[ We find Some Of Our Mutie Freaks just finishing lunch! They've got a trip planned to New York, this afternoon! And it's itme to round up those who wish to go and do the going. ] [ Session Start! ] (Well, underage for rated R movies. :P) Okay, all! Everyone who's goin' ta the city, down to the motor pool! Pleanty o' room in the big purple galaxy. ^__________^ * Sally makes a huge sweeping 'come on' gesture with one arm. * Eric chuckles. "Eh, I'm takin' my own ride. You have a CB radio?" Nope! ^_^ I can't believe you have such a big car. What do you DO with it? Spend Mommy and Daddy's money on the gas. They agreed to pay for it if I got a "safe" car. Which, to them, means "big". ^_^ * Eric laughs. "That's a good one." * Sally wave-waves a gas-card. * Harry looks up from what's left of his food and says, "The... city. New York City?" Well, we could try Mexico City, but I think that'd take a bit long to drive to. ( Yeah, and you could all go get robbed. ^^ ) * Harry looks at Sally funny. * Sally chuckles. "Yes, hon, New York City." Eh, what other city? * Harry shrugs and says slightly defensively, . "Hey, I don't know. Maybe there's a secret city off the coast. I mean, anything goes!" Shh. Finding Atlantis is -next- week's adventure, Hon. [grin] Yeah. Get your schedual straight. ^_^ ( Yes, because we Atlanteans want to be found. ) Right, right. I just keep forgetting to sign up for the mailing list. ( Pshaw. You need to get out more. 'Sides, I want to try your sea food! ) ( ... ) ( Food?!) I'm pretty sure this is a bad idea, but I'm going to go with you anyway. * Sally smiles. "That's the spirit. We'll get you a submission form on the way there." What am I submitting? * Harry stands up, his eyes going brown, and his skin and hair very dark. To joing the mailing list, of course. Eh, really. Aren't you even paying attention? (I can get an extra CB radio without much trouble, right?) (Sure, not a problem.) Max, you should come too, kiddo. *pokes him in the ribs, tickling him towards the door* Come on, everyone, daylight's a-wastin'! *heads out* * Alex raises an eyebrow in Max's direction. "...kiddo?" (I'm not actually there yet, am I? >_>) (Well, we did just get done eating. And you are quiet.) ( I think you are now. ) ( Muhaha. *pokepokeprod* ) (Just encounter me on the way to the cars.) * Sally leads everyone down to the motor pool. She forgets to turn on the lights down here, but doesn't seem to have any problem seeing. Even with her sunglasses on. * Harry follows, he supposes, and says, "So, uh... um... how many of us have been to New York?" * Max is sitting in an empty vehicle bay, reading. A smallish sunlamp is set up nearby, and his hood is down to take in the light. He's not green, though... at least, not till he notices the group. * Eric walks down and turns on the lights. Dim, if the option's there. "Eh, I've been." I have. Why? It's every bit as big and scary as the stories say. Max! There you are! Come on, into the big purple car! ... u-uh? I' * Harry snorts derisively at Alex's statement, then swivels his head to see Max. ~I've never been to the city.~ * Max turns his peculiar shade of green. Go him. * Eric picks up a CB radio off of one of the shelves, checking it over. "Eh, you know how to use one of these?" * Sally goes over to said vehicle, and unlocks the doors. It looks to be in...decent shape. The paint job's definitely not new, and it shows some unobvious, yet noticeable, signs of wear. Push the button, talk. * Max looks around, possibly with a tinge of panic. * Sally smiles kindly at Max. "Don't worry, kiddo, we won't bite. Think of us as your friends, even family. We're all living under the same roof, after all." * Eric grins. "Good girl." He hands it to her and goes over to his own car. Which is, um... Really sweet looking. A 1970's 429 Mustang Boss in pristine condition. It even looks like it was just waxed. The vehicle itself is a bright red, with a thick black racing stripe down the middle and over the scoop. So who's riding where? * Delia looks over at Sally and silently proceeds over to Eric's car. I've got room for one. ^_^ * Sally takes the radio and sticks it on the floor of the passenger's front seat area. Doors're unlocked, pile on in. ^_^ * Max swivels his head to look at the car. The rest of him looks quite frozen in place. * Harry smiles at Max, amused slightly. Only room for one? * Eric unlocks it. "Well, that's taken already." He hops into the driver's seat and turns on the ignition. The radio starts blaring "Ordinary World" for a few seconds before Eric turns it down. "Yup. What does it look like, a Sedan?" ^^ * Alex flinches away from the music as the world seems to flicker for a moment. Don' worry, Alex. I'll leave mine off. Don't usually have it on, anyway. (Picture: http://home.pon.net/hunnicutt/images/70redMachI.jpg, only his has a bigger scoop in front.) ( U-gly. ) * Delia climbs into the Mustang's passenger seat, adjusting her scarf. * Alex sighs. "I don't mind, really. It's just that if you turn the radio on, you're sorta playing roulette. ( U-G-L-Y. Shoulda