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Sage Emerson

"What are you good for?"

0 · 1,037 views · located in California

a character in “Dodgeball: How Not to Get Hit In The Face 101”, as played by Youngblood Prince

Description





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The Silence

"Tell me a piece of your history that you're proud to call your own."



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"It is not enough to be dumbstruck; can you fill the silence?"


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{Full Name:}
"I'm not overly fond of it, and I don't have any good nicknames."
Sage Avery Emerson
{Ethnicity:}
"All British, really."
At least tenth generation British. He's whiter than white.
{Birth Date:}
"I had to go to church every birthday before my eighteenth."
December 25th, 2:00AM.
{Age:}
"I can buy cigarettes and legally have sex, that's about it."
18
{Sexuality:}
"No comment."
Homoflexible, Closeted



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"Tell me a piece of your history that you've never said out loud."


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With his mouth always shut, and an unreadable expression often on his face, it's hard to tell what Sage is thinking by body language or expression. First impressions are generally intimidation, seeing as he's hazardously quiet and rather tall at 5'11.5".
He's skinny, and doesn't have the muscle tone someone who plays sports regularly usually has. Somehow his build has ignored the exercise he often participates in and has elected to remain relatively soft. He spends hours on his clothing, which usually falls somewhere along the lines of 'hipster', and longer on his hair, which always falls somewhere along the lines of 'what exactly is on your head dude'.
Sage has a favorite baseball jacket which can be seen here, and which he often wears to games and outside of them. We can pretend it has school initials on it.
In social situations or schooling, anywhere where he's talking to more than three people at a time, it's rare for Sage to move more than to scratch his chin or take a drink. He's usually frozen still and looks straight ahead, it's rare for him to make full eye contact with someone who's speaking.
Sage's smile tends to only show itself when he's cracked a joke or is very comfortable with the people around him.


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"You must have the words in that head of yours."


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To properly understand Sage, one must recognize that he's selectively mute; not a fact he talks about a great deal because, well, in the situations where he can talk (usually, alone with friends or, rarely, talking to someone one on one) it's not something he likes to talk about. That said, it's usually figured out at some point and all of his educators know. Sage's mutism is linked to a deepset social anxiety, and he's been dealing with it since childhood. He's functional, but much prefers ASL to out-loud talking when in a situation which isn't one on one or only friends, seeing as he usually can't talk then. When he does speak, he has a soft but rather improper fusion in accents between American and a London one.

Besides that, Sage is a man often mistaken for being completely humorless and way-too-serious. While he is a bit serious for his own good, and rarely lets himself stop working enough to have some fun, he does have a deep, if somewhat stifled, emotional life going on behind the expertly crafted mostly-blank look. He's endlessly plagued by a curiosity for everything around him that he can't seem to shake; he's an observer, and somewhat fickle in that he becomes enchanted with a topic and then flits away from it after consuming a good deal of information about it. He audits a lot of weird classes on campus when he has time, and his major and dodgeball seem to be the only topics which can keep his focus. His current interest is astrobiology, and he's audited classes from bagpiping, auctioneering, and bartending, to Mortuary Art. He has eclectic tastes in a lot of what he does.

Sage collects old records, and has an intense love for music of almost any type. He's the type of person who can sit and do nothing but listen to a song and stare out into space. He's endlessly polite, to the point where he's often guilty about his inability to speak because it often means disrespecting people who are talking to him when he can't respond and they don't understand sign language. He often cares a little too much about other peoples' opinions, but he doesn't show it.

Even with close friends, Sage almost never, if not never, speaks about his own issues, emotional or otherwise. He tries to stay out of drama, and steers clear of thinking about what he wants. He spends a lot of time burying himself in his head and hiding away from himself, which he openly admits to. He also has an addictive personality paired with a previously sheltered lifestyle, and a self destructive streak a mile wide. All that combined means no one really has any idea about his alcohol habit starting to get out of hand.

He has a dry sense of humor when he's around people he feels comfortable talking to, and Sage will often try to cheer up and help people who are going through things, although he's often rather bad at being any more supportive than being a presence with the person and being willing to drop most of the things in his day to comfort someone. He values people above time, but is rather anal about how punctual he is, so he can get annoying about talking about how he wants to be there on time if you're close enough with him, and if he's comfortable talking to someone sometimes he'll get caught by a wild whim and just start blabbering about this or that.

He tends to be the serious one who dis-advises spontaneous decision making on the part of his friends, and the responsible party when he can be. He's still new to the college, but he tries to act like he's old hat at it. He usually treats most things like he knows them, even if he doesn't. He tries to be the one who doesn't freak out, ever, and hides his anxiety and panic attacks as best as possible, which usually means making up dumb excuses not to go out in public.


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"Wrap me around your fingers, break the silence open wide."


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{Relationship Status:}
"No comment."
Single.

{Family:}
"I don't talk to them much now."
His father, Brad Emerson, is a Baptist pastor, his mother, Alanna Emerson, worked briefly in PR, but retired early due to pressure from Brad. Despite Alanna and Brad's attempts, Sage was their only child who survived past two months.

{Friends:}
"They're worth the world to me."
TBD

{Known Languages:}
"..."
American Sign Language, English, and not even close to enough French to be fluent.

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Sage was born in London, but his family moved to the US before his conscious memory, so he has no memory of them. The only reason for his accent is a rather isolated childhood raised under overprotective parents, who insisted on making their only son the heir to their religious throne. Sage spent much of his youth doing anything to escape this. He developed selective mutism in the early stages of puberty, and discovered little in the way of self esteem as he grew up. His parents were overly particular and almost impossible to please, but Sage managed, from this, to learn to be his own stability. While his social skills began to lack, his self reliance gained, and he learned a fierce independence. That said, as soon as he turned eighteen, he estranged himself from his family.

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"Can you feel the silence? I can't take it anymore."

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{Position}
"I'm an alright catcher."
Catches balls with his excellent hand eye coordination. No dirty joke there.
{Major}
"I'm a first year psychology student. Don't laugh. I'll figure out how to do it mute. Please don't laugh."
Counseling Psychology, although he's considering a major change to forensic or child psychology due to the broad nature of his coursework. Currently auditing conservation biology classes.
{Career}
"Have to pay for classes somehow, huh?"
Working part time at a local doggy daycare/pet store.


"If you give it a name, then it's already won."

{FC: Dan Smith of Bastille || HEX: #45BFB9}

So begins...

