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 Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 7:33 pm
"You think you brought enough gear, Nacho?" Devon asked mildly as he watched his adopted son trot ahead of him, carrying an awkward bag of balls over his shoulder. "You can't play all that stuff at once, y'know."
"We can try." Nothing logical could faze Ignacio; he was on his way to see his new friend. "If anyone can, I bet it's Riley and me. She's cool, Dad. Way cool. Even if she's a girl."
The corner of Devon's mouth turned up with amusement. Yep, the kid was definitely a kid. That was nice. Pushing his hands into his pockets, he picked up the pace to walk beside Ignacio. "So where's she gonna be?"
"Right..." Suddenly, Ignacio pointed, a wide white smile on his face. "Right over there by the soccer net. She has brothers, y'know? Maybe they'll come. Then we can all play together. I bet they're cool. C'mon." He took off at a run, the bag bouncing behind him.
Devon shook his head. "The kid hardly says a peep for weeks and now you can't shut him up. Figures." Reluctantly, he took off after his kid and, reaching him, quickly claimed the nearest bench from which to watch. He had no intention of chasing a ball if he could help it.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:19 pm
And there, just as Iggy had said, was Riley and three of her brothers by the soccer net. But it didn't look like the waiting had gone so well. Riley had Mikael bent over slightly as she clung onto his back via wraping her arms around his neck. She was shouting something, but it was muffled by Mikael's profane curses and Runeh's laughter. Kai was hovering helplessly beside the scuffle, trying weakly to break it up.
But as Riley squinted, shutting one of her eyes as Mikael tried to yank her off, she saw Iggy and his father coming over. So without further adue she let go, leaping off and landing on her feet behind her brother who toppled forward at the sudden lift of weight. Before he could swing around and grab her she raced forward, "Oi! Iggy!" She closed the gap quickly, planting her feet squarely in front of the other boy with a wide grin, her scuffle with Mikael forgotten.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:30 pm
"Riley!" was the equally boisterous and excited response. His burden made his stop a bit less graceful but Ignacio opted to use the momentum to swing the bag around to the front and Ignacio held it out like a teenager would hold out a corsage to his prom date. "I didn't know what we'd wanna do so I just brought it all," he explained. "You weren't waitin' long, right? I tried to get Devon goin' but he had to close the shop and that takes forever." He craned his neck. "Are those all your brothers?"
Devon paused before taking the bench and squinted across the distance at the two kids. Now he recognized the girl. He had seen her in the classroom when he had dropped Nacho off the other day. Shrugging, he walked over to join them. "So you're Riley, huh?" he asked. "Good to meetcha. I'm Devon. Just, uh, call me Devon."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:38 pm
"Sounds good to me! Means we can play lots of stuff!" Riley agreed, seeming impressed by his cleverness. She took the bag from him, setting it down neatly on the ground. Not before she took a good look at it's contents, though, and smiled with satisfaction. Then her attention was right back to her friend, "Naah, not wait'n too long. Long enough to give Mikael a hard time. He didn't get me in a headlock this time neither!" She put her hands on her hips, obviously pleased with herself at the feat. "And nah, that's just three of 'em. I've got two more."
She pivoted around so that she could point each of them out to Iggy. She may have been rough housing with them, but it was plain she was proud to have the brothers she did. "That there's Kai...and there's Runeh and his twin Mikael." She shived her silver eyes to Devon and gave a spunky mock-salute, "Nice to meet ya Devon, mister!"
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:16 pm
"You, too, Riley." Looking over at her brothers, Devon raised a hand to signal hello to them as well.
Ignacio, however, had already dismissed them and stood, grinning. "Would they wanna play, too? I bet we're faster than them. We could beat 'em."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:30 pm
Riley didn't even bother to ask. She stood on the balls of her feet and hollared at them, "Heeey! Me an' Iggy are gonna kick your butts!" There couldn't be a more proper invitation. Though she didn't know what they were playing yet. She looked at Ignacio quickly, her eyes showing a sense of expextance, "What're we gonna beat them at first?"
"Ha! I'm gonna mop the ground with you, squirt!" Mikael called with a flare of his bad temper. He was all seriousness this time, it seemed. Perhaps revenge for her attack earlier? Either way, he was ready to take the kids head on. Runeh stood grinning slyly at his back, ready for an interesting game.
Kai didn't seem pleased, "Why don't we do something else..."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:39 pm
Ignacio studied them, taking in how much taller and more muscled Riley's brothers were. Then he glanced at Devon. Devon held up his hands. "Uh uh," he answered. "I'm not up for it. I just spent the past 6 hours hunched over body parts, Iggy. I just wanna stretch out and rest."