been purple. ) * Harry 's eyes widen slightly, then he laughs a little and says, "Coming, Max?" * Max takes a deep breath, suddenly, then stands up, slowly and methodically. He tucks the book under his arm, and turns off the lamp. Then he kind of stands ther again. ( Definitely should have been purple. _ (Bah, I didn't want purple. ;-;) I'll even let you have the window seat and a seat belt if you hurry, kiddo... ^_~ * Harry strides over and grabs Max's arm. "You wouldn't want to be stuck in the middle, would ya?" He drags him to Sally's car. ... urk! ( Wow, Harry being the agressor. ) (Damn right. h_n--er, I mean.) * Alex goes for shotgun. "Dibs on shotgun!" (Compared to Max, Miya's aggressive.) (Oh, and Eric can always change the paint-job on his car. He's got pleeeenty of time. ^^) (Look, he _tried_. He stood up, didn't he?) * Sally grins (normal-sized) at Alex. "That's in the trunk, dear." I really didn't need to know that. Why in the world do you have a shotgun in your trunk? * Sally might be kidding. Why not? * Eric chuckles, rolling down the window. "Really. Keep the shotgun in the passenger side. It's why it's called shotgun, after all." * Harry shrugs. "Hey, you never know." He seems content with being in the middle of the back. * Max is put in the car. He buckles up, and looks around. (Which gives Max a window seat as he is dragged in.) * Eric grins too. ( As I don't know how many a galaxy's -supposed- to seat, you'll have to ask Robin how many seat-belts are in the vehicle. ) (If it's a large sedan, it's probably 4, 5 semi-comfortable, 6 if the 6th feels lke squashing.) (I'll note that Eric could *probably* fit one more in his car if need be.) (Including driver.) (We should be fine.) (But that's, you know... back seat in a sports car. Ewww.) ( I know Robin said it can seat 8, 9 if one's Miya. Just don't know how many would get seat belts. ) (Power or crank windows, Sally?) ( Crank, sadly. Power locks, though, if Galaxy's had 'em. ) (Ask Eric to put some power in.) ( He'll have to suggest it, or mention he does it. She forgets others know that kind of stuff. ) * Max cranks down the window and looks out it expectantly. Alright, all aboard! *climbs in, herself, and actually buckles up before starting the car. Beast of an engine, sounds like. She locks the doors, and backs out of her spot, heading for the exit!* * Eric has an interior to his car unlike normal, considering the CB radio is intigrated into the dash, the spedometer reads kph instead of mph primaraly, and it still looks like it was just cleaned. Probably because it was. But that's besides the point. * Delia buckles her seat belt, locks the door, and stares down at the floor. * Eric raises an eyebrow. "Eh, you're not gonna see anythin' starin' at the floor, ya know." * Alex cranks down his window and hangs an arm out it. * Harry leans back in his seat and closes his eyes, and hums, "Between the Moon and New York City." It seems unconscous more than anything else. ~Not right now.~ * Sally gets on the highway, and drives. Quite fast. Those speed limits seem to be suggestions she considers about 20 mph too slow. Though she does try to stay with flow of fast-lane traffic when there are other cars around. Eh, sure. Hey, Alex. See if you can raise Eric's car on that CB by your feet, will ya? * Max looks out the window, his eyes scanning over the landscape. ...huh? * Eric takes to the highway, and blazes a trail similar to Sally's driving. "New York scenery is really nice as long as ya stay out of the city." ~_^ * Alex bends down and grabs the radio. "What'm I supposed to do with this?" * Delia just has her fists clenched and is resolutely staring at the floor. Um. Try turning it on and seeing if you can talk to him. If you can't, play with the knob a bit. * RobinAway is now known as Robin * Eric uses the manual shift on his car to the fullest benefit. He leaves the normal radio off, and the CB is already on, so we should get some signal soon. * Harry looks over towards Max and says, "Hey, at least it's real sun?" * Max looks at Harry impassively. * Max turns back to the window. * Alex looks for a power switch, finally finds something that's probably it, and flips it on. * Sally looks around for other cars frequently. When it seems clear, the road gets darker, like a heavy cloud passes overhead, and the air takes on a chill. It fades when other cars show up. * Alex picks up the mic. "So how does this thing work?" (Did you hold the button down?) ( Nope. ) ( Well, Eric's car doesn't count for purposes of "other cars". She doesn't care if he sees things get dark. ) (That's okay. I got headlights.) ( So does Sally. She just never uses them if she can avoid it. ) Hope no one minds the dark; it's easier on the driver's eyes. * Alex shrugs. "Doesn't matter, really." * Sally doesn't seem to notice the cold accompanying the dark. Though there is some condensation on the windows with it. * Eric hits the button and talks over the radio. #"Did you finally get the radio working?" Hey, how do I talk back? * Alex presses the button. "Hey, is