Three Pointers! - Erin and Blaise Revisited

[CyanDimitrik]

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Blaise nods along. He takes the ball when passed and looks up at the basket. His feet are locked in position, knees bent, and he squints. The three-point line is certainly not an easy one, but he has the advantages of not having to take the shot while evading other players or worrying about defense, and without the pressure of an audience leering at him. He's out a Gatorade if he misses.

Alright, that's not the whole of it. He's out a Gatorade and pride. This is the closest Erin's come to respecting him he's ever experienced, and that matters. He has no idea why it matters when it's literally never mattered with an opponent before, but it does. She somehow got under his iron-clad skin. This shot means more to him than it should.

His tongue pokes out in concentration. No. He won't be distracted.

He pops into the air, arms thrust out, the ball is shot. It hits the backboard, then the rim. It banks to the opposite rim, then a third time, before tumbling into the basket.

Blaise resumes breathing. His arms drop to his sides.

[Noob]

Erin watched as the ball soared through the air bounced on the rim. Holding her breath she saw it bounce not once or twice, but three times before going in. Although she would try not to show it, the redhead was quite impressed. "Huh ya actually did it. Guess I'm down a drink." Erin commented with a sigh. She was looking forward to a free drink but a deal was a deal. "Guess you're actually pretty good at this. I should have gave ya more credit." She said before flashing Blaise a quick smile.

Quickly retrieving the ball Erin decided to take a shot of her own. The ball hit the front of the rim and immediately came back at Erin who had to quickly duck out of the way to avoid getting hit in the face. "Ehehe...maybe I'll leave this sport to the pro." The redhead sheepishly commented, referring to the teen.

Erin had decent coordination for the most part but it appeared that this would take more practice than she had time for. She wasn't sure how long Blaise had practiced but judging from their difference in skill it was clear to the redhead that it had been a lot.

[CyanDimitrik]

Blaise straightens his stance again and exhales his next breath in a quiet, hopefully unnoticed 'whew' of a sigh. That may be the first time he truly concentrated on something competitive. It was different, even taxing to be so focused.

Attention flits to the Irish girl then and eyebrows raise. A compliment! She takes a shot and promptly ducks it, then: another compliment! He's speechless for a moment, searching for something witty to say. One must play it cool, after all. It's lame to seem like that would matter so much. His mouth moves soundlessly for a moment before sputtering a, "C- uh, no big, wh-, y'know." Awesome.

What a weird situation. Basketball had always been a sport Blaise fell back on to pass the time, or when others were around. It's pretty rare to find someone to wrestle, after all. Especially the kind of wrestling he does. But basketball was never something he gave a lot of thought to. Dancing? He could see himself getting accolades for that. That's something he takes pride in and has sunk a lot of time into doing well. But basketball was just something he did throughout the years; it appealed to his energy level, coordination, and agility. And his competitive side always pushed him to take wider shots. He never would've thought any of that would actually pay off.

Why the Hell does it matter so much?

"Um. Just gotta practice!," he chimes suddenly, redirecting the attention onto Erin.

[Noob]

Erin couldn't let Blaise off with only compliments and was soon back to throwing some light verbal jabs. "Haha what's a matter? Cat got your tongue?" The redhead teased as she watched Blaise stumble over his words. It was quickly becoming one of her new favorite past times. "I'll try to be a bit more mean next time, alright?" Erin said. It seemed compliments only served to rob the teen of the ability to speak clearly. After a moment of thought though Blaise seemed to be back to normal.

With a chuckle Erin responded to the last comment."Hmmm practice huh? Who would have thought." She said as she went to get the basketball one more time. "I've got other things to practice, like beating you in the ring." The woman teased, walking over to Blaise and giving him a playful nudge. The Irish lass stood next to Blaise and would do her best to imitate his earlier movements. Throwing the ball into the air it bounced off the rim, high into the air, and then came down into the hoop with a swish. "Hah! Got one!" She yelled with her arms held up in victory. The redhead quickly looked towards Blaise for a sign of approval.

[CyanDimitrik]

"What!?"

Nonono, she was doing so well! It seemed like maybe things had turned around, or at least started to! He stares at her, deflated, made to eat his own encouraging words, complete with nudge. Watching her line up the shot, his mind tries to rationalize this dynamic. He's heard it be said before that women respond positively to negative feedback. Like what those douchey pickup artists do: insult a chick into screwing you. He needs to be meaner to Erin to turn things positive. That's the ticket. Be mean. Insult her. Talk her down. Condescend her.

She sinks the basket, and he's coming up with ways to patronize her. Her form, maybe. Could go with the 'everyone gets lucky once' angle. Heck, that could even work for her jab about their last fight. She looks pleased with herself, turns those big eyes on him as if for approval, and for a second time, his intent to be harsh vanishes.

