Best Shot (OPEN)

[Ari Jasinski]

Get your target. Line up the shot. Hold steady... shoot!

"....and that's... no. I'm 1 for 11. Are you laughing at me? You're 2 for 11! That's not much better!"

"It's better than you!"

If Ari had been talking to his brother on a handheld phone, he would've glared at the phone receiver. Since he was wearing a headset, with his phone in his pocket, he just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Your turn, kid," he sighed, and went to retrieve the basketball. He was at the Lake again, on the currently-abandoned (except for him) basketball court. It was late enough he should probably be at home getting ready for bed, but it was the first time that he and Myles had both had time to talk.

"...dammit!"

"You missed?" he smirked.

"So did you!" Myles grumped.

"Yeah, I'm playing with an actual hoop and ball!" he objected. "You're using a Nerf set at home!"

"At work. Your turn, Bobby."

"...okay." Ari frowned and went to line up his next shot. It wasn't unusual for him to be at work, but for Myles...? He and Serena usually spent most of their free time together. Of course, IT work wasn't always known for its short hours.... He was distracted enough that he missed his shot completely, not even grazing the backboard. He muttered a curse under his breath.

"Ha! you missed!" Myles said, snickering.

"Whatever. My points should count double!"

"You're only saying that because you're losing!"

"Yeah, and-- hey, isn't it getting late for you to be at work?" he suggested.

"Not that-- oh. Oh, damn! Yeah, it is, I wasn't paying attention, look, sorry, I gotta go--"

"Go, go, go-- say hi to Serena, after you apologize!" Ari said. Now it was his turn to laugh, as he heard his brother crashing around trying to get himself together. After Myles hung up, Ari went to get the basketball again. He had time for a few more shots before heading home, himself.

[Honor Sayers]

Gripping her walking stick, Honor meandered her way through the lake, careful not to get too near the body of water. She relied a lot on her hearing and smell and was well on the right course.

She could hear tinkles of little kids' bikes as they zoomed around and smelled the grass as it tickled her shins lightly.

She could also hear the voices of someone speaking to himself. By the words used and the distinct sound of the rubber ball hitting the ground, he was playing basketball. She paused for a second, wondering who he could be talking to when all of a sudden, a shriek came from beside her and she felt her knees give way before a heavy something fell on top of her.

"I am so sorry! I didn't even see you!" A scramble of movements and hurried apologies were heard but Honor brushed it off, not entirely caring that she had just been knocked over. Which was odd. She usually did.

She chalked it all up to her, actually. Just standing there looking like a moron, eavesdropping on someone's conversation with himself.

"It's okay." She waved a hand at the person as she got up, brushing her skirt down and adjusting her shades. All the ruckus was sure to give her away to the person she was eavesdropping so she reached out to where the voice was coming from, fortunately getting an arm and she whispered. "It's okay, just go about riding your bicycle. Forget this ever happened."

The rider, confused, did exactly as Honor said. She got on the bike and cycled off, leaving Honor rubbing at her knees and sort of hoping the basketball player didn't hear all the commotion she had caused.

[OOC: Hope you don't mind me barging in with my blind psychopath xD]

[Ari Jasinski]

"He shoots-- and he misses by a mile. Goddammit!" Ari said grumpily, as he missed his sixteenth shot in a row. The sound of scuffling and apologies caught his attention, and he let the ball roll off into the underbrush as he went to see what was wrong.

There on the path was a gorgeous blonde woman, brushing dust off her skirt, a white cane in one hand. A few yards off, he saw a bicyclist and a couple of late-night joggers and nobody else.

"Hey, there. are you okay?" he asked her. It was probably none of his business, she looked like she was fine, but ever since coming to Pilot Ridge, he'd got used to asking people things that were, in fact, none of his business. He wondered if it was something in the water, or if maybe it was just a side effect of actually talking to people.

[OOC: Not at all- barge away! ]

[Honor Sayers]

The voice that had been talking to himself was now very near her and speaking to her, asking her if she was okay. Honor raised an eyebrow, contemplating on walking away. She actually didn't mean to interrupt the man. She would have been able to eavesdrop in peace had the cyclist not crashed into her.

