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Post by Pyro on Dec 21, 2006 20:33:09 GMT
It’s… sort of underwhelming, really, once he gets inside. Too close to a *real* house, too recognisably something that was once cosy and has since decayed rather than something genuinely scary, as if the family just up and left and forgot the place… and at the same time too *knowingly* Haunted House, almost like a film set, too perfect and sterile to be genuinely spooky. Just empty and lonely, really, more melancholic than spine-tingling. Nowhere near as scary as the grapevine mythology made it out to be, which means spending a night here will be a piece of cake…
… for him, at least. Which is all good because being clear-headed enough to watch the others promise to be fairly entertaining for as long as ‘clear-headed’ can be (and once it isn’t… well, their cargo should take care of that… tagging underage drinking onto breaking and entering… genius). Josh’s attempts at covering up his nerves are far too entertaining, Rogue as if in counterpoint seems to be relaxing which usually bodes well, and as for Bobby… well, John’s given up trying to read him since this thing with Rogue came out of nowhere and bit them in the ass. Because seriously, what the hell? Just when the kid was starting to get interesting she steals him away he turns into Mr. Perfect Boyfriend and totally wrecks his chances and he’s stuck as the third frickin’ wheel…
Which is why tonight rocks, really. Because he’s back in charge the way he should be, back in the middle of things they do as a three… okay, foursome (that much has changed, but having Josh around isn’t a problem, because it’s good to have someone more on the edges than him is good, and the new kid has a weirdly endearing habit of reminding them who ‘the ringleader’ is), normal stuff like sneaking out and getting drunk rather than the world of dating and couples and ‘trying not to make certain individuals feel like dead weight when they’re so obviously intruding’ (except that all three of them know it’s more complicated than that, and that however awkward it is with him trailing around it would be so much worse if they didn’t have that as an excuse for the awkwardness… yep. Totally.)
It’s tempting to insist on another room as a petty gesture of yep, I’m the leader-ness, but here’s good, really, and so he just shrugs and sends the orb darting over to the fireplace where it crackles and hisses like a *proper* hearth fire, illuminating that corner of the room in an orange-gold glow. Rogue’s query is a little harder to answer… because now they’re here… yeah, he totally didn’t think this through, at least not beyond the *get them to scary house and…*… yeah. What the hell do they actually do now?
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Post by Bobby Drake on Mar 5, 2007 22:21:46 GMT
(( OOC: So, this thread has been collecting dust for a while, but I thought it might be fun to restart as a bit of nostalgia, what with all their relationships going weird places in current-time. ))
They’ve been here about an hour, and the truth is the “haunted house” has been a little bit of a let-down. Even John’s creepy lighting effects with the fireplace hadn’t really made the place seem scary, and Bob’s attempts at sending chills down Marie’s back just got him glared at. So far, the scariest part of the evening has been the way he and Josh almost died getting out of his room, and worrying about what Storm is going to do when she finds out about her flower-garden.
Still, it’s nice to get out of the Institute, even if it’s only to a rundown abandoned building. They’d actually managed to get a real fire going in that broken-down old fireplace (granted, it took Josh telekinetically blasting what must have been a decade’s worth of soot and dead birds out of the chimney, and John forcing what had once been firewood to burn, in order to pull off that trick), and he and Marie have finally found a reasonably comfortable position that doesn’t risk disaster, and much to Bobby’s surprise John’s “supplies” had included snacks as well as booze. So, all told, it’s actually turning into a relatively pleasant night out.
The game that Bobby is privately calling The World’s Goofiest Ghost Stories lasted less than a round before everyone gave it up as a lost cause, and the conversation has turned to “how’d you join the Institute?” stories… currently his own. "…and, well, it was a little bit like what happened to Storm’s flower-garden earlier tonight, except on a larger scale. Ice everywhere… piles and drifts and mountains of it. And everybody saw it: my parents, all my teammates, my coach, the other team, all their parents… everybody."
"You’ve never met my folks, I guess, but… well, let’s just say they didn’t handle it well. Lucky for me, that’s when Professor Xavier showed up, and made everybody forget everything, except for a freak snowstorm. Never thought I’d be so grateful for freaky New England winter; everybody took that explanation in stride."
