"Mmm- yeah...if you can look past the trees- and there is a lot of fog on the trail" Mason added to what Sebastian had had said. In the past when hiking Mason had been through pretty dense forested areas and had even had to contend with an unexpected fog bank rolling in off the lakeshore. Get caught in one of those and it was entirely possible to get lost or walk off the trail and over a cliff face...
A small smile crossed Mason's face at Sebastian's 'fish tale'. Gutting and scaling a fish could be a little bit icky and a lot yucky- but it had to be done, as he found out himself. "Yeah- can be kind of gross gutting fish. Guess that is why they have hamburgers and fries". That was the great thing about hamburgers- you didn't have to go hunting them or gutting them...unless you needed to take out the pickles from them.

Like a lot of people, Mason labored under the misconception that actors were in movies (or god awful commercials). Never crossed his mind that an actor could legitimately perform on a stage. Mason had to think- had he seen a play on stage? "Yeah..." he said slowly. "My cousin was in 'The King And I' a few years ago. My whole family went along to support them. It was kind of long, but the songs and costumes were pretty cool" he said.
"Not exactly sure..." he answered in reply to Sebastian's last question, "Haven't been here all that long to really say what else I do when I am not working out or studying. I guess calling my family and hanging out around my dorm room. I am still getting to meet the guys that live there" he said as he watched the interactions of the horses in the field.

Mason nodded- the play was indeed by Rodgers and Hammerstein. He remembered the name because it was on the front page of the playbill and VERY disappointed to find out it was a Hammerstein play and NOT a Hammersmith play. Still, he had enjoyed the play. He waited as Sebastian hummed the song to himself, contenting himself to continuing to pat and rub the horse that had paid attention to him.
When Sebastian started singing, he was impressed with his ability to sing. Not having a musical or artistic bone in his body, he was easily impressed- not ever seen Sebastian on stage before.
"Wow- you're actually quite good at this singing stuff!" he said in genuine admiration when Sebastian had finished singing. "You gonna be in any school plays this semesters?". He hadn't been at Panacea Academy that long, but he was pretty sure the school would have a play or something. If so- and Sebastian was in it, he would totally go see it sometime.

In response to Sebastian's awkward smile and admission, he just shrugged. "That's cool- it's something that you are like really, really into". It was no different to him being mega into his sport and devoting a lot of him time, energy and heart into it.
Professional Wrestling? The Freshman rolled his eyes dismissively, made a gagging sound and snort. "No- that's all fake. I do the real kind" he answered. After all this time he should really have got used to people asking that question or making that comparison to his beloved sport and that televised buffoonery that had tarred his sport for so long.
Still- Sebastian did ask him something he needed to think about for a second. "Umm- mostly it is like high school stuff and national level stuff. I am hoping that now that I am old enough, I might get picked to represent the province at Cadet level at the next Nationals" he admitted. Obviously he had a set goal and dream. "I kinda of watch the college level stuff- just so I know what is out there". He looked thoughtful for a minute. "Not sure if I will wrestle college level here- thinking if I go to college I MIGHT do it in Japan. They do it at college level over there. Otherwise, I also watch the wrestling in the Olympics as well" he said.

If people hated Theater Geeks, Mason wasn't one of them. He listened to Sebastian sing and enjoyed. "You are pretty good at that- singing I mean. You must know an uber-big amount of different songs" he said. It certainly seemed that way to him from where he was standing.

Watching the grass-eating horse and Sebastian stroking its great neck, he was unprepared for the question he was asked out of the blue by Sebastian. What really knocked him balance was that he actually had to wrack his brains real hard to think about exactly how many wrestling moves, holds, escapes and throws he knew. Thinking about it, he could only describe what he knew as a 'spider web' of what he knew. For each wrestling move he knew, he probably at least three ways of setting up the move, three ways of doing the move, five for finishing off the move and three ways to counter the moving being done on him. How to explain that to Sebastian?
"Oh...a few" he answered thoughtfully, "But I probably only use like twelve of them regularly". That was true and it was also a sensible answer too. Mason usually only used a dozen moves when he wrestled and they were ones he did real good or just suited his style of wrestling. Most of them always won him a match or scared the hell out of someone when he did them on them.

