[IC] Verthaven: Moved to a higher level of existence

[Luminous Beings]

s

[Punished GN]

---

Jennifer Marissa Caspin, & Meifeng VuHong

_@ToadRopes

Toro y Moi - High Living

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Ratchet managed to get Jennifer out of her little... rut. "... Oh, uh, yeah, uh!" Jenny said, scratching the back of her neck as she turned back towards Ratchet and her group. Face still red. She quickly regained her composure, and ran her hands down her ponytail - as she thought about the answer to Ratchet's question. Well, she hasn't played Smash lately (For obvious reasons), but she did like Little Mac, and Megaman. "I like playing as Megaman." Jennifer calmly said, sliding her weight to one side. Though... her answer felt a little limp compared to how Ratchet started off. She nervously scratched the back of her neck again. "I like the way he plays, and all the ranged attacks he has. A like Little Mac too..." She was unsure of how to drag on the conversation.

Oh dear, they're talking about their nerd stuff. Meifeng thought to herself, as she looked to the side, with a cheeky smirk on her face. Well, honestly, she had high-hopes for Ratchet until she started on about videogames. Don't get her wrong, she enjoyed playing games with Jen - just that she (And probably this girl) needed to get out more. There's more to life than videogames... like fighting, people, and enjoying the great outdoors. Not that she was going to tell them that. She rather not shatter their fragile worlds, at least not yet. Meifeng figured that she'd direct the conversation in her favor. "Oh? Marching bands? That's cool." Not really. She said, insincerely. She looked over at Eva for a moment, before confidently looking at Ratchet. "I used to do a lot of volleyball too when I was younger...." Oh, wait! That gave her an idea! Meifeng dropped the gym bag that was hanging off her shoulder, and unzipped it. Inside was various necessities: a change of clothes, a beach towel... and a volleyball. She pulled out the volleyball, and looked around - these damn beaches must have a court somewhere - until her eyes rested on a volleyball net. She turned back towards the girls with a devious smirk. "... I think i know how we'll spend our time at the beach." She declared. She threw the volleyball into the air - spinning.

This got Jennifer's attention as she turned right to Meifeng, "Oh? How?"

The ball was caught by Meifeng the second it descended, and she spoke the very second it hit her hands, "... Isn't it obvious?" She held the ball above her head. "We gonna play some volleyball, girls. Who's-" Right before she could even finish her boast, she was cut off by a guy walking up behind her, and speaking.

"Hey, girls!" He said, in a deep voice. Which made Meifeng turn around (And the other girls look at him), and take a step back in order to get some distance. He was Caucasian, slim, and had a head of chestnut-brown hair. He was wearing blue swim trunks with yellow flowers on them. "I thought you girls looked a little lonely, so I decided to give you a little company. So what are ya'll up to?"

... Oh boy. Jennifer thought to herself as she looked up at the new comer. It was just some random guy. That was kind of the problem. Jen knew his type, and knew that he only wanted to get some "beach babes". She looked down, and thought that she didn't look all that much like a beach-babe in this outfit. Guys like him are just trouble - but the problem is when you mix people like Meifeng in. That's how things get heated. Jen kept her mouth shut - she didn't know what to say.

Reaching down and picking up her gym bag, Meifeng brushed her braided pony-tail behind her. She turned towards the man, and calmly said, "Nothing, but we're about to go play some volleyball." She put both hands on the volleyball as she stepped aside. "... No boys allowed." She said, shaking her head.

"Ooooh, c'mon! Can't I join your little group?"

"Nope." Meifeng blankly said.

[ToadRopes]

Injae Park

@Mr Allen J

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"MegaMan and Little Mac, huh?" Ratchet asked. "Nice. I can never get Little Mac right; I don't see how the Internet thinks he's OP. I always end up side-specialing off the edge whenever I play him..." She rolled her eyes. "Rosalina, I understand. Though I think they nerfed her a bit too much. I don't play For Glory very much, though; I'm more of a Mario Kart person. In fact, I'm a car person in general. I help out in my dad's auto shop back in Black Fall; I've been around machines since, oh, geez, way back when I lived in Amherst."

Ratchet would probably have prattled on and on about model cars and real cars and derbies and engines had she not noticed the somewhat distracted look on Meifeng's face.

Ratchet caught the twinge of disdain in Meifeng's voice upon addressing the topic of marching band. She decided to let it slide (like a trombone), though made a mental note to show Meifeng sometime the Bluecoats' 2014 show, Tilt, to clear up any misconceptions. "Yes, it's far beyond that hokey march-along-and-play-the-song business you see in theme parks. Especially in the big-league drum corps," Ratchet said. "Volleyball, eh? I remember doing a unit on that in middle school. Hurt my wrists. Though, that's not how I got this thing," she continued, waggling her fiberglass wheel-forearm. "Engine block crushed my left forearm. Had to get it amputated. Though I didn't settle for a simple fake arm. This, believe it or not, is much more useful. I'm glad I didn't make it out of iron, though; imagine lugging around a chunk of metal the size of a human forearm every day! Yikes!" Ratchet blinked. "Oh, sorry. Volleyball. I suck ass at it."

