Jess sometimes hangs out at this pool hall, because it is a place that she would frequent. It's popular, and as much as the crowds can get to her emotion wise, it's sometimes nice to lose herself in it. It drowns out her own emotions at times, and she likes that even when she's not feeling particularly emotional. She's not really planning on staying too much longer.
She recognizes Alek from school. Jess pays attention to those kinds of things, but they've never really talked before. The anger from him would be impossible not to feel even in the crowd, but she won't bring it up. It's much easier for her to form lasting friendships with people when they do not know she can feel their every emotion without wanting or trying to even.
Emotions should be other people's, not hers. Even if she really can't imagine her life, imagine herself without feeling that world of emotions from the people around her. It's a little addicting.
Jess's hanging out by the pool table when he steps over to it.
"Hey, I know you from school," she says with a small smile that's almost a smirk as she stands in front of one of the free pool tables. "Fancy a game? I keep kicking everyone else's asses at pool so no one wants to play with me anymore."
If it was just anger, he'd have gotten into a fight immediately, finding a way to get the anger out of his system. It's so familiar it's all but a part of him. It's the underlying current of sadness and grief that he is not sure what to do with, and he is grateful she doesn't mention it, since he's not good at verbalizing or admitting his feelings as it is.
It's the anger that's mostly radiating off of him, so no one's exactly fighting over themselves to play a game of pool with him. He's got a reputation, and no one's really looking to get their heads bashed in tonight. Alek's seconds away from ordering a drink when he hears her voice.
He looks up, surprised when someone does step up, and the face is familiar.
"... Jess, right?" he asks, clearing his throat and looking down at the pool table. "So you're the one that scared them off."
It's his attempt at humor and acknowleding the real reason no one else is hanging nearby, but it falls flat.
"Yeah, but I, uh... might be miserable company," he warns lamely.
Jess can feel the rest too, and it's funny how she can feel it, pick out each emotion but they all come like that. It's like noise, like water. Like a very angry song, under the anger, there's something much more sad underneath it.
They're private feelings that she shouldn't know about though. They're for him and him alone, and people who aren't good at verbalizing their feelings, it's not going to help them, help him if she brings up something she shouldn't know about at all.
Jess is not at all afraid to get her head bashed in here. If she seems to only piss him off more, she'd give him space, but she's not planning on pissing him off and she's not afraid either. There's nothing to be afraid of. Well, that and she has a reputation herself so it's not like that would stop her from hanging out with someone if she wanted to.
"Yep, that'd be me, and you're Alek," she says with a small smirk that widens into a smile as if she's proud of it. Yes, she'll take his joke seriously here.
Jess stretches out her hands on either side of her as if to say 'Come at me Bro', holding the pool stick in one hand. "Pretty much. I have a habit of doing that. Scaring people away, I'm very scary, but I can tell you are a brave, brave soul on the other hand."
She shakes her head, still smiling and reaching for a stick to hand to him across the table. "Hey, I'm not looking for company. I'm looking for a good game of pool so don't start making up excuses about being miserable company because you're starting to get a little afraid."
Okay, and the sight of her small smirk has him smiling a bit in spite of himself.
"Got it in one," he says, taking a deep breath. The server brings about his drink, and Alek looks over to Jess, motioning with his hands in case she wants one, too. He knows that not everyone comes here to drink if they're underage, but he'll still ask in case she's in the mood.
He's surprisingly not a big drinker, unless it's to help with the edge when the full moon's around the corner, and afterward, when the pain seems like it'll never stop. It's amazing how it can numb your senses, and there's something very, very appealing about that.
Alek's surprised, but he takes the pool stick in his hand.
"Oh. So I'm just a means to an end, I see," he says, leaning against the pool table. "You're lucky my feelings aren't so easily hurt. And for the record, no. I'm not afraid, and I'm really good at pool, so I'm going to have to prove it now."
His reputation's on the line here.
And whether she knows it or not, she's just given him the perfect distraction.
It is very encouraging to see that little bit of a smile.
"I usually do. I have a sense for these things," Jess says, tapping her forehead. She smiles before she shakes her head in response. She will usually drink if she's at a party or if she's had a really rough day or emotions are especially loud. The alcohol cabinet is always stocked at home. "Thank you, but I'm good for tonight. I have my water. I'm hardcore like that."
