America's Favorite Pastime

[onlyforthedream]

I missed a lot in my years spent dormant and adrift in the North Atlantic. The sum total of minute cultural detail that passed me by is baffling in its magnitude, and I'm afraid no matter how much time I spend trying to catch up it's a moot endeavor. There were bigger things, though, more important things that I missed. The death of the president

Comments

[ghostinthecity]

All that Annie really knew about baseball involved watching films in which it was a cute-but-charming subplot. Like Field of Dreams and that terrible Drew Barrymore film. Honestly why couldn't they have just let Nick Hornby alone? Americans were always doing that thing where they took something that wasn't their, added their funny accents and perfect everything. She could get behind it in some cases, but most of the time it just made her squint.

Bending down she picked up the runaway ball on the edge of the treeline, looking up to see which direction it had come from. Feeling a bit stupid that she hadn't been paying much attention to the pair of frankly, gorgeous men who had been using it just before.

"Here you go!" she called a smile on her face as she gave the ball a good lob back towards them. Unfortunately her aim was terrible and the ball wound up flying a good fifteen feet to the left of them. "Oh God. Sorry. I probably shouldn't have thrown it."

[onlyapassenger]

"Don't worry about it," says Bucky on a laugh, already striding towards the ball. He recognizes the woman from his first day on the Island -- Annie, he's pretty sure her name is -- but doesn't comment on it. He hadn't exactly been in his right mind that day, too disoriented to take anyone, really, at their word.

[onlyforthedream]

"Good distance," I add with a nod and a polite smile, "and you can always work on your aim."

[ghostinthecity]

Laughing as she took a step closer, she smiled brightly. The more that she thought about it, the more that she regretted that she had thrown it at all. It probably would've been a lot easier to just hand it to them.

"Ah yeah. I suppose I can." Making a throwing gesture before laughing nervously, she shrugged. "I mean, I used to be a bit better. Though I used to just throw things in general, without having to aim. I am sorry about all that though."

[onlyapassenger]

"Without having to aim?" Bucky echoes, his confusion all too apparent as he looks, momentarily, to Steve, like somehow he'll have an explanation. Picking up the ball, Bucky tosses it up once, and catches it in his glove. "How's that work, then?"

[onlyforthedream]

I hesitate, glancing briefly at Bucky to share his look of uncertainty, then look back to the young woman with interest.

"Sorry about what?"

[ghostinthecity]

"Oh, it's like a bit of a poltergeist thing. You kind of just," Annie made a gesture mimicking some sort of explosion. The effect was somewhat hindered by the lack of proper sound effects. In fact the moment that she had gestured, she instantly regretted it. She was rapidly coming off as some lunatic.

"Whip things at it. You know what? Never mind. I just sort of prattle a bit. Kind of like I'm doing now. But yeah, sorry for throwing it rather than handing it over like a sane person."

[onlyforthedream]

"If tossing a ball around makes you insane, then at least you're in like company," I point out.

"Is that to say, then, miss, you were a... ghost?"

[onlyapassenger]

Bucky's run into all sorts in his lifetime, both before and on this island, so conversing with a dead woman doesn't have all the novelty it might for someone else. Even so, it's not something he encounters every day, and he's as curious for her answer as he suspects Steve is.

"This place must be an improvement," he says wryly, though he's not sure how many others can claim the same.