Oh yes- Mason knew EXACTLY how some Jocks were total jerks! It wasn't just 'theater geeks' like Sebastian they liked to prey on- they also liked to prey on kids smaller than them...like Mason. Mason was obviously on the short side of physical stature when it came to most Freshman boys- certainly he was one of the shortest in his class. What made it so entertaining for them was how easily he was to bait. There was nothing they loved more than to make him made and then see him lose it on his tormentor. It made beating up on him- which could be difficult sometimes, so much more rewarding. Or conversely, seeing him put a beat down on his tormentors and then see him get the blame for the altercation.
By the time he was about to start at Panacea Academy, it was starting to become not so fun to mess with the diminutive gladiator kid. For starters, he was starting to get stronger- which made getting your butt kicked by him easier and less enjoyable. If things got really heated in a fight, he would seamlessly shift from using wrestling skills, to using MMA skills. Mason was pretty scary when he had a submission move on his opponent in a fight and was making them 'tap out'. So far his tormentors at Panacea Academy were yet to be educated to this reality...

The offer of a race came as a suprize to him- and it showed on his face. "Huh? Uh....umm...okay. Sure" he said as he climbed down from the fence. This...was not what he expected to happen when he saw Sebastian in the field.

Mason had watched wrestling matches on Youtube for some time. Most of the time it was to watch how different wrestlers were doing during the season and other times it was to watch instructional coaching clips. Some of the moves and work outs he did for his sport, he learnt off Youtube clips. This year...he hoped there would be clips on there of him in matches.
A intrigued, yet confused look crossed his face as he cocked his head to one side as Sebastian described the sort of wrestling match he had been watching. Not wearing a singlet? That sounded odd to him, but he said nothing and let him continue his story. In actuality Mason did compete in Freestyle Wrestling- though he had thought about trying Greco-Roman Wrestling. Yes- it would mean he couldn't attack his opponent's legs (which was illegal), something he was good at doing, but he had the feeling he was strong enough in the upper body to throw his opponent...and that was something kind of cool he liked to do.
He looked even more puzzled at the description of one wrestler taking the other kid's leg and making him fly through the air. That sounded kind of a weird thing to happen- but maybe that was what happened in high school level wrestling?
When the term 'Bow and Arrow' was mentioned, a knowing smile crossed his face and he nodded. He knew the move and had used it himself in a couple of matches to pin his opponent. It was kind of cool that use such an acrobatic move and pull it off flawlessly. "Oh yeah- I know that one..." he said. He hissed when he was asked for an explanation. "Yeah...it is kind of uncomfortable to have it done to you" Mason admitted to Sebastian. "But I guess I have got used to being uncomfortable when I am out there on the mat during a match" he said.
Sebastian asked him a very good question and he was owed an honest answer. "Mmm- not so much hurt the other guy. More like to make them uncomfortable. Its like...you make them uncomfortable and they kind of want you to do the move so that it stops. Usually that means you get to pin the guy or rack up points on them to win the match". Mason wasn't sure if that answer would only elicit more questions...
At mention of 'submission moves' in 'real wrestling', Mason visibly raised his eyebrows curiously. Where was this going?

Oh yeah...Mason knew what a Splade was...
So much so, that he pulled a face and subconsciously crossed his legs as if that would protect him from the image of that being done to him. He had seen Youtube clips of that move, heard older boys who wrestled talk about it...and had secret nightmares about it being done to him. That said, he had did all he could to learn how to avoid getting into that hold and if so...how to get out of it- fast!
"Mmm...Figure-Four Leg Lock- that's kind of hard to get on a guy in a match. You kinda go to have long legs to do it", which Mason didn't have (yet?), "But it is a pretty gnarly way to get pinned in a match". Not at Mason would use that move himself- it just wasn't a 'me' move so to speak.

There was a vibe of humor going on between Mason and Sebastian- which Mason was not adverse to. As a result, he too smiled the same as Sebastian. "Yeah..." he said slowly, "I guess I do- or I am used to being in that situation". Actually he was more used to turning other guys his size and weight into human pretzels, so he could pinning their shoulders to the mat, which they objected to having it dome to them. It was always a fight to achieve that goal- but that was what it was all about...testing himself against a guy who wanted to do the same to him.

Carefully he watched Sebastian as he first grabbed a clump of grass- especially the way he did it. Last thing he wanted to do was to one day try and feed one of the horses, do it the wrong way and get his fingers bitten off. That would really ruin his week to say the least. The horse seemed to like being feed and didn't feel neglected by Mason who was just watching him eat- and not feeding him like Sebastian had done.
The horse seemed to like being stroked. It seemed at ease as it contentedly munched on the grass, standing there and seemingly ignoring Mason's presence on the scene. There were other horses milling around and only one seemed to be interested in what was going on at the fence line.
Unlike Sebastian, Mason had not run out of things to say. In fact as he stood there on the fence watching the interaction between Sebastian and the horse he was feeding, a question cropped up in his mind which made him curious. "Sebastian...why did you say we should have a wrestling match sometime?" he enquired. Mason was pretty sure that Sebastian wasn't a wrestler. Not that he was judging him. In his time he had meet guys who wrestled that were all different- tall, short, lean, fat, skinny and muscley. Sebastian had asked him questions about the sport and clearly wasn't familiar with the sport in general. Was he thinking of joining the wrestling team after talking to him? It made him wonder...

Sebastian was taking a number of what looked like long careful looks at Mason. He had no idea why he was doing that. Was he reconsidering his suggestion or was he sizing Mason up for said planned wrestling match? Mason didn't know. In fact he still hadn't figured out why Sebastian wanted to wrestle him. Not that he objected to the idea on principle. Now and again since he had started in the sport, he and his friends had wrestled for fun. Later as he got better at the sport, he wrestled his teammates for fun- a way of bonding with them. Before he started at Panacea Academy it was as a way to show that he could back his friends in school if they got into a fight and for his friends to show him they would have his in the same situation.

"I like wrestling people" Sebastian said at last. Okay...Mason could relate to that- if not all the time. "even if it means I get beaten up". Hmmm...seems like Sebastian was a tougher cookie than he looked. That impressed Mason and made Sebastian even more intriguing to Mason. "Mmm- it happens" Mason assured him. Oh how he had been mauled himself in training and competition in the past- and yet he still kept coming back!
"I'm sure you would probably put me in holds and moves I would never know". That would be true and Mason nodded in agreement nonchalantly. He was sure that Sebastian wouldn't know what a Fireman's Carry until he did it on him. Well...you live and learn.
"They might be useful to use on some of my friends I wrestle with back home". That intrigued Mason as well. So Sebastian wrestled back home with his friends too. He saw no reason why Sebastian shouldn't get a little better at wrestling by doing it with him- who knows...maybe he would get a little better at it that he may not only get beaten so bad...or get so good that he might scare the hell out of friends and stop them underestimating him. That would be cool to see- people getting shaken out of their complacency. "That would be cool- you getting better at wrestling them and then you go back home and surprize them when you next wrestle them" Mason agreed with an obviously impish- almost devilish smile.

Now it was Mason who was looking at Sebastian appraisingly.
Sebastian was clearly taller than him. That was due to having longer legs. He knew that guys with longer legs were good at tying up their opponents on the mat with their legs, getting them into gnarly holds and pinning positions that allowed them to use their hips as fulcrums to assert pressure on their opponent to get them on their back or on their sides to score points. Sure- he could see him in his mind Sebastian using his legs, to roll his opponent onto their back...that would be cool to see.
It also meant- if he was shown what to do, he could use the strength of his legs to push his opponent backwards, until they were off balance. Then he could really do stuff on them. Sebastian going up against Mason, he was sure the taller kid would learn real fast and in a hurry, to protect his legs. That would be how Mason would take him down- go for the legs, take him off balance and then work up his body to pin him down. Who knew...maybe if they did it regularly, Sebastian would build up his stamina and coordination. Surely that would be of benefit to his theater stuff?