Ratchet shrugged. "I can get a little bit rattly-prattly if I'm allowed to talk about a subject I'm interested in. Don't correct me, I usually catch it. When I don't, it means that I don't want to catch it." She smirked.

Meifeng spotted a volleyball net as Ratchet spoke. She turned back to Jen and Ratchet, throwing her volleyball spinning into the air and declaring, "I think i know how we'll spend our time at the beach."

"Oh? How?" asked Jen.

"... Isn't it obvious? We gonna play some volleyball, girls..."

Ratchet didn't really remember the rules all that well. Thankfully, the banter between the awkward boy and Meifeng allowed her to slip out her iPhone and look up the game on Wikipedia for a minute.

She thought to herself. Totally gonna get rekt. Honestly don't care.

"Alright, let's get this over with. I'm obviously at a serious disadvantage with my robo-arm. Don't bother going easy on me; I know I'm gonna get mopped," Ratchet said nonchalantly, answering a text from Winston and putting the phone back in her overalls pocket.

[Punished GN]

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Jennifer Marissa Caspin, & Meifeng VuHong

_@ToadRopes

---

Meifeng didn't notice Ratchet's... prosthetic arm until she mentioned it. On cue, Meifeng slightly leaned off to the side and noticed the non-biological limb that was on Ratchet's arm. She didn't know what it was made out of, but she was really wondering how Ratchet lost it. Arms don't fall off, after all. She'd ask, but that's a quick way to get someone's dark and tragic past - and no one has time for that. For now, all that was on Meifeng's head was playing some volleyball. She shrugged, and turned towards the volleyball court, and said, "Let's go, girls, there's fun to be had." In her usual thick Chinese accent. She completely ignored the boy, since she didn't want to catch the cooties anytime soon... Her mom would kill her. Oh yeah, they should probably make the most out of this beach trip before she shows up. Eh. There's plenty of time before she gets off work, so her mind should be fixed on all the fun, fun, fun, they'll be having.

The boy said something, but Meifeng didn't listen, she just skipped her way over to the volleyball court. She dropped her gym bag right at the side of the rack (So she can keep an eye on it). She slid the volleyball underneath her arm, and started walking towards them. She clapped, and grinned widely. "Alright, let's get down to business... You two are gonna be against me." She cheekily began. She was going to have some fun here. Only problem was that there was only three of them. That isn't enough for a good game for volleyball - but she better let the newbs go against her... or just let them play for a bit. She should teach them a few things so they'd have some semblance of knowing what they're doing. "Alright, a few pointers. I'm going to start with bumping. First you put your arms like this..." She put her arms together, balled one fist, then wrapped her fingers around her other hand. Outstretching her arm far as it could go, the volley ball rolled onto her forearms. Before putting her feet shoulder width apart, and bending her knees. "You see this stance? You get into something like this, because it's one of the most important stances of Volleyball."

Jen never played volleyball before - and had no intentions to before Meifeng brought it up - but that seemed simple enough. She mimicked the stance that Meifeng did, arms together, outstretched, and hands were positioned the same way that Meifeng did it. "... Like this?" She asked Meifeng.

Then she tilted her arms down to allow the ball to fall into an open palm, and then stood straight up. She stepped over to Jen, and put a finger on the top of her head and gently pushed her down, "... Just drop your knees." Which Jen immediately did. "Alright, let's give it a shot... Remember, you're supposed to hit the ball with your forearms." Meifeng quickly dropped her knees, and got into a similar stance than before. She held the ball with one hand, and lowered the ball below her waist. She balled her other fist, and hit her right fist against the underside of the ball, and naturally, the ball went flying upwards. "Go!"

Despite waiting for this moment, Jen was rather blindsided by the whole thing. She just moved, she ran over to it, and tried to get the ball into her forearms. She wasn't fast enough, and the ball merely graced her arms as it hit the ground and landed in the sand. "... Sorry."

Meifeng facepalmed, and let out a sigh. Jesus, Jen messed a practice run up. She bent over, and grabbed the volleyball off the ground. She then turned to Ratchet, and asked, "Your turn, think you can try that?"

[ToadRopes]

Injae Park

@Mr Allen J

---

As she watched Jen attempt to receive the volleyball, Ratchet folded her arms, eyeing the ball's path. When the ball slipped out of Jen's arms, Ratchet didn't judge; after all, this was Jen's first time.

Ratchet shrugged. Ever since THE ACCIDENT, Ratchet wasn't very handy at these two-arms-required things. That's why she doesn't play golf or something. She placed the key into the slot, locking her wheel in place, then clasped her right hand over the stationary wheel. At least it won't hurt as much; my false arm doesn't have nerve endings...

"Hey, I'll give it a go," Ratchet said. "Again. I'm going to get creamed, mind you, but hey, any bit of fresh air is good. You know, we had a unit on this at my middle school. I was a pretty meh player (partially 'cause P.E. wasn't my most interesting class). Though I suppose I can handle a serve."

She copied the stance that Meifeng had shown her, refreshing her vague, piecemeal memory of the game's (very basic) technique.