Sage Emerson's Story

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sage Emerson Character Portrait: Danny Jacobs
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Sage woke up that morning with a hangover the size of an elephant and a similar gallon amount of water required to quench his thirst. His head pounded as he dragged himself from his tangled sheets and assessed his situation. He remembered most of last night; retiring to his dorm and drinking through the three essays he had to write before the following afternoon. He'd only stopped briefly to talk to an RA and to make himself tea in the common kitchen when his mouth got too dry and started tasting like stale scotch. He'd gotten most of his work done and managed to avoid feeling anything for the most part, too.

It wasn't, however, worth the hangover or the three hours of editing Sage was forced to do in the common room of the residence hall to parse intoxicated nonsense into English. Slowly, Sage woke up and managed to slowly escape the grips of the hangover, but the entire day he couldn't shake that worn out feeling at the back of his mind. Facing his first and only lecture that day, Sage couldn't work up the courage to look his professor in the eye while he handed his essay in. Instead he spent that moment and the entirety of the rest of the lesson playing with the cuff of his baseball jacket and doodling molecule clusters in between taking notes. Today wasn't shaping up to be a good people day.

It was after he got out of his lecture that he ran into the lacrosse guy, at least, Sage figured he played lacrosse or he wouldn't have a lacrosse stick. The second Sage made accidental contact, the young man turned on him with that trademark sneer.

Football, lacrosse, weightlifting, basketball, they all had something dodgeball didn't; reputation. A sense of confidence, a status of the near-celebrity can be applied to apt players of those sports in an educational setting. Dodgeball? Well, it had scholarships, but not much in the way of social recognition for the fitness which went into it, especially not on a soft-bodied catcher like Sage.

Point was, when the lacrosse player turned on him with that grin, Sage knew he was going to eat shit. He felt pretty surprised when he managed with only a clap to the crest of his cheek with the butt of the stick before a professor ducked out of the nearest classroom and the lacrosse player pretended nice.

He spat, "Not gonna say anything? Cat got your tongue? Must be rough," and checked for the teacher before spitting on the floor next to Sage's shoes and sneering up at him. Sage tried to respond and found his voice caught somewhere before it became a voice and he just looked away while the lacrosse player smirked at him and stalked off. He turned and headed the other direction.

It felt like the longest trek he'd ever made to 232B, albeit he made a stop on the way there to check a bathroom mirror and see how his cheekbone looked. (Not good; he had half a black eye.) He still felt the dull flatness in his brain from the hangover, and something at the back of his mouth tingled for more alcohol but Sage was nothing if not punctual and they had a meeting that day.

He was the first there, as per usual, and twelve minutes early. He settled down with a French book (for his own study, extracurricular) and waited.

So that was how a slightly disheveled, black-eyed, tired Sage was the one who sat down at practice, and faced Danny as he blew through the door like a hurricane trapped inside his skin.

"Guys. I have an idea."

Sage looked up, interested, from his French book and signed out 'What's your idea? Everything okay?', his face remained steady, his eyes level, only his hands moving. For a split second, he managed to make eye contact.







Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sage Emerson Character Portrait: Claire Malatinszky Character Portrait: Danny Jacobs
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Personally, Claire enjoys her classes. She took enough APs in high school to have at least one or two which are relevant to her major rather than simply being the usual core req classes. The class that she is leaving from at the moment, for example, is one of her finance classes. It's the sort of stuff that starts out incredibly dull, but becomes more interesting once one begins to understand all the workings behind it. Claire has yet to decide precisely what she wants to do with a degree in accounting/finance, whether it be an EPA, financial adviser, etc, but she certainly feels comforted in the fact that she enjoys the field as a whole. Of course, with two parents who deal in math, one of whom was a CFO for a company in Hungary before moving to America and becoming an AP Macro/Micro teacher, these subjects or ones which she might greet like the familiar scents of home.

Of course, she needn't be concerned too much about homesickness or anything like that, given that her twin brother, Daniel, attends the same college as she. Different majors, different dorms, and, as he has made sure of, different lives, but she is fortunate to have not had to look far for a friend at the beginning of the year. He's even the reason she joined the team she heads for upon leaving the lecture hall: the dodgeball team. He had been thinking of joining, but changed his mind at the last minute and convinced his twin sister to do so as well: she'd enjoyed team sports in high school, why shouldn't she have fun with them in high school? The girl hadn't joined the college's Women's basketball team, though she had considered it, so this was an alternative which she was happy to take up. Especially given that Daniel had appeared rather guilty about dropping, fearing that it would mean the team would be lost. It had been a chaotic group to begin with, and in many ways still is, but somehow the various people who joined the team all turned out to be surprisingly good: and good at working together, for the most part.

They were winners, Claire was certain of it. Most of the university, or those who knew of the team anyway, were not aware of it, but she was confident in the team's capabilities all the same. It perhaps helped that she has grown up never the subject of taunts [at least not to her face] or bullying, and has always had a sort of confidence thanks to it. The young woman drops her stuff off at her dorm on the way to where the team is meeting, and picks up her bag which contains gym clothes to change into. Her current outfit could easily be gym clothing as well perhaps, sweats and an old V-neck, but as it is set as her norm, her gym clothes are even rattier, remainders from her high school basketball practice clothes.

She walks into the room in time to hear Sage ask Danny, whose back is turned to her hinting that he has just entered, a question, but not in time to hear what the question is. Or what it responds to. She tosses her bag onto a table and immediately walks over to Sage. "Hey man, are you alright?" she asks, prioritizing the fact that he looks beaten up over her usual greeting.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sage Emerson Character Portrait: Claire Malatinszky Character Portrait: Tiffany Mason Character Portrait: Danny Jacobs
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It was weird for someone like Tiff to hate gym class. Someone who grew up being athletic and whom was practically good at every sport. Why would she hate gym class. Was she nuts? In fact, who doesn't like gym class? It's the only class that you can get up and play sports and jump around with your fellow classmates. Every kid looks forward to gym class no matter how old you are.

Gym once actually was all good for Tiff... up until last week. It was a volleyball class, another sport that Tiff adored. They had to get into teams and play an old-fashioned game of King's Court, where you either advanced to the next net or stayed where you were if you lost the round. Tiff had gotten into a team with some other girls... girls that Tiff didn't exactly like but she wasn't one to complain sometimes. They all started at ones net first against another team of tough looking girls. She knew the one girl (Tiff couldn't exactly remember her name though) had a pretty wicked arm, and could probably punch someone's face in if she tried. You could only imagine what her serving. Always right on the spot. High, but not too high. Lightning fast.. so almost everybody missed it when it came to them.

But, Tiff didn't miss it this time. She happened to get it right in the face. Lucky her.

