Fandom: Blaseball
Published: 27 July 2022
Ao3 link: company ch. 3
A/N: This was part of a fic designed to serve as intros to various Lift players. Right now this is the only chapter on Neocities, mostly because Steals is on the Tigers now and it's exciting. Cheers!
1.
“Does it still look like this?” Percy asks quietly.
Steals takes the moment to look around. Percy’s memories of Tokyo are spotty — it’s Steals’s impression that she was younger while she was here, that she’s flourished more in Hades. Still, it’s definitely the Legscraper, definitely an area that isn’t the Gym.
“I didn’t know you played tennis,” Steals says, which is enough of an answer for them. Judging by Percy’s small frown, it’s not enough of one for her, so they answer, “I’ve never been in here before. But it’s probably the same, more or less.”
“More or less,” Percy echoes softly. She doesn’t seem young now. “Quitter would play tennis with me. They were terrible, but they liked that I liked it. It was the first thing I showed interest in.”
“The first?”
She grimaces. “The first other than blaseball. That was the only thing, for a while. And then tennis.”
“Do you still play?”
“I played with Aldon.” Percy frowns for a fleeting second. “Not as much lately.”
“We have time,” Steals says. They don’t know a lot about tennis, but they know how elastic this dream is, how to turn control over to Percy so it feels like she’s really playing.
Percy looks at them for a long moment and then nods. “Thanks.”
“Any time,” Steals answers, and grabs a racket.
2.
Hanako squints at Steals, face scrunched up into a pout as she considers the options. It’s tempting, they know. Steals being in dreams means that the dreamer gets a level of lucidity that they might not be used to, and this is their first time visiting Hanako. So together they walk through a street in Tokyo, all blurred lights and tall buildings, somewhere that Steals doesn’t recognize but Hanako moves through with joyful ease.
After a second, Hanako says, “Can we break into a candy store or something?”
“As long as you know it’s not real,” Steals says mildly.
“You don’t look like what Percy said you would.”
“What did Percy say?”
“That you were tall.”
“You don’t think I’m tall?”
“You’re a cat,” Hanako points out.
Steals licks one of their paws. “I wanted four legs today.”
“Kind of limits my options. Percy got to play tennis.”
“Did you want to play tennis?”
“No,” Hanako scoffs. “And I don’t want to break into a candy store either.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I have no idea.” Hanako spins around, narrowly avoiding kicking Steals in the head in the process. Luckily cats are famously pretty quick, and Steals has enough control over the dream that they can avoid getting hit. Hanako stops and looks up at a skyscraper for a long, wistful moment, then says, “Can we go somewhere more interesting? Like Vegas? Or Thailand?”
“If you want,” Steals laughs. “Just keep walking, we’ll get somewhere.”
3.
There’s nothing blurred or incomplete about the cafe where Ayanna is sitting. She’s looking out the window and sipping tea, so focused on whatever thoughts she’s subconsciously thinking that it takes her a minute to notice Steals once they slip into the seat across from her.
“Hades is nice,” Ayanna says after a moment. “I feel like I should be dreaming of Hades.”
“You don’t have to, you spend plenty of time there.”
“I used to come here constantly.” Another sip of the tea, then she turns to look at Steals. “I remember my dreams better when you’re here.”
“I get that a lot,” Steals says, unfazed. “I make things memorable.”
“Do you normally check on your not-quite-teammates every night?”
“Things are hard right now, Ayanna, you know that. Just because we weren't on the team at the same time doesn't mean I can't check on you, or Percy, or Hanako. Everyone needs a break."
“We appreciate it.”
“So this is your ideal break?"
Ayanna looks back out the window, towards slow traffic and bright sunlight. “I don't know about ideal, but I couldn’t think of a better one,” she says softly.
"It's lovely." Steals reaches out and is greeted by a coffee cup appearing on a saucer in front of them, something for them to drink. “Would you care for company?”
“I would.” Ayanna smiles, still looking out the window. “It’s nice to meet you, Steals.”
“You, too,” Steals answers softly. The traffic keeps rolling by. Steals drinks their coffee and settles in.