13607/Wallabies and Willows

Wallabies and Willows
Date of Scene:	09 July 2021
Location:	Uptown, St. Martin's Island
Synopsis:	Willow Rosenberg watches men play rugby in the park.
Cast of Characters:	Captain Boomerang, Willow Rosenberg

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Captain Boomerang has posed:
It was a beautiful summer morning in Metropolis. The sun was shining, there was a faint breeze, and the smell of flowers in the air. And there were big muscular men playing rugby. This didn't seem to be anything formal, as they were wearing mismatched clothing. It made it hard to know who was on which team, except by the way they seemed to face.

Owen Mercer was among them, wearing a horizontally striped shirt, which consisted of navy blue, and grey, bars. He had black shorts on, which were above the knee, white socks, although he did seem to wear boots with spikes in the shoes. Most of the guys wore those kinds of shoes, although none of them seemed to wear any kind of padding or protection.

Except one. He wore a sort of soft padded helmet, with a chin strap. It was made of fabric with harder plates inside. Two of them wore headbands. But that was it.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow has no clue what brought her near this park, but it was nice. And the boys playing rugby had her watching. In fact it was the first rugby match that she had seen, and the was enthralled even as she was wincing.

So much so that she forgot to drink her coffee. And it grew colder as the match went on.

Of course she was in a wraparound skirt, tye dyed top, and Birkenstocks (with socks, of course!).

Captain Boomerang has posed:
The boys had no referee, but it was just a friendly game. At one point when they took a break from it, a big, burly, Englishman, who had to be about 6'6", and weight 250 lb or more, came over towards Willow, and asked, "are you going to come to the match on Sunday? Dragons plays Bludhaven."

Before another man came over, slinging an arm around his friend and spoke with a New Zealand accent, "always chatting up the birds, Bri," while Owen Mercer drank most of a bottle of some sports drink, before joining in, his accent was Australian, so it was a multicultural group, "sorry, miss, I can't go anywhere with this lot."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"On Sunday? Maybe?" Willow already had a full schedule when you got down to it. But they were nice enough to invite her!

She laughs when Owen joined the crowd. "I didn't even know we had rugby! Rugby, right?"

For all the time she spent with John Constantine, and Rupert Giles, it had never come up in conversation.

She held out her hand. "I'm Willow. You know, like the tree?"

Captain Boomerang has posed:
The big blond Englishman said, "Brian," the kiwi who seemed to have some Maori heritage by the look of him, said, "Steve," and the Australian said, "Owen." Steve would head over to his bag, grabbing something, and come back to hand Willow two tickets, "here you go, two tickets," either he worked for the club, or was a player having a bit of fun. Rugby in the United States wasn't huge, so he might have just been a player. Hard to tell, but they did have printed tickets. It said it was at the Brockton Oval, presumably the name of the stadium or field.

Brian was called back by one of the other players, "nice to meet you, Willow," and he jutted off to see what was needed. It left Owen, Steve, and Willow by themselves. "Yeah, it's rugby, we were playing Rugby League, though the match is Rugby Union. They're quite similar, but use different numbers of players, and a few other minor changes."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow *blinks* at the tickets. "Thanks!" Now she would have to go! Perhaps Pietro would want to go?

"I really don't watch very many sports, so I'll take your word on the rules? Normally I read. Oh! Unless you count esports?"

Captain Boomerang has posed:
Her mention of esports drew a confused look from Steve. Owen read it and gave him a look. If there was a telepath in the room, or someone who knew them, Steve was about to go on a rant about how esports are part of the reason there is an obesity crisis in America, and Owen was saying with his body language that this was not an appropriate time for it.

Steve decided to just go with, "I play for the Dragons. Metropolis Dragons. And don't worry if you haven't heard of us, rugby's not the biggest sport in America, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to play or watch." And then he too was called over by someone, leaving Owen and Willow.

Owen finished off the last of his sports drink. It was red, but the bottle suggested it was one of those home made with powder things. "I'm sure you'll have a good time. And if not, no worries, right. You came, you saw, you gave it a chance."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
After Steve takes it, Willow has to shake her head.

"I know, most people don't count esports. But there is so much to do with them. Really, the things they have to keep in mind. I play not that well." She has to grin sheepishly. "I have a busy schedule. And I can throw a little bit in real life. Well, not really throw. Kinda when we go to the gym, I practice my hold and throws. Mostly learning to hold my own. Self defense."