this thing on?" * Alex forgets to let go of the button, though. * Eric talks over. #"Yeah, it's on." Few seconds. #"Hello, you there?" A minute or so. #"You have to let go of the button to hear me." ...uh, Alex, ya gotta let go of the button, dear. We can't hear him if ya don't. Oh. OH. * Alex lets go of the button just in time to hear Eric's final reply. * Sally chuckles. * Alex pushes the button again. "Oops. Sorry about that. I've never used one of these before." He actually remembers to let go of the button this time. #Eh, s'okay. Gotta learn sometime, right? * Max busies himself with growing a morning glory up the outside of the car. #I suppose. It could come in handy someday. * Harry just triiies to stay relaxed. ( So... how do morning glories do with an eighty-mile-an-hour wind? ) (Eighty? That's it?) (*was pushing 85+ earlier today on the highway. I've been playing too much F-Zero. ^^;) ( Sally's car isn't exactly a performance vehicle, Zeg. ) (If that's not it, I'd be delighted to throw some cops at you.) (Ah, true.) ( Not right now, Robin, I don't have a tape of Good 'Ol Boys handy. ) (Yu - that's why he's having to work at it.) ( Bah; Cops, Sally'd make have a hard time seeing her license plates. And lose in the dark. ) ( You TOTALLY don't want the cops to find out you're a mutant and fleeing arrest. ) ( That's a VERY bad idea. ) ( Yes, because purple Galaxie 500s are so rare. ) (Uh... yeah.) (and the cops could *probably* catch up to your purple galaxy, ne?) ( And ND's right. You guys want to behave. ) ( True. Which is why she doesn't attract attention. ^^; ) (Seg, it's a damn shame you're not watching the Daily Show. They're running roughshod over the Democratic Ntnl Convention.) ( We'll totally end up being bailed out of jail by the professor, and he won't be as lenient about it as Emma Frost was. ) * Sally slows down to a more...legal speed as the city approaches, and actually drives semi-conservatively once in the city proper. To Manhattan! * Eric slows down somewhat, slowing down durring the speed traps that are all over the place. [ Eventually, Our Mutie Freaks are in the thick of New York City! They're halfway across the bridge leading to Manhattan! Stuck in traffic. ] * Max buried his nose in his book once the landscape became city and not plants. #"Hate traffic. Hate it." * Eric nudges Delia. "Eh, what's wrong? Ya know I don't have any problems with ya talking in my head." ^^; *grabs the mic from Alex, since the car's practically stopped at the moment* #I'll second that. Pity none of us can fly the cars in. * Delia relaxes slightly once they get stuck in traffic. ~I have this thing about going fast.~ ( Boy is SHE in the wrong group. ) ( Holy cow, yes. ) * Eric nods. "Ooooh, okay. Eh, ya want me to keep that a secret?" * Delia shrugs. * Harry looks out the window and takes a breath, then coughs violently. "Ah, I love the air." *to everyone, in her car and Eric's* #Alright, while we've a moment, anyone object to a pool hall as the first stop? The better players amongst us might win some money for the day. ...on that topic, anyone know any good pool halls? #"Nah, don't frequent the halls around here. I just know how to play, I'm not that great." I'm even worse than Eric. #Nor am I, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to watch people play. Sometimes they'll give a pretty girl some change. ...what, you need money? ~Well, if we can find a card game..~ There are easier ways to get money, you know. * Eric smirks. #"Eh, I'm set on cash, really." Don't -need- it. But it'd be fun, too. * Harry looks thoughtful for a while, then says, "Well, if it's fun, you can always go to Scratch's Rack. If you don't even ask how the hell that name came up, because I don't know." Cool. *[grins]* #Scratch's Rack okay with you, Eric? Harry suggested it. And don't ask about the name, or Harry will demonstrate the origin of the name on you. Painfully. You know, you shouldn't put words in his mouth. * Max looks up from the book. * Eric laughs. #"Eh, sounds good to me." * Max looks back down. * Sally looks over at Harry. "Sorry, hon. Couldn't resist. You don't mind too much, do ya?" She's smiling, not being malicious. * Harry shakes his head and smiles a little back. "Nope." * Harry is still leaning back, then looks over at his shoulder, where there is a plant of some sort. "Uh, Max?" * Sally chuckles at the plant, and turns back forward. And moves up a bit, since there's now a full car-lenght of room ahead! * Max doesn't look up. "Mmm?" * Harry nods at his shoulder. "I've got a... er... plant." On my shoulder. * Max looks up. "A p-pussy um willow." He pauses for a second. "A um joke." S-sorry. * Harry looks at and says, "Oh, I didn't know what it was." * Eric sighs, bored. #"Hope you guys are having more fun than me." * Max blinks, and it withers and dies. * Sally laughs appreciatively. "Why, Harry, I do belive Max is poking fun at you. Good for you, Kiddo!" Gives Max a thumbs-up. #Loads, dear. * Harry chuckles. "You can tell him I... er, had a plant on my shoulder." I... don't get it. ~Sorry. I like your car, though.