Jess tosses her water bottle up, catching it again with one hand before she opens it and takes a long drink from the bottle. She sets it aside for the moment as she waits for him to take the pool stick.
She smirks at him, nodding as if she is proud of it.
"Yes, that's exactly what you are. I'm just using you for a good game of pool," she says as she leans against the pool stick. "I am. I feel very lucky, because I'm so concerned about your feelings. You'd better. Bring it. In fact, since I've won so many games in a row, you should go first."
Show off those talents for the world to see here.
And she'll be glad that she could distract him, she could tell that he needed it, okay?
"Hey, I knew your name too," Alek points out, so that'd mean he'd have a sense for those things also. He doesn't know why that's so important to point out, but he does. He looks over at her and makes no big deal of whether she wants to drink or not. Reputations are the last thing he gives a fuck about.
"That's very hardcore. Especially in a place like this," he motions, and he places the beer at the table nearby before he grabs the chalk and uses it for the pool stick. The emotions are still there, but at least now he has a distraction to focus on and that's what he'll do.
"That's really cruel of you, you know. And you come right out and say so, too. I don't know how I feel about that."
But he's smirking softly, so it's very evident he's not serious.
Alek lifts a brow at that, and then positions himself next to the pool table. "Alright. I'll break. If I win, you're going to apologize for my feelings, right?" he asks, and he may not be good at much of anything, but he's sick at pool at least.
Two of the cue balls land directly on opposite corner pockets as soon as he does break.
"You did. Congratulations. Does that happen often for you? Because it happens all the time for me," Jess says, which is how she can say that she has a sense for these things, because she always knows people's names or something like that. She doesn't really.
She laughs at what he says, nodding her head. "See that's what I thought, going against the grain is very hardcore especially in a place like this," she says after a moment. "I'm feeling seriously hardcore."
"Hey, it's better than people who are cruel behind your back, right? You know what you're getting with me," Jess says, leaning against the pool table as she looks at him. "So you should feel good? That's my opinion on how you should feel."
She is just saying, ahem.
Jess nods, waiting by the pool table as he starts in on his turn. "I... wait, what do I get if I win? I'm not going to agree to something as big as apologizing if I don't get anything," she says with a tiny smile, and hey, he can show off those skills.
They're one turn in, and she is already incredibly impressed.
"All the time. It almost becomes a burden, but someone has to carry it," Alek says easily, and he doesn't really, either. But someone like her would be hard to miss, and she's also friends with Jeremy, and Alek's become friends with Jeremy, so being in the same circle helps.
At least she isn't the kind to be scared off.
"I can tell. You're really owning it. You've re-defined hardcore. I don't know what the rest of the world will do now," he says with a small smile. He's not in top form when it comes to banter, but he's trying, and she makes it really easy to engage in it.
"You have a point," he says, and he isn't looking too much deeper into that, how that's part of the whole reason he's here, because people go behind his back and he'd much rather they just be straight with him. "Is it really an opinion when you're telling someone how to feel?"
He's just curious, ahem.
"You tell me. It'd be kind of unfair if I'm the one that picks what you win also, isn't it?"
And he grins, stepping back to let her have her turn. "You're free to back out. One last chance."
"All the time? Wow, I can only imagine the burden that is to carry. Woohee," Jess says, wiping at her brow as if she's wiping sweat away from hearing about his epic, awesome skill here. No, really, she is the most impressed, ahem. She also metaly appreciates that 'someone like her' would be hard to miss.
Awh yeah. She is not the kind to be scared off, no. Not so easily. And she finds people with reps, they tend to not really buy too much stock into each other's reps that it keeps them away.
For the most part.
"I have no idea what they'll do either, but they better get to figuring it out," Jess says, and her small smile widens into a grin. "Because I won't slow down to give them the time to figure it out."
She looks at him. "yes, it really is an opinion. I mean, you can feel how ever you want, but... this is how I feel you should feel, do you catch my drift?"
Jess nods at that question.