He chuckles, trying to make light of it, though the truth is he still wakes up at night sometimes, remembering that moment, and it takes him a few minutes to remember that everything since then hasn’t been some kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy. "It’s sorta nice, I guess, getting to test-run coming out to them – er, as a mutant – before committing to the real thing… at least I know they’re going to freak if I ever do tell them." He shrugs, then adds a bit defensively: " It’s good to know. Anyway, the Professor explained the whole ‘mutant’ thing to me, and Scott and Jean showed off their powers, and… I dunno, I guess I was tired of feeling alone. So when they invited me, I pretty much jumped at the chance." He tilts his head back to smile at Marie, and adds: "Haven’t regretted it since."
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Post by Rogue on Mar 6, 2007 21:47:24 GMT
So far the night’s been …fun. Nice, almost peaceful, in a weird way. They’re all pretty well at ease here; she’s not even panicky at being this close to Bobby (though when he moves occasionally, she cant help but tense slightly, but she’s not been doing it so much, lately). ‘Course, the drinks could have helped with that…
The ‘ghost stories’ had failed miserably, more amusing than anything remotely scary, and it seemed they’d disproved the rumor of this mansion being “haunted” fairly quickly; it was nothing more than an abandoned house, and the scariest thing about it was the occasional spider…
She shifts slightly to reach over and get a few more of the Oreos from the package, gathering a small handful of the little chocolaty cookies. She doesn’t actually mind the topic that’s taken over (hearing the others’ stories isn’t a bad thing), but she’s not so sure she’ll want to tell her own story when the time comes – besides, they know most of it already, right? And tonight isn’t really supposed to end up angsty – it’s supposed to be a break from the whole boring and depressing nothingness that’s been spreading around…
“[…] So when they invited me, I pretty much jumped at the chance. Haven’t regretted it since."[/color]
She returns his grin with one of her own, “'M glad y’did, hon.” And, yeah, whatever, so it’s sorta sappy – so what? She is glad. And besides, they’re entitled to sappy, right? It’s part of the couple-thing.
…John seems to not be paying very close attention. At all, really, almost to the point it seems he's not paying attention on purpose... well that won't do. She takes one of the little cookies she’s holding, and lobs it at his head with a grin. “Johnny. Pass the pretzels.”
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Post by Pyro on Mar 7, 2007 1:46:44 GMT
… so, the spooky fell more than a little bit flat, and somewhere along the line they opted for ‘cosy’ instead and this became a ‘sleepover’ rather than an adventure. John probably ought to object to his plan being sabotaged, to things slipping back into something that feels like accommodating Rogue into what should be a guys’ night out, but whatever; fact is, this still feels good. So he’s stretched out on his stomach, pointedly absorbed in watching the abstracted figures of spiralling flame shift over his left palm as he idly manipulates them rather than look over at the golden couple show playing out over on Planet Bob-and-Rogue. It’s only making sure he gets his fair share (or… hmm, it probably works out as ‘more than’, but whatever) of the bottle as it makes its rounds which keeps him ‘in’ things at all; otherwise he’s feigning total disinterest, because he’s heard the story enough times before back when Bobby was in his ‘trying to make friends’ stage and because he doesn’t want the conversation to turn to ‘so, John, how did you end up here?’.
< M’glad y’did, hon
… gack. How the hell do people come out with crap like that and not die of shame over what they’re spouting? Seriously, it’s sickening… John rolls his eyes and shifts slightly, still deliberately not looking over, and if the figures become less abstract and more like a couple for a moment he’s quick to correct it, though it’s bloody hard to be deliberately random…
”Hey!” They dissipate completely as Rogue’s projectile cookie makes its impact – her aim’s shit, and it bounces off his shoulder rather than colliding with his head, but it’s still irritating and distracting, and he glares and considers sending back something a little more, erm, fiery (because he could do that, could blink it out last second and just scare the two of them so maybe they’d move apart and stop being all cute and couple-ish)
< Johnny, Pass the pretzels
Pretzels’ll do, though. Less risk of destroying the mood, for one thing, because it’s rare enough for them to have an evening where they can be like this without it being either ‘a date John’s tagging along on’ or ‘a blokes’ night tamed to suit Rogue’. So he scowls semi-playfully, and throws the requested snack ( with better aim and slightly more force than Rogue) – ”Knock yourself out, Leechette” (okay, maybe using the nickname is a little harsh, but she called him Johnny for crissakes, and no, he doesn’t think she should perhaps be the one person who can get away with that because she made her choice and lost that chance) – before settling back into making his own entertainment as before.
