ataraxionlogs | let's play us some billiards, boys.

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let's play us some billiards, boys.

CHARACTERS: Jake English, Dirk Strider, Dave Strider, Dave Sprite, Raven Darkholme + anybody else who wants to play billiards or cards.
LOCATION: The bar.
WARNINGS: Striders are in this log.
SUMMARY: Jake goes cray with his mask and stuff and Striders do some things and there's Raven she's there's too and stuff occurs. /o/
NOTES: Backdated to November 15th. Starting off in prose, but follow as you please.

As much as he didn't particularly want to leave his room with his friends breathing down his back, Jake complied to the requests on the network and made his way to the bar as requested, in dire search of the billiard table they were talking about. Raven promised to be there, so that was something, and Jake really didn't know how to play billiards, but he knew he wanted to give it his best shot.. no pun intended.
He's in his jumpsuit, carrying his guns with him in their leg holsters that was strapped against his thighs. The mask of securely on his face and any temptation to take it off has completely vanished, even when he feels like he is being watched or other people are present. He's seen a few odd things, but not enough to make him want to completely remove it; it was all really exciting to him. All of the warnings the others were giving him sort of blurred in his memory, lost, as he felt a sense of change swell up in his being.

It almost felt like it was tighter on his face the more he wore it.

Eventually, the teen finds himself in the bar as he was supposed to be, possibly a few moments earlier than he scheduled. The brunette surveys the area, giving a few people there a few glances before making his way to the inviting pool table. There, he picks up the pool cue, observing it before looking at the table itself.

_{[[ sorry for the short, but here we go. /o/ tag as you please, no rush, just whenever we can do this. ]]}

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[ Picture the following: Three ecto-related blond dudes shacked up in 012 » 200, all hammering away at their communicators, seeing red behind their coolkid shades, each one talking to the same goddamn douche bag and somehow not talking to each other. It's a sad and socially maladjusted sight. Welcome to the 21st century.

When English shrugs off some of Dave's best billiards material and doesn't rise to the challenge of engaging word play, Dave finally looks up from his communicator and just watches the other two text for a bit. Then he refreshes the page and ha. Shit's classic. ]

So.

[ Waits for the other two to look up, waits for the sound of fingers flying over keys to hush. ]

You guys wanna piss on English's new face?

[ Striders be eloquent. Golden showers be their war cry. ]

[The tap tap tapping of the communicator slows for a second time and the glowing orange furry in their group raises his head. His stoic expression is etched by a slight downturn of his lips.]

Piss Brokake? Yeah, I'm down.

[Might as well run with it while it's in action.]

[ It takes a little longer for Dirk to pry himself away from his communicator. He's silently seething, lamenting the loss of his best friend and wondering just why, why the hell would Jake be so fucking stupid about this? Because of missing jumps and time or whatever, the Strela incident is as real as yesterday, and even if it weren't, shouldn't Jake have learned his lesson? Doesn't Jake actually give a damn? Could it hurt him to just think for a brief moment?

He knows that it's the mask talking, but that doesn't stop him from feeling angry that nothing he says or does can dissuade Jake from being blatantly stupid. It's really frustrating, but Dirk can't save Jake from himself. Somewhere along the line, his best friend five-ever made the important choice of not really giving a fuck about Dirk's once highly-valued advice and opinions.

The Tranquility timeline, as Dirk knows it or at least sees it right now, goes like this: Overcome by space flu, unable to save Jake on Strela, unable to save bro on Strela, unable to wake bro from coma, present completed robo-legs and -arm, disappear, unable to convince Jake to remove mask, and unable to convince Bran to remove mask. Other than the robo-legs and prosthetic arm, the rest of the timeline is Dirk striking out. And the prosthetic arm is still a rather questionable plus, given the Starks' reactions.

But a lot of that is over now, and it's time to move on. There's a new dilemma waiting just around the bend, and Dirk as a date to attend to. Scowling slightly, he slams his communicator away into his jumpsuit pocket and nods curtly. ]

Yeah, let's do this.

[ With that, the Strider Rangers ninja into the night. ]

[Even after an extremely quick rundown of billiards from Heine, Nill isn't completely sure that she can play. Well, she can probably play, just not well. But hadn't Jake said he'd never played before either? She would probably be okay, then.

But he'd been acting weird. That was part of the reason she'd invited Heine along. The other part was to get them away from their masks.

Nill worn hers once, briefly. Just for a minute or so. The fox-face mask had been staring at her since it had shown up, almost begging to be put on. Heine had told her not to touch it, had tried to destroy it several more times before begrudgingly accepting that they would just come right back. He'd been out of the room when it had happened, going for a snack for her. She hadn't realized that she'd wandered to it, picked it up and gently started to stroke the front, feeling the leather give beneath her fingers. And before she'd known it, she was looking through those eye holes, running her fingers up the mask's ears. It had fit perfectly, felt so right to wear. She had wanted Heine there to see it so badly, had wanted Dave there, had wanted all of her friends on the ship to see it.

No. Not to see it. Just to be there. Because they were her friends.

That thought had gotten her to take it off. The rightness was tainted by something dark and cruel, something possessive that had scared her. She still hasn't told Heine about it, because by the time he'd returned to their room she had already returned it to the drawer where it was usually kept alongside his. So perhaps worry that Jake might be feeling the same thing, that he simply might not notice the wrongness made her agree to this. With Heine there, she wouldn't be frightened of him. She just wants to make sure he's okay.]

_{[ He's never met Nill before, not once. He wasn't really expecting her to show up, but when she does, he recognizes her. Jake perks up a bit, stopping any sort of nervous movement he's making to observe the girl and her comrade as they approach. He puts the cue down and curls his lips into a smile, though they can't see it. ]}

Nill, is it?

Apologies, I tend to forget things occasionally.

[She steps forward, wanting to start this meeting off right. Heine isn't the most welcoming guy, after all. The blonde raises a hand to wave, and nods. He's still wearing his mask, she isn't sure how to feel about it. But there's a smile on her face, regardless. She isn't going to immediately gesture that he should take it off, even if that's what she wants to do. That would be rude.]

[He's played his fair share of billiards, but he wouldn't say that it's something that exactly enjoys doing. It's just kind of an activity that he's semi-decent at, although he can't find any pleasure in hitting balls into little holes. Come to think of it, the last time he ever completed a full game of billiards was well...never. They usually ended in some kind of fight not always of his doing (hdu think that) but he's sure that this won't be the case this time around.

Heine had been a little surprised when he had gotten the invitation to go along with Nill. Billiards wasn't a very Nill-like activity, but he wasn't going to protest. He wanted to make sure that she was safe and tagging along was more or less the best way to do it. There was another reason of course and it was because she had been acting off lately. He couldn't put his finger on it and couldn't even begin to think about what it would be, but he was still wary nonetheless. He's off to the side, picking out a cue for her before joining her again and holding it out towards her.]

Ready to play?

[That had better not be the case this time around! And really Heine, Nill knows how you are. One wrong look from anyone here and you're going to clock someone. She is going to keep her eye on you--possibly both of them.

When offered the cue she takes it, holding the stick awkwardly. Alright, so she's supposed to hit the balls with this. Sounds easy enough. Nill smiles at him, nodding, shuffling a little closer. Yes, she's ready to play.]

[Hey! That won't happen...at least he doesn't plan on it happening. If it does, it'd just be the other guy's fault. ...Seriously.

His lips lift a fraction when she nods and he motions towards the pool table where the balls are already racked up and ready to go.]

Remember what I told you, 'kay? Just take your time with the break.

[Yeah, it's always the other guy's fault. Of course.

Another nod, and she heads to the correct side of the table so she can try to break the perfect triangle. The blonde pauses for a moment, tries to decide how this should go. She finally holds the cue with both hands, but does it incredibly awkwardly, making it clear that she doesn't completely know where to go with this. She tries to hit the cue ball and fails miserably.]

[ wow, okay, so. Raven's not really cut out for this. she's just not. she realizes it once she's pulling her dress on over her blue skin and zipping up her tall boots for the first time in almost a year and- well. it feels a little strange. she's been wearing her both jumpsuit and flight suit to train in, her Tranquility issued boots. so looking at herself in the mirror is like checking out an old photo, almost. she's not this girl anymore, not really. which is weird. but! Jake said wear something nice, and when you're about to double-cross a friend in order to save him from his own scary mask, you may as well cater to his ridiculous demands. so she turns around a few times in front of the mirror, lets her red hair grow out a little bit, wills it to curl loosely at the ends. there. that works. and with her skin a dark blue, the bite scar on her wrist isn't nearly as noticeable as it is otherwise. excellent.

now she just has to get up to the bar without anybody spotting her or asking questions, and manage not to fall down on her ass because of the heels of these boots that she might've forgotten how to walk in. mutation or no, some coordination skills only come to her with practice, and that includes walking in heeled gogo boots. she'll take the quick way up!

she makes it there around when they're supposed to be meeting up, maybe a little sooner, looking around to see if she notices anybody paying particularly close attention to the boy at the pool table. but no, there isn't, not yet. good, she can talk to him first, ease off his paranoia over someone getting to his mask.