Captain Boomerang has posed:
"Ah, so you've signed up for a self-defense class. That's all right then. Always good to know how to take care of yourself." Owen gave a nodding approval, pointing to one of the guys, who probably had to be 6'8", Owen was actually one of the shorter ones at just 6'1", "I once saw his misses, Tina, back before she became his misses, toss him ass over teakettle when he got a bit fresh with her. Of course, she's a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, Krav Maga, or something like that." He laughed at the memory.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"My friends are a bit more skilled than I am. Really, if I have to go head to head with an enemy there are certainly other things I would be doing!" Willow hopes he thinks 'run', but really, she has other skills to employ.

"What about you?"

Captain Boomerang has posed:
"Oh, I'm definitely more skilled than my friends." Owen was. His hand eye coordination was top notch. He was a born athlete, and particularly good with thrown objects. "Though, I think the first rule of a confrontation is to not be in one. If you can, move away, get out of that situation, or better yet, don't let it escalate to that. But, when it comes to it, everybody should know what to do. I'm glad you do, or are learning."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I hear you! I prefer to not get in fights. But my friends have a tendency to get in over most people's heads. At least they are prepared for it? That's why they insisted I learn a little bit. You never know when you might be needed."

She grins.

"But you look like you can handle yourself. After all, you play rugby! Which, by the way, looks hard."

Captain Boomerang has posed:
"It's not that hard, it's just like American Football, except without the 50 pounds of protective gear." It really wasn't, but he was kidding. Although the absence of protective gear part was true. "But if your friends keep getting in over their heads, sounds like it's time to get some new friends, or platform shoes, maybe stilts. How far are we talking here?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Like.. my friends almost go out of the way to take others on?" Willow was sheepish. "My friends are actually super heroes. They take them on so nobody else has to. I guess sometimes they need me?"

She does have to grin at him. "Okay. A little bit more than sometimes."

Captain Boomerang has posed:
Owen gave her a sideways look when she said that her friends went out of their way to take others on. But then she explained that they were superheroes. "So, you're a superhero too?" He asked, as she said they relied on her. He didn't wear a mask, so he did a poor job of hiding his identity to anyone that knew him, but he did his best not to alert people to his own exploits.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Now Willow has to think. Was she a superhero? She didn't feel superhero-ish.

"I don't think so? Mostly my friends use things that I research for them. Occasionally they might need me for a specific attack. Besides, nobody remembers me. That's a dead ringer right there."

Captain Boomerang has posed:
Owen listened to her try to make sense of just what she was in relation to her superhero friends. "Then... it sounds more like you might be the man in the chair, or woman in the chair." He knew that much, from hearing others, and from the various superhero movies. It was a trope. "Do you have a costume? You should get a costume."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Nooo.."

With the Scoobies *nobody* bothered. And with the Justice League, or Titans.. she hardly was needed, to need a custom. Really.

"True superheroes sometimes need a costume so that they can lead normal lives." She didn't know how to explain the Scoobies. Besides, did magic users need a costume?? She couldn't remember one.

Captain Boomerang has posed:
"So if there are 'true' superheroes, what are the other types of superheroes that are something other than 'true'?" he asked, bemused by this conversation, and thankful to be able to just react as a normal guy for once. While they were talking, his friends seemed to be packing up, and heading off someplace. One came over to explain where they were going to him, and he turned, "no worries, I'll meet up with the lads later."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I don't know, to tell the truth? Maybe only the ones who need to wear costumes?" Willow laughs and shrugs. "I really don't think of myself as a superhero. I'm just Willow, you know?"

Captain Boomerang has posed:
"Need to wear costumes? Don't you mean get to wear costumes? I mean, imagine you, in uh, yellow spandex with pink dots. You could be the Dot." He was just messing with her, and had no idea what she did besides research, but it was an amusing thought.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I have enough trouble getting people to respect me! Could you see me wearing a bright pink dot?" Willow giggles."With my hair? Maybe for Halloween. But regular wear?" Oh no you didn't. But she definitely had a good laugh.

"I should probably just go now. If you're around in the area where the Magic Box is Sunnydale, or in Gotham by the Hugo Building, look me up."

Captain Boomerang has posed:
Those directions were both specific, and vague. Seems she frequents a place, a store, called the Magic Box, and Hugo Building, whatever that was, with no ideas on times or anything. "It was nice meeting you Willow, I should probably get going too. The boys will be wondering where I am." Really, the fact that he had a girlfriend was probably the only reason they weren't messing with him via text or direct message. And he took off as well.