Then again, the man had asked her a question. She really shouldn't be rude...should she?

"Oh I'm fine." Her charming smile perfectly settling on her face. She reached a hand up to her hair, sweeping it back over her shoulder. "Just a little woozy." Purposefully, she screwed up her nose and took a dramatic step back. Laughing softly, she clutched her walking cane to her chest. "Maybe just a little bit more than a little."

She was taking the damsel in distress act a little overboard but it had been awhile since she actually did anything like this. Messing with people was her forte after all. She still wasn't sure whether the man would be the type to actually fall for her act but it was definitely something worth playing at.

"Do you mind so kindly showing me to a seat? I think I might have been hit a little harder than I originally thought." She held her hand out a little too far too the left of the man, grasping air.

[Ari Jasinski]

Oh. Oh, hell. She wasn't just dazed, she was actually hurt, and of course, there was nobody around to help but him, and-- wait. You have a phone, idiot, you can use it if you have to!

"Here, there's a bench just off to the side, off to the left, to your left, I mean," he said, awkwardly moving to get his arm under her hand. "You can just sit for a second, get your bearings, and then we'll, I mean, if you feel like you need medical help, I have my phone, we can call for an ambulance-- how hard did you hit the ground? And what happened, anyway? That guy on the bike plowed into you, then took off?"

[Honor Sayers]

Honor slickly removed the smile on her face when the man scrambled to help her. She got her tiny pinkie wrapped around him for sure. She didn't know why but she felt the thrill of it sort of waning.

How odd.

As she gripped his arm, Honor carefully followed him, testing his mental shields to see whether he was receptive to her manipulations.

"Oh I'm sure sitting down would be the ticket." She sighed, smoothing down her skirt as she sat down on the bench. She gripped his arm tighter and worked her face into one of worry. "I'm so sorry for imposing but I would really appreciate that you stay." She whispered softly, a tinge of fear revealed in her voice. All she was missing was a parasol and a monogrammed handkerchief.

"It was a her. But it really wasn't her fault. And I told her that it was all okay that she should go so she did. She apologised profusely. But really, it was my fault." She said softly, hanging her head low before pressing the tips of her fingers to her temple. "I really shouldn't talk so much. It's really hurting my brain." She laughed awkwardly.

She turned her head, adjust her shades a little before giving the man's ear a warm smile. "Thank you so much for being here."

[Ari Jasinski]

Ari was concentrating on trying to figure out if she was more badly hurt than she thought she was; she sounded really rattled. Lacking any special mental defenses, anything... unusual... going on in his head would go totally unnoticed.

"No, it's fine, you're welcome, it's no problem-- just sit down and catch your breath, I'll wait 'til you kind of get your feet back under you," he said hurriedly, "but you're sure you're not badly hurt? Not dizzy or disoriented, anything like that?"

"I know she didn't mean to knock you down, but she should've been more careful, pedestrians have the right of way, don't they? Do you need me to call anyone for you?" he asked, and then shut up when she mentioned her head aching. He made a mental note to call 911 if she looked even slightly like she was going to black out.

[Honor Sayers]

She nodded at his reassurance and gave him her best shaky smile. "I'll be fine. Just dizzy." She nodded slowly. "I didn't realise how fragile I am." She laughed, maintaining the damsel in distress act.

When he asked if he could call anybody, she shook her head. "No, it's okay." She was sort of surprised this guy was really buying into her shenanigans. Poor guy probably didn't have any mental shields. Or was the nicest guy on the planet that she is totally conning. One day, she would feel bad about all this.

Today was just not that day.

"She really did apologise a lot though. The woman. I made sure she understood that it was okay. And it really is! But lucky you were here after, really." She paused and placed her hand to her cheek. "Oh my, I completely forgot my manners. My name is Honor." The hand that was currently gripping the man's arm was released and reached out over to him for a shake. She missed him by a couple of inches though.

[Ari Jasinski]

He put his phone away, even though he wasn't convinced. Sometimes you didn't notice whether or not you were hurt until you had time to think about it. He figured it'd be best to wait and just keep an eye on her for a bit.

