xp_logs | Darts are therapeutic. (Reply)

Down in the basement, Sarah stands on one side of the room, with five darts in her hands. She's farther back than one would be for a regular game of darts, but she still sends them sailing towards the middle of the board. The last one, however, bounces back from the force and lands on the concrete floor with a clatter.

While he wasn't exactly a practiced hand at darts, company seemed a more attractive prospect than skulking up in his room. It helped that it was Sarah who'd be keeping him company. Hands stuffed in his pockets, he pauses just outside the door to the boiler room, eyeing a slight discoloration in the form of a streak along the wall with a furrowed brow. Odd... smells like cigarettes, but Sarah doesn't use matches. Shaking it off, Shinobi lifts a hand so that he can lightly rap a fist against the door.

Sarah goes to retrieve the darts, opening the door and grabbing the darts from the board. "Come on in." She bends over briefly to grab the last dart on the floor, and smiles at him. "Thought you could use a little stress relief. And a break."

Shinobi grins slightly, briefly looking down before obediently taking the invitation and ducking inside. "Yeah, I could, though I kind of suck at darts. But thanks for yanking me away from the computer for a while."

"Welcome." She displays the darts in her hand, offering him one. "We don't have to, but I figured that throwing sharp pointy objects is theraputic. I'd know."

"It would be more therapeutic if I were throwing them at something other than a dartboard," Shinobi admits, eying the offered dart for a moment before giving a mental shrug and reaching out to take it. "But that would get me in rather a lot of trouble, and I can't really blame him, anyway."

"Let me tell you from experience. Yes. That's not such a good idea. Though, I certainly wouldn't mind helping." She smiles at him, and closes her hand around the other darts. "He shouldn't be able to treat you like that. I don't care _who_ he is, or how much he hates your father."

Shinobi smiles faintly, though he does arch an eyebrow, giving Sarah a wry look before turning his attention towards the dartboard. "Or how justified he is? All he's done is turned down a jacket, thus far.. not exactly the end of the world." But it still bothers him.

She shakes her head. "It's not that he turned it down, but the way he did it. He was a total asshole about it. _I've_ been nicer to people I don't like."

"It may just be the translation software.. it's not translating everything perfectly. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until it's obvious he's being an asshole. Of course, given he's a de la Rocha, I'd probably be better off saving myself the wait, but.. patience is a virtue." He shrugs a shoulder, grinning a little. "Besides, it gives me an excuse to come down here, doesn't it?"

"Like you needed one?" she laughs, and tugs on his sleeve. "Come on, I want to see how you throw."

"Good point." Grin widening, he glances between the dart and the board for a moment, letting out a sigh. "Alright, alright. In my defense, I haven't played darts in a very long time, so if I throw like a schoolgirl, please don't mock me too hard?"

Sarah's eyes widen, and she bites her bottom lip to hold back a grin. "Would I mock you?" She puts the darts on the desk, and leans against it.

"Yes. Yes, I think you would, and quite a lot, if only to toughen my skin for the next person who saw me throw like an utter pansy." Shinobi shoots Sarah a wink before lifting his dart, sighting down it a moment before letting fly. He doesn't throw like a girl, at least, but he hasn't played in a while - but hey. At least he hit the dartboard at all.

Sarah grins, and shrugs her shoulders, grabbing another dart from behind her and handing it to Shinobi. "Not bad. You throw better than a lot of people I've met."

"No mocking?" Shinobi grins, reaching back to accept the dart. After a moment's thought, he beams at her, just managing to keep from wiggling his eyebrows. "So, what do I get if I hit the bullseye, anyway?"

"I can't believe you expect me to mock you!" She says, her voice full of mock exasperation. She thinks for a moment, and then shrugs. "I'd hate to hurt your feelings when you don't hit the bullseye," she says with a wink.

"I expect everyone to mock or dislike me. Then I get to be pleasantly surprised on those occasions where they don't." With a shrug, he continues to beam, looking to the dartboard again and taking a bit more care in sighting this time. "You're a very thoughtful woman, Sarah, not wanting to hurt my feelings.. I should thank you for that somehow."

"I try," she deadpans. "Of course, if you go around telling the mansion I'm thoughtful, I'll have to kill you."

"Don't worry, the only one I've ever talked to about your being a normal human being is Paige, and she knew that already." This dart makes it a bit closer to the center, but alas, he's still off. "Should've bought myself a board when I picked up Emma's. Bah."

