major league

"Some light back and forth where we end up talking about how the baseball season is currently going on, but not a whole workout." Ela teased but she knew someone like him could help her out alot. "Then lets go hit the batting cages instead." She joked before warming up and stretching. "Fine but only because I like you that im going to listen to you."

"You're never going to get better if you don't practice," he did have to point out, "Talking about it isn't going to help you improve." As much as he sometimes wished just talking about things would lead to progress, it didn't work that way. The only way to get better was putting in the work. Good thing he really didn't mind the exercise, then. "Oh, are you actually going to listen?" He teased back, raising his brow as he grinned. "Okay then, give me a fastball to the outside." And with that, he leaned over and raised his glove to where he wanted the pitch. He would have just signalled for it, but he didn't really think Elara knew his hand signals.

Unsure why the thought hadn't occurred to him until just now, Chess realized that the two of them could actually get in a decent amount of trouble for bringing someone onto the ice who had no idea how to skate. When Alex mentioned he had never used a hockey stick before, Chess had a horrible vision of some coach walking in and seeing an unauthorized student on the ice swinging the sporting instrument around wildly. He pushed the thought away--he had come at this time of the evening many times to skate, and nobody had ever bothered him. "Um," Chester did a few turns, warming up in a nonchalant kind of way. "It's pretty easy, just use the end of it to push the puck toward me. Don't scoop it, really, just push. It's a sideways or diagonal motion." Chester demonstrated with his own hockey stick, then took a puck from his jacket pocket and tossed it on the ice. "There, try it out."

While he was, by no means, an expert on the matter, Alex wasn't about to start swinging the hockey stick around like some kind of dangerous weapon. He'd watched enough ice hockey in his time to get the general gist that it was more of a push than a wild swing to make a pass. But hey, he was sure he was going to be fine, trying very hard not to wobble too much on his skates as he tested the stick against the ice. While there was the thought in the back of his mind that this could still go horribly wrong and he might just end up falling flat on his face again, he was still determined to give this a shot. Who knew, he might be better at this kind of thing than anyone gave him credit for. "Push, don't scoop," he repeated with a nod of his head, "I can do that." But it was the moment of truth as a puck was tossed onto the ice at his feet. But Alex, all confidence and very little sense, just decided to go for it, lining up the puck with his stick and giving it a hearty push with as much strength as he could muster. Maybe a little too much as he awkwardly stumbled forward though somehow still managing to stay upright. Much to his own surprise.

"You know when I meant we can play catch, this isn't what I had in mind." She said to Alex as she stood at the mound. Her coach had recommended she ask him for help to improve and so she did. "I feel like you're taking this opportunity to release some stress." Elara teased.

[20230726] Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox

@alexzhv

He was about to start the decent, but stopped himself when he noticed his running partner had significantly fallen behind and stopped for air. So, Alex came to a pause, though tried to stay in the groove as he jogged a little on the spot, ignoring the burn as he waited. But they were soon off again, Alex deciding to give Jazzy a bit of a break and slowing down the rather brutal pace he had been setting. The last thing he wanted was her collapsing out of breath. "Well, I was planning on going for quite a while longer," he paused, giving his friend an almost scrutinizing look as he glanced over. "But I think it depends on how much more you can take. I don't want you hurting yourself. I'd never hear the end of it."

Chester had a feeling if the two of them got into a debate about which of their respective sports hurt the most, Chess would win. Given that hockey was known for literal, physical fighting. Not that Chess had ever thrown a punch, of course, but he had checked people...but they had checked his team first, and he couldn't let that slide. He didn't start the debate though, picturing a fastball to his ribs and wincing was enough to concede that falling ass-first on to the ice wasn't the worst thing to happen. He dug his skates into the ice as he pulled Alex back up and held his shoulder until he felt like the other was stable. "Okay," he said slowly, skating backwards over to the wall to grab two hockey sticks. "I think we'll start with some goal passes. You just stand there, I will give you pucks. Use this-" he handed over the stick, "to pass them to me one by one and I will take shots at the goal. Sound good?"

Admittedly, getting hit by a pitch didn't happen very often. Though it did tend to happen more for Alex as he had to worry about wild pitches behind the plate as well as worrying about being hit by the pitch when up to bat. At least half the time he had his catchers gear to take most of the brunt force, even if it still hurt like a bitch when it did happen. But he would admit quite easily that ice hockey was the far more dangerous sport. He'd seen first hand from the side of the rink the full on fist fights that broke out sometimes. Grunting as he got back to his feet, Alex tried to stabilize himself somewhat as Chess went to fetch a couple of hockey sticks. "Right, yeah, sure I can manage that," it didn't sound too hard, and also didn't require him actually skating anymore. He took the offered stick, wrapping his fingers around it. "Is this a good time to mention I've never used one of these before?"

Eddie Liu

Despite being told not to, Chester did, in fact, worry about it. Learning to skate also meant learning to fall, and it was just a matter of time before- "Ah merde," Alex's skates pushed out from under him while the bulk of his mass remained in the same place. Classic recipe for landing on one's ass. Chester skated out from the center of the rink toward where Alex had landed, offering out a hand. "Everything okay?" He asked. Despite the fact that falling on one's bum looked hilarious, Chess knew how hard the ice felt and how much such a simple tumble could hurt.

He should have probably seen this coming. Alex felt himself start to fall over backwards, but he was too slow to actually do anything about it. The next thing he was aware of, he was flat on his ass on the ice. And it stung surprisingly more than he thought it would given it was just frozen water. "Nothing I can't manage," he offered with a laugh, gratefully taking the hand which was being offered to him. If he tried to stand up himself, he could already envision it not ending all too well for him. Knowing his luck, he'd probably just end up falling over again. "Doesn't hurt more than being pelted with a 90 mile an hour fastball."

Chester had been skeptical at first utterance of the idea. And rightfully so, it seemed. It didn't take too much to learn to throw a ball well enough to play catch, but when it came to Chester's sport, skating was a whole different world. For people who didn't grow up on the ice, it might never feel natural. Alex was a prime example. While worried at first, Chess gave in to the comical nature of watching his friend try to find his footing on the slippery surface. "Um, just, you know, you can back out at any time," he reiterated, barely stifling a laugh. "I have teammates that can help me practice, you know..." @alexzhv

"No, don't worry about it, I have absolutely got this." Alex, in fact, did not 'have this'. He was nowhere near having it. Maybe it was a stupid idea to believe he could just waltz his way onto an ice rink and make himself right at home with no issue. While it might not be his first time skating, he was hardly an expert. And he had been a child the last time skates had been strapped onto his feet, so to say he was a little out of practice was an understatement. But he was still determined, knees bent and arms awkwardly out in front of him to try and keep balance as he coasted at a snail's pace along the slippery surface. "See, nothing to worry about. I'm a natural." And then, as if God wanted to spite him, he lost his balance and ended up falling flat on his ass about five seconds later.

i watch baseball for the side quests (ps: this baseball player also makes fruit cocktails midgame)