My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark

Jun 11th, 2018 08:45 PM

Moretti fucking loved karaoke.

It wasn't that she could sing - far from it, she was the worst - but there was something about the low-brow vibe that worked for her. It was chill as hell, nothing like Court. Drunk people singing. A couple of good pool tables. Maybe a quick bite. It was an easy way to pass a night when she wasn't fumbling around in the dark of the occult mysteries.

As she lined up a shot on the quarter-operated pool table against a random college student off for the summer ("Chad", whose girlfriend "Laney" was butchering some Fall Out Boy even as they played), Lina considered the wisdom of trying to make a double bank shot happen off a pool table that likely hadn't been worked on in over a decade, between two of her own balls.

Yup.

She was going to do it.

As she struck the white ball and watched it bounce off the first wall, off the second wall, and into one of Chad's balls for a scratch, she realized that no, no, she was not.

It might have been easier to manifest a Chrysalis than make that shot, to be honest.

Tricky Pool Shots are Hard

Blush of Life activated, -1V. Equipment in ST Minisheet.

**Aaron van Valen** · Jun 12th, 2018 04:07 PM

Aaron would never even consider karaoke.

He didn't even know if he could sing really, the attention and the game itself just did not seem appealing to him. What is appealing, is any relatively chill and quiet place where kine gather. Visiting this place is part of a big tour he is doing for himself around the city. He likes getting the general feel of places, and he is quite organized, so the Lord has a whole plan mapped out. In fact, he has an actual map with him to make notes on.

A few minutes is all I need, unless something interesting comes along.

The Dragon is dressed in a casual bomberjack style. He steps inside, his body already imitating life, and looks around. It takes a while before he notices the presence of another Beast. A somewhat familiar one, although in a new environment. It still provides a challenge. He clenches his teeth while keeping the Beast caged. Then he approaches her slowly, with the intention that he's not too intimidating once she notices him.

'Hey there.' Aaron offers a smile to the college boy and to the Dragon girl he recognized from Court. He folds his map and puts it away in an inside pocket. 'Mind if I watch?'

Jun 12th, 2018 04:27 PM

"You can play the winner, if you want," Lina replied with a glance up as she leaned in to take another shot. As she took his style in, she also took in the potency of the Kindred, who she'd seen moving around at Court. A Ventrue, of her Covenant, she'd heard - apparently, there weren't many of them. Casually confident, he looked the part. She tamped down on the urge to flee, letting the rational overcome the supernatural fear that was rising up in her. She took the first shot, putting down a ball. "What's your name, man? I'm Lina."

Her second shot was decent, even on the shitty felt of the table. It felt like the thing had a bit of a slight lean, but she was figuring it out.

Chad took a shot, trying to do something. Apparently his game wasn't going so well, and he set Lina up to put two stripes down quick and left her on the 8-ball. It was a bank shot with an angle, but she leaned down, lined it up and fired, sinking the black and ending the game. "Good game, Chad. See ya around."

She gestured at the rack of cues. Was he game?

some pool shots

**Aaron van Valen** · Jun 12th, 2018 04:48 PM

'Sounds like a plan.' If only only he really had any clue how to play. Sure, Aaron had played pool at some point in his life. He thinks? Must have been a long fucking time ago.

And this is not particularly priority knowledge that I have to keep.

It would be good to let Lina lead. 'Aaron, nice meeting you. I'll get us a beer.' The two could finish their game, and it was best to order something anyways. Got to keep up appearances.

Coming back from the bar, he puts the beers somewhere, with a casual shrug. No one would touch those. Then he grabs a cue stick.

'Uh, you set the table Lina.' Like any beginner, he grabs one of those tiny boxes with pool cue powder and rubs it on the top of his cue. 'So, also a recent arrival, correct?'

Jun 12th, 2018 04:57 PM

Between the noise of the karaoke bar and the low traffic around the table, they had some small privacy, though the Masquerade remained important. The Daeva was racking up the balls as he returned with the brewskis. "Yup. I saw you at the nightclub, heard about you. I get the sense we have a fair number of mutual interests."

