( She agrees skeptically, doubtful. She was pretty bad. Not die in the first thirty seconds bad, but she's clearly got no instinct for video games.
Rather than feebly standing here letting him mop up her ego, she gives his shoulder a light shove and jerks her head toward the grumpy lady in the booth. )
Come on. Let's pay money to wear other people's shoes so I can kick your ass in them.
( Still a bold proclamation, but throwing something heavy to knock a bunch of shit over seems way more in her wheelhouse. She'll even dig out enough money to cover them both for the first round. )
Nah, man, Iām serious. Iāve seen some pretty abysmal eight year olds in my time.
[ Punctuated with a grin and a tilt of his head, because he feels comfortable talking a little shit if Laura is willing to critique her own gameplayā¦which was genuinely really badā¦Besides! Heās well aware that his bowling score is going to be even worse, so theyāre on even ground here. ]
Hey, Iām not arguing.
[ Hands behind his back, he tilts at he woman behind he counts again as they pass, following after Laura to collect their borrowed shoes. ]
Just, uh, donāt try to literally take me out with a fourteen pounder, ākay?
( Eight year olds earns him a flat look ā okay, jerk. Keep trash-talking. Soon they'll be even. )
I make no promises.
( She has her pride to recover, after all.
They pick their shoes. Pick a lane. She takes her time swapping out her chucks for the battered brown ugly lane shoes, and while she's still working at the laces, jerks her head toward the pins. )
You go ahead, let me watch. Keep it consistent, right? I've never done this, either.
( Definitely not because victory will taste sweeter if she goes second. )
[ Eddie being who he is doesnāt even swap his shoes out. He peers over his shoulder to be sure the woman behind the glass is satisfied now that theyāve paid. When heās satisfied she isnāt looking, he deposits the ugly brown bowling shoes on the bench and doesnāt even attempt to untie his battered docs. Lane shoes are supposedly for the bowlerās own safety, but itās not like theyāve ever helped him.
Keep it consistent. He snorts, looking highly doubtful, but he nods. ]
I mean, I make no promises, but alright. Just, uhā¦watch out.
[ Sheās absolutely about to sweep him in this one, but heās willing to put in his best attempt simply because sheās never played before. If heās lucky, very lucky, sheāll be even worse than he is. But he already knows that isnāt the case.
He selects his ball and approaches the line, rolls his arm back and lets the ball go. He doesnāt lose his grip on it or accidentally send it flying backward, thank god, but it drifts to the left as it rolls down the lane, only knocking own a single pin when it reaches the end. He squints and grimaces. ]
I meanā¦not even gonna lie to you, thatās kind of better than my usual.
( As tempting as it is to follow his lead and skip the bowling shoes for her chucks, she's here for the full experience. That means figuring out what the deal is with the weird ugly brown shoes, too. It's the little details about this that fascinate her; it's all so silly and alien as a concept. She may or may not be tempted to smuggle these shoes away in her bag when they leave ā not to wear, but as a little token. A souvenir.
There stands she quite suddenly by his shoulder when he finishes his throw, arms crossed assessingly over her chest, a single eyebrow arched as only one pin falls.
If she's wearing a face very similar to the one he wore at her a minute ago, surely that's just coincidence. )
[ Eddie may or may not encourage her to smuggle the shoes out. You know, for moral support. He rebels by not wearing them at all, she can rebel by stealing them for a little souvenir. ]
What can I say? I worked hard to get where I am.
[ He knows sheās not seriously complimenting him. Thereās not exactly anything to compliment, but he grins and sweeps into a bow regardless. His poor bowling skills donāt exactly seem to bother him. ]
Iāll do one more so you can see how itās really done and then, uh, itās your turn to take on the master of the gutterball. āKay?
[ He collects his ball from the return while the pins reset. He approaches the line again, pulls his arm back, and this time, he really does get a gutterball. ]
( Okay. It's official. If she didn't already like him before, that good-humored bow firmly secures his place in her good books. He's funny. It's sweet. She's known him for ten minutes but if anything happened to him she'd kill everyone in this bowling alley and then herself.
The gutterball earns exactly two slow claps. Nailed it. Score.
The good news is, she's pretty sure she got the general idea of the whole thing.
The other good news is, she's stronger than the average person. Bowling balls don't really weigh all that much.
The other, other good news is that she has incredible aim.
All of this to say, when it's her turn and she steps up to the plate to fling that ball down the alley, every single one of those fucking pins goes down. Every single one. )
Is this the part where I say checkmate or something?
[ Eddie watches as Laura launches the ball, leaning slightly to the side to watch as every single last pin falls with a loud crash. He certainly expected that she would play a better game than his own, but that bar is in the lowest circle of hell. He wasnāt exactly expecting an immediate strike with, as far as he can tell, pretty excellent form. That ball was straight as an arrow and didnāt waver from its path once.
