[FLASHBACK SCENE] Jacques and Gumshoe: A Very Manry Game of Basketball
Jacques: *Jacques makes his way into the precinct with his jacket over his shoulder, and a basketball under his other arm. He flashes a grin to any familiar faces he spots, for lack of hands to give thumbs-up with, and winds his way down the hallways and past cubicles, towards the desk of his partner, Buddy Faith. But as he turns the last corner he needs, he nearly runs smack into a certain scruffy detective* Woah woah, watch it, big guy!
Gumshoe: *holds a cup of coffee with one hand and a chocolate doughnut with the other. He nearly spills the dark beverage all over the other man but fortunately rights it at the last second* Whoa hey, watch where you're going, pal! *when he realizes it's Jacques, he stands at attention* Er sorry, sir. Can I help ya with anything?
Jacques: *he regards Gumshoe with a clearly forced smile only briefly, before he leans a bit to the side to look around him. From what he can see, Buddy's desk is unoccupied* You haven't seen Jim around, have you detective?
Gumshoe: *stares blankly at the prosecutor* Jim? Who's Jim?
Jacques: *stares right back. He would expect everyone to know the routine by now, but... then again, this is Detective Gumshoe he was dealing with. His reply sounds only slightly annoyed at having to spell things out* ... Detective Faith. My partner? *motions towards the desk behind him*
Gumshoe: Huh. *his eyebrows wriggle in thought* Detective Faith...sounds familiar, but I can't say for sure. *grins and says matter-of-factly* But if he's not at his desk, he must not be here, sir.
Jacques: *it takes some resolve not to roll his eyes; instead, he shrugs it off as a valid line of logic* Oh, well. He must be off doing his job. *there's a slight emphasis on that last bit, and he none too subtly looks Gumshoe over, with his coffee and his doughnut*
Gumshoe: ...... *doesn't catch on to the snide remark directed his way and merely blinks back* Is there chocolate on my face, pal?
Jacques: ... Not yet. *he turns to go as he decides it's not worth his time to hang around without Buddy there, but he had his mind set on a round of hoops, and he bounces his basketball idly as he thinks on what to do, out loud* Hmm. Wonder when he'll be back...
Gumshoe: *obliviously takes a big bite out of his doughnut, smearing chocolate frosting all over his chops* Who knows, pal. Maybe he's on his lunch break.
Jacques: Nonsense, detective. If that were the case, he'd be with me. He's probably investigating something pertaining to our latest case. ...which likely means he'll be a while. *catches the ball* Oh well! Can't shoot hoops without an opponent. Unless you're the type to play, detective. *he sounds a bit sarcastic there*
Gumshoe: *finishes the last of his doughnut and takes a generous sip of the precinct's cheap, instant coffee. His eyes follow every playful bounce of the orange ball from above the brim of the styrofoam cup* Shoot hoops, eh? You mean like basketball? *sticks his chest out proudly* Hey, I've been known to play a mean game or two. On the court I'm like this green blur flashing before your eyes!
Jacques: *he's a bit surprised at the detective's claims, but he only raises one eyebrow* ... Really now! And this was... recently? *his glance reads disbelief-- Gumshoe doesn't exactly come off as the athletic type*
Gumshoe: *his grin falters as he scratches the back of his head--obviously forgetting about the dark frosting covering his fingers* Er, well...it was a few years ago. *practically inaudibly* Give or take 10 or so...
Jacques: *a light smirk; he thought as much. But he also thinks of the free time he has, and what a perfect opportunity this is to not only show off a bit, but also to humiliate the detective* ... Alright, I've decided. I'll humor you! If you think you're up to the challenge. *tosses the ball to him with an easy underhanded motion*
Gumshoe: Oof! *on a positive note, the stunned detective miraculously catches the ball, but on a sour note, it smacks right into his coffee, knocking it backwards and splashing its lukewarm contents all over the front of the his white work shirt. He sighs and stares down at the brown wet spot with a frown* That's gonna leave a stain, isn't it...
~~~
Jacques: *rather than using the outdoor courts, the two wind up in the hallway of the high Prosecutors' offices, where Jacques' own hoop stands outside of the door to his office. He lays his jacket neatly across the hall benches, and flips his basketball up to spin on one finger as he grins to Gumshoe* First to three sound good to you, detective?
Gumshoe: Sounds good to me, pal! *has since shed his layers of outerwear, and stands in a ready position, sleeves of his now coffee-stained shirt rolled all the way up. He loudly claps his hands together before making a beckoning motion* Show me what you got!
Jacques: *he catches the spinning ball in both hands and faces Gumshoe, but he looks past him and tosses the ball right over him, towards the hoop. Naturally, from the angle he shot it from it falls through the net, and he grins* There's one!
Gumshoe: *he doesn't even realize what's happened until the ball makes a swooshing sound and bounces on the floor behind him before stopping at his feet. He frowns down at the ball before picking it up and sourly mumbling * 0 to 1. Well now it's my turn, pal. *his tongue slightly sticks out in concentration as he dribbles the ball from hand to hand and ungracefully shuffles along the hallway*
Jacques: *watches Gumshoe move with the ball, and almost laughs to himself. With a dash in front of the detective and a swipe of his hand, he steals the ball from him with no trouble* Hah! *dribbles it a short way down the hallway, and jumps when he gets close enough to the hoop. With a little turn in the air, the ball lands in again. Jacques lands with a confident grin* Sorry, did you say you've played this before? You'll have to do better than that, you know! *and he jogs after the ball on the rebound*
Gumshoe: *one second the ball is safe in his hands, the next second it's gone without a trace. He's beginning to break into a sweat--running to-and-fro like this is more exercise than he's had in a while* Phew. *He wipes his damp forehead with the back of his arm before chasing after the prosecutor and the ball, but unfortunately it's already too late as the ball makes the basket before he can even react* They call me the green blur, pal! *he stomps his foot adamantly before sprinting to catch up. He manages to corner Jacques against the hallway wall and makes an attempt to steal the ball*
Jacques: *he turns around after retrieving the ball only to find a wall of detective in his way, and it catches him slightly off-guard; he's followed as he tries to move to either side, and Gumshoe's hand blocks his attempt to dribble, leaving the ball in the detective's posession for the time being* Ah-- hey! *but he makes a swipe of his own, to try and get it back*
Gumshoe: *Gumshoe lets out a whoop--most likely loud enough to disturb the other people in their offices on the floor, actually trying to get work done. With a grin, he instinctively raises the ball over his head so that the shorter man can't easily get to it. From there he turns a sharp right, unfortunately not at all noticing a scrawny, bald man with glasses carrying a large stack of files heading his way. With his elbow, he accidentally smacks the poor man square in the jaw, sending him sprawling and his stack of papers flying* Oh geez...sorry, pal! *his face turns blue in horror*
Jacques: *his first instinct is to laugh out loud, but given that the appropriate response should be considerably more flabbergasted, he looks just that* Detective! We're in a hallway, you can't just go throwing your weight around like that! *he offers the fallen man a hand, whose clearly unhappy mumbling may or may not include the words 'mr edgeworth' and 'paycut' as he gathers up his files and goes on his way. Jacques watches him go with an amused smirk, successfully-- if only temporarily-- distracted from their game*
Gumshoe: *his scowl is only temporary, because as soon as the unlucky man disappears down the hall, Gumshoe is back in the game* Time-in! *he shouts and attempts a semi-convincing fake before dribbling the ball closer to the hoop. He jumps up, managing a sloppy layup and to his surprise it actually goes in* Whoop!
Jacques: *at the shout of time-in, he turns, watching with his own mild sense of surprise as Gumshoe actually makes a shot* Okay, okay, not too bad. ...but can you do it again? *he makes a grab for the ball on the rebound, and scoops it up just behind the hallway benches, bouncing it in place as he keeps an eye on the detective's whereabouts*
Gumshoe: *his eyes follow each bounce of the ball* You betcha, pal! *he practically growls, staying in place on the defense before making a sudden lunge for the ball*
Jacques: *with the benches to his left he dashes to the right, getting out of the way of the detective's wide movements just in time, though this inadvertantly places him a bit further from the hoop. He crouches slightly, concentrating as he dribbles with both hands, and decides to try something of a three-pointer before the ball gets taken again. He jumps up, and makes a strong overhead shot-- but not too high, mindful of the ceilings*
Gumshoe: *his height proves as an advantage and he easily reaches up to intercept the shot. He slaps the ball out of the other man's hand and makes an escape with it. His palms sweaty, and his blood pumping with adrenaline, he sharply spins and sees a perfect window of opportunity to make a miracle shot. The detective steadies the ball and squints, aiming for the hoop*
Jacques: *makes a frustrated noise as Gumshoe's size seems to once again grant him the upper hand, and runs to intercept. But right as he reaches the detective's line of sight, he looks sharply to the left, and stands up a bit straighter as if to be polite, with a showy grin* ...oh, Mr. Edgeworth! You're back a bit early from your trip, aren't you?
Gumshoe: !!! *his body immediately shifts toward the same direction. The ball leaves his fingertips just as he does...though terribly off-course, and crashes loudly against the fancy lighting fixture attached to the wall next to the basketball hoop. Gumshoe freezes in shock before letting out a small whimper*
Jacques: *winces at the sound of broken glass, but as he turns to see the mess it's created, he notices the ball rolling his way. With his plan having worked nicely, he simply scoops it up, and scores his final point with little to no effort. The ball returns to him and he tucks it under his arm, wearing a game-winning smile as he looks back to the whimpering detective-- and the "Edgeworth" in question, who's clearly not there* Aaand, that's three!