Lost Behind The 8 Ball

[James Turner]

Yamiyo's new friend has her distracted, he's not in the limelight, there isn't the pressing need to having to be present and active. This was a pleasant turn of events and a first for him so far. He can't help but have a smile tug at the corner of his lips as he takes a sip of his drink savoring it for that long moment.


Even through the din of the pool hall he could exist in his little bubble even if for a moment. He couldn't help but smirk at Rhodes, looks like Yami had been grilling him for the harlequin romance novel that was their meeting.


What would we call it? Isn't the answer obvious? A Royal Affair. Oh, oh no. It's infecting you. Getitoutgeitoutgetitout.


"I'll play but not if Sonnie keeps talking like that. You're making it weird..."


He said partially in jest before returning to Sera's question. The gathered lost were probably used to his vocal affectations at this point, he wasn't monotone in speech but there wasn't usually a lot of excitement too his voice, minor vocal inflections for emphasis and cadence but that was about it.


"Play in teams of 2 with the losers rotating out is the easiest solution. Unless there's an absolute Ringer."


He said while starring directly at Sonnie, picking up on her comment on the tail his gaze narrowed and immediately grew icey giving a slow shake of his head. Though the new girl was pushing the limits too but she seemed like an utter nutter so it was hard to gauge.


"Can do the couples match first. I gotta see if there's anything good on this jukebox...most of them are digital, I gotta see if there's an app."


He said to himself while taking a sip of his drink, hand fishing out his phone to bury his nose in it as he obviously intended to be the DJ for the pool hall when he wasn't playing terribly at pool. That was the good thing about pool even if you were terrible it was still enjoyable.

[Coco]

Ah, but love was in the air! If even Heathcliff had managed to woo that most glorious and decorous of Queens, if such a, well, frankly inexpressive man could charm such a siren into planting a kiss upon his cheek, then clearly there was to be no contest when it came to her own advances! Why, even the Monkey was cheering for her, beaming so brightly and complimenting her, and the sad looking ghost-man was choosing the perfect song for them!

But then, but then, then that most intoxicating woman leaned into her embrace, that skin like moonlight, that swath of hair made up of the velvety black and swirling constellations of the night sky, or wait, were they blossoms set against rich shadow and gleaming golden skin? The fact that the Monkey had referred to Yamiyo as a Hawaiian goddess didn't even register, nor did her flustered mind care that the attractive woman pressed against her seemed to be shifting before her eyes. All that registered was that Yamiyo was leaning against her, and that she was looking up so coyly, and complimenting her essence and scent!

Her heart was beating so quickly within her chest that she could feel her pulse hammering in her throat, though she hardly noticed. It had nothing to do with her attraction to the beguiling Succubus, after all.

"If you enjoy that," Coco declared, turning so that she could slide the hand pressed against Yamiyo's lower back up and up her spine, all the way until she was grasping the back of her neck, "then perhaps you'll enjoy my taste, as well."

With that, the Wasp leaned forward and pressed her lips against the enchanting beauty she was holding, her other arm coming down to hook the head of her cane behind Yamiyo's knee so she could dip the other fairest back in imitation of the most dramatic tangos as they passionately kissed. Or, at least, that was what Coco's feverish mind had envisioned. In truth, it looked like she was trying to eat Yamiyo's face, slobbering all over her while bending her precariously backwards, almost sending them sprawling into the pool table. Almost. Somehow, Coco managed to find a point of balance, although it was clear to everyone watching that they had been only a breath away from tumbling to the ground as she tried to enact the sensual fantasy playing out in her head.

In the days following this event, Coco would cringe looking back on her overbearing and tactless advances, on the way she literally threw herself onto the mesmerizing woman, headless and entirely lacking in art or grace, though in that moment everything seemed so perfect. In that moment, driven by the frenzied pounding of her heart and the manic way events warped their way through her mind, so beautifully covered in gilded dust, it couldn't have been more perfect. Surely, this was her true love! The one who wouldn't leave, the one who wouldn't abandon her as all the others had done.

[Rhodes]

The Dread Lord smirks quietly to himself. Sera's Leather pants were amazing.

A bitch to pull off quickly, though....

"We are overdue another visit here, I think," Rhodes replies to Sera. That restaurant was always very special. "And perhaps. Perhaps I would distract you instead. Either way, on the same side, distractions would be not so good, hmm?"

He watches as the Springs be... well... Springs. Sonnie is as ever a ball of energy that make it hard to know what to say, she changes topics so quickly. A small sigh escapes at the mention of her tail.

Wyrms.... tails.... some people know nothing of discression.

It's hard to tell if... Miss Chanel has a Court from this distance away, but Rhodes is happy to throw Yamiyo and Sonnie at the exuberant insect-woman if it grants him some peace. And of the former, the Romancer seems to melt at the slightest sight of attention.

Sad, really. Many a spear will pierce such an exposed heart.

The smirk from the corner is noticed, and the Flowering responds with an arched eyebrow and unspoken question. The Winter does as he seems to always do - lurk, and offer simple responses.

And then the kiss. Well. An approximation of one. The Dread Lord recalled seeing more convincing approaches in porn movies from his teenage years. Eyes are rolled. No elegance, no panache, no dance of words and style, just... lust.

"Are we going to play, or not?" he remarks with a smirk. "Care to do the honours, Sonnie?" The flowering gestures to the table.

[Seraphina]

Snickering, she takes a sip of water, seemingly content to watch the scene unfold.

“Why Sonnie, what are you implying about me?” her face showing shock and innocence. But her eyes? Those revealed she knew exactly what Sonnie was doing.

The tail comment gets a laugh, “Always good to have.” Though she would hate to cut into her own leather pants.

Now that was something to keep an eye on. Yamiyo was her own woman, but the Nix was concerned with how much the Succubus wanted to be, well, wanted. Was this a buildup to a heartbreak? Or maybe something more?

Looking to James, she laughed, light and musical this time, “That’s Sonnie!” obviously not caring about how she talked.

“Sounds fair.” The only ringer she’d expect would be Sonnie or Rhodes. Either one of em.

Well, if Yamiyo was looking for love, she may have found lust. That was, well, quite the scene. And she only chuckles quietly to herself. Though she did wonder what Coco saw when she looked at the Succbus. It was clearly something good, something that tugged at her emotions.

“We most certainly are! Just let me know when and I’ll pencil you in.” a playful smirk. “Distract me? Maybe.” But they both knew how that game always ended. “That depends on if I want to win more then distract you.” Wrapping her free arm around him.

“Yes! Lets play!” it’s what they came here to do after all.

[Sonnie Wu]

"I take great care of myself, Yami. I mean, lookit this!" She flexed, showing off her girl muscles. The Beast was obviously in excellent physical shape.

Then she shoved a handful of cheesy nachos in her mouth.

She chewed, swallowed and looked to John with a spot of cheese on her cheek. "Weird? I think you mean awesome. And why are you looking at me like that?" she smirked and twirled her pool cue in one hand, showing a little flourish. Of course, she could do that with her quarterstaff, so the showboating wasn't necessarily indicative of her billiards skills.

The Steepscrambler watched with an odd sort of fascination as the new arrival slathered Yamiyo with saliva and affection like she herself would to a chocolate eclair. She even started to cheer them on, but then it was over. Still, the whole display elicited a squeal of bizarre joy. The hornet woman making out with Jasona Momoa just made her happy. "Oh, congratulations, you two!" she clapped her hands. True love found in the pool hall? Dare we hope?

Sonnie, calm down.

It took Rhodes and Sera to get her back on track with the pool game. Since Coco appeared to be relatively harmless - except perhaps to Yamiyo's virtue - she lowered her guard and focused on playtime. "Huh? Oh, yeah!" Humming serenely, she skipped over and started racking up the balls into the plastic triangle thingie. You know, the rack. "Boop, boop, boop, boop..." she chimed as each ball was placed inside. The Courser seemed to be trying to arrange them by color or something.

