InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Neil's new album rocks!"

Keith Kogane (bladeofmarmora) wrote in madisonvalley,
@ 2018-09-04 13:50:00

Entry tags:

!closed, !complete, !log, !match-up, ~2018 september, ~50 points, ~~claire novak (notyourdaughter), ~~keith kogane (bladeofmarmora)

Who: Claire Novak and Keith Kogane
What: Match-Up.
Where: Hinkley's
When:Tuesday
Warnings: TBD
Status: Closed | Match-Up | Incomplete.

Keith was going to have to get a job. He wasn't exactly a stranger to having a job since after he'd been kicked out of the Galaxy Garrison he'd picked up whatever work he could to support himself while he was exploring but for a while now his only job had been to be a Paladin of the Red Lion and jobs here looked like they were a lot more structured than what he had done on Earth in his world.

He also wasn't used to technically being in charge of Hunk and Lance. That was Shiro's job, no matter what Shiro said about wanting him to take over if something happened, so he was taking a minute to relax over a burger at a place called Hinkles. There was a few other people in there and someone was playing pool. There had been pool tables in the rec room at Galaxy Garrison but Keith had never played. No one there really liked him enough to hang out with him (something he encouraged) but it was kind of interesting to watch people play so he was watching while he ate.

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notyourdaughter
2018-09-05 03:08 am UTC (link)

Claire Novak had little in the way of a healthy/normal life. Even before arriving in town the hunter had spent much of her time alone; tracking down the monsters out in the world, killing em, and moving on to start the hunt all over again. No real friends, never really stopping long in any one place. So ending up in Madison Valley had been a massive change. Sure her 'family' was here, but most seemed to have moved on, and settled down. Yet for her, well giving up the hunt wasn't easy.

Instead of turning her focus on the monsters living in town though the blonde had settled on being something of a hermit. Her time was spent pouring over the mountain of paperwork and journal entries she had gotten from Wesley over at WAMM, and when she wasn't holed up at her place...well the young woman was either hanging out with her only friend Erin, or spending some time at Hinkley's to drink and blow off steam. Running the tables and hustling a few games of pool was always fun, and most of the guys she played with tended to underestimate Claire because of her gender and size. Still nothing wiped the smirk of a drunk with grabby hands, quite like taking a pool cue to the balls.

Thankfully tonight had been a peaceful enough night. No real competition to speak of, but no real a-holes to deal with either. For the most part she just played to play. However when Novak spotted the young man watching her while he ate, she smirked a little to herself before yelling at him. "You just gonna watch, or are you gonna play?"

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bladeofmarmora
2018-09-05 11:58 pm UTC (link)

Keith didn't have to ask if she was talking to him, there wasn't really anyone else watching her after all. He ate the last bite of his burger and took a quick drink to clear his mouth before saying anything.

"I was going to watch. I've never played and I was learning from watching your strategy." She didn't sound like she cared if he joined in but she might look at it like he did practice with fighting or his weapons, it was boring to deal with a beginner.

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notyourdaughter
2018-09-06 12:51 am UTC (link)

For the briefest of moments she earnestly wondered if he was trying to hustle her. After all expressing a lack of experience with the game was the first general step to getting someone on the hook. Still after just studying the young man for a moment Claire finally just shrugged.

"Put ten bucks on the table. I'm bored, and no one else is biting tonight. So ten bucks, and you can watch and play." Most of the time she'd be the one trying to lure in a mark by betting small and losing a game or two. However the hunter really was bored, and taking ten off the kid as a fee, that sounded fine. Especially since being watched by someone was creeping her out a little. At least this way he'd be at the pool table, and playing too.

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	bladeofmarmora 2018-09-06 01:30 am UTC (link)
	"So you want me to pay you to lose a game I've never played before? How is that supposed to be appealing?" He wasn't trying to hustle her at all, he was just being honest but apparently that might not be the right thing to do. This was why he hadn't played back at the Galaxy Garrison. "Do a lot of people take you up on this?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

notyourdaughter
2018-09-06 01:36 am UTC (link)

The blonde chuckled and rolled her eyes at the questions, as she moved to rack up the balls. "You are paying me ten bucks to cover your games, since the table is rented by the hour. Sure you're gonna lose, but at least you'll maybe pick up some tricks and not be sitting over there looking at me like a creeper. So are you in, or not?"

In truth, she didn't play with others just for fun often at all. So that offer hadn't ever been extended before. No betting, or hustling. Just an offer for him to play while he tried to figure the game out. "No clue. I never offered it to anyone else before, but I'm bored."

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bladeofmarmora
2018-09-06 01:48 am UTC (link)

He'd never paid enough attention to the table to know that you had to pay to rent it. That at least made more sense. The Garrison tables were just there to use and he'd never been around a table outside of there.

"I'm not a creeper. Haven't you ever studied something to learn it?" He'd been staring at the balls and how she did the shots not her ass or anything like that. But since he wasn't doing anything and he'd finished his food so he cleaned up his trash before walking over to the table and handing her the ten dollar bill.

"So, how do we start?"

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notyourdaughter
2018-09-06 01:59 am UTC (link)

"I've studied all kinds of shit to learn it; fighting, research, tracking...but when I wanted someone to teach me I asked. Didn't just sit there looking at em without saying anything." Oh she was teasing him a bit at this point, no really annoyed since Claire pocketed the ten dollar bill and tossed him a spare cue.

