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Tweak says, "Princess Buttercup must die."

Matthew "Matt" Prept (animattrix) wrote in indarkness_logs,
@ 2010-10-03 12:07:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2032 10, matt prept, rock lee

RP: Endless Enthusiasm
Characters: Matt Prept and Rock Lee
Time/Date: Evening, 10/03
Location: Across the town and area outside the hotel
Warnings/Rating: None
Summary: Matt goes rollerblading with the town as his company.
Status: Complete!

Matt zoomed along, the wheels on his rollerblades spinning with skill and speed, even over the barren and rocky ground of the island. Evening, just as the wind came out, and the sun sank slowly, was perfect timing to go out and spin around. The island seemed quieter, and yet full of possibility, and he felt a need to run around it without worrying for the first time in awhile.

He raced down one road, as much as it could be called such, pumping his legs to build speed as he went, jumping bumps and rocks, and skimming across the larger ones, or using his speed to avoid them easily. He loved this, and was, really, pretty good at it. He did it as often as he could, and imposed inside time during the week of the Dementors had left him wanting nothing more than to escape and run free.

So here he was, slinging it around, letting the air run across him as he worked it. He whooped as he shot past one shack, around a large rock which was sitting at the end of one field all by it’s lonesome, and whooped as he slung himself back toward the hotel.

Unexpectedly, he hit a rock, one which he had not seen, and one which had not warned him of it's presence. the slight lift, the sudden jarring shift, all warned him, and with a flail, a yelp, and a curl into a tight ball, he was thrown a small distance to land and roll into the side of a building with a thump.

He groaned as he lay out, then started to laugh. he hurt a little, and he'd ache more tomorrow, but that didn't stop his laughter. He felt good, and a little tumbling wouldn't stop that. He collected himself, checked his blades, and then started off again, going a little slower at first.

Some people were still sticking close to the hotel, but Matt saw no reason to. He enjoyed this time and this place, and he liked being able to be out of the confinement of the hotel. Too many people. Not that there was much of a place to go, here, save the mall, and the strange buildings, most of which reminded him of 'fix-er-up' projects from television back home.

Matt had spent a lot of his childhood alone, of necessity, with both parents working, then stuck in the Castle. And he liked people, but he also didn’t feel real comfortable around a lot of them at once. Now, as he saw the hotel ahead, he smiled. This was fun!

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green_beast
2010-10-03 07:52 pm UTC (link)

"Four hundred eighty-five!" Lee called, aiming another kick at the telephone pole. "Four hundred eighty-six!" There was not much here, but there were poles that he could punch and kick, and he had found a length of cable to use as a jump rope. "Four hundred eighty-seven! "Four hundred eighty-eight!"

And he could always do push-ups, even if he had not found anything to use for pull-ups yet. He had not yet tried the roof. "Four hundred eighty-nine! "Four hundred ninety!" Plus five hundred laps around the island inside the line each day was helpful. "Four hundred ninety-one! Four hundred ninety-two!"

Kidnapped or not, he could still train. And he would make Gai-sensei proud. "Four hundred ninety-three! Four hundred ninety-four!" When he returned to the Hidden Leaf, he would be a much stronger ninja. He swore it. "Four hundred ninety-five! Four hundred ninety-six!"

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animattrix
2010-10-03 08:05 pm UTC (link)

Coming along, Matt slowed to watch the other young man do his moves. They looked impressive to Matt's eyes, though he had to admit he knew nothing about, well, whatever this guy was doing.

It looked sort of like martial arts, but Matt didn't know what kind, and had never been interested in them, really. Still, anything that held someone's attention like these moves were holding this guy's might be interesting.

He waited for a few minutes, idling and stopping, and watched. "Wow." The ground next to Matt dutifully reported. "This kid's workin' it!" The voice was quiet, and extremely low, making the ground tremble at Matt's feet when it spoke.

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green_beast
2010-10-03 10:08 pm UTC (link)

"Four hundred ninety-seven!" Lee called out, a little breathlessly now, with tired little groans escaping with each breath he exhaled. But he was not going to stop. He was so near his goal now, even if the leg he was standing on was complaining, as well.

"Four hundred ninety-eight!" After all, he had done another five hundred kicks with his left leg before his right. But he was not going to stop. This was his nindo, his ninja way. Others from his village could coast by with their natural talents, but he had to work hard and train every day if he wanted to be a fine ninja.

