Who: Scott, Mai and Kasumi What: Hanging out, drinking, shooting pool When: Saturday night Where: Joeyray's Rating: PG-13, for excessive talk of 'balls' Status: Complete!
Scott pulled up to Joeyray's as the sun began to set. He had a lot on his mind, between matters at the ranch, the discovery under ground, and his own completely messed up love life. Or lack of one, at this point.
Emma’s lack of empathy had been disheartening. No, that wasn’t fair, it wasn’t that she lacked empathy, but that she controlled her feelings too tightly. It had been like pulling teeth to get her to acknowledge how she felt. Perhaps that’s why it hurt so much that they couldn’t find a middle ground.
He got out of his car, and made his way inside.
Kasumi was behind the bar, as she usually was these days. She was making bets on a card game that was happening between two of the regulars in a corner. They wouldn't take payment from her in anything but drinks, which was fine with Kasumi. It was all in good fun, anyway.
"Hey, Scotty," she called, waving to him. "The usual?"
"The usual sounds good," Scott replied, walking up to the bar and sitting on the stool. He wondered if there'd be competition at the tables today or if it would be a practice night only. Or maybe he should just drink.
"Make it a tab." He swiveled around to look the bar over, and to see if anyone was playing pool.
Kasumi poured Scott's beer and placed it in front of him. "You missed it," she said when he turned to look at the pool table. "There were these drunk kids playing on your table and being stupid the other night. They didn't want to leave at closing time, and one of them started mouthing off." Kasumi grinned. She loved telling 'the good part' of a story. "Wrex headbutted him."
"Wrex? I could see that." Scott chuckled, glancing back at the pool table before looking at Kasumi, "I'll bet he enjoyed that. That man has a bizarre fixation with butting heads."
There was a sort of fondness in his voice - he'd gotten fond of Wrex over the past few months. Of course, not as fond as Kasumi. Their very public kiss been the only thing talked about at the ranch besides the work.
"It was quite the show," Kasumi said, grinning. Followed by another sort of show, but she didn't plan on mentioning that to Scott. He was a bit of a boyscout. It was sweet, really.
"You looking to play tonight?" she asked. She nodded over to one of the regulars. "Frankie might be up for it."
"I wouldn't want to have him lose your tip," Scott replied, confidently. He grinned at her, "You work hard. I couldn't do that to you. But maybe a friendly game, I'm not in a competitive mood right now."
"How sweet of you." She wouldn't describe Scott as a shark, not on a normal night, but he usually enjoyed going a few rounds. Maybe schooling the regulars wasn't as fun as taking on the new kids. Not too many new faces tonight. "Busy day?" Kasumi asked.
He'd done the shark thing before. For awhile after his discharge it had been one of his primary forms of making money. He'd sharked the hell out of poor Bucky Barnes. He nodded at Kasumi, "Pretty busy, but not busy enough. I like to get my mind off of things."
By things, he meant 'Emma.' He wasn't happy with the way things had ended, but that door had been pretty firmly shut.
"Work things? Lady things?" Because obviously the best way to not think about things was to talk about them with the bartender who made out with your boss. She replaced a couple drinks for other customers before returning to Scott.
"Both things," Scott admitted, taking his drink and downing half of it in the first go. Barely enough to taste it, really, but there would be time for that later. Right now he wanted the buzz that came with the first drink of the night.
"It's been a long month. Felt longer."
Kasumi's brow wrinkled slightly as she watched Scott down the beer. "Sorry to hear that," she said. She'd been in a pretty happy place, recently, and it was a shame her friends didn't have that, too. She pulled out another glass and poured Scott some whiskey.
The whiskey was welcome, and Scott gave her a grateful look. Kasumi was a good bartender. She knew her drinks and more importantly she knew how to talk to people. He took a sip, nodding approvingly. He gave her a sly smile, "Anything new with you? Anyone?"
Kasumi couldn't bite back a smirk. "You mean it hasn't hit the gossip mill yet? Or are you just trying to confirm the rumors?" Scott had to have access to more than a few sources. She pursed her lips, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. "Mm. There's something new, yeah. Not quite sure what to call it yet."
"It's all over the gossip mill," Scott replied, his smile growing. "I think someone even got pictures. I wish I'd been there. I would have clapped."
God forbid Shepard had been there, they'd never hear the end of it. Ever. Not in a million billion years. Scott at least appreciated discretion, "Don't label it. Just let it happen and enjoy it. Let the labels come naturally."
