Callum + Nate, Nov 29

Nov 28 23:19:01 <Knave>	The American passtime - baseball. What could be more pure, on an afternoon like this? Of course, it was better with friends. Or anyone, really. In fact, the image of one huge dude in a batting cage, all alone with a Loisville slugger, is kind of sad. The methodical, regular thwack of Callum hitting the ball followed by the crash of it impacting with the cage wall can be heard from a fair distance. It's a wonder he hasn't broken any of the equipment yet.
Nov 28 23:28:33 <BobaFettuccine>	The thudding clop noise of hooves hitting the ground with a tremendous weigh behind them can be heard between the noises of bat on ball as Nate walks towards the batting cages. Normally he's not one for sports, just lifting weights is good enough for him usually. The nearly eight foot tall, horned, red, boy walks up near the guy who's already in the batting cages and watches him for a bit.
Nov 28 23:33:41 <Knave>	Callum affords the red man a glance and a nod on hearing the hoofs, then goes back to batting. The hits are something to behold, watching them. There's clearly immense strength behind the bat, and the cage is taking serious punishment. One might start believing they can see hitstop frames. Eventually, the pitching machine runs dry, and Callum rests the bat on his shoulder and takes a few steps towards the new arrival. He tips the brim of his hat - a Little Springs High School baseball cap - and smiles easily through the batting cage wall, looking up his face, "Hey there."
Nov 28 23:44:39 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate smiles back at Callum and gives him a little wave with one of his very large hands, if he were paying attention, Callum might notice that Nate's teeth are sharp... and serrated. "Howdy." He says with a slow southern drawl. Callum might also notice that this dude's eyes were yellow, and his pupils were horizontal like a goats.
Nov 28 23:47:54 <Knave>	After a few more seconds of looking blithely at Nate, he says, "Sorry if I'm staring. It's not often I get to look up at folks. Hold up." He steps to the door of the cage and leans his bat on the fence, coming out and up to Nate with his hand already extended to shake, "I'm Callum Ellis."
Nov 28 23:50:23 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate shakes Callum's hand with a grip that's firm, but a touch overly gentle, like he's afraid of hurting someone. "Nate Nicholson." Nate says with a little nod, his horns exaggerating the movement. "I understand the feeling, I ain't had to look up at nobody since the fifth grade." A slight chuckle.
Nov 28 23:55:06 <Knave>	Afraid to hurt people when you touch them - Callum feels a sense of kinship already. His smile broadens as he looks at Nate's chest, "Really, sorry, but this is a real novelty for me." He chuckles to himself. "You're so /tall./" He says, half whispered.
Nov 28 23:57:57 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate actually laughs at that rather than just chuckling. His laugh is a loud, booming thing. "Well, I reckon yer takin my looks better than most do." He says with a wide grin, placing his hands back into the front pocket of the dark blue hoodie that he's wearing.
Nov 29 00:01:08 <Knave>	Callum shrugs with his usual, easygoing smile, "I've been here a while now. I've seen stranger." He bobs his head to one side briefly, "Not many, granted, but some. Anyhow, my folks taught me not to judge by appearance." He leans on the cage, lacing his fingers in the chain links, and looks slightly uncertain, "D'you mind if I ask the obvious question?"
Nov 29 00:03:16 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate shrugs his broad shoulders, "Might as well, everybody does eventually." He says, not leaning against the cage, because it probably wasn't made to support over a half ton of weight.
Nov 29 00:06:07 <Knave>	"Are you actually a demon, then, or do you just look like one?" Callum gives a conciliatory smile at the end of the question, then adds, "Glasses notwithstanding, that is."
Nov 29 00:10:02 <BobaFettuccine>	"Far as I know, I'm a genuine mutant person." He says with a little grin, "When Ma had me at the county hospital I was just a reglar baby, only with red skin, rest of the weird didn't come till later." Nate gestures towards the batting cages, "That any fun? Always wanted to try it out." He asks.
Nov 29 00:12:30 <Knave>	"I like it." Callum shrugs, looking at the pitching machine, "It's simple. Ball comes at you, hit the ball. Kinda cathartic." He steps to the door and pulls it open, "Want to give it a shot?"
Nov 29 00:22:56 <BobaFettuccine>	"Sure, sounds good to me." He gives a little nod and ducks his head a bit to get his horns under the top of the doorframe. He picks up the bat and looks around. "Uh, do I need to load some balls into the machine?"
Nov 29 00:24:48 <Knave>	"I got you covered." Callum says, as he begins filling the machine back up, "How are you for taking hits, because I should maybe grab you a batting helmet-" He trails off with a look at Nate's horns, "Or maybe not." He looks up from the pitching machine, and nods at the bat in Nate's hands, "You know how to swing?"
Nov 29 00:26:42 <BobaFettuccine>	"Don't worry, I'm pretty tough." Nate says with a chuckle, "As fer swingin, well... Ya aim at the ball and try to hit it with the bat... right?" He gives a confused little look and a shrug.
