Making A Comeback

*Tirea sits on the edge of the couch*

<We will.>

"I think... I can come to the finals," Astarte said, still staring at her tea with a quickly saddening expression. "I think..."

"Okay," Mortal said, "Let me just grab the umbrella."

--

Noct, obviously, wasn't in the mood for haggling, and just took the contract giving it a read to make sure she wasn't signing away her first born or something (thought the joke would be on them). Should everything be in order she signs away.

--

"Yea," Gabe said, "And I think we have a good chance. The team we play today are kind of vets at this, but I think we can outplay them. Then we can finally shut Tahno and his gang up." Gabe took another bite, then continued, "Is it bad that getting one up on Tahno is really a motivating factor for me?"

OOC: The Boar-Q-Pines are not underdogs. In fact, I'm pretty sure they're really old, veterans of the sport. The Wolfbats are the underdogs, this is their first year.

*Ven shrugs.*
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*Euryale holds out her hand & an umbrella comes whizzing down the hall. She grabs it.*

"Got it."
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*It doesn't seem like an especially good deal, but there's nothing outrageous about it, like a lack of warranty.*

<Enjoy, Miss. Oh, & make the down payment.>

*He holds out his hand.*
================================
*Roatha frowns.*

"I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to. It's just...I don't know, I'll miss you if you're not there. That's all."

Astarte glanced up, then back down at her tea, "I want to be there... with you and the others. It's just..."
Small rippled appeared in her tea as the hand holding the cup shook slightly. She bit her bottom lip and tried to steady her hands.

<No, I've been thinking about murdering him.>

"You have a stone umbrella?" Mortal asked.

--

Noct flips open a checkbook and pulls out a tiny little pen. She writes a check for the down payment, and hands it over. "Keys," It is more a demand than a request, and Noct's hand is the one out this time.

--

Gabe chokes on some eggs, "Well, lets not go that far. I don't want you to even hit him. Pro-bending is a sport, not a collection of triads." She wiped away a small tear caused by her coughing and continued, "We're going to get our payback when we win, and that's it."

*He smells the check, puts it in his pocket, & pulls out the keys, handing them to her.*
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*Euryale opens the umbrella, exposing the shaft & such.*

"Metal."
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"What's wrong? I mean...currently. Not. In general."
=================================
"Do we have any kind of schedule?"

"It's just... I'm..." Astarte took a deep breath. "I want to go to the game and be with my friends but the thought of going outside and facing this city puts a pit in my stomach and chills me all over. I..."
She paused, her hands still trembling and her eyes fixed on her tea, "I'm a weak person. I don't know what to do besides barricade myself in here."

Noct takes them, actually slightly disgusted. Wordlessly, she walks away from the man, gets in her car, and begins on her drive home.

--

"Oh, that makes sense," Mortal said with a smile.

--

"Huh, oh, I'm sure I have one somewhere," Gabe said, standing up from her meal, and ducking into her room to retrieve the schedule. Anyone peeking in will notice that her bed is made, but the counter of her dresser is cluttered, and her floor is littered with everything ranging from shoes to jump rope and even an earth bending disk.

*Tirea peeks into the room*

<You have a lot of stuff in there.>

*Ven waits.*
===========================
*Presumably, Noctis arrives at her house.*
===========================
*And so they are walking to Astarte's, presumably huddled under an umbrella. Euryale is barefoot, which has to make one wonder what the point of the umbrella is.*
===========================
"That's not true. Anyone would be afraid with those Triad nutters out there. But we're getting really close to getting rid of them, I can feel it."

"Anyone might be afraid but you, Monudon and everybody else in the city can still operate," Astarte replied. "I can't even bring myself to eat something for the sick feeling I have. I just... don't know how I'm going to bring myself to step out of that door, or ever look a stranger in the eye again."

Mortal doesn't wonder this, because she's come to accept Euryale's weird barefoot thing, and is more interested in the fact that they're snuggling under an umbrella.

--

Noct parks her new car in the garage, and heads into her house.

--

Gabe comes back out, schedule in hand, "Uh, yea. I keep meaning to clean up one day but, you know, mid season and... uh, other things keep happening." Gabe sat back down after handing Ven the schedule.

*When they get to Astarte's door, Euryale knocks.*
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*By all appearances, the house is still empty.*
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*Roatha doesn't know what to say, but then there is a knock at the door.*
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*Ven looks over the schedule, to see what they have to do, & when.*

Noct remembered that she was without Ven and frowned, "Right." She lit out a sigh, and went up to her room to read a book at her desk.

Astarte looked up at the door, to Roatha, then to the door again, "Who's there?"

"Mortal and Euryale," Mortal said, "Would you mind letting us in? It is cold and raining."

Astarte hurried over to the door, pulled the chair away from it and opened the door.

*Ven is still trying to figure out what is on this schedule.*
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*As she steps inside, Euryale shakes her feet, so that the mud turns solid & falls away from her feet before she enters the house. She spots Roatha in the doorway.*

E"Hello, Astarte...oh, & Roatha...wait, are you eating pancakes?"

R"I was trying to trick Astarte into eating something. It didn't work. Want some?"

Since I'm not sure what the fuck is on the schedule Ven is just going to have to figure that shit out, or ask questions, because Gabe has gone back to eating her food.

--

Mortal walked in as well, "Hello you two. You know, Astarte, you really should eat something."

"Hello," Astarte said, then walked back over to the table. "I'm not hungry. Would you two like me to get you anything? Tea? More food?"

*Ven squints at the thing, turning it in every which direction. She even looks at the back, & holds it up to the light.*

"Um...this doesn't make any sense. When & where are our practice sessions?"
=========================================
*When Astarte says that she isn't hungry, Euryale looks to Mortal & frowns. She then returns to her neutral-kind-of-sulky expression, & turns back to Astarte.*

E"I'll be fine, thank you."

R"...I really can't eat any more of these pancakes."

"At the stadium, we have the earliest time slot," Gabe said, "It says so underneath the 'Gym Use' section on the front."

--

"We just ate," Mortal said, "So I'm not that hungry myself."

Astarte resumed her seat, "Well, please, take a seat if you like."