Fifth inning. The pitcher was doing well, he thought, although he was inherently biased. His manager seemed to think he was doing well; with a nod he continued to take the mound. His teammates likewise, although they hadn't said much to him. What was there to be said? Any pregame pep talks were useless now. Once again he was alone.
The batter swung and missed violently at the first offering. A relief, of sorts, although he shouldn't have been straining himself this early in the game. Or was it early?
The Ellimist peered into her container of popcorn. "It was not this full a half-inning ago."
Crayak pretended to focus on the third baseman, gnawing his lip as he dug his cleats into the dirt.
"What did you do?"
"Fill it back up." A streaking foul left jolted the third baseman from his dubious condition.
"Why?"
"Because I knew you'd-I assumed you'd try to go for more, and we-I don't want that." A simplistic parabola to first.
"Which only gives me more incentive to do so."
Crayak looked up to the sky. A lonely planet fought its way out from the clouds. Traditionally, it would still be a bright day now. Afternoon Chicago in October was cool, but no blizzard. But Those who could pushed the games later and later, into the night. "We should have more creative arguments than the ones we've repeated for millennia." The next batter took his position.
"Says you."
"You'd prefer the same ones? The ones, may I point out, that you always lose?" High, borderline pitch ruled a ball.
"You may."
"I appreciate your tolerance."
"Do we not value most highly the qualities we do not possess?" Breaking pitch, inside, but the batter went around.
"Do we?"
"Your repetitious chatter is nihilistic."
"Or below your level of comprehension."
"You keep your options open, don't you."
"I do, and that was poor inflection on your part."
"Rhetoric." Grounder to short, over to first for the out.
"A word of advice: Make your pathetic excuses before they're extracted from you."
"Nine."
"A perfect square. How coincidental."
"Is there any room for coincidence in this world?"
"Not if we attribute it to interference." The lithe sixth batter took his place. "And that applies on other worlds, as well."
"When you say "we" are you referring to the two of us?"
"Two? You're not Toomin."
"Then why do you continue to refer to me as such?" A strike inside.
"You're not just Toomin. You're a medley of, as the humans say, "losers"."
"Not all of them say that."
"They don't know you."
"I meant that they don't speak English."
Crayak reached for the Ellimist's popcorn.
"Unable to come back with an intelligent reply?"
"Unable to dumb myself to your level."
The Ellimist tossed her golden hair. "What do you think I am, a dumb blonde?"
"Actually…"
"And if so, why are you dating me?"
"You're…formidable. A worthy opponent." Skied, it looked like it was going into center, but the second baseman backed up a few steps and down it came.
"Halfway done."
"Barring extra innings."