letsdropin | Pool teaching (for 6thseasonbuffy)

Yeah, it had taken Reid a bit of recon to find a place that was likely to be decent for making it possible to both play pool and relax, but then again, he had the whole of the day for it, and since he meant to enjoy things, he didn't do this bit casually, either.

Eventually, he liked a place - and no, it wasn't extremely cultured or anything. Just had a feel to it that rang true with Reid. That was enough - there was enough experience for him to trust that.

He texted the location to Tony. And then went to look around some more. No, he really hadn't been there before. So. It had to be explored, the place. Yes, it was big. No, that wasn't intimidating.

Eventually, he got home and rested a bit, because. And then he made his way to the pool place, settling with a beer to wait for the other guy to show up. Not that he had any idea where things were going to end up - maybe just a game, maybe an interesting conversation. Maybe longer hanging around would end up in them fighting, which he'd keep to civilized levels, because he'd learned, but still; and maybe they were going to have a different ending for the night altogether. Mmmm keeping an open mind.

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Well if that wasn't encouragement, Tony didn't know what was. He relaxed just a little more, something unfurling in the line of his shoulders that only happened when he was sure he was in the company of someone who wouldn't end up screaming "fag" at him and swinging a bat at his head. Not that they'd connect, but it made for an awkward evening. Actually, so did people who stared at him funny and made absolutely sure to stand three feet from him at all time for fear of catching "the gay". It happened less often since he moved to Vancouver, but there were still the occasional non-show-biz homophobes to contend with.

Tony took up a pool cue that looked more-or-less like all the other pool cues and walked around the table slowly. There was one solid precariously close to the high right pocket that would for sure go in if merely brushed against, but there seemed to be a lot of stripy balls in the way. Tony debated for a second and then lined up his shot.

...And ended up glancing the cue ball off of a striped one and sending it in a relatively useless direction away from where he wanted it to go. He glanced up at Reid sheepishly. "See? I told you."

It's possible that the four of them - Reid and his friends - just radiated too much... something. Power, charisma? Most people accepting it was the kind of thing connected with beauty and money, probably, but the result was that they rarely got treated that way, even if their actions might suggest anything of the sort to people who might be watching. And among themselves... well. Perhaps one day Tony would get to see two or more of them in the same place and how relaxed they could be, some ways. But no, Reid would not treat him any differently based on Tony's preferences.

The bit where Reid might like him could color things somewhat. Not in the negative way. But he could also behave, for all sorts of reasons, including being in a strange city and alone, the latter of which was really rare. He knew he could handle most things that he could come across, but he just... wanted to have fun. A break from school. Shooting pool with nice company. Or, well. Whatever came.

"Hmm." Reid crossed an arm in front of himself, opposite elbow on the back of the wrist, fingers tapping on his lip thoughtfully. Then he reached and recovered the cue ball, placing it where it was. Tony was right, that was the easiest solid to shoot at... so let's start with basics.

"Now. Usually you don't do this, but. First, you want to have your shot clear. Sometimes, you might need to do more complicated shit to get one without touching other balls, like bouncing the cue ball off the walls, or hitting one ball with the cue ball, and THAT having to hit the one you are aiming at - but when you have other balls on the way, you won't reach with a direct hit. For right now, we'll clear the way to work on the shot itself, then we'll add more stuff." His hand worked to shift the striped balls away, not touching the solid or the cue. "We'll go with the rules next round."

He probably should have started with just shooting off different situations first off, really. But it was really a long time since he was learning. So... yeah. The balls were on the table, they could just go at it. (Woe to anyone who tried to argue with them for the table. But it was getting to the kind of time when nobody would.)

"With this one... okay, you have to align the stick to hit in the right direction, but I think you've got that bit pretty well. The next part is... hit hard enough so that you'll reach the aimed-at ball, but not so that the white one will end up in the pocket too." And he cleared the way for Tony to give it another try. This time focusing on the other guy, rather than on the table.

Tony wasn't particularly worried, in any case. He'd pretty much grown-up on the streets of Toronto and if you couldn't take care of yourself with the less tolerant crowds there then you were pretty much screwed for life. Simple distaste or people calling names didn't bother you as much when you knew what a true gay bashing, in every sense of the word, looked like. That, and years of having a vampire babysitter who tended to glare people into submission if he thought they were "being rude" in his opinion had given Tony a kind of confidence that he at least had someone on his side in a pinch.

He watched Reid shift the striped balls out of the path he'd been trying for and then set up his shot again, concentrating. Tony aimed the pool cue, and smoothly sent the tip striking against the cue ball. Unfortunately, the hit was far too hard and both balls went into the pocket, one after the other. Sheepishly, Tony straightened and held his pool cue in front of him like it might be a shield against mockery.

"So...not like that, huh?"

Reid was unlikely to cause that kind of trouble; he was more likely to make said vampire babysitter's company unnecessary. However, a meeting between those two had the potential of going from weird to difficult.

The blond moved very quickly - humanly quickly, thank you - diving for the pocket to hold the cue ball before it rolled with the other one. Out of habit. Then he held it up and grinned, not quite as sheepishly, but a bit.

"'s easier than getting it out if it rolls down the channel." The blue eyes were clear now, although, while his head was ducking down in the dive, there might have been a slight fiery flare, a small Use of his power to hold the white ball another half-instant, in case he didn't reach it in time. Also out of habit.

He set his catch on the starting spot and cocked his head at Tony. "Yeah... generally, not like that. Umm. Unless you're shooting for a ball that's on the other end of the table, or doing a shot that's going to go around a bit, you don't really need to hit all that hard. Another thing you don't want is any ball hopping over the edge." Reid would mock about anything and everything that somebody perceived as their strength, something to brag about; less often about weaknesses and mistakes.

But he couldn't resist showing off a little bit, and his smile widened slightly. "And by a shot that goes around... heh." He pointed to a striped ball. "Okay, this one. To hit it from where the cue ball is, it'll have to bounce off here, and here, and here," he touched three spots on the walls of the table with the butt of his cue. "I wanna make sure it is still rolling for all of that, so I've gotta shoot it a bit," he leaned over the table with unconscious ease, