2024-12-09 - Totally Easy Play

While the basketball court can be fairly busy on any given day as employees and their families game it out, today it's mid-morning and unless you had a day off or worked the early shift it's at that point where it's not busy at all. There's a lone sound of a basketball thudding in a timely dribble across the court as a single individual is out there playing hoops. That's the great thing about basketball; it can be a team sport or it can be something done alone - if anything it's practice.

The lone figure belongs to a goth looking guy. He's wearing a black tank top paired with black bermuda shorts that somehow he's attached chains too making him look punk goth despite the fact he's throwing hoops. He's wearing skater shoes as well, not the best athletic gear, but then there's no one else to really worry about. His hair is pulled back in a half-up-half down hairstyle, though his ponytail is only a few inches so it sticks out like a rat tail. Most of his accessories are not being worn right now, save for the piercings in ears, nose, and lip.

He dribbles the ball and then does a leg lift to do a layup in attempts to get the ball in and for a moment it the ball does a ring around the hoop but spirals out, sending him back out to chase. Once he connects with it he pivots around and tries for a jump shot. The second throw is a bit better and the ball goes in the hoop but not cleanly. He's been at it a while since he wipes his forehead and stalks after the ball where it rolls off to the side of the court.

A day off? Well maybe it's just that kind of day for Thomas as well. The lighting tech comes ambling along the edge of the fencing, his head down as he hums along with whatever song is currently playing in his earbuds. He's not paying a lot of attention to where he's going, light jacket thrown over a t-shirt and jogging pants. A hand slides up to ruffle through his hair, and as his head lifts he catches the movement of Jett on the court.

Thomas's lips curve upwards in a grin and he redirects himself, pulling his earbuds out and letting them dangle by the wire that pokes out of the top of his t-shirt as he heads for the gate to the enclosure. "Hey dude!" he calls to Jett as he pushes through the door. "Looking for another? Wasn't expecting to see anyone out here, y'know? Didn't bring my own ball or anything, but since you're here..." he offers, wiggling long fingers at Jett. "No worries if you're not, man, sometimes it's better alone, yeah?"

Jett swoops down to scoop up the ball and pin it to his side as he takes a minute to catch his breath, about the same time that Thomas is calling out through the fence. Jett up nods to Thomas in answer to the hey dude, watching Thomas as he starts to idly pass the ball between his hands. He sort of assesses what Thomas is about from where he stands; first impressions and all.

"Chasing after the ball is easier with two," Jett responds with a friendly tone but it's noticeably on the deadpan side even so, letting the ball smack to the ground so he can dribble it a few times before he up nods again with some indication he's going to pass the ball, which he does with a quick pop of his wrists. "I haven't seen you around..." which is possible considering there's like many thousands of employees that fill the park, "I'm Jett."

Thomas laughs as he gives another wiggle of his fingers at Jett. "Yeah, it's a lot easier," he agrees, his hands coming up to easily catch the ball. He awkwardly juggles it between his hands as he sheds his jacket before threading his earbuds out under his t-shirt and tossing the lot to the side. He grins now that he can get both hands on the ball before he dribbles it against the ground, testing the bounce of it as he heads up the court towards Jett.

"Thomas," he introduces himself as he gets a little closer. "Nice to meet you man. I work on the lights over at the Haunted Estate," he offers with a tilt of his head, feinting to the left before he tries to go right instead.

Jett does watch Thomas as he makes his way to the middle of the half court, getting into a bit of a crouch as he waited for Thomas to get into position at center court. "Yeah, likewise," his arms go up a bit as he prepares to defend the court. As for where Thomas works Jett notes, "I should probably go back there one of these days. I rarely get off mystic mountain anymore. I work at the games in the midway," he says by way of conversation to narrow down where one another works.

Jett grins immediately when he realizes he screwed up and took the bait to go to the left and has to scramble to catch up. Thomas has a good shot for the hoop though, since he got suckered in off the get go.

Thomas grins as he dodges around Jett, somehow managing not to trip over his own feet. He's no expert, and it's clear from the way he's dribbling that he's rusty, but he speeds up the court and takes a shot for the hoop, cheering as it bounces off the backboard and goes through. "Eyyy, nice!" he says, retrieving the ball and passing it to Jett before he jogs back towards the center of the court.

