Skaky Ground, part 1

Posted on Tue Dec 1st, 2009 @ 9:28pm by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine

957 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Devils Snare
Location: lounge

ON

Damon and Sam walked into the lounge, looking for an empty pool table.

"Just be warned," Sam said. "I play pool about as well as I ice skate."

Damon grinned. "No worries, I play about as well as I dance. Like anything else it just takes a bit of time to get the hang of it. I guess the real benefit to pool is that if you manage to hurt yourself playing it you would be in a VERY small minority."

She laughed merrily at that. "So, it's least pathetic player wins?" she asked, grinning.

Sam racked up the balls and broke the formation, scattering the balls around the table, but none of them fell into a pocket. "I warn you, if you try and blackmail me over this, I will be forced to retaliate. One night, when you're sleeping, I'll come after you."

Damon laughed at the comment. "Oh? Blackmail has never looked so good." He gave her a sly smile before leaning over to take a shot.

She waited until he finished his shot, grinning when he knocked in three balls. Then she leaned in and whispered. "It's not blackmail. It's a threat." She stood back so he could take another shot.

His concentration broke at her words. The cue ball streaked down the table only lightly clipping the ball he aimed for. The new trajectory bounced the white ball perfectly into the corner pocket, thus breaking his streak.

His head hung low as he surveyed the falling position of the rolling balls as he walked to retrieve the ball that did sink. He couldn't help but grin at his reaction.

"You know, as a Marine I am trained at dealing with threats." He had trouble containing his smile.

"Oh?" she asked with a teasing grin. "And how would you deal with me?"

He took another shot and missed. Sam lined up her shot and barely missed the pocket.

"Well, unless I'm otherwise instructed, I have to wait for the other party to make an aggressive move first. After that, I am free to proceed with due diligence."

"I'll have to remember that," she said with mock solemnity. "No attacking you in broad daylight. Only in the dark so you won't see the aggressive move." She was enjoying the verbal sparring as much as she was enjoying the game. Of course, if she caught him alone in the dark, she would likely have something else on her mind...

He grinned widely. "Well, until such a time, I suppose you will have to command my resolute attention. Wouldn't want to be caught unawares."

He took another shot, but the cue ball only lightly grazed his target. He found his concentration was lacking when it came to anything else but the conversation at hand. His head was swimming with comments, many of which could be deemed inappropriate.

"Then I'll make sure to catch you awares," she joked. She looked over the table, lined up a shot and carefully knocked one of her balls in the corner pocket. Tickled with herself, she tried for a second shot, but missed. "I'll be good and let you concentrate on your shot," she promised, stepping back.

"Oh good. I'm still trying to think of all the possible responses I could have given on how to deal with you." He gave her a wink before turning his attention to the table.

The next shot was already lined up perfectly; it took little effort to knock it in. Once the cue ball came to a rest he lightly tapped it into the corner of his next target sending it into the pocket with a satisfying "thunk". The third shot parked the ball a frustrating inch from the pocket, eliciting a frown from Damon.

"There is the story of my life." He chuckled, "So close to something really good, but it ends up being just out of reach."

Sam looked at him seriously for a moment. "Let's hope your luck is about to change." She turned to the table and took a shot. It went wild, but managed to knock in one of her balls anyway. She shook her head and grinned. "Beginners luck." As she thought, her next shot missed, but lined up Damon for a perfect shot. "You're welcome." With a grin she stepped back to give Damon the shot.

He tipped his head in thanks as he deftly sunk the shot. The eight ball was buried on the back table and it was only with a bank shot that he managed to move it at all, albeit nowhere near the pocket.

As he straightened he regarded Samantha, "Ever since coming to the Orion things have been looking up. In fact, I think my luck has had a drastic improvement in the last couple of weeks alone."

"I'm glad," she said, her eyes locking with his for a moment. Then she turned and lined up a shot. And missed. "It's all yours," she said softly as she stepped back again.

He had a clear shot at the eight ball this time. All it took was a slight tap to roll into the side pocket. After it sunk he started to reach his hand out to be shook by his opponent. His reach stopped short as he sheepishly pulled his hand back.

"Sorry, old habit when playing pool."

"No problem," she said, walking up to him and giving him a hug. "I like this better anyway."

He smiled as he accepted her into his arms. "You know," he said looking down at the woman he was holding, "I could get used to this."

To be continued...

2nd Lieutenant Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

Lieutenant Samantha York
Chief Science Officer
USS Orion

 

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