2024.11.19 - Pool Hall Downtime

This log follows the story from: 2024.11.14 - Diner Discussion
The story continues in: 2024.11.20 - Investigating Abominations

There's some crazy shit happening, but sometimes you just gotta hang out.

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After he left the bar earlier, Nic took a call from some old friends. They were able to give him some new, though not concrete, information. After getting the news, he ended up running some errands and figured an evening drink at the pool hall is in order. He might even hustle up some money in a few games once some of the regulars threw back a few. So the roar of the Yellowjacket is heard outside a moment or two before Nic enters. Same day, same clothes...green tank shirt under his black leather jacket. Tight black jeans adorning his legs and his ever-so-familiar boots on his feet. A quick scan of the room and he heads for the bar, leaning against it and ordering himself a hard cider, always alert for familiar faces or the like.

Having taken a liking to the pool hall and having formed an appreciation for the fact that the bartenders don't look too closely at his ID (which completely legit, but just happens to belong to his older brother), Ty is starting to be a familiar face for the regulars. The cheap bar food isn't bad either, as far as he's concerned. He enters, still feeling a little chill from the New England cold and looks around. Seeing Nic, he gives the other young man a nod of greeting as he goes to get his usual beer and wings.

Ryki had a feeling. As he does sometimes. It's a gift, it's a curse, it's a blessing, it's a bane. Today, it leads him to a place he's normally not inclined to go to on his own, a pool hall. As he arrives, freshly showered with his hair still damp, dressed this time in a maroon button-up shirt (instead of a black one) along with his jeans, he sticks his hands in his pockets and steps past Nic's motorcycle and into the bar. "Right place, right time," he murmurs under his breath. Walking over to Tyson, he smiles in a friendly way. "Hey, Ty. Nice to see you again." He gives Nic a wave as well. "I haven't been here before. Seems like I'm exploring all sorts of new places lately."

Danny's turned up again. He's hoping Dale's meeting him here, but he's not totally sure he's gotten the details right. He's been rushing around too much and hasn't stopped, not even long enough to text. Sometimes, you just get busy with stuff. It happens! He had to get his hands on some cash without asking Zach for it, then he had to buy some stuff, and then get back to the boat, all with his phone off so nobody would find him! Now he's finally remembering to turn it back on, just as he walks into the pool hall...and sees sexy werewolf Nic, plus Ty. He knows those people! Though, does he know that other cute, taller blonde? If he doesn't, he feels he should, because...cute! Danny heads for the bar, tossing some playful side-eye Nic's way, and loudly orders a bottle of Coke, rolling his eyes performatively as he does so.

While people are gathering, Dale comes out of the bathroom. "Wow, gathered a crowd of people I know right quick. I hope I didn't accidentally send out a call to meet when I pissed..." Noticing Danny, though, he trails that way and leans on the bar beside his little brother. "Hey, Little Bro." While he's mostly looking at Danny, he still manages to glance around at familiar faces, offering nods and smiles of greeting. "So, something going on?"

At the bar, Nic seems to clock each person he knows who enters...glancing at Tyson when he comes in, offering an upnod. "Hey, man. " There's only a the barest hint of the wariness from the previous encounter, Nic turning so that he can face the blond. "What brings you in?" When Ryki follows shortly after, Nic narrows his eyes a bit studying the young man and his curious comment. "Two's a coincidence...three? yeah not so much." Even as he's letting the words sink in, Danny then Dale both make appearances. "You two come to take me on in pool? Who won?" When everyone is around and after greetings are given, Nic says "I'd offer to buy the first round, but haven't gotten paid yet for the diner shift. Need to find something regular. Probably too much to ask to get something where I'm cooking but hey, never know." With that, he leans over and slides the pint of cider his way. "Cheers!" Then he tilts his head back and takes a healthy swallow.

Tyson waits for his food and sips his mug of beer as first Ryki and then Danny also arrive. He grins at Nic as he says, "I like the place. It reminds me of home." The former gets a sardonic grin as Tyson says, "What, Fate told you wings are half-hour after nine?" The mischief in his expression and voice make it less being a jerk and more being a smart ass, or at least he hopes so. He returns Danny's wordless greeting with a cheerful up nod and quiet, "Hey!" And just as he's getting his wings, Dale is also seen and Ty's eyebrows go up. He says, "Oh uh, the last time a bunch of us got together...."