You see, she was standing right where she was suppose to be. At the back on the right side. She was in her "ready" position, knees apart with her finger intertwined for the "bump". Her mind suddenly went some place else, something that normally didn't happen when playing sports. She began to think about, yes, dodgeball. She was apart of a big team. The team that was going to win. They had already won so many times before. She had to say, she was pretty thankful for her team and the people in it. They were all pretty talented and--

"Tiff! Watch out!"

That's when Tiff's eyes looked up from their spot on the gym floor to see a white ball coming straight towards her face. She didn't even have time to block it with her arms before it hit her square in the face.

"Ow! Goddamnit!" She called out as she sunk to her knees and put her hands up to cover her nose. Some blood had already dripped down onto the shiny floor, and now it was gushing all out onto her hands.

"Motherfucking piece of shit ball! Where the fuck did that come from!?" She cursed out as she felt a hand on her back and saw the gym teacher kneel down beside her. Tiff could already hear some gasps and mumbling behind her. It wasn't all the time you hear Tiffany Mason curse out. It's not all the time you even hear Tiffany Mason talk aloud. The gym teacher kept whispering helpful things to Tiff and asking if she were alright as she helped her stand up. Too bad that wouldn't fix Tiff's thought-to-be broken nose. It sure felt like it. Blood was beginning to run down her arms as her hands remained cupping her bleeding nose. The gym teacher escorting her out of the gym and down to the office.

It was that day that Tiff decided that she hated volleyball. In fact, she hated gym. Pretty obtuse way of taking things, but that's just how Tiff's stubborn mind worked.

Back to the present, Tiff was now walking down the narrow hallway of the school down to 232B. She had already dropped her casual clothes, which was a plain white shirt with a flattering blue scarf and grey jeans, off at her dorm room and changed into her gym clothes there... which was a grey mid-sleeved sweat shirt and short silk blue shorts. She had slung her gym bag over her shoulder which contained everything she needed for the dodgeball class. She was carrying her white gym sneakers in her hand too as she walked down the hallway in just her socks.

After what seemed like forever, she finally got up to the room. She slowly opened the door and peaked her head in only to find Claire, Sage and Danny already there. She sighed in relief and popped in the room and closed the door behind her. "Hey, guys" She said quietly with a friendly smile aimed towards everyone as she dropped her bag on a bench and began putting her messy blonde hair up in a pony tail. She looked around while doing so. Everyone seemed quiet.... like they had just talked about something serious. She had missed the whole conversation (that's thinking if they did have one). Her eyes finally landed on Sage, who looked like he had a fresh dark bruise already formed on his eye.

"Holy shit, Sage." She said in a concerned whisper as she went up closer to him in her socks with her sneakers still in hand to get a clearer look at the damage. Now she understood why everyone seemed so quiet and serious. It was only sometimes that she had been met with people who had come up to her with a fresh bruise or scratch, but every time it seemed to shock Tiff, even if it was a normal thing for that person.

Tiff glanced back at everyone with a confused look on her face as they all stood around Sage. She hoped they all wanted an explanation as much as her. It wasn't everyday for Tiff that she was faced with this kind of situation.





Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sage Emerson Character Portrait: Claire Malatinszky Character Portrait: Jackie White Character Portrait: Tiffany Mason Character Portrait: Danny Jacobs Character Portrait: Nathaniel Elkins
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Outfit
Greek Fire: Top of the World




Nathan was rushing to get dressed before he was late for his class. He hopped from the bathroom with toothbrush in mouth wrestling to pull his jeans up while his shirt hung around his shoulder. Finally getting his clothes on, Nathan sat on his messy bed pulling on his boots tying them loosely when he felt a pawing at his back. He turned to see Millie, his little adorable kitten who jumped on his shoulder and nuzzled his chin as she purred. " Hello my beautiful~ " Millie only purred again and stared at him as if she understood what he was saying. Her tail flicked before she jumped off and Nathan got to his feet and poured his adorable little girl some cat food. Nathan lived in an apartment literally right across the street from the campus, for an odd reason he just didn't want to live on campus it just wasn't something he liked.

Nathan checked his pockets making sure he had his keys, phone and wallet on him, he slipped his earbuds in as he ran over to the bathroom quickly making his signature hairstyle with his styling paste before he grabbed his skateboard and headed out the door with a goodbye to Millie. Skating fast down the sunny street made Nathan feel alive. The wind through his hair and taking any and every chance he got to grind off the benches and anything he could do a trick off. Stopping at the local coffee shop, Nathan quickly ran inside, flirted with the girl over the counter and got himself lavender milk tea with two spoonfuls of honey. He also got himself a breakfast bagel which he ate as he skated the short distance to campus. The lad got to class just in time, he was the second to last kid to get into the room but he still made it. Collapsing in the computer chair by the window he sighed and caught his breathe then smiled to himself, a smile of victory. Fuck yeah! I made it!

The classes went by fast ending with Nathan falling asleep in his last one. His teacher was the one who woke him up with a slap to the back of his head with a balled up newspaper. The students that were still rushing to leave took time to laugh at Nathan but he brushed it off and sheepishly smiled at his teacher as he scratched the back of his head. As his professor turned around Nathan already knew what was going to happen, whole lecture about falling asleep in class and all that other good crap. Quickly packing his stuff up, he ran out the room with a big grin on his face as his teacher yell his name from behind. Nathan got on his board and cruised the rest of the way passing rooms. 230B, 231B . . . There we go 232B! Nathan pulled into the room already seeing everyone else there, he smiled and waved as his board came to a slow stop in front of them but there was something off, everyone was quiet and surrounding someone, he couldn't quiet see who it was because everyone was crowding them. Swiftly kicking up his board Nathan snaked his way through to see that it was Sage and he looked pretty roughed up.

Nathan took a quick second to inspect him before, he knew who done this and if he was right then they should be on their way to this building right about now. With an angry huff Nathan ran out the door and looked up and down the hall until he heard the guys voice, Darren that damn Lacrosse player who thinks he's so much better than everyone else because he's good at catching a ball with a damn bloody stick with string wrapped around it. Darren was turning the corner down the hall when Nathan locked his eyes on his target, his nostrils flared angrily as he sped walked towards him, fists balled and teeth gritting. Darren and his friends didn't know what hit them, Nathan cocked back his fist as soon as he was close enough and swung hitting the wanker right in the nose. Darren's friends all backed up shocked at the sudden attack but Nathan shot them a death glare threatening them, if they dared to interfere he was going to do worse to them. The two other guys took the hint and stayed back, one ran though out of fright or going to get a teacher but Nathan didn't care.

