time being. Caspian tilted his head up to look at Michael.
"What are you doing here? Come to work out, or do you play a sport?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 5:28 pm
”The team will get better with practice,” Michael said with a small shrug, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at Caspian with a frown, but not as pronounced as it usually was. He’d enjoyed watching the game, which elevated his mood a bit, but he was still rather wary of the young man standing before him. Not because he expected anything nefarious from him, but because he didn’t know what to expect.
“How’s your arm? It looked like you hit it pretty hard,” he casually pointed out with a glance down at Caspian’s reddened elbow from where he’d landed on it. Thankfully, he didn’t seem like he was in pain.
Why Michael thought ‘thankfully’ had his expression shifting into a small grimace, but he looked away towards some people coming into the building so it didn’t seem like he was grimacing at Caspian. Because he wasn’t. Not really.
“I was going to try the rock wall they’ve got, but there were too many people there already. I just went to use the weight machines instead,” he explained, wondering if that was what Caspian figured he would be there for.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:21 pm
"True," said Caspian with a dramatic sigh, but he gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "Volleyball doesn't work if the team members don't get along or don't know each other well, since it's all about coordination. I think that's probably why we lost today."
His tone of voice sounded casual on the surface, but beneath it there was an underlying frustration that belied it. It took him a moment to realize that Michael was asking him something, Caspian dragging himself out of his own thoughts.
"What? Oh, it's fine," he said lightly, waving a dismissive hand. "I mean, it kinda aches, but it wasn't a hard hit, that's why we have kneepads and elbow pads. I forgot my arm ones today, but thankfully I didn't hit it too badly."
There was a slightly disgruntled look on Michael's face, though Caspian was starting to associate it with his default expression. He fought back a smile of his own and said, "I didn't really peg you as a sporty team sorta guy, so I figured it was probably something like that. Are you all finished?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:48 pm
There was something there that Michael thought he heard in Caspian’s voice, but it was gone before he could really decipher it. He seemed distracted, and while Michael wondered if Caspian’s somewhat reserved demeanor had something to do with him, there was something else that he thought might be there.
Of course, the light conversation continued before Michael could ask, but his mouth was already open when Caspian made the comment about him and team sports, which left Michael to more or less gape at him, obviously taken aback.
He almost countered Caspian’s comment about how he was very much a team kind of person who played plenty of sports and partook in activities that required multiple people and a general understanding of each other...
Until he suddenly realized that it had actually been years since he’d really invested in anyone other than himself.
Ever since leaving the Navy and becoming a Knight, he’d been very much a loner, knowing that he could rely on his own strengths and would not become invested in others whose skills and abilities he could not control.
And so, his somewhat offended expression settled into something much more resigned. He stared at Caspian almost sadly. For the first time in a long time, he could sense his confidence wavering. He blamed Caspian, of course, for making him question himself and his abilities.
“Yeah, I am,” he practically forced himself to say, glancing away from the other once again. “My stuff is in the locker room. So… I guess I’ll see you around,” he said, surprised by the disappointment in his voice. He once again blamed Caspian for it.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:25 pm
Caspian had been grinning up at Michael - but the startled look on his face took him by surprise, the grin fading a little, his eyes widening. That was not something he had expected to see on the face of a man who was so determinedly stoic; Michael was clearly taken aback by what he'd said, though Caspian wasn't sure which bit was so astonishing.
And even less sure why that startled expression shifted to something a lot quieter, flatter, almost unhappy. It wasn't exactly the closed off look that Caspian was growing used to getting from Michael, which was why he stared at him, all trace of joking gone.
"Wait, hold up," he said, lifting both hands in a gesture of submission before he dropped them again. Caspian's gaze had narrowed slightly, and for a moment he just looked at Michael, as though searching for an answer to something that wasn't there.
After a moment he said, his voice light, "Wanna go get something to eat?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 9:07 pm
He didn’t know what was more surprising to him; Caspian acting serious, or his attempt to keep him from running every chance he got. Although, he wasn’t entirely sure why it should be surprising. In fact, he found himself feeling guilty over the fact that Caspian seemed… not different, but perhaps taking into consideration Michael’s comforts by holding back on his normally playful, teasing personality.
Michael stared at him and his question, considering the options for a few long moments.
“Shouldn’t you be hanging out with people closer to your age?” was his first attempt at an excuse. It probably wouldn’t work very well. He felt like he made Caspian miserable just by being around him. He wasn’t exactly a bucket of sunshine, and it wasn’t lost on him that Caspian seemed to smile less and less when he was around him. It probably didn’t help that Michael seemed miserable, himself. Or was miserable. He didn’t know. He tried not to think about it.