As Danny arrives and Dale comes out of the bathroom, Ryki smiles. Dale at least he knows. Danny, who is apparently known to the others, gets a wave. Nic's comment earns a wide grin from the blonde, followed up by Tyson's addition. "What are you talking about, you guys, this is totally just happenstance. Right? Right." He gives Tyson some faint side-eye. It's playful side-eye, but it's definitely there. "I don't suppose you have the sudden urge to punch anyone in the nuts?" He doesn't explain the comment at all. And probably wisely steps away immediately to Nic's side. "What are you having? I had some pineapple drinks today. They were delicious." He orders a Coke for himself, apparently not in the mood to drink alcohol at the moment.

Danny makes a face at Nic, calling over, "Dale beat my ass. Figures, right?" He rolls his eyes, but he's also grinning, and anyone very intuitive about such things will easily read that Danny doesn't really mind. He clearly has some hero worship going for Dale, even if he also loves to annoy him, so it seems to make sense in Danny's world that Dale beat him. Having been handed his Coke, he grins at Dale and nods toward the others, "Let's go hang out!" He'll then see about dragging Dale closer to Nic, Ty, and...that new cute blonde. He glances at Dale, then back at Ryki, as if silently asking him: hey, look, another cute guy! Isn't that great? "What're you guys doing?" he asks, looking at the others curiously. Ty in particular gets a look that suggests, somehow, that this impromptu gathering might be his doing.

Dale gets a drink before he follows Danny over. Smells like coke and peach. With all the familiar faces gathered, he looks to Ty, having noticed Danny's look. "Did you do something, Ty?" He's not entirely sure what Danny's look meant, but he wouldn't be surprised if the hothead did something nefarious. "So anyways. What's up and all that?" Every time people gather like this in seeming coincidence lately, SOMETHING is going on. And after the acid bat demon thing, Dale's been wary, and just WAITING for Fate to start showing him portants of doom.

Nic gives Tyson a sharp look, "Say it and I bite you," he warns as the edge of his irises glow just a bit. as Ryki asks them about their orders. The biker's lips turn into a bit of a grin and winks, reaching out to give Tyson's arm a friendly, but firm, squeeze before turning to Ryki. "Cider for me. Hard of course." He keeps his tone steady as he speaks about his drink, but there's also a little bit of an underlying inflection when he clarifies. "Was here earlier with those two. Had to leave before I got to play winner," he explains with a nod towards the brothers. When Danny announces the winner, Nic nods and raises his pint in an air salute to the older brother. "Guess it'll be you and I next." The look he gives is a bit longer than necessary and rather appreciative. He doesn't let the younger off the hook anytime soon, turning his full focus towards the shorter male. "Don't think I won't take you on either." With that out of the way, he smirks, takes another drink and then looks towards one of the open high top tables near the wall. "No sense taking up bar space. That table's open."

Tyson snorts in amusement at Ryki's question and replies, with mock-solemnity, "I always feel the urge to punch somebody in the nuts. I may have hostility issues. But in this case, it's like, um, conceptual nut-punching, not literal." At the look from Danny, Ty shrugs as he puts down his wings and beer at a table, as though disclaiming any responsibility for meetings or shenanigans. He says, "Ah, I forget, does everybody know everybody? Danny, Dale, Ryki and Nic. None of you piss me off, much." He points at each one as he names them then gives Dale a grumpy look as he says, "Except when Dale is trying to pin something on me." Nic gets a laugh from that threat and a thumbs up, as Ty starts to chow down on his bar food, muttering something that sounds suspiciously like, "Goals!"