... which is creepier in person, by the way. wow. she stands at the opposite side of the pool table once she makes her way over to him, sitting on the edge like it's the most natural thing. just leaning. so natural. so cool. what's up. ]

Ready to get crushed in billiards, Mr. English?

[ SHE'S COOL RIGHT ISN'T SHE SO COOL oh gosh where are his friends are they here yet ]

_{[ He's been taking his time, observing the area here in the bar, striding back and forth, playing with the cue in his hand, ignoring any odd looks he got form anybody else. He knew some of them were probably talking about the mask he was wearing, and anytime they would pipe up about it, he would get really defensive; almost violent.

In any case, it takes Jake no time to notice Raven as she walks towards the table, saunters, in his eyes. Right, okay then. He smiles from behind his mask at her challenge. The teen pauses, then adjusts his mask before making his way around the table to her side. He's shaking, but she can probably only tell when he holds out his hands or something. ]}

I'm just ecstatic to see you here. Where the hellblazes is Strider? Didn't he say he was going to come along or something?

_{[ Oh, yeah, he'll be looking her over here. yup. Jake, why. ]}

You look absolutely dazzling, if I can so freely say so.

_{[ He's gotten past the stuttering stage for sure. ]}

Maybe he just decided not to join us.

[ which she doubts is true, but oooo aaaah, element of surprise when he shows up later. maybe. she doesn't know. she's just going to act like she's oh-so-fine with that idea, as... well as the fact that Jake's openly checking her out right now, okay, sure. ]

You can... absolutely say so, thank you.

[ HA HA HA yes, all very normal in a day of the life of Raven Darkholme. compliments abounds! it's not weird for her at all. she'll even slide over a little bit on the table so she's like right there, cross her legs. lean in close, pretend the mask isn't scaring the hell out of her. it's all very stereotypical of her, in fact, she's pretty sure she's stealing this move from Miss Monroe herself. hi, please allow me to introduce you to Raven's cleavage. cleavage, Jake, Jake, cleavage. ]

Let's just start without him. It'll be more fun with just the two of us, don't you think?

Hooo, nelly. That'd be something. But I know Dirk and it's likely he's just trying to make some grand appearance. I say, we ought to get in locomotion here.

_{[ He quirks his brows upwards at her response before laughing a little. ]}

It doesn't harm to agree with me for a slight change, Miss Darkholme. Haha, heh.

_{[ Ok, closing the space a little more, and his gaze does fall cause wow, 15 your old kid. He's seated now, arm stretched across the behind Raven, almost like he as his arm around her. He gives her a pleased look, head cocking to the side as he merely admires her eyes. It's an awkward silence, but if he wasn't wearing a mask right now, man.. he was set up perfectly for a kiss.
Alas, he eventually pulls away before standing to his feet. ]}

Shall we, then?

_{[ With that, he shifts to the other side of the pool table and starts. ]

[ He breaks the pyramid, choosing to go first, and he's got the general concept of billiards down. How hard could it possibly be? A lined ball gets in a pocket, and he has to ask if he just has to get those in.

With that, they play for about thirty minutes. Raven has to deal with a story he's telling, something about back on his island. He goes on with Jane, lightly touching on relationship problems, insulting Dirk here and there. In the end, however: ]}

Don't get me wrong, Raven. He does mean a lot to me as a long lasting companion, but I do get fatigued by his constant antics.
Can't you visualize that what with you know about Dirk and what you know about I?

