Re: Jade Takes a Stand...Sort Of ((Open))

[Xavier]

With a 'well shucks, ma, I didn't know that pie wuz fer supper' kind of grin, he turned to her and sat his bat down much more gingerly than needed. "Er, you hold the skinny end and swing with the big end. Only, erm, not that hard, I don't guess. Blood and ashes, this is Rhydin, bloody so-called gods and goddesses, vampires, werewolves, mutants, and so forth...you'd think they'd make a baseball that could take being hit!" Yep, he sounded like a kid that had his big game rained out. Embarrassment was not a tasty dish, so it seemed.

The biting comments didn't phase him....after all, he was a shape-changing werewolf that had a werewolf father, an Aes Sedai mother who may or may not be a demon, an Aes Sedai half-sister, and a twin sister who was a werewolf as well, and who he would one day pull the stick from her bum and get her to enjoy life. Besides, he still needed to ask a female werewolf if they needed three bra's during the full moon or not.......and to ask De'Ryanna that question would be about as wise as walking up to your nearest Drow and telling them you think Eilistraee is a silly word.

Since he wasn't a complete idiot, he would not be doing either. Instead, he would step closer to Jade and halfway smile. "I could help you with the grip, I suppose. I'd aim away from the dude over there. Probably won't get much out of him that doesn't sound like 'that guys a freak' anyway." Shrug. "You know humans."

[Jade Stone]

The look on her face had to be priceless, or at least designer-prices. It was coupled with a leery, uncertain and maybe just a little bit exasperated tone which was a perfect reflection of her feelings about this planet. "…gods and goddesses…?" A shake of her head followed. "I don't want to know." And she totally wasn't kidding about that fact. If there were dude and girly gods running around this place, she was entirely unwilling and so not even remotely prepared to reevaluate her position on religion(s). God, she so missed Earth where a solid 90% of people were just people. Those were odds she could live with.

"I've never been around any baseball playing vampires. I don't think we're a considered market." Vampires - at least the crew she rolled with - had slightly less human forms of entertainment when they were feeling the competitive bug. A nostalgic little smile crossed her face as she remembered the time back in Saint Louis where the balcony railing of the upper hall had turned into a olympic-style balance beam. Even the coven leader joined in the good-spirited competition by being one of the judges. Ah, memories. That was over a decade ago. When she was still truly a teenager and before things got complicated.

But she wasn't in St. Louis. She was here, and she had to deal with this bat. So she snapped out of her sweet sweet nostalgia and focused on the task at hand. Flipping the bat right side up she had her grip choked up too high - exactly how she held the bat in high school, which is probably why she had a less than stellar batting record back in those days. She probably also was turned too far away from the canister that would pitch the balls out, because Xavier had said to aim away from the attendant, which she was probably taking too literally.

She glanced over her shoulder at Xavier, a soft slightly wistful reply was given to him as she waited for him to correct how she was holding the thing. "They're not all bad." Humans. Whenever they were mentioned Jade always thought of one in particular, the last human she'd ever dated who'd died helping to save her from a big bad mess. Owen. She really, really, missed Owen. Back on Earth there were a couple humans that were still hugely important to her…it was just that she could never go see them lately, because she was stuck here.

[Xavier]

The machine spit a ball out at a high rate of speed...and Jade was juuust a little to close to the 'plate'. Xavier stepped forward, hand whipping out and snatching the ball out of the air just before it contacted her. "The plate...er, maybe stand back a little bit. We hit the balls, we don't want them to get revenge." His head tilted a bit as he considered his words. "You know, that sounded a lot different in my head." He chuckled, placing his hands on hers.

"Okay, the bat is your friend...think of it as your weapon, and the ball as your enemy. So, don't choke your friend to death, and hit your enemy hard." He shrugged. "At least that's what I was taught in the military." Baseball wasn't much different than war, except for maybe the hack-your-opponent-to-bloody-chunks part. Well.....maybe some baseball games went that far, but he had never seen them. He had watched football, the FIFA version of it, and had expected to see full-on warfare sometimes....don't ask him about what Americans called football. Thirteen games a season, millions of dollars just to play, and for what? So they could have golden toilet seats and baby-seal-fur carpet? Ha!