Kasumi laughed when he mentioned pictures. "I hope you're talking about the kiss." Ooh lala! She and Wrex had just been discussing pictures, and hoping Skeeter didn't get her hands on them. Kasumi had been the subject of scandal before, after she ran away as a teenager, and rumors didn't typically bother her. It was a little awkward, though, everyone else knowing about them when she wasn't even sure where they stood.
"That's pretty good advice," she said, smiling. "Thanks."
"Just the kiss, yes." His smile was easy, even if his eyes were inscrutable behind the ruby glasses. He'd learned a long time ago to use his smile to good effect. When you couldn't look a man or woman in the eye, that was the next best thing. He'd also learned when to not telegraph his emotions, but that wasn't as easy.
"I figured that advice out the hard way."
"Hm. The hard way is no fun. I'm guessing that has something to do with the long month, huh?" Kasumi didn't know Scott's life story the way she knew some of the regulars. She hadn't met most of their wives, but she knew the names from having heard them mentioned so many times. Scott was another story, though.
Scott tended to keep certain things to himself. Dating someone who was rich, famous and infamous only made that tendency stronger. He shrugged his shoulder, and nodded, "I wouldn't call it a bad breakup, but it wasn't a good one either. Differences of opinion and an inability for either party to compromise on an issue."
"Even good breakups suck ass," Kasumi said with her typical eloquent charm. "You want another?" she asked of his drink. She had plenty more, and she was guessing it was going to be a long night for Scotty.
"Yes, please." It was going to be a long night. It was impossible for him to separate his feelings for Emma from dream and waking world any longer. It felt...wrong...not to be with her, and he didn't know when it would start feeling right, "And you have no idea. Do you have those odd dreams that everyone seems to get?"
The bar door opened nearby, and an Asian woman stepped through it. Mai hadn't bothered with the gigantic sunglasses that day, but she was still wearing her black hoodie with the wings on the back, and she'd put the hood up while traveling there.
She'd been all over the place today, in search of one Scott Summers. He hadn't been at the Ranch, which was her first stop, though the men were amused by the fact that 'another cute Asian girl was looking for a man there'. Whatever that meant.
She waved at Kasumi and took a seat at the bar, pulling her hood down, "Hey."
Kasumi refilled Scott's whiskey, making a note that he would likely need a ride home. She nodded. "Yeah, I've been having weird dreams for a little while now. Shepard's in them."
She looked up when Mai came in, smiling. "Hey, Kitten." She dried the spot in front of Mai and put down a coaster. "Should I put on the coffee?" she asked with a wry smile.
Scott glanced over at the new woman who'd walked in. He didn't recognize her, but he gave her a friendly smile. She looked like she needed one.
"I know Shepard, but I think her dreams are different." He filed that note about Kasumi away for later, "Anyway, this woman and I were together in those dreams, and here too. That's why it all feels so wrong now."
"I think I'll just have the liquor straight up today if you don't mind, 'Sumi," Mai answered, and put her hands on top of the bar. She glanced at the other man sitting there, and offered him a smile, in return.
Was he the one she was looking for? She thought she'd heard something about red glasses. It seemed like he was in a conversation with Kasumi about something or other though, and she didn't want to interrupt that just yet.
"Ah." Kasumi sighed. "I dream about an old love, too," she confessed. "It makes things hard." Kasumi had a lot more distance than Scott did, though. She had long since moved on, but it still hurt.
Kasumi poured Mai a glass of Bailey's and placed it in front of her. "Sorry, Kitten. Scotty and I were just talking about dreams. How are you doing?" Kasumi read tabloids, but knew better than to believe them. She’d rather hear things from Mai.
Moving on. Scott supposed he should get started, but wallowing, it was too much fun. He focused on his drink to let Kasumi and her friend talk.
Aha, so that was the guy she was looking for. Mai tilted her head to the side and twirled her glass around on the bar top for a bit before finally lifting it to take a drink, "It's not a problem. I have the crazy dreams, too. And I dream about love in them, and it's very on again off again, so I understand the feeling."
"I'm... lost, but making a list of goals is helping. Close to the top of that list is figuring out my living situation, actually."
She might as well kill two birds with one stone while she was here, "Is that couch still free? I can't promise the tabloids won't just follow me to your apartment, though."
"The couch is free," Kasumi said. "The tabloids can talk, if they must." Kasumi didn't love the idea, but they had bigger things to worry about than that trash. "You may have to deal with the occasional guest, but we'll try to confine ourselves to the bedroom."
She knew she and Wrex were at that sickeningly sweet phase, and she didn't want to put Mai off.
Suddenly, the comment about the Asian women around the ranch clicked into place for Mai, and she squinted at Kasumi suspiciously. A smirk slowly formed on her face, and she took a sip of her drink before pointing at her friend, "I don't suppose you've been by Urdnot Ranch recently. You and that man, Wrex, seem to talk here and there on the 'net."