Edited 2012-11-30 12:19 (UTC)

[ it's an awkward pause because Raven is stuck between wanting to attempt to rip the mask off his face now that he's right there, or ask him nicely because maybe he'll just do it, or squirm away because it's making her nervous. it's a tossup. neck and neck the whole time. but then he moves away and she huffs a breath, slides back onto her feet and moves to grab a pool cue of her own. he can break, she doesn't mind. she's played pool quite a few times actually, all that time spent drinking Cola at the pub with Charles while he was finishing out his masters degree. pool was an easy way to pass the time. ..and ignore the way her brother would hit on every girl every, gross.

but anyway.

passing the time gets easier the more they play, because she can just focus on the table and scoring points instead of his mask, focus on the differences in Jake's voice and demeanor as a means of practicing picking up on those things instead of, um, focusing on the fact that he's wearing some kind of cursed mask that's making him act this way.

when the story finally rounds off into a 'you see what I'm saying?', Raven has to snap herself back into focus, oh right. ...she was listening! really. she just.. gets a little competitive, too, so her focus might've been on the pool table oops. ]

Yeah, I get that. I think that's true of any pair of friends, though. There's always little things, right? [ uh sure. she could think of 100 little things about Charles that drove her up the wall, and they've been friends for years. the majority of her life, even! so. that's a pretty mutual response, she thinks. ] For me, having a great friend around, someone you know you can count on, is worth dealing with their little quirks and things. Definitely. [ err ] In the long run, isn't it more important to have someone in your life you know you can trust? To always have your best interests in mind. [ wow, subtle ]

_{[ Jake makes a shot, and wow, he's pretty rough at this cause the cue ball hops off of the board. Man, billiards were great. He was founding he could easily grow addicted to this game.
One of the striped balls goes in, but Jake doesn't seem to take the victory and express it. He's frozen solid, as if something has gotten his attention. Raven can't see it, but his skin does go white for a moment. Look's like he's hallucinating again.

He's already seen a few ghosts, covered in blood in the respectable ways that they've died. Most of the ones he has seen he hasn't recognized, but a majority of them seem to have gaping holes in their chests.

This one has an uncanny resemblance to Dirk; he looks sort of aged, but has a sword through his body. Jake slowly backs away from the pool table, visibly shaking, and presses his back against the wall.

Containing himself, he casually speaks, voice wavering as the ghost vanishes. ]}

Your go.

_{[ It was very weird for him not to draw attention to what he was seeing or run away from it. Wearing the mask for this long had made him numb to wanting to take it off no matter what. ]}

I may need to take a s..seat.

Hey. [ A certain Dirk Strider casually but confidently strolls in, seemingly unaccompanied by the Dave Duo part of his Strider Brigade. ] The missing date has arrived, ready to wrecking ball through the carefully constructed veneer of romantic atmosphere you've worked up in here.

[ Don't worry--they're right outside, hanging out beside the doors and fully prepared to bust the hell at the first hint of any real danger. Which Dirk is certain they won't really run into. Mostly. ]

I could take the losing side, or do you want me to pick up from where you've left off, Jake?

[ Sauntering over to his best friend, he extends his hand for... the cue stick, right? He's not going for the mask, is he? ]

_{[ Jake stiffens his posture when he hears Dirk, suddenly getting defensive. He takes a step back. ]}

You're playing winner.

_{[ He says, typical chipper tone of voice lacking. ]}

Which means you can step out until we have finished.

_{[ Yeah, he sounds demanding.
Jake looks off to the side, eying a few ghosts that he's not familiar with at all. Though in the midst of them, he does catch a glimpse of Feferi with a gaping hole in her body, which also catches his full attention. He only really starts to feel sick at his stomach upon seeing Eridan in two pieces on the opposite sides of the room.

Well, wow. He reacts by covering his mouth, or where his mouth would be, trembling without a word.

Was it his go or Raven's? He forgot. ]}

[ Raven's not preparing for a fight, not really. there's some tension crawling up her back from nerves - because who knows with these masks? seriously, they make everyone so unpredictable, including her friends - but otherwise she's moving around the table like she hasn't noticed how different Jake sounds in the span of one comment ( one demand ), how he's reacting to things she can't see. she ends up just a few paces behind Dirk, to his right, and yeah maybe she's flanking him, close enough to help if he needs it, but she's not- she's not preparing for a fight.

please, please don't let this turn into a fight. ]

Jake?

[ like all she has to do is call his attention back to the two of them to get him to snap out of it, stop seeing whatever it is he's seeing. right. that easy. ]

I thought all three of us were going to play. Seems unfair to change our plans now that he's here, doesn't it?