Ryki gives Danny a scrutinizing look, sizing the boy up subtly just before Tyson rattles off their names to each other. That makes life easier. "Nice to meet you, Danny. My name's actually Rykard, but at this point I've stopped bothering to tell people and everyone just calls me Ryki." He's just conceded at this point the fact that no one is ever going to use his given name, and that's just fine. "Nice to see you again, Dale," he remarks to the other man. "Been a minute." For a moment, the thought crosses his mind that trouble may be brewing. But the notion is quickly dispelled, instinct guiding him that tonight is not about danger. At least, not immediate danger. What tomorrow may hold is anyone's guess. Tyson gets a chuckle. "Yeah, uh, hostility? You? I don't believe it. You're as gentle as a hamster." He tries to keep a straight face as he says that, but it's a struggle. As he wanders over to the indicated table once he has his soda in hand and has slid some bills across the bar, he sits down. To Nic, he aks, "So, you boys playing pool? I'm not really a player, but I do enjoy watching. Especially players who can actually hit the holes." Is that double entendre from the blonde? Maybe. Probably. He's got a smirk on his face.

"If you stopped bothering to tell people," Danny asks, beaming false innocence, "Why'd you tell me?" He takes a long pull from his Coke bottle, and maybe he's being a bit suggestive. That, or he's really afraid of spilling. One of the two. Either way, he snorts at the idea of Ty being gentle, adding, "Ty's nobody you wanna piss off. Bein' fair, though, neither'm I." He pauses, looking to Dale, then Nic. He adds slowly, "Dale, neither. And I'm pretty sure Nic, too. Huh. Guess we're all one big powder keg, huh? Sucks to be anyone who fucks with us." He sits next to Dale at the table, looking at the others with varying levels of affection or curiosity. "Man, all we need here now is Newt," he says, trying to share that more particularly with Ty and Dale, but it's a crowded table. Then, in response to his previous statement, he adds as an afterthought, "Unless he's hot. If a hot guy fucks with us, then...maybe yay for him?" Danny's brain isn't always a simple place, but...sometimes.

"Better keep our powder dry then, huh L'il Bro." Dale, looking up to Nic, claps Danny on the back, maybe a little too hard. "Aw, you can play Danny. He needs the practise." And also Dale is more interested in looking at people than looking at colored spheres. "Newt is too wordy." Also he keeps proving Dale wrong. Or at least pointing out the flaws in Dale's assessments. He glances about at those gathered and comments, "You know, maybe we really should keep our powder dry. We're almost asking for something to happen..."

"I don't hear that a lot," he responds to Tyson when he's pointed out as someone not pissing the other male off. "Must be doing something right...or wrong." He makes his way to the high top table with the others, taking a seat near the end sticking out from the wall. He catches a whiff of the hot wings Tyson is eating and nods his approval of the level of spice. "Fighting fire with fire."

Shaking his head at Ryki, Nic says "Not right now. At least not me. I just owe Dale a game,and I think I'll take on his brother too. I just came to get a drink after talking with some investigative friends about what happened the other night."

Danny's train of thought has Nic mentally doing gymnastics to keep up. "I know Newt. Guess that's the whole coven right? And yea, we can all take care of ourselves, with or without mops," he adds that last bit with a sideways glance at Ryki and a low chuff before he takes another drink. Dale's tempting of fate gets a sharp look from Nic. "If something happens because you two keep saying it, I'm gonna bite both of you after kicking the ass of whatever shows up. I don't do the fate shit, but there's enough things out there with good hearing they might just think you want a fight. I'd like to finish my cider first."

He glances at Danny, "We can play after the drinks, sound good?"

Sipping his beer, Ty says, "Don't sell hamsters short. I'm pretty sure they are evil." He nods at Danny's words. "That's the right idea. The world has scary stuff in it. We have to be more scary to keep them from fucking with us. But your point about hot guys is fair. And where is Newt, anyway?" He looks around at Dale's words, as though expecting more vilewings to pop out from under the table. Or someone, anyway. "If something happens, don't blame me!" Nic gets a nod and grin, "My spice tolerance is crazy these days. If there was a hot pepper eating contest, I'd make some money." He looks surprised when Nic says the word 'coven', as though he didn't know the werewolf knew that. "And yeah, no taunting the bad guys at dinner time."

