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 Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2025 5:47 pm
He was, and it was only having all the air knocked out of him that kept him from having his own turn at the profanity thesaurus. And while it may have been true that he had played up the wheezing and how out of shape he was, there was also unmistakably a certain creaky-lunged tail on the sound of him catching his breath from where he was currently horizontal, so it must have been at least partly genuine. He held up a "wait a second" finger, managing to croak out in that smoker's cough: "You win, no need to rub it in." He made no move to rise, but perhaps that, too, was only because he was on the wrong side of thirty to be landing on the ground at full speed. Instead, he actually patted himself absently, and then made an inexplicable gesture, made sense of by his follow up complaint: "I forgot I'm trying to quit and left the ******** at home," he said, apparently alluding to the cigarettes he wished he had at that moment, and apparently having planned to smoke one right there on the ground. Maybe it was just more comfortable there.
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2025 2:55 pm
Saiph had rolled to the ground, not far from where she'd laid Maus out, and simply remained there. The ground wasn't so uncomfortable that she needed to try and forced herself up from her prone position, which mean that she could rest and catch her own breath. And hope that she hadn't accidentally murdered Maus. But no. She could hear him wheezing and kept her commentary confined to a single soft snort. She did turn her head to be able to look at him when he croaked out that she'd won. And, as she'd had zero plans to rub her victory in his face, she simply raised one arm into the air and curled her hand into a thumbs up. A moment later, she forced herself to sit up a little and reached into subspace. Soon enough she was withdrawing a couple of Capri Suns, fruit punch of course, because she wasn't a ******** heathen, and tossed on onto the fallen knight. She popped the straw into her own and drained it in seconds. Feeling slightly better, she twisted slightly, where she sat, and tried to see her side where the swing had hit. Unfortunately, she couldn't see a thing though she could feel plenty. And it felt like hell. "Do I have a bruise?" she asked, shifting slightly so Maus only needed turn his head to look "I'd really like to have a story ready for my mother if I do and she sees it." See, absolutely no rubbing in her victory or even mentioning that he owed her a week of joint training. She could be magnanimous.
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2025 3:20 pm
"Not yet," he said, "but it might. My advice would be to tell her you were on that damn phone and walked into a bike rack. She'll be too busy lecturing you about the damn phone and situational awareness to get suspicious." He said this while nursing his own Capri Sun in what was more of a sip, as if this were some gourmet offering to be savored. He paused, however, and added: "I never actually agreed to your terms."
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2025 3:45 pm
And we were doing so well, Saiph thought, turning her eyes downward so he wouldn't see them rolling back into her skull. However, given that he'd at least provided an idea of something to tell her mother, she was willing to try and remain somewhat friendly. "I hate lying," she said. "Makes me stomach knot up something awful. Hopefully I can keep it hidden. Guess I'll find out." She badly wanted to point out that he hadn't followed any of the rules for spontaneous bet making. He'd run off before they could shake and finalize things after all. But after everything, she was not in the least bit shocked that he appeared to be trying to weasel out. And at this point? ******** it. Let him. She'd take solace in the fact that she'd literally knocked him on his a**. "What the hell ever, dude," she murmured, laying back and pillowing her head against her forearms. Her eyes were already searching the sky, landing on one pinprick of light in particular. Jaw clenching slightly, she kept looking up. "Do whatever the hell you want. I really have no desire to litigate a damned silly bet. Show up here or don't, I don't really think I care at the moment." Maybe it was a sort of lie and she did care but was tired of trying. Or she really didn't give a damn and had decided to make this playground her own private training ground that others could come and play or not.
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2025 3:58 pm
He hauled himself to his feet, dusting himself off and crumpling up the empty Capri Sun in one hand. "Good," he said. "Everyone cares a little too much about the things that don't matter, like that can make up for not being able to do anything about the rest of all the s**t. Like you can just transpose the caring to where you're effective and pretend that's enough." This had no tone of lecture. He sounded, if anything, faintly tired, as if relaying something he himself had learned the hard way. He coughed into his fist as he straightened up and turned to go. "Apathy is some kinda trap, but this is probably one of those things that it's not worth caring about."
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2025 4:45 pm
Without taking her eyes from the sky, Saiph pulled one hand out from under her head and waved it dismissively in the air. She did not need or want anyone telling her what she should or should not care about. She knew what mattered to her. And she'd head home once she was sure that Maus was gone. She needed quiet to settle her thoughts. And really, was the opinion of an out of shape, chain smoker really that critical in her life? Probably not.
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