Shoot for the Moon (Nuri)

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

Along the dusty gravel of the hot desert was a wooden baseball bat being dragged lazily forward. A clenched, pale hand clutched its grip, the mate to it tossing a baseball rhythmically up and down. The owner of the sporting goods had been practicing self pitching and hitting. 27/30. Not bad. But he could do much better. That was Cyril's mentality. Nothing he did was 'good enough', no. He had to be flipping amazing. He had to reek perfection. He had to be the best at everything he did. He had to make others regret their life's work in comparison to him. In his mind, if he wasn't the first he was last. And there could only be one champion of everything. That would be him.

Unfortunately, the world had always seemed against him, as well as his body. Next to the water-soaked head of Cyril was his brother, who was sipping a bottle of water. Lyric, his twin, had his arm around his brother's shoulder as his body reverberated with the previous vigorous activity. Cyril had taken his shirt off and draped it over his shoulder, which left the two's torsos exposed to the world. It was odd, really, how smoothly Lyric's body transitioned to Cyril's. There were a few cuts around their body, but other than that, there was nothing that differentiated between the two.

Lyric's button up blew softly in the wind as the late afternoon air blew by discreetly. Cyril ran a hand through his hair and pulled his brother's torso closer to him as he felt a growing pain in his lower back. He felt a small grin of satisfaction come to him through his previous victory. It wasn't much, but hey, he was a hell of a lot better than most of the freaks here.

[NURI]

He was...interesting. There was the obvious thing, of course. The way their bodies melded together so seamlessly, how easily they seemed to move with each other, how they seemed to feel each other's pain or discomfort. It was absolutely amazing and clearly the work of a higher power which only served to make them all the more interesting to her. A lot of oddities were the way they were because of accidents or experimentation, but them? They were naturally like that. Naturally collected in a way few humans knew.

And of course it interested her. Time and time again she had found her gray eyes drifting to their connection, as if staring hard enough would allow her to look inside. A morbid curiosity, sure, but one she had none the less. So long as she only imagined what their anatomy was like did it really harm anyone? Nope.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing interesting about them. While the parasite did get some attention, most of the girl's attention was on Cyril. When he went to throw the ball, or was focusing to hit it... he looked so angry. Like the ball had personally done him wrong. Why? She tilted her head almost every time he did it, brushing the loose strands of hair from her face so she wouldn't miss a second. Almost everything the host did seemed so angry... It couldn't have been from an overdose of testosterone, right? If anything, having the parasite should have lowered the levels. He should have been calmer than most males, less aggressive.... What wouldn't she give to even just speak to them, just for a moment....

Aira had been watching the boys so intensely that she hadn't noticed anything else. The prickle of grass as they poked through her tights, the way the wind grabbed the hair freed from her bun and played, how the heat was making her hooded dress uncomfortable. She just sat there, watching, unaware that she had once more joined the world.

And then the boys were done, walking once more back to Circo. She had no idea they could see her if they wished, nor that her airy voice could very well travel to their ears. "If you widened your stance and turned a little more towards the ball, you'd have more strength in your swing..."

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

Cyril's hand reached into a duffel bag slung over his shoulders as he threw in his ball and took out another chilled plastic water bottle. Cracking it open he fizzled half of it in less than a five seconds, and afterwards poured the remaining liquid down his hair. His brother dodged out of the stream's way as he fanned himself, though somehow wasn't as hot as his brother. His brain didn't register Cyril's activity, though did register the heat from outside. The parasitic twin mumbled a small 'thank you' after his brother switched his position. Cyril nodded as he continued his trail, and, since his mind was on cool-off mode, had went back to his normal staggering stride. His tennis shoes made an uneven pattern against the dirt as he walked like a zombie forward. He would have kept going, but he heard a faint voice that prompted him to stop immediately.

Before his reasoning had a chance to consider her advice, his attitude flew in to snap back. "Ya know it's real funny that you think that I give a flying f*ck about your sh*tty two cents." He shouted without turning around. After he finished his remark he turned around and raised his eyebrow.... There wasn't anybody there. He sighed, rolled his gray eyes, and shouted once more. "Ya know, if you're gonna give me unwanted advice you might as well have the balls to say it to my face."

