![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
{ CLOSED } If I just breathe
WHO: Christine and her closest friends
WHAT: A birthday picnic.
WHEN: Bloomingtide 13th
WHERE: the foothills of the Vimmarks, an hour NW of Kirkwall
WHAT: A birthday picnic.
WHEN: Bloomingtide 13th
WHERE: the foothills of the Vimmarks, an hour NW of Kirkwall
As with most things, Christine overplans for her picnic. She studies maps and speaks with the locals about the safest areas outside Kirkwall and finds that heading towards the foothills of the mountains around mid-morning is probably her safest bet. She invites those nearest and dearest to her to join her for a birthday celebration, though it's by no means fancy. There will be plenty of food, drink, and activities to be had, but the part she's most excited about is just leaving Kirkwall. To breathe fresh air and see some greenery again. The brief respite she had for Aleron and Bethany's wedding made her crave this outing all the more.
On the day, they load up their mounts with the supplies and head out. The trip only takes around an hour and the path is well kept, so when she spots the large maple tree and stream cutting through that a local told her about, she knows they've reached the picnic spot. It's a wide, mostly flat field that starts to rise towards the north. To the east at the end of the field, it rises more sharply, the hills dotted with heavy stones. To the west is the path they've veered off, the large tree, and the stream that keeps going west under a short wooden bridge. And to the south is the view. Green hills descend before them, and while there's a hint of Kirkwall's Hightown within sight, what they can see beyond is the shimmer of sunlight on the Waking Sea. Now it's time to set out the blankets, let the mounts graze and lap water from the stream, and relax. Oh, and release the hounds, cats, and fox. Some of them brought their pets.
no subject
Church please do not introduce dibs to Thedas what are you doing
"Okay, it's really simple though. Don't let the ball touch the ground. You hit it over the net, and if it hits the ground on the opponents side, you get a point. So you can like...hit it so you set it up for someone to spike it into the ground. Ehhh, you'll figure it out as you go."
Super thorough, Church, bravo. "And you don't grab it and throw it or anything, you hit it with your arms and hands. It's not hard to pick up." At least that's a smidge more detail.
no subject
"We need even teams. Do let me know if I should fill in, or I can switch with someone if they get tired."
no subject
no subject
After all, he might cheat. Such as taking Korrin for his teammate before the others are fully aware of what an advantage that is.
With a brief glance at Church that tells him she knows exactly what he's doing, Hermione moves over to Cullen and Aleron. Her tunic and leggings are fairly breathable, but while she doesn't want to encourage that any shirts should fly off, she's a little skeptical that they'll remain comfortable for overly long. "I suppose that means you two are with me. The first move is called a serve, and it's slightly different from the way the ball is hit the rest of the time; it's usually done by rotation, but Church and I could do it for our respective teams until everyone gets the hang of it."
Looking at Christine, she tries not to look at Church's discarded shirt besides her but can't help smirking a little as she asks, "Can I trust you to be impartial as you keep score? At least until one of them tires out and you need to replace them?" Of course, by "one of them" she points over to her opponents, because it's not a proper sport if there isn't at least a little trash talk, subtle as it may be.
no subject
"Is it one point for every time the ball hits the ground on the opponent's side, then?"
no subject
"Round robin style," he called. "Two teams start, and the team sitting out plays the winner after - let's say ten points? Just to keep things moving. And to add to Church's explanation, a person can't touch the ball twice in a row. So it would have to be Cullen hits, then Hermoine, then Cullen again - Cullen can't touch it again without someone else touching it first."
This was all making perfect sense, wasn't it guys? Sure it was. Kirk looked to Sam and waggled his brows, clearly wanting them to join Church on the "skins" side of things.
no subject
"Besiiiides, nobody from my team's gonna tire out. We got tanks." Church you are not a tank you've had that body for a year and change you are not a tank. "We could make it as many people on a team as you think fits, though. So nobody's left out. Hey, don't regulation teams have, like, five or six?"
no subject
But uh... "What's a tank?"
Rifters and their unfamiliar words and concepts. And in some cases, their complete lack of understanding how a justice system should be run. Interesting folk, but still foreign in many ways.
no subject
"Or I could join them and both of you join Korrin and Church?" she suggests, pointing to the side where Hermione, Cullen, and Aleron have gathered. And yes, what is a tank? Sounds like an advantage, Church. Very suspicious.
no subject
"Guess I can't go against what we all know," he says with a chuckle, listening intently to all the rules. At least he was trying to focus on the rules, but having Kirk waggling his brows at him is making it difficult to keep a straight face. He's failing for the most part, lips curling up at the edges with a bit of red tinting his cheeks - it's the sun okay? He's sure that he knows what Kirk wants, but he can't do that with his arm around him, now can he?