Heard about him. More like heard him. Supernatural senses plus paying attention to her surroundings equaled useful information.

"I get the sense our club's pretty small here."

With a step away from the table and a gestur of the hand, she offers him the opportunity to break and go first.

**Aaron van Valen** · Jun 12th, 2018 05:19 PM

Aaron nods in agreement, 'It seems to be so.' Not that pool was necessarily one of them, but the Dragon was always eager to learn. It could even turn out to be fun.

'And indeed. Small would even be an understatement. Although I'm not used to being part of the biggest club. Back in Chicago, both estates rule together.' Sort of. 'But it's such a big city, everyone can find like-minded folks. I had a good place to study.'

He pauses shortly and looks at Lina. She seems to be his most likely ally at this point, so he intends to keep things cooperative. 'One advantage, we can now set things up the way we like.' Then he turns to the table.

Time for the break shot. That should be doable.

It takes him a while to find the right position. It's always harder than it looks, but it's also not that hard. Few moments later, the cue ball shoots towards the other balls.

They all spread across the table, but none lands in one of the pockets. 'It seems like you're up.'

failure

Jun 12th, 2018 05:38 PM

Lina pops down for her first shot as she learns where he's from. "The Windy City, huh? That had to have been nice. Why'd you leave, if, uh, you don't mind me asking?"

It was always interesting to know why someone left a city. Hopefully, he wasn't a Blood Hunted dumpster fire or anything like that...

One solid went down, followed by another. She paused, then made a bank shot that clipped the side of a third and put it in. She grinned to herself as she moved around the table.

"You're not wrong about being able to set it up however we want. But there's matters of permits, for bigger sites and whatnot." She leaned in and whispered, "The particulars are probably something we can discuss privately."

The shot that came next was ridiculous. A bank shot, which put two balls down, one in the main and one off the bounce. Further madness followed. A shot that could have only been raw luck with a 90 degree skim.

"I, uh, wow."

She chuckled. When finally she had turned the turn over, she had a couple of balls left up to his entire set.

"I think I might have just had the best run of my life."

One question popped to mind.

"You like Philly?"

For mortals, being from Philly was no big deal. But for Ordo Dracul, that meant something very different. Following the Philidelphian Rite was something that was important to her. She wasn't super secret squirrel about her membership in the Order. That shit was old-timey and not her style at all. One thing about Academies was the importance of consistency.

dear god, I wish I could roll this hot when it mattered

**Aaron van Valen** · Jun 12th, 2018 06:31 PM

'Well...' Aaron pauses as recent dark memories come to his mind, his expression visibly changes, 'my...' "dad" sounds so wrong, considering his Sire was also his lover, so he comes with an alternative, 'mentor, he was murdered.' The Blush of Life makes it almost natural to let out a deep sigh. Aaron was clearly still getting over it, but he is composed enough to keep most of his emotions to himself.

'Though I was not necessarily a next target, I felt more comfortable moving away. Perhaps a topic for another time. But you're right, I have spent a great deal of my life in the Windy City with great pleasure.'

As Lina starts her game, it becomes clear this is in no way a fair match. But the Dragon watches her closely, learning from her every move.

Her good mood brings a smile back to his face. When she leans closer, he nods, 'We should probably do that. As soon as we have figured out who the local important players are.'

As Lina continues, things a little bit awkward. Was she a secret pro? Who even Embraces a professional pool player? Or did it simply tell him something about what this girl did in college, besides, or instead of studying. 'Wow indeed.' He chuckles, before her next questions catches him off guard.

'Uh,' Aaron had never traveled a lot, so some implications are lost on him. Since he was raised in a Domain that follows the Philadelphian Rite, it was mostly a self-evident thing. But he's smart enough to realize she's not randomly asking that question. Even if she would come from there, it is no reason to pose a question like this. So, after a few seconds it suddenly makes sense, 'yes, of course! My mentor was even one of the first from his academy back in Europe, to come and study in Philly. He always spoke very fondly of the local traditions. Like him, I believe it is good to keep a public appearance.'