"It would be completely unfair, and we can't have that. Okay, if I win, you can call me the most badass pool player, you've ever seen," she says, bowing as if this is a title she's already earned.
She shakes her head, tiny smirk widening into a grin. "No chance in hell. Watch and learn," Jess says, leaning over and getting in two balls herself. Awh yeah. That's right. She's on fire.
"You can only imagine? You just said you also sensed it all the time, are you lying to me? On our first conversation here?" Alek asks, pointing a finger at her as if he can't quite believe that she's just done that. Baw, well he is just telling truths but appreciates her appreciation. :x
He definitely feels the same way. Besides, most of the people that spread the rumors that build a reputation are assholes anyway, and not worth his time.
Not that he hangs out with a lot of people as it is.
"The cruelty just... keeps on coming. That's kind of heartless, Jess," Alek says, and he shakes his head when she grins, like he doesn't quite want to find it as amusing as he does, but his own smile ends up widening a fraction, in spite of himself.
"I catch your drift. ... I think," he says, scratching the back of his head.
Alek snorts out a small bout of laughter, hand on his hip. "... I can do with those stakes," he finally says, extending his hand over to her so that they shake on it to make it official.
He whistles a little as he sees her take her turn. "Okay, not too shabby. At least we're evenly matched here."
"...what? No." Jess totally did not mean to do that, but now she's all caught in the middle of this, and she's NOT going to admit to anything here. "Look that was sarcastic when I said I could only imagine. Because anyone with actual sensing all the time abilities would know that it's no burden at all. So there."
She clears her throat and takes the cap off of her bottle of water before she takes a long drink from it.
La la la, totally meant to do that!
"I'll give you a warning now. I'm a heartless person. There's nothing beating in here. It's just... a hollow cave," Jess says, nodding firmly before she smiles a little wider, setting the water bottle aside.
She shrugs. "It's okay if you don't. You'd have to sense things all the time... to catch that drift." Ahem.
Jess smirks at the sound of his laughter before she reaches out in turn to take his hand and shake on it. "It's a deal. Officially."
She takes a few steps back from the table, leaning against the wall and extending her hand out as if she is waving him up to the 'stage'. "Lets see if you can keep it up, I'm not completely convinced that wasn't just first shooter's luck."
Alek stares at her dubiously, folding his arms across his chest like he doesn't really believe her--because he doesn't. Ahem. "Sarcasm. I don't know. I'm pretty well-acquainted with sarcasm. Sarcasm and I go way, way back and I'm pretty sure it wasn't sarcasm so much as slipping."
Yeah, he went there. He went there, Jess Ryan.
Of course she did. Insert sunglasses here.
"I'll have to take my chances, won't I? Now that I've been duly warned and you keep stabbing me in the front," Alek says, amused in spite of himself, since it's become a bit more easier to fall into the banter if he isn't thinking about what happened so much.
"... I see what you did there," he says, eyes narrowing.
Once they've officially shook hands on it, he moves back toward the pool table, lifting the cue stick and giving her a girl, please sort of look. "There is no such thing as luck," he states, leaning over the table and making his next shot.
Which is just as impressive, if not more, than the first. Let it be noted.
Jess narrows her gaze at him like she cannot even believe that he doesn't even believe her. WHAT IS THIS? She is not a fan at all. "I'm sure you and sarcasm are best friends, but we only just met so... you don't know my special brand of sarcasm."
She went there RIGHT BACK.
Dealwithit.gif. There are all the sunglasses.
"I suppose you will. If you're willing to risk it. I will go on with the stabbing, but see from the front? You see it coming," Jess says, and she smiles and it slides into a grin as she looks at him.
Jess whistles innocently. He saw nothing! There was nothing to seeeee! Ahem.
She raises an eyebrow at him. "Isn't there? I believe in luck and fate and hard work. I'm a menagerie of things." Jess looks over at him, leaning over and watching too.
Rats.
"You're having a very lucky night," Jess says before she moves to take her own shot... which is slightly less impressive. "And me on the other hand, I've won so many games... I'm just getting tired out here, you see."
Ahem, so saving face sort of.
Even if it wasn't as impressive as her last, it was still pretty impressive, okay?
However, she will admit that he is pretty damn good.
