"I'll talk to 'em." Babe decided, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "I'm pretty good at getting people to take things a bit more seriously. I've had my fair share of guys and girls like that on my old team. If they can't get into shape, scrap 'em and find someone new." She grinned, propping her forearms on the table and looking at Henry. "So what is it you guys do for team bonding?" That was the first step to increased morale, trusting your team.
He shook his head at her. "Honestly, I'd rather have them off the team. The team, the coach, and I spent a year talking to them, every single day. We asked, we demanded, we even begged. As for team bonding, among us… There's been a lot. We've done camping trips, chasing each other around the school in shorts in the middle of winter, things we can't actually talk about because they theoretically weren't legal, but what's happened in that lounge mostly has to stay in that lounge. And, of course, there's the traditional welcome to the team, which I take no responsibility for. Kevin, now!" and with that, Henry ducked while Kevin, who'd slipped back to their table unnoticed, gently rubbed a huge whipped cream pie into Nova's face. The boys all froze, holding back laughs until they saw her reaction.
Babe made a face, wiping the whipped cream away from her eyes. "Uh huh. Not bad." She said, licking it off of her lip. "What do you think, Jacobs?" She asked before wiping it down the side of his cheek, snickering. As far as hazing went, she had been through worse, and the pie thing was kind of funny.
Henry shook his head as the boys started laughing uproariously, and wiped it off to lick it. "As I said, I take no responsibility, and I definitely didn't know that would happen." He kept as straight a face as he could, leaning sideways in his chair to portray his innocence and keep watching everyone. She'd taken it well, which boded well for the future of the team. He continued shaking his head, doing his scolding parent impersonation towards the boys.
"Oh, please." Babe rolled her eyes, grabbing the napkin off his lunch tray and trying to wipe some of the whipped cream off. It had, unfortunately, gotten on her shirt. Which meant she needed to find some sort of replacement shirt. "I know how this shit works. It's not my first hazing, and I don't plan on it being my last."
He laughed, then paused. "We usually try to do it at practice, but if you need another shirt, we have some spare hockey practice shirts in the locker rooms. Kevin would be happy to get you one, wouldn't you, Kevin?" He gave Kevin an expectant smile, and the boy reluctantly sighed.
"Very well, anything for our new teammate." He turned dramatically, giving a low bow before he walked away.
Babe raised an eyebrow, watching him walk off. Once he was gone, she raised her hand. "I have another question!" She exclaimed, as though she couldn't just ask it.
Henry cocked his head at her. "Yes, Miss Nova? a question?" Dylan rested his face in his hands and watched him closely, blinking as few times as possible. Henry kicked him under the table, which lead to the table being shaken by various legs kicking each other as subtly as possible. Through it all, all four boys maintained straight voices as they waited for the question.
Babe pulled her legs up onto the chair she was sitting on, tucking them underneath herself as she laughed. "I was wondering if any of you knew whether or not Kevin was even possibly into guys. Also, you can call me by my first name."
Henry's eyebrows went up, and he considered for a few minutes. All the boys looked at each other, and they slowly seemed to come to a conclusion. "Possibly. He was dating this girl, for I think just over a year. So far, she's the only person he's ever dated. They broke up two months ago, he's been heartbroken ever since, but really, he's never given us a definite answer either way to anything. Right now, he's been sticking to friends only relationships with everyone." They all nodded, agreeing with Henry's analysis. The table continued to shake as the kicking resumed, while the boys kicked each other to warn one another of Kevin's approach. He returned and flapped out a plain white hockey shirt, displaying it for the judgement of Babe.
"Your gown has arrived, milady." Dylan aimed a sharp kick out at him, laughing slightly.
"To warn you, Babe, Kevin went through what we like to call a Shakespeare phase last month. He won't stop."
"Favorite play?" Babe asked him, signing a thank you at the same time. She picked up the shirt, which was way too big, and slipped her jacket off. She could work with a big shirt.
"A midsummer night's dream." Kevin answered with a perfectly straight face, while the other boys burst back into laughter. Henry usually tried to keep the mockery to a minimum, but Kevin was entirely sold on his Shakespeare. He took all laughing well, never giving up on his obsession. Henry decided to put an end to that lunch's time, standing up and grabbing his bag.
"We should all get to our next class. See you all at practice tonight!" He threw away his trash and waved to his team.
Babe stood up herself, grabbing her jacket and bag and slipping past Henry into the hall. She bopped him on the back of the head as she passed, snickering. Once in the hall, which was pretty much empty since the bell hadn't rung, she set her stuff down and pulled her whipped cream covered shirt over her head, grabbing the spare one. The large scar over her kidney was made visible as she shook out the shirt, holding it up to examine it.
Henry gave a short yelp, turning around. He made his way into the halls, and as he passed another hallway, he got a glimpse of a figure near the wall. He recognized the figure as Babe, but turned sharply once he'd looked closer and seen what she was doing. He continued quickly, thankful it had been so dark. He hadn't seen her very well at all, and maybe it hadn't been her?
Shrugging, Babe pulled the shirt on over her head, once again hiding the scar. She looked down at the oversized shirt and pulled a hairtie off her wrist, using it to tie the shirt up in the front. When she raised her arms, it exposed a bit of her midrif, but she didn't seem to care, just grabbed her jacket and threw it back on.
Henry walked quickly down the halls, trying to forget the shadowy figure. It hadn't been a big deal, but he liked to avoid situations like that. It was why he preferred to be early to his classes, when he could be.
(Time skip to practice that night?)
((Sure! Want me to?))
(yes please!)
Babe had her earbuds in as she danced around the seats in the hockey stadium. She had gone out an hour early and actually found a job at a record store pretty quick, so she had showed up to practice before anyone else. She was currently up in the stands, hopping seat to seat and dancing along with the song Teenagers, playing loudly from her phone in her back pocket.
Henry came early and put his bag down on one of the stands. He looked up, hearing music but unsure of where or what it came from. When he spotted Babe dancing to the music, he grinned and decided not to bother her. He sat down on the stand and started lacing up his skates, still watching her. Henry had no idea what she was doing, but it was interesting to watch.
Babe didn't seem to notice him for a bit, but when she did, it startled her enough that she slipped, falling a couple seats down. A string of curses intermixed with laughter followed, as she tried to get back up. It didn't seem to be working too well, and it was then that she realized her earbud jack had slipped out of her phone, the music playing freely for anyone in the stadium to hear.
Henry called up, asking if she was alright. He was on the far side of the rink from her, so he finished tying his skates and started to glide across the ice towards her. The music continued to play, and he let himself skate in time with it. He had missed the feeling of the gentle movements of the skating.
" 'M fine!" Babe called back, managing to stand. She was walking a little funny, but she hoped he was far enough away that he couldn't see it. Some ice when she got back home would fix it. "Lemme get my skates on, and I'll join you out there!" She plopped down next to her back, lacing up her skates quickly and gliding out, letting the music continue.
"Alright, if you're sure you're ok!" He wasn't close enough for a good view, but he'd check again once she was over on the ice. He turned and angled himself into some long, swinging turns around the edge of the ice, while he waited for her to lace up her skates.
Babe slid out onto the ice, her phone still playing, and twisted and spun around in time with the beat. It was a warm up she used to do, basically just dancing on ice. She was careful to keep from letting the twinge of pain in her ankle. "You're early!"