Each time the cautions of not going out alone came across the network, Roman ignored them. If all-powerful angels and demons hadn't been able to take him down over the last thousand or more years, he was hardly worried about a couple of vampires. He'd killed enough demons, angels, imps, and even plenty of vampires over the years that he was confident in his ability to take care of these things if they dared try to attack him. Not to mention, Roman was in a mood, and it would do him some good to partake in a little violence because good god had it been way too long since he'd gone on one of his own killing sprees.
It was late afternoon but not yet dark when he left the base. While he might not have been worried about the vampires or even cared what those in charge said if they knew he was out, Roman still went invisible during his walk down the street to Dive, and he masked his signature for good measure just in case there was any sort of tracking here. Once he'd arrived at the bar, his signature still stayed masked but he reappeared just as he approached the bar.
A face he didn't much know was there to serve him, and the reminder of recent departures hit him again. First his favorite bartender and friend had left Atlantis without warning and then Georgina was sent home thanks to COS agents infiltrating operations. With both Cappie gone, boss man on mission, and most everyone else staying hunkered down, Roman actually had to properly order his drink instead of asking for the usual. It wasn't anything major or even minor in the grand scheme of things, but it was just something else to scratch at that volatility itch that occasionally reared its ugly head inside of him.
He was scrolling through his phone contacts as the drink arrived and was placed in front of him. Roman took a long swallow and paused at a name on the list. He considered pressing the call button to see if she wanted to meet up again as they had barely a few days ago, but after some consideration, he passed the name by. They both were hurting, but Roman's mood had turned darker and he didn't want to expose her to that.
So instead, he picked up his drink and headed back to his usual area at the pool tables. It was a little early and thanks to people keeping indoors, the place was practically empty and he had the table to himself. He racked the balls to set himself up for a game against himself. It was better than doing nothing and thinking about what might or could have been and the fact that Georgina was probably better off and happier back home. Or she would be once it was all said and done and she found her literal soul mate in Seth fucking Mortenson. Shooting pool could hopefully serve as a semi decent distraction, right? Yeah, sure it could.
Rose caught sight of Roman leaving the base as she was talking to Becker about some of the problems that were happening around Atlantis lately. As soon as the conversation ended it she picked up one of the stakes that apparently killed the vampires that were on the loose, she didn’t usually ignore those kinds of warnings but decided she really needed to find Roman, she hadn’t had a chance to check on him between the announcement of Georgina leaving and today.
She was probably a good 15 minutes behind him as she opened the door to a very empty Dive, she paused just long enough to order a beer before heading back to the pool table.
“Playing against yourself, or up for a game?” She asked heading to pick up a pool stick.
The sound of Rose’s voice briefly pulled Roman out of his concentration as he lined up his next shot. He stood up straight and watched her approach, both glad to see her but also a little annoyed. That was the dark side of him talking though. It was something he was trying to keep at bay whether she’d shown up or not, but it wasn’t a side of him that he wanted her to see.
Part of him wanted to say he was good playing the game himself, but he pointed to the rack of sticks against the wall. “Go for it.” They’d never played against one another, and while he definitely had the greater amount of experience due to sheer age, he wasn’t about to take this game for granted.
“Decided to take a break for a while?” He asked and started to reset the balls inside the triangle again. He had a feeling she’d come looking for him rather than venturing out to Dive on her own.
She could tell he wasn’t in the best of moods and the truth was that she didn’t blame him. Regardless of what she thought about his relationship with Georgina, she knew it had to be hard that she was gone. Part of Rose wondered if it’d be good for Roman, the other part wondered what it might mean for him and if he’d stick around or not.
Testing a few sticks before picking one she turned back to the table. “It’s your table, you can break.” She offered as she picked up some blue chalk for the cue tip.
Shrugging, Roman finished racking up the balls and made sure the triangle was in the center of the table at the far end and over the dot. He set up his shot, focusing on hitting the group of balls as precisely as he could. In a blink, the cue ball smacked and clinked against the others, scattering the balls and sending two solids into different pockets. With another turn, he paused to chalk up the end of his pool stick.
“So, what brings you down here?” He asked, mostly casual but also believing he mostly knew the answer. “I don’t think you used the buddy system to get here. Maybe I should report you.” Clearly he was kidding, but his voice held a hint of sarcasm.
Raising an eyebrow she was starting to wonder if she should have taken up playing pool against him. She wasn't bad, but she got the impression he was a lot better at it than she was. Didn't really matter though, that wasn't why she came.
"Followed you," she said shrugging as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do. "If you report me, I'd have to report you and I don't think either one of us really wants to deal with the paperwork." She wasn't serious either but she played it as if she were for the moment.
“Sneaky,” Roman replied as he set up his next shot. A shot that bounced just off the corner of the pocket and skidded a bit to the side. Damn. He was off his game tonight. When he’d first arrived, and sometimes even with the newer arrivals, Roman was easily able to catch a few unsuspecting fish while he acted as the shark. It wasn’t uncommon that he downed every single ball without the poor soul who had taken him up on his offer to play was able to get a second shot off.
“They really do like their paperwork around here, don’t they?” Roman skirted his reports as often as he could get away with - which wasn’t terribly often depending on their purpose.
“Worried I might run off to go fight a vampire?” He asked, quirking a brow in her direction while watching her decide on her first shot. “I’d win, by the way.”
