Miniature Golf, But Big Friendship

PixelatedGlory

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"As long as you don't try to pull my glove off feel free to grab my hand if you need it," he smiled at Ezra. He was going to make it a point to let Ezra be the one to decide when to hold his hand and when to release it. Really, personal space wasn't a thing that bothered Tadashi at all. Maybe that was the part of him that as a cat loved to be petted. In human form that wasn't so appropriate but being close to people didn't bother him.

"I'm glad you like it! Most of my clothes are white, black or grey though. Even before I went colorblind that was kind of what I picked out the few times I went shopping."

He chuckled when Ezra talked about 'fashion sense'. "You know, I'm pretty sure I can't help too well with fashion. I took my sister Shiro with me shopping and I think everything I bought was stuff she picked out for me." He giggled at the memory of her just laughing and shaking her head before telling him to hold on while she went and grabbed things for him to try on.

"I think you look really nice in what you picked to wear today Ezra. But really you should just dress however it is comfortable for you. I know Asteria has taught you a bunch of things about being polite and stuff, but...." he trailed off as he realized something. He shouldn't be telling his friend what to do. Certainly not telling them to go against what their guardian was teaching them. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. If Asteria is teaching you to dress and act a certain way it's rude of me to tell you not to do it. I guess i've just never done fancy stuff so I don't really get it all."

His life had been decidedly not fancy. He was a cat that had been born in an alley. Adopted by a fairly poor old man and then taken into the care of a woman who ran a small cafe by a train station before coming to the island.

Tadashi continued talking idly about clothing and even brought up a somewhat funny story about the first time he washed his laundry here on the island. He had been drawing so much since he had finally been allowed to do it without having to hide it from people that his gloves had been really coated with graphite and charcoal. He had thrown his gloves in with a big pile of socks and other white clothes and... well it was a bit of a mess. Since then he hand-washed his gloves.

They walked through the city, going across several more pedestrian crossings. Each time Tadashi let Ezra hold his hand as much as they needed to. He even was adjusting his pace so that he tended to be between Exra and the road most of the time. Whatever he could do to keep his friend comfortable.

It wasn't too much longer before they approached the minigolf place. There was a big old pirate ship right out front and various other pirate-themed decorations. Apparently the owners had taken that theme and run with it, perhaps as an homage to the island's foundation as a pirate haven originally. Or maybe it was just because the theme was fun and gave plenty of ideas for cool little things on the course. "Are you ready to learn how to play?" Tadashi excitedly asked Ezra.

 

ArcanaFate

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Ezra seemed to look curious and confused at the mention of the removal of Tadashi's gloves, but said nothing. Another question for a later time. There was a roadway with multiple vehicles passing by, and each time one rushed past the spirit's hand would immediately cling back onto the bakeneko's gloved one in a mild stress moment. At each crossing, they continued to feel the stress from the fast mish-mash of metal zooming by yet would turn to Tadashi and listen. Focusing on Tadashi was good. He wouldn't let the vehicles hit them, so Ezra began to calm as they moved ever closer.

As Tadashi started mentioning how they should be themselves before telling the spirit to disregard their statement, Ezra's face slowly shifted into a frown. They responded as much as they could with the conversation as the duo got close to the entrance. While standing outside, Ezra paused and looked to their friend and had to bring it up. "Tadashi, I want you to never be afraid to share your opinion with me. About anything." They stared at the bakeneko, eyes seeming to flash with energy for a moment, "I am new to the world in a sense, and I need to absorb as much information as I possibly can from as many sources. Asteria is educating me on a lot of things, but she has been alive for at least centuries and stuck as an adult for that long, if not longer. You are closer to my age in maturity; you know what it is like to be a normal teenager doing normal things. If you want me to be comfortable as myself, I would say that I want you to be comfortable as yourself and talk to me about anything and everything. That is what friends do, no?"

They looked to the large pirate themed building with a mildly perturbed glance before looking to Tadashi once more. "But yes. I am ready and excited to learn to play the game."
 

PixelatedGlory

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When they got close to the entrance Ezra stopped the two of them and Tadashi could tell that what they were saying was important to them. He had been trying to be nice and not cause a problem between Ezra and their guardian but they were right. It was also wrong for Tadashi to pretend he didn't have opinions that seemed to differ quite a bit from Asteria's.

