As much as Abel expected the first soccer practice to be mildly abysmal, it hadn’t been all bad. Only a few scrapes here and there - at one point, a three year old had picked up the ball and tossed it into her own team’s net while the goalie sat off to the side, blowing dandelions without a care in the world. He hadn’t been able to do much about it, considering the weeping child already on his good knee, clutching onto where Abel had placed a Hello Kitty bandaid after she’d skinned her flesh until it’d pinked. But Sawyer had been impressively good with them - not particularly patient, but Abel hadn’t known he had any knowledge of the sport at all, watching as he guided some of the older kids to kick properly, with the side of their foot, showed them how to aim when they grew frustrated. Waving goodbye to the last kid to be picked up by their parents, Abel turned to Sawyer - who didn’t seem like the sort to generally smile at all. Abel figured it was his duty to do it for the both of them, then. “Sawyer. You are full of surprises.” He teased, nodding towards the parking lot. Abel had opted to leave his cane in his car, the grass on the soccer field a bit too mucky for him to use it properly anyway. But the scrimmage had run a bit longer, and he was past feeling uncomfortable now - muscles of his leg cramping in protest. Features pinching slightly, moving far more slowly than he usually would, exaggerated limps making it easy for Sawyer to catch up to him from where he’d been further down the field. “You could have told me you knew anything about soccer. And the kids liked you, I think. They were excited that they had a proper bloke helping them. Sorry - one second,” His tone didn’t give anything away, but Abel eventually needed a break. The difference between soft grass to the rocky graveled pavement sending shockwaves up his calf, firing his nerves until they were hypersensitive. “I hope you enjoyed it. Still willing to do it next week? You were - I had fun. A lot of fun. The coach I usually do these games with is a bit of a stick in the mud. Nowhere near as exciting.” Eventually, he leaned down to rub at the muscle of his thigh above his throbbing knee, using his spare hand to wave Sawyer forward. “You go ahead! I just wanted to thank you. If you can’t do next week just let me know. Really - thanks again, Sawyer. I’ll find a way to compensate you.”