He saw her soften a bit when she made mention of humans. "I've had a lifetime of being called a freak, monster, demon, whatever from the biggest part of them. There are a few good ones....but then, that's true of most all species, right?" He hoped so, anyway. "Heck, I met a guy not too long ago...a Drow....and he was actually quite personable. Talked to me like a regular person, never called me surfacer, and so on." He sighed. "I tend to ramble. Sorry." He looked at the attendant, who was cowering on the other side of the pitching machine as if he were manning the battlements of Helm's Deep, and grinned. "Think he'll ask me to sign that ball?"

[Jade Stone]

Jade didn't even realize the balls were still going to shoot out. Probably assumed it was going to wait for her, like there was a button that was pushed or something. So her attention wasn't on the pitching canister, it was on the bat - more precisely she was fiddling with her grip. So just like when she'd been watching his grip when he'd popped the baseball with his swing, Jade's eyes shot up just in time to watch his hand connect with the ball that was about to bean her in the temple. She gave Xavier this funny little smirky smile. "It's okay. Concussions are kind of a non-happening with me." Not that it wouldn't hurt like a motherf-er, she didn't say that. But no danger of damages that couldn't be repaired. Especially with her.

"I don't think I've ever held a weapon before. Well, not a weapon weapon." Added sheepishly, because she knew there had been a couple of things she'd wielded as a weapon before in a fit of temper, but they weren't guns or swords or anything like that. "I've been shot before though?" Added like that counted somehow. Truth be told the military wigged her the freak out. It was the same clothes, same hair, same movements uniformity of it that gave her the heebie-jeebies. But she'd never say that. Not when he'd just said plain as jane that he was in the military himself. She might have a tongue that ran away from her a lot, but thank god her brain worked a bit faster than her mouth sometimes.

She did take a step back from the plate though, and she was about to make an adjustment of her hands on the bat but he placed his hands over hers. So she stilled her hands (which were very cool, girl had no body heat), figuring he was going to position them properly for her. These kind of tutorials she was used to. After all, Jade was still alive because of the continued kindness of - well not strangers, but people tended to have a serious invested interest in her, her happiness, and her survival. The sympathetic universe was her teacher. Especially the male variety.

Which is probably why she said, "I don't think I've ever been called anything like that before. But that's probably because I'm blonde, cute and fragile-looking." Believe it or not, it wasn't her ego talking. That had just been the reality of her life thus far. "What's a Drow?" Could he tell she was not educated when it came to…well, any creature outside her immediate reality? Didn't know werewolves, didn't know about gods or goddess, and now she didn't know Drow.

"Bet he'll ask for mine first." Smirky retort regarding the attendant (and a reference to her recently mentioned blonde, cute and seeming fragility). If another ball shot from the canister, Xavier's hands on hers or no hands on hers Jade would take a swing.

[Xavier]

Xavier, after sliding her hands down the bat a bit, released them, standing well back from her and the path of the next ball. He reasoned that just because they were there to hit balls, it didn't have to be his balls. "Okay, scenario: I'm on second base, there's two outs, our star batter pulled a groin muscle or something, and you're our last hope to win the world series. With a home run, we score two runs, yours being the winning one. No pressure, though."

"Yeah, getting shot kind of sucks a lot of ass. I took an arrow in the thigh once.....two inches to the right and I would have been able to sing the female lead in West Side Story." That had been an uncomfortable realization, one that almost had given him a man-gina. He saw the arrow sticking out just inches from his junk and the boys retreated to the north, so to speak.

"Yeah, I'll go along with the blonde and cute. Fragile-looking, maybe, but I gotta tell ya, you have a hell of a grip. Oh, a Drow is an Elf that lives in what they call the Underdark. I don't do them justice in my telling, but from what I've read, they were once members of the Elven society who chose to break from the rest and live underground. Their skin took on a dusky color, and their hair is strikingly white....on the whole, although a lot of them have bad attitudes toward surfacers, they are a beautiful people. Just as beautiful as the Elven people, but different."

He sighed, shaking his head sadly. "There's the problem, though-different. People don't like different. They like cookie-cutter regularity. Probably why I didn't have many close friends growing up and when I find someone willing to listen, I tend to ramble, as I am doing right now. Er. Sorry." He stepped back a little further, smiling, and waited for the next pitch.

