{ OPEN } Getting to know you

[zombra]

WHO: Anyone who wants to turn up
WHAT: A little get together for Rifters who would like to meet other Rifters, though literally anyone could turn up.
WHEN: Justinian 6th
WHERE: the central Courtyard of the Gallows

It really is a casual event. Tessa and Ignis did a little prep and there are two large dining tables from the mage tower's dining room out in the courtyard holding a buffet of food; the same as what anyone would get at dinner tonight, but the finger food version instead of straight up stew. There are a number of chairs as well, but not enough to seat everyone. Tessa is waiting near a table, gently tossing a football in the air. She had to work out the design and materials with a leathersmith, who (on hearing the ball needed inflated) suggested an animal bladder be inflated and covered in leather. He seemed pretty into the idea, and has promised her a couple more, should this football league of hers get off the ground, so she'll see if anyone wants to practice tossing the ball around.

In the meantime, eat, get to know about one another's worlds, hear about Rifters' experiences in this world, and more. This isn't a private meeting and non-Rifters are fully able to walk through and listen in, which is something Tessa understands. She doesn't expect their naysayers to turn a new leaf on seeing them just hanging out, but they're not going to hide in the shadows just because people don't like them. They're here for the foreseeable future and are going to live their lives whether other people like it or not.


[ ooc: go ahead and make your own top level comments! tessa isn't really monitoring what's said, but if there are any fights or anything that makes rifters look bad, she's kicking you out. ]

Comments

[zombra]

Tessa catches the ball she's been tossing and grins at her success. It's not everyday she Gets Shit Done, but today is apparently the one day a year she's fitting it all in.

"Yeah! This guy who works with leather made it for me. Not pig leather, though. He said it was cow. And it's got a sheep's bladder inside, which is kind of gross, but he seemed to know what he was talking about." She holds up the ball with a questioning look. "Catch?"

[motherfucking_ghost]

"Hey, so long as it's not filled with piss, then it's cool. Who am I to argue what goes on in making a not-pig-skin?"

He holds up his hands. "C'mon, QB, give us a pass!"

[zombra]

Tessa tosses the ball to him without putting a spin on it because he's still close by, but now she backs up a bit.

"Got a favorite team?"

[motherfucking_ghost]

The good thing about casually throwing a ball in relative close quarters is that there's very little chance a throw of his will go awry and slam into someone's face across the way. (Still possible, given his aim, but extremely unlikely.)

"Eh, I've got a soft spot for any team from Texas. Gotta say, though, Grifball's a little more exciting. Austin Reach is totally gonna take the American League to the finals, baby!"

Is he making that up, or is he being serious? Good question. He tosses it back, a little high on the arc but otherwise not astonishingly terrible. "Okay, but, football-wise, aside from the Cowboys? It's gotta be the Liberties. So I've never been to New York, so sue me, the Lady Liberties have a solid defense, and if they could just pick up Rodrigo from the Guardians, their offense would be unstoppable."

He stops for a second, squinting at nothing, before looking back at her. "Though I guess, uh, it also depends on when you're from..."

[zombra]

Tessa holds out her hands, steps forward and snatches the ball easily out of the air. She's never been seriously sporty (though running from zombies has given her calves of steel), but she and her dad would often throw a ball back and forth in the backyard. Not so much in recent years, what with Netflix and social media eating up so much of their time, but every Memorial Day and Fourth of July, they'd make it a thing while they watched the food on the grill. Good memories of her dad depress her, however, considering how he died, so she pushes past it all to focus on the here and now.

"Um, yeeeeah." She rolls the ball off her hand a few times, looking confused. "You're from, like, the future. Or, I mean, an alternate Earth since I'm guessing society didn't collapse from zombies. I know the Cowboys, at least? But Lady Liberties? You mean someone actually watches female pro play? Gimme that future." Unless they're just nicknamed that and it's still a bunch of dudes.

She adjusts her fingers over the laces and tosses the ball back, nice and easy. "Please tell me the Steelers still exist."

[motherfucking_ghost]

"The Steelers are eternal." Dramatic pause. "Unfortunately." Nyeh. What is sports if not friendly ribbing each other for their teams of choice? "And there is a pro female league. It's kinda like soccer? They're just as good, but nobody watches them? Trust me, when New York added the Liberties, there was a long fight over the name, but the dudes got to it first. Iconography, my good lady."

