There's too many brats running around in this game for my tastes, but you're not too bad, I suppose. It helps that you're living out my childhood dream.
I know you said you don't play anymore. Did you ever get a chance when you were younger? Middle school or highschool or anything, showing off for the scouts?
Nah. Best I had growing up was a ball we made from stitched up rags that the neighborhood kids took turns tossing around. The fun ended when one of them took it for himself and got the shit kicked out of him.
I finally had the money to buy my own at 15. Even if my school had a football team, I would've already been too old to pick up the game properly and go pro.
Any reason you don't looking for local leagues now that you're older? Just cause you missed a chance as a kid doesn't mean you have to forget your love for the sport.
The military keeps me occupied now. We have a league of our own, but until my ACL fully heals, all I can do is sit around on the sidelines. Even after it does, I'll be a liability to my team.
Yeah. That's always one of the big ones here that everyone's still scared of.
I'm glad you're on your feet for rehab. Coach says putting the surgery off just makes it harder, you end up with meniscus tear months down the line or something. So I think you made the right choice.
Don't bother trying to placate me. I don't need it.
It was my own fuck up that led to me getting injured. Frustrated as hell's putting it lightly, but how mad can I be when my own mistakes cost me everything?
[Yael doesn't stop to consider how dramatic that statement is until it's too late to take it back.]
[Catching on to the anxiety laced between Barrett's words, Yael is quick to nip that worry in the bud.]
For me. Not for you. Don't go around worrying that the sky's going to fall if you get injured on the field.
[Barrett's a good kid with a good outlook. If he were to suffer the same injury, it wouldn't ruin his life as easily as it did Yael's. He wouldn't let it.]
[He wishes it were an injury. At least an injury he could work on and recover from and rely on his strength and discipline. An injury wasn't the end of his world.]
It's not that.
[But it was his problems to solve. Not Yael's.]
I'm sad to see you talk like that, like you have to give up now. But I think a lot of the guys get scared like that. Even the ones that are doing really well.
It's hard to know how to encourage each other. Especially the ones with the leagues watching them.
People like Barrett piss him off. They really piss him off, nettling him with all these little things he can't help but be concerned by until he's unable to help himself, carving into them to find the source of that unhappiness. As if he can fix it. As if he can make anyone happy when he's so goddamn miserable.
People like Barrett should be happy, damn it. Live the dream I never could. Give me something, anything, to be happy about.]
Why are you so afraid? You, a strong kid who carries his team and his brothers on his back?
You're not really making me want to, even if I had something to say.
I've got pressure on me just like any other guy out there. But I'm not on any draft radar, and I've got a good family, and I've got a good team and a good school. If I want to make it work, I'll figure it out on my own.
Then don't, but don't let what I've got going on convince you that you'll end up right where I am if you get injured. That's how you screw yourself over.
You want my honest opinion? Whatever's eating at you is holding you back. That's the kind of thing a good coach or GM can smell on you.
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There's too many brats running around in this game for my tastes, but you're not too bad, I suppose. It helps that you're living out my childhood dream.
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I know you said you don't play anymore. Did you ever get a chance when you were younger? Middle school or highschool or anything, showing off for the scouts?
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I finally had the money to buy my own at 15. Even if my school had a football team, I would've already been too old to pick up the game properly and go pro.
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Any reason you don't looking for local leagues now that you're older? Just cause you missed a chance as a kid doesn't mean you have to forget your love for the sport.
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The military keeps me occupied now. We have a league of our own, but until my ACL fully heals, all I can do is sit around on the sidelines. Even after it does, I'll be a liability to my team.
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How long have you been down for? That takes forever to recover from...
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Got the surgery. Dealt with the crutches. I've finally moved on to a cane.
So much of what I did before was purely physical. My job, my hobbies. All of that got taken away at once.
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I'm glad you're on your feet for rehab. Coach says putting the surgery off just makes it harder, you end up with meniscus tear months down the line or something. So I think you made the right choice.
But you must be frustrated as hell right now.
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It was my own fuck up that led to me getting injured. Frustrated as hell's putting it lightly, but how mad can I be when my own mistakes cost me everything?
[Yael doesn't stop to consider how dramatic that statement is until it's too late to take it back.]
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...]
Do you really think that's it for you, then? One mistake, and there's nothing left?
[He's glad Yael can't see him. He can feel his fingers shake.]
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For me. Not for you. Don't go around worrying that the sky's going to fall if you get injured on the field.
[Barrett's a good kid with a good outlook. If he were to suffer the same injury, it wouldn't ruin his life as easily as it did Yael's. He wouldn't let it.]
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It's not that.
[But it was his problems to solve. Not Yael's.]
I'm sad to see you talk like that, like you have to give up now. But I think a lot of the guys get scared like that. Even the ones that are doing really well.
It's hard to know how to encourage each other. Especially the ones with the leagues watching them.
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People like Barrett piss him off. They really piss him off, nettling him with all these little things he can't help but be concerned by until he's unable to help himself, carving into them to find the source of that unhappiness. As if he can fix it. As if he can make anyone happy when he's so goddamn miserable.
People like Barrett should be happy, damn it. Live the dream I never could. Give me something, anything, to be happy about.]
Why are you so afraid? You, a strong kid who carries his team and his brothers on his back?
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Some things are just harder to think about.
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On top of being gullible, you're also a damn bad liar. Spit it out.
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I've got pressure on me just like any other guy out there. But I'm not on any draft radar, and I've got a good family, and I've got a good team and a good school. If I want to make it work, I'll figure it out on my own.
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You want my honest opinion? Whatever's eating at you is holding you back. That's the kind of thing a good coach or GM can smell on you.
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I won't pry the answer out of you this time, but you know you've got me curious.
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[He's surprised Yael hasn't already figured it out, given what he already knows... but he's already saying way too much.]
Thanks for being honest with me, though. Even if you're rougher, I kind of like you better that way.
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Anyway, I'll see you at the game. Until then, don't sweat the small stuff.
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See you later. Thanks again, Yael. Shoot me a message if Yuui is holding your ticket hostage or something and I'll have it sent to will call.