Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

[revenancemods]

Characters: All those who signed up for Struggle
Content: Struggle!
Location: Twilight Town, Sandlot
Time of Day: Morning
Warnings: It's a Struggle, so there's going to be at least some combat
Notes: The rules of Struggle are simple: Each player has 100 colored orbs attached to their gear (usually a vest and helmet). Knock off and gather your opponent's orbs while keeping your own. The person with the most orbs at the end of the time limit wins the round. Special powers (magic and such) are not allowed - the vanilla humans need a chance to win too. Have fun!

It's a bright sunny morning in Twilight Town - or would be if it had mornings to speak of - but that's not what has the town all abuzz. No, that would be the fact that today marks the start of the Struggle tournament. All are, of course, welcome to come, so the question is really a simple one: who out there is ready to Struggle?

Comments

[4letters4ninja]

Ziva laughed as she watched Fang pout, even as Fluffy was searching her hand for more popcorn. "I am pretty sure they have a miniature black hole in their stomachs, or something." She reached into the pocket of her jacket and tossed a treat at Abby, who was sitting patiently nearby.

"...Probably." Part of her brain was interested to watch his fighting form for training purposes later. And, another part was just waiting to watch Xion kick his butt.

[unrecovered]

Before Wash knew it, there was a smile growing on his face. Just a small one, but it was there nonetheless. Something about her laugh just warmed some small part of him and made him want to smile-

He caught himself and stopped, poker face snapping into place for a few moments before he realized that would stand out just as much as the smile and let it soften just a bit. He'd told York he could think about things, but he hadn't yet. He still wasn't sure he wanted to risk upsetting the status quo.

But right now they were here to watch York get beaten by a teenage girl, and Wash pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind for now. "Probably comes standard in the model," he commented, offering Fang a bit of popcorn. The bat immediately quit pouting and accepted the food with a squeak.

"Well, think about it," Wash nodded towards the arena. "Xion has one of those Keyblades and is good with it, skills she can use here. On top of that, York's going to hesitate because she's a teenage girl, and he still has to compensate for his blind spot. Unless he gets really, really lucky, he's not winning this."

[4letters4ninja]

Ziva wasn't paying attention, so she missed the change in facial expressions, focusing more on what was going on in the ring. She was still trying to figure out how the game worked and keep Fluffy from stealing the popcorn container.

"I would not be surprised." She said, tapping her bat on the ear again, letting him know she knew what he was up to. He made a huff like sound and turned so he was facing the sandlot this time. She shook her head. "I know I have seen this one eat more food in a day then I normally do."

Glancing back out to where the match was occurring, she smirked. "And I get this feeling that Xion would not like the hesitation." Meaning: York was really going to get his ass kicked.

[unrecovered]

That was probably his saving grace in this situation. Wash resolved to be more careful about it - he couldn't slip up in front of her.

"You know, I'm not surprised. I know Fang goes begging North for treats when he thinks I'm not looking." Fang looked up at him and squeaked innocently - who, me? Wash just rolled his eyes and scratched behind the bat's ears.

He glanced back up at the ring just in time to see York get slammed in the stomach with Xion's bat. He winced and then smirked. "I think you're right about that."

[4letters4ninja]

Ziva winced when she watched York get hit. Maybe he would learn not to underestimate Xion. Watching as he managed to get a hit in, she looked confused for a moment. She didn't get the point of this game, really. It wasn't even proper sparring in her eyes.

"Hopefully he has some strategy that will help."

[unrecovered]

Catching sight of Ziva's confused look, Wash spoke up. "The point is to knock the balls off your opponent and gather them. Person with the most at the end of the match wins." It had helped to read the rule book before the tournament, even if he wasn't competing. (And he wasn't going to touch that double entendre right now.)

"He might." Wash's smirk dropped to pensiveness, brow furrowed slightly, before breaking into a grin when he realized just what York's strategy was. "You've got to be kidding me," he commented, grin still on his face, before raising his voice. "You're running from a teenager! That's just embarrassing!"

[4letters4ninja]

A sly look and a chuckle from her. She'd been around Tony to pick up the secondary meaning to that. And for that moment, she was glad he wasn't around to make it worse.

She looked back towards the ring when Wash shouted, seeing York running away from Xion. Legit strategy, but hilarious nonetheless. She laughed at the commentary, until she heard York's comment. Date, huh? Well, she could play along with that.

She linked her arm around Wash's, leaning into him, smiling all the way. "It is going wonderfully!" She shouted back, laughing again for that moment. This was going to be fun.

[unrecovered]

Wash rolled his eyes, looking for a good response. Seriously, was that all York had? He opened his mouth-

And his brain shorted out entirely, eyes opening wide when Ziva was suddenly very close, arm linked around his and shoulder pressing up against him. He sputtered and his brain started back up again, racing frantically. What had she- what was she- she didn't really think- but were they- they'd shared popcorn and everything-

Oh God what if they were on a date?

He could feel the heat rising in his face and he scrambled for something to say that would defuse the situation or at least get the focus off of him. All he could manage was another choked noise. That wasn't going to help.

Well, either he'd started something with York and horribly lost (again, why did he keep doing that when he knew he couldn't win), or he actually had been on a first date with Ziva and just fucked it up.

Well.

Great.

[4letters4ninja]

Ziva covered her laughter with her other hand, knowing full well they weren't on a date. She was just being a pain. She leaned against him for a few minutes, then glanced up when she heard him make that choked noise.

At that point, she noticed he had turned an interesting shade of red. Her laughing stopped, and she sat up again, unlinking her arm from his. Fluffy was giving her a weird look, and she made one back at him, trying to play everything off as if nothing happened.

"I apologize." She said a few minutes later, when it seemed no one was paying attention. "I hope I did not make you uncomfortable." And now she hoped she hadn't messed anything up.

[unrecovered]

Ziva let him go and Wash spent the next few minutes trying to remember how to breathe. There was no point in trying to save face, as he was pretty certain he'd reacted too noticeably for that; his only option was damage control, though he didn't think he could manage much of that either.

He also tried to quiet the tiny part of his brain that commented that it wouldn't have minded if they really were on a date - aside from the whole "fucking it up" part, that was.

"It's- i-it-" He stopped, stumbling over his words. He'd figured out breathing just fine, but speaking with any level of coherence was evidently still beyond his capabilities. "It's not- I mean, I'm not- I mean I, uh-" He was cut off by Melody rising to her hind legs and very firmly placing her paws over his mouth. Hush, person. You're only making it worse.

[4letters4ninja]

Ziva kept her eyes down while waiting for Wash to recover, watching as Fluffy tried to plot a grab for the popcorn container again. Blanking out her mind, she tried not to think of the fact she may have messed up the friendship or more they had so far.

"It is fine." She watched as Melody stepped up to shush Wash as he stuttered for a moment, sighing. At least she had a somewhat ally in this. Standing abruptly, she grabbed her spirit before he fell off her lap. "I will be right back." She needed to step away before she said, or did, something else to possibly screw things up more.

[unrecovered]

Wash started slightly as Ziva stood. That wasn't what he was expecting- that wasn't what he wanted. He couldn't protest with Melody's paws still pressed against his mouth, but he still reached for her, a half-hearted gesture that was aborted halfway through - she was gone before he started.

Melody sat down in his lap again and Fang nudged his leg, squeaking quietly. It'll be okay! Really it will! You're friends, right? So it'll be fine. Melody took his cue and meowed her own encouragement. Wash just sighed, closing his eyes. "Dammit," he murmured. "Just- dammit." It had been a joke, and he'd overreacted, and he just couldn't shake the feeling that he'd finally had something good and had just broken it.