He tosses the ball up and down to himself, thinking. "I mean, a bunch of names are kind of on a temporary no fly list, after Florida sank into the sea. Nobody really wants to be the Mermen or the Mouseketeers right now."

Honestly the biggest surprise might be that it took 500 years for Florida to sink. He chucks the ball again.

[zombra]

"Don't be jealous," she says with a smirk. Naturally they're the best team in any generation. "Well, that sucks about the female league. You'd think in the future more people would watch, but nope; it's the WNBA all over again."

Wait, what? "Florida sank? What the hell? Did like, a Category 500 hurricane take it out? Did people have time to evacuate? Holy shit, dude." She catches the pass, but it's fumbled slightly as she does, because she can't picture a whole state just disappearing under the waves like Atlantis.

[motherfucking_ghost]

"To be fair, I feel like women are also smart enough to not be as keen to throw themselves straight into repeated concussions? On the other hand, I know some women who you do not want to get tackled by. Ever." To also be fair, at least one of them is actually a robot, so.

"Uhhhh, you know what? I have no related information on that except it wasn't a hurricane. All that global warming probably pulled it under? I dunno, this was years ago."

[zombra]

That statement at least gets a huff of a laugh out of her. He's not wrong. It's why she wants a flag football league in Thedas, because she wants to play, but also not get pummeled to the ground.

"Dude." It's said in a tone that implies he should have at least heard the details of this event. But it's all she says because if he doesn't know, he doesn't know. The ball is tossed back and she takes the opportunity to stretch each arm across her chest by holding in her elbow. If they're going to keep playing catch, she needs to limber up.

"So are you up for joining a Thedas Football League? I think it could be fun. Something different from all the sword practice everyone's always doing."

[motherfucking_ghost]

"Dude," in return, with a catch, "I haven't even been to Earth in forever." Or, in fact, ever. "You only learn so much stuck in some backwater canyon in the middle of nowhere."

But the details, whatever they are, are beyond him. Florida's gone, the world probably isn't any worse for it, it's fine. "Firm up the calves, bulk up the thighs, harden heads? I'm down for it. This place is in some desperate need of pro sports that aren't 'stab each other'. Get some soccer and basketball up in there, too. You could try introducing hockey in the winter, but it'll probably just boil down to fistfights the way god intended. Hell, someone teach 'em quidditch. They can probably enchant some brooms. Catch." He lobs it back over

[zombra]

"Okay, okay. I gotta remember not everybody was Earth-locked like me. Interstellar travel is a thing for you." She waves it away even though it still really sucks for those people.

"They're definitely due for some new past times. People just play cards or practice with weapons. I'll bet somewhere there's a kid rolling a hoop with a stick. But I know football the most, so that's what I'll stick to teaching."

The ball hits her fingers at a weird angle and she makes a noise that's half annoyance, half pain at the sudden sting as the ball slips out of her grasp.

"Almost," she mutters, retrieving it and blowing across her fingers. "See, that opens up a lot more potential for games if people can use magic. But like, there has to be certain roles so it's not too one-sided. Like mages as goalies. Imagine trying to kick in the ball and a giant ice wall appears across the goal. How you gonna get past that? So maybe mages have to play different roles."

[motherfucking_ghost]

"It's gotta be, like, equal footing magic if we're gonna introduce magic. Let's maybe stick to the basics first? And some sports are more complicated than they look. We're gonna call football football, and some smartass is gonna go 'well why do you call it football if you carry it', and you know what? Fuck you is why. Why is the ball that shape? Because get fucked, I don't know. Or like soccer, how do you know if you're offsides, y'know? Or what constitutes a foul besides ref preference? Hockey? Man. Hockey's just an excuse to fight anyway, but that we can at least have mages helping on. Make a rink in the middle of summer."

He gives it a little more thought... "You okay? Don't go breaking your fingers yet."

[zombra]

Holy shit; this guy is on Tessa's level. And a lot more talkative than Mike is, for all she likes about her friend/pseudo crush from home. He gets it, man. Football's confusing enough without nitpickers trying to rain on her parade.

"Depending on how far we wanna take this sports thing, we may have to rewrite some rules and shit. Take out all the overcomplicated BS and roll it back to Medieval Style."

She waves away his concern. "It's cool. It's not really football unless your fingers are stinging, right? And can you ice skate? I've been a couple times and it's way beyond me. Bruises and blisters and a sore ass from a couple of falls. Definitely not coaching a hockey league any time soon."