[NURI]

He could hear her? It wasn't the anger in the boy's voice that made her pop up to her knees, but the shock. No one /ever/ heard her. No one even ever saw her normally. And it was this shock, and the sudden wave of anger after it, that made her almost shimmer into the twin's view.

She was young, maybe just around 12 or 13 years old. She was kneeling in the grass just a foot or two away from the twins, her once-curious gray eyes suddenly turned to stone. "Doesn't matter if you took my advice or not, asshat. Nothing on this planet could make you play better." She was pissed, yet a smirk touched her lips as she stood up. She was just a hair taller than the boys, a simple striped dress covering her beginning-to-bloom frame. "I could beat you easily. Hell, a /baby/ could beat you."

Sure Aira. Just continue to piss off seemingly the only person ever who could hear her. That was great. He was going to leave and she wouldn't be able to follow him. With just a few words she had turned her favorite pastime into awkward memories. "Congratulations on hearing me though. Most people can't."

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

Well, he had got what he wanted. A girl a bit younger than the two seemed to come out of nowhere outside of Cyril's initial viewing range. A rustle of grass caught his hearing range in a sudden breeze of the wasteland. He turned to the girl with an unamused expression that possessed a face full of 'I don't care'. He would have kept that blank face with this chick for as long as they would associate, until she retorted back with just a much as a nasty mouth.

Which, of course, sent Cyril off like an ignited bottle rocket.

Well, this girl had quite the wit to be talking to him like that! Usually people didn't have a comeback to his sharp wit, but obviously queen big britches thought she was hot sh*t. Well, since it seemed like two could play at Cyril's game, the deformed boy obviously had to prove he was dominant.

"Wow, really?! Well jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick I better watch out! I'm shaking with the fear of the ruining of my flawless reputation! Ooooh!" Cyril mocked in a dramatic yet obviously sarcastic whiny tone, his lip somewhat trembling before he laughed obnoxiously. "Well, sweetheart, care to produce your obviously godly skills?" Cyril then asked with a cocky expression, nearing her in his messy stride. He immediately stood right in front of her, eyes narrowed, staring straight into her expression.

"Oh really? Well, damn, with your award winning personality I'm sure no one exactly lines up to get their blessing from queen b*tch." He jeered with a more spiteful than malicious tone, an egotistical look in his stormy eyes.

Well, as he saw where this was going, his twin twisted from behind him to face her, Cyril in response jerking to the side to make room for his other half. "Cy, we shouldn't start fights... Please, let's go..." Lyric went to whisper in Cyril's ear, his hands once more placed on his shoulders. He looked at the girl before looking down, as if he were scared to start anything with her.

[NURI]

He was furious. Aira near visibly relaxed, not even flinching when he came close to her. And why would she? If he fought like he played ball she wouldn't have a problem. "Why don't you save the oxygen, close your mouth, and give me the bat?" She asked calmly, smirk still firmly in place. Did he really think he could win against her? Honestly, it was kind of cute. Unfortunately for him, not cute enough to keep around. She was going to hit every ball he threw, physical or verbal.

"And when I win, you have to answer me this," she paused, looking him over critically. Most people would have made a comment about the twin. Honestly, she was almost tempted to do it. But she was Aira, and she was a woman. She did have /some/ class. "How is it that you manage to carry your enormous ego up the stairs?" And her eyes snapped right back up to his. She wasn't even angry anymore, not really. Actually, she looked like she was enjoying making him upset.

And she was.

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

Well, she did have some lady balls to challenge him. Good for her. Now, could she actually uphold all her mouth? That was certainly to be determined. "Here. Catch." Cyril now seemed less arrogant as he went into game mode, his hand carelessly tossing the girl the bat. "Hope you don't ruin your pretty little dress trying to act like a big girl." Cyril taunted rudely as he retrieved the ball from his bag. Baseball in hand he proceeded to toss it up and down once more, spinning it occasionally as it flawlessly met a rhythm. "For someone who can't take smack you sure can dish it out. All to make your loss more hilariously humiliating, I guess." He then laughed slyly and boldly as if he had amused the hell out of himself.

