RP Log - Football!!

[dynames_pilot]

Who: Marie, Lockon, Schuldig (for a brief moment)
When: a few days after Lockon talks with Pluto
Where: soccer field, cafe, Lockon's hut
Rating: G
Warnings: spoilers
Summary: Lockon meets Marie while she's playing football, they play a few rounds, then go to cafe.

Marie dropped her schoolbag in the women's locker room at the sports complex, changing quickly into a t-shirt and shorts as well as a pair of sneakers before grabbing her soccer ball and heading to the pitch. She stretched out for a bit, then started kicking the ball around on the grass.

Lockon had decided to take a walk by the school. He had realized that he hadn't ever been up there. As he was walking out by the sports fields, he spotted a young girl practicing on the football field. He walked over to watch her practice a bit as he hadn't seen anyone practicing football for a while.

Marie's red hair hadn't escaped its ponytail yet, but by the way she was practicing, it would soon. She kicked the ball around, suddenly stopping when she got the strange feeling that she was being watched. She turned, looking at the tall longer-haired man standing not too far from the pitch.

Lockon waved to her when she stopped. "Hello. Sorry for staring, but I didn't want to make you stop."

Marie waved, getting the feeling that this man wasn't a bad sort. "Hello. Are you the pilot of the new mech in the hangar?"

Lockon nodded. "That one is mine. I'm Lockon Stratos."

"I'm Mariemeia Khushrenada. I've heard about your mech from some of the Gundam pilots."

"Oh, really? Nothing bad I hope."

Marie smiled brightly, shaking her head. "Nope! All I've heard is that yours looks similar to some of theirs, but at the same time it doesn't."

Lockon nodded with a smile. "Okay. I've noticed that as well."

"Where are you from?" Marie asked, "You seem to know football."

Lockon smiled. "I do know football. I'm from Ireland."

Marie smiled broadly, "I live in Luxembourg now, but my guardian's from Germany. Well, what used to be those countries."

"Ah. Well, in the world I'm from, they are still called that."

"People still use the country names since the boundaries were only abolished a few years ago." Marie bounced the soccer ball around a little. "Duo got me this ball for Christmas a while back. He and I occasionally have a friendly argument about what football's called."

Lockon chuckled. "Yeah, it's called 'soccer' else where isn't it?"

"Only where Duo's from!" Marie chimed, "Most places still call it football."

Lockon chuckled. "That is true. I prefer the name football."

"So do I." The girl chimed in, "For whatever reason, we're able to view major football tournaments at times. That's when Duo teases me a little about liking it so much."

"Really? We are able to view football tournaments. I'll have to remember when they are so I can watch them," Lockon remarked.

Marie giggled, "Or you could keep an eye on my journal. I'll usually say something on there when the tournaments are on."

Lockon chuckled. "I'll do that then. Perhaps we could watch them together."

"That'd be nice, unless it's a match between Ireland and Germany."

Lockon laughed. "Yeah...then we should probably watch that one seperately."

"I'll see if I can get someone else to watch that one with me. I hope you don't mind too much." Marie smiled, "But I don't think anyone really wants to see my stubborn side when football's involved."

Lockon chuckled. "Nah, that's fine. I understand."

"Do you play football, or just watch?"

"I've played a bit, but when I was younger."

Marie smiled, "Do you want to play for a bit? I'm sure I won't be able to run as long as you probably can, but I can definitely play for a short time."

Lockon nodded. "Sure we can play for a bit."

"All right!" Marie smiled, kicking the ball over to the center of the pitch.

Lockon stepped onto field and walked over to where she was.

Marie grinned, "Ready?"

Lockon nodded with a grin as well. "I am."

Marie giggled, then went for the ball.

Lockon also went for it as well.

Marie managed to slip in, kicking the ball towards the goal Lockon was supposed to be defending.

Lockon chased after Marie. He was taller so he seemed to have better advantage so he didn't run as fast so it was more of a fair match.

Marie had a feeling Lockon was holding back, but didn't pay too much attention since she wasn't doing the same. She kept heading to the goal, kicking the ball at it when she got close enough.

Lockon managed to intercept it and kicked it back towards her goal.

Marie ran after the ball so she could keep it out of her goal.

When he got close, Lockon kicked it towards her goal.

Marie ran harder, trying to intercept the ball.

The ball went into her goal.

Marie sighed, walking into the goal to grab the ball and bring it back to the center. "You got that one."

Lockon chuckled. "Indeed I did."

Marie set the ball down, then kicked it and started the whole process again.

Lockon chased after her to try and get the ball back.

Marie tried to keep the ball away from Lockon, then took another shot at the goal when she got close enough.

Lockon wasn't able to get to the ball this time.

Marie grinned as she watched the ball go into the goal this time, walking back to the center.

Lockon walked into the goal and retrieved the ball, bringing it back to the center.

Marie giggled, "You start."

Lockon kicked the ball back towards her goal.

Marie ran after it.

When he neared the goal, Lockon lined up to shoot.

Marie ran towards the goal, nearly stumbling at one point.

Lockon made a shot for the goal and missed.

Marie grinned, getting the ball back in play and heading towards Lockon's goal.

Lockon chased after her trying to get the ball back.

Marie raced towards the goal, her hair escaping from the ponytail as she ran.

Lockon tried to steal the ball back from her.

Marie tried to catch her breath, struggling to keep the ball away from Lockon.

"Do you want to stop?" Lockon asked.

"I should be fine." Marie smiled a little, but obviously out of breath. "At least until this ball's taken care of."

Lockon chuckled. "Okay," he said continuing after the ball.

Marie kept trying to keep the ball away from Lockon, eventually giving up and kicking it towards the goal just to get it away from him.

Lockon might have been able to get it, but somehow he ended up tripping.

Marie took advantage of her chance, catching up to the ball and kicking it towards the goal.

Lockon got steady again, but obviously wasn't able to get to the ball.

Marie watched the ball just barely go in, standing there trying to catch her breath.

"You alright?" Lockon asked as he walked over to her.

"I'll be fine." Marie smiled weakly, trying to not show that she wasn't feeling very well. "I think I overdid it a little, that's all. But I don't want to let it keep me from enjoying a chance to be a kid."

Lockon nodded. "How about this? We call it a day and remember what the score is and we pick this up again another day."

Marie smiled, nodding a little. "That sounds like a good idea. I don't need Father or Duo getting on my case about overdoing things."

Lockon chuckled. "Yeah that would be bad. Also that way, we can both be at our best for our game."

"That too!" Marie giggled, "I'd rather be at my best, not dealing with this..."

Lockon nodded. "Then I guess we can meet up again."

"Did you wanna go to the cafe for a bit? I'd like to hear more about your world, if you feel like talking about it."

Lockon smiled. "That's fine. I don't mind talking about it."

Marie smiled, "I'll need to take a few minutes to change. Want me to meet you out here, or by the cafe?"

"I'll wait for you out here."

"Okay!" Marie waved, heading back into the gym. She took a quick shower to rinse the sweat off her, then changed into her normal clothes.

Lockon waited for her outside, humming to himself.

Marie came out to the soccer pitch a few minutes later, hair damp and carrying one her bag with her. "Are you ready to head over there?"

Lockon nodded with a smile. "Lead the way."

Marie nodded, walking towards the cafe. Her chest still hurt a little, but she tried to not let that show.

Lockon followed after her. "So you're from the same world as the other Gundam pilots?"

"Yes, I am." Marie smiled, "Well, most of them, Allenby's from another world."

"Ah. Interesting."

Marie nodded, "It is. Allenby's really fun to be around! So is Duo, he's always trying to get me to be more like a kid."

Lockon smiled. "That's good since you are a kid."

"It'd be nice if everyone back home thought like that." Marie sighed, her mind going back to a few things she didn't want to think about. "Instead of blaming me for what happened since I'm still around..."

"Oh...so I take it that something happened and they still blame you?"

Marie nodded, that was one way to put it. She would have put it a different way, but Lockon wasn't from her world and had no idea of what the past was like for her.