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Post by Josh Dalton Worthington on Mar 7, 2007 4:21:05 GMT
The evening had been pretty good so far, Josh reflects. He could tell that John was relieved at it no longer being some kind of messed up ‘date + 1’… and it was fun to hang out with everyone without some of the grownups around.
He accepts the bottle from John, and takes a small drink. There was no way he was keeping up with the self-professed Jack Daniels himself, so he figured it was best not to try. Managing not to make a face, he sets it down and snags an oreo.
“You know, this is so campy… but if you really want know, my telekinesis surfaced at school.” Josh rolls his eyes. “Which was about the worst place ever for it to happen. When I was little I had some inkling that something odd was going on, but I mostly tried to ignore it. Objects shaking on my desk when I was upset.. that kind of thing. Anyway, I was at school one day and this idiot started picking on one of my friends. I just got so angry, and, er…” He looks embarrassed. “I kind of threw him across the hallway into a bank of lockers with my powers. Unfortunately, in the old days my aim wasn’t so good, and my friend was sent to the hospital with a concussion.”
Josh looks shamefaced. “Greg just got a day off of school while his brain sorted itself out, but I put the guy who hit the lockers into an arm and leg cast. The thing was, no one could figure out what happened. Rumor was that they were going to discipline Greg, which I couldn’t live with. The day before I was going to turn myself in, Jean and Ororo showed up outside my house after school.”
“You have no idea how much it relieved me that I wasn’t becoming delusional. The idea of having telekinesis used to scare the crap out of me… but I’ve pretty much adjusted to it. I told my family while Jean and Ororo were there to back me up. Mom said she always knew there was something different about me.” He grins. “Maybe too many broken lamps? It was a relief that she took it so well. Dad was on business, and frankly, sometimes I’m not sure that he even remembers that I’m telekinetic.”
Josh licks the oreo filling off the cookie. “There, my deep secret past. All gone, even, because Professor Xavier altered everyone’s memories except my family’s.”
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Post by Bobby Drake on Mar 8, 2007 21:42:15 GMT
> " So when they invited me, I pretty much jumped at the chance. Haven’t regretted it since"
> " 'M glad y’did, hon. "
Bobby grins even more broadly at the response, surprised and pleased… Marie isn’t usually quite as affectionate as that in public, and it’s nice. Especially with John around to see it, after all the crap he’s gotten from his roommate about his “untouchable” girlfriend.
> " Johnny. Pass the pretzels."
> "Knock yourself out, Leechette"
Their weird little food-fight is almost entertaining, but Bobby bristles at the “Leechette” business. He’s considering making an issue of it when Josh intervenes with his “how I got here" story…
> " The idea of having telekinesis used to scare the crap out of me… but I’ve pretty much adjusted to it.[…] There, my deep secret past. All gone, even, because Professor Xavier altered everyone’s memories except my family’s."
"Well, at least they got to remember it. I bet that makes it easier to talk to them, huh?" He tries to keep the whininess out of his voice, not entirely successfully – it’s hard, having to lie to his family all the time about what he’s doing, what his friends are like, all of that stuff. He hasn’t even told them about Marie, because it’s all just too complicated. He can just imagine it: “You’d like her, mom… well, except don’t do that thing you always do where you kiss people on the cheeks; you’d probably pass out or worse…” He shakes his head. It’s not going to happen, because they’re never going to find out, because he’s never going to tell them. Ever.
Even if he does get tired, sometimes, of hiding who he is all the time.