Seemingly as soon as he dished out an insult, she fired back just as quick. Cyril, being Cyril, was ready. He smiled an eerily-pleasant smile, as he tilted his head condescendingly. "Honey, you make it seem like my ego is a burden. I don't /carry/ it up the stairs. I f*cking throw it and see what innocent bastard's in its goddamn way." He answered back smoothly with a jaunting sneer. The tossing baseball suddenly turned into him throwing it to her, saying a quick "Think fast." before turning her back on her.

[NURI]

Now, let's get one thing clear. Aira wasn't a pro baseball player, not near one. But she was a teen, and in a circus full of freaks, there wasn't much that made everyone equal. But baseball, or really any sport? It leveled the field. Sure, some people had some experience, but most of the kids didn't have a clue.

And Aira was a very fast learner. The moment she had the bat she took off running, taking position a good few feet from him. He continued to talk his shit but she was quiet, eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He was going to throw it. The moment he thought she wasn't ready he was going to throw it.

And just as she predicted, there came the ball. Her mind instantly spun through the possibilities. Hit it farther than he could ever imagine....or hit the back of his stupid head? There was no way she could miss it. His ego blew it up to just about barn-sized.

She settled for in between. The threw her weight into the bat, a resounding crack vibrating her arms as the ball went spinning just past Cyril's head and a few feet farther. "Wider stance and angled more towards the ball. Strength and precision, asshat."

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

Just when he had thought the girl would be too distracted in her own big talk she managed to strike the ball perfectly, incidentally causing him to be off guard. The ball flew in between the boy and his brother, the parasite gasping and dodging out of the way just barely. Cyril merely cocked an eyebrow and swerved his torso behind him to see the ball's momentum decline into a complete stop in the dirty sand. While Lyric turned back in disbelief Cyril turned back in arrogant nonchalance. "Strength and precision asshat." He repeated in a mocking tone beneath his breath. In a more clear tone he stood up straight (or as straight as his body would let him) and yelled from where he was standing. "Ya know it's a whole different thing for me to be practicing by myself then with someone with a perfect pitch. You just got lucky." Pitch? More like careless toss. Still, he had his nose turned up and a snarky expression on his face as he looked at the girl. "Besides, your hit was lame as sh*t. Here. You throw. Let the pro show you how it's done." Without even asking for her permission, he rolled the ball effortlessly to her feet so that she had to do the dirty work in picking it up. Once more he staggered over to her, now with his hand empty and demanding his bat. His expression wasn't bitter anymore, however. He was more amused than anything at this chick. She had a lot of guts, but only time could tell if she could keep her pride on par with his.

Unadulterated, flawless confidence and tenacity was a beautiful thing to Cyril.

He looked up to the taller girl with a bored yet energized expression. "Ya know I'm real surprised you haven't said anything about what's obviously wrong with me. Seriously, you haven't taken a swing at the fact I walk funny or have a boy growin' out of me? Maybe you have a hair more decency than I do." Cyril then chuckled teasingly as he snatched back his bat and pointed her in the direction he wanted her to go. Apparently she had zero say in anything.

"Good. It's more fun to be a jackass. Something else I'm clearly more superior than you at."

[NURI]

If she was going to be pitching, she couldn't exactly wear a dress. She was, however, wearing black tights under it. After a moment of thinking she simply lifted the bottom of the dress, tieing it off at the waist as if it was a poofy shirt.

Much better. "That was a perfect pitch? Oh wow. I have been wrong my entire f-ing life then." She said softly as she knelt down, looking almost wide-eyed as she picked up the ball. But her smirk quickly returned. "Of course I haven't said anything about your brother. /He/ hasn't done anything to me. I'm just saving them up till he does something." And when he did? She was going to rip them /both/ a new one. It was probably a good thing Lyric didn't have a attitude Cyril did.

She smiled and tossed the ball casually like he had been. "Besides, you're not exactly smart. Jackass is the only level you'll reach, peasant. And I'll let you keep thinking you're good at it." And with that she spun around, purposely darting opposite to where he had pointed. She couldn't exactly let him control her completely, now could she? She /was/ the queen after all. She found where she wanted to throw from, watching him. She would have just thrown it like he had, but she was slightly kinder than the freak. If the boy swung without being ready there was a chance he'd hit his brother in the face or something, and she really didn't want to deal with that drama.