“Or are you asking me out?” he tried again, half joking if only to try and stop Caspian from looking at him like he was trying to figure him out, to stop him from frowning at him, and to go back to joking around, at least just a little. There really wasn’t anything to figure out. At least he didn’t think so.
“I’m kidding,” he said quickly, before Caspian had a chance to comment, not wanting to dismiss his offer. “Okay,” he agreed just a moment later.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 9:42 pm
Caspian did not have the strength of character to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
"It's not like you're a fifty year old geezer, jeez," he said, arching his brows. "I mean, unless you just look really freakin' young for your age. But I thought we already went over the fact that I don't really care and that you're not nearly as much older than me as you keep thinking you are."
The second question made him smirk, however, the teasing back in full force as Caspian said airily, "You wish. No, actually, I thought that maybe you'd want to eat something after working out, I always want to eat after I play volleyball so I figured why not both of us grab something. But I ain't paying for you, sorry," he added, grinning. "You just get my charming personality."
He was marginally surprised that a) Michael had been the one who had joked this time, and b) that he'd actually accepted, since Caspian was pretty sure Michael had no qualms about just walking off and leaving him to his own devices most (all) of the time. Still, maybe the guy was lonely or something.
"We'll grab your stuff and then vamoose," said Caspian, gesturing towards the locker room. "Got any preferences?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 6:55 am
"I meant other college students," Michael quickly clarified, almost in exasperation, when Caspian pointed out that they'd already discussed the topic of age. It wasn't his fault that Caspian looked young and he didn't want to look like a creep hanging out with an underaged teenager, especially when he already had his students to deal with.
Now that Caspian was back to being light hearted and teasing again, Michael felt himself relax slightly. Not that he enjoyed the teasing, but it was better than Caspian looking so serious. He let out a breath and simply shook his head at the other. It wasn't as though they were even friends. Just sort if acquaintances that barely tolerated each other but were both stubborn, or something like that.
"Yeah, yeah, give me a minute," he said as he took a step towards the locker room. "There's a few places on and near campus, if you'd like. There's also always the cafeteria. Or one of the cafes," he shrugged, not really picky. If anything, he was just surprised with himself that he was actually agreeing to this. He said it was so that Caspian wouldn't look so... so... not the young man he'd first met in Negaspace with the nerdy jokes and penchant to get into more trouble this he should.
It didn't take long for Michael to grab his bag from the locker, although as he did be kept debating on whether this was a bad idea or not. He knew he joked about Caspian asking him out, but maybe he'd crossed the line.
Bag slung over his shoulder, he headed back out to where he figured Caspian would be waiting.
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 12:23 pm
"There are college students your age, you know," Caspian quipped, catching the faint note of exasperation in Michael's voice. "Come to think of it, I don't think you've actually told me your age, but I'd peg you maybe late twenties, early thirties just on first glance. Which again, not that much older than me."
He waved a hand at him, still grinning, and leaned against the wall to wait for Michael, arms folded across his chest. A part of Caspian was wondering whether he'd change his mind and just sneak out through the opposite exit. It wouldn't have surprised him, all things considered, but it would maybe be nice to actually get to know the guy instead of just squabbling back and forth with one another.
Or maybe that was why he wanted to get to know him. Either way, Michael's reappearance a few minutes later was almost a surprise to Caspian, though it didn't show on his face. He glanced up, grinning, and pushed away from the wall he'd been slouched against.
"We could go to Tim's for lunch," he said lightly, sticking his hands into his pockets as they left the gym. "It's just down the block here, and they have the best nachos."
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 3:11 pm
Michael decided to make no comment about his age. Caspian had been pretty close with his guess, so he supposed it didn’t really matter. Where they went to eat didn’t matter either, although he kept questioning whether this was a good idea or not. He supposed he should try to get to know Caspian a little better, if he was going to be sort of mentoring him and all.
It was weird, thinking of himself as a mentor when it came to the magical stuff. Teaching, sure, he was expected to mentor his students however he could, but this was one of the first times anyone actually asked him for help, from what he could remember of the last five years.
“I’ll have to see if you’re right about those nachos,” he said casually as they exited the building as well to head towards the restaurant in question with Caspian. “So is there a reason you’re not hanging out with your team?” he started gingerly, recalling the strange tone in the other’s voice when they first met up after the game. “Or did they just have other places to go,” he offered as an excuse, looking ahead instead of in Caspian’s direction.
“And…” he continued, not necessarily trying to fill the silence, but the longer he was around Caspian he was realizing there was maybe more to him than someone who just joked about everything. “Do you go to DCU? Were you a Meadowview kid, or Azure? Or… Hillworth?” he added, once again half joking if only because of their previous encounter where Caspian decided to break the laws and vandalize private property.
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