~ Eh, glad ta hear. I restored it myself. ^_^ #Harry says to tell you he had a plant on his shoulder. A Pussy-willow, courtesy of our local botanist. #"Don't tell me Max was trying to make a joke." #Okay, I won't tell you. *chuckle* *hands the mic back to Max* [ Traffic starts picking up as some obstruction or other is cleared from ahead. ] * Max looks at it like it's a fucking alien spaceship. Finally! *starts moving forward again!* (You mean he gives it a passionate licking?) ( He didn't say "like it's a fucking venus flytrap", Harry. ) * Eric starts moving forward again too. #"Wow, someone actually listens to me. I'm impressed." He grins. * Max blinks at it for a few more seconds, and pushes it towards Harry. * Harry takes the CB radio and clicks it. "#Fine, I'll tell it. He was making a joke." * Eric chuckles. "#I already knew that he was." * Alex looks back at Max. "I don't get it." * Sally makes an exasperated noise, and changes lanes to pass a particularly slow semi. * Harry says with slightly less exasperation than Sally, "#Cat. It was a cat pun." What does that have to do with Harry? * Eric changes lanes and passes the Semi in the same fashion. ~..I get it now. That's so terrible it's funny.~ * Max is positively _buried_ in his book. Anyways, ya do anythin' other than read and talk ta people in their head? ^^ (thanks, now he's never going to make a joke ever again. ;_;) ~I like looking at the stars.~ ~I do some martial arts.~ * Eric chuckles. "Do you make people see stars?" Well, -I- liked his joke, anyway. *pert, almost imperious* I get the feeling I'm missing something here. * Sally manages to find the pool hall in question eventually. Finding a parking space takes another 5 minutes - actually rather good, for one who's never been to NY before. Must be all that practice in Chicago. "We're ~here~." * Baofu has quit IRC (Quit: ) * Delia giggles a little. ~No, it's only defensive things. If I absolutely need to hurt someone.. well..~ She makes little fluttery hand-motions around her head. ( Honestly, I don't get the joke at all. But I'm assuming Sally did, and found it funny. So there. ) (You were ragging on Harry about the cat scratch thing.) Ah. (Cat -> pussy. It's a pretty bad joke, but give him points for trying.) * Eric finds a parking spot fairly quickly. "I know a little on how to keep from gettin' hit. Nothin' like martial arts, but it gets the job done." * Sally climbs out, and heads to meet with Eric at the Scratch's Rack! * Max gets out. The morning glory withers and vanishes. * Alex still doesn't get it, but follows everybody in anyway. * Eric gets out, sets up the security, and heads to the Scratch's Rack. "Com'on, time'sa wastin'." ^^ * Harry follows Max out and chuckles nervously. He's so very much not looking like 'himself' at the moment. * Delia gets out as well, trailing a little behind Eric. * Sally leads everyone in! Take it away, GM! [ The Scratch's Rack is a pool hall built into the basement of a brownstone. It must have a lot of tables in there. ] * Max , by the by, has pulled up the hood. And also has his hands in the pocket. You can't tell he's green. [ Inside it is, mostly, dimly lit, which is okay since each pool table has it's own lights overhead. The lights are hemmed in by colored glass, which should make things easier on those with sensitive eyes. Not many tables are in play, at this time of day. Only three of the twelve present have anyone at them, and one seems to be a game not yet in progress - two teens are standing there, one trying to get the other to play a round. ] * Sally saunters in, black jacket over purple shirt and semi-tight pants fitting in with the surroundings nicely. She leaves her sunglasses on, despite the relative dimmness. [ There is also a bar here, with a bartender who's mostly watching a soap on a wall-hung television. ] * Max walks in. He looks out of place, but hey, doesn't he always. * Eric walks in. He doesn't look out of place! Except that he's short, but what the hey. * Sally heads for a game-in-progress, and watches at a respectful distance. [ The bartender - and two people at the bar - all shout something angry at one of the characters on the soap. ] * Delia walks in as well, looking *entirely* out of place. * Harry walks in in a boring black shirt and jeans and looks over at the bar. A small grin crosses his face. * Alex follows everybody in and looks around like a real noob. He probably hasn't ever been in a real pool hall. Hell, none of us do, since we don't have our own cues. (Well, *you* don't have your own cues.) ( Freak. ) ( Did Eric bring his? Thought not. :P ) [ Sally watches one of the in-progress games, played between an excessively normal-looking guy and a really fat fellow. Both seem to be really good at pool. ] (He can make his own when nobody's looking. o/`) * Sally oohs in an admiring-cute-girl fashion at appropriately good shots. * Max looks around. It's too dark to read, dammit. * Alex rolls his eyes at Sally. * Eric walks over to Sally, lookin' over the game. "How's