Scott hid a smirk behind his drink.
Kasumi grinned and shrugged. "Maybe once or twice." That was an idea, though. She could see about stopping by Wrex's place more often, if it got to be too much for Mai. "We'll be good, though, I promise."
“Good? Wrex?” Scott said, chuckling, “I’m not sure I can see that.”
Kasumi stuck out her tongue playfully at Scott. Very mature. "Look, Mister, do you want another round or not?" She was teasing, of course, and already reaching for the whiskey, awaiting his answer.
He was probably right, though, Kasumi couldn't argue that. It was nearly impossible for the two to keep their hands off of each other.
Scott tapped the table with two fingers, as if to say 'FFS pls another.'
"So bring earplugs. Noted," Mai smirked a bit, and sipped her drink, "It was just funny, because I went down to the ranch looking for someone today, and the construction workers there seem to think that if they get permanent jobs there they, too, can have 'hot Asian women' come visit them."
Scott raised his eyebrows, “Who were you looking for?” He just knew that not only the workers but the kids who’d been helping out would talk. And the kids would be the absolute worst about it too.
Kasumi poured another for Scott and glanced back at Mai. She made a face at the impression people were under. "Probably not a claim to fame the Ranch wants." Kasumi's thoughts kept going back to that damned tabloid. She hated that she felt like she needed to worry about appearances again. She thought she'd gotten away from that life.
"I was looking for you, actually," Mai nodded in Scott's direction, that smirk still on her face. She took another long sip of her drink, and tucked some hair behind her ear, "I was told that you knew how to play Pool, and that you could teach people. I want to learn to play."
As for the Ranch, well. Mai wasn't sure what to do about any of that. The Tabloids might have followed her there, too, but she couldn't just hide in her hotel room forever. They were going to do what they wanted, and there was little she could do to stop it, but this had at least been mostly in jest, "They were mainly teasing, I think. They seem to respect Wrex and the rest of the staff there."
"You went all the way to the ranch to ask me to teach you how to play pool?" Scott asked, a little incredulously. And now half the ranch probably thought he was doing way more than pool with Mai.
"Tomorrow at the ranch is going to be interesting," Scott mused, aloud.
Kasumi raised a brow when Mai mentioned she was looking for Scott, grinning. "Well, well!" Okay, maybe she was just as bad as the construction workers. "Looks like you found someone to hit the tables with, Scotty."
Scott laughed, more amused than he really should be, "I don't know. I wouldn't want to embarrass her." He winked at Mai, setting down his drink, "But I'm good for a friendly game."
A friendly game generally meant he went easy on someone and didn't try his hardest. If there was money at stake, then he'd pull every geometric trick in the book.
"I've never played, and that isn't a lie," Mai warned Scott, her tone a bit dry. It was hard to tell if that was because she was amused or annoyed with him, "You really will have to give me pointers first. Then we could have a friendly game."
Truthfully, she wouldn't mind learning to shark people either, but that was getting ahead of herself. First she needed to figure out if she was any good at the game. Then she could figure out how to profit from the knowledge.
Or maybe that was the wrong way to think about it. She frowned a bit, at that. It was just supposed to be something fun.
"Kasumi, want a lesson too?" Scott asked, sliding off the stool, drink still in hand. There needed to be more drink, the glass was only half-full. He held it out for a refill, "I'll show you how to break, first. How good are you at math?"
"I'll pass this time," Kasumi said, filling up his drink. She had a few other customers she needed to split her attention between. "You two kids have fun, though," she said with a wink. Scott smirked at Kasumi, and then made his way over to the pool table. He put fifty cents in to free the balls, and then started to rack them.
Mai motioned for a refill, too, and gave Kasumi a smile before heading over to the pool table with her drink in hand. When she realised it took quarters to operate, she started fishing around in her pants pockets for change, in case they needed another round or two after this one was over.
"I don't know if I'm good at math or not. I learned the kind of math that helps you keep track of household expenses and running your staff. Nothing too advanced. I can balance a checkbook to hell and back. This is probably different."
"Trig and calculus type stuff," Scott explained. He pointed out the diamonds on the table, "Geometry, too. The idea is to use the angles to have control over where you put the cue ball, which gives you control of where you put the rest of the balls. There's always a random element, but you can minimize."
He then gestured at the rack, "Put the white ball here, shoot at that, hope the balls split in a way that helps you and not me. First ball you sink, determines if you're stripes or solids. You don't want to sink your off color, or the white ball. You absolutely don't want to sink the eight ball until the other balls of your color are gone."