"Midway huh? I should come by there sometime. Feels like there's so much of the park I haven't seen, y'know?" he says, his hands resting on his hips as he watches the other man, head tilting to the side. "Enjoy it?"

Jett clods after Thomas with a short grunt for his efforts of blocking Thomas but watching the ball go in regardless, "Good one." He accepts the ball back and dribbles it back up the court in a lazy jog since he's been out here playing for a bit.

"Yeah," Jett confirms with a shrug, "I man all sorts of games. Balloons, balls, bottles..." he gets up to the line for the half court rules and mindlessly seems to dribble while looking which way he wanted to get to the basket, assessing as he answers, "I do actually. I've been here for over a year and a bit now. I get to meet a lot of different people. Hell, I got to tag along with a tourist the other day and hit the rides." He up nods, "How about you? Your gig seems a little behind the scenes..?'

"Thanks," Thomas says with a crooked grin to Jett. "I keep limber, y'know?" he says with a grin. "Gotta do it before I get too old and start slowing down," he says with a loud laugh, stretching his arms behind his back, watching the way Jett dribbles the ball.

"Yeah, I love it man, not been here a whole year yet, so this is my frist Christmas, y'know?" he says happily. "Love what I've seen of it so far! Even taken some time to go on the rides as well, yeah," he agrees with a quick nod, shifting from one foot to the other. "But I like being back of house, huh? It's fun to set things up and let them go."

"Sure," Jett replies to the keeping limber, however at the second part he scoffs a bit, "You're like what... twenty two?" He is throwing it out there simply because what he sees does not align with what perhaps reality is. Who knows. Age is a little wonky to sort out on looks alone.

"That's cool. It'll be my second but probably the first I give a fuck about you know?" He then scoffs, "Well not really. I'll be working through it. Someone has too and there's no reason for me not to." Jett has a sort of grounded tone of voice and is not entirely being deadpan through it all but he's not overly expressive right now. "Yeah? You gotta try the gryphon coaster if you haven't already. That's my favorite."

Jett goes to feint as Thomas did earlier, dribbling and trying to get through...

"Fuck man, I'll take twenty-two," Thomas laughs happily, his head tilting backwards. "Nah, add ten years to that, but sure, y'know, I'll be twenty two," he grins up at the sky before he looks back to Jett.

"Not a fan of Christmas? That's cool, man. We're told that we've gotta love it and that we're misers if we don't, huh? I just like the cold and the snow. And of course all the pretty lights. Not sure I make enough money to be a good little consumerist drone, and it's not like I've got to buy presents fora load of people anyway," he says with a helpless shrug. He lights up at the suggestion for the gryphon coaster. "Yeah? Oh that sounds good, man," he says. "Never been on it, but gonna have to give it a shot now, huh?" he laughs.

And totally misses Jett's feint, distracted by his own thoughts, going entirely the wrong way. "Fuck!"

Jett grunts, "You don't look it." And that might be a compliment! Take it and run with it. Jett's lips are tugged at the sides into a small smile as he watches Thomas for a moment align his mind with the sky - or something.

"Uh... it's never been a good time for me you know?" He says it with a sort of nonchalant in manner, "Kind of goes with the no family foster care thing. Social workers can only be so accommodating." As for the other factors of why to like Christmas he shrugs, "I like summer more. More things to do... but the lights are cool yeah. Did you do any of the lighting around the park for the big displays?" He wonders as he contemplates his moves. "Yeah absolutely you are. Every ride is a little bit different. Four cars race each other and the riders have to interact with the car to get it to speed up. Pretty much an absolute blast, guaranteed."

He finds himself amused as he hears Thomas going the wrong way and takes advantage of it by taking a shot. It's not the best and the ball seems to rolllllll around the rim forever before deciding to drop in. He catches it and passes it back to Thomas, "Besides," going back to the Christmas thing, "I make double time by working through the holidays. Gotta get that bread!"

"Shit, well thanks man," Thomas says with a wide smile to Jett, though the way that the other man dodges past him and scores has him laughing and shaking his head. "Looks like you found my weakness, compliments," he teases lightly.

There's a small nod to Jett. "Got it, dude," he says easily, not prying too much. "Yeah, I guess the park is busier in summer and stuff," he hums thoughtfully. "Wasn't in charge of any of the big ones, though helped out here and there," he grins , giving a small shrug as he catches the ball, shifting back up towards the center again. "Nice shot, man!" he says, even if it wasn't the best shot. It went in and that's what counts. "The coast sounds cool though. You got any like, winter-themed games going on?" he wonders.

