[Challenge] Sometimes You Can Make It Too Complicated
After the coin flip, it had been decided that Blythe would have control of the ball first. As she got ready to make the first serve of the game, she couldn’t help but glance out to those watching. This... was going to be humiliating. Suddenly, her stomach flipped uncomfortably as she looked back at her opponent, then down at the paddle in her hand. What if... she threw the deal? Actually tried her best to win?
She threw the ball lightly into the air, waited for it to drop back to the proper height, then gave the ball a whack. It soared across the net, past Jordan’s shoulder, hit the wall behind him with a surprising amount of force and bounced off, rolling under the table. Her embarrassed flush was almost as red as the paddle itself. Congratulations, Blythe Merrick. No one’s going to forget that, especially when you end up losing the match. The second serve was relatively smoother, at least, and there was even a bit of a volley before she overshot again, the ball slipping off the edge of the table instead of bouncing off the surface.
Handing the ball off to him took a load off her shoulders, though she was still fairly red from that first slip-up. The next few points were split between them, though Jordan continued to carry the upper hand. Along with the first two points, that gave him enough of a lead to take the game without much effort.
--
It was a few volleys into the first game that Jordan realized it - she was trying. She wasn’t adhering to the deal they made, and his eyes glittered for a moment before he adjusted his grip. It didn’t matter. He could win anyway; Blythe didn’t play well in the least, and he was sure as hell not losing Ten now, not that everything else was in place. Ceiro was ill, and while his mother hadn’t told him the details for reasons of both plausible deniability and control...he knew the Hearts would soon be needing a new King, and he intended to be that King.
To do that he needed to win here and now, and his eyes went cool and calculating. He’d win the second game, throw the third, win the fourth and forget about the fifth, and Jordan raised an eyebrow at Blythe as he reached eleven with her behind him with eight. And he bounced the ball against the table before serving for the second - and this time his gameplay sharpened, became ruthless enough that when he reached eleven a second time, Blythe had only scored six.
--
Blythe avoided the look Jordan gave her at the end of the first game, pointedly staring at the table. He shouldn’t be complaining. They both knew that no matter how hard she tried, he’d end up the winner. Was it really that much of a problem if she actually tried as well? Surely it’d make this whole screwed up plan more realistic. Sure enough, he played harder and easily took the second game. Surely there was nothing for him to worry about.
Yet, she got worried as the third game started. As time progressed, Blythe started to get nervous. For once, Jordan was trailing her, and the game finished quickly - too quickly. It was a close victory, Jordan at nine points when Blythe reached eleven. But it was decidedly a game for Blythe, and she finally looked up at him, her brow furrowing. He hadn’t tried. She could feel that he’d given the game up. There were some easy shots that he had missed, some obvious mistakes he’d made. It looked like it was on purpose to her. But... just in case... she resolved to try twice as hard in the next two games. If she actually won this, well, it might put him off from challenging her again. Aidan would be a much easier target, after all.
--
Aidan would be an easy target. One that, in retrospect, Jordan should have taken; it would have made many things so much easier. But he’d made his decision with Blythe, and this match, and when she turned up her efforts, he buckled down. In the fourth and the fifth matches, he would take things seriously. He would win decisively, and if Blythe chose to completely renege on their agreement - and he didn’t trust her right now not to, not when she’d decided to try to defeat him - he’d win the counter too. There was too much at stake not to be a Ten this summer and to stay a Ten.
Just long enough.
But the fourth game didn’t go as he planned. Perhaps it was luck on Blythe’s part - or, he admitted to himself as he fought to stay in a game that he should have easily won, maybe he’d gotten too cocky about this - but he lost - ten points to Blythe’s twelve, and he didn’t dare look at the crowd, at Hadyn and his mother as the fifth game began. He had to win this one - he had to. There simply was no other option, and Jordan shifted on the balls of his feet as he waited for Blythe to serve.
--
The fifth game... Blythe glanced at the crowd again, then spun the racket in her hand. It was possible. She could win this. No need for stupid deals with stupid men. No need for challenging back up to Ten in Trivial Pursuit. She bit her lip, then tossed the ball up and served. The volleys of this game seemed to go on forever, as both players were actually trying their hardest. In fact, Blythe was only shaken out of her focused determination when she got a point - and the score became ten to ten. She blinked a little and ran a hand through her hair. ...Oh. That was wrong.
Did she really want to win? Here? Like this? Did she want to deal with Jordan not trusting her, with Laureline Novak and her obvious disapproval? … She couldn’t. Winning this match would only strain things between a whole family in her suit. And... she couldn’t do that. True, she should have refused the deal from the beginning. But now that she was in this deep, she couldn’t back out. For the good of the Suit, then. That’s what she told herself, as she carefully fumbled the last two points. Hearts Suit didn’t need a warring Ten and Nine.
And when Jordan took the last game, she sighed softly. It was time to break out the textbooks for the challenge back up. The sooner she could get this over with, the better.
--
Jordan paused only momentarily before he set down his racket to polite applause. Blythe, he thought, had let him win. Perhaps he would have won anyway - but she’d deliberately fumbled those last two points when she could have possibly kept him back at Nine for another several months. He wouldn’t have been able to get approval for another challenge all that quickly.
It probably didn’t matter. He was the Ten now, after all. She was a Nine, if only briefly. The only question was the one he asked as he extended his hand. “Planning to counter?” Whatever she answered here, after all, would answer for him whether he’d won or been allowed to win.
--
Blythe set the paddle aside, turning to her opponent as he extended his hand. His question was valid, and she didn’t hesitate before answering. “No. Thank you for a good match.” For the good of the Suit. The mantra continued to repeat in her head as she shook his hand, mustered up a smile for the watching audience, and headed away from the table. If Jordan needed to talk to her, he could find her later.
[Notes: Jordan wins the match and Ten after Blythe throws it. Talk to either of them in the comments but make a note in the subject line which one you want.]