"If you need to have your own brand for it you have invented, classifying it by your lonesome, I don't think that you can call it sarcasm," Alek points out innocently, not that he's getting worked up about this at all. He's just a smart ass a lot of the time, and pointing things out is how he rolls.
Not that he really doubts she has her own brand of sarcasm.
It's just not distracting him from the heart of the matter.
Which is that he totally caught her contradicting herself.
"I'm a risk taker, so don't mind if I do," he says, sliding off the jacket and placing it over a chair nearby. It doesn't let him move as freely around the pool table, and she's good, so he has to step up his game.
Alek raises his eyebrow right back. "Not for me there isn't. There's what you make happen, and what you're stuck with," he says, and he's not sure he'd call it fate.
Cards being dealt, maybe, but fate has much too nice of a ring to it.
"No, yeah, I understand. I've caught you at the tail end of the night, you already scared the rest of them away, I'm not judging," he says, but he does look a little amused.
Once it's his turn, he'll just keep on sinking balls into their respective corners, left and right.
Jess can tell that he's being a smart ass, but she doesn't really mind that either even if she'l make a big deal about it as if she does. She squints at him, pointing at him with her cue stick. "Hey, what would you call it then, huh?"
She places a hand on her hip, looking at him as if she is waiting for his answer here.
It had better be a good answer too.
Because Jess' Brand of Sarcasm is kind of perfect here and it gets her free from admitting the truth.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are with your sarcasm knowing and your sense of things," she says as she leans against the pool table, shaking her head. Jess' jacket was already off since she more than warmed up after the number of games that she's had.
She nods at him. "I like the sound of that. I never actually put all that much thought into it all, but I kind of like that viewpoint, think it's accurate."
But again, she hasn't really analyzed that enough to know. It's kind of whatever's convenient to her at the time when teasing. In some ways, maybe she believes in a 'way things are', but. That's not really fate either.
"Okay, okay, as long as you keep that in mind, I suppose I can handle this less than absolutely, 100% stellar performance here," Jess says, smirking sideways at him.
Damn. He is good.
"Thanks, I know." And she laughs a little. "Y'know you're just about as amazing as I am when I'm at the top of my game."
This turn of hers is not as stellar as his, but she is tired from all those previous games after all, and she'd be cool with losing this one since he is a worthy opponent here.
"... Your completely evading the fact I'm right?" Alek asks with the faintest smirk, subdued in its nature, less than it would be any other night, but it's still there, remains when he looks down at where she is poking at him with the cue stick. He lifts both hands to his sides as if making some innocent gesture.
Spoiler: there is nothing innocent about him.
"Something like that," he says with a quiet laugh, as he's not about to deny that he's got a tendency to use sarcasm more often than not.
But then, the same could be said about a lot of people.
Alek scratches the side of his face lightly. "I tend to not put much thought into things either, but you'll find that's something people talk about a lot. Whether things are coincidence or they're luck or they're something else entirely," he says, and maybe it's just because they're all looking for answers at the end of the day.
Even if there aren't answers to be found.
Either way, he doesn't really analyze it much either, and it's not because he's the kind to focus on what's convenient to him, so much as he always acts before he thinks, before it can all catch up to him.
Whether it's the supernatural in him or just Alek to act with instinct instead of slowing down, there's really no way of saying.
"I'm going to have to take your word for it, since I didn't see this 'top of your game' thing for myself," Alek says, a small smile in place when he leans over the pool table once more when she says it's his turn.
"Don't mind if I do."
He is pretty much going to... just sink every one of the balls into the corner pockets until he's done with his and all that's left is the eight ball.
She recognizes Alek from school. Jess pays attention to those kinds of things, but they've never really talked before. The anger from him would be impossible not to feel even in the crowd, but she won't bring it up. It's much easier for her to form lasting friendships with people when they do not know she can feel their every emotion without wanting or trying to even.
Emotions should be other people's, not hers. Even if she really can't imagine her life, imagine herself without feeling that world of emotions from the people around her. It's a little addicting.
Jess's hanging out by the pool table when he steps over to it.