"Seems a bit like the science you'd use for throwing knives or shooting arrows," Mai pondered aloud. She had to learn a bit about that stuff to make her knife throwing work better. Not exactly the same thing - the 'projectiles' in this case were round, and it was all about the ricochet, but still.
This didn't seem like it was going to be that hard. She picked up a pool stick and set the white ball down where indicated, "So hit the white ball into the other balls, and don't put the white ball or the black one in the pocket. But do put the balls that are your balls in the pocket. This is a lot of talk about balls."
"Men do like to talk about their balls," Scott retorted, leaning on his stick to watch her try to break the rack. He made no judgements - he of all people knew how much power could be in a small waif-like girl.
Waif Mai!
"People like to talk about the things the ascribe the most value to," Mai replied, with her usual dry tone. She took a look at the way the rack was set up, then leaned over the table a bit and lined up an opening shot.
She could already tell why men liked it when women played this game. There was a certain sex appeal to the movements involved. She probably should have worn a shirt that was a little less low cut.
Scott smirked, his eyes inscrutable behind his ruby glasses. If he noticed or looked down her shirt, he gave no indication of it. But if she said something he'd have to agree; women playing pool was wonderful to watch. The cue ball cracked into the rest of the balls, sending them scattering around the table. A stripe fell into a corner pocket.
"You're stripes, keep going until you miss or scratch."
"Do I have to play the white ball where it lands, or can I move it?" Mai asked, while eyeing the table. She leaned against her pool stick a bit, surveying the available shots from where the white ball had landed that might lead to hitting stripes into pockets.
"Play it where it lands. Only time you get to move it is if you sink it or knock it off the table," Scott explained patiently. He didn't assume she already knew, or assumed she was dumb because she didn't. Scott had been a teacher, and a trainer, and everyone had to start with the basics.
"I assume neither of those situations benefit you. It would mean the end of your turn, wouldn't it?" Mai mainly just wanted to make sure she knew everything she could about the game. If there was something to exploit, she wasn't above it. For now, however, she focused on a striped ball she thought she could hit into the corner pocket, and leaned over the table a bit.
Holding onto the stick was probably the most awkward part of all of this. But she wasn't about to make a comment about how hard the 'stick' was to handle when she'd already made enough comments about 'balls'.
Her shot hit the ball just shy of landing it in the pocket, and she wrinkled her nose a bit in disappointment. This wasn't so easy after all.
Fortunately Scott wasn't twelve, and not inclined to make those kinds of comments, even when flirting. The pout was cute, though, "Not bad for a first shot. Another thing to keep in mind is how much power you put into your shot. Watch me."
He analyzed the table, then bent over, lining up for a shot, "Where you hit the ball is more important than how hard. Too high, and you don't get enough power, too low and you can bounce it. Although sometimes you want to do one or the other."
He demonstrated by bouncing the cue ball over the 8 ball, and sunk a solid. He moved around the table, "Sometimes, you might not be able to make any shot. So you want to screw with your opponent."
Again he demonstrated, knocking the cue ball into a cluster of solids, next to the 8 ball.
"That's what she said!" Kasumi called from behind the bar.
"So it's not the power that counts, it's how you use it?" Mai snerked, then snerked even more at Kasumi's comment. She glanced over her shoulder at her old friend, and gave her a look, before turning her attention back to the pool table. It was definitely time for another drink.
She couldn't decide if she wanted to flirt with him, or if he even wanted the attention. This was certainly the kind of situation where flirting would be well placed, "And if I can't make my shot, you're inviting me to screw with you? Brave."
Mai surveyed the table. It would be hard to avoid a situation where she didn't hit the 8 ball somehow, which was probably why he'd lined that up so perfectly. She scrunched up her nose a bit and took another sip of her drink, then crouched over the table at an odd angle, shoot the ball away from all of the solids and against the back of the other side.
Scott shook his head, "No, I'm the one screwing with you." His comment seemed perfectly timed for Mai bending over the table. The man folded his arms, and stoutly ignored Kasumi's comment. Even if his lips were tugging up. Just a little.
"Considering where the white ball just landed, I'd say there's equal opportunity screwing going on." Mai leaned casually on her pool stick and shrugged a shoulder. It wasn't in a good position for anyone, but she was really just trying to learn. He'd win, but that wasn't the point.
Scott's smile formed fully. He didn't think he could sink anything, but he was having fun. Between the drink, and the company, and Kasumi egging them on, he'd forgotten his problems and was quite enjoying himself. He tapped the cue ball and stepped back after it moved about two inches, "Your turn."
