#I'm thinking about making a separate blog specifically for these for ease of access

[ferociousfangirlofmanyfandoms]

Paddle Balls and Paitence

... I was having a hard time with a paddle ball and this came out. Especially since Stan seemed to be good at using his own paddle ball. I’m not exactly sure what this is. Just... um, have fun with it? It’s more self insert doodles than anything... Blep. I’ve edited it all I want to, have at it. 

Tell me what you think, @selfinsertlove? @hopethefangirl?

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“Ugh! You stupid piece of crap!”

I was about ready to break the little plastic paddle that was fit to drive me crazy. How did Stan manage this toy? And he found it amusing? I could barely get that little ball of rubber to smack the hard plastic… It was just like those cup and ball games they had at pioneer exhibits, and equally frustrating. Those exhibits and the tourist traps that followed them were usually actually enjoyable. Probably why I liked hanging out in the Mystery Shack- it reminded me of road trips back home and some of the few times my family had fun together. Except on this particular trip Kitty- one of my best friends- found it hilarious when I got mad at the toy after multiple failed tries to get the stupid ball into the cup. Which just made me more irritated and ended up spoiling the gift shop part of that adventure for me.

How the f@#%! does Stan MANAGE this thing?! He did it with such ease back when I thought this was a show… Then again, Stan had probably had one of the bigger ones with a shorter string… which honestly probably made it easier than this one… Nope, yep, he had a bigger one than my green one. Probably better quality too- not just some toss-away care package stuffer…

“Whatcha mad at this time, kid?”

I jumped when I heard a rumbling voice behind me. I turned around, little paddle in my hand. I could feel my face twisting up in frustration (and was that embarrassment?) even as I tried to keep a straight expression.

“I’ve been fiddling with this thing, and I can’t even get a lucky hit in with this little paddle…. And it’s really annoying,” I confessed, my face going hot with embarrassment. Stupid translucent Germanic skin… I showed him the paddle. Aggravation and shame was a potent cocktail in my stomach- would he laugh? Tease me?

“How long ya been practicing?”

I looked up, blinking bewilderedly. “Uhhh… Not like I do it regularly…. I mean… Um…”

“So you’re new at this,” Stan says. Was that a flicker of sympathy in his eyes? Stop, you’re awful at reading people…

“Yeah pretty much,” I grumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. He does laugh, but not in the mean spirited way I expected. The sound is more fond than teasing. After recovering from the companionable whap on the back I got for that statement, my jaw dropped. Despite Stan’s much bigger hands and relative lack of practice from what I knew, he was bouncing that ball back and forth on that paddle with EASE! Showoff…

“I see your problem. For one thing, this little thing has a long string for what it is. For another, this is a pretty small target to hit with an equally small ball. You’ve got good hand eye coordination- your videogame hobby proves that- except this is a different kind of hand eye coordination and it’s throwing you off. Especially since this ain’t a screen. Plus?” He snorted, placing it back in my palm easily. “You ain’t had a lot of practice- that’s part of being good at this. Though you coulda picked a better paddle ball to start on…”

“Wh-what’s a long string got to do with it?” I spluttered. “And I know about the teensy target and stuff, but it makes it annoying that I can’t even hit the ball with the stupid paddle even once without dumb luck-“ “Long string makes the ball harder to control. Seems it’s an old string too- they lose that…” He scratches his head for a minute before continuing. “Elas- what makes a thing bounce-“ “Elasticity,” I piped in helpfully. He got kind of grumpy when I butted in without this kind of prompting, but being a walking dictionary thanks to a reading habit I refuse to kick makes one a little impatient when it comes to words. Or that’s just me, but moving on…

“Elasticity. They don’t bounce as well over time. When did you get this?”

“Mmm… Couple months ago.” “Yup. Crap quality strings would probably start acting like this around now then,” Stan confirms.

He sighs, running his hands through his hair, thinking for a minute. Then Stan grins a wicked grin over at me. With his eyepatch on he looked like some old mafia don (must have just gotten loose from a tour, for all he’s missing the fez). I’m in for a shoplifting trip, aren’t I?

“Up for st-borrowing some quality toys? After the w- rubes are gone…”

Despite the goody-goody in me yowling in protest, I was a little bit excited. Kicking out the part of my brain that had wandered to naughty places at the word toys, I nodded excitedly. He scruffs my hair fondly, and I laugh as he grabs his fez again and heads off.

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