"If that's the case this is going to be a pretty easy play," Jett says with a slight curl of his lips, "You know that as a games operator I have to be pretty smoooth right? Compliments are my best weapon."

Jett doesn't seem outwardly bothered by telling his truth. It was what it was; holidays sucked for him and he liked staying busy through them. He instead focuses on the lights and what the other guy does around the park, "I got roped into the decorating night. If I never see another string of lights again it'll be too soon." The ringer is met with a shrug and a pass of the ball back, doing a little bit of a hustle to get back into position.

"I've never been," he says to the coast, if that's what Thomas was talking about. "They're all sort of themed now? I mean the decorating shift basically swapped out all the pieces for Christmas-y ones. Like all the balloons are red, green, silver, gold.. you know?" He considers, "Like you know the one where you throw a bean bag into a clown's gaping mouth? That's a snowman now." He chortles, "It took us a long time to switch everything over, but you know what management is like; strict with their deadlines!"

"It's true, I'm a totally easy play," Thomas says with a tip of his free hand as he lazily dribbles the ball. "Compliments are definitely a deadly weapon," he agrees easily.

"Oh, don't you worry, there'll always be strings of lights," he hums cheerfully, starting forwards with the ball, considering Jett's positioning and posture as he talks. "Gonna have to take them all down at some point, after all," he winks. "Yeah? You should definitely go at some point. I mean, maybe not at this time f year. Like, in the Summer or something," he nods enthusiasically.

"Aw yeah, winter themed stuff is great, I mean, it's all the same shit but we've put on santa hats on some of the skeletons and at least one of the ghosts is now wearing wrapping paper, you know?" he says, before he suddenly feints to the right and swings to the left, though he telegraphs it more this time, his eyes looking to where he's going well in advance.

Jett snort laughs at Thomas's confirmation, "I'm glad you said play." He is not going to explain that one for Thomas, Thomas is old enough and Jett is just out here being Jett. He cannot shake the stupid grin off his face though at the banter, "It doesn't work for everyone though! Compliments scare some people right off and you see them quickening their pace two fold for it."

"You know, I think I know a guy now that his specialty is lights. He's a real cool dude, an expert at lighting," Jett drawls on and clowns around with, "I may never have to touch a string of lights again because of him. I think I will definitely call him up for his sick skills." His expression is very impish and it's easy to see how he can get people to play at his booths, "His name is like yours in fact. He even has your kind of look. You got to watch out for him though, he goes right when he should go left and he hangs out with skeletons. And a good looking dude like that, one wink, and he'll sneak right by ya!"

He cackles and does get in the way of Thomas and snatches the ball away in mid-dribble, trying to get it back over the line to retake the court as his own. He dribbles the ball and tries to put his other arm out to protect it, "You're making the haunted house sound like it's turned into a necromancer's Christmas. I should go see it, I'd fit right in!" He probably would. He tries to get passed Thomas now.

Thomas smirks at Jett like yes he knew exactly what he was saying, his grin softening into something warmer as the banter continues. "Well, with or without the play, it's still true," he teases lightly.

It doesn't take him all that long for him to cotton on to where Jett is going with it, and it's definitely a factor in his losing the ball, the tech yelping as it's snatched out of his hands. "Shit! Hell, I mean, yeah, you can call me up and I'm sure I can climb something to get those strings down for you," he laughs in response, even as he chases after Jett, warded away by that arm, trying to wind his way around it.

He snickers at Jett's words. "Yeah? You would probably, though it's maybe a bit brighter than it normally is. Put on a fluffy hat, though, and you could be one of the figures!" he says, grinning. Still, he's distracted again, and Jett gets past him. Oops

Jett shakes his head lightly and barks a little laugh at Thomas admitting it was true, "Who doesn't like playing around though yeah?" What are they talking about?! Games. Right.

The reaction once he steals the ball has him laughing again because that's what happens when you play sports with someone else; it can be fun! "Great! Thanks for the help Thomas!" He tries to keep the ball away while moving back to the basket.

"People keep telling me I should go work in the Boo'ed walk," Jett remarks, "So yeah I think if I put on extra makeup and made my skin glow, I could be like one of your Christmas skeletons." Jett gets by Thomas and does a bit of a leap as he tries to do another lay up, but the ball goes wide and bounces back in Thomas' direction.