the game?" [ The two joke about having an audience. Meanwhile, the two teens - one a rather short and scrawny blond kid, the other a six-four Native American youth - continue their debate on weather it's worth betting on a game of pool when you know you're gonna loose. ] They're good. I wonder how they do it. * Sally 's head turns almost as if compelled at hearing that part of the teens' conversation. I don't know. I suck, remember? Well, me too. But still, they keep making the balls go in the holes, and calling it first. That's gotta be good, right? Eh, it's pretty good. * Harry blinks a few times, then says, "Didn't we come in to do things?" * Delia remains silent for obvious reasons. Yeah, you're right. Anybody up for a game? * Sally nods. "Yeah. Maybe those two'll teach us not-so-good people how to play." She pulls Eric with her over to the arguing teens. "Hiya, boys," she opens, smiling prettily. * Eric smirks. He's rather plain looking, but he's got a cute girl by him. That's gotta count for something, right? [ The two teens turn to look. Blondie's dressed all in black. The tall one's wearing a green shirt and jeans, which is much more normal dress. "Yes?" asks the blonde one. "You care to go a round?" The tall one frowns. ] * Harry watches the two walk over to begin their long career as pool sharks, then wanders over to the bar and has a seat. * Sally smiles ingratiatingly at them. Her eyes are probably wide, too, but those sunglasses make it hard to tell. "Yeah. My friend and I were hoping to play against someone more...our skill. Those guys are scary-good over there." She jerks her thumb at the people she was watching before. "And I figured, well, maybe you two could teach us some?" * Max has found an empty bar-stool and is peering about the room from under his hood. He looks like a casually dressed chibi-grim reaper, with the giant hood. [ The blonde one looks Sally and Eric over - spending more time on Sally for obvious reasons - and says "Sure. It'll kill some time. He holds out his hand. "Chris. Nice to meet you." ] * Sally takes his hand, and practically blush/giggles, though not quite. "Sally. It's a pleasure, Chris." [ The tall one waves. "James Proudstar. Nice to meet you." ] * Eric nods and waves to the two. "Eric. Nice metting ya." [ Chris is an especially handsome fellow, and seems glad that Sally is blush/giggling. ] * Delia is left standing in the middle of the room, looking around with confusion. * Sally waves at James, too, still smiling from the blush/giggle. * Alex rolls his eyes at Sally. "Oi, Delia. You play?" So, um. You want to set-- er, "rack" "up"? *looking from Chris to James* * Delia makes a single hand-sign. [ Chris sets up the rack. Meanwhile, the television goes to commercial and the bartender notes that he has some new people sitting at the bar. "Oh, hey kids. What can I get ya?" ] * Alex heads over to the bar. "Well, c'mon, we can get something to eat while the Sally Show is on. * Alex looks at the bar. "Well, to drink, anyway." * Delia smiles a little and walks over to the bar. * Harry looks at the barkeep and says, "Hey, Frank... uh, a Seven-Up?" ( You just ate lunch, Eric. ) ( Wait, you're not Eric. Sorry, reflex. ) * Eric walks over to the wall and grabs a stick. Err, cue, yeah. Eventually, he gets it out in an unorthodox manner. ( Heh. ) * Max has somehow managed to order a seltzer water. ( * A clown has used it to spray Max in the face. ) [ "Sure," says the barkeep. He fishes around in a refrigerator and brings out a seven-up, pours a glass of seltzer water, hands those to those who ordered them, and then looks to Alex to see if he wants anything. ] * Alex yawns a little. "Gimme a coke. Delia, you want anything?" [ Chris says, "I'll break." And then he does that, sending the cue ball into a traingle of other balls, which scatter. A solid-colored ball crawls towards a hole and falls in. "Well, I guess me an' James are solids." James positively scowls at this. ] * Delia signs again, leaning forward without allowing her scarf to touch the bar counter. Make that two. Does that mean Eric an I have to hit the, er, "stripes", in? But not the "solids"? * Eric puts his index finger on the side of his head. "Eh, yeah. I think." [ The bartender nods, goes back the the fridge and produces two coca- colas. ] ( I wonder if this is before they were using high fructose corn syrup in everything. ) ( Nope. That started in the... eighties, I think. ) 'kay. My turn? Sure. ^_^ [ "That's right," says Chris. "And yeah, your turn." ] ( It was developed in the late 70's, went big in the eighties, and by the late nineties, passed sugar up for sheer volume used. ) * Sally realizes she has no stick-thingie, and gets one. She bends over in an exaggerated as-seen-in-movies pool-shooting stance (which, incidentaly, causes her to wiggle a bit), and makes a rather terrible shot that scratches the cue- ball. "Oops. Um, that was a "solid", right? So it's one of yours?" * Harry takes a sip and licks his lips. "So, uh." Beat. "Does Greg Kinneas come around?" * Eric winces. It