He smiles, almost forgetting they were playing pool. But holding a cue with two hands makes it hard to entirely forget. Aaron attempts to put it to a good use, but fails again.

'It's been a while.'

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2018-06-12 18:20:35	Aaron van Valen rolls 3 to Shoot pool (Int + Dex - equip penalty - 2nd shot) (10 Again)	2, 6, 5	failure

Jun 12th, 2018 07:26 PM

"I'm sorry to hear that, Aaron," she said genuinely as he explained what had happened. She had seen some shit, but nothing that bad, nothing that had sent her on the run for her life. "Fuck. That really sucks." Maybe it was the chagrin of hearing of his person's death, but the luck ran out. She fired her shot a little wide, knocking her target off course.

As he explains that he's Philadelphian Rite as well, she smiles and breathes out a little sigh of relief.

"All right, awesome. We're of the same mind on that, then. Least we can approach shit consistently. I got a good chance to talk to Alessandra at the club, too. She seems interested in what we do. I'll see if I can work us some more consistent representation."

She nods to the table.

"Your shot, my friend."

**Aaron van Valen** · Jun 13th, 2018 08:39 AM

'Does she now? Interesting. We should find out to what extent she is actually happy to have an academy in her city. Or if she simply wants to keep us as close.' The whole "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" story.

Aaron produces a contact card from one his pockets and offers it to Lina. 'Before we forget. So we can meet up later.'

'Also,' he begins saying very softly, while getting in the right position for a shot, 'I think there are quite some people out there who might be happy with an alternative to the current status quo.' The Ordo Dracul is here to bring change, in more than one way.

Aaron hits a ball and makes his first point. Phew, at least one. It is in a Lord's nature to win. Now it seemed the best he could do was not lose too miserably. 'But, perhaps we should not get ahead of ourselves.' He adds in a cautious tone, though he also reveals a cunning smile. He is proud enough to see how realistic it is, especially in a Domain with only the First Estate and one single Acolyte.

He lines up his second shot, but the cue ball misses its target entirely. After Lina's point streak there are considerably less options.

'The table is yours again.'

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2018-06-13 08:14:30	Aaron van Valen rolls 4 to Shoot pool (Int + Dex - equip penalty) (10 Again)	5, 1, 3, 4	failure
2018-06-13 08:14:19	Aaron van Valen rolls 4 to Shoot pool (Int + Dex - equip penalty) (10 Again)	8, 1, 1, 6	1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2018-06-12 16:24:15	Lina Moretti rolls 2 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad Table and Hard Shot) (10 Again)	7, 10, 1	1 success
2018-06-12 16:24:01	Lina Moretti rolls 3 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad Table) (10 Again)	5, 2, 9	1 success
2018-06-12 16:22:52	Lina Moretti rolls 3 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad Table) (10 Again)	6, 4, 8	1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2018-06-12 17:30:24	Lina Moretti rolls 1 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad table and a Ridiculous Shot) (10 Again)	5	failure
2018-06-12 17:30:15	Lina Moretti rolls 1 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad table and a Ridiculous Shot) (10 Again)	8	1 success
2018-06-12 17:29:59	Lina Moretti rolls 2 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad Table and Hard Shot) (10 Again)	6, 8	1 success
2018-06-12 17:29:47	Lina Moretti rolls 2 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad Table and Hard Shot) (10 Again)	10, 9, 9	3 successes
2018-06-12 17:29:38	Lina Moretti rolls 3 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad Table) (10 Again)	6, 8, 2	1 success
2018-06-12 17:29:27	Lina Moretti rolls 3 to Shoot Pool (Int + Dex - Penalty for Bad Table) (10 Again)	4, 1, 8	1 success

My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark

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Date	Action	Roll	Result
2018-06-11 20:42:17	Lina Moretti rolls 1 to A Double Bank Pool Shot (Intelligence + Dexterity - Duh, This Shot is Hard) (10 Again)	2	failure