"Uh huh, gotta love playing," Thomas agrees cheerfuly, even as he watches Jett head for the hoop without him. He doesn't seem all that inclined to chase this time around, perhaps realising that there's no way he's going to catch up in time.

"You're welcome, I guess!" Thoams laughs, shaking his head as he slowly moves up the court. And then the ball bonces back and he dashes forwards to grab it with a grin. "Too slow!" he says, spinning as he heads for the opposite basket. "I bet you'd make a great skeleton!" he tells Jett over his shoulder. Which means he's not entirely looking where he's going and... trips over the ball - or his own feet - going down in a tangle of limbs with a yelp.

Jett doesn't respond this time to the play thing as he was focused and clearly missed the open basket. It happens! Not every throw was going to be a basket or that would mean he's somehow professional and he is clearly not. He's just a guy that spends some free time shootin hoops!

"Shit...!" Jett says after he misses the basket and watches as the ball goes bouncing toward Thomas. Jett picks up the pace and heads over that way. "I'd make the best skeleton!" He somehow has the confidence to imagine that while sprinting toward Thomas to try to intervene before Thomas gets the shot off. Instead... Thomas seems to trip?! And... narrowly avoids Thomas's twisting up limbs as he leaps over some of those thrashing limbs and clears to a space spot before he comes to a halt himself.

He pivots back around and doesn't laugh - this is good. Instead he walks over and extends his hand down, "You okay old timer?" He grins at the last, clearly trying to derail any physical injuries by jesting about Thomas's self proclaimed age.

Thomas sprawls on the floor while the ball sadly rolls away from him. He lets out a groan and then a grumble as Jett comes to help him up. "Nothing bruised except my pride. And my creaky old bones, apparently," he says with an embarrassed smile as he takes the offered hand to lever himself to his feet. His grip is firm and warm, though he lets go once he's up on his feet, stepping back to dust himself off.

"Serves me right for trying to impress a cute guy who's what, just over half my age?" he teases lightly, even as he bruhes off another imaginary speck of dust. "Though, think I should call it there for today man, before i break a bone or something," he laughs.

Jett pointedly looks from one direction to the other and notes, "Your secret is safe with me." He reaches up to his nose and taps it while pairing the gesture with a wink. He does support Thomas as he gets up though and looks over him to see if the fall ruined sweat pants or otherwise. The basketball court could be rough on knees and shins! He extends a hand to clap to Thomas's arm in a sportsmanship way. "You look good,... wouldn't have been the same if I stomped all over you. It was close. Lucky I'm limber." Another tease as his hands go to his sides.

Jett hahs softly at the cute guy thing, "Easier ways to do that then being human carnage on the court." He nods though as Thomas calls it a day, snort laughing at the end, "Breaking a bone would be totally unadvisable... who would I call on then to take down the string lights?" He up nods, "Appreciate you playing 'ball."

There's a little bit of wear on Thomas's sweatpants that wasn't there before, but it's clear that they're not exactly new either. It just adds to the character of them. He's fine. Even if there's a little bit of a limp to his movements. He'll be fine, walk it off! "Yeah, you definitely look limber," he says appreciatively, winking at Jett.

He flicks a salut e to Jett. "Yeah, like climbing up a tree to get his string lights down," he teases cheerfully. "Anytime man, shoot me a text sometime if you wanna play again. Though next time I'll try to do it without killing myself on the floor," he offers.

Jett tilts his head down and looks up through that tilt when Thomas remarks on how he looks limber; a look with a bit of attitude behind it to be sure but one that does not correct that appreciation either.

"Or you know... invite a guy for a drink," he initiates that with a suggestive fold of his arms against the cheerfulness. As for the text me he notes, "I don't have a phone. Long story, short version I have no credit and not enough on the paycheck to reel in a phone. You'll have to go a little old school with me, pretty sure you can handle that yeah? Apartment 300." Again a little punch at the age in good fun. He snorts at the last, "It wouldn't hurt to try. See you around Thomas."

"Sure, next time I'll buy you a drink," winks Thomas, even as he backs away towards his jacket and music player, swiftly throwing them both back on. "Wow was that another crack at my age? Are you even old enough to drink?" he teases. "300, got it. See you around, Jett." He doesn't wait for an answer, giving a loose-limbed wave as he heads out of the court and on to whatever he's off to next.