doesn't take someone too experienced in pool to see that. [ Chris shakes his head sadly. "No, you *don't* want that one going in a hole. You use it to hit others into a hole." He pulls it out and sets it on the table. "Like this." And he sinks one in. ] ...oh. *looks disapointed* ...when does your friend get a turn? Eh, yeah. * Max looks around, and watches. Hey Harry? [ James shakes his head. "I'm staying out of this. You won't learn anything from me, trust me." ] * Sally pouts. "Oh, alright, cutie." * Harry turnds towards Alex and says with a tinge of annoyance, "Yeah?" Who's Greg Kinneas? * Harry takes a sip of the 7-up. "Guy a girl I knew knew." [ The bartender shakes his head. "Nope, nobody comes here by that name. Sorry, kid." ] Uhuh. [ James stammered at being called 'cutie'. ] * Harry turns back to the bartender and nods a little. "Sure, happens.' * Sally elbow-prods Eric. "Isn't it your turn, now? He just put one in a hole." Oh, we're taking turns? Okay. ( How many dots in Appearance did Sally buy? ) ( 1. But she dresses to maximise it. ) [ Chris offers pointers while Eric prepares his shot. ] * Eric walks over to where the cue is, looks about the table. ( Chris is generously not pointing out he gets a second shot for sinking it? ) * Delia walks over to the Sharks v. Lambs game, sipping her Coke. * Eric hmmms... And shoots the cue for a stripe, but is off, making it bounce around ineffectually. [ "Now, normally," Chris says, "I get another shot for having put one in. But I'm gonna be nice and go easy on ya this time." ] Oh, ooops. Eh, sorry 'boot that. ^^; * Sally smiles gratefully. "That's awfully decent of ya, handsome." [ "No need to apologize." He then sinks another solid ball. "See, like that. Your turn," he adds, smiling at Sally. ] * Alex sighs and sips at his soda. "There's gotta be something more interesting to do." * Delia stands a bit away from the game, watching silently. ( Hey, you're the one who's avoiding playing. ^_~ ) ( There's plenty of open tables here. ) * Harry turns away from the bar and gestures at the tables. "It's a pool hall. You play pool." * Max looks at the pool tables, then at Harry, then goes back to looking around. You play, Harry? Or at least know how? Sure. * Sally blush/grins, and takes her stick-thingie, does her exaggerated learned- from-movies posing thing, and makes another bad shot. Actually does knock a few balls around, but nothing goes in. Fine. Let's go, you and me. [ The game continues on like this for some time. Chris plays a mean game. ] What was it you were arguing about earlier, boys? *to Jason and Chris* Something about betting? How's that work in pool? * Harry shrugs and hops off the chair, heading over to a table. ( ... ) [ "Not bad, for beginners," Chris lies. ] * Alex heads over to a table and slots the coins to start it up. * Harry takes a hall stick, because he doesn't have any others, while waiting for the guy with the money to rack. * Sally giggles. "Thanks, hansome." So, just a quick 8-ball? Eh, thanks. * Delia sighs and takes a drink from her Coke. * Alex shrugs. "Fine." * Max hops off the bar stool, and looks around. "I.... I'm um heading. Er, to the uh, the p-park. The big o-one." [ "Well, betting usually works in two ways. You bet a certain amount on each ball sunk - five bucks a ball, say - and then again on the outcome of the game." ] * Sally absently waves to Max, paying rapt attention to Chris. (He does not say "I will be inside a tree.") Ohhhhhh. You break. [ James scowls. "Don't throw your money away against him, please." ] * Eric scratches his head. "See ya Max!" He looks back. "You sure?" But it might be fun... I think I can make some go in the holes, this time. I almost got that black one last time! * Harry waves at Max, but doesn't follow. It's a challenge, as he takes the cue and breaks. No sinks, nothing obvious. [ "Oh, don't be such a worrier, James. It's just some harmless fun! So what do you two say?" ] * Max walks out the door. Dork-boy alone in NYC. This won't end well. * Sally looks to Eric. "Well? Should we? We can afford some money for this lesson, right?" * Eric nods and smiles. "I don't see why not. How much is, um, it per a ball, and how much goes on a game usually?" * Alex sighs and walks around the table, then takes up a position. "One in the corner right next to you." He proceeds to shoot a nearly perfect bank off the short end of the table, dropping the 1 into the corner easily before continuing on for a second bank off the long side and stopping somewhere in the middle. * Alex continues around the table and does his best to lean waaaay the hell out to sink a second shot that he calls as the 3 in the side, but he slips and ends up sending half the balls flying, leaving Harry his choice of easy shots. * Sally turns her mirror shades on Chris, smiling endearingly. "Yeah, how much is usual?" * Harry calls an easy shot and nails it. "Little flashy, Alex." [ "For a game? Twenty dollars on the outcome, five per ball, say." ] ...okay...that sound good, Eric? * Delia divides her attention equally between