"Cute. Real cute." Mai drained her glass and set it aside, then prowled around the pool table a bit, trying to think through the various angles. She was almost certain if she bounced the ball off the side the right way it would smack against one of her stripes.
It was worth a shot, anyway. She tilted her head to the side and squinted a bit, then gave the ball a good whack with her stick.
It was an unorthodox shot, but it made the stripe sink into one pocket, the cue ball precariously hanging on, but not falling in. Scott nodded in appreciation, "Go again."
He tried to not let himself be reminded of playing pool with Emma, but let a wave of sadness roll over him. When it passed, leaned against the wall to watch Mai.
Luckily (or maybe unluckily depending on how you looked at it), doing fun things like this carried no sad memories with it for Mai. Mainly because they'd never done many fun or frivolous things together at all.
She slid along the side of the table, stopping at the pocket the ball was just teetering on the edge of, and hit it back down towards the corner, aiming for another one of her stripes. It bounced off the edge and headed towards the center, right near the group of solids. She winced, "Lucky you."
Scott easily sank three before he scratched, "Like chess, you can try to think several moves ahead. Unlike chess, there's a random element you can't predict. It's a lot like real life, that way."
He pulled the cue ball out and pointed at one end of the table, "You can place it anywhere behind that imaginary line made by those diamonds."
Kasumi was taking care of a few other customers at the bar, but when she got a break, she brought fresh drinks out to Scott and Mai, grabbing their empty glasses.
“Thanks,” Scott said, grateful for the drink. He rarely drank heavily, and took to nursing this one. It wasn’t like he had Logan’s healing factor or the ability to metabolize faster.
Mai favored Kasumi with another smile when she brought the drink over, and nodded her own head in thanks, too, before picking the white ball up in her hand. Anywhere behind the imaginary line was a lot of space to work with, and this was the time to pick wisely and see if she could line a few shots up like he suggested.
She figured it was rare when Scott scratched. He seemed to be pretty skilled at this game.
She set the ball down and then gently nudged him out of her way with her pool stick, before landing a shot that lead to two successful stripes in pockets before she ran out of balls. She hit the cue ball back in the direction of the 8 ball then, and winked at Scott.
Imagine that. Mai. Having a good time.
"Now you're just being clever. Don't get too confident. Too much confidence means you make mistakes. Like the fact that you tried to get me by the eight ball, but I have a perfect shot for the red one there." He pointed it out with his stick, tempted to smack her lightly with it on the butt, but refrained, "You had a couple good shots though, you're a quick study."
She followed the imaginary line on the table between the white ball and the one he was indicating, then followed the line some more with her eyes, indicating the pocket with her stick, "Sure. Overconfidence is a bad thing. So is giving in to tempting shots that might make you scratch in the process."
Mai smirked at him and toasted him with her drink, which she also only nursed.
"You're really learning," Scott replied, raising his glass in a toast. "Most people never learn that simple lesson."
Really, pool was like a battlefield, in many ways. Unpredictable, but if you could direct your resources properly you could come out ahead.
Makeshift battlefields and navigating them were something that Mai was intimately familiar with, though of course she'd never been to a real war. A ballroom at a political engagement or even the board rooms she'd been a part of were enough like war for her. Political environments in general were fluid and unpredictable, even if they had to use standard rules of engagement.
She toasted him with her glass, "Make your shot, Sensei."
Scott would rather face a small army than a political engagement, and he's seen his fair share of both. The man sunk three more balls, leaving him with just one and the eight ball left, before he missed his last ball. He leaned on his stick to watch her.
It was possible that Mai was enjoying this a little too much. She'd rarely had someone's genuine attention for this long who hadn't been Zuko. Not that Scott was interested in her that way - she still wasn't sure - but even just in a friendly way.
It was nice, and she put on a bit of a show of getting the next three stripes into their pockets before she scratched out.
Scott was somewhat interested, but wasn't sure he was ready to jump into the dating pool yet. Or at all. He just didn't know yet. Maybe part of him held out hope of rekindling with Emma. Maybe that part of him was romantic, or naive. It wasn't like he hadn't gone years without sex before.
Nodding approvingly, Scott then sunk his ball, pointed to a pocket, and added the 8-ball to it, "Not bad for your first time."
"Hopefully there'll be more times. The first time always sucks," Mai commented, while toasting him with her glass again. She pointed to the quarters she'd pulled out of her pocket, "I've got nowhere better to be, and I like the company."
“Good. I think you’ll have the stamina to keep up.” Scott signaled Kasumi, “Another round, Kasumi! We’re going to be here awhile.”