The off-ball worried Rose more than she was going to admit to or show. Instead, she took her time setting up for her shot, she really didn't care about pool she was there because she was worried about Roman.
"It's not uncommon for organizations to get into tracking everything and losing sight of the issue." Was her only comment as she sunk one strip ball.
Standing up at his next comment she frowned. "You might win, but at what cost?" She decided to go with taking another shot and sinking another strip ball.
Roman merely listened as he leaned against the wall and took a sip of his drink that he’d been nursing on and off since he’d arrived. He could tell that she meant more to her words than she was actually saying, but his mood was still on the sour side, so he just shrugged.
“What cost? Mine?” He chuckled a little and pushed away from the wall. “I’ve been nearly dead more times than I can count, and I’m not worried about any vampire doing me in. If my old man and his angel buddy can’t do the job then I think I’m good.” Roman didn’t lack confidence in his abilities, that was for sure, whether it was warranted or not. At her look, he shrugged again. “I’m not going after them, don’t worry.”
“Loss of Intel,” Rose said not looking up as she lined up another shot. “To start with.” She said taking the shot and making it with another strip sinking in a side pocket. Taking another shot she missed by just a hair and shrugged as she stood back up fully and looked over at him.
“Sometimes it isn’t about the physical capabilities,” she said softly hints of worry lacing her voice. She nodded when he told her that he wasn’t going after them but she still had an uneasy feeling.
Sure, intel was valuable, but that was never the first thing that came to Roman's mind. He hadn't gone looking for any of them, no matter how much he'd wanted to over the last couple of days, but if he had come across one, he wouldn't have tagged and bagged it for questioning. The thing would already be dead and perhaps an ounce of tension would be gone from Roman's body.
He knew that Rose wasn't saying everything on her mind, but he didn't ask her to elaborate. Mostly because that would likely lead somewhere that he really didn't want to go. On some level, he appreciated her worry for him, but he didn't really want to talk about the reasons for that worry. "Lucky I'm not apart of one of the teams then," he shrugged. "No accidental slayings."
Pushing away from the wall, Roman leaned over against the pool table. "Too bad we didn't put a little money down on this, huh?"
“Guess it is lucky that you aren't," Rose agreed taking another sip of her beer as she watched him carefully. She wasn't going to push it, but she did think that he needed to talk about what was going on with him. She was worried about it.
"We can always start another one and put a wager on it," Rose suggested with a raised eyebrow.
Roman took a long drink of his beer. “I know why you’re really here,” he said after a moment. She’d admitted to following him, and he knew why she had. “And I’m a big boy. You don’t live to be as old as I have and not learn how to deal with saying goodbye to people no matter the reason. Besides, I’ve been here long enough to know the drill.” Sure, he was angry about the last week or two and who all had been on the departure list, but being angry for the sake of being angry was what he wanted. It might not have been healthy, but it sure felt good and was better than wallowing in self-pity.
“But sure,” he waved his hand at the pool table. “Go ahead and re-rack. Are we talking cash or something else? What sort of wager did you have in mind?”
Rose sighed. “I don’t care how old you are Roman,” she said simply but directly. “Age doesn’t stop someone from feeling.” Rose also knew Roman, or at least she thought she did on some level. “And I heard a rumor once having friends who gave a shit wasn’t such a bad thing to have.” She shrugged but went ahead and started re-rack.
“Oh, I think the wager is up to you,” she challenged only glancing up as she racked.
Roman pressed his lips into a firm line as she spoke and bit back a few words that he probably would have said if she’d been most anyone else. “No, it doesn’t stop it, but I’ve learned plenty of deflection and suppression tactics over the years.” The first time he’d “lost” Georgina, he’d nearly been killed fighting his father and angel hipster, and the second time he’d sentenced himself to hell with demons who hated him. This was really the first time he’d had to deal with it under normal circumstances - not that this place was anything remotely normal.
He walked up to her, standing between her and the pool table. He was taller than she was but not by much, so he looked down a bit into her dark eyes. He stood there, probably a little too close, and a wager or two passed through his mind. Most of them were inappropriate and would likely get him slapped Then there was the idea of axing the game altogether, and that was the thought that caused him to clear his throat and step away, taking another long drink.
“Loser gets to do the other’s reports and task lists through the next mission,” he finally said and picked up his poolstick again.
Not saying anything she waited, she wasn’t going to comment on how those tactics were useful but not always wise or half the other things that she was thinking. She didn’t look away from him when he stepped into her space, instead she kept eye contact and didn’t give a single thing away in her expression. When he stepped back finally she smirked looking back to the table before looking over at him again.
“That’s your wager?” She said raising an eyebrow, it was a boring one and her expression said it, but she’d said it was up to him. “Okay.” She added shaking her head before taking a drink of her beer.
“Let’s get to it.”
Roman took a breath and lifted his eyes to her as he set up the rack in the center of the pool table. “I’m open to other suggestions,” he offered. He had a few in his mind, but they weren’t ones he would risk voicing out loud. Sticking to something relating to work was the safer bet.
“Or something else in addition to it.” He shrugged and stood up straight again, offering her the first shot. “Your break.”
Smirking she nodded. “If I get a solid in, the next round is on you,” she had a few other ideas run through her mind but decided to take his lead in keeping it light and easy.
Walking around the table she put chalk on her the cue tip of her stick bending down slowly taking a well placed strike sending 2 solids and one stripe into the ball, standing up she looked over at Roman. “Guess that’s a draw.”