Heās not not proud of his role as Master of the Gutterball, but sheās really gonna wipe the floor with him and not even make it look like an accident. ]
Okay. Jesus Christ. I think you found your calling. Are you really gonna make me humiliate myself after that?
š lmao i think we can fade to black around here? extremely successful bowling trip.
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satanicpanics) wrote2025-05-14 05:18 pm
no subject
( She agrees skeptically, doubtful. She was pretty bad. Not die in the first thirty seconds bad, but she's clearly got no instinct for video games.
Rather than feebly standing here letting him mop up her ego, she gives his shoulder a light shove and jerks her head toward the grumpy lady in the booth. )
Come on. Let's pay money to wear other people's shoes so I can kick your ass in them.
( Still a bold proclamation, but throwing something heavy to knock a bunch of shit over seems way more in her wheelhouse. She'll even dig out enough money to cover them both for the first round. )
no subject
[ Punctuated with a grin and a tilt of his head, because he feels comfortable talking a little shit if Laura is willing to critique her own gameplayā¦which was genuinely really badā¦Besides! Heās well aware that his bowling score is going to be even worse, so theyāre on even ground here. ]
Hey, Iām not arguing.
[ Hands behind his back, he tilts at he woman behind he counts again as they pass, following after Laura to collect their borrowed shoes. ]
Just, uh, donāt try to literally take me out with a fourteen pounder, ākay?
no subject
I make no promises.
( She has her pride to recover, after all.
They pick their shoes. Pick a lane. She takes her time swapping out her chucks for the battered brown ugly lane shoes, and while she's still working at the laces, jerks her head toward the pins. )
You go ahead, let me watch. Keep it consistent, right? I've never done this, either.
( Definitely not because victory will taste sweeter if she goes second. )
no subject
Keep it consistent. He snorts, looking highly doubtful, but he nods. ]
I mean, I make no promises, but alright. Just, uhā¦watch out.
[ Sheās absolutely about to sweep him in this one, but heās willing to put in his best attempt simply because sheās never played before. If heās lucky, very lucky, sheāll be even worse than he is. But he already knows that isnāt the case.
He selects his ball and approaches the line, rolls his arm back and lets the ball go. He doesnāt lose his grip on it or accidentally send it flying backward, thank god, but it drifts to the left as it rolls down the lane, only knocking own a single pin when it reaches the end. He squints and grimaces. ]
I meanā¦not even gonna lie to you, thatās kind of better than my usual.
no subject
There stands she quite suddenly by his shoulder when he finishes his throw, arms crossed assessingly over her chest, a single eyebrow arched as only one pin falls.
If she's wearing a face very similar to the one he wore at her a minute ago, surely that's just coincidence. )
Nice one.
( Literally. One. )
no subject
What can I say? I worked hard to get where I am.
[ He knows sheās not seriously complimenting him. Thereās not exactly anything to compliment, but he grins and sweeps into a bow regardless. His poor bowling skills donāt exactly seem to bother him. ]
Iāll do one more so you can see how itās really done and then, uh, itās your turn to take on the master of the gutterball. āKay?
[ He collects his ball from the return while the pins reset. He approaches the line again, pulls his arm back, and this time, he really does get a gutterball. ]
no subject
The gutterball earns exactly two slow claps. Nailed it. Score.
The good news is, she's pretty sure she got the general idea of the whole thing.
The other good news is, she's stronger than the average person. Bowling balls don't really weigh all that much.
The other, other good news is that she has incredible aim.
All of this to say, when it's her turn and she steps up to the plate to fling that ball down the alley, every single one of those fucking pins goes down. Every single one. )
Is this the part where I say checkmate or something?
no subject
[ Eddie watches as Laura launches the ball, leaning slightly to the side to watch as every single last pin falls with a loud crash. He certainly expected that she would play a better game than his own, but that bar is in the lowest circle of hell. He wasnāt exactly expecting an immediate strike with, as far as he can tell, pretty excellent form. That ball was straight as an arrow and didnāt waver from its path once.
Heās not not proud of his role as Master of the Gutterball, but sheās really gonna wipe the floor with him and not even make it look like an accident. ]
Okay. Jesus Christ. I think you found your calling. Are you really gonna make me humiliate myself after that?
š lmao i think we can fade to black around here? extremely successful bowling trip.
I guess not.
( This makes them even, anyway. They both got trounced at something, they both did some trouncing. All in all, she'd call this mission a success.
Instead, she nudges him lightly with an elbow and says: )
Come on, let's go get some food instead.
( Everybody wins with food. )