"That sounds like a plan," he says agreeing to Chirstine's idea. "That'll make it four on four?" And yes, what is a tank?
no subject
"Excellent, it's just not the same sitting out this out. Four on four? Sounds good, any last minute changes or other questions? I want to get started as soon as possible."
no subject
"Ponce, stay with Puppy. With Puppy. Go on!" Ponce looks up at her curiously, then over at his friend. Sure, he'll hang out with his bro. He bounds over to the mabari and leaps over his back, faceplanting into the grass. But that's just typical behavior for him.
"Now what score do we have to reach to win?" Because obviously her team's winning. She takes no prisoners.
no subject
Thank you, Church, for introducing strange new terms, especially one with a variety of meanings. The english language was a hassle sometimes, it really was.
"Tank, in this context, means someone with a lot of stamina and power," he said, keeping it simple for the sake of moving on with the game. "Which is something he wishes he was." The gauntlets are thrown sir, even if they are on the same team, but hey, if it gets Church to try harder...
"I think we can work out the rest as we go along, right? Just get the ball over the net for now, and don't touch it twice in a row."
no subject
Christine he is hurt. Just really super hurt. Gosh. How dare. Where's that ball at? He spins it up in the air a couple times and backs up. "I'll serve first, cuz I call dibs on that, too." Stop. Stop him. The serve flies beautifully in a way that I wish I could ever do with my tiny hands, over the net. "Heads up!"
no subject
"So, it's literally just getting the ball over the net? No boundar-" Nope forget he's asking a question because Church is already throwing the ball over to the other side. Thanks, Church. Not even giving a guy to get ready, or at least get his shirt off.
no subject
She, of course, completely misses and the ball goes sailing past to hit the ground.
"I do not think I was even close," she pouts, turning to retrieve the ball. "Now what happens?"
no subject
And while it's not cheating, that strong serve barely before her team even readies themselves takes her by surprise, and though she tries to move for the ball, it's nowhere near her. She huffs a little, though she doesn't exactly blame Christine for missing. "They get a point, and the ball goes back to their team for someone else to serve." She's looking pointedly at you, Kirk, since she's going to assume he'll play a bit fairer (even if Church hadn't technically done anything wrong, shh).
"Also, Christine, it's better to go at the ball open-handed with both hands rather than with a fist. It makes it much easier to direct." Because volleyball hadn't been invented in Thedas, so not everything is solved by punching things. "There are other ways to hit it, such as bumping the ball with your forearms to pass it to another player on your team, and no real rules about what's right and wrong so long as you use your hands and arms, but you'll pick up on that as we go along."
no subject
Resting her hands on her hips, she nods at Hermione's advice. "Hands and arms, got it. We can start again, with some warning time. If we're going to crush the other side, I want to earn it."
no subject
He doesn't miss Hermoine's look, though, and he agreed that it was only fair to go a bit easy at the start, to get their teams used to the rules of this new game. He held his hands up for the ball. The real rule was that the person was serving kept serving until they lost the point, but given the array of skill levels between them, the rotation did seem more fair.
"Right, let's just say we're officially starting on my serve then - that one was the practice serve."
no subject
A restart sounds far more reasonable and fair than keeping that unexpected serve lobbed at Christine. Perhaps that's a part of the game, sneaking in a first move, but from the reactions of some other the others? Aleron reckons it's not. As long as the birthday lady isn't too fussed about it, he won't say anything, but let's not upset her, shall we?
no subject
"Thank you. I think knowing the best way to hit the ball is a necessary part before we start."
Moving up to the net, she gives Church a smirk before gently tossing the ball to Kirk from under the net.
no subject
During the time everyone is getting ready for the 'official' start, Sam quickly takes a few seconds to remove his shirt - just from that serve he could see that there was going to be a lot of movement happening - and tosses it to the side.
no subject
When Sam doffs his shirt, he gives a little whistle. "That's the spirit!"
no subject
Oh, right, game. He brought himself back to the moment, tossing the ball for a moment as people got themselves into place. He took a breath and tossed the ball up, reaching forward and slapping it with the palm of his hand to push it forward. It sailed over the net at a gentler pace than Church's first serve, so let's hope this particular point goes better.
no subject
But he finally does serve the ball, and while it's Hermione's instinct to attempt to hit it back over the net, she knows that it's best to get the rest of her team used to hitting the ball, too. Besides, she's too short to properly spike it with enough clearance, and so she positions herself so that she can bump the ball off her forearms, passing it off to the person closest to her. She might have to sacrifice another point if that person ends up not being ready, but it isn't as though they're playing for a trophy against seasoned athletes.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)