"And it's Ari, Ari Jasinski," he said, taking her hand carefully, just in case she'd jammed her wrist or scraped up her hands. "If you change your mind, let me know-- about getting some help, or about calling a friend to give you a lift home. I'm sure the rider meant well, but they should all pay a little more attention to what they're doing. Good you're doing okay, though."

[Honor Sayers]

"Jasinski," Honor repeated. "Are you of German descent?" She asked, genuinely curious. His hand felt rough against hers and she held on to it a little longer than she should.

"I will tell you if I change my mind, yes." She agreed with a smile. The insistence in Ari's voice about the cyclist filled Honor with a nameless emotion that she quickly chased away. "Yes well, I'm fine. I'm just very glad you got me to a bench before I fell is all. I'm feeling a lot better already." Honor breathed softly.

"It's really good to have met you, Ari Jasinski."

[Ari Jasinski]

"Polish, actually, I guess about three generations or so back. The original spelling had about three extra Cs and a couple of Zs, which I'm glad it doesn't now or it'd get mis-spelled even more than it already does," he said. The phone in his pocket chimed, but he ignored it; he was still a little worried. "Look, I have an extra bottled water in my bag-- you want it?"

"It's good to meet you, too, Honor," he smiled, then added hastily, "but I'm sorry it had to be after an accident. I usually meet people at work, and it doesn't usually involve anything worse than a kid panicking over homework assignments!"

[Honor Sayers]

A genuine laugh escaped Honor's lips, surprising even her but she masked her surprise with a soft smile. "Yeah, that does sound like it could be hard for you...For anyone really." She swept her bangs back and laughed quietly.

"Oh that sounds lovely, Ari. May I please have some?" Honor asked. "I hope it's not too much of an imposition?"

"The pleasure is really all mine, Ari." The blonde smiled before pursing her lips in mock disappointment. "But the most important thing was that we got to meet." She reached her hand out and laid it on the first surface she touched, hoping it was his hand. Her powers were just tingling at the tip of her fingers.

But what she didn't expect was to find that she didn't want to use it.

"Tell me, Ari...what do you do?"

[Ari Jasinski]

"No, no problem," he assured her, "I always carry an extra. I'm just gonna run get my bag, and I'll be right back, okay? It'll just take a second." He scooped up the abandoned basketball on the way back, setting it and his bag on the ground, then fishing out the water bottle. "I have a coffeeshop downtown-- coffee, tea, soda, and as many baked goods as I can manage, and the local schools are supplying most of my customers, since caffeine never seems to go out of style, you know?"

"Here you go-- I got the top loose for you already." Carefully, he slipped the bottle into her hand, and even though he was trying not to, like, invade her personal space, their hands did overlap somewhat.

[Honor Sayers]

"Okay," Honor nodded. Once she felt him leave, her smile dropped and she folded up her stick on to her lap. It was rather a strange feeling, not wanting to use her powers on this unwittingly sweet man. She wasn't going soft, was she?

She didn't have time to really think about it as the man had come back. His voice carried over to her ears and she nodded. "Is it new?" She asked, letting Ari guide her hand to the bottle, feeling the warmth of his hand which gave her shiver bumps.

The blonde raised the bottle to her lips slowly and took a sip. "Thank you so much for this." She patted his hand which she was still holding on to. She slowly lowered both her hand and his on to her lap. "Did I interrupt your ball game?" She asked, remembering that that was what he was doing before.

[Ari Jasinski]

"Yeah, it's practically a newborn, only been in town about four months total," Ari said proudly, "but we've been running busy pretty much non-stop. It's keeping me jumping, but that's fine, too, nothing worse than being bored, right? You're a local, yourself, Honor?"

"You're welcome, no problem." He felt a little awkward, sitting there holding hands with a total stranger, but he kept his own grasp loose, so she could pull away without any problem, and anyway, awkward was kind of his default setting, at least according to Myles. So.

He laughed. "No, no interruptions. I was playing long-distance-- had my brother on the other end of the line, and to be honest, he was winning anyway, so even if he hadn't hung up, I'd've needed an excuse to hang up anyway. Turns out I'm a better baker than a basketball player, but I'm good with that."