"Ok Ezra, you're right. Friends are supposed to be able to just be themselves around each other. I don't know if i'm really the best person to tell you how 'normal' teenagers do things but i'll do my best. I promise to be honest with you about my opinions and do really think you should wear or do things that you enjoy- not just what people tell you to do," he said and looked a little sheepish at having been confronted for censoring himself. But after he finished his smile returned. It was a relief that he could just be himself.

"Come on then, lets go get our balls and clubs and stuff," he said as he began cheerfully leading the way to the little shop at the front. At the counter he fished some money out of his pocket to pay for two balls, two clubs and a round of 18 holes. If they wanted to go again they could decide that later.

Tadashi didn't know what colors the balls were of course, so he just picked a sort of dark-ish one and gestured for Ezra to pick one too. "Most people pick out a color they like. Pick one you want to use and then we'll get you the right size club."

With that Tadashi walked over to the rack of putters of different sizes. The easiest way to pick one was to pick them up and see if the length makes it easy for the person to swing it. Tadashi figured he would just have Ezra come over and help them try out the different lengths to see which felt right.

 

ArcanaFate

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Seeming satisfied with Tadashi's answer about censoring himself, the spirit followed along to become fully immersed in the pirate-themed miniature golf course. They slowed their walk to take in the surrounding area, giving each fake palm tree and oddly placed cannon inside a curious glance. Were the cannons intentionally placed like that? They would be very useless if there was some sort of siege on the building. Unless they were fake and meant as some sort of decoration? That would be silly, though.

They were so lost in thought that they barely realized that Tadashi had paid for the two of them. Although the gesture was very kind, Ezra couldn't help but frown slightly at not being able to pay their own way. Asteria had been giving them a stipend to "play with as needed", in her words. So not being able to actually use the money that she had given them seemed disappointing, in a sense. Shaking off the thought, they quickly moved to grab their things. Noticing that Tadashi had picked a golf ball already, Ezra grabbed a yellow ball and hung onto it tightly in one hand.

"Which club do I pick, Tadashi?" They asked, standing next to the bakeneko with a puzzled expression. There were so many options to pick from, so hopefully Tadashi would know the answer. He did seem to know quite a bit about this game, after all.
 

PixelatedGlory

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Tadashi didn't know he had upset Ezra by paying for both of them. He had just done it without even thinking. All he saw was the very minor frown Ezra made. Tadashi was worried he had done something wrong, but couldn't figure out what it was. Then Ezra had seemed to move past whatever it was so Tadashi decided it was probably best to not ask about it unless the frown came back. He really wanted Ezra to have a fun day/

However Tadashi was also very busy getting the two of them ready to play. He was pleased to see that Ezra had picked a... light-ish colored ball to use. It would make it much easier to tell the difference between them- something he had forgotten might be an issue until then. Had Ezra done it on purpose? If not then it wasn't a big deal, but if so then it was a really nice gesture.

"How about you stand right here and ill get a couple so we can see which one fits your height. You're about the same height as me I think so it should be pretty similar. Just maybe a little shorter or longer for comfort." With that he put his own ball in his pocket, grabbed a couple putters and stood the first one up next to Ezra. He shook his head as he saw it was much too long. Someone must have put it back in the wrong spot. The second one though was the same size that Tadashi used himself. He held it up and it seemed a decent fit.

"Ok, now hold the club like this, he explained as he demonstrated it the best he could, and we'll see if it feels too long or too short when you swing it a little bit." Tadashi then offered the club for Ezra to hold. It didn't occur to him that Ezra still had their ball in one hand.

 

ArcanaFate

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Ezra simply nodded when Tadashi told them to wait there while they picked out a golf club for them to use. They had looked up what miniature golf entailed, but was still unsure of how everything was supposed to work. So the object of the game was to hit the ball with the club and the lowest score won? Most of the other sports or games they had read about had the highest score be the deciding factor, but this seemed to be the opposite idea.