the fleecing and the money-less game. * Eric thinks. "Eh... sure, that sounds fair." [ "Alright. I'll let you break this time, 'cause I'm so nice." ] * Eric lets Sally break. It was an accident, actually. Okay...thanks. ^^ *takes her stick-thingie and, when the gallant Chris sets up, does her standard pose-wiggle before hitting the cue ball sharply, breaking decently and actually sinking two solids* Yay! I got some! *jumps up and down and claps* * Harry blinks, then tries to put in another shot, and just barely misses. "Yours." [ Chris blinks. James does, too. ] [ "Uh... you get to go again, then." ] ( ...I can't believe they're falling for this. ) ( How stupid ARE they? ) * Sally waits a beat. "..oh! Right!" She walks over, looking curiously at the cue-ball, and takes the easy shot to sink another solid. -No one- should be able to miss that one. And she probably won't, either, as it heads right for the hole. ( Already roped in...and maybe not as stupid as you think, Alex. ;) ) ( They? Chris is very overconfident. James is gonna love this. ) * Alex looks at the table for a moment and blinks. (Hehe.) * Alex snaps off a pair of shots one after the other without even thinking about it, sinking both shots easily. And then he's left with no more easy shots and utterly botches, scratching on his third as he tries for some hackneyed double- bank. * Sally watches it go in. "My turn again, then?" *smiles vapidly* There's another good shot set up. Two, actually, though only one's obvious. * Eric just watches patiently. [ Chris scowls. James is having to work not to laugh. ] * Harry looks slightly distressed, then takes the ball from the scratch and sets up. Scratches + lots of balls = sink, and Harry does so, but can't follow it up like Alex. "Ah, damn." * Sally pouts at Chris's scowl, and takes the obvious shot...with a wiggle and a flourish that sinks both the easy shot and a second one on a bank. "Gosh... hit that one harder than I meant to." * Alex sighs and walks around the table for a minute. "Man, I can't believe those guys fell for it." * Alex takes careful aim and pots another ball, but has no good shot to the eight, and contents himself with putting the eight between the cue and Harry's shot. * Harry watches the shot come down. "Sucker born every second." The rate went up, huh? [The ball Sally 'hit too hard' swerves just before going into the pocket and bumps off the railing instead, ending up just before the hole. ] * Harry smiles faintly. "It's been a hundred years since that, hasn't it? Come on." ( woot, teek. ) * Sally blinks, smile flickering a moment before returning in full-vapid force. "Oh! You're turn!" ^_^ [ This would've happened before Sally won the game, but SOMEONE types too fast. *cough* ] * Eric raises an eyebrow. * Delia blinks. [ Chris takes a shot and sinks two stripes. James is scowling again, harder than before. ] ( MUTIE FREAK. ) ( Yeah, Sally don't play with no mutie freaks! They can cheat, too! That's not fair! ) [ Chris then takes another shot, but doesn't even hit the cueball this time. It looks like something startled him. ] Oh! You okay, handsome? You missed! *looks simperingly worried* [ "...I'm fine. Lemme try again." ] * Eric smiles, rubbing some 'chalk' onto his cue. Alex? [ Chris manages to hit this time despite a twitch, but the ball the cue strikes stops just short of the hole. "What the hell?" ] Huh? * Eric shrugs. "Eh, did ya just not hit it hard enough?" [ "Why do the lights keep going out?" ] It's your shot, Harry. * Harry shakes his head, and just bounces the ball around on the table. "Go." Not hard enough? *was that said with just the slightest hint of innuendo? Or maybe just snide. Nahhh.* *blink* Lights go out? *looks around curiously* [ The lights have not, in fact, gone out yet. ] * Sally elbow-nudges Eric to take his turn. * Eric blinks. "Oh, of course." ( Recap: 4 solids down, 2 stripes. Which means 3 solids up, 5 stripes, and an 8-ball. ) ( Eric and Sally are solids. Chris is stripes. ) * Eric walks over and lines up a solid shot, one that's pretty easily makable, and provided there aren't any other tricks, knocks it in. But we'll see what happens. * Alex shrugs and takes a potshot at the 8, sending both it and the cue ricocheting wildly around the table. * Alex does not, however, manage to sink either of them. ( Go Alex! ) [ Eric makes his shot! ] * Sally smiles and exclaims, "Yay! Good shot, Eric!" * Sally slides her eyes over to watch Chris as Eric moves to take his next one; her sunglasses should partially conceal that she's not looking at Eric, like she seems to be. * Harry frowns and takes a tricky shot, making it to get back some ground, and takes advantage of the nearly empty table to sink another, but no luck on that third one. * Eric hmmms, and starts after a more difficult shot. He shoots, banking the cue ball around twice before it hopefully goes on target and sinks another solid. Unfortunately, this doesn't come to pass as the cue ball is off course by a long shot, knocking around into a pair of stripes and a solid, doing little