"Yep! Keep it going!"

He can't be insulting or condescending if it isn't in a playful or joking way! And in that instant, none of what he was thinking of saying would've sounded anything short of petty - or at least forced.

He trudges after the ball, staring at his feet. Maybe it's because he can't figure out where the line is with her - where she's serious, where she isn't. He never considered himself to be passive before, but with her, he's stuck in a permanent holding pattern of sorts. Freakin' Erin.

[Noob]

If her smile could have possibly gotten wider it would have. Erin's eyes lit up and for a brief moment her cheeks flushed red. "Haha thanks! I plan on it." The redhead responded with a chuckle. There was little else she wanted aside from recognition of a job well done and that seemed rare to find among most of the other wrestlers. For whatever reason it was nicer coming from Blaise though. He seemed fairly genuine about it. Erin soon snapped herself back to reality as she watched the teen make his way towards the ball.

Erin would take a few steps to the side and inch closer towards the basket. She seemed to focus on the hoop, staring intently at it for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Okay! If I make this one in, you're getting me my drink again." The redhead stated. She wasn't about to be unfair though and quickly made a counteroffer. "And if I miss...well I won't promise you a kiss like last time, cause ya know...I might actually miss. But I totally have enough for your lunch to be on me." She continued. She felt like she was finally getting the hang of the sport and there was no better motivation for the redhead then some competition. She knew she had no chance of taking Blaise on 1 on 1 but making a shot was definitely possible.

[CyanDimitrik]

Ah, hell. Erin seemed sincerely pleased to get the encouragement. And to think, he almost said something snide. Making people happy makes him happy, and encouragement costs him nothing - except sometimes in Erin's case, a bit of dignity. He might never manage to be snarky with her. And so the back-and-forth see-sawing of his mind attempting to sort out what works with Erin continues. She's going to drive him gray-haired in less than a year.

When he returns, he sees her appear to be lining up a shot. He passes the ball towards her, "Heads up," he calls. And it's followed shortly by a smirk. "You keep talking like that, you're gonna give me a complex. Geeze." It stings, but he's trying not to take it sincerely. It's freakin' Erin, he can't tell! But in the matter of the wager, he twiddles a hand in the air to signal for her to take the shot.

[Noob]

Erin, now feeling a bit cocky after having made her shot, immediately shoots the ball upon catching it. The ball soared to the basket and then proceeded to get stuck between the rim and the backboard. "Ummm...Ooooops. I think I shot it a bit to hard. What does that count as?" The redhead asked, wondering now what actual players did in such a situation. Since Erin was prone to just brute forcing her way through any problems, that was the solution she would first try for this one. "It'll go in!" The redhead declared before sprinting at the basket.

As might have been expected by anyone but Erin, her plan was unsuccessful. The redhead ran towards the basket and jumped up in an attempt to hit the ball from the bottom and nudge it into the basket. Lacking the necessary height however she missed and her momentum took her into the wall. "Hnnnn! Ugh...missed!" Erin groaned as she leaned against the wall. The woman strolled under the hoop and tried to put her brain to good use. "Hmmm think I can..." She paused and looked at Blaise. "Think you can give me a lift?" She asked. She was fairly confident it was possible and didn't want the teen touching the ball. He might throw it away while she intended to put it straight into the hoop.

[CyanDimitrik]

Ball wedges into that position with a *plunk* and Blaise's head tilts to the side.

"In streetball, that's when you get laughed off the court," he offers helpfully.

He turns to face her with a tiny frown. "You want me to boost you up there?" He knows she's just going to use this as an opportunity to bump it into the basket and claim to've made the shot. But at the same time, he really just wants to see her try to reach it. The tiny frown turns into a small, burgeoning grin. "'Kay."

He trots after her and kneels, offering her a knee. "Step up," he invites, his hands in position to take her foot once presented and heft her weight as carefully as possible.

[Noob]

"I'mma kick your butt off the court." Erin replied mid eye roll. It seemed Blaise was going to be less than helpful but eventually he decided to go along with the redhead's plan. She decided to ignore his growing grin and just take whatever help she could get. Erin figured Blaise wasn't going to try anything funny anyway.

"Alright, lift me up!" Erin said with increased enthusiasm as she put a foot onto his hands. She was a bit wobbly at first but soon balanced herself. Now with a bit of extra height the redhead would reach up, waving her hands slightly as she tried to stretch herself and grab the ball. groaning as she found the ball just out of reach she would look back down at Blaise. "A little higher!" She instructed as she grabbed onto the net to stabilize herself. Her plan was to get her hands on the basketball, hop up slightly, and dunk. Whether or not Blaise would be able to support that though was an issue she'd sort out once she was back on the ground. One way or another they'd at least get the ball back.