"Ah."

"Grandfather started the last war..."

"Oh." That didn't sound like it would be good, especially for a young girl.

"It wasn't good." And that was an understatement on Marie's part. "My uncle was killed before the first war, and Grandfather started the second. Trowa took my uncle's name since he didn't have one, but I don't mind."

"Oh... that sounds like it would be tough."

"It has been."

"It's good that you've been able to have a normal life here." He was glad for the same thing, at least as much as it was possible.

Marie smiled and nodded, she was glad for the chance to be a kid here. "So am I! I can't do everything normal kids can, but the only thing about this place I don't like is that Miss Une and Dorothy aren't around."

"That's good that two people not being here is the only thing that's wrong with this place." He smiled.

"I'd feel bad if Miss Une came here, though. She's really needed back home.

"Ah. That would be a problem. I have no idea who should come here from my world since I don't know what's going on there."

Marie looked at Lockon, tilting her head a little. "Why not?"

"I died during the fighting in our world."

"Oh...like Father, then..." Marie looked down. "I never got a chance to know him back in our world, but here I've had that chance."

"It's good that you got to him then," Lockon said. He kind of wished that he'd be able to speak with his family more, maybe his parents or his siblings.

Marie nodded, grateful for the chance as they got to the cafe. "Have you had Jon's brownies yet?"

Lockon nodded. "They are delicious."

Marie grinned, "They are! Everything I've had from the cafe is good, but I like the sweets a little more. I don't get many of them back home."

Lockon nodded. "I do enjoy the sweets, but he also makes good Irish food as well so I like coming in for that too."

"What's Irish food like?"

"I think it is heavier than a lot of other foods. A lot of potatoes are used."

"That sounds heavier than some things I eat, and the same as others." Marie commented as they headed into the cafe, "Miss Une is from Germany, but Father was partially French."

Lockon nodded. "I think French food is typically a lot lighter than Irish food."

Marie nodded, knowing what the difference between French and German foods were like. "German food's a lot heavier than French is."

"German food is probably somewhat similiar to Irish food."

"Okay!" Marie smiled, liking that she had a reference point. She looked over at the case of baked goodies, trying to decide which she wanted to try.

Schuldig was back in the kitchen within sight of the counter. "Welcome," he said, putting on that false smile that was rather convincing as being real.

Lockon nodded to him. After hearing Nagi talk, his regard for Schuldig was rather low.

Marie knew better than to trust Schuldig's smile, since she heard all the rumors going around about the German. She nodded, looking over the desserts again.

Schuldig didn't care that people didn't trust him. He just waited for them to give him their orders.

Marie looked up at Schuldig after a while, "I think I'll just have a brownie today."

"And I'll have some apple pie," Lockon said.

Schuldig nodded, glad that he didn't have to make anything since he didn't want to. "I'll bring them over to your table. Anything to drink?"

Marie smiled, "Some milk, please!"

"Same for me," Lockon said.

Schuldig nodded.

Marie smiled, sitting down at one of her favorite tables. "Jon's usually here when I come in."

Lockon followed her over and sat down. "Yeah, he's usually here." He was keeping his eye on Schuldig to make sure he didn't do anything tp the food.

After a moment, Schuldig brought over the brownie, the pie, and the two glasses of milk. Then he headed back to the kitchen.

Marie nodded to Schuldig, at least acknowledging that he got them their orders. She didn't think he'd really do anything to them, since he had to have been aware of the number of Gundam pilots around.

"I'm kind of sorry I didn't bring Haro with me," Lockon told Marie. "He seems to be making a lot of friends here."

"Haro?" Marie tilted her head a little, "Who's Haro?"

"Haro's my robot. He's about the size of a basketball, spherical, and orange. He has flaps on the top that he flaps like ears and he usually repeats everything twice."

"Neat!" Marie smiled, getting a good idea of what Haro looked like. "What does he normally do?"

"He assists with repairs, piloting, and generally being cute."

"I'm sure he's great at it." Marie commented, taking a bite out of her brownie. It was definitely made by Jon by the taste of it, a really good thing in her opinion.

Lockon took a bite of his pie then nodded. "He is... and he knows he is."

Marie nodded, "How's the pie?"

"It's good. How's your brownie?"

"It's great."

Lockon smiled. "That's good."

Marie smiled, going between eating her brownie and drinking the milk.

Lockon was also working on the pie and the milk. "Perhaps we can go back to my hut and you can meet Haro."

"That sounds like fun! Who else is in your hut?"

"Artemis, Samus, and Wufei."

Marie paled a little at hearing that Wufei was there, but she figured she would just have to deal with it. Their first meeting wasn't that bad.

"Someone you know lives there?"

Marie nodded, "Preventer Chang."

"Ah."

"He works for my guardian now."

"Ah."

"He and I have not gotten on the best of terms..." Marie sighed, "There's bad feelings between him and my father as well, more on his part."

"Ah. I guess that would be a problem."

"We did talk once here, and it didn't go so bad, but I'm still not sure about him."

Lockon nodded. "Well, if you are worried, I can bring Haro outside when we get there."

Marie shook her head, "It's fine! If he's there, he'll just have to deal with it."

Lockon chuckled and nodded. "He will."

Marie smiled, finishing her brownie at a reasonable pace.

Lockon also finished his pie and milk.

Marie finished her milk, carefully wiping her face off with a napkin. "So, off to see Haro?"

Lockon nodded, smiling. "Let's be off."

Marie smiled, getting up and heading out of the cafe.

Lockon got up as well and lead the way back to his hut.

Marie followed after Lockon, no fear as she walked by the Irishman.

When they reached the hut, Lockon opened the door for Marie so she could go in first.

Marie smiled at Lockon, saying, "Thanks!" before she headed in. She took a seat on the couch, waiting for the man to go in and get Haro.

Lockon walked to the end of the hallway and called, "Haro! We have a visitor!"

A moment later, Haro came bouncing out of the bedroom out into the living room. "Haro! Haro!" the robot said when he spotted Marie.

Marie giggled, seeing the bouncing basketball-sized robot. "Hello, Haro! I'm Marie."

Haro flapped. "Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you, Haro." Marie giggled at the robot's electronic voice. "Does he have some form of intelligence?"

Lockon nodded. "He has artificial intelligence. He has the ability to think at least somewhat."

Haro flapped. "Haro smarter than Lockon! Haro smarter than Lockon!"

Lockon chuckled and shook his head. "See?"

Marie laughed out loud, she couldn't help it. "Is that really true? Does he have some more intelligence than you in some ways?"

Lockon nodded. "If nothing else, he can remember it clearly where it fades from my memory."

"Huh?" Marie looked up at Lockon, she wondered if the Irishman was taller than her father.

"He also doesn't take as long to learn things."

"That's kind of cool, but what was that other thing you said about?" Marie was a little confused by Lockon changing the subject a litte. "Where what fades from your memory?"

"Well, it's only natural that if you aren't trying to recall something all the time, you start to forget it."

"I guess...but...there's some things you might be better off starting to forget."

Lockon nodded. "Probably." He chuckled as Haro sized up the couch then bounced up to sit next to Marie.

Marie giggled at Haro, "So you bounce all over the place?"

Haro flapped. "And roll! And roll! In space, Haro floats! Haro floats!"

"Really?" Marie giggled, "If you were on the colonies, you wouldn't roll."

"Haro likes floating! Haro likes floating!"

"I think the pilots would float in space if they weren't strapped into their Gundams." Marie giggled again, "There's shuttles that go between Earth and the colonies, and you might get that in those at times unless you're buckled into your seat."

Lockon chuckled. "We somewhat float on our ship. The Haros float all the time. People call also float in the low orbit stations and in the Pillar trains."

"Pillar trains? What are those?"

"On our world, all power has been switched over to solar energy collected from solar dishes that encircle the Earth. There are three pillars anchored onto Earth that hold the ring of solar dishes. That's where the low orbit stations are. There're trains that travel vertically at a great speed that goes up to the low orbit stations."

Marie had to think for a few minutes before she could get any idea of what that would look like, based off what little she remembered of any form of solar power. "That's different. In my world, we have space colonies at the Lagrange points."

"And they're not connected?" Lockon asked. He only knew of the colonies or stations being connected to the pillars.

"They're not connected to anything." Marie smiled, "You have to take shuttles to go between them. I was born on one of the colonies in the third Lagrange point."

"Huh...that's interesting. Our's are all connected. We haven't quite gotten to the point of them not being connected."

"All the colonies have a different number assigned to them. My grandfather built the colony in the L3 cluster that I was born on." Marie sighed a little, "One of the colonies was destroyed in the war that my father died in."

Lockon frowned. "That's not good. The low orbit stations were damaged in our fighting though that actually wasn't us who did that."

"Who was it, then?"

"It one of the fighters for the Human Reform League. I don't know the details, but somehow the low orbit station was damaged three of the gravity blocks separated from the station."

"That's not good!" Even Marie, just a kid, could figure that out on her own. It did help that she knew a bit about space colonies, and could transfer that over to space stations of other kinds.

Lockon shook his head. "One of teammates disregarded the actual mission to assist with moving the gravity block back into orbit. The fact that my Gundam had the power to shoot objects in orbit got revealed in that mission." Not that he minded; their mission didn't include unnecessary death.

Marie nodded, a faint smile on her face. "That's good. I don't want to even imagine what would have happened if a block of a station ended up in the atmosphere."

Lockon knew exactly what would happen, but he wasn't going to repeat it. "It wouldn't have been pretty, let's just say that."

"We've got a form of heat shielding on all our shuttles so they can safely go through the atmosphere."

"I think it what the mobile suits have. I don't know how the pillar trains do it."

Marie smiled, "They must have some form of heat shielding on something."

Lockon nodded. "Probably. Most likely wouldn't be able to make the trip if they didn't."

"Yeah." Marie nodded, smiling over at Haro next to her. "Haro's really cute."

"Uh oh...you said the magic words," Lockon said with a chuckle.

Haro flapped. "Haro! Haro cute! Cute!"

Marie laughed, "He knows it..."

Lockon nodded. "He does and likes to make sure everyone remembers it."

"I don't think anyone will forget, Haro." Marie giggled at the small robot. "It's hard to forget that you're cute."

Haro flapped happily.

"It's also hard to miss you around." Marie smiled at Lockon, "You're taller than most people here."

"Me?" Lockon blinked. "I guess so. I'm six foot."

"The pilots from my world are still growing a little." Marie giggled, "I know Herr Alberich is taller than you, but he's a soldier. Jon's taller than everyone else, too."

Lockon chuckled. "I would imagine so."

"Herr Alberich's teaching me German here!" Marie smiled, "And Father's teaching me French as well as some things about public speaking and politics if I ever end up doing that."

"That's interesting. Are they fun classes?"

"They're not exactly fun all the time, but they're interesting." Marie chuckled, "Father gives out a lot of homework, and Herr Alberich is very demanding. He usually teaches everyone else, then sets aside time to instruct me since Miss Une taught me some German in the hospital."

Lockon nodded. "Okay. I'm not very good at languages. I think the best talent I have with them is being able to slip into and out of an Irish accent."

"Grandfather made sure I started learning French, since Father was an aristocrat." Marie sighed, "They all still use French. Miss Une will take me to Germany sometimes, so I have to learn German, and it also lets me know what she's saying when she gets really angry at something."

Lockon chuckled. "That's interesting. Sometimes I wish I knew more language so I understood people when they start complaining or swearing in another language."

Marie smiled, "Miss Une hasn't learned how much German I've actually learned from her. I'm also thinking of not letting her know how much I have, either."

Lockon laughed. "Sounds good. I've picked a few random curse words in different languages, but that's about it."

"I've had no choice but to learn different languages, but I like learning them." Marie smiled, "And it also helps pass the time when you're stuck in a hospital, and the doctors are telling you that they don't think you'll ever be able to run."