"Wonderful. My darling roommate will make sure the school knows before the end of the month." She hands him another dart, and throws up her hands. "My poor reputation is so fucked." There's a hint of playfulness in her whining.

"You give up far too quickly," Shinobi tuts, accepting the dart with a lopsided smile. "As soon as they start treating you like sunshine and puppies, you take them to one of Selene's parties and scar them for life. Reputation salvaged, problem solved."

"Not necessarily. Then I'm that thoughtful girl in the basement who goes to those really weird parties."

"Offer them balloon animals. Say they're cute. Then you'll be that crazy perverted girl in the basement who goes to those really weird parties."

"Wait... you mean I'm not?" She says with a laugh. "Remember, I'm the one who lures defenseless boys into the basement to play strip poker."

"Mm.. good point. Though I'd argue that strip poker does not a pervert make." Dart flies - another miss, and a brief scowl from Shinobi. "It's official. I suck."

"No, I guess you're right." She gives him the last dart, and smiles. "Last try, and then I get to show you how it's done." My, aren't we feeling evil today?

"Lesson four, how not to suck at darts? Or.. wait, no, that doesn't sound questionable enough.." Shinobi squints in thought, eyeing the dart and pursing his lips. "Lesson four.. how to hit the target? Something like that."

Sarah smirks. "Sounds dirty enough to be taught by the crazy perverted girl in the basement."

"Then it'll do. We'll just have to say it in a voice that inspires bad thoughts." With a sunny grin, Shinobi looks again to the dartboard, making a thoughtful noise. "Not that I consider them bad, exactly.."

"Bad in a good way." She watches him set up his throw and she breaks into a grin. "You know, it's a good thing I'm not trying to distract you."

"Given the ways you'd probably do it.. yes, it's a very good thing. You'd get a dart stuck in the ceiling or something." Intelligently, he lets the dart fly - and again miss the bullseye, much to his dismay - before he continues, turning to offer Sarah an amused look. "I thought you were supposed to fight dirty. Not going soft on me, are you?"

"Lesson number five. Do not challenge the girl who fights dirty." She stands up, and goes to grab the darts from the board again.

"Lesson number six. You can't always play things safe." Smiling lopsidedly, he moves to the desk, leaning comfortably against it as he settles in to watch Sarah take her turn.

She walks back, closer to the far wall, and takes a moment to aim before throwing her first dart. It may not be in the bullseye, but it's pretty damn close. The throws another, and this time, it does hit the bullseye. She smiles sweetly at Shinobi.

Shinobi mock-scowls at Sarah as she smiles at him, but there's definitely a grin underneath it. "I told you I sucked," he muses, loosely folding his arms across his chest.

"I've also been throwing sharp pointy things at targets since my mutation emerged. I've gotten a lot of practice." She throws the last three in quick sucession, and they hit, but not nearly as close as they would have if she'd been paying attention.

"Also that.. all I got practice doing with mine was sneaking out of the house once in a while." Shinobi shrugs, glancing down to his shoes.

"Well that comes in handy too," she says with a smile before walking over and taking a seat next to him on the desk. "I wouldn't mind being able to do that."

"Walk through walls, or sneak out of the house? Or both?" Shinobi tilts his head to the side, watching Sarah with a little smile.

"Both. Either. Use the one to do the other." She shrugs. "Instead I got the fucking reject mutation."

"There are lots of mutations like that, in different ways," Shinobi nods, briefly frowning before leaning over to give Sarah a quick kiss on the cheek. "For what it's worth, I like you just the way you are, bones be damned."

"You're just weird," she says, grin pulling slightly at the corners of her mouth. She intertwines her hand with his, for no better reason but the fact that she _can_.

"Good weird, or bad weird?" Shinobi grins, not minding having his hand taken in the slightest. "Or.. well, obviously good weird. Haven't gotten my ass kicked, have I?"

"The kind of weird that likes _me_." She doesn't say it in a necessarily derogatory tone, just matter-of-factly. And then she adds with a grin: "No, but you have gotten your ass kicked at darts. Does that count?"

"I suppose it does," Shinobi nods, grinning and giving her fingers a quick squeeze. "Besides, you're at least as weird as I am. You like _me_. _Nobody_ likes me. Tolerates, yes. Trusts, on a good day. But likes?"

"They're missing out." She says seriously, giving a slight nod after she says it. "And I don't like people easily. Ask anybody here, and they'd tell you."

"They're missing out, too," Shinobi counters, keeping his grin and briefly glancing towards the dartboard. "I don't think I can complain about having a near-monopoly on your good graces, though."