damage to either side. What? ^^; Aww. *pouts, still now-not-so-covertly watching Chris, as it's now his turn* Your turn, handsome! *smile* Eh, I guess I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. ^^; * Alex shrugs and sinks the 8 to finish the game. Hey, leave him an easy shot and he's gotta take it, right? [ "My turn," says Chris. And he makes a shot! And sinks a stripe. ] * Sally claps. "Awesome!" Nice. ^_^ * Harry grits his teeth and nods slowly. "Yeah, good one." [ He mutters something, looks for another shot, but there aren't any good ones. So instead he takes what looks like a bad shot. ] Practice makes perfect. And I'm far from perfect. * Alex glowers at the table like it's offended him. * Sally looks like she's hoping for Chris to make it, 'cause it'd be so cool! [ But the shot makes a turn before hitting the pocket! "Okay, whichever one of you is doing that-- actuallu, no, nevermind. This game's over." He puts his cue on the table and walks off. James is grinning like he learned it from Sally. ] * Alex blinks and looks over at the other table. "Sally, what'd you do?" ...huh? What's wrong? And here I actually made a few go in. *pouts* * Eric raises an eyebrow. "Sore loser." [Chris is out the door by the time James asks "Yeah, what did you do?"] * Sally chases after Chris, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Farewell kiss, handsome?" She leans in to peck him on the cheek, and whispers something to him before dancing back away. * Alex eyes Sally and walks away from the table back to the bar to finish his soda * Delia sighs and goes to sit down next to Alex. * Sally comes back into the hall, and [grins] at James. [ Chris spurns Sally. SPURNS HER! ] * Sally is offended! Or maybe not. He a good friend of yours, cutie? Who does she think she's fooling? * Harry takes another drink of his 7-up. * Eric cracks his neck. "Eh, what's up with him, anyways?" Must have been something in his eye. *shrugs* [ He shrugs. "Not really. But he's more personable than the others that came on the trip." ] Ah. What kinda trip? *saunters over to the bar, and orders a cherry coke, with a cherry in it* Eh, trip? * Harry puts the stick back and wanders bar-ward, although he decides not to sit down. [ "A field trip. Some of the girls wanted to go somewhere where they could shop. Put it to a vote and we settled on New York." ] [ He shrugs. "I should've just stayed back there, really. The Academy's in the middle of nowhere, but I guess I like the middle of nowhere. Cities just... I dunno." ] * Eric takes a seat. "Really? Where ya from?" Hmph. Cities are great places. Just have to know how to find privacy in crowds, then they're heaven, 'cause you're only as alone as ya wanna be. I s'pose can be overwhelming if ya don't know the trick, though. [ "From? Arizona. Right now, tho, I'm going to the Massachusetts Academy." ] * Harry looks over towards the talky people. Oh really? Eh... ya know anybody named Eileen? We're down from upstate just a bit, ourselves. Day-trip. How's your Academy? What kinda stuff ya lear-- *pauses at Eric's question* [ "Eileen? Yeah, she's shopping with the other girls on Fith Avenue. She's alright. Why?" ] This a girlfriend, Eric? *smiles cattilly, amused* Do tell... * Eric smirks. "Good, good. If I don't meet her, tell her Eric said 'hi'." * Eric bursts out laughing. "Eh, girlfrend? Hahahaha!" [ "Okay, sure. How do you know -- okay, that says 'relative' right there." ] Bingo, cutie, it sure does. Now, question is, what kind? Sister? Cousin? * Eric stops. "Oh, that's good. That's really good." He turns to Sally. "She's my twin." Oooh. Didn't know you had one, dear. She as, um, talented as you? Depends on what kind of talents. ~_^ [ He blinks. "Twin? But you don't look anything-- oh, right. That kind of twin." ] [ "And you know, you still haven't told me what you did to Chris." He grins. ] Did to him? Nothing! He must have been blinded by my beauty. *smiles as beautifully as she can, then settles into a mischievous grin* Or maybe his talents just weren't a match for mine. Eh, you totally dominated him. Why thank you. [ "Psh, right. Nah, you did something. I'd like to know what, if only to make jokes about it later." ] * Harry looks confused as he listens in. Let's just say I couldn't turn a "blind eye" to his cheating. So I made him turn a blind eye, instead. * Eric chuckles. "Wish I could do that. My talents are a bit more... loud than that, though." I just hate cheaters. Especially when I'm trying to win money off of them! [ "Nice." He looks around. "Anyway, I really shouldn't split up from Chris, since I don't have a watch, so it's either go with him or go carry bags for the girls. And I'm not carrying bags for the girls." He waves. "Nice meeting you all." ] It was! See ya 'round, maybe, cutie. *waves* * Eric chuckles. "See ya 'round." Eh, so, what now? Well, this is New York. We could go to that 5th Avenue shopping, or we could catch a show, or we could visit Lady Liberty... [ And so the went and enjoyed the wonders of New York! Really, this time! Session Halt! ]