Participants:
| Scene Title | Opening Break |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Griffin and Monica run into one another, the former having some good news to share. The latter agrees it's good news. Really. Great news. |
| Date | February 09, 2011 |
Southern Brooklyn. It's cold, miserable out. A perfect day for a drink, really, which is probably why Griffin has stopped in at The Stop. It's a quiet little bar, a little out of the way, but perfect for some good scotch and a game of pool. Griffin is rather enjoying that the bar has just opened, and thus is empty, save for him and the bartender.
The man is quietly playing a game of pool by himself. Currently, he stands over the table, a cigarette resting in the corner of his lips; his drink, a scotch, rests on a nearby table, next to the ash tray that he occasionally flicks his ash into.
However, it isn't long before the door opens softly and another figure enters the bar. Must be cold out there, because this figure is nestled inside a warm coat. It's only when the drops the hood back, though, that Griffin may just notice he knows this figure.
Monica steps in, and crosses to the bartender to get a drink, she doesn't show ID though, so it must be something non-alcoholic. It's only when she has the glass in hand that she looks over to the other lone patron. And hey, there's a sudden smile on her face as she lifts her hand for a wave.
Griffin quietly raises his eyes as he hears the jingle of the door opening; at first, he only offers a brief glance, before he shoots a ball into the coner pocket. It's not until the woman waves that he offers her more than a brief glance, lifting his face. When he recognizes who it is, Griffin offers a warm smile, waving back. "Monica. Fancy seeing you here."
"Of all the gin joints in all the world," Monica quotes with a crooked smile. But she takes her glass and comes over to the pool table, just a little shy perhaps. "What brings you to a bar this early? The driving need to play pool?" A hip leans against the edge of the table, and she gives him a little smile.
Griffin smiles as the woman approaches, raising his brows. He reaches out toward the stand, pulling out another cue stick and offering it forth. Once that is handed off, he promptly begins to set up for a new game, raising his brows toward the woman. "Small world, indeed." He chuckles, snuffing the cigarette out. "Driving need for a bit of scotch to warm me up, and a place to get out of the damn cold."
Monica takes the stick and glances at it a little. It may be possible she's never actually played before, with how she looks it over. But, ever willing to learn, she sets her glass aside and smiles again. "Out of the cold is a plus, yeah," she says, peeling off her jacket to set aside as well. "Counting the days 'til warmer weather."
Griffin laughs softly, racking up the balls into the triangular shape. "Same here." He chuckles softly, putting the ball in the middle of the table. It seems he takes her cue that she doesn't know what she's doing, and quickly breaks the formation, sending balls scattering all over the pool table. A solid-colored one goes in. "Alright, so you use the white ball to get the striped balls in. I'm colors."
"Seems simple enough," Monica says, and she stand back a bit to watch. Not watch-watch, at least, not yet, but just taking it in in a more mundane way. "It seems simple in the movies, at least," she comments. "Do… I go now, or do you go again?" The rules, a mystery!
Griffin laughs softly. "I go again, since I got a ball in. Same for you, when it's your turn." He grins, taking another shot. This time, he doesn't get a ball in the hole. It was on purpose, but Monica doesn't need to know that. He straightens, and gestures to the table. "Your turn. I find that using the pool cue to line up your shot and where you want to hit the ball is a good way to do it." It's how he learned.
"It would be terrible to play this with a geometry wiz. You'd never get a turn," Monica says as she moves around the table to get over to the cue ball. And she does use her cue to line up a shot before she leans over to actually aim for the thing. Unfortunately, she ends up hitting it just a little too hard and sends one of the striped balls off the table to bounce along the floor. Which makes her bury her face in her hand for a moment, in embarrassment, before she moves over to pick it up again.
Briefly, Griffin's eyes flash white, and the cue ball suddenly stops its bouncing across the floor, and seems to quite literally bounce into Monica's hands. The man offers a faint smile, gesturing Monica over. "Here. Let me show you." Taking the ball from her, he places it roughly where it was before. Then, he gestures for Monica to join him in front of the cue ball.
Monica glances over at him when the ball bounces to her, her smile a little crooked. Standing, she relinquishes the ball gladly, but when he gestures her over, there's just a moment of hesitation. Just long enough to tell herself that this is a bad idea and then promptly ignore herself as she steps over to where he's standing. "Sorry. I guess I'm used to the idea of hitting things as hard as you can."
