Guys and balls ( Tag: Nathan )

[Benton Barrett]

Frankly, he wasn't getting enough exercise. He was feeling like he was cooping himself up - and he was. The soccer field was where he wanted to be, and though it took a decent amount of looking, he was able to find his way, a soccer ball firmly under his arm. He was glad some more things had come for him from home, including a tin of cookies which was hidden, currently, because someone might catch wind of them and deign themselves allowed to munch them. 

Kodi.

Pushing the werewolf-y thoughts from his mind, he was curious as to when soccer season started here, and whether or not he'd be able to play it. He was sure that with all the running, he'd be fine. Nevertheless, it was something he missed, and he needed something normal to cling to. Reaching the field, he tossed the ball a couple of times in the air, allowing himself to stretch a bit as he moved. He was in full jeans ( belted extra tight, since he was going to be kicking and chasing a ball ) and his red hoodie, but he'd decide as his mental scrimmage progressed whether or not he'd keep wearing it.

He faced the nearest goal, and bounced the ball from knee to knee, putting himself through the general motions. He bounced the ball high, and as it came down, he kicked it, hard. The ball went spinning off into the goal - which was less impressive considering no one was there to guard it. But it wasn't a big deal - he was mostly out to run around and keep himself active.

He chased after the ball, breaking into a sprint. 

Best way to start the day - run around like an idiot, chasing after a ball, and kicking it back down the field again.

[Nathan Darwin]

Football was where it was at. Seriously. If he was going to do anything involving balls (not those ones, ya nasty), it was with football. Nathan was more of a swimmer though because it fit his ability really well. He could adapt to anything, breathing underwater (though he rarely ever used that to his advantage), withstanding insane temperatures (not that it applied to Vermont), pretty much anything. If there was a thread of danger, he was more than capable of adapting to keep himself from getting hurt. He couldn't adapt to much when he played football.

Nate was also a big track runner. He loved long-distance running as opposed to laps around a pool which was mostly like sprints in track. Long-distance gave him a chance to think about things, and really just let go of any pent up stress he had. Recently, he'd been stressing out a lot, so he found himself constantly running. It was like he wished he could just bolt, away from Hammel and out of his brother's shadow. Things were supposedly better now, but it still got to him. Like everything did, he just pushed it back and adapted to the situation. Why make Nick feel bad for being so perfect?

The training field was always empty around the time that Nathan went running. He didn't mind running into people, after all, he was kind of popular, but sometimes he just needed time to himself. Right now, he was thinking. A lot. About Ashe, about his family, about where his life was going and what exactly he planned on doing in the future. For some reason, with his last year of school looming ahead of him, he found that he had no idea what he was going to do with himself. Nick was doing something he loved, but all Nathan wanted to do was be in the water and let loose. Who knew what he was good at outside of sports.

After dressing weather-appropriate (with it starting to get a little cooler), he headed out to the track -- running shorts and underarmor. He could handle the cold. Nate barely noticed the kid kicking around a ball on his own as he was circling the track at a comfortable pace. When he finally did, he could say that this kid definitely didn't look familiar and he also looked really pathetic and lonely. Nate shook his head and kept his eyes forward. Today was not a day to help some poor kid make a new friend. Nope.

Not yet.

[Benton Barrett]

He was pushing himself - sprinting hard, kicking the ball harder, so he'd have to chase it further. His thoughts were solely on the game in his head - for him, this was a blessed relief. He leaped over the ball, to stop it from entering the goal. He wasn't a goalie, but he could easily play defense - though he preferred to run when he could. Offense was where his heart was at. Or at least, where he had been, before he came to beautiful old Vermont.

Benny hadn't even noticed that he'd been joined ( in a roundabout way ) by someone else, until he started dashing down the side of the field after the ball, and he was able to spot the movement. A runner - someone taking advantage of the good weather, no doubt. 

Pushing the thought from his mind, he resumed his internal scrimmage. There was no reason to pay him any heed - they were doing two completely different things, with little relation to the other save proximity. Who was he to interrupt someone's run? 