Ryki gives Danny a grin. "The only person who actually calls me by my name is my grandmother when she's mad at me. Not even my parents. Not even some teachers in school!" Ryki nods faintly at Danny's last statement, casually adding, "I think there was an extra 'with' in your sentence. But I might be wrong. It happens." Dale's concern causes Ryki to pause and consider. Nic seems vehemently against the idea of another encounter tonight. No one seems up for it, which is fine by him. However, he comments, "Hmm. Sooner or later, I think Dale might be right. Things have a way of coming around again, good and bad alike. It's an unfortunate truth in this case, I think." Ryki narrows his eyes at Tyson. "Never had a hamster, but I've heard they sometimes eat their babies so you might be right. Dunno if it's a myth or not." Pointing at Nic, he waggles his finger at the mop comment. But he doesn't say anything. That's probably going to be a running joke forever now.

Danny nearly spits out his drink of coke when Dale whacks him on the back, which results in Danny furiously gulping soda as the bottle fizzes up from his sudden movement. After a sudden scramble, though, he manages to swallow it all. (Well, that's what he gets for trying to be suggestive.) Fortunately, coming up for air isn't really a problem for him right now, so he's just wiping his mouth and grinning after, saying, "Oh, yeah, sure! Okay! I can practice. Plus, I still don't even know what I gotta do for Dale since I lost last time, so maybe I can win something back to trade for him so he doesn't sell me to pirates or something." Noticing Ty's question, he does pause to answer, "Oh, I think he's been really busy with stuff lately. He's a literal boy scout, plus he has school, so...y'know?" He shrugs, then nods to Nic, "Anyway, yeah, deal." He finally just squints at each of the others, though, and says, "Okay, what's all this Fate crap, anyway? Are you guys starting shit without me?" Alas, his brilliant response to Ryki's quip is forgotten, passing into the land of missed opportunities.

"No one calls me by my name anymore either. But that's by my choice. Because my second name is cooler than my first." Dale leans against the table and sets his glass down. "I am a pirate, I wouldn't sell you to one." Then he breaks into song, "Our ship she dreams of wind in her sails, of wind in her sails unfurled..." Someone might be a little too obsessed with the sea and anything having to do with it. Including online video games.

The look he gets from Tyson has Nic shrugging, "What? I know about those. Have some friends, actually brothers, who were in one. Guess they still are but haven't talked to them. I've got a little magic going on, but it's all in my cooking." He doesn't go into more detail around the table, but does add almost off handedly, "Gotta find a way to work on it back here in town though."

The finger waggling doesn't phase him, he just stares at Ryki for a moment, "In the best movies, you never wanna fuck with the cleaner. I think you're good."

Danny's question has Nic leaning back a bit, "I don't believe in fate. Shit happens and you deal with it. Not like there's some all powerful cosmic power thing just waiting around to fuck with us. It's an excuse people use when they don't wanna take responsibility for their actions." HarsH? Yeah, but is it a lie? No. When Dale starts to sing, Nic just listens, swaying a bit. Out of the corner of his eye he catches someone waving him over. "Guys, I'll be back. See someone who owes me something." With that, he drains his cider and slides from his stool. "Shouldn't take long." With a mysterious glance back towards the older man at the end of the bar, Nic nods to his companions. "When I get back, we can exchange numbers. Easier to get in touch that way." He then heads over towards the bar again, fists clenched as he walks.

Tyson snickers a little at 'Boy Scout' from Danny, apparently finding the idea funny. He shakes his head as he continues working his way through dinner. Dale gets a surprised look and he asks, "Ah, do you prefer to be called by your last name? I didn't know that, sorry." The singing amuses him and he grins. And Nic's information seems to genuinely surprise him, "I didn't know you could be both. Neat." He nods at the words about Fate and then watches the werewolf stalk off, looking pissed. "He might be even more angry than me. That's saying something." After finishing his food and the mug of beer with a long drink, he stands and says, "And I should get my ass in bed too. Still job hunting and tomorrow comes early." He nods and smiles to the crew as he heads for the door.

Ryki chuckles as Danny almost has a minor catastrophe with his soda, while Ryki sips his own Coke. "Smooth. Thought it was going to come out your nose for a moment." Which would not have been very sexy, but would have been hilarious. He eyes Dale for a moment. "You know I'm obligated to ask what your name is now, right? Like? you dangled it right there for me." Nic gets an incredulous look before he goes out. "Did he just call me domestic? The nerve." Turning to Dale once again, he shrugs. "I guess your first name will have to wait. Something to talk about another day, I'm sure there's a good story there."


The story continues in: 2024.11.20 - Investigating Abominations