[ aaand now she'll step around so she's closer to Jake. she turns towards Dirk, though, considering she's never actually met in person, so she holds out her free hand while the other holds onto her cue, pressing the end to the floor so she can lean on it. toootally casual. even as her eyes flick towards Jake more than once - how are we going to handle this? ]

It's nice to finally meet you, I'm Raven.

Hey, nice to meet you too, Raven.

[ Just slightly inclining toward her, Dirk nods and acknowledges that they're taking on some kind of formation. That's fine, he decides. Because they've got to be ready for anything. But he's also studying Jake's body language and notices ticks like his sideways glances and the way that he looks sort of sick to his stomach. Not entirely sure of what's going on there, but it probably has to do with the mask. So what this might boil down to isn't necessarily fighting Jake to get the mask off, but fighting the mask's remaining effects on Jake. Dammit. ]

Wish we could've met earlier. Anyway--

[ He's still standing as calmly and as collected as ever, even though his heart's probably racing a trillion miles a second. Except he knows that's totally an exaggeration. He turns toward Jake, continuing, ]

--don't know about you, bro, but it looks like you're kinda under the weather. You might wanna take a seat and let me take your place. You know I got this shit all down for you.

I'm not under the weather.

_{[ Jake says, voice forced out. He steadies his posture, teeth grinding from behind the mask he wore. Dirk could probably hear them as if they were going to pop out of his mouth. His fingers curl tightly around the pool cue and he raises it, almost as if he was about to strike Dirk with it.

Something catches his gaze though, and it's another ghost. This time, somebody he knows before, and somebody he had long and even growing feelings for.

There is his good friend Jane, somebody he confided in for everything, lying on the floor with a gaping hole through her body, blood spilling onto the ground. This causes Jake to drop his pool cue.
He shivers violently before stumbling backwards and onto the floor with a plop.

Here, he makes a bunch of incoherent sounds, feet kicking as he claws at the mask, not precisely trying to get it off, but it's evident he doesn't want it on after that. ]}

[ Dirk puts out his hand to signal Raven that he's got this, that he's going to move in and get the mask off Jake.

He gets there quick, seemingly faster than one can even blink, and then he's looming over Jake. ]

Okay, Jake. I'm going for the mask now.

[ With that, Dirk reaches down and clamps his hands around the very real feeling green face. He yanks, only to find that the mask isn't going to just come right off. Not without a fight, really. ]

_{[ Jake instantly reaches up and curves his fingers around Dirk's wrist, glaring up at him as he tries to pull it off. There's a hiss as he tugs and it doesn't come off easily. The brunette curls his legs and kicks his feet upward, trying to get Dirk in the face or chest.

Anywhere, really.

He was conflicted. He sort of wanted it off, but he especially didn't want Dirk to get it. ]}

Edited 2012-12-10 10:35 (UTC)

Hey!

[ she knows she should just keep back, leave it to Dirk and just make sure that nobody else gets involved or gets in the way. but Jake kicks out and she feels herself surge forward, a gut reaction she doesn't get a chance to try and resist before it's already happening. she doesn't try and get in the middle of them, in fact, there's still that buffer in case Dirk reacts or Jake moves to strike again, but she does make sure her presence is known now, holds a hand out like she can control the aggression with just a gesture or a thought. if there was one thing she wished she had Charles' abilities for... ]

He's trying to help you, Jake. Just let him take the mask.

[ It's terribly shocking, creepy, and gross how the mask feels like real skin in Dirk's grasp, how grabbing and pulling at it seems to stretch it taut. He doesn't want to hurt Jake, but he has to protect himself in the process. Still firmly gripping the mask, Dirk attempts to dodge Jake's two-legged thrashing kick and winds up getting swiped in the face. He forces himself steady, struggling to keep standing as he gives the mask another sharp tug. ]

_{[ The tugs get him to hiss, seethe, writhing a bit on the floor. The last ghost he catches a glimpse of is Roxy; was that Dirk too? At least his decapitated head. Huh.

Jake lets out a little shout and actually assists Dirk. The mask comes off stubbornly, a nice imprint on his face followed by various areas of ripped skin. Wasn't too hard, was it, Dirk?

He's deathly pale at this point, and passes out from sheer shock of it all.
Well, okay. So that was that. Now what? ]}

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let's play us some billiards, boys.

STRIDERS ASSEMBLE. And then head off like Power Rangers. SOMEONE HAD TO START, RIGHT?

pretty much

Yup.

this is for amanda and whomever else

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first jake, then eventually the strider squad.

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