I against I & me against you

[imperceptible]

Characters: Kevin Smith & -insert name here-
Format: ACKSHUN!
This log is: o p e n
Location: outside the dorms
Summary: Kevin's working through some of his inner demons by doing the one thing he knows best. Play tennis.
Warnings: Possibly some swears, to be updated as needed.

[Anyone wandering out of their dorm and into the courtyard will hear the strange, consistent echo of something smacking against something else in an almost rhythmic beat.

If you bother to search for the source, you'll find Kevin in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a tennis racket in hand off to the side of the central building. The source of the noise? It would be that tennis ball he's continuously smacking back against the wall. This otherwise ordinary scene is broken, however, by how violently he's doing it. If you didn't know better? You'd think he was trying to crack someone's skull open with how hard he's hitting that dang ball. Wonder what his problem is...]

Comments

[queenscheckmate]

[She's actually on her way back to the dorm after the announcement and the conversation with Sherlock. But she sees a familiar face, even though it's been a while since she's seen it. For now, she watches but keeps her distance.]

[imperceptible]

[Kevin's completely focused on the task of beating this tennis ball into a wall right now, so you'll have to forgive him Kallen for not immediately noticing you. After a moment or so, however, the feel of being watched eventually does creep up on him. Enough so that after one final hit, he lets the ball bounce off the wall, ground and smack back into his hand.

That complete, his fingers curl around the green, fuzzy sphere as he turns to look at... wait, isn't that Gino's roommate?]

What?

[queenscheckmate]

[She doesn't mind not being notice. Actually watching him, for once, takes Kallen's mind off the blood on her hands that she can't seem to get off (and no one else can see)]

Nothing, just watching. Does it bother you?

[imperceptible]

No. [The reply is instantaneous and full of denial. After a pause, however, he adds a quiet murmur.] ... or it shouldn't. [With a sigh, he tucks the ball into one of the pockets on his shorts and walks over to her, racket still in hand.]

You're one of Gino's roommates, right? We met once. ... sort of.

[queenscheckmate]

[She takes note of that and almost takes a step back... almost.]

Yeah... in the middle of the argument Gino and I were having.

Kallen. [She'd hold out her hand, but yeah, the blood thing. So she just sticks to tradition and bows, lands tuck to her sides. Please don't look at them, it'll make her paranoid.]

[imperceptible]

[The bow makes him feel awkward. Sure, he's been to Japan before but nobody ever really bowed to him so it unnerves him a little. ... scratch that, a lot.

Have an quick nod of his head, Kallen.] Kevin. He's not the easiest guy to get along with, huh?

[queenscheckmate]

[She stands upright and her hands go behind her again.]

No. [An awkward laugh] We've kind of always butted heads before. A lot was going on that day and I just snapped I guess.

[imperceptible]

Yeah, I can see a lot of people snapping around him. [There's a dryness in his tone of voice that says he is completely unsurprised.] How do you know him? You a "knight" too?

[Yeah, he actually does bring up his hands to do the quoting around that work.]

[queenscheckmate]

[She raises an eyebrow at that.]

No, not like he is. Not that you're from 'our world' and I except you to understand, but he's a 'Knight of Round' and I was a 'Black Knight'. We were... actually enemies.

[trollofthree]

[anyone playing tennis against themselves against a wall will find themselves approached by a Gino in short order.]

Aren't you meant to play that with another person?

[imperceptible]

[Hah. Short. I see what you did there.]

[Without skipping a beat in his practice, Kevin replies in a slightly breathless tone of voice. Apparently, he's been at this for a while.]

You offering?

[trollofthree]

Sure, why not?

[other than him not being able to play tennis beyond a few casual games as a kid but. Hey, whatever.]

[imperceptible]

[Oh this'll be good. Kevin hits it one last time before catching the rebounding ball with his hand. That finished, he turns to look at Gino with... an amused stare? Yeah, he's definitely amused.]

I've got a couple spare rackets in my bag. [Have him jerk a thumb over his shoulder to a bench where said bag sits.] We can head to the gym for an actual court or just do some rallying here.

[trollofthree]

Here's fine. [he follows the gesture, crossing to the bench and rummaging through Kevin's things until he can free another racket from the bag.

When he walks back over, he isn't holding it right at all, but he's still grinning.]

You gonna go easy on me?

[imperceptible]

[... the face he gives Gino, it speaks volumes.]

Handle, Gino. It's there for a reason.

[trollofthree]

Ah, right. [he adjusts his grip. It's almost correct now.] Like this?

[imperceptible]

[The frown, it continues. Tucking his own racket under his arm and the ball into his pocket, Kevin comes over and tugs the racket from Gino's hand.]

Now hold your hand out as if you're going to shake mine.

[womenwouldgrieve]

[Well, he's already lost one of his weapons... This isn't going as well as he'd hoped. He doesn't know if he can handle having to fight small children. Edgar's taking a walk to clear his head when he hears something odd...

Ah, there's the source of it. He stops to watch for a moment. It's that boy he'd failed to protect during the shadows' attack.]

[imperceptible]

[Kevin's completely absorbed in his practice, unfortunately. If Edgar wants his attention, he'll either have to grab it or wait for the youth to finish this round.]

[womenwouldgrieve]

[Well, he doesn't really want to bother him... But he does want to make sure he's all right after what happened. So he'll wait.]

[imperceptible]

[After a few more minutes of this, Kevin finally ends it off with a hit strong enough that the ball simply slams into the wall and spins in place before dropping away to the ground.

That done, Kevin brings up a hand to wipe away some sweat and regain his breath. Of course, that's when he notices Edgar and winces. He knows that fact, the man in his nightmare who... yeah, no, he's not even going to think about that word.]

Hey.

[womenwouldgrieve]

Hello. [Then maybe it wasn't a dream... But it still doesn't feel like it was real.]

How are you doing?

[imperceptible]

Alright... I guess. [Have a shrug as Kevin suddenly finds something on his racket to inspect. After a minute he glances back up at Edgar and... looks away. It's hard to say something meaningful when you're twelve.]

What about you?

[womenwouldgrieve]

Me too.

...I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Edgar.

[imperceptible]

Kevin. [Have a brief pause before Kevin awkwardly rubs the back of his neck.] Look, I'm probably stupid for even saying this but... thanks.