[Jade Stone]

after he stepped back, jade turned her head away from watching the canister just enough to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "you totally lost me with that scenario. you might as well've said it in french." there was her honest girl gene serving up some point blank truth again. jade really wasn't the sporty type. not sports sporty, anyway. she could make a decent showing at fake sporty, the stuff that most people considered parlor games. like darts, foosball, skeeball, she was also not half bad at pool. but baseball? there was some serious 'does not compute'.

it was a good thing jade had one hell of a grip. because when the next ball shot out of the canister, she swung so hard she nearly twisted herself up into a pretzel. if she'd let go of the bat during that swat, good lord. they'd probably all be missing their heads. as for the ball? sailed right by her. she'd been focusing a bit too much on the swing part of things, and not at all on the aim to hit the ball side of things.

untwisting herself, she blew a strand of her blonde hair from her face and looked generally…well, generally unsurprised, to be honest. she hadn't expected to actually hit the ball - she'd experienced own her lack of sport prowess firsthand, after all. "oh. elves? i sort of know elves. i've seen some of them, i mean. i think. they looked sort of elfy. none like that, i don't think. but i don't get out much. definitely not to any place called the Underdark." poor jade…to her that sounded like a trendy club. and that's probably just what she thought it was.

"people want people they can relate to. that's why different doesn't work for them." from the way jade's eyes dropped to the floor as she said that, it might tip off that she was speaking out of personal experience. so what did that say about her, she who hung around human's a whole lot before the last one she'd gotten serious with died? it said wishful thinking on her part, that's what. but what was done couldn't be undone, and owen's death had kind of taught her the hard way that hanging around humans was just going to get them killed. even if she didn't do the killing.

and what was this? it was jade taking a couple steps back. she'd taken one swing, and already was saying without saying that it was his turn already? yup. he might've smacked his baseball into an early grave, but at least he'd hit it!

[Xavier]

He grinned, nodding slightly. "Good try, and I think it warrants another go. Take my turn.....although some would say I am impatient, I tend to be a patient fellow." Still wearing his grin, he would take a long, appraising look at her. "You speak from experience....I can tell. I apologize if my words cause hurt, as such was not my intention. Now......keep your eye on the ball. Use the reflexes and heightened senses you were gifted with. If you do it just right, the ball will appear to be moving in slow-motion."

"People want what they can relate to...huh. Must be why people like us are feared and rejected by some. Uppity buggers, thinking they're better than us, if you ask me. Which, of course, folks rarely do, but I'm just saying. For the record? Thanks for not letting go of the bat. I like my head where it is.....also, thanks for coming out with me. After all that has happened to me recently, I needed a little bit of a break from things. So!" He smiled brightly, as well as sincerely, and bowed deeply. "Many thanks, m'lady."


[Sorry for the delay!! I've been dealing with a ton of junk, and have been rather remiss in my responses. I'll try to do better, though, so don't hit me! ^_^]

[Jade Stone]

"patient fellow, meet eternally impatient." patience was a virtue that most people acquired once they hit adulthood, and sad but true there were some things that jade's stunted maturity lost out on. patience seemed to be one of them, because she sure hadn't had it when she was a teenager and she never seemed to find any more of it as the years went by. but at least she knew that about herself, and was able to admit it with a smirky little smile?

her focus wasn't the best either. it was something that would probably make damon bang his head against the wall during their lessons, if it wasn't for the fact that he had enough patience for the entire nation of china to share. so when she saw xavier bowing out of the corner of her eye, she turned her head to watch him and that was exactly when another ball shot from the canister.

this is where instinct and reflexes sometimes got in the way. instead of using the bat that she was gripping in her hands to swat the ball away from her like major leaguers everywhere were expert at, a pulse of power came from her as jade's attention shot back towards the ball with a glare. her telekinetic talent was one of the few that she was really, truly good at out of all the vampire goodies that came in her immortal goodie basket. well, that and flying. she loved to fly.

point was, the ball. by the power of her...well, power...it abruptly reversed directions and was now headed right back towards the canister like a demon bat out of hell, ready to knock it right out of the ball game. and there was jade turning away. not planning on looking at the canister carnage that would probably result. xavier's demolition of one of the balls was bad, but the impending damage would probably make the attendant spit angry kittens. and she knew that, which is why she blew a strand of blonde from her face as she lowered her bat, releasing her grip so it fell to the ground with a little clatter.