"Yeah, I think it would help pass the time. What happened if I may ask?"

Marie sighed, looking down a little and over at Haro. She didn't really want Lockon to see how her painful memories showed on her face. "Grandfather tried to kill Miss Relena, and I ran in the way before he could shoot her. He shot me instead..."

"Oh...I'm sorry about that."

Haro flapped.

"That wasn't as bad as what he said after he did it," Marie admitted, still looking down. "But one of Father's former soldiers shot him after I was shot, and Miss Une got to me in time to get me to the hospital before I died."

"That's good that they did. I'm glad that you are doing better now."

"I still have problems every once in a while," Marie nodded, looking back at Lockon now that she was feeling a little better. Her blue eyes didn't sparkle as much as they had, however. "But I'm trying to get better. It's easy for me to become out of breath."

Lockon nodded. "Then you should take it easy when you practice if you are having problems."

"I usually just stop for a while so I can catch my breath. Or if I'm with someone, the game stops there."

"That's good."

Marie smiled, "I take care of myself. There's usually at least one of the pilots somewhere near me, too."

Lockon nodded. "That's good."

"I'm kind of like their little sister." Marie shook her head a little, "Especially Duo's. He and I have been gone the longest of everyone from our world."

"Ah. That makes sense then."

Marie nodded, "It's been really fun at times, but I also miss home sometimes."

"I guess that is easy to do here."

"It is." Marie acknowledged, watching Haro inbetween talking to Lockon. "But there are some things I don't miss at all."

Lockon nodded. "There are things I don't miss either."

"I don't miss people blaming me for what Grandfather did. Even if he did use me as a figurehead leader for his army...he was the one behind everything, not me."

Lockon nodded. "Unfortunately that happens." It made him kind of sad that it did.

Marie nodded, "I know. I have to live with that every day back home." The young girl looked over at the Irish pilot, her eyes hardening a little, "That's one reason I like this place. No one's blaming me for what happened. It's giving me time to find a good way of dealing with it when people blame me again."

Lockon nodded. "That's good. No one should be blamed for something like that if it wasn't their chosing to do so."

"Thank you." Marie nodded, her eyes still surprisingly serious for her face. "I'm hoping I have enough time here to find that way of dealing with it."

Lockon nodded. "I do too."

"What will you do with your time here, since you can't return to your home?"

Lockon thought for a moment. "Just about anything really. I'm taking a painting class. I figure I might as well do and learn as much as I can."

Marie smiled, "That sounds like a good idea. There's a lot to learn from everyone here about different worlds!"

Lockon nodded. "I've noticed that. So many interesting people."

"Although, I'm not so sure Duo and Jr meeting was really a good idea." Marie chuckled a little, "They find all kinds of ways of getting into trouble, and it seems like Uranus eggs them on."

"I've been warned about Uranus," Lockon remarked. "Apparently she blew up a fruitcake around Christmas."

Marie's eyes widened in surprise, then faded away almost as soon as it had come. She shook her head, since she couldn't really be all that surprised that Uranus blew something else up. "Even for her, that's something...I expect paint bombs from her."

"Pluto told me about that. I've been warned to stay away from her when she is bored."

Marie nodded, "You should! Uranus causes all kinds of trouble when she's bored!"

"Blowing up fruitcake! Blowing up fruitcake!" Haro said flapping. Lockon laughed.

Marie laughed, finding some humor in Haro agreeing with them.

"You're quite a character, Haro," Lockon remarked with a grin.

Haro flapped happily.

"Haro knows it, I think." Marie smiled, trying to not giggle at the robot's flapping.

Lockon nodded. "He does."

Marie got up, "I think that I should go do some of my homework, unfortunately. It was a pleasure meeting you and Haro!"

Lockon nodded. "It was a pleasure meeting you too. Let me know when you are feeling better and we can have another round of our football game."

"I will!" Marie smiled, picking up her schoolbag. "I'm looking forward to it!"

Lockon smiled. "So am I."

Haro flapped. "Goodbye! Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" Marie nodded to both the Irishman and the robot, then headed back to her own hut.