Though, to the smaller boy's credit, he'd moved pretty quickly when she hit the ball.

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

God, could Cyril even keep up with this woman? Every word he spat in immature retaliation was met with an even more childish remark. The two rivals were truly still kids, just barely teenagers. They both swore like a sailor, and tried to act like adults. Cyril couldn't hate this mirror image of him, no. Sure, he was acting like an ass to her, but if he truly couldn't stand her presence, he would say something truly nasty and leave. He wasn't going to instigate a fight with her if he truly irritated him that much. He may be a jerk, but he wasn't evil.

"Hell yeah." He replied simply to her remark on his throwing skills. As much as he could tolerate though on her remarks about him, Lyric was a definite sacred area that no one could bother. Not physically, but any talk about Lyric would set him off. Seeing as his mind was racing with egotism, though, the insult didn't hit home in his rage as it usually did. "Say something nasty to my brother. I f*cking dare you. He won't touch you if you don't touch him, right, Lyr?" Cyril looked to his twin who was now clutching his exposed torso. The boy's hair had covered his grey eyes as he looked to the lady from a much smaller perspective, which showed a hint of fear behind them. Lyric mumbled a small 'mhm' to his brother, not bothering to look at the scary girl. Cyril looked back at her as he reared his bat, twirling it in his free hand. Her second insult didn't seemed to phase him so he just laughed in a cocky fashion. "Lady you don't know jack sh*t about me." He remarked simply, holding his bat up to position. "Ya know I got a reputation to maintain. I've got no room to be soft." He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, gesturing with the tip of his back for her to throw.

When she did pitch, her throw much better than Cyril's poorly attempted toss to her, Cyril reacted quite swiftly. Lyric wrapped around the back of his brother as if he had memorized his swinging pattern just as Cyril swung out with a powerful blow. A loud CRACK! was heard as Cyril hit the ball, the sphere instantly bouncing off the wooden surface and clear past Aira. It flew straight for a good sum of feet behind her, no intentions of slowing until a few seconds through the air. It then landed slowly onto the desert to an eventually complete stop. Cyril smiled smugly as he taunted "Anything you can do, I can do better~"

(Tell me if you didn't want the ball to be thrown)

[NURI]

"No, no, no, no." He even got a finger waggle. "No. I did the best I could with the piss-poor pitch you gave me." Though she was pretty impressed. How long could she keep him playing with her? Even if they were too tired to bat she wanted him to stick around. He honestly was the most fun she'd had in awhile, and she'd happily just sit in the dirt and spit venom at him.

And probably end up throwing dirt at him. She did have that tendency, throwing things when she got angry.

"I'm going to go get the ball and your lazy ass is going to throw it /properly/." Could she hit the ball hard enough to break his bat? She wasn't sure, but she really wanted to. It would prove her dominance and keep him from one-uping her all at once. It meant that they wouldn't be able to play anymore though... Still. She spun around and raced to the ball's resting place, snatching it up as if it was valuable.

Then she ran back to him, holding out the ball since she wasn't quite sure he could bend over with Lyric. "Give me the bat and kiss your ball goodbye." She was going to hit it so far he wouldn't have a chance in hell finding it again and she was going to break the bat. Hopefully. Though, most likely, she was just going to hit it as far or farther than he had.

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

Cyril snorted and rolled his eyes at the girl's denial of a lack of skill. She was just blowing hot air, there couldn't be any truth behind her words. He would only believe that someone did better than him if he saw it, and even then he would be as stubborn about it as possible. He was a good sport in general, but taunting this girl was just to much fun. "Whatever you say sweetheart." He mumbled without much emotion.

With the acceptance of his challenge he grinned wildly. He simply laughed at her proposal, amused by the fact of how hell bent she was at determining who was the superior. If this was the case, they might as well be going at it got as long as the two were alive and kicking. Would their temporary acquaintanceship even last that long? As soon as he almost lost himself in his thoughts however the girl came back with the ball in her hands. He hid it, but honestly thanked her mentally for getting it. Not out of kindness, but more so out of the fact he didn't want to make a fool of himself since he couldn't even touch his toes no matter what he did. Yeah, he wanted to be spared the embarrassment.

