Chapter Text
Nebula Nova of Sports Planet had once said that Stoney Baloney hits the base path like she's running away from something. Hitting coaches always told her that her power suffered because her follow through wasn't there, like she was already running the moment her swing began. One foot out the door, one foot on the base path, a coiled spring primed to launch into action.
Ever since she was cut loose from the 'Yaks, it seemed Stoney couldn't hold to a team, she always seemed to find herself cut loose and moving again. Every season, when playoffs approached arguments with coaches pitchers, managers bloomed. Her practice dedication slipped, and in the post season, most years she'd find herself on another early morning flight to another city, to another team who hoped her relentless initiative would be an asset to their roster. She didn't make a lot of friends, didn't put down roots, even before Cascadia Park, she's lived her life like she played, one foot out the door.
She'd almost changed her ways once. Her three glorious seasons for the 'Yaks, she felt like the Pacific Northwest could be her home. Persephone made it feel that way. The two were opposites in a lot of ways. 'Seph had been patient and steady. She loved her knickknacks, her houseplants, her candles, and of course her crystals. Moving in together had been a little chaotic, Stoney felt like a pintrest moodboard threw up over her previously spartan condo, but despite her grumbling, it had felt nice. Simple.
Looking back, it was deceptively easy. Coming up as rookies together they'd bonded quickly, each falling into other's friendship, then bed, and heart. But they'd avoided the tough conversations, letting themselves enjoy each other's company. They were both terrific athletes, with promising careers ahead of them. The team was on fire, they felt invincible, and they had all the time in the world, they both thought, to discuss things like "what happens when we don't play on the same team?" and "what kind of life do we want to build in our future?"
So in that offseason, when everything changed, neither was ready for what happened. Stoney hadn't really noticed that Persephone had been having a rough season at the plate, and 'Seph could never bring herself to bring it up. When Stoney had gotten home from a morning run, to find her girlfriend crying it had caught her uncharacteristically flatfooted. They tried to talk though this precarious moment, but neither was sure what the other truly hoped for, what felt fair to ask for, what could be counted on.
It was, in the end, fitting that Persephone had hesitated, trying patiently, deliberately to find an answer. As for Stoney, she saw in that moment her own vulnerability, the gap in her defenses, and as always she ran, and she's still running.
That's why, instead of commiserating with the team after the loss to the Toucs today, she'd wandered into a quiet diner where no one would recognizer her, to sit in silence with her reliable old standby. She barely registered the bell on the door ring when someone else entered and slid up to the counter a few stools down.
When an all too familiar voice, ordered Stoney's own standby, everything in her head, every fiber of her muscles screamed 'RUN.'
But for the first time in years, Stoney froze, hesitated, and after a long moment her voice barely a whisper asked "since when do you eat Balogna, Moonbeam?"