"Wimp. You sit on your butt all day!" Huffing, Ignacio shook his head and refocused on Riley. With a foot, he prodded the bag on the ground. "Well, catch is boring..."
"Don't break anything."
Ignacio rolled his eyes. "I've got a soccer ball in there and a football."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:45 pm
Riley completely ignored the "don't break anything" comment, since as she told Iggy at school it was a very common event. She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully, pausing a moment to think of the best game to combat the twins in, since it seemed Kai would sit out. Finally she clapped her hands together, grinning ear to ear. "Get the football out! Trust me!" she said with spirit, her silver eyes flashing.
Kai sighed, seeming defeated since both his sister and two younger brothers showed no signs of relenting. He moved over to get out of the way and sat by Devon.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:10 pm
Devon glanced at the other man and half-shrugged. "Must be nice to have other guys around to help out," he offered mildly.
With a fierce nod, Ignacio dug out the football. He straightened and tossed it easily into the air before catching it. He smiled then and threw it to Riley. "I'll follow your lead," he told her.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:37 pm
Kai shook his head, looking rather woeful. "Well...not particularly," he sighed, "I'd rather not have the twins watch her. They aren't the best role models." All that rough housing they'd taught her! And he was sure she would pick up their cursing sooner or later...it was just a matter of when.
Riley caught it easily, like the sporty tomboy she was. Pointing a sharp finger at the twins she yelled, "Line up! We'll start it off!" She jogged over to the halfway point in the field.
"Why, so I can squash you like the bug you are in a tackle?" Mikael jeered at Riley, really looking as though he'd enjoy it. He lined up across from his sister, Runeh coming to stand beside him.
"I'll hike it to you," Riley told Iggy after she gave Mikael a good look at her tongue.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:07 pm
"Gotcha! I'm on it." Trotting a sensible distance away from his new teammate, Ignacio grinned at the two adults they were facing off against. Then he settled into place, bouncing a bit from foot to foot with barely contained energy.
Devon watched his son with half-closed eyes for a moment and then shook his head. "I dunno where he gets it," he muttered.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:21 pm
"Well...while I believe one's family influences you, I also believe that a certain part of yourself is simply yours, without a specific cause..." Kai said with deep thought. Then, as if realizing he sounded silly he offered a sheepish smile, "Sorry...I guess I just mean that even if my brothers and I hadn't been around I think she would have been pretty spirited..."
Riley hunched over slightly, holding the ball near the ground beneath her feet, ready to snap it off. She eyed her two brothers fiercely, her tail feathers quivering for a moment before fanning out. Then she finally yelled out, "Hut hut, HIKE!" He snapped the ball under her legs, tossing it right at her waiting companion. But once the ball had left her hands she had taken off, knowing the twins would either try and rush Iggy so he'd have to pass or they'd come bolting after her.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:59 pm
With a faint grunt, Ignacio caught the ball and backpedalled. Seeing Riley's brothers start towards him, he swallowed and then grinned, daredevil and brave. He darted to the right and began running full-tilt. His legs pumped hard while he kept the ball tight to his body. As they careened towards him, gaining, though, he growled and made another pivot. With effort, he stopped his momentum and threw the ball as hard as he could towards Riley.
Devon watched with faint amusement before shrugging at Kai. "I dunno. I've never been a jock so that's all Iggy there," he answered.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:09 pm
Mikael had full on rushed at Iggy without a second thought. Runeh had hung back, drifting between cutting the boy off and making sure he could get at his younger sister. His twin had nearly reached Iggy when the ball was thrown hard and high. Runeh bolted forward and past Riley. Mikael dug his heels into the ground, spitting a curse, before turning around.
Riley was more then ready for the pass. She jumped up, catching the ball as it jerked into her grip but stayed firm. Landing light on her feet she took off again only to notice Runeh had headed her off. With a quick snap of her reflexs she attempted to circle around and out of reach. She was almost at the end of the field! But Mikael was charging at her like a bull and she noticed much too late that she was caught between the twins.
As they came within feet of her she jerked to the left, trying to snake out of their grasp and dart off. But Runeh caught her foot, sending her tumbling forward. And Mikael, without hesitation, tackled her into the grass, "I GOT YOU SQUIRT!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:32 pm
"... That look like it hurt." Devon winced in sympathy. "Aren't they kinda rough with her?"
Meanwhile, Ignacio had hollered in annoyance and pounded over to push at Mikael. "C'mon!" he ordered, putting his lean muscles into the shoving. "Get off her! Your ball now."
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