Once she approached him Cyril snatched up the ball in eager anticipation and proceeded to spin it once more. In a solid motion he stuck out his arm to give her the wooden bat, which was, upon closer inspection, already chipped and hairline-cracked. He snorted once again with his signature devilish grin as he uttered a plain "Good luck, your highness." before turning around and trotting away in a conceited fashion. After walking about twenty or so feet away he spun on his heels to face the girl once more, making sure she was ready for his pitch.

The ball dribbled up and down yet again in front of his exposed torso as he proceeded to contemplate his throw. After a few seconds the bouncing stopped as he figured out a plan of action. The ball was firmly held in Cyril's dominant left hand as he stepped back a foot. His hand reared up and as if his body were a whiplash his right leg kicked up as he threw his entire body into the pitch. The ball slung out of his hand at an impressive speed while his brother made room for his to execute his throw outstandingly. The ball hurled toward her the instant Cyril stood back to watch. This was sure going to be interesting for the both of them.

[NURI]

She didn't even have time to think. Aira swung the bat as hard as she could, aiming to hit the ball far and high. A loud crack echoed through her ears and she cheered happily. She meant to watch the ball, watch exactly where it went so she could keep it as a trophy, but something else caught her attention.

Her gray eyes widened in honest shock as she looked to the bat in her hands. Just seconds before it had been whole and bringing joy to all. Now? It was missing the top half of the batting part, and Aira honestly had no idea where it went. "Heh. Opps. I guess that means I win..." Was the boy going to kill her? It /was/ his bat. And knowing her luck it was going to have some kind of special story attached to it or something. Maybe it was his father's and he gave it to Cyril before he went off to war and died and she broke it and-

This was not going to end well.

Sheepishly she looked over to the twins, nervously running her free hand through her bangs. "I'm sorry...."

[CYRIL AND LYRIC SULLIVAN]

With the power of the girl's swing, the ball sounded like a gunshot firing through the endless desert air. Lyric flinched visibly with the loud noise which prevented him from seeing the bullet soar. Cyril on the other hand was gaping like a fish at the ball zipping like a comet against the sky. For a good few seconds he sat in awe-stricken silence as he watched the sphere fly from his field of vision. Once the ball had passed him Cyril still looks towards the horizon, almost half expecting the thing to come back and hit the back of his head after circling the world or something. Unable to grasp what had just happened and the shame he now felt, he stood neatly frozen. It wasn't until his brother, who turned to face the girl, shook his shoulder as if something horrible had just happened.

After a good few shakes Cyril nudged Lyric off so he could see what the hell was wrong. Sure enough, he matched Lyric's facial expression rather well. All three of the children seemed bewildered as to what had happened, and all for the same reason- Cyril's bat was partially shattered. Cyril, numb to the girl's words, proceeded to zombie-crawl forwards to the mess. He stopped a few feet before her to take in the fragments of wood before him. He looked to the ground, to her, and back to the ground. Her apologies passed right through him as he fell to his knee to assess a splinter. Silence ensued. Then, out of nowhere, Cyril began to tremble. No, not tremble, shake. The splinter suddenly dropped from his hand as gasps of air could be heard. A intelligible grunt of some sort could be heard every few seconds, interrupted by what seemed to be forming words. "Ho... ly..." Suddenly he turned his face up, his expression covered by hair.

"SH*T!" He bursted. Like a rush of a broken dam came out a barrage of guffaws erupted from his now hysterical body. He pushed himself to his knees as he laughed like a deranged hyena, every so often wiping the corner of his eye. "Y-you... Weren't playing around!" He choked out in between fits of contagious laughter. What had really set him off wasn't the bat, no. It was how dumbfounded she was. "Y-you should see the look on your face! Ha... Priceless!" He pointed to her with a beaming grin. After a few seconds of this insane fit he calmed himself down just enough to comfort her... A bit.

"D-dude... What's with that face? I stole this bat from the jack*ss in the dorm room next to us that screwed up our names... Right after I took it to his sorry *ss!" Cyril then started to laugh loudly once more as he shakily tried to stand back up. His grey eyes locked onto hers, their expression still arrogant yet less testy. "Dude... Gotta hand that to you... That was f*ckin righteous."

Yeah, righteous enough to have him laughing the hardest he had in years.