He sat on top of Darren and held him by the collar of his shirt and swung punching him in the face again. Darren wasn't going to just himself get hit so he managed to flip Nathan over and get a couple of punches in but Nathan used his strength to his advantage and beat the crap out of Darren until his knuckles burned. After the whole 6 minute scrummage Nathan stood up spitting blood onto the floor panting, his buff chest rising and falling rapidly. Grabbing Darren by the collar of his shirt he picked the semi conscious asshole off the floor and shoved him towards his friends. "Don't ever put your bloody filthy hands on my friends again Fuck Face."

Turning around to face his friends, Nathan took off his bloody shirt and coolly wiped the blood off his lip before giving them a nod of reassurance. " If he ever touches you again Sage, tell me I'll make sure to fuck him up worse next time."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sage Emerson Character Portrait: Claire Malatinszky Character Portrait: Jackie White Character Portrait: Tiffany Mason Character Portrait: Danny Jacobs Character Portrait: Nathaniel Elkins
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Her body moved to the groove and beat of the music, she felt her body need to shift surge through out her body as the rythem got faster. Dancing was her love and life, anything to do with the arts she had a passion for, when she danced she lost her sense of reality. She moved according to how the song went and how the song told her to. Only her body complied with ease, so when the end drew near in a power beat, she followed obediently.
As the last note lingered in the air, she leaned against her knees, her body exhausted but her mind buzzed. She needed to snap back to reality-

"Nice foot work Jackie!" Said girl glanced up, her body covered in a light sheen of sweat as she panted heavily, "Thanks Coach, but it really wasnt that great" She grinned, as she turned down her tune but her teacher quickly retorted. "No m serious Jackie, if you work hard like this throughout the year, I think you can make it somewhere." With a nice slap on the back, he left her grinning like a mad man. 'Hear that dad, mom?' Your girl is going far' She would have danced even more at the idea, but seeing how the class left, she knew she had too. 'Besides room 232B..'
How could she forget? Running quickly to the lockers, she washed up a bit so she didnt smell like the gym room. 'ugh' She slipped on some tight jeans, a grey midriff that said "Dancing is love." along with an forest green jacket, and disappeared towards the hallways.

[i]'They're probably all there. but well nothing too new with that.'
Jackie rolled her eyes, as she dodged the students in the hallway with some noticeable skill. While she ran from the art department, she began to zone out.. Questions arised in her mind, one being the most particular, how did she get to know these people anyways?
They all seemed they would be from other cliques, groups, etc however they all seemed to belong with one another somehow. But despite the question in mind, the answer was easy, 'Dodgeball'. Thats what brought them together, and god damn she was lucky for it. Taking a sharp turn, she skidded to a stop near room 232B. From what she hears it seemed like most if not all the members were there, 'Fashionable late Ill say.'

Opening the door, her face held its usually beam, as she chirped 'Ello~' Her aussie accent apparent. But her beam slowly dimmed down, as she immediately felt the mood. Her sharp eyes scanned the room quickly, before noticing the messed up Sage. Her lips tightened into a frown, while losing her bright mood. Remaining silent, since she refused to curse a storm on such a good day, she left the room and returned quietly with a bag of ice along with a cup of water. How she got those items so fast was a mystery, but no could deny Jack's motherly instinct when it came to her loved ones. And for sage well, he was like a big giant harmless giant she always pestered out of love, maybe you could say she viewed him as a brother. So to see him like this.. well it was painful. "Sage I dont know what happened.." Jackie breathed, trying to remain calm, "but you shouldnt let that swell." She stepped by the others, before placing the bag and cup on the table. "and jeez.." She reached out, patting his hair down gently and fixing his shirt.. she eyed him.. Its.. better.

Taking a step back, Jackie glanced at the others, noticing their concerns. It warmed her heart considerable, but she was a little too pissed for hugs and cuddles. She noticed nathan's beaten face as well, she could assume that the bully was delt with, but she sighed, "If this keeps happening, we might be in the nurses rather then the court." She crossed her arms, genuinely concerned and serious which was surprisingly rare when it came to Jackie, since she was usually the cheerful, hyperactive, caffeine fed birdie in the group. "Sage.. does it still hurt a lot?" Maybe she should get some painkillers.. her eyes came across Nico's blood.. Tissues too maybe?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sage Emerson Character Portrait: Claire Malatinszky Character Portrait: Jackie White Character Portrait: Tiffany Mason Character Portrait: Danny Jacobs Character Portrait: Nathaniel Elkins
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The fact that he actually wasn't the last one to practice was something that would have surprised Danny, normally. It was no doubt he was generally always late and Sage (ever perfectly punctual) was always early. Unfortunately there wasn't any time to be proud of his timeliness. Instead, he was distracted by Sage.

A slightly disheveled (normalish), tired (normalish), developing a black eye, Sage. (The last was, more or less, definitely not normal). His jaw clinched, a familiar tick sliding through it like it always did when he was pissed. Sage's hands moved, signing out a question, which only caused Danny to snort. “No everything is not fucking okay. What the hell happened?”

He didn't get an answer though. Claire was coming into the room next, face painted with concern as she approached, letting go of her usual greeting to ask if everything was okay. Before the door was even completely shut, Tiffany was coming in next.

She sounded happy, at least, and Danny threw a look over his shoulder just in time to see a friendly smile that he returned, albeit tightly. Sage didn't get picked on a lot. Sure, it happened, but the kid stuck to himself so much there really wasn't a reason to dislike him. Unless you were a douschebag. Which a lot of people were. Danny had kind of hoped that ship would sail after highschool but, alas, not so much.

Nathan rolled in next, literally, with a grin on his face that could light up the whole room but...not today. Danny sighed, because he knew what was coming, and pushed his glasses up on his nose as Nathan's expression switched from cheerful to as pissed as Danny himself felt in one smooth notion. “Nate-”

But Nathaniel was already moving. Danny cursed under his breath, threw his backpack onto one of the bleachers, and took over after the older boy as he left the gym completely. The hallways were mostly empty, but of course the lacrosse team was hanging around. Danny didn't make it, of course, Nathan was throwing punches by the time he reached the doorway.

It was six minutes, maybe. Nathan and Darren (who, Danny was nearly positive, was the cause of Sage's black eye) went at it, rolling across the floor. Two other guys looked like they were about to intervene but Danny just raised an eyebrow, made a show of pushing his sleeves up. “Really?”

They didn't move. Except for one who took off – rather to plead innocence or get a teacher, Danny wasn't sure. But ninety percent of the coaches would just continue to let them fight it out, honestly. Anyway, eventually they were walking back to their friends. Nathan looked a little worse for ware but not nearly as bad as the other guys.

