six_word_stories | (no subject)

Hmm.

[He can't help the way his lips have parted slightly nor the way his eyebrow has raised listening to Isidor explain everything. Really, by now he should be used to everything being automatic and precise in the future. It still takes him a moment before he nods. He's going to find the heaviest ball they have because it's probably the only one that won't feel impossibly light to him.]

This is a lot more complicated than it used to be, you know.

[He's grinning when he says it though, so it's hardly a complaint.]

I've got it, I think. Hit pins, stay away from gutters.

Right. [She tilts her head at him with a grin.] Not so complicated. Just flashier. More lights and loud music.

[Taking up a ball, she turns to him and shrugs.] I put us alphabetically, so you can see how it works before you go anyway.

[Returning her attention to the lane, she hefts the ball, prepares her stance, swings the ball back and... steps forward and swings it forward. She watches it intensely as it rolls happily down the lane... to hit three of the pins. With a playful scowl she goes back to fetch her ball and take her second go, leaving three pins still standing.]

[She sighs and shakes her head, returning to the seats.] Your turn, 'Captain'.

Cleaner too.

[Steve watches Isidor with a small smile on his face. She moves with the confidence of having done this before. It seems easy enough and he's fairly confident when he gets up from where he's seated to fetch his own ball.

But oh, the tease makes him laugh and duck his head.]

Oh come on. If I can't be just Steve here...

[He mimics Isidor's stance when he takes his turn and sends the ball hurtling down the lane only to have it knock down just the far left two pins without so much as touching the others. Oh.

Well. That's fine, he'll just try it again--and get two more without even brushing the right side of the stack.]

Hmm. I may have to rethink this being simple.

[Brute strength isn't going to help here.]

[The rolls may not have been very good, but Isidor still claps for him when he returns. She doesn't wait to pick her ball up again.]

You hit the pins. It's a good start. [Back to teasing, she adds,] If you're really worried about it then you can use one of the frames they have to teach children to aim...

[For all her joking around she gets a split in her next roll, leaving a pin each side. Her second throw rolls neatly down the middle without touching either of them.]

Does it show that I haven't played this in years?

[He sees that grin, Isidor. Still, Steve's all smiles himself as he takes a seat again.]

A woman of honor. You could have just challenged me to something you excelled at, like magic and watched me fumble with a pre-prepared scroll for a good hour.

[He offers a thoughtful frown at the split and the roll that follows. Gaze slipping across the lanes to study the forms of other players here who aren't sharing the same easy smiles he and Isidor are.]

I think the key is to put spin on it. Maybe?

[His first attempt at that ends in a gutter ball. Ouch. The second, however nets him six pins.]

There's no challenge in a rigged game. I've never understood how it was sport. I only rig a game when I need to win.

[She considers the lane this time before she bowls. Following Steve's observation she gets two pins in the first throw and a nice six in the second. She's all smiles as she moves back to her seat.]

You don't strike me as the type to cheat, but I could be wrong. Are you?

I've heard there's satisfaction in watching someone you don't like struggle uselessly.

[He has to chuckle, even if he agrees with Isidor in principle. He's getting this figured out, managing a spare between his two rolls and smiling a bit wider when he turns back her way.]

Death's about the only thing I cheat on the regular.

[That gets a laugh.] If you're going to cheat anyone, death is a good person to choose.

[Her turn gets her a gutter ball and then another spare to make up for it. It's less than she'd hoped for, but she's having fun so she shrugs it off.]

But I do like you. So I wouldn't want to see you struggle uselessly... Just do a little worse than me.