What's the Stitch?

[Laurels]

((Open thread))

((Philippa "Pippa" Andolini: Sandbox Start))

Pippa adjusted her position on the bench, crossing her legs as she inched a little to the side. She arched her back a bit to get that slight kink out. Craft work could put a strain on her posture, something Pippa had to consider amplified as she was sitting on a backless seat. Still, it was a cloudless, sunny day in Bellington, so Pippa was sure the exposure to sunlight and fresh air could mitigate the stress.

It was lunch break, and Pippa had taken to sitting outside today. She was caught up on her assignments, giving her the freedom to use her lunch time to work on her projects for her website. She had brought a needlepoint project she was working on at home with her to school, and once she had cleared her lunch waste, she continued her work.

She continued to pull a green thread through the mesh, stitching in the good rhythm she found herself in when she got to work. She adjusted the frame in her hand, making sure each stitch was close together and tight. The goal was to make the cover for a throw pillow, one covered in flowers and other kinds of flora. It was a bit rote to make a floral throw pillow, but Pippa was sure she could imbue her own style and make a good profit off the sale.

Pippa continued to thread until she had covered the pencil trace with all the green thread she needed. Now she could have a little more fun and add more color and vibrancy to it.

"Alright," she said, looking at the sewing kit on the bench next to her. "Where to start?"

[Namira]

"HEADS!"

Sailing down from the skies above like a rubber thunderbolt came a football.

There was a cheerful plunk sound as it impacted against the bench's backrest, missing Pippa by inches, then rebounded back, flying some distance away.

Its bouncing menace was halted as a foot trapped it, rolled it back, and then flicked it up and underneath an arm.

Then, it was replaced by Rajni Smith, who jogged up to Pippa with a smile.

"Soz mate," she called out a couple of steps before reaching her. "I lost it for a second and some absolute nob'ead decided to boot it as hard as they could."

[Laurels]

As Pippa continued to work on her needlepoint, she began to hum some Vivaldi to herself. Her dad always liked classical Italian music, so there was plenty of that in their home before it was obliterated. It was a peaceful day, so it felt like Vivaldi himself was adding to the serenity of the moment. It made her work seem less tedious and more idyllic. As if her actions made her seem like the heroine in a great Italian opera, and a heroic alto was about to appear and join the scene to serenade her.

However, the football that collided with the back of the bench was like if Sid Vicious suddenly beat Vivaldi over the head with his music stand.

Pippa wasn't looking when the ball came soaring through the air. She heard it collide and felt the vibration off the back of the bench. She let out a bit of a yelp when the football hit, tensing up and pulling her elbows close to her side. Pippa was mid-stitch, and she nearly dropped the frame onto the ground as she tensed up. She caught herself in time, and looked up a bit when she heard someone running up.

Rajni Smith was an active, enthusiastic girl. Pippa never had any real issues with her, but she did find Rajni a bit loud and obnoxious at times. Now the other girl had nearly smashed her face in with a football, and Pippa knew it'd take a few minutes for her to get back to her groove.

"Oh. Hi, Rajni," she said, trying to remain calm. "Must be quite the intense game you're playing."

[Namira]

Rajni had only halfway registered who it was she was talking to by the time she finished, let alone started. Rajni knew Pippa in that nebulous kind of way that way she knew pretty much everyone at school, in that Bellington wasn't a big place and if you spent all of secondary with someone you were bound to talk with them at least a couple times. There was also that nebulous kind of way that Rajni was casually but not super friendly with a lot of people. Who had time for all that anyhow? Sometimes you had the energy and sometimes you didn't.

Pippa was all right though. She basically had her own clothing line and that was awesome; although knitwear wasn't Rajni's thing personally it looked great in some outfits.

In spite of that, Rajni failed to note that it was that particular hobby she'd interrupted.

"Nah not really," she thumbed back over her shoulder. "Was doing keep-ups and one of those lower sixth bellends hoofed it right off my foot," Rajni spun the ball under her arm. "You ever do keep-ups?"

[Laurels]

Pippa didn't pay a whole lot of attention to football. It was fun to have some pride for a local team and get excited for whenever they did well in a local or national competition, but otherwise, she didn't really play or pay much attention to football. She didn't dislike the sport, she just didn't find it all that interesting. It wasn't even worth leaving a game on the TV while she was doing handicrafts.

So when Rajni started talking about the game and whatever she was doing, Pippa had to keep a neutral smile on her face and nod along until Rajni asked her a question.

"No, I can't say that I have," Pippa told Rajni. "Admittedly, I don't know what that means, so perhaps it's something I have done."

Pippa wasn't sure what she was expecting a keep-up to be, but prayed it was something simple so she could assure Rajni she had done it. Otherwise, she'd have to look like a sap who barely knew anything about football, which Pippa was sure was something that could get her on some blacklists in the UK.