“You get kicked off this team, Nate, and I'll skin you alive,” Danny grumbled under his breath, pushing his glasses up his nose, but he couldn't be mad. Not really. No one got to push Sage around. “If anyone asked, this-” he gestured wildly between Sage and Nate “-happened at practice.” Actually, if he squinted, Tiff's face didn't look one hundred percent either...but she also played volleyball so who knew.

Jackie was next and with her came an insane amount of motherly instinct. The others let her fuss over Sage before Danny finally shook his head. “Alright guys, back off 'em, ya'll know he doesn't like to be the center of attention.” He dropped down on the ground and shook his head a little bit, honestly surprised Sage hadn't managed to combust from all the attention. “Hey, dodgeball, right? That's why we're here.”

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“No everything is not fucking okay. What the hell happened?” Danny asked with a snort as soon as Sage signed his greeting, and Sage was already reading his facial expressions like an overused simile. Sage shot him a little meaningful smile and was about to sign a response. And then everything happened very quickly and suddenly almost everyone was in the room.

Sage felt the tightness close down in his chest and the little mental wall take form again as eyes were suddenly on him, his voice left slowly at first and then tightened and went. He fought the urge to bite his lip and won, it twitched. He signed hello, quickly.

"Hey man, are you alright?" Claire walked over, and Sage smiled, raising both hands to give her a thumbs up, because she wouldn't understand signing, and was about to turn his head back to Danny to sign a response so he could translate, but he froze as the door opened. Sage smiled the same little smile over at Tiff, attempting to convey "I'm fine!" and "Don't act weird" at the same time as best as he could. She didn't catch it until after she turned back to them all from fixing her hair up on top of her head.

And then Tiff was looking at her in confusion and Sage sighed, trying to turn back to Danny again to tell him what had happened so they all could know, but again was distracted from his attempt, this time by the sound of a skateboard deck scuffing the floor. Sage's memory instantly associated to Nathaniel and he again instinctively signed 'hello'. He tried to give Nathan the same swift 'I'm fine, don't act weird' smile as he flagged Claire and Danny with. And then Nathan took off with an angry huff and Sage shifted forward, cursing his inability to call out and say something akin to 'hey wait!'. Some deep part of his stomach was pleased to see Danny responding to the same instinct, and then flooded with a certain exasperation as Danny took off after Nathan. He vaguely signed 'wait' but was sure Danny didn't see it.

Then Nathan tore back into the room, and Sage blinked, a little owl-eyed at him as he suddenly approached.

"If he ever touches you again Sage, tell me I'll make sure to fuck him up worse next time." Sage blinked, shaking his head, slowly. He wasn't sure what to think of that. On one hand, someone was (two someones, he knew at least one other pretty awesome guy who'd also have his back) willing to stand up for him, they had his back and would fight for him. On the other hand, violence, was the argument given by Sage's responsibly thinking brain. And then Jack was upon him again.

"Sage.. does it still hurt a lot?" she asked. He shook his head and shrugged. It felt like a dull pounding pressure more than anything.

He finally turns to Danny, the one person who will actually understand him in the room, and first responds to his, "If anyone asks, this happened in practice.", with a quickly signed "No problem." accompanied by a softer smile, one that mostly just read tired. Sage shifted under the weight of the attention and close proximity, but tried to raise his hands to sign again. He was interrupted by Danny talking,

“Alright guys, back off 'em, ya'll know he doesn't like to be the center of attention.” Sage rejoiced in Danny's voicing of his anxiety for a moment, shooting him an infinitely thankful look.

"Hey, dodgeball, right? That's why we're here.”

Dodgeball. Yeah. That sounded infinitely better than worrying about this stuff. A nice healthy therapudic sport. Dodgeball.



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It was Nate to come in shortly after Tiff did. Tiff just looked back and stared at him. She somehow knew what he was going to do. He wasn't one to just sit and mush over feelings. He needed to do something. So, Tiff wasn't at all surprised when she watched him storm out of the room, probably to beat up that hotshot Darren kid. Tiff had her bets on him too. She knew he had something to do with this. He always does.

Tiff was hesitant though. "Nate..."
She said in a concerning tone. It was too late though. He was already out the door and down the hallway. Tiff huffed and wiped her forehead with her hand. Geez, she was already feeling like she just got out of playing a game of dodgeball. Everything seemed really hot and she felt anxious. She turned back to face Sage with her hands now resting on her hips before Jackie came in.

'Ello~' She said with that cheery accent of hers before she eyed down Sage. She quickly walked out of the room and came back with some water and ice in record timing. Tiff probably would of done the same thing, but she wasn't much of a motherly person. She didn't know how to be. Every time she has tried it's always been too awkward for her. She just wasn't good at taking care of people, as much as she wanted to.

She finally again saw Nate and Danny. She hadn't even noticed Danny had gone out and chased after him. That Darren guy probably got a good beating. She could tell by the way Nate's knuckles were all bruised and bloody from punching the shit out of that guy. It looked like he had instead been punching a wall over and over again to Tiff. She watched as Nate shoved the prick over towards them, him in a half-conscious state. She listened as he gave a threatening speech towards the guy before looking over at Sage and reassuring that he had his back.

Tiff sighed once again and set her sneakers down on the bench before sliding over in still just her socks to Nate. "Look at you."
She said in a worried tone as she reached down and grasped one of his bloody hands and brought it up into both of their eye sights clearly in front of them. "How are you suppose to throw the ball if you can't even get a good grip on it now?" She said as she shook his hand gently in front of them. She sighed, letting go of his hand and looked at him with a sad, but congratulating, expression on her face. She gave him a half-smile before turning back over to Sage and the others, reassuring Nate that she wasn't at all really mad at him.

“Alright guys, back off 'em, ya'll know he doesn't like to be the center of attention.” Danny said to everyone as he knelt down in front of Sage. He was probably right. Sage already didn't look like he knew what to do or say. He wasn't one to seek out attention from others. She nodded, agreeing with Dan's words and reached over to gently pat Sage on the back before returning to her lonesome sneakers on the bench.

Tiff wasn't really one to get bullied or picked on by the other people in her class. Not saying that she was perfect and everyone loved her, but she was more of a quiet and... well... scary one. Nobody really chose to mess around with her. Nobody even chose to hang out with her. She was the one back in the class day-dreaming in fantasy lands. People just hardly paid attention to her, and Tiff kinda liked it that way. Granted, she would want a couple friends in her class if she could have them, but she likes it right where she is. The only time she can truly speak out and be herself is in this little group here.

