---- Recall start ---- Nicodemus pages: Babe! Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny swoons. Nick spoke to me! He's so *~~~dreamy~~~*. From afar, Nicodemus is, like, bored and stuff. So bored, he considered speaking to you. :) Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny scrabbles for these social leavings like a starving pigeon at breadcrumbs. From afar, Nicodemus could slither campuswards maybe. Might invite some other people to see if we can get critical mass RP. Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny just might postpone a shower for a promise like that. From afar, Nicodemus haunts the gameroom. Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny zooms! *** Jenny(#2927Pcq) Black silk blouse over black broomstick skirt, black stockings and black pumps, but so very not Goth. Shoulder-length auburn hair is pulled back away from her square face in a ponytail with a black scrunchy, showing off angular jaw, upturned chin and crystal blue eyes. *** Currently in Saint Claire, it is raining heavily. The temperature is 49o Farenheit (9 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the south at 16 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.88 and rising, and the relative humidity is 100 percent. The dewpoint is 49o Farenheit (9 degrees Celsius.) Nicodemus is over by one of the pool tables, idly stabbing at the balls in a manner far too recreational for him to be taking the game the least bit seriously. He's playing alone. *** Nicodemus This under-twenty teen has a gaunt build and anemic-white flesh. A war between light and dark takes place about him--and the darkness is winning. His hair is no longer black; it's blackish-purple and hangs to shoulder length in a stylishly unkempt manner. His eyes resemble cat pupils. The Darkling's nails are tipped with metallic-gray polish. Around his neck hangs a silver skull necklace with a red crystal inside. A second necklace, easily overlooked, bears a simple silver crucifix. A black leather jacket covers his torso. On its back, there's a skull mosaic composed from hundreds of mirror shards. Beneath the jacket is a black T-shirt proclaiming "D.A.R.E. to keep kids off drugs" in bold white letters. His pants are a faded orange denim--almost the color of melted orange sherbit--with black suspenders flopping loose and unused. A length of chromed chain about his waist serves as a completely unneeded belt. Finishing the outfit isa black pair of rugged 18-hole boots. *** Student Union: Recreation Hall Tucked into the basement of the Union, two floors under the Sun room and down the stairs from the Commons, is this cave-like, subterranean room which rivals the arcades of a Mall. In the front half of this room divided by a wooden railing and posts are both ancient and recent video games, from the original 'Space Invaders', 'Galaga', and 'Dragon's Lair' to 'Mortal Kombat IV', 'Daytona USA', and 'Lethal Enforcers'. Electronic special affects vie with the sound of the beeping and mechanical noises of four pinball games lined up along the sides of the room. In the back half, on the other side of the railing from the entrance, is a better lit area, mostly filled with table games: a few pool tables, one for foosball, and even one for air hockey. In the far back corner are a few tables and chairs useful for card games, and a jukebox stands against one wall, filled with a collection of CDs ranging from classic through pop, hard, acid, and grunge rock rap and some alternative. Jenny storms down the stairs, reflecting the weather in more ways than one as she pours water from clothing and body onto the floor beneath her and glares about the room with thunderheads rolling out on her gaze. Arms akimbo, she hits the bottom of the steps and studies the room, trying to decide on her next step. Nicodemus pokes at the white ball and manages to sink a striped one. He starts chalking the tip of the cue excessively, as if maybe that were half the fun of the game, whilest looking around the room to check on various people and such. He nods over towards Jenny's direction. Jenny does not immediately notice Nick's presence. She sloshes over toward the counter, water running down the faux-wood siding as she murmurs to the boy behind the counter. He eyes her and smiles, but shakes his head to the negative. Nicodemus goes back to his game as Jenny mosies over to chitchat with the help. Blue chalkdust falls onto the green table. Then he doesn't take a shot. He just stands back up and starts chalking yet again while walking around the table and sizing the layout up. Jenny curls her lip back and snarls at the boy before stomping away, sprays of water coming off her wrists at each individual impact. *Now* she spots Nick, and stops dead. Nicodemus meanders about the table, circling to the other side, then back to almost where he started--taking the long way. Still chalking the cue the entire time, he now stops and the blue dust floats to the ground in a heavy cloud. Now, finally, he lines up the shot. Back. Forth. Back. Forth. Repeat half a dozen more times. *clink!