She grinned at Sera as she did this, "Whaaaaaaaat? I merely suggest that you are very observant." She held up the cue ball, "You might even say you're... on the ball?"

Pause for laughter.

Pausing.

Pausing.

Really? Nothing?

Nobody appreciates a good pun anymore.

Sighing, she removed the triangle. Her cue stick was utilized, careful and considerate planning and aiming was induced. Stick sharply prodded cue ball. Kee-rakk! The other balls went rolling all over the felt tabletop! Eventually, a striped ball fell into a side pocket. "Yay! I did a pool thing!"

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-04-17 08:50:16		Sonnie Wu rolls 6 to Int + Dex		6, 8, 2, 9, 5, 9		3 successes

[Yamiyo Lillich]

The beasts reply nor the words of anyone else were still lost to the young Succubus, she was stuck in her own mind and emotions swirling, to even begin to hear or view anything around her other than to simply react were beyond her at this point.
The pool cue in the way dropped to allow her to relax easier and get closer, slowly rolling over towards James.

Just standing there, her body slowly getting less and less stiff, starting to relax in the hold of this unknown woman.
Feeling no resistance or attempt to push her away this was just far to nice, a feeling she had rarely felt before. Many a mundane mortal men and women alike had held her before but in the end she always knew that would never lead anywhere as she would be forced to lie to them and love could never blossom in the soil of a lie but this was different this was someone that could see her for who she really were or at least could understand who she were. A feeling like this were what her dreams were made of and she just wanted to enjoy it for one more second before it was all over.

Then suddenly it was all gone, her eyes opening to reality, watching the woman, looking into her eyes with a longing look to get back to that moment. Shivering from the touch, still not knowing how to react or what to do, her heart beating to strongly for her to even begin to understand what she should do.
Her body limber and agile could easily follow down and remain in that position with ease, not noticing the blunder that almost happened.
At first just helplessly feeling the slobbering kiss but it wasn't long before her instincts and experience took over, placing her right arm around the woman, her left gently caressing her cheek, lightly pushing her back before trying to guide her into a well trained warm and passionate kiss, the Succubus might be young but she was a Succubus after all and kissing was something she was very skilled at.

The presence of everyone else totally lost in her mind at this point nothing but the closeness, the hold and the kiss existed in her world.

[James Turner]

Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsHiG-43Fzg

His finger tapped his phone and then hovered there as he lifted his eyes up to view the kiss. His head tilted to the side as he watched, unable to help how creepy it looked. The strange observant shade couldn’t help his nature. But his mind started spinning like a slot machine as it put pieces into place. He could be wrong but he didn’t think he was.

He sighed.

Always the buzz kill John, never the…something.

He looked up and made eye contact with Rhodes as this was happening, he could use the power of the Wyrd and slip him a whisper but it seemed unnecessary.

I think. She’s. High.

He mouthed to Rhodes, if he had to take a guess he’d gather it was…MDMA maybe. Sweat glistening in the light, the tactile sensation, the erratic behavior. He couldn’t say for sure, he’d seen similar behavior in meth addicts on occasion but he’d need to see her pupils to know for sure.

He held up a finger and rolled his neck.

Game face? Worth a shot, slip on that mask and play the role, hopefully you’re right it is possible she’s just crazy. Springs will spring after all.

Everyone would instantly see his posture melt, his body loosen as he took a step closer to pick up the stick before speaking, voice low so it didn’t travel as far with a vibrance to it that was unusual for him.

“Miss Channel, yea? You got another hit, maybe?”

That was the best way he could think to word it, no matter how he asked or what he asked given the current context it was going to seem like he wanted a kiss, which truthfully was the last thing in the world he wanted, especially if she was high. Just wouldn’t be right.

If you guessed incorrectly this is going to suck, if you guessed correctly and she takes offense this is going to suck. Way to be a buzzkill asshole. What if she thinks you mean a kiss

Someone has to keep them safe.