She sat down on the bench and lifted her leg up to slip on her white shoe. The shoes were about one size too big for her feet, but she liked it that way. She hates when shoes felt like they were suffocating your feet. She quickly tied up the laces on that shoe before going to the next. She slipped it on, and tied the laces with ease. She then stood up, straightening her shirt and flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. She was as ready as she'll ever be.

“Hey, dodgeball, right? That's why we're here.” Tiff heard Danny say to Sage and he seemed to immediately agree. Tiff gave one of her rare toothy-smiles, showing that she agreed with him as well. Dodgeball was the reason they were all gathered here. It was the reason they came here. And she loved that fact.






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She looked up at Danny before nodding. "Good plan." she commented, while flashing an apologetic grin towards her teammate sage. She hated when her motherly side slipped out but she couldn't help it. She loved these guys.

Taking a seat on one of the desk, Jackie demneor grew bubbly once more. "Dodgeball... Dodgeball right..." her grin grew largely at word, "Did you have an idea Danny~?" Jackie hopped in her seat slightly, appearing like a child. A cute child with a sexy accent that is.

Brushing her fingers through her brown hair, she kicked her legs gently in the air, as she readied herself for a conversation. But while she waited, her hazel orbs found itself on Nicos bare skin and she felt her body warm. But seeing tiff hold his hands, the feeling left almost immediately. By instinct, she quickly looked away and centered herself at Tiff and Claire, giving them a welcoming smile. She didn't properly greet them anyways.

(Sorry it's so short, at school and not sure what to say XD)

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"Look at you." Nate felt warm hands grasp his as he looked up from where he sat to see Tiff staring down at him. His face grew a little flustered because he wasn't so used to people comforting him like this since he lived a lone and all especially this coming from Tiff. "How are you suppose to throw the ball if you can't even get a good grip on it now?" The warmth other than his blood on his hand left and he saw the sad expression on her face that made his regret going out there and beating the guy up because he didn't like making his friends sad in any way. He ignored the stinging pain that came from his hands as he flexed them and gave one of his goofy smiles. " Don't worry Tiff I'll just go clean this up in the locker room right quick and I'll be good as new!"

With that said Nate got up and pulled a spare white beater from his backpack and threw it over his shoulder as he headed over the boys locker room. He stopped though for a moment and turned back his face red from embarrassment as he closed his eyes shut and spoke in a voice that everyone could hear. " S-Sorry for acting like an idiot everyone! I shouldn't have rushed into things like that." Nate's face was red because he wasn't the type of person to easily admit when he was wrong and he found it a bit embarrassing when he did. " Sorry!" with that final apology he ran into the locker room to do what he needed.

Upon exiting the locker room Nathan felt hella better, he ran some cold water over his knuckles for a good minute and applied some ointment on it to calm the stinging then bandaged them up. Thankfully his knuckles weren’t cut much just sore. His white tank-top fitted quite nice and he wet his hair in the sink, all in all he was just feeling refreshed and ready the play the sport he loved, Dodge ball, the thing that brought them all together and gave birth to amazing friends. "Hell yeah! I'm feeling hella better man! So Danny what you got in mind today luv? Something fun I bet." His childish smile radiated and it was like he was back to his old self in only a matter of minutes. He swiftly sat next to Jackie and wrapped his arm around her shoulder playfully. " Hello there miss beautiful captain lady! " Nico leaned in and pecked her cheek quickly before standing back up. " Ready for some D ball and I totally don't mean that in the utterly most exotic way my luv." Nico laughed a bit at what he said before offering a hand to the captain that he oh so favored.

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With Nate's apology, Sage relaxed a tiny bit, and the weight of Danny against his legs was more comforting than he could have ever really asked for. He instinctively let his fingers find a small lock of Danny's hair above his ear where Sage's hand had been resting rather close to anyway, and slowly let a single finger run little circles around it. It was all the movement Sage made, he retained his air of complete statuesque stillness besides, and his eyes stayed almost-focused in his token thousand mile stare.

As the atmosphere shifted, Sage felt a little tightness release in his chest, but didn't try to talk for knowledge that it would probably fail, and for lack of anything to say. He could practically feel the anticipation of talking off of Danny for a moment before he actually burst into words.

"Okay, so, I was thinking," Danny tried to keep the words slow and calm (of course he did, Sage thought, he always did) and failed spectacularly by the end of his sentence, "instead of trying to make it work with a new coach, why don't we just...coach ourselves?"

Sage thought for a moment; he let his brain find the catalogue of old coaches they'd cycled through. Mister Crowley had been one Sage had high hopes for; he'd audited one of the man's geography classes and liked his teaching style, but immediately regretted thinking anything high of him after the first game where his coaching was probably what made them lose. Sage tried to cut him some slack, though, they'd been new as a team back then.

Then there'd been Brody, who, surprisingly, Sage had almost managed to get along with, perhaps for his knowledge of the bible thumping world, and perhaps for the fact that he couldn't talk to interrupt her Jesus Speeches. He'd been happy when she'd left, though.

Then there was the brilliant, and very, very pregnant Cox. Who Sage, and the rest of the team if he wasn't mistaken, had loved to bits.

"I mean, I know it's a little more complicated, but think about it. We have notes from Cox, we can request videos of all our games, we can figure this out ourselves. Captain Jack here already knows the plays and us. We can split up the rest of the extra work. And we don't have to give up nationals because some asswad doesn't know the damn game. New Guy just has to look pretty and talk for us on occasion. It's perfect really."

As Danny talked, Sage fought a tiny grin, the muscles in his cheek tightening made the heat in his cheekbone and ringing his eye go to pain for a moment, but Sage caught himself before he winced.

He kept smiling, and tapped on Danny's head almost-shyly to get his attention before he started signing out, 'I think that's a very good idea. Can you ask Jack if she's okay with that? I think we've got a shot at competing if we can manage this.' His small smile didn't falter, and he returned his hand to playing with the small bit of Danny's hair.




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"Don't worry Tiff I'll just go clean this up in the locker room right quick and I'll be good as new!" Nate had said and Tiff smiled softly as she let his hand go. He seemed back to his normal self in just a matter of seconds. If somebody had just walked into the conversation, they wouldn't have known he just beat the absolute shit out of some guy... unless they happened to glance at his bloody hands. Tiff kept her smile on her face as Jackie came around and smiled at her. Jackie was okay to Tiff. Everybody on the team seemed to love her. She did have a bright leadership type personality, but Tiff wasn't all that use to happy-go-lucky-clucking-their-feet-together-down-the-hallways kind of people. Tiff just happened to shrug it off. She'd have to get use to it sooner or later. Better sooner than later, actually.