Tadashi returned with two clubs, one for Ezra and the other presumably for himself. But before the spirit could take one of the clubs, the bakeneko had taken it away with a shake of the head. They were confused, but said nothing as their friend handed off the other club and attempted to explain the proper way to wield it. With the golf ball in one hand and the club in the other, Ezra was having difficulty properly using the club as they could not get a good grip on the handle. They paused, carefully sliding the ball into their shirt pocket before attempting to mimic the swings that Tadashi had previously demonstrated.

"Am I using the golf club correctly? It feels like a properly sized tool for myself to begin miniature golfing."
 

PixelatedGlory

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Tadashi watched as Ezra tried to hold the club and it took him a moment to realize they still had the golf ball in their hand. Oops, he forgot to have them set it down somewhere. Fortunately they slipped it into their pocket and the issue was solved.

Tadashi wasn't an expert but it looked to him like Ezra was holding it more or less the right way. "I think it's the right one for you too, let's go ahead out to the first hole." He smiled and gestured for Ezra to come with him towards the door on the other side of the building.

Outside they found themselves in what was very much a cheesy pirate themed course. It looked like it started on a section with planks of wood for walkways and unnaturally blue water surrounding and in between the various holes. Hole number one was pretty straighforward with just a simple right hand turn towards the end.

"You put the ball here in one of these little spots," he explained as he walked Ezra over towards the start of the hole. "Do you want me to help you do the first swing or do you think you've got it?" He stood there in case Ezra wanted help but he also didn't want to be in the way if his friend was fine on their own.

 

ArcanaFate

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Ezra followed along, eyes scanning the surrounding area. The colorful pirate-themed area was somewhat distorting with how bright some of the colors were, but the spirit followed along to the first hole. Glancing at the water, they couldn't help but have a faint grimace with how unnatural the water looked. They had taken baths and showers, washed dishes, and even seen the ocean once or twice and they had never seen water that color before. Was it even water at this point? They wanted to stick their hand inside, but wet bindings were uncomfortable and the magic runes underneath were somewhat awkward to show off. Plus, Miss Asteria had mentioned to never show them off as they were of a personal nature and others shouldn't see them.

They glanced to the course, the green turf of the course standing out against the darkened wooden pathways around the course. Following Tadashi's explanation, the game was making more sense. They hit their ball from this start point to the end area, often having to navigate odd angles or other pathways. But how hard hard to hit it? Ezra turned to their friend, club still gripped in hand. "If you go first to show me, I should be alright. But if I still require more assistance, I will ask."
 

PixelatedGlory

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"Ok, sure. I can go first and show you how to do it. No promises it'll be good example though," he giggled thinking about how many times he'd probably be fishing his own ball out of the water before the day was done.

He put his ball in the middle divot, turned sideways to get ready, and lined up the little center line of the putter with the ball. The way that hole was set up he figured you were supposed to hit the ball at an angle so it bounced around the corner towards the hole. Tadashi pulled the club back a little bit and then *click* there was the sound of the putter striking the ball and it wend down the green, bounced off the side wall and... hit the corner by accident and rolled back out into the bend in the course.

"Oops," Tadashi laughed and then smiled at Ezra. "Well I guess I showed you how to hit the ball anyway, Maybe don't pick the same angle I did though."

The hole was technically a par 2, so needing two hits wasn't that bad.

 

ArcanaFate

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Ezra watched intently, club gripped tightly in both hands as Tadashi set up his shot and took a swing. They could only watch as the ball swiftly rolled before bouncing back. They tilted their head at the bakeneko's reaction, unsure of how to respond. Don't people generally get upset at making mistakes? Especially in a competition like setting. Although Tadashi did seem to treat it more like a game, which was meant to be fun. And fun did not have negativeness to it. Reaching their conclusion, they gave a small nod before moving up towards the divot and setting their ball within.

"Okay. You put the ball in this spot here, and the goal is to make into the hole at the end. You tried to bounce it off the wall to get your ball in the hole with a single swing." They continued to mutter to themselves for a long moment before taking a swing. The ball sped quickly towards the wall and bounced towards the hole. It continued rolling, bouncing off three more walls before slowing down a few inches next to Tadashi's.

"...I think I may have hit it a little too forcefully."
 
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