8 ball in the Awakened pocket

[Pepper]

It had been a boring day, one of those ones that just dragged on, and tempted you into doing things that totally weren't work while on the clock. Like browsing the internet. Oh dear lord, the browsing. She found a cool website to get socks and stockings, then started looking for local arcades or game shops or really just something...

Then her integrity showed up. She didn't have anything to do, so she might as well leave for the day. There were better things to do. But one of the Arcade places had struck her as interesting, so she sent the address to Tanya ( Mace ).

It was a pool hall, almost, except for the variety of things available for playing. Sure, there were the tables - a shitton of them - but there was consoles set up, and older arcade-style games. It was pretty close to one of the college campuses too, so there was a fair few people there and it was a bit cheaper than it would have been if "Student" didn't describe the typical patron.

So, yeah, Pepper was totally waiting for Mace, to find out what she'd want to do. Sisterly bonding time and all that. Who knows, maybe they'd make some more friends.

[Star]

VINCE

That's what he needed his shirt to say. Black shirt, big bold white letters. Every time he walked into a pool hall, that was the thought. The second thought. The first? The same thought everyone else had. One. Word.

Balabushka.

Everyone? Everyone that mattered. The players. Not that everyone didn't matter? Just who mattered when it came time to pray on the altar of felt and offer up the the trinity of gifts: chalk, cue, stroke. Don't. Drop. The. Onion. The priests of bridging and running. Somewhere between Florida and California, he'd left a red spot and Meucci. Probably Kansas City. He'd almost been defenestratred, too.

Fingers rippled at his sides as he walked in. He paused, to let his eyes adjust, and take it in.

Which table was The Table? There was always a 'working' table. Minimum wage or high stakes, people worked. He wasn't. Working. Well, yes and no. No, he wasn't working working, but he was staying sharp. In the game, yo. The game on the table, and off the table. An eyebrow arched into his mop as he saw a pair of familiar faces.

The game? It could wait.

A hand tossed out an awkward wave as he approached Pepper and Mace, then fingertips bounced together.

"So, like, I've seen you two before? At the laundry place? Pretty sure, right?"

Pretty. Sure. But they hadn't talked. Because pretty boy.

[RebornSeas]

"Yeah, it was dragging. I finished up my meetings and stuff anyway, soooo." She shrugged, then gestured to the space, "What do you want to play?" Steph grinned and made a full turn, then raised an eyebrow when she recognized a particular mop of hair.

Savvy dude? No, Zoey had said... Star, right? She tilted her head, the glanced to Tanya. "And I saw you at the Rage too. Zoey called me over to talk to her, I was being a bit grumpy about that because who likes being treated like someone's kid cousin who just screwed up, right? I'm Pepper. Mace here is my sister." Pepper wasn't entirely sure about the Laundromat, she'd been busy trying to get Faye's number.

[Star]

A lopsided grin accompanied a nod. Sure. The Rage. Raging. Craziness. He'd been fresh out of a potential Breach, and had a fistful of phone numbers from a cute goth, a hot blonde, cabal-mates showing up, showing up later, drinks, and... well. Crazy. Didn't mean he didn't remember. He was just willing to play it of like he didn't remember. Second first impressions, yo. Totally a thing.

"The Rage," he agreed. Double pointy fingers. "Black, white, and two left feet? No bigs. Zoey, well. You know."

A genuine grin at the mention of his cabal mate kept it from being an indictment and more like a shared joke.

"I'm pretty sure unless your name is, uh, Thomas? That's how she treats you. Honestly? I find it liberating. Totally a free pass. You know what I mean?"

Sure she did. He blinked. Pepper. Mace.

"Hi. Jack. So, like, are you two, like, the Spice Girls? Or Spray Girls?"

Some will die in hot pursuit in fiery auto crashes.

[Pepper]

Pepper laughed, sinking her head closer to her shoulders. "Oh man, I was hoping no one saw that. I'm usually Not Terrible." At dancing, or socializing. She had no idea what was going on that night, but clearly? Not hers.

She let nodded with his joke about Zoey, really, if she was fond of you at all you were automatically treated as one of her younger relatives. "Ha, no, there's totally been times I haven't gotten a free pass with her, but she's handed problems I've caused up to less ban-hammer authorities than she needed to." She'd been lucky on quite a few occasions, having Uncle B hand down punishments. Everyone had known she was one of his favorites... though not always the reasons why. She wasn't even sure if Zoey knew the full extent of that.

"And speak for yourself, I was going for the spice." She bumped Mace back, smiling as she did. Then flashed a grin to Star, "But yeah, Salt and Pepper would have had some weird connotations, so that was off the table almost the moment it was suggested." Besides, Mace being Salt would have been weird on so many levels.

[Star]

Friends with Zoey? Sure. Let's go with that. Putting it into words would be complicated, but the beauty was that it wasn't, at all. Well. Aside from the Disapproving Glare he was in for. "We also, like, work together," he added with a nod.

"And we're in a band together? With Aspen and Avis. She's lead vocals." The elaboration finished with a hint of total amusement. It totally wasn't his fault that he'd randomly picked that metaphor for the cabal, and Zoey's position as Sigil holder when she was the Worst. Singer. Totally randomly.

"But, yeah, she mentioned you, from Boston, but not, like, anything else."

His eyes fixed on the auburn hair for a few seconds. Really? He was just being funny with the Spray bit. Wasn't ground mace that exact shade? He'd just figured Pepper was cinnamon and sugary, with softly spoken lies.

"I think, like, everyone saw it. You kind of stand out? Not in a bad way. Just in a, you know, not cookie cutter way. At least, cookies here. You might be like all the other cookies in some other jar that I haven't seen. Like Boston."

It wasn't even the hair. Garish monochomes, yo.

"You two come here a lot?"

They could be working. Because Jeanette Lee.

[Pepper]

Right, so he was using Band to stand in for Cabal. Noted, very cool. "Right! I think she said the bandname was... damn, it was a month ago... Mace, do you remember?" yeah, that sounded right. Pepper tapped her jaw, wondering if she should have written it down after the dinner.

She wasn't sure if she was surprised or not that Zoey hadn't said more. On one hand, if there's one thing Pepper learned while with the guardians was how to let people tell their own stories, on the other.... well.

"I probably stood out more, you should ask Zoey what her and her colleagues called me until I got out of my rebellious punk phase." Okay, maybe Pepper had some pride in her trouble making days and not solely embarrassment.

"No, first time here actually."