Tiff now remained sitting on the bench and after Nate had come back from the locker room and suggested bringing up Danny's idea (which Tiff had no idea he had even proposed an idea since she wasn't there), Tiff brought on her serious expression and crossed her arms. Tiff slowly, and hopefully unnoticeably, moved over a bit from lovey-dovey, touchy touchy Jackie and Nate whom were both now sitting beside her. She scratched her temple before crossing her arms once again in front of her.

"Okay, so, I was thinking," Danny started off nonchalantly, before he threw in his wild hand movements and fast words. "Instead of trying to make it work with a new coach, why don't we just...coach ourselves?" He said swiftly without another moments thought. Tiff smirked slightly, almost about to start applauding the idea... before a buttload of worries hit her. Her anxiety and worries always kicked in her in almost any topic, but she shrugged it off.

"I mean, I know it's a little more complicated, but think about it. We have notes from Cox, we can request videos of all our games, we can figure this out ourselves." Danny stopped to fix his glasses before speaking again, "Captain Jack here already knows the plays and us. We can split up the rest of the extra work. And we don't have to give up nationals because some asswad doesn't know the damn game. New Guy just has to look pretty and talk for us on occasion. It's perfect really." Ah, good ol' Mrs. Cox. She looked like she was ready to explode any minute with that big swollen belly of hers. Geez, childbirth was a scary thing.

Tiff never was really fond of any of the other coaches, except for Mrs. Cox. Maybe it was just the 'Hey. I know how to play dodgeball. Don't tell me what to do.' thinking that came in whenever Tiff was told to listen to some coaches. She wasn't very good at listening in general. Only if it's something she really cares about and needs to know... but yes, Tiff does care about dodgeball. She cares so much that she thinks she can do it on her own and with no help because she's so determined.

Tiff suddenly raised her hand, forgetting that she wasn't in class and that she didn't need to be chosen to talk. She quickly put her arm down back into her lap. "Sorry to be so pessimistic," She began saying in as calm and polite tone as she could manage as she stood up again and put her hand into her bag in search for her deodorant. "... But are we allowed to do that? I mean, coach ourselves? What would they think of us when they announce us at the game and ask us who our coach is or where they are, where we'll have no answer for them. I mean, Dan, we'll be seen as amatuers."" She said in a sarcastic and jokingly tone at the end of her sentence with a soft smile while reaching her hand under her shirt and applying her cherry blossom peach scented deodorant. She was in no means to start a fight or make anybody mad, but she was always the curious fellow. And... well... just a little pessimistic at times. She was one of those people who unfortunately always thinks of the "worse case scenario" in certain things... and wasn't always confident in her own ideas.





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Jackie blinked, as Nico quickly returned, fresh and new. She smiled at that trait of his. "Hell yeah! I'm feeling hella better man! So Danny what you got in mind today luv? Something fun I bet." Watching his movements, she welcomed a nice affectionate wrap around the shoulders, and she easily leaned into them. " Hello there miss beautiful captain lady! " She grinned cheekily at the peck, not looking to flustered or surprised at all. She seemed almost used to it in a way? With ease, she took his hand into her own smaller ones, " Ready for some D ball and I totally don't mean that in the utterly most exotic way my luv."

Her reply was quick, "Of course I am, I am Cap jack after all." Her accent flared at her name, as she played around with his bubbly mood but she made sure to keep an eye on their idea maker- Danny along with the others.

"I mean, I know it's a little more complicated, but think about it. We have notes from Cox, we can request videos of all our games, we can figure this out ourselves." Danny stopped to fix his glasses before speaking again, "Captain Jack here already knows the plays and us. We can split up the rest of the extra work. And we don't have to give up nationals because some asswad doesn't know the damn game. New Guy just has to look pretty and talk for us on occasion. It's perfect really."

Tearing her gaze away from Nico's own eyes, she kept her mouth shut, hoping to hear other comments before letting out her own. To be honest, this sounded.. risky in a way, in her own analytical sense, but with her optimism, she could see this working rather well. So Jackie could say she was neutral but willing to take in other peoples points. Jackie was looking forward to Tiffs, because if they anyone could list the realistic situation out of all of them, it was her. People could say she was a bed wetter, but Jackie saw her as a great person for a debate or conversation like this, she prevented rash judgement since she was their splash of reality.

"... But are we allowed to do that? I mean, coach ourselves? What would they think of us when they announce us at the game and ask us who our coach is or where they are, where we'll have no answer for them. I mean, Dan, we'll be seen as amatuers."

Humming, jackie nodded considerable, then added her cents, "I agree with Tiff, its a risky game, because we dont control the rules.. or the power.. and if we mess up, well.. who knows whats going to happen to the team.. we might not be able to get recover fro that" She paused, "But we played our best with Coach Cox, and if this new guy cant be at parr, I say go for it, we know our strengths and weaknesses the best.. so we should use that to our advantage." Her smile widened, "besides it doesnt matter if others see us as amateurs since we can change their minds on the court." Hazel eyes held a wicked gleam, as she was confident in their abilities. "What else do you guys think?

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Not soon after Claire first acknowledges Sage's bruises, the rest of the group files in and responds in their own way for each person. Nate is the one who worries her, however, and she springs out to try and stop him when the young man storms out of the room, but to no avail. She is certain, and perhaps not incorrectly, that whatever he is going to do is not wise, given the anger that obviously clouded his mind. Claire may not be altogether certain what to do, a sign of why she is not the leader of the group, but Jack appears on the scene and instantly begins to apply a healing touch to the room. She places a cup of ice on Sage's eye, and gently scolds Nathan in a way which only she can effectively do without it coming off as irritating. Well, there's plenty of things that only Jack can do without it appearing off --that's just how the team's captain is. She's certainly the leader of this motley bunch for a reason, after all.

Claire backs away from the fuss and leans against a table, half-attempting to thing of some stupid thing to say in order to break the thick tension that these two signs of violence have cast over the group. But it is a dodgeball team, and they have all had their share of injuries. While one of their own being bullied is far from ideal, they know how to deal with it. And this isn't high school-- they aren't going to run off to a professor to try and deal with their issues. Claire had grown up being reminded that one has to work out their own problems, and cannot go running to someone else to be the savior every time something goes wrong. She is glad that those on the team are equally minded.