"Four hundred ninety-nine!" Lee could almost taste the victory, sweet as honey on his tongue. That was when he noticed someone else standing there, watching him. That distracted him enough that his five hundredth kick missed the pole, and he spun around in a circle, on his tired left leg, which finally gave up and crumpled underneath him.

With a piercing, "Wah-aaaaaaaaaah!" Lee lost his balance and fell, landing on his hands and knees in the dirt. So now it was to be two thousand squats, since he had not accomplished the one thousand kicks he had challenged himself to perform. But he could catch his breath first, at least.

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	animattrix 2010-10-03 10:28 pm UTC (link)
	He yelped as the man fell, and he hurried forward to help. "Are you okay? Do you need any help?" That hadn't looked like a fun fall! Matt liked people, and really hated when they got hurt around him, especially when he sort of felt like it might be his fault. "I'm sorry if I distracted you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

green_beast
2010-10-03 10:46 pm UTC (link)

Lee shook his head, sitting back on his heels as he dusted off his palms. "I am fine," he said, smiling. He would not lie and say the younger boy had not distracted him, because he had, but ... "I am always falling down during my training. It is not your fault."

That was true enough. He hardly ever reached the goals he had set for himself because of it, either. But he was not as hard on himself any longer if he did not. Ever since Naruto-kun had beaten Neji in the Chunin Exams, and Neji seemed to have decided that it was not Fate alone that guided them ... Well, that meant there was hope, even for a 'failure' like him.

Before Lee went straight into his squats, he sprung up to standing and turned to the younger boy with another smile. "I am Rock Lee."

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animattrix
2010-10-03 10:52 pm UTC (link)

Matt relaxed a little, straightening up and moving back a little now that he knew the other guy was okay. Good. Wow.

"I fall a lot, running with the rollerblades. I'm not bad, but on terrain like this, it's pretty vicious." He grinned and tapped a scar on one forearm, which he'd gotten from being a little too ambitious one day with a large rock.

"I'm Matt Prept. Good to meet you. If you don't mind my asking, what are you practicing for? I mean, what sort of thing, not why. And if you do mind my asking, just tell me to mind my own business."

He grinned, really not minding if the latter was the answer, but curious. His rollerblades piped up. "Matt always is curious. Even when he shouldn't be. He sends us everywhere!"

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green_beast
2010-10-04 12:46 am UTC (link)

Unlike Matt-san, Lee had no wish to show off his scars. He had many of them, practically covering his hands and forearms, and no bandages any more with which to hide them. But instead of putting his arms behind his back, he smiled. "It is good to meet you, too."

When Matt-san asked what he was practicing for, Lee had already opened his mouth to answer that he was a shinobi, and he had to train when ... he heard a voice coming from the ground below. He looked down at Matt-san's rollerblades and then shook his head. It had to be some kind of trick. Rollerblades did not talk. Summoned animals -- like Gai-sensei's tortoise, Ningame -- yes, but rollerblades?

"How did you do that?" he asked, looking back up at Matt-san with wide eyes.

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animattrix
2010-10-04 12:56 am UTC (link)

Matt blinked, then grinned. "OH, well, it just sort of happens wherever I go. Thins that normally don't move or talk do so when I'm around. It seems like it might be some kind of magic, but I don't think it is."

He nodded to his blades. "Stuff like that happens all of the time."

"And why shouldn't we talk? We zoom around everywhere with you. It's only natural." The blades spoke again in a high voice.

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green_beast
2010-10-04 04:45 pm UTC (link)

That was ... weird, but still pretty cool, and Lee smiled. A second later, he remembered that he had not answered Matt-san's question. "I am sorry," Lee added then, shaking his head. "You asked what I was practicing for." He supposed he could say he was practicing for his second time taking the Chunin Exams, but there was more to it than that.

"I am a shinobi," he said, but then he frowned, because Matt-san probably would not know that word. "A ninja. And I am training to improve my taijutsu, but I think that you would call it martial arts."

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animattrix
2010-10-04 08:01 pm UTC (link)

Matt grinned, listening. "Wow! A Ninja? That's awesome!" Hi, Rock Lee, meet an instant fan!