Nov 29 00:27:51 <Knave>	"More or less." Callum shrugs back, "I'm not sure I really know hot to teach it anyway, so just go with your gut, I guess." He crouches by the machine, "You ready, slugger?"
Nov 29 00:29:16 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate raises an eyebrow at the word slugger but gives a little nod. "Alright, let er go." He says with a grin, taking what he thinks is a good batting stance.
Nov 29 00:30:41 <Knave>	Callum, having set the machine to give plenty of time between pitches, sets it to go, signalling with his hand so Nate knows when a pitch is coming. Then, he watches with the confident smile of someone who has never really been hurt by a stray ball.
Nov 29 00:37:02 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate swings at the first ball... and misses. He chuckles a little at his mistake before swinging again, putting more force behind it this time. There's a loud crack from baseball hitting wooden bat, then a whizz-crash noise of it flying through the air and slamming into the back of the cage. Not enough to actually damage the cage, because this place was almost certainly designed with those that have super-strength in mind, but still, if that had been a regular chain link fence it would probably either have a hole or a really deep dent in it.
Nov 29 00:40:35 <Knave>	Callum gives an appreciative whistle. "Very impressive." He picks the ball up from where it came to rest and spins it in his palm idly, "Feels good, right?"
Nov 29 00:45:31 <BobaFettuccine>	"Yeah, It's fun!" He says with a grin. He doesn't really get to let loose often and after testing the fence with a swing like that, now he knows that he won't send a runaway ball smacking into anyone past the cage. So the next ball that comes his way he swings as hard as he can. This time there's a much louder crack and he's left holding the broken stump of a baseball bat handle and there's an angry whizzing noise as a baseball speeds at Callum faster than any baseball was meant to go. Nate's expression of amused delight quickly turns to one of slightly shocked horror as he sees what he thinks is going to happen.
Nov 29 00:49:40 <Knave>	With speed that must come from the hindbrain rather than the conscious mind, Callum lets the ball in his hand drop to the floor and moves like lightning, his now-empty hand snapping around the ball and stopping it dead inside his fingers. He sways backwards from the catch, but remains steady on his feet. After a few moments of still silence, Callum opens his fist to reveal the remains of a baseball, torn apart by the speed of the shot and the impact of the catch, then lets it fall to the ground as he shakes his hand out. Then his brain seems to catch up fully with events and his eyes arrive crestfallen on the remains of his bat.
Nov 29 00:57:00 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate's eyes go wide and he looks down at the bat. "Oh god, I'm so sorry!" He says, looking like he'd just accidentally kicked a puppy or something. "I wasn't thinking I just hit it, I'm sorry man." He frowns a bit, "Can I get you a new one?"
Nov 29 01:00:09 <Knave>	Callum takes a deep breath in, thinking to shut off the pitching machine only after it sends another soft shot into the cage wall behind Nate with horribly comedic timing. "You don't have to. It's fine. Really." He breathes out, "That's kind of you to offer, though, but you really don't have to." Callum strides up the cage and picks the broken head of the bat up off the floor.
Nov 29 01:05:01 <BobaFettuccine>	"No," He shakes his head, "I broke it, it's my responsibility to do what I can, I'll get you a new one." He holds out the broken end of the bat still in his hand.
Nov 29 01:06:48 <Knave>	Callum pauses for a second, then takes the broken handle. "All right, then. Thank you." He tucks the mangled wood under his left arm, and looks at the machine, "Guess that cuts your batting session short then, huh?"
Nov 29 01:10:05 <BobaFettuccine>	"Guess so," Nate gives a little shrug, internally berating himself for not holding back on that last swing. "Again, I'm real sorry."
Nov 29 01:13:02 <Knave>	Callum claps a gentle hand on Nate's shoulder and shakes his head with a smile, "Really, don't sweat it. I've been there. Everything's made of paper mache and you can't always remember to wear kid gloves." Callum chuckles, "One time, back home, I tried to open a door for a girl, tore it right off."
Nov 29 01:19:27 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate chuckles, at that and nods. "I didn't get to have a locker, broke the door off of mine too many times. Though... Gals tended not to walk through doors if I was anywhere near em." A faint frown and a shrug. "Must've been my charming looks."
Nov 29 01:21:41 <Knave>	"Yeah, I'd say you're devilishly handsome." Callum grins back at Nate as he heads for the door of the batting cage, holding it open for him again, "We should do this again sometime, when we have stronger sticks."
Nov 29 01:28:23 <BobaFettuccine>	Nate laughs at the devilishly handsome comment, ducking out of the cage. "Yeah, I wonder if I can get one that doesn't break, maybe I can get someone to put magic on it or somethin. Sure there's somebody around here can do that."
Nov 29 01:30:22 <Knave>	"I don't doubt it." Callum nods, "I'm gonna go put this away, now," He holds up the remains of his bat, "But it was nice meeting you, Nate. I'll see you around." He touches his forelock with two fingers.
Nov 29 01:40:12 <BobaFettuccine>	"Nice to meet you as well, see ya." Nate nods a farewell at Callum and walks off in the other direction.
Nov 29 01:40:32 <Knave>	-Scene batted-