If Jackie is team captain and mother hen, then one might give Danny the role of second in command, and perhaps papa bear. He settles down the activity in the room by reminding everyone of why they are in this room: dodgeball. Claire is glad to move on. She worries for her friends of course, but feels useless sitting there while Jackie successfully nurtures. Claire is someone who can be counted on to have your back in all situations, but she has never been good with nurturing. She's not a mother hen type. That would be Daniel, actually.

The word sends a wave of smiles over the group, and Claire is glad to see she is not the only one relieved. Of course, she might also be the one considered to be less infatuated with the game. She loves the people, and enjoys the sport of course, but the priorities she has grown up with say that she is the most likely to choose academics over the team. At the moment, anyway. Her loyalty towards the game, not just the team, has been steadily growing. It's simply difficult to beat out a lifetime of dedication to grades. When Nate begins apologizing, Claire is glad he realizes he was being impulsive, but isn't sure whether to smile or frown. So she smiles, as is her default.

Then, the real discussion begins. Claire turns the topic over in her mind. Coach ourselves? she wonders, seeing pros and cons. Tiff has a point about it possibly being risky, but at the same time Claire likes the idea of the team being self run. If nothing else, couldn't they just announce Jack as the coach? Honestly, given the history of their coaches, the chances of them getting another Cox are slim. There aren't a whole lot of great dodgeball coaches that aren't already taken in this small, but competitive, world. "I'm going to agree with Danny on this one. Who cares if the other teams think we're amateurs, anyway? Underestimating us will be their own downfall," her grin is sillier than Jack's wicked smile.

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Satisfied by her reply, Nate agreed with a wink to her Cap Jack comment and proceeded to pay attention. As Danny spoke Nico fond himself fidgeting in his seat out of excitement. He listened carefully though to everything Danny spoke of but it was kind of hard since his mind was running through a million things per second. What Danny spoke of caught his interest, it sure was something worth trying. The others chimed in with some interesting points and he strongly agreed with all of them but that didn't stop Nico from adding his own opinion.

"I say we just go for it. I mean we can all talk about it as much as we want and plan things out. I don't mind that at all and frankly, I think that’s smart but-"


Nate trailed off for a second thinking about his words carefully. He rubbed the back of his neck as he continued. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that we need to trust ourselves. I know the consequences of our actions if we do this may be horrid but we'll get through it together. We can get through anything together, right? We should at least try , I think we can pull it off especially if it's with you guys."


A smile crept across his face until it turned into a bright and childish smile. Nate walked up to Danny and stuck his fist out waiting for the lad to bump it. " I got faith in your plan, in us and I'm with you all the way guys. "

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"I got faith in your plan, in us and I'm with you all the way guys. "

Danny grinned and lifted his hand to bump his fist against Nathan's. "So I think Nico should officially be in charge of any and all pep talks. That was beautiful, man. Seriously. Nearly shed a tear."

Once everyone was done talking, Sage caught his attention first, an almost shy tap he had come accustomed to after all this time. He dropped his head back on his friend's knee, watching the other male sign through words before Danny's face broke into a wide grin. “Hell yeah we gotta chance,” he answered aloud.

Sage almost always went along with Danny's ideas, but with a cool rationality that made him know he wasn't being too unrealistic (if he was, Sage usually sighed - in a very put upon manner - before signing 'Danny, no'.) Actually, everyone seemed to agree. Tiffany, though, was the one to challenge the idea, and impossibly she just made him grin more.

“No, no, please. Blow wholes in my theory. I can work with that.” In fact, Tiff playing devil's advocate was one of the things Danny liked most about her. She made him think, made him make sure he had all of his bases covered. He pulled himself out of his spot (which was hard because he loved having his hair played with, even if it was just a little) and threw his beanie off somewhere, followed by his hoodie (that he got stuck in for a good second or two) before he grabbed his messenger bag and went through it, coming up with one of his spirals.

Danny bounced across the room in seconds, grabbing the whiteboard from the back and wheeling it over before uncapping the marker with his teeth and copying down his notes for the others to see. He addressed Tiff's question first, spitting out the lid somewhere unimportant: “Are we allowed to do it...no. Technically." He wrote that down, circled the word 'technically'. “And the school's going to bring in a new coach regardless. I heard Mr. Meyer's tell the basketball coach that the new guy was moving sometime this weekend. But, look, the way I see it...this new dude was available in the middle of a semester to coach a team? Why? If he was any good he would already have a team." He backed that up with a couple of hand motions before writing it down too, followed by an arrow that read honestly probably not very good at his job. “And, let's be honest guys, what does the coach really do anyway? Chances are, this guy-” he pointed at the 'New Coach' label on the board because he simply couldn't talk without moving his hands around like a crazy person. “Is probably going to be lazy and not do shit. So let's break it down.”

Danny wrote down a bullet list next, starting at the top he put creates plays and drills. “Look, the best plays we ever had came from Cox, and so did the drills. We have those notes. And this is exactly what Jack would be perfect at. As Captian, a lot of this was her responsibility. Only if you want to, of course, sweetheart,” he aimed a smile her way, remembering to ask because Sage had requested that of him. “And, they film all of our games. We get ahold of those videos and we can watch how we play and asses what needs to change. I mean, probably,we could even run virtual tests of any new ideas? I don't know...Nate, you know computers better than any of us.”

Danny nodded to himself, as if making up his mind, before jotting down Nate's and Jack's names, adding them to that point. On the next bullet point he wrote schedules practices. “I mean, we already basically do this by ourselves, but if anyone actually wants to be in charge of watching our days...we got this...I wouldn't reccomed myself because...let's face it I'm kind of a scatter brain."

The next bullet point simply read: Plans workouts “Again, something we mostly do on our own. I mean, we're all pretty active.” Critique. “Honestly...I think that's going to be the hardest...we're gunna have to get out of our own heads long enough to figure out what we need to work on to be better as a whole...but honestly, we play so well around each other already...” Danny backed off a little, gestured at Tiffany. "Tiff ain't scared of us. She could do that. Just an idea."

He looked over his notes for a moment, making sure he didn't miss anything, shrugged his shoulders and turned to face his friends. “Look, all we're really missing is dealing with other coaches, maintaining equipment – which we don't need, and providing healthcare which...hopefully our replacement won't be completely useless. Everything else we can do ourselves. Just divide a bit of the work and get at it.”

Danny twirled the marker between his hands for a moment. "Anything official we can run through Claire -- she likes people. And if we start doing all of this now...if worse comes to worse there's a clause I'm looking into about In-Team-Coaching which can make this all legal in case our new coach really does turn out to be a piece of shit. Or bails. And in that case...yeah, let everyone fucking underestimate us. They won't do it twice."

cron