"Though I guess we’re lucky the Professor can do that… we’d have a hard time keeping the Institute a secret without his mutation." He wonders whether Josh will ever learn to do things like that, and shivers a little at the thought… it’s one thing for the Professor, he’s in charge and everything, but the idea of some kid his own age being able to control minds is harder to accept.
"How about you, Johnny… anybody get mindwiped when you joined up?" He uses the nickname, despite knowing how much John hates it, as a way of getting back at him for the “Leechette” business.
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Post by Pyro on Mar 16, 2007 8:02:45 GMT
< You know, this is so campy
”No argument here” John smirks, retrieving the Jacks (really, it’s such a waste; hence why he has to make up for them by showing proper appreciation for it…). Because this whole set up really is, isn’t it? It’s not like any of that matters, really, not like he needs or indeed wants to know everyone’s tragic little back story.
< … my deep secret history. All gone
< Well, at least they got to remember…
Bla bla bla… whine… yawn. Now he’s not just *pointedly not paying attention* but genuinely zoning them out, concentrating instead on savouring the slow burn of alcohol on his tongue (because at this rate, he won’t be in any state to appreciate it when they finally peter out and it’s not so much a distraction as the only thing happening) and on perfecting the whole Oreo-twist thing – not activities which sit too well together, so he fucks it up more times than he succeeds and there’s a rapidly growing pile of broken *top half* biscuits (because dammit, he is going to get this right) next to the bottle.
< How about you, Johnny?
The (mostly) unexpected question makes him fumble this split – the one he’s so very nearly got perfect – and he frowns at the break before flashing Bobby a death glare, because it’s his fault, and because he used the nickname and is getting very close to asking…
< … anybody get mindwiped when you joined up?
… correction, has just asked one of the questions you do not ask. Shit, he’d have thought the kid would have learned by now that John wasn’t one to spill about any of those things – home, family, how he got here, where it’s all going, anything like that (which probably makes for a very dull conversation, but at least it’s one where you’re not likely to be set on fire).
”No, Drake.” He begins dryly, his lack of amusement fairly plainly written in both tone and expression. ”I’ve never needed anyone mindwiped.”
And… oh. Oh, that’s brilliant. Beyond brilliant. Because he’s just found himself a fairly neat escape route. The semi-scowl reverts into an equally typical smirk, as he vaguely pokes the bottle of Jacks in Bob’s direction, a half-wave, half-point gesture taking in him and Josh. ”And we all know Leechy’s epic saga by now, so she gets to say ‘I never’ as well. You two, however, don’t. So you have to drink”
… why yes, he is very pleased with himself. Duh. A drinking game is obviously what this night needs.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Mar 16, 2007 13:39:18 GMT
> " And we all know Leechy’s epic saga by now, so she gets to say ‘I never’ as well. You two, however, don’t. So you have to drink."
Bobby snorts in amusement without intending to, feeling a little guilty for letting the “Leechy” thing go unchallenged again but not really wanting to turn the evening into another one of their pointless arguments… especially since Marie rarely seems to appreciate it when he does. So he settles for continuing to use John’s much-loathed nickname in retaliation.
"Oh… are we playing that again, Johnny? That didn’t end so well last time, but sure, why not?" He leans closer to John to take the bottle from him, whispering “I’ve never worn bunny slippers” quietly near his ear and smirking a little before taking a swig and handing it to Josh.
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Post by Rogue on Mar 17, 2007 5:47:30 GMT
”Hey!” [/color]
She grins, and sticks her tongue out at him at the protest; it wasn’t like it was anything painful, just a cookie. And it hadn’t even hit where it’d been meant to, either (which would have been far more amusing, if it had, but she’s content with having gotten his attention, at least for now).
”Knock yourself out, Leechette.”
She ducks slightly and catches the bag of pretzels before it hits her, then grins and opens them up, reaching a gloved hand inside, pulling some out. ”Thank’ya.” She flashes another grin, and crunches quietly as she can on the newly-caught snacks as Josh shares his own story, tilting the bag over towards Bobby and shooting a half-smile, silently offering him some.
“ […] There, my deep secret past. All gone, even, because Professor Xavier altered everyone’s memories except my family’s.”[/color]
"How about you, Johnny… anybody get mindwiped when you joined up?"