"No wonder you were working so hard! Wow!" he bounced, the skates groaning slightly as he did, and smiled wide. His eyes were full of dreams as he thought about all the ninjas he had read about or seen on movies.

"Did you train at a school for it before now, or have a single master, or is this something you chose on your own?"

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green_beast
2010-10-04 09:37 pm UTC (link)

Lee was ... well, he did not know the word for what he was, but 'happy' certainly figured in there somewhere. Because no one had ever said his dream to become a splendid ninja -- even if he couldn't do ninjutsu or genjutsu -- was awesome before, apart from Gai-sensi.

He noticed the groan from the skates, but he decided to pay it no mind. They would yell if they were in great pain, would they not? And they seemed to be used to Matt-san's bouncing. "I went to a ninja academy, but once I graduated, I joined a three-man team under my teacher, Gai-sensi." He grinned a little shyly and then shook his head. "Or a two-man, one-woman team, because Tenten is a kunoichi -- a female ninja."

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animattrix
2010-10-05 01:45 am UTC (link)

Matt smiled, listening. "Cool!" This was so cool, like nothing he'd ever heard before!" He rubbed his face, curious, and bouncy. A real-life ninja! Awesome!

"Sounds like an incredible adventure. Do you enjoy it?" And the next news made him grin.

"There are female ninja? That is way-cool! I like the sound of your world!" It had to be more interesting than Matt's where nothing cool ever happened."

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green_beast
2010-10-05 02:12 am UTC (link)

"I love it!" Lee exclaimed, grinning, and he was almost starting to bounce himself, Matt-san's excitement was so contagious. "I do not think I would want to live any more if I could not be a ninja."

Which was why he had decided to go through with the surgery Lady Tsunade wanted to perform. It might have killed him, but he would not have wanted to live anyway, if he could no longer be a ninja.

"There are many kunoichi," he added, with a fervent nod. "The leader of our village is one -- the Lady Tsunade. She is one of the Sannin, the three legendary ninja from our land, and she ... she saved my life."

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animattrix
2010-10-05 06:07 am UTC (link)

"Coolness. I can totally understand that." Matt felt a pang of jealousy, but it was overwhelmed by just being happy ninjas did actually exist!

This was the best part of being here, finding new people!

"Wow... I never saw anything about women ninjas, and you have a whole society full of them! Wow!" Wow was apparently the word of the day now, and Matt didn't care if he was repeating himself.

"That's awesome. A cool, life-saving lady-ninja. And I'd totally try to pronounce those words you use, but I think I might break my tongue, so I hope you don't mind."

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green_beast
2010-10-06 12:40 am UTC (link)

Matt-san did seem to be saying wow an awful lot, but Lee did not care. He was simply happy to meet someone who did not seem to think he was a weirdo or a failure.

"I do not mind," Lee answered, shaking his head with a grin. "I would not want you to break your tongue. But if you change your mind, I can teach you."

Now that he had caught his breath, however, Lee really had no excuse not to continue his training. But if Matt-san wanted to hang around, he would not mind. "I need to do my squats now," he announced. "I have to do two thousand of them, so I need to get started."

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	animattrix 2010-10-06 01:24 am UTC (link)
	He smiled, then nodded. "I understand. I'll think about it." This was cool. He pondered what the man said then shook his head. "You go ahead. I think I'll head out, and do more rollerblading. I want to try to make a couple more circuits around the inside of the line. Maybe I'll catch you later?" Matt was definitely looking forward to talking to Lee more. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

green_beast
2010-10-06 04:57 pm UTC (link)

"Sure!" Lee answered with a grin. "I would like that." He would definitely like to catch Matt-san later, if for no other reason than Matt-san's enthusiasm seemed to match his own.

His expression melded into one of determination a second later, however, as he laced his fingers together behind his head and started on his squats. If he could not do two thousand squats, then it would have to be four thousand punches. But something about meeting Matt-san had made him even more determined than usual.

"One!" he counted aloud, and then unlaced his fingers long enough to wave as Matt-san started to skate away. "Two! Three!"

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	animattrix 2010-10-06 07:51 pm UTC (link)
	Matt grinned and nodded, and slipped back, shifting to go. He waved as he went, thinking about how this place was getting a little better. He'd made a friend. Not bad. (Reply to this) (Parent)