Nadira probably wouldn't be too horribly happy with him if she were here, but he's not planning on doing anything other than teaching her how to play pool. Even if it does mean getting close. "With pool, you have to be gentle. The smallest of taps can suffice at times." One arm wraps aroun her back, his hand moving over hers, while his other hand takes her other hand. Then, he's dipping down with her, aiming the ball over her shoulder. He's extremely close right now.
Focus… on the table. Yes. This is Monica's strategy for getting through this moment. And to her credit, she does pretty well, since she too has respect for the fact that there's a girlfriend in the picture. She does dip down, too, eyeing the striped ball in the distance. She lets him guide her shot, though, just this once. "You know, I could just watch you for a bit and pick it up," she notes, belatedly.
Griffin lines up the shot for Monica, then gently eases her hand forward, likely much lighter a hit to the cue ball than she would have expected. "This is a prerequisite for playing pool." He smiles faintly. "That, and I sometimes forget that you can learn things just by watching." This is said quite close to her ear as the stripe ball goes into the hole.
Then, he's moving away from her, smiling faintly. "Think you can do it on your own this time?" A wink.
"Like a rite of passage. I get it," Monica says, turning to look at him with a smile for just a moment. Because they are really close right now. And she wants to see if it goes in. Of course. His note, though, makes her laugh, if a nervously. "I suppose it's easy enough to forget. I'll forgive you, this time."
When he moves away, she eyes the table a bit, trying not to look his way exactly, because she needs a moment to get rid of the blush on her face. But at least she can cover by trying for a shot on her own. And she hits it that time! And it stays on the table! It just doesn't go in. Alas.
"Something like that." He chuckles softly, moving over to where his drink is. He picks this up, and takes a gulp as he watches her shoot. The blush does not go unnoticed, though he does nothing to point this out. "I appreciate your forgiveness on the matter of my forgetfulness." He chuckles softly, shaking his head as he takes another gulp of the scotch.
Then, he's moving forward, lining up a shot now that Monica's had her turn. The ball goes in.
"Life's too short to hold a grudge, that's what my grandmother always says," Monica stands back, letting him have his turn, too. And still, she doesn't cheat! Later she might look up some videos, perhaps, but for now, she's content to be the beginner.
Griffin purposely misses this ball once more, standing back to allow Monica to have a turn. "So, what's the good news on your end?" He purposely avoids any topic of bad news. No need for bad things right now. This is a meeting of friends, after all.
Monica comes over to the side with the cue ball, eyeing the table a little. "Good news." It's a bit of a challenge. "You know, I don't know if it's good, but I watched some guy paint a conspiracy theory message on the inside of the dome and then rants like a crazy person at the press. Amusing, at least. How about you? You've got to have better than that." She's taking her time picking a shot this time, as nothing seems particularly promising. Hmm.
"Well…" Griffin gets a faint, goofy smile on his face, raising his scotch toward her before sipping at it. Then, he sets it back down, clearing his throat. "I asked Nadira to marry me." He pauses a beat, watching her. It's not that he doesn't notice the sexual tension. But he's telling her to remind himself just as much as he is telling her. "She said yes."
And just as she was getting ready to knock one in, too. His news makes Monica completely miss the cue, a clumsy move for someone as graceful as she can be. But she looks up, straightening, "What, really?" And then she remembers to smile, "Congratulations! That's wonderful for you both." Hey, she even manages sincerity! "Someday, I'm actually gonna have to meet her."
Griffin notices her reaction, his head tilted to the side. At least she's graceful about it. "Definitely. I'll try to arrange it some time." Somehow, he feels this could possibly be a mistake in the making, but maybe he'll be wrong. "I…kinda had a breakthrough. I decided that I wasn't going to wait on things any more." His smile turns a bit sad.
"Who knows when I won't be around to enjoy the wonderful things and people that are in my life?"
Someday. Some time. Let's do lunch. The check is in the mail. Monica nods a bit as he explains, though, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. It's a good time to not be alone out there." She looks back to the table for a moment, before she leans back over again to try her shot again, with more success this time. And while she's moving around to get a good position for another, she adds, "You're lucky." I'm happy for you will have to come at a later date.
Griffin tilts his head to one side, nodding slowly. "Precisely. I may as well enjoy it while I can. Who knows when I'll lose it all." The 'again' goes unspoken, the man turning his gaze down to the ground, eyes unfocusing as he sinks into thoughts for a moment. Then, he offers a faint smile to Monica. "So y'don't drink, hm?" He raises his glass toward her glass, whatever it is she's drinking. "Or is it just too early?"
