Aug 30th - Chasing The Ball

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:18 pm

Michaela rolled the cue ball around in her hand for a moment before setting it onto the the billiard table. She opened a small soft case and put together a cue stick before moving back to eye the table again. She leaned down, adjusted a few more times, took a few practice aims, then struck the cue ball solidly, breaking the eight-ball configuration. She wandered back over to the bag and swapped the tip out on the cue, glancing back at the table as her hands worked automatically.

[Open]

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:32 pm

A tall, pudgy guy stood not far from the pool tables, playing an arcade video game. He occasionally glanced over seeming to debate whether to say something, usually giving up and turning back to the game.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:37 pm

"If you want to play," Michaela said, the hint of a southern twang in her voice, "I don't have an opponent and the cues are over there." She gestured to where the cues hung in a rack on the wall.

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:41 pm

Trev froze a bit and his character died in the game. He turned and flashed a nervous smile at Michaela. "S-sure...I'm awful though so I hope you didn't want to play for money," he joked.

He walked over to her. "Michaela, right?"

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:49 pm

"Right. Trev, if I remember correctly," she said, "And I wouldn't take your money. There'd be no fun in it and I still have to work with you. Tends to breed bad blood."

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:53 pm

Holy crap she remembered my name...

Trev grinned, "Ah, I wouldn't hold it against you. Much." He grabbed a cue from the wall.

"Glad to see a familiar face here."

not like you ever hung out before, idiot...

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:59 pm

"There is something to be said for familiar stuff." She leaned against one of the other tables. "You played eight-ball before?"

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 4:06 pm

"I...dunno actually. This where you pick stripes or solids and hit the 8 ball last?"

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 4:09 pm

"Sort of. First ball you sink determines whether you're stripes or solids. Eight-ball is last. As long as you sink one of your balls, you get to keep going," she said. "And I didn't sink any on the break, so you can go after whatever you like."

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 4:21 pm

Trev lined up a shot, and promptly scratched, sinking nothing but the cue ball.

"Well, shit," he chuckled

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 4:25 pm

Michaela chuckled and fished the cue ball out, rolling it around in her hand again before setting it up. She took her shot, knocking one of the solids straight into a pocket. "Guess that makes you stripes," she said, lining up and taking a defensive shot to put the cue ball in a bad place for Trev.

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 4:37 pm

Trev took a shot and managed to sink a stripe, though it was complete slop--there was no chance he'd done it intentionally.

"I....meant to do that....yeah...." He chuckled

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 4:54 pm

"So go again," she said with a chuckle, "Picked a major yet?"

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 5:15 pm

"I think history," he said, missing his next shot by a mile. "Thinking of maybe trying to get into the X-teams...not exactly in fighting shape though."

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 5:23 pm

"Did you do the teams at the Institute?" She asked, lining up a couple of shots and sinking them before missing her third shot.

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 7:09 pm

"No...never really worked up the nerve to try," he admitted, missing wildly with his shot.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 7:17 pm

"You should definitely try here then. Changed a lot of things for me," she said, walking around the table as she considered her shot.

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 8:32 pm

"...maybe I should, then..." he said, fiddling with his pool cue. "Are you signing up?"

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 8:47 pm

"Did some search and rescue stuff at the Institute, so I'll probably sign up for at least that," she said, sinking one of the solids, but sinking a stripe with it. "Your shot."

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 9:02 pm

In spite of a near perfect set-up, Trev whiffed the shot, and did nothing but sink two of Michaela's balls. "Sonofa..."

He smirked at her. "You're welcome I guess. Not that you needed any more help kicking my ass. I guess it can't hurt to try and sign up at least. Worst that'll happen they'll just say they don't need me."

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 9:21 pm

Michaela bridged to sink her last solid before moving on to eye the eight-ball from several angles. "Everyone can contribute in some way. They just have to figure out how."

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:02 pm

"I'm at least less liable to deafen everyone after tweaking a few things in power control last year. You've still got the much cooler power."

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:20 pm

"If by cooler, you mean more like herding cats," she said with a chuckle. "8-ball, this pocket," she said, tapping the pocket right next to her. She leaned down to line up the shot, taking her time.

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:28 pm

"Herding cats?" Trev asked, confused.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:31 pm

"You've seen furry me, right? Or are you just assuming I have mystical 8-ball based powers?" She teased, hitting the cue ball and bouncing the 8-ball off the far side and sending it into the indicated pocket.

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:35 pm

Trev whistled, "Well. Powers like that could win you a lot of money in a bar..."

"...but yeah, you didn't really look like a cat, so...oh...do the two other heads....like...have their own minds?" Trev said, a light bulb going off in his head.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:39 pm

"Sort of? But not really. They're independent, but they're me. It's kind of complicated. Gave my team telepath fits trying to stay in mental contact with me."

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:47 pm

"...that is kinda wild. Hard to imagine that without a real frame of reference, y'know? Guess that's the same for anyone else's powers, though. I mean if you and I swapped bodies, you'd probably have a hard time talking without screaming."

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 10:55 pm

"Yeah, there's a mental component to all the control for sure," she said, taking a rack off the wall and fishing the pool balls out of the pockets and onto the table.

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 11:02 pm

"So...willing to teach me how to suck a bit less at this?" he chuckled, helping grab some of the balls out of the pockets.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Sun May 31, 2015 11:05 pm

"Only if you're willing to practice," she said, starting to arrange the balls in the rack. "Because if you don't practice, it won't matter how I help you."

by **Trev Anderson** » Sun May 31, 2015 11:31 pm

"I'd love to. This is fun, even if you're shellacking me," he smiled, clearly still nervous, but seeming to relax a bit the longer they've been conversing.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 12:18 am

"Okay, we'll call this the learning game then," she said, pulling the rack up and placing the cue ball on the appropriate spot. "I'll break and then we'll talk," she said, "Because breaking is a whole different topic." She switched out the tips on her cue again and send the balls rolling all over the table. "Okay, now tell me what you'd want to shoot at based on where everything is."

by **Trev Anderson** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 1:18 am

"Well...I think I'd go after that one?" he indicated pointing at a solid that while close to a corner pocket, he would have to make pretty precise hit to actually make it go in.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 1:25 am

"Most likely unless you hit it just right, it'll bounce around in the corner and not actually go in. Then you'll set me up to knock it in myself." She gestured to one of the stripes in the other direction, "This shot is easier, even though it's harder to see because the ball's further away."

by **Trev Anderson** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 1:36 am

Trev studied the table for a moment, eyes widening when he finally saw what she had pointed out. "Ahhh....I see...so...we'll do this..." he said, carefully lining up the shot, "...and see what happens.

He took the shot and managed to sink it! He also used way too much force and scratched.

by **Michaela Havlin** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 1:40 am

She reached into the pocket, putting the stripe back where it had been and returning the cue ball to it's original location again. "Try again. Not so hard this time."

by **Trev Anderson** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 2:04 am

Trev repeated the shot much more successfully this time.

"...so how much do pool lessons cost a guy these days anyhow?"

Are you trying to flirt? Because you know you're bad at that...

by **Michaela Havlin** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 2:09 am

"Honestly, it'll be nice just to have some competition. I was running out of opponents at the Institute, especially when I said 'no powers'."

by **Trev Anderson** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 2:45 am

Well, at least you saved yourself from that future embarrassment....

"Sounds like a square deal to me," he smiled. "And I promise me yelling at the balls wouldn't help me even if you didn't say 'no powers.'"

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