"Hey, I know you from school," she says with a small smile that's almost a smirk as she stands in front of one of the free pool tables. "Fancy a game? I keep kicking everyone else's asses at pool so no one wants to play with me anymore."
She's half joking.
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If it was just anger, he'd have gotten into a fight immediately, finding a way to get the anger out of his system. It's so familiar it's all but a part of him. It's the underlying current of sadness and grief that he is not sure what to do with, and he is grateful she doesn't mention it, since he's not good at verbalizing or admitting his feelings as it is.
It's the anger that's mostly radiating off of him, so no one's exactly fighting over themselves to play a game of pool with him. He's got a reputation, and no one's really looking to get their heads bashed in tonight. Alek's seconds away from ordering a drink when he hears her voice.
He looks up, surprised when someone does step up, and the face is familiar.
"... Jess, right?" he asks, clearing his throat and looking down at the pool table. "So you're the one that scared them off."
It's his attempt at humor and acknowleding the real reason no one else is hanging nearby, but it falls flat.
"Yeah, but I, uh... might be miserable company," he warns lamely.
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They're private feelings that she shouldn't know about though. They're for him and him alone, and people who aren't good at verbalizing their feelings, it's not going to help them, help him if she brings up something she shouldn't know about at all.
Jess is not at all afraid to get her head bashed in here. If she seems to only piss him off more, she'd give him space, but she's not planning on pissing him off and she's not afraid either. There's nothing to be afraid of. Well, that and she has a reputation herself so it's not like that would stop her from hanging out with someone if she wanted to.
"Yep, that'd be me, and you're Alek," she says with a small smirk that widens into a smile as if she's proud of it. Yes, she'll take his joke seriously here.
Jess stretches out her hands on either side of her as if to say 'Come at me Bro', holding the pool stick in one hand. "Pretty much. I have a habit of doing that. Scaring people away, I'm very scary, but I can tell you are a brave, brave soul on the other hand."
She shakes her head, still smiling and reaching for a stick to hand to him across the table. "Hey, I'm not looking for company. I'm looking for a good game of pool so don't start making up excuses about being miserable company because you're starting to get a little afraid."
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"Got it in one," he says, taking a deep breath. The server brings about his drink, and Alek looks over to Jess, motioning with his hands in case she wants one, too. He knows that not everyone comes here to drink if they're underage, but he'll still ask in case she's in the mood.
He's surprisingly not a big drinker, unless it's to help with the edge when the full moon's around the corner, and afterward, when the pain seems like it'll never stop. It's amazing how it can numb your senses, and there's something very, very appealing about that.
Alek's surprised, but he takes the pool stick in his hand.
"Oh. So I'm just a means to an end, I see," he says, leaning against the pool table. "You're lucky my feelings aren't so easily hurt. And for the record, no. I'm not afraid, and I'm really good at pool, so I'm going to have to prove it now."
His reputation's on the line here.
And whether she knows it or not, she's just given him the perfect distraction.
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"I usually do. I have a sense for these things," Jess says, tapping her forehead. She smiles before she shakes her head in response. She will usually drink if she's at a party or if she's had a really rough day or emotions are especially loud. The alcohol cabinet is always stocked at home. "Thank you, but I'm good for tonight. I have my water. I'm hardcore like that."
Jess tosses her water bottle up, catching it again with one hand before she opens it and takes a long drink from the bottle. She sets it aside for the moment as she waits for him to take the pool stick.
She smirks at him, nodding as if she is proud of it.
"Yes, that's exactly what you are. I'm just using you for a good game of pool," she says as she leans against the pool stick. "I am. I feel very lucky, because I'm so concerned about your feelings. You'd better. Bring it. In fact, since I've won so many games in a row, you should go first."
Show off those talents for the world to see here.
And she'll be glad that she could distract him, she could tell that he needed it, okay?
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"That's very hardcore. Especially in a place like this," he motions, and he places the beer at the table nearby before he grabs the chalk and uses it for the pool stick. The emotions are still there, but at least now he has a distraction to focus on and that's what he'll do.
"That's really cruel of you, you know. And you come right out and say so, too. I don't know how I feel about that."
But he's smirking softly, so it's very evident he's not serious.
