Let the games begin (Leila/open)

Leila was busy throughout the Wintery morning. With Sam as her boyfriend, when she wasn't with him, she was either at work, in the Danger Room, School, or at the Sanctuary. Today, she'd been experimenting with her abilities, trying to sharpen her hearing even more. She was now quite adept with the Mutant life, and knew exactly how to train. She took a quick shower after her Hour of Danger Room fun, then dressed in sweats. In 10 minutes' time she'd be out playing some basketball with Slate, something she'd expected to take place weeks ago. It was now Mid-January, 2 months after their date.

She peered out of her bedroom window, watching the frozen earth. At least there wasn't snow to slow them down. She smiled, pulling her hair into a messy ponytail. She slipped on her coat and sneakers, taking her favorite basketball out of the messy closet. "I gotta clean this up a bit." she muttered to herself, mentally putting it on her long list of things to do. She double checked the room, making sure she had everything for an afternoon of fun. She looked once more out of the window, then locked her door behind her.

The walk towards the ground was pretty simple. Kids didn't pay much attention to her, but some really didn't pay attention at all, bumpting into her here and there. "Watch it!" she even yelled as the fourth kid, a boy of about 12, hit her in the arm, making her basketball go flying. "Urgh, kids these days." she whispered, picking up the ball and continuing on her way. She looked at the clock before going out, she was just on time.

"Hey Slate!" she waved at him with her free hand. "It's been so long, I hope you aren't as busy as I am." she laughed, sprinting towards her friend.

“Heh,” Shin finally caught his breath, snapping back up to salute them both. “Pleased to meetcha. And sure, I’ll play your game. I’ve been craving competition all morning. Don’t worry about me overdoing it, though.” He smiled at Slate. “I’ll go easy on a first-timer.” What kind of gentleman wouldn’t? “I may even teach you a few tricks of my own~”

Now all they needed was that fourth player…

Leila was a bit stunned at his reaction from her hug, and she couldn't help but feel a hot sensation on her cheeks. She hoped he hadn't noticed it, or that it wasn't that bad. What was the problem though? Why was he so startled? Friends couldn't hug friends? The last she'd heard, it was very okay for her to hug her friends. She sighed, remembering how the two had actually started their friendship. Right, maybe she had a boyfriend now, but chances were, he didn't. Did he still remember the date? How strange it had been for them to go as a couple? She smiled back at him however, with a bit too much inoccence lingering in her brown eyes.

Leila simply listened as the two men talked, playing with the ball, dribbling it, spinning it around in her hands. Finally, the conversation turned towards her again. "Basic rules." she said in a professional-like tone. "Well, the point of the game is to get as many shots in your net as possible." she said, knowing he obviously knew that. He wasn't stupid afterall. "Usually, there are five players on a team, but we'll just have a little pick up game, just for fun. So two will be enough for now." she said.

She took a deep breath, "Now, dribbling. A player can only dribble once--" she dribbled the ball, and then caught it in both hands. "--Once both your hands touch the ball, you'll have to either shoot in the basket, or pass it to someone else." she looked at Shin, "Anything you want to add?" she asked the asian man. She shifted her weight slightly, not feeling cold at all, even with the hard, frost covered ground, the wintery breeze and the lack of much sun rays.

Shin caught the ball with a snap of his hands, dropping into a dribble with a grin. “Playing sounds good. Some things, you just have to learn firsthand. This may be one of them. All those rules and regulations…” He darted past her, dribbling towards a net to sink a jump shot. “Just swish through some peoples’ heads, y’know?” He retrieved the ball and walked it over to Slate, holding it out for him. “Why don’t you try a bit of dribbling to get a feel for it?”

The sun gleamed remarkably today, a nearly cloudless sky hanging above the now official American citizen. It had only been but a week ago that he had arrived in the large city. Towering skyscrapers, blaring vehicles and thousands of people, it was all quite the culture shock for the twenty five year old man from Thailand. Back in his Muay Thai camp, the students would already be crashing their worn fists against rough punching bags. The schedule still lodged firmly into his mind from nearly twenty years of the same sequence. This wasn't his camp, this wasn't even Thailand, there was no rooster perched to wake him every morning, no jungle to rush through if only for fear of falling behind, no trainers with there whomping sticks ready to punish those who showed an inch of weakness. No there was none of this here, yet Chanarong felt more afraid then ever before. The only solace he took in this foreign land was that he knew his actions still had guide. No distance could erase his connection to the camps temple and as long as he had that nothing would deject him.

He had come to America in search of money for his family back home, truly the American dream. In Thailand he had been and remained a champion Muay Thai fighter and while he planned to return periodically to defend his title, he needed a job in the land of dreams if he wanted to remove his family from poverty. Preparing from a young age for this opportunity by learning to fluently speak English, Chanarong wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. There was a problem however, you see despite what you may here the American dream doesn't simply fall into your lap. This is where the man's logic was flawed, he expected to simply depart from the plane and have a job, but it wasn't that simple. He would need to navigate around this new concrete jungle if he wanted to procure a job and living quarters. It was quite the odd circumstance indeed, a man with more then enough money in savings to purchase a fine loft yet a cultural barrier would make such a task seemingly impossible.

He would spend the week after arriving living on the streets, in parks and under bridges, resting wherever he could. Luckily buying food for the camp at the market had taught him how to procure sustenance from a service based society. Although a restaurant was indescribably different then a local village fruit market, the principle remained. That wasn't all that remained either, his problem of shelter was still looming and if he didn't get a job soon his savings would eventually run out. It would seem however that there was a slight light sparkling in the dark tunnel he was going through. While napping under an overpass the previous night, a flier for the school of gifted children had blown seemingly into his hand, as though fate itself had placed it there. Confused as to what it was, he inquired around a bit about it, from what he could gather it was a place that helped people and that's what he needed right now more then anything.

So now were back where we started with him approaching the school, sun shining down on him, with nothing but high hopes of improving his life. He couldn't just very well walk into the building and ask them to fix his problems, he would need to talk to someone and figure out what to do first. Trekking across the grassy area's surrounding the building he would spy three people. looking as though they were going to begin playing a basketball game. He hadn't had much experience with the sport but walking around the city for the past week had definitely enlightened him to the sport. Approaching them with a smile, the seven foot two Muay thai fighter towered above them and the age difference was rather noticeable, but hopefully they would allow him to join in.

"Hi, I'm new around here, you mind if I join your game."