”No, Drake. I’ve never needed anyone mindwiped.”[/color]
She can almost see the proverbial lightbulb over his head as some idea strikes, and his expression shifts to a more amused-smirk than the previous scowl that had been in place, and she raises an eyebrow slightly, absently nibbling at a pretzel. Whatever it is, it’ll be interesting, she’s sure.
”And we all know Leechy’s epic saga by now, so she gets to say ‘I never’ as well. You two, however, don’t. So you have to drink”[/color]
"Oh… are we playing that again, Johnny? That didn’t end so well last time, but sure, why not?"[/color]
She blinks, and tilts her head slightly, questioningly, biting at a pretzel carefully so that it forms an 8-like shape, glancing at it a second, then over towards the guys as Bobby takes a drink from the bottle. ”...What’re we doin’?” And yes that sounds slightly airheaded, but… well, she’s not entirely sure what game they’re talking about, or how it’s played, or whatever, and she'd rather ask than try to figure it out on her own.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Apr 3, 2007 0:32:18 GMT
> " And we all know Leechy’s epic saga by now, so she gets to say ‘I never’ as well. You two, however, don’t. So you have to drink "
> " Oh… are we playing that again, Johnny? That didn’t end so well last time, but sure, why not?"
> "What’re we doin’?"
"It’s a drinking game, hon… ‘I never’. "
Bobby’s surprised that Marie doesn’t know the game – it’s such a John thing, after all, and he’s come to expect Marie to be more in tune with John-things than he is. Surprised and pleased, actually… it’s like he’s scored a point in some game the rules to which he doesn’t really understand.
"The idea is, each person says something they’ve never done, and everyone else who has done it has to take a drink. Like John never needed anyone mindwiped, and me and Josh both did… oh, right, which reminds me." He hands the bottle to Josh and settles comfortably back into Marie’s lap.
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Post by Josh Dalton Worthington on Apr 12, 2007 4:26:02 GMT
> "Well, at least they got to remember it. I bet that makes it easier to talk to them, huh?"
Josh opens his mouth to say something, but thinks better of it after detecting the slightly off tone in Bobby’s voice. It sounded like it really upset him that his parents weren’t okay with the whole mutant thing. Definitely a contrast from John. Wherever ‘Mrs. Allerdyce’ was, it was clear John didn’t give a fuck what she thought of the whole thing.
> ”And we all know Leechy’s epic saga by now, so she gets to say ‘I never’ as well. You two, however, don’t. So you have to drink”
Josh looks at each of the others in turn, a mixture of amusement and curiosity on his face. He’d never really heard about Rogue’s epic saga, beyond how it sort of linked into the X-Men’s Ellis Island mission back in the spring. I guess it’s a Bobby-Rogue-John thing. Something always popped up to remind him he wasn’t quite a member of the ‘inner circle’. By accident, of course… it was probable he was the only one who thought of it that way.
Josh takes the bottle from Bobby’s hand and sips from it, trying not to make a face. Gross.
“Um… so that means I go? Give me a second…” The point of the game was to be the last one standing - literally, he supposed. So something common that I haven’t done.
“I’ve… never been out of the country?” It comes out as more of a question, but Josh hovers the bottle in the middle of the circle with his powers, waiting for the first victim international traveler to speak up.
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Post by Pyro on Apr 16, 2007 1:57:01 GMT
< That didn’t end too well last time…
No, it didn’t. Though he’d not known how badly before, thinking that Bobby had been blessed with drink-induced amnesia and remained ignorant of how exactly it ended up… The uncharacteristic show of metaphorical balls (okay, bad image, given the literal… no, bad. Amnesia sure would be good right now) floors him somewhat… and the continued one-upmanship raises a deep, if short lived given the general mood, scowl; fuckin’ Iceman. He’s not sure how points are scored or what they count towards, but it still smarts to concede them even if neither he nor Bobby are quite sure of the game.
< I’ve never been out of the country?
… ooh. Well, whoopee. Drink for him. Rather a boring one to start with, and simultaneously (and paradoxically given how the game could turn) perhaps revealing a little more than he was comfortable with if the others were in the mood to start asking for specifics and whatnot, but whatever. The more drink the better.