[Coco]

All else had faded into the background, chatter and the clack of pool balls disappearing into a meaningless fugue as she was enveloped by that kiss. Yamiyo's mouth was so warm against hers, her essence so intoxicating as their tongues danced and their movements found a rhythm with one another, blending and joining in their sensual surrender to one another. Hands moved delicately over clothing and antennae gentling brushed and combed through hair. No matter that it had started off so clumsily, no matter that had literally come out of nowhere, the deft touch of the Succubus had transitioned a mess of slavering, selfish lust into something poetic as lips touched and breath was shared.

The soundtrack couldn't have been more perfect, either, those bright tinkling notes and soothing chorus perfectly accompanying that moment of instant romance, if such a thing could exist, though as the lyrics foretold, time did indeed fly, and eventually the two impromptu lovers had to come up for air.

And that was when Coco's ears caught James' words, his question sinking through the cacophony of sensations and thoughts swirling through the drug addled Wasp. For, if there was anything that the Wasp craved more than connection with others, it was that beautiful dust that transformed the garbage fire of her life into the most magnificent of spectacles.

"Maybe," 'Miss Channel' said to James Turner , pulling up from the kiss and setting Yamiyo vertical again, although her hand stayed possessively against the back of her neck.

"How much can you pay? If it's enough, then I could take my gorgeous Yami, here, out to a nice dinner! Wouldn't that be wonderful? And didn't someone mention Italian?"

Coco only had about one bump left, after all, and she hadn't made any connections in town. Sure, there were the clubs, though you couldn't always find the best prices, there, and it was always harder to make a deal in such a loud setting.

[Circe]

Circe had never been to Sharky's before. Most establishments with pool tables she'd gone to had been for work purposes, so a Helluva lot shabbier then Sharky's. But the suit wearing Larcenist decided she'd just scope it out anyway, just in case it had private rooms or something like that.

At least she didn't have to hurt anyway before getting in the door. That was a step up from the other establishments. She'd gone right to the staff to ask questions upon entry. And was disappointed. Save for fire exits it had naught of what would be useful for her business. To cover Circe had to also ask about birthday parties, karaoke, and alcohol serving options for "work parties."

A pointed blue ear twitches as familiar voices drift over to her. She puts a $20 on the snack bar, "Well that settles my work but I hear some angels calling me. That'll cover my joining 'em ta talk fer a bit, right? Great, rest is tip."

And doesn't even bother to wait for a reply before spinning and pushing off the snack bar to head towards the familiar voices. Getting closer they match up with familiar faces and an unfamiliar one. "Who caused this good surprise? Hello my familiar little boys and girls," she spread her arms wide in greeting as she joins the gathering. Then Coco gets an appraising look with narrowed red and black eyes. Before a happy smile and tiny hello wave, "And hello the unfamiliar one. Ya got introductions yet? And yes sometimes I'm called Smurfette," she nods in admittance to this, "With this mug it's a given."

She then eyes her fellow monarchs. "This is a lot nicer then most pool halls I've visited. Lil' less Summer time fun, but cleaner. What's the game tonight?"

Because why not?

[Rhodes]

"Pencil me in?" Rhodes remarks incredulously, Large emerald eyes twinkling. "I would have hoped I could have a little more pull on your schedule than that...." he chuckles. "I leave that decision up to you, darling. But if you you distract me too much we may not win." Which just wouldn't do.

The Monkey's pun raises and amused eyebrow as Rhodes chalks his cue. It was a good break.

Yamiyo was busy exploring Coco's tonsils, so she was out. John's mouthing of works was stared at, and offered a shrug. Drugs? Outside of his sphere. "And do.... what?" he replies to John, not bothering to lower his voice. "Not something I know how to handle, John." Decades in the Hedge? means you miss a lot of those "formative" late-teen experiences. Coco seemed to be focused on him now anyways.

With things handled, he lined up his shot....

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-04-18 13:02:14		Rhodes rolls 5 to Shoot some pool - Int+Dex (10 Again)		3, 1, 7, 3, 4		failure

And misshit. That short Skirt of Sera's seemed to be in his mind's eye even when not looking at it.

Damn.

At least there was a convenient distraction.

"Good evening!" He says cheerily. "You found your way to us. Congratulations."