* The white ball travels across the table, bounces off the side, passes through a collective rabble of balls without touching a single one, and sinks into a hole in a corner pocket. The table emits quiet rumblings lost in the ambient noise of the gameroom as the ball rolls towards the recovery bin. Nick stands and straightens, surveying the balls remaining and not bothering to go get the white one for the time being. Jenny licks her lips nervously and eyes the Mortal Wombat II machine, as if gauging the space it offers to hide her behind. Then she quietly, casually turns and moves calmly toward the stairs again. Nicodemus pages: Have to leave? You paged Nicodemus with 'Not a bit.'. *Whap!* A light and brief pressure on the back of your jacket, as if someone briefly poked you on the upper right shoulder blade. Then a little square thing rolls off to one side in front of you. It's a well-used thing of blue cue-stick chalk. No telling where that came from! Jenny flinches, then turns slowly as she tries to tuck bits of loose hair back in the direction of her ponytail. "Oh, hey," she says once she's forced her body to swivel back toward the pool tables, "How's it goin'?" Nicodemus leans on the pool stick casually--sans chalk cube. "Fine here. You look like a sopping wet pussy," miniscule pause, "cat." He pushes on the stick and shifts his weight to lean against the table. "Ready for another semester of hell?" Jenny tries to look casual as she strolls toward the table, arms thrown across her chest, hand straying up to brush a soaked tendril of hair from a cherry-red cheek. "As ready as I'll get, you know. I may even pay for 'em this time." She licks her lips again. "You?" "As ready as I'd ever be, I guess." Nicodemus reaches forth to squeeze your shirt sleeve, coaxing cold water from it and, upon removing his hand, leaving the spot just a little warmer from his touch. "Sort of excited, actually. Majoring in art now." He brings his moistened hand to his lips to taste the rainwater. "Quite a storm outside," he declares after tasting the water. You paged Nicodemus with 'Evil man.'. Nicodemus pages: Art is pretty evil, yup. Jenny's complexion reddens, and she does not immediately provide a reply. Then finally she nods, drawing her arms in closer to her body. "Uh. Yeah, I... missed the weather report, wasn't expecting it. Heh. Obviously." She fidgets slightly, shifting her weight to her other foot. "Art? What medium?" Nicodemus briefly raises the hand under his nose, then lets it fall to his side. "Metals and wood. I'd like to combine the modern industrial themes with the traditional feel of dark, polished hardwood here and there. What are you into this semester?" Jenny doesn't look up. "Not getting a crush on gay teachers. I think I'll double major in having a brain." Nicodemus tisks softly, once. "Big mistake, but you know how hearts work--completely independent of reason." He leans against the side of the pool table with his hip, seemingly dwelling on his own words for a moment. Jenny grins and shrugs, but still doesn't look away from the green felt. "Yeah. I got a kind of a bad history with crushes. The best ones are the ones that just ignore me." A pause. "God, I look like hell. This blouse is ruined. I spent fuckin' sixty bucks on this, and I'll go home and all my underthings will be all splotchy black because it bled all over them before it died." Nicodemus finds the gothic silver lining. "You could just dye the underthings black, too. And those who ignore are certainly missing out, I'm sure." He looks back to the pool table, seemingly studying it as he drops the white ball back onto the playing field. Jenny takes a breath and mutters something to herself, camoflaging the move by reaching up to straighten her hair again as she does so. "So. Rack 'em up? Loser buys?" she asks, finally lifting her head. Nicodemus doesn't think the offer over for more than a second before he reaches for the triangular device to position the balls. "Sure. Except I was planning on watching a new DVD later so I'd rather not hit a bar, win or lose." He lifts the triangle and offers the stick to you. "You can join me if you want. You going first?" Jenny reaches and takes the stick, taking hold before she finishes processing. A pause, a blink, and then a nod. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. What's your game?" She studies him, watching for a response. Nicodemus purses his lips slightly. "The one where one person tries to get all the solids down and the other person the stripes and then do the 8-ball." A shrug and a faint upward curve of a corner of his mouth. "Forgot what it's called but it seems to be fairly popular." Jenny dips her head in agreement, and goes to the head of the table. "Clear!" she calls, before sending the white ball down the table with some speed but little aim. Nicodemus props his elbows on the edge of the table beside you, watching the balls and the ensuing chaos surrounding the initial break. "Is it customary to say 'clear' when starting?" He sounds generally curious, as if he doesn't know and had never seen such a thing before. Jenny shrugs. "I just thought I'd give you warning, in case one of these things got air and hopped the table. Or accidentally went into a pocket. No fear on either case, looks like." Nicodemus offers, "Want a few pointers?" Not that he's likely to be much better than you judging from his prior goofing around. Jenny looks up from the table, clinging to her stick and leaning against it, then nods and smiles. "Yeah, that'd be sporting of you." "Okay. Set up again," Nick instructs as he goes to fetch the white ball and bring it back to its starting position. "You want to get down and close to the table than you were. More eye level," he advises. Jenny scoops the balls quickly into the plastic triangle. "Down and close to the table. Like bend my knees, or lean forward?" she asks, as she moves back to the cue-ball end of the table. Nicodemus recommends, "Legs straight and bend over the table. You want to be nice and stable." Jenny nods as if she understands perfectly. Then she tries to lean forward, keep her legs straight and not tip forward onto the table. "You're on crack," she mutters. "Not this month," the goth replies to the comment. "And then you want to rest your left hand on the table and lay the stick between the valley between your knuckles. You've got to keep the hand relaxed, though. Otherwise you'll mess up." Nicodemus moves closer to you, getting low to the table with you for better perspective. "Oh!" she exclaims, "I can lean on the table. That'll help." She tries this new trick and is far more successful. "Okay. Um. Like this?" She runs the cue between the knuckles of her spread index and middle finger, aiming toward the cue ball. Nicodemus moves in closer, making minor adjustments to your leading hand. "Okay," he says, hesitating a moment before actually coming in contact with your wet clothes as he leans to instruct further. As usual, there's a lot of body heat coming from him. "Now run the stick back and forth gently over your hand. Don't tense up with your left arm. Particularly the fingers. Just get a feel for it. Make a rhythm." Jenny rocks back and forth a bit as she slides the stick up and down the valley she's created. "Mm hmmm. Like this? Relaxed enough?" she asks, turning her head to look back at him. "Yeah," Nicodemus says. "Back and forth and back and forth and back and then just follow through." Jenny grins. "Do I say 'clear' first?" Nicodemus shakes his head negatively. "It's not so much the amount of power you use, but more about the smoothness of the impact. Just let it slip forwards unhindered. Follow through." Jenny doesn't look convinced, but is apparently willing to try. She turns back to frown at the cue ball, adjusts herself, and slides... back and forth and back and forth and then follows... through. The cue ball connects with the formation and, with a clatter, the balls scatter in different directions with varying velocities. There's a clunk as a striped ball sinks in one back pocket and a follow up thunk as a second drops in a second afterwards. The cue ball ends up about 10 inches away from an easy tap shot that is all but guaranteed to drop into the hole. "Hey, that was pretty good," Nicodemus comments as he rights himself, clothes slightly darkened from contact with your wet ones. Jenny stands up sharply in surprise. "Wow! That was--they went in. And I wasn't even--wow." Nicodemus pages: Wow, it was like, a magickal shot there! :) You paged Nicodemus with 'I'm sure that didn't even occur to her. She's just impressed that a shot she wasn't even paying attention to went so well.'. Nicodemus pages: Ain't coincidence grand? Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny thinks it was no coincidence. She conspired to get him to grab her. Nicodemus pages: The classic "lemme help you with that pool shot" scene. Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny nodnods. Nicodemus takes a step back from the pool table to allow you room to play and manuever freely. "You get to go again. Looks like you've got an easy shot, too. Think you've got the hang of it?" Jenny chews her lip as she looks at it. "One more time?" she finally asks, sounding nervous and uncertain. Nicodemus exhales through his nose and moves closer. "You're not going to have me doing this all night, are you?" Jenny murmurs "Only if I'm lucky..." as she leans over the table, propping the stick on her knuckles. "I'm sorry, I know it's not hard, but I'm still getting the feel of it." "You were already lucky once," Nicodemus comments as he repositions himself to assist. "Maybe you'll get lucky later, too?" From afar, Nicodemus thinks this conversation has officially gone to the gutter. Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny has been waiting quite patiently. Jenny leans over the table, actually paying some attention to the cue this time. "My fortune cookie at lunch said I should expect great things to happen today," she says casually as she strikes a second time. It's an easy shot and nigh impossible to screw up. Predictably, the ball goes in. "Great expectations." Nicodemus rights himself again. "You've got too much of a head start for me to catch up. I guess I'll just have to concede so we can just head over to my place. Ready?" Jenny grins. "Got something dry for me to change into? A loaner, like?" She sets the stick down on the table. "Maybe something kinda neo-gothic?" "I've got some things laying around, yeah." Nicodemus reaches for his jacket. "Probably do you some good to take a hot shower while I dig it up, though. Get warmed up a bit and shake off the chill." Jenny reaches up again to straighten her hair, and her shoulders slump as she smiles at him. "That sounds great, said Admiral Scott, shaking the ice out of his lovely new haircut." Nicodemus runs a hand through his own hair, pushing it out of his eyes. "Thought you might appreciate that. You're a bit cold to the touch." He heads for the exit and offers, "I could just swing the car over to pick you up at the entryway. Or are you just going to brave the rain again seeing as you're already all wet?" Jenny shrugs. "How worried are you about your upholstery? I'm only kinda damp now." Nicodemus simply shrugs. "It'll survive. If it doesn't, I'll just put in the new stuff I was looking at a few months ago." Jenny grins. "Then let's just go. Or *I* can bring it around so *you* don't get wet." "No way!" Nick says as he heads outside and picks up the pace to dash towards where he's parked, one hand fumbling keys out of his jacket pocket so they'll be ready by the time he gets to the metallic purple muscle car. Jenny dashes along behind him, splashing with utter disregard. "I'd just drive it a little. I hardly ever crashed. The cop said it wasn't even my fault one of the times!" Nicodemus comes up on the driver's side first and opens the door quickly, reaching across to unlock and open the other door promptly. "Nope. Can't drive the Purple People Eater," he says, obstinate in this matter apparently but still maintaining a tone of distant bemusement. The engine turns over and settles into a gutteral, gas-sucking, rumbling purr that vibrates the vehicle soothingly. Despite the car's age, it's in good shape and little modern amenities such as a CD player, fuzzbuster, and various other electronic gadgets have been added. Jenny slips inside as quickly as she can, dropping herself onto the huge seat. The metal door crashes shut after her as she starts looking for a seatbelt. "So what's the inflight movie?" "Mad Max," Nicodemus says as he puts the car in gear and drives straight forwards, crossing over the sidewalk, clunking over the 4 inch curb, and accelerating down the wet streets towards his father's house and the place where the aborted attempt at a band had met over a year ago. From afar, Nicodemus hates to be rude, but he's going to take time out while driving to give Jenny a once over with a Life/spirit/prime scan to check for hideous things like diseases or inadvertant werewolfishness. You'd be amazed these days! Jenny quickly fastens herself in and nods. She doesn't speak much during the trip, but her gaze drifts to the driver more than once, leaving the rain-besotted streets for only seconds at a time however. Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny grins and is sure Jenny won't be at all offended. Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny thinks a moment. Nothing hideous comes to mind. She might be getting a cold. Nicodemus pages: Well, want to just end it here then? I'm not keen on doing these sorts of scenes. You paged Nicodemus with 'No sweat. We should sometime establish what happens, but other than that we're clear.'. From afar, Nicodemus would wager that sex happened. With standard precautions and whatnot. And Nick tends to cheat a bit with magick to heighten the experience for both parties in coincidental ways. With great power comes great responsibility. Good thing Nick doesn't have great power. Long distance to Nicodemus: Jenny snickers. Nicodemus pages: CoXers use pleasure to make magic. Nick uses magick to make pleasure. Subtle differences. ---- Recall end ----
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