"I didn't think you'd mind." She smiles, and follows Shinobi's glance back to the dartboard. "Ready to try again?"

"Ready to get my ass kicked again, you mean?" Shinobi looks to Sarah again, grinning lopsidedly. "You'd have to let go of my hand for that, you realize."

"That's okay," she shoots back, "I plan on being distracting this time." Laughing, she gives his hand a squeeze before letting go.

"Oh, God. I'm so screwed." Shinobi groans, rubbing his face to hide a cheerful smile. "Alright, alright, one more round."

"What was that? Oh yes, lesson number five." She's still laughing, hands rubbing together in excitement.

"We're going to need to write a list at this rate. Can't have me forgetting my lessons." Shinobi grins, quirking an eyebrow amusedly.

"It's the lessons that are important, not the numbers," she says, nodding, "and somehow, I don't think you're going to forget those."

"Definitely not the first two," Shinobi nods, waggling his eyebrows at Sarah. After a moment's thought, he looks a bit embarassed, tilting his head slightly. "Did I mention that was my first kiss, incidentally?"

Hearing that is a bit of a shock to Sarah. She knew he's been sheltered... but hell, that's a mind-boggling concept to her. "Was it? Wow."

"You're my first _friend_, Sarah.. never had anything more than that, so of course it was." Shinobi grins, rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly.

She's heard this before, but the impact of this revelation still hasn't really hit her yet. Maybe later she'll think about it and realize just how sad it is. But right now, a little thrill runs through her like it did on Christmas. She smiles and leans forward a little. "They don't know what they're missing."

"So you keep saying," Shinobi says with a little smile, glancing up with a rather bashful expression. "I'll just have to take your word for it."

She nods. "And once they figure it out, I don't think I'll be inclined to share."

"Good. I don't do well with sharing, either." Shinobi's smile widens a bit. "You know us rich boys.. terribly greedy."

Laughing, Sarah scoots over so she can lean against him. "I've gone and gotten attached to a pretty-pretty rich boy. How the hell did I manage that one?"

"Just lucky, I guess," Shinobi grins, briefly hesitating before shifting an arm to loosely drape it around Sarah's shoulders.

"Looks that way, huh?" She sits there for a moment, and looks up with a grin. "I'm an awfully good distraction, aren't I?"

"A very good, very pleasant distraction," Shinobi confirms, mirroring the grin. "Far more fun than sucking at darts."

"Which is probably worse when you're sucking at darts against the so-titled 'Goddess of the throwy-things'. Several people in the mansion have discovered that."

"Goddess of the throwy-things," Shinobi repeats slowly, his brow furrowing in thought. "Pah.That's hardly a title that'll strike fear into the hearts of men and women everywhere. Hmm."

She's laughing again. "Jamie came up with it. They made some t-shirts for me when I first got here, as a sort of 'well, you're sort of scary, and cranky, but you kick ass at the carnival games and win us all stuff, so we like you' gift."

Shinobi grins, nodding thoughtfully and giving her shoulders a quick snug, because.. well, he can. "That does sound like Jamie, now that you mention it. Still, not so much with the fear-striking."

"No, not really. They left that up to me." She sits up a little straighter and looks at him. "And I can do a damn fine job of that when the mood strikes me. And sometimes when it doesn't."

"This is true," Shinobi nods, grinning a touch. "Do I get lessons in fear-striking as well, or is that not something that can really be taught?"

"Maybe, but much much later. You know, when you don't blush at everything."

"I'm working on it," Shinobi chuckles, grinning oddly and looking down to his lap.

"Good. We can't have you trying to be fearsome and blushing in the middle of it." She gives him a wicked look. "Though, I will enjoy coming up with new ways to try and make you blush."

"That would rather ruin the effect, wouldn't it?" Shinobi muses, looking up just in time to catch the wicked look full-on. "Oh, like that'll be hard," he scoffs, smiling sheepishly and rolling his eyes up towards the ceiling. "Not for a while, anyway."

"It'll still be fun," she grins, kissing his cheek. "I'd almost be willing to bet you'll have as much fun with it as I do."

"Oh, probably," Shinobi nods, managing not to blush at the peck on the cheek. "You've already corrupted me a bit, and it's been very fun thus far."

"Thought so." She snuggles back into him a little, and smiles. "You should come down to play darts more often."

He blinks as he's snuggled against, smiling lopsidedly and briefly glancing down. "Yeah, I think I should."