The question of starting was met with a pause as the young hunter actually considered it. At least though, after shrugging a tad, Claire spoke up again. "We'll play some eight ball. It's easy enough to pick up. Since you're new I will even break and get a decent spread of the balls across the table there."

After removing the rack from the table Novak moved to line up her shot, gesturing to the white dots along the table to show him where the markers were, before breaking and scattering the collection of stripes and solid colored balls over the felt. Two went in with the break, one of each kind So after giving him a brief run down of the rules she moved to line up another shot.

"I'll take stripes."

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bladeofmarmora
2018-09-08 06:49 pm UTC (link)

"Okay." Keith wasn't much of a talker but he was mostly being quiet right now because he was still watching what she was doing. The marks made sense, how to line up the shots made sense. But he was sure that actually making the shots wouldn't come easy without practice.

"When did you learn to play?" She seemed to be able to talk and play at the same time so he didn't think it would be too distracting to ask her questions.

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notyourdaughter
2018-09-09 08:02 pm UTC (link)

The lack of idle chit chat suited the young hunter just fine. She was used to silence, used to being on her own, so having someone not chatter her ear off was nice. Still even as they played Claire took things easy; intentionally not running the table, and even offering up a little advice as they took turns too.

When he raised the question the blonde just shrugged, pausing to take another shot before offering up an answer. "Been a few years. Played a lot back when I was bouncing between foster homes. Always found it easier to kick it at a pool hall, then to be around strangers."

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bladeofmarmora
2018-09-09 09:50 pm UTC (link)

"I was in a home." It wasn't a foster home, it was more of an orphanage but a lot of the same things applied to both of them. They were definitely filled with strangers and none of them were the type that trusted easily. "I learned how to fly a ship instead. Not a lot of pool halls where I was."

He always took his time to try to line up his shot and figure out how the angles worked. It was interesting to try to work it out in his head and see how it worked before he hit it. It didn't always go the way he planned but even when he missed it wasn't a terrible shot, he just didn't have the control he needed yet.

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notyourdaughter
2018-09-10 04:38 am UTC (link)

For the first time since they met Claire seemed to offer hint of empathy when he spoke of having been in a home, and even frowned for a second too. However when he mentioned flying a ship that brow of hers rose. "A ship? Thought ships were all for water and shit..."

The hunter had seen some terrible pool players before, mostly drunks with more cash then common sense. Still Keith wasn't bad. In need of practice and a bit more experience sure, but all things considered he was picking up the game pretty well. "When you're stuck on a tricky shot, try looking for another angle. Banking a shot off the side rail get's the job done a lot easier then trying to nudge in your ball around a few others."

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bladeofmarmora
2018-09-10 11:39 pm UTC (link)

Keith had already figured out that not a lot of people had space exploration here much less and entire academy set up to train pilots so he smiled a little as he tried another shot.

"Space ships, not ships for the ocean." She'd just figured out Keith's main weak spot. He did not like to go around, he liked to get through in a direct manner so having to look for alternatives wasn't always something he looked for. Whether it was how he piloted, how he fought or how he talked.

"I'll try."

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notyourdaughter
2018-09-11 03:48 am UTC (link)

"Oh..." The look on her face betrayed both confusion and surprise, since it wasn't everyday that Claire found herself actually talking to a spaceman. Granted had they been anywhere else other then Madison Valley, well the hunter would've called bullshit. But this place did seem to have a weird habit of taking in all kinds of folks. "So you drink that tang shit then?"

It was actually a common weak spot for all new players, since people preferred direct shots instead of playing the angles. Heck even she had been that way back when Novak first started out. However the angled bank shots really were important in the game of pool. As if to offer a demonstration the blonde hunter just used her stick to point from one bank to another, before gesturing to the hole she intended to sink her ball into...and after lining it up the cue ball practically danced from one end to the other, before sending the nine ball right into the corner pocket. "Takes practice and a bit of time, but the direct path isn't always the best one in this game."

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bladeofmarmora
2018-09-11 06:35 pm UTC (link)

"I'm not sure what Tang is." They didn't eat in the fighter ships and the Castle of Lions had a normal kitchen and everything. Plus they weren't human so they wouldn't have had Tang anyway.

Keith had watched what she'd done and he could see how valuable it was to do it the way she had but he still knew that was going to be something he'd have to force himself to remember at first. He would probably come back and practice on his own sometime just to see what he could do.

"It's more involved than it looks. Thanks for the lesson."

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notyourdaughter
2018-09-11 09:38 pm UTC (link)

With a chuckle the young hunter shrugged her shoulders, not really sure what Tang was made of either. Still after considering it for a second she finally spoke up once again. "Not sure either, to be honest. Just know it's like an orange space drink that astronauts have when they are in space. That and the freeze dried icecream sandwiches." Beyond that, and what she had seen in movies, well that was the limit of Claire's knowledge of space stuff.

"Eight ball, side pocket." After calling her final shot Novak moved to line it up; pausing to check the angle for a second before sinking the eight ball in. "Good game. You're not bad for a newbie. Just keep practicing and I'm sure you'll be fine." When he thanked her for the lesson the blonde offered another smile before nodding her head. "Yeah, no problem. We'll have to play again some time."

[ooc: wrap there?]

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	bladeofmarmora 2018-09-11 10:59 pm UTC (link)
	[ooc: sounds good!] (Reply to this) (Parent)