Alek lifts a brow at that, and then positions himself next to the pool table. "Alright. I'll break. If I win, you're going to apologize for my feelings, right?" he asks, and he may not be good at much of anything, but he's sick at pool at least.
Two of the cue balls land directly on opposite corner pockets as soon as he does break.
He will show off the talents, okay.
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She laughs at what he says, nodding her head. "See that's what I thought, going against the grain is very hardcore especially in a place like this," she says after a moment. "I'm feeling seriously hardcore."
"Hey, it's better than people who are cruel behind your back, right? You know what you're getting with me," Jess says, leaning against the pool table as she looks at him. "So you should feel good? That's my opinion on how you should feel."
She is just saying, ahem.
Jess nods, waiting by the pool table as he starts in on his turn. "I... wait, what do I get if I win? I'm not going to agree to something as big as apologizing if I don't get anything," she says with a tiny smile, and hey, he can show off those skills.
They're one turn in, and she is already incredibly impressed.
"...damn. Maybe I spoke too soon."
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At least she isn't the kind to be scared off.
"I can tell. You're really owning it. You've re-defined hardcore. I don't know what the rest of the world will do now," he says with a small smile. He's not in top form when it comes to banter, but he's trying, and she makes it really easy to engage in it.
"You have a point," he says, and he isn't looking too much deeper into that, how that's part of the whole reason he's here, because people go behind his back and he'd much rather they just be straight with him. "Is it really an opinion when you're telling someone how to feel?"
He's just curious, ahem.
"You tell me. It'd be kind of unfair if I'm the one that picks what you win also, isn't it?"
And he grins, stepping back to let her have her turn. "You're free to back out. One last chance."
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Awh yeah. She is not the kind to be scared off, no. Not so easily. And she finds people with reps, they tend to not really buy too much stock into each other's reps that it keeps them away.
For the most part.
"I have no idea what they'll do either, but they better get to figuring it out," Jess says, and her small smile widens into a grin. "Because I won't slow down to give them the time to figure it out."
She looks at him. "yes, it really is an opinion. I mean, you can feel how ever you want, but... this is how I feel you should feel, do you catch my drift?"
Jess nods at that question.
"It would be completely unfair, and we can't have that. Okay, if I win, you can call me the most badass pool player, you've ever seen," she says, bowing as if this is a title she's already earned.
She shakes her head, tiny smirk widening into a grin. "No chance in hell. Watch and learn," Jess says, leaning over and getting in two balls herself. Awh yeah. That's right. She's on fire.
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He definitely feels the same way. Besides, most of the people that spread the rumors that build a reputation are assholes anyway, and not worth his time.
Not that he hangs out with a lot of people as it is.
"The cruelty just... keeps on coming. That's kind of heartless, Jess," Alek says, and he shakes his head when she grins, like he doesn't quite want to find it as amusing as he does, but his own smile ends up widening a fraction, in spite of himself.
"I catch your drift. ... I think," he says, scratching the back of his head.
Alek snorts out a small bout of laughter, hand on his hip. "... I can do with those stakes," he finally says, extending his hand over to her so that they shake on it to make it official.
He whistles a little as he sees her take her turn. "Okay, not too shabby. At least we're evenly matched here."
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She clears her throat and takes the cap off of her bottle of water before she takes a long drink from it.
La la la, totally meant to do that!
"I'll give you a warning now. I'm a heartless person. There's nothing beating in here. It's just... a hollow cave," Jess says, nodding firmly before she smiles a little wider, setting the water bottle aside.
She shrugs. "It's okay if you don't. You'd have to sense things all the time... to catch that drift." Ahem.
Jess smirks at the sound of his laughter before she reaches out in turn to take his hand and shake on it. "It's a deal. Officially."
She takes a few steps back from the table, leaning against the wall and extending her hand out as if she is waving him up to the 'stage'. "Lets see if you can keep it up, I'm not completely convinced that wasn't just first shooter's luck."
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Yeah, he went there. He went there, Jess Ryan.
Of course she did. Insert sunglasses here.
"I'll have to take my chances, won't I? Now that I've been duly warned and you keep stabbing me in the front," Alek says, amused in spite of himself, since it's become a bit more easier to fall into the banter if he isn't thinking about what happened so much.