"i'm thinking next time, if there's ever a next time, there needs to be a break where there's no chance of breaking." it was wryly spoken, and if there was a loud impact sound that followed from the ball connecting to the canister the girl didn't even wince. "i think maybe i should throw in the towel for today. the world is my china shop." as if she was the bull, get it?

[Xavier]

He blinked slowly and a bit reluctantly...he didn't want to miss this!...as the young woman glared at the ball. Flying in the face of all known laws of physics, the ball...well, ran away? That's what it looked like to him, anyway. "That...was effing cool."

After a moment, as well as after the ball had played a song on the mechanical pitcher, he began to laugh, tossing his bat aside and reaching into his belt-pouch. Weighing a few gold coins, he tossed them toward the attendant, smiling. "That should pay for a new pitcher and some visits to the therapist, dude." After he had spoken, he seized the Source, weaving Air to grab the coins from the air and float them toward the attendant, who stared at them like they were the Dark One himself. "Take 'em, kid. I don't offer twice." The coins were snatched by the, as Xavier noted, kid....he had the pimply-faced I-just-took-this-job-to-get-through-college look about him...and the kid made no reply. He just...ran.

"Hey, whaddaya know. A smart one. You don't see those every day....wonder if he'll go straight to the shrink or stop by a tavern to drown his poor battered psyche in hops and barley?" Another chuckle. "Bulls on parade, so to speak, eh?" Commenting on the china shop comment. "I've...heard that one before. Not that it'll ever come up, but if you ever have to take care of a kid that was born Lycan, don't take the kid into a pottery store. It can only end in tears, apologies, and hasty pay-offs." Yes, he was speaking from experience. As for tossing in a towel, that's me. Mine was good, but yours had epic win tattooed on it's face."

He was about to turn and head out when he thought of something else. "Say....can I walk ya back to the inn, or are you set on leaving? It'd be kind of cool to hang out again sometime...but if you don't want to go back, I can understand. Just look me up sometime soon, let me know what's going on with ya." He thrust out a hand, smiling. "It's been fun."

[Jade Stone]

it wasn't until xavier said it was f'n cool that jade looked towards the canister carnage. a very small grimace was the result. yeah, the battered pitching can now totally reeked of 'jade wuz here'. maybe it could have a support group with the foosball table she'd busted back at the tel'ranaemyn. what could she possibly say? a tiny shrug was offered in the flavor of 'my bad', and she replied, "yeah...that happens with me sometimes." if it sounded like she was trying to downplay her telekenetic talent as casual happenstance, that was because that's exactly what she was trying to do.

she was quiet while xavier dealt with the attendant, a sign she didn't want to get involved. jade spoke only after the guy buggered off. "my dad's a therapist." the words were spoken as an afterthought, a la 'oh yeah, haven't thought about my 'rents in a while'. or seen them, for that matter. but jade wasn't about to let her thoughts dwell on the homefront topic. "you didn't have to pay for that." not that she was about to pay for the busted canister, in her opinion those kind of accidents were just the hazzard of running a batting cage so no one had to pay for them, right?

and oh my gosh, the yikes and no thanks look he got from jade when he mentioned even the remote possibility of taking care of a kid. "no, that will totally never ever come up. the baby-maker's pretty much busted." that was the politest way she could think of to say that. jade was not from a bloodline of vampires who could somehow someway give birth to life. no heartbeat and no breath equals no baby for her. and god she was ten thousand times thankful for that - she wasn't exactly the most nurturing spirit.

when he turned to head out, she was following. she was more than happy to leave this place behind, just in case the kid had run off to get the manager to ream her out for busting up their stuff. someone yelling in her face...yeah that wouldn't end well for the girl who had a temper with a fuse short as the eye of a needle. so when xavier thrust his hand out, it caught her off guard a little bit. he was holding it out for shaking, right? she was going to go with shaking. when she shook his hand, her was still as cool as it ever was.

when he mentioned the inn and whether she was set on leaving, jade made a face. that inn had come to represent a barrel full of unhappy. "i have to stay there sometimes. because i...have to." to keep up appearances so that the coven didn't know she was up to something, but she wasn't going to get into that whole bag of details right now. "so i'll be there sometimes."

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