availability / @thethaliaclark setting / claret park baseball field, april 9th, during the sixth inning.
though he knew no one would believe him, it wasn't intentional. he didn't set out to hire a collegiate baseball player to be his proxy in the charity game just to piss thalia off, or have someone compete against the collegiate player she sponsored to play in the game. he didn't set out for it to happen, but once he realized the coincidence, well... saul came from a very long, long line of competitive men. if it wasn't for the sponsorship, he probably would've only come out to support phoebe. now that he had some actual stake in the game, saul found himself paying close attention to a sport that he hadn't given a single fuck about in his entire life. oh, and it had absolutely nothing to do with his ex-wife, thalia clark, thank you!
it really, really was a coincidence. he had the sudden bright idea to sponsor a player after discussing the charity game with a few friends, subconsciously remembering thalia bringing up the prospect years ago when they were still married. when he realized thalia was doing the same thing this year, it was only then he remembered it had been her idea in the first place. oops. so, now he had double the reasons to want his team to win the game. of course he expected to see his ex at the baseball game, but he tried his hardest to avoid her. sitting with rachel helped, then running into elijah at the concessions stand, he hadn't much time to look around for thalia (just to ignore her). not until he left for the bathroom during the sixth inning. on his way back to the stands, he saw thalia up ahead and then nearly got knocked over a moment later.
for a second, he thought thalia toppled him. he knew better, though. she was one of the most graceless graceful people he had ever met. that was one of the first things he noticed about thalia that first night they met at the al smith dinner all those years ago: she moved like a swan. that, and her striking eyes. a prolific yogini, she had such elegance and poise about her, it was kind of shocking just how much of a klutz she could be. his hands shot out to grab her forearms. “whoa there, birdie.” just like a swan, her old nickname falling easily from his lips. it was easier to say than her real name. sometimes he still got her mail. he missed when her mail was addressed to: mrs. thalia clark-weissberg. sometimes it said just thalia clark. it hurt every time he read it. “are you trying to kill me before the game is even over because your team is losing?” was her team losing? was his? he truly didn't know.