"What? Oh, no, I drink. I mean, not a lot. Just sometimes. Casually? Very casually," Monica says, babbling a little. "I've just been… ah. Careful about flashing the ID around," she adds in a lower voice. "You never know." She really should be getting a fake one, but just hasn't. She'll get around to it someday.
The man smirks. "Luckily, I know the owner here. he and I don't get along per se, and he isn't quite around these days, but he's a good guy." An asshole, but a good guy. Somehow. Griff still doesn't know what to think of the owner here. "Though that's a very good idea, really." His eyes flick around the room. "I hate my nose sometimes." He smirks.
While Monica nods at the beginning, it's that last note that gets an odd look from her. Odd, but amused. "You hate your nose? But it's a nice nose," she comments, her tone more lighthearted there.
Griffin laughs softly. "I like having a nose that defines my face, don't get me wrong. But it defines my face." He chuckles. "It'd be much easier if you couldn't find my nose on google maps." He can make fun of himself!
"Oh come on," Monica says with a laugh, "You'd need at least a government level satellite to find it." She smiles gently, though, and leans down to take a shot, which misses. But she is getting better!
With a chuckle, Griffin steps forward, lining up another shot. This time, he gets two balls in, thanks to a well-placed hit and a bounce on the wall. English is a very fun thing to learn when it comes to pool, and he may as well enjoy winning before she picks up the skill. "Don't be so certain about that. I mean, I could poke someone's eye out with this thing." He laughs, though.
"Well, it would certainly give you the element of surprise," Monica says, her smile turning crooked. "Not that you're not full of surprises enough," she adds, her tone wry.
Griffin laughs, shaking his head as he sinks one last shot. The next shot is intentionally missed once more, and he straightens, returning to his drink. "I'm full of surprises, am I?" He raises his glass as if to toast Monica, before gulping down some of the harsh fluid, wincing as it burns its way down his throat. Another cigarette is pulled out, brought to his mouth, as he digs in his pocket for his lighter.
"I'd say you are, yeah," Monica says as she steps up to the table again. And while he gets a cigarette out, she takes a shot. And she gets it! "What, you don't think you are?" Her next one, though, hits the edge and ricochets around a bit.
A shrug rolls over Griffin's shoulders, the man offering a soft golf-clap in response to the shot that she just made, grinning. "I dunno. Perhaps I am?" He chuckles softly, taking another gulp of his scotch before stepping up to the pool table. Winning isn't really the point of this game, so he purposely hits the cue ball into the hole.
He quickly retrieves the cue ball, offering it to Monica. "I just scratched. That means that it's immediately your ball." He points to the dot on the table. "You can shoot from anywhere behind that dot. You can't hit any of the balls behind it, though. Not directly, that is."
Monica takes the ball, her head tilted curiously until he explains, and then she nods a little before moving to pick a place for it. "So what are you doing these days? Now that you're back here and engaged and everything." And she shoots! And misses.
"Trying to stay alive. Trying to figure out things for my son." He offers a faint smile, draining the last of his scotch, the ice clinking in the glass as he sets it down. "Trying to figure out what to do with life right now." He goes quiet, moving forward to take his shot. For a moment, he forgets to let her have a chance, but he's already far ahead, and he promptly pops two into the pockets in a row before he remembers to miss on purpose.
"Yeah, I'm not really sure what I'm doing with myself, either. I suppose I need to talk to my boss, have him give me something to do. I can only get into trouble without an assignment." And with one, but that's neither here nor there. Monica gives him an odd look, though, as he finally misses on and turns his way. "You don't have to go easy on me, you know. I can take it."
A warm smile is cast toward Monica, the man stepping back. "I feel like a ham when I beat someone who is inexperienced with this game. Granted, showing off is nice, but I like to offer a chance." He chuckles softly, stepping back away from the table to let Monica take her shot. "Besides, I would especially feel like a ham for beating such a beautiful woman." He smiles, and promptly makes his way over to the bar to order another drink.
"Well, I'll make sure to be less inexperienced for next time." Monica moves to take her shot, but this time, it's the compliment that distracts her. Wups, the cue ball shoots off sort of off to one side, which makes her miss entirely. "You know, I think I'll have a drink, too."