an unkindness of ravens

vingt-neuf

tw: use of the cane (mild)

— vingt-neuf ; twenty nine —

SEPTEMBER PASSED BY IN a blur and October came faster than Henri was expecting. Without meaning to, he settled into a routine — Exy, classes, Exy, and then the rest of the evening spent alone with Soren. Sometimes, the last part of the evening didn't work, because Henri had work or Soren wanted to rewatch matches and read tactics instead for upcoming games. That excuse always managed to piss Henri off but it's not as if he could make a dent in his Exy obsession. Soren would always choose Exy over him, any day, and Henri knew that. There were also the days he took his tutor duties seriously and made Henri study to save his grades, which was arguably the worst for him.

Their next two matches passed much the same as the others — wins in the favour of the Ravens, without even coming close. These were the small fry, the teams that qualified but never made it to finals, and no one expected the results to go otherwise. Henri didn't play in those games, which was what he'd expected. The freshmen were kept on the sides as subs. This delegation seemed to appease the other upperclassmen, who pretty much left him alone. Jude and KJ would never like him, but Aria, Benjamin and Alixis had become fairly indifferent to him. Henri had figured out when it came down to it those three didn't care enough to bother him.

Matthias and Xander were more confusing. Henri hadn't forgotten that they were part of the group that messed with him just because he'd been allowed to play, but under most circumstances, they acted perfectly friendly towards him. Henri was more inclined to forgive the latter, seeing as he'd tried to stop the others, but Matthias was relentless. He'd bug Henri, during practice and after, to the point it was just easier to talk to him rather than ignore him. Henri still didn't trust him but he didn't exactly have a choice about interacting with him.

Henri reached the ball Matthias threw seconds before Alixis did, and was running in the same breath he snatched it up. He knew Alixis was on his heels and feinted to the right on his fourth step, twisting with the racquet protected by his body so Alixis couldn't steal possession, and then sprinted right past her when she turned to follow his movements. He passed off the wall on a rebound to Soren just a second before Alixis checked him, but she'd already missed her window. Soren passed to Aria, who passed back, and then the goal lines lit up red when Soren made the shot. The Master blew his whistle to call the end of the scrimmage.

Alixis tugged her helmet off and looked at Henri as ran fingers through her short black hair. "Not bad," she admitted grudgingly, as if the words pained her.

Henri watched her walk off court with some bewilderment at the first sign of any approval she had given, even if it wasn't much. "She's realising the same thing I did," Soren said, coming up alongside him. "As annoying as you might be, you're not completely useless on our court. You had bad habits when you first came here but you learn and improve quickly."

Henri touched his chest in mock shock. "Approval from two Ravens in one day? Has the world gone mad?"

"Don't let it get to your head," Soren said. "You have potential, but you still have a long way to go. You're thinking more but your playing style is still too instinctive, especially in the heat of the moment — "

"Yeah, yeah," Henri said, waving a dismissive hand over his shoulder as he made his way to inner court. "Heard it all before, Soren. Try a new song and dance."

"Idiot," Soren muttered from behind him.

They were the last two of court from the scrimmage and the others were already discussing feedback from practice, with the exception of Jude. He was watching the two of them through narrowed eyes, but Soren didn't even notice, adding to the improvements Alixis was giving. Henri raised an eyebrow at his gaze and Jude just scowled, turning back to the group. Henri figured he had something to say, and sure enough, he held out a hand to stop him when Henri when to step off to follow the others to the lockers. Soren stopped and glanced back when he saw Henri wasn't behind him. He hesitated only for a couple of seconds when Henri shook his head before continuing.