He quirks a quick grin, nods towards the bottle, pausing just short of taking it for himself in a silent Well? towards the happy couple before downing his measure in a short, sharp gesture and setting the bottle back down with another What about you two? half-shrug.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Apr 16, 2007 4:09:42 GMT
> " I’ve never been out of the country?"
Bobby thinks for a moment before reaching tentatively for the bottle. It’s not like his family’s trip to EuroDisney when he was twelve makes him a world traveler or anything, but it counts… as, now that he thinks about it, does that weird car-ride to Niagara Falls when he was… seven? Eight? He forgets. Anyway, it counts.
He’s a little surprised by John’s drinking, though. "Oh? Where?" he asks curiously as he takes the bottle. He doesn’t know much about John’s past (really, he barely knows anything at all, despite having asked questions from time to time), but he’d gotten the impression his roommate’s family didn’t have a lot of spare cash… actually, he wasn’t entirely sure John had a family; he certainly never talked about them. Of course, it’s not like traveling to Canada or Mexico costs much, especially if you live in the Northeast or the South.
Which reminds him that he already knows Marie’s answer, having heard the story of how she was first recruited. So he takes a quick sip and hands the bottle to her.
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Post by Rogue on Apr 16, 2007 4:38:17 GMT
"It’s a drinking game, hon… ‘I never’. The idea is, each person says something they’ve never done, and everyone else who has done it has to take a drink. Like John never needed anyone mindwiped, and me and Josh both did…
She nods slightly. Seems easy enough, makes sense an’ all – though, really, a strange concept for a drinking game. But, then, she supposes just about anything’s a strange concept for a drinking game, and just about anything is excuse enough for a drinking game, at the same time. Apparently anything makes a good excuse to drink…
“…oh, right, which reminds me." [/color]
Rogue blinks as Bobby passes the bottle over to Josh, almost as if she’s sort of startled by the movement away, but she doesn’t shift as he settles back, even though there’s that moment of almost-panic where she stiffens slightly, but it fades quickly because he’d just been like that, and she’s covered and …she really needs to chill out. She sort of almost hopes whatever comes next means she’ll get a drink…
“Um… so that means I go? Give me a second… I’ve… never been out of the country?” [/color]
Ah, yep, drinking for her. John drinks first, and then Bobby – along with a question tossed John’s way about where he’s been, then he passes the bottle to her. She takes a quick drink, making a face as the taste kicks in (it’s more a wince, really, because, no, she’s really not a drinker…), and hands it back.
”Um…” She blinks, and looks around at the others. ”I …never… played this game before tonight.” She beams, almost sheepishly. It’s not a brilliant thing to use for the game, but, hey, she hasn’t, and so … it sort of works, right? Whatever.
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Post by Pyro on Apr 16, 2007 18:12:25 GMT
< Oh, where?
He considers, for a moment, lying; Canada or Mexico are obvious choices, right? Unlikely to provoke major questioning. Except that he’s never been to either and would no doubt fuck up even minor questioning; America hadn’t turned out anything like Fictional!America, or even TV!America, so why should either of those places be any different? First rule of any lie, it has to have some sort of truth or it won’t work.
”This is I Never, Popsicle. You don’t get details; less questions, more drinking.” Maybe it’s the alcohol that stops him just leaving it at that, maybe it’s not wanting to wreck the mood, maybe both. Quite possibly neither. Who gives a fuck? There’s room for a little truth. Careful truth, but truth none the less, because these are supposed to be his best mates, his fuckin’ family, pretty much. John shrugs, and tosses Bobby a casual ” ‘stralia, since you’re asking.”
< I’ve.. never… played this game before tonight
Oh, she’s a quick learner. That’s sneaky devious (and his grin is mostly because of that, though there’s a degree to which he’s grateful for the diversion). ”Fuckin’ hell lads, I think she’s trying to get us drunk.” he smirks, though his tone carries slight yet undeniable, albeit teasing, admiration along with the usual snarking. He again invites Bobby to drink first with a lazy gesture.
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