"... I see what you did there," he says, eyes narrowing.
Once they've officially shook hands on it, he moves back toward the pool table, lifting the cue stick and giving her a girl, please sort of look. "There is no such thing as luck," he states, leaning over the table and making his next shot.
Which is just as impressive, if not more, than the first. Let it be noted.
"Still not convinced? I got all night here."
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She went there RIGHT BACK.
Dealwithit.gif. There are all the sunglasses.
"I suppose you will. If you're willing to risk it. I will go on with the stabbing, but see from the front? You see it coming," Jess says, and she smiles and it slides into a grin as she looks at him.
Jess whistles innocently. He saw nothing! There was nothing to seeeee! Ahem.
She raises an eyebrow at him. "Isn't there? I believe in luck and fate and hard work. I'm a menagerie of things." Jess looks over at him, leaning over and watching too.
Rats.
"You're having a very lucky night," Jess says before she moves to take her own shot... which is slightly less impressive. "And me on the other hand, I've won so many games... I'm just getting tired out here, you see."
Ahem, so saving face sort of.
Even if it wasn't as impressive as her last, it was still pretty impressive, okay?
However, she will admit that he is pretty damn good.
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Not that he really doubts she has her own brand of sarcasm.
It's just not distracting him from the heart of the matter.
Which is that he totally caught her contradicting herself.
"I'm a risk taker, so don't mind if I do," he says, sliding off the jacket and placing it over a chair nearby. It doesn't let him move as freely around the pool table, and she's good, so he has to step up his game.
Alek raises his eyebrow right back. "Not for me there isn't. There's what you make happen, and what you're stuck with," he says, and he's not sure he'd call it fate.
Cards being dealt, maybe, but fate has much too nice of a ring to it.
"No, yeah, I understand. I've caught you at the tail end of the night, you already scared the rest of them away, I'm not judging," he says, but he does look a little amused.
Once it's his turn, he'll just keep on sinking balls into their respective corners, left and right.
"You're good, though."
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She places a hand on her hip, looking at him as if she is waiting for his answer here.
It had better be a good answer too.
Because Jess' Brand of Sarcasm is kind of perfect here and it gets her free from admitting the truth.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are with your sarcasm knowing and your sense of things," she says as she leans against the pool table, shaking her head. Jess' jacket was already off since she more than warmed up after the number of games that she's had.
She nods at him. "I like the sound of that. I never actually put all that much thought into it all, but I kind of like that viewpoint, think it's accurate."
But again, she hasn't really analyzed that enough to know. It's kind of whatever's convenient to her at the time when teasing. In some ways, maybe she believes in a 'way things are', but. That's not really fate either.
"Okay, okay, as long as you keep that in mind, I suppose I can handle this less than absolutely, 100% stellar performance here," Jess says, smirking sideways at him.
Damn. He is good.
"Thanks, I know." And she laughs a little. "Y'know you're just about as amazing as I am when I'm at the top of my game."
This turn of hers is not as stellar as his, but she is tired from all those previous games after all, and she'd be cool with losing this one since he is a worthy opponent here.
"And your turn, sir."
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Spoiler: there is nothing innocent about him.
"Something like that," he says with a quiet laugh, as he's not about to deny that he's got a tendency to use sarcasm more often than not.
But then, the same could be said about a lot of people.
Alek scratches the side of his face lightly. "I tend to not put much thought into things either, but you'll find that's something people talk about a lot. Whether things are coincidence or they're luck or they're something else entirely," he says, and maybe it's just because they're all looking for answers at the end of the day.
Even if there aren't answers to be found.
Either way, he doesn't really analyze it much either, and it's not because he's the kind to focus on what's convenient to him, so much as he always acts before he thinks, before it can all catch up to him.
Whether it's the supernatural in him or just Alek to act with instinct instead of slowing down, there's really no way of saying.
"I'm going to have to take your word for it, since I didn't see this 'top of your game' thing for myself," Alek says, a small smile in place when he leans over the pool table once more when she says it's his turn.
"Don't mind if I do."
He is pretty much going to... just sink every one of the balls into the corner pockets until he's done with his and all that's left is the eight ball.
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