savetheearth | (no subject)

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Who: Van & Open
When: 01/13 ( afternoon, evening )
Where: LCHS ( after school ) and grocery store after
What: A teenager being a teenager with a routine. Bother/bump into him to disturb it.

a) LCHS

[ except for the optional conditioning excursions, ever since the batting cages had been set up ( if you could even call them that, being all net and not actual fence ), Van has taken to going ahead and getting some additional practice. granted, no one is allowed to run the machine without adult supervision, but there are plenty of other ways to get some hitting practice in. tees. tossing a ball and smacking it. this is how he passes the time. it's tedious, going to pick up all of the balls after a round and putting them back, but Van is determined to get on the baseball team and make the inevitable cut. if that means more practice, well... he doesn't mind. too much. it's also a very good way to vent his frustrations, perhaps hitting the ball a little TOO hard every now and then.

up goes the ball. Van leans back, elbows held just right. knob down where the ball is going to be and swing! the crack of metal against the ball is a satisfying sound. and sure, maybe the ball doesn't go in the air, but Van will take the solid hit and go again. toss. lean. swing. rinse and repeat.

he keeps at this for another round or two before finally dragging out the tee. Van is right handed, true. his stronger swing is definitely from the right side. but that doesn't make him an asset and therefore not good enough. he plans on taking it a step further - training to be a switch hitter. the bat already feels comfortable both ways, so it's worth the extra effort.

now if Van could actually hit it off of the tee consistently off of the tee without missing... that would be even better. with a swing and a miss, another curse is uttered and Van's scowl only means he's more determined to get this right. ]

b) grocery store

[ later, after Van has had time to cool down, it's off to pick up a few things before going home. his mother doesn't always like getting out of the place after she's home for the day. so it's not that uncommon for Van to high tail it to the closest CVS before trying to catch a transit bus towards home. seems like she's always asking for some kind of junk food or milk. occasionally some kind of soda. and Van can even slip something in for himself if he plays his cards just right ( which he usually does ).

this is also routine. he goes in, earbuds stuck in his ears, but not really on. usually just a deterrent because most of the time Van just wants to be in and out as soon as possible. this time it's a little different, as he's distracted between his own text messages from his mother ( like Van would forget the cat food and flea collar, geez ) and glossing over what he can of the network from his phone. Van is being like one of those people with his nose in his phone, not even bothering to look up as he passes the isles and weaves through people. ]

(( ooc: prose or action is fine. i will match you! ))

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[Neku is just getting off from track practice when he passes the batting cage. And there's Van, completely failing to hit the ball off the tee. Though... Neku's seen him paint and draw and shit, and that looks like the wrong side. He won't say anything for a moment, waiting for Van to take even a short break in order not to break his concentration.]

Aren't you right-handed?

[ ~~oh ew it's that Sakuraba kid.~~ it's nice for Neku to wait until Van has a moment. like picking up the balls that are strewn all around sort of moment.

but being caught... okay. that makes his ears burn a little in embarrassment. ]

Yeah, I am. Just practicing the other way.

[Huh. Well, in that case, he shrugs.]

Better than I could do. Need help picking everything up? I'd offer to pitch, but that would probably just make it harder for you. I'm pretty shitty at throwing things.

[ oh... offering. that's a little unexpected. probably can see it on his face before he gives a snort. ]

If you want to help, I'm not going to say no. It's boring, just saying.

Well, no shit, it's picking up baseballs. [seriously. how is that exciting dude.

But that doesn't stop him from making his way into the batting cage and helping out.]

Also meant just watching.

[ watch as he grabs the bucket and drags it over to a place where they can both put the balls in. ]

So what are you here practicing for anyway?

Just finished track. [there aren't many sports someone as ridiculously skinny as Neku could really feasibly do.] When are tryouts for baseball?

Don't tell me you do stuff like long jump or hurdles.

[ Neku looks more like a sprinter to him, but what he know? ]

Tryouts are around late February. Conditioning and stuff has been going on since school restarted.

No, sprints mostly. [Neku doesn't do the whole 'jumping' thing.]

How's it been going?

Thought so.

[ and Van really isn't either. not until recently anyway. ]

My fielding is fine. [ especially with his newly found dexterity. ] I just figured I'd be more valuable if I could pull switch hitting.

[......you know, given the fact that baseball is the ultimate American past time, not to mention a big damn deal in Japan, Neku should probably know more about it. But he doesn't.]

...How?

[ for shame, Neku. but Van huffs, amused all the same. ]

Most people are right handed. That means pitchers expect to throw for a right handed batter. How will that trip them up to have to suddenly switch for a left handed batter?

Oh. That makes sense, I guess. [but doesn't help at all if you suck at batting left handed.]

[ true story... most difficult part is adjusting how you stand and the hold on the bat. once that gets down it's only a matter of practice and timing. ~~which may or may not be easier depending upon future echoes.~~ ]

It's mostly just practice. It'd be easier with the machine going so I can get timing down.

[Oh right. The batting machine. Neku looks over it, frowning.] Guess you probably can't use it without a couch or something, huh.

Yeah... Now you've got it. I wouldn't risk that anyway. Wouldn't want to get hurt or overdo it.

Fair enough. [Neku dumps a bunch of the balls into the bucket.] How long have you been out here?

Uh...

[ do you really want to know that, Neku? at least he looks a little ashamed. he's probably been at this too long. ]

Since school ended?

...Shit. Maybe you should take a break. [yeah because of that whole 'don't overwork yourself' thing.]

Probably. Kind of lost track of time, you know?

[ which is the truth. so Van doesn't get up. he just sits there for a moment. ]

Yeah, I know. [That's cool. Neku will sit next to him.] Happens to me all the time.

When you get paint all over your hands?

[ those graffiti arts can't be clean ALL the time. ]

Sometimes. [yeah no when he's doing the real thing it's never a clean process.]

What got you started on that anyway...

[ curious! ]

Oh, I saw some really cool murals a while back... kind of started messing with it myself. [also some Echos have helped.]

Murals?

[ that's not quite what he would call some of that, you know. ]

They were really elaborate. [there's a reason he does call them that.]

A lot of that sort of thing is. Sometimes I think it takes more talent and skill than your more traditional mediums.

Plus it's not like it's an easy thing to find people to teach you.

So you're pretty much self taught?

Pretty much. [And by that he means 'entirely'. He's been doodling designs for several years now, but his actually application with spray paint doesn't always match what he can do on a smaller scale. Not that he goes tagging buildings or anything. Nope.]

[ wow. what a delinquent.

Van shrugs. it's not like he can't somewhat relate. there is a reason why he is taking the art classes provided at school, after all. ]

So does that mean I should be watching for your stuff on train cars?

[ tease tease ]

Very funny. [but he's not answering.]

[ oh the lack of an answer is SO noted, so Van's just going to snicker. ]

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