This went on for a good couple of minutes - until he was ready to kick back down field. The muscles in his legs tensed as he went for the drive - a kick as hard as he could manage, to get it as close to the goal as possible. He felt the satisfying wave of connection, as the ball went flying --

Higher than he'd anticipated. Farther, too. He must have misjudged his position in relation to where the goal was - which meant he was going to be chasing the ball. Based on the trajectory, it would fly right over the goal and keep rolling...

Unless, of course, that ball hit someone. It was on its descent, and it was heading straight for the innocent byrunner that was the other boy. It had to be some kind of gypsy bad-luck curse or something, for the timing to be so perfect that the other guy would be in the line of fire. Benny blanched, coming to a dead stop, so he could cup his hands around his mouth and yell - hopefully loud enough that the other guy could hear him. Oh god, hopefully he's not wearing headphones.

"Look out! Incoming!" He called, because no, he did not want to be the one responsible for concussing a runner. Sure, he'd been hit in the head with a soccer ball before - what player hadn't? But he was usually semi-prepared for it, or completely willing to put himself behind it. One falling out of the sky on to someone? Not as cool.

[Nathan Darwin]

It was probably a really good thing that he had decided against using his iPod today. Typically he didn't run without it, but he figured that no one would bother him at this time of day so he didn't need anything to distract him. That being said, he was kind of humming to himself, something unfamiliar, but nagging at the inner workings of his mind. For some reason he hadn't been able to stop humming it since a few nights ago. Nathan didn't dwell much on it though as he ran the length of the track, drinking in the cooler weather. He had been meaning to run more now that the weather was cooling down, and now that he was able to, he found it very relaxing.

Well, it had been until someone was yelling 'incoming' at him. At that, Nathan's eyes widened and he looked around and up because more than likely that's where it was coming from. Man that kid was determined to make a friend wasn't he? He's just lucky that if Nate had gotten hit in the face with a ball, he was probably less likely to repay the boy with a good smack to the face. Some people around here weren't as nice as him. Or so he thought.

Nathan halted to a stop rather quickly, waved off a fair catch (like was necessary when playing football) and caught the ball without any real strain. He tucked it under his arm and jogged over to where the, what looked like younger, boy had been. He tossed it at the brunette, directed at his chest and folded his now empty arms, giving the boy a stern look. Seriously, couldn't he just go one day without running into anyone? Or rather, without having a ball kicked at him? "Nice kick, clearly you misjudged the distance." He said with a slight frown on his face. He was grumpy when he got distracted from working out, but more than likely his grump factor would fade quickly.

[Benton Barrett]

He was cringing, both inwardly and outwardly, as the guy came to a stop, and surprisingly enough caught the ball. Those were some reflexes. Even when he was playing goalie, he didn’t know if he’d have been able to catch that, since essentially, the guy was not paying attention in the slightest. His cringe turned into a surprised – and impressed – look… though it was not one that was shared by the other guy. He didn’t exactly look particularly thrilled to have been interrupted, least of all by a projectile.

Benny caught the ball between his chest and both arms, in a way that was designed to make sure he didn’t lose it. He didn’t do goalie often, so it wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, but it was good enough. The younger boy dropped the ball, and it landed with a dull thud on the grass in front of his feet.

His face was a bit red – he was being called out for a pretty clear mistake.

“Yeah. I thought I was further downfield than I was. I’m sorry – I should have been paying more attention.” He lifted both hands in an apologetic surrender. If his time with Kodi and Oriel was any indicator, a lot of the guys in this school didn’t take well to being threatened, or stood up to. Since the other guy hadn’t taken a swing at him, there was no reason to get scrappy, so backing down seemed like the best option, given the less-than-happy expression.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to play in a couple of weeks since coming here, so I thought I’d come out and stretch. Clearly I didn’t realize I was going to try and murder anyone with a soccer ball.” It was a small attempt at making light of the situation. If the other guy wanted to roll his eyes and go back to his run, Benny wouldn’t blame him at all.

“Thanks for bringing the ball over.” He added – because if nothing else, Benny could be unflinchingly polite. ( Or majorly apologetic if he wasn’t. ) “I’ll be more careful from now on.”

[Nathan Darwin]

Nathan wasn't much of a fighter, not unless it was deserved. Miscalculating the distance of kicking wasn't really deserving of an ass-kicking. He was just happy he was capable of catching that ball instead of getting knocked the fuck out. That would have sucked. He might have been a little more salty had he been hit, but no harm, no foul. All was well in the world and he was just having a conversation with the loner kid. Who literally looked like he was about to piss himself if Nathan even made a move towards him threateningly. Oh how it was tempting.

"Clearly, you might have had better aim, had you known that was your intention," He laughed and shrugged it off. "Take it you're new here eh?" It was always so odd seeing someone close to his age that had only just gotten there. He'd been at Hammel for years, so many years he couldn't even believe it. Only reminded of it whenever he was with Ashe, his local girl from the past school he went to. Man, and he was graduating next year. Nathan shook the thought from his mind and focused back on what was going on.

Nate smirked, "Good idea, and no problem. You gonna try out for the team at all?"

[Benton Barrett]

"You make a good case. Maybe I should become a soccer-assassin?" He said, mostly amused at the fact that the other guy was willing to play off his almost-homicide. It was good to see him ease up a little bit, and the fact that he did had Benny losing a little bit of his tension, as well. It would have been really awkward to have to fight a complete stranger for an accidental kick.

"Yep. Just flew in from North Dakota about a week or so ago. Is it that obvious?" He asked, looking down at his hoodie, as if he'd decided to put on a 'Hello, I'm the new guy!' sticker on his chest. He grinned, as he looked back up at the other guy.

"That's the plan - though I'm kind of curious as to who we'd play. I mean, it's not exactly like there are a whole bunch of teams with super-powered people on it. We get one person with super strength on our side and we just bulldoze everything." He was only half-joking... after all, it was a legitimate question. Who in their right minds would face off against people that could whammy them with mind control mid-kick? Or emotion-zap them in to tears instead of guarding the goal?

Wouldn't be fun, but it'd be an easy way to win...

[Nathan Darwin]

"Sounds pretty badass to me," Nathan answered with a slight smile. There was no point in kicking this guy's ass just because of an accident. It'd be different if the kick had maliciously been kicked at him with every intent on hitting him. As far as he could tell though, that wasn't the case. And he was happy that this kid seemed pretty chilled by the fact that Nathan was taking it easy on him.

North Dakota, that was one he hadn't heard yet. Nate couldn't imagine coming from a different state to a whole new school. He'd been born and raised in Vermont, his older brother helped him out with the whole how to deal with Hammel stuff and over all his transition hadn't been very hard to handle. Maybe that was why he hadn't felt so out of place with the 'I'm new' sticker. "Nah, it's not too obvious. I just haven't seen you around and I know a lot of the people that go here." Being popular caused him to know most people that were his age as well.

The boy's question was legitimate. Nathan hadn't been too sure who they'd play in football either, but then he figured out that it was scrimmages within the students at Hammel, not really playing other teams. "We pretty much play each other so it's fairly even. Like scrimmages and stuff. At least, that's how it is for football, I'm not a soccer player," He shrugged.

[Benton Barrett]

"Right? I'd pay to see that movie." 

Okay, maybe not, but it would be interesting to see happen at least once. Shaking his head to keep the impending daydream from assaulting him, he kept his gaze on Nathan, though it was no longer the gaze of someone who was expecting a beatdown. 

"Oh, that makes a lot of sense." Of course people knew people. What kind of derp did it take to assume otherwise? He rubbed the back of his head, curious as to how many people Nathan actually knew, that one new person stuck out. After all, Hammel had to have a bunch of new people on the regular. Maybe new wasn't as big a deal as it was in a normal school..?

"Sounds good, I guess. I doubt it'd be any different for soccer... but it gives it kind of a Harry Potter vibe, doesn't it?" What with all the students playing each other. If there were dorm colors and dorm points? He was totally gonna call shenanigans and have to try and run away on principle. 

Okay, maybe not that drastic, but still.

"I thought about playing football once. Doing the kicking thing. Then I saw a football game where they basically murdered the kicking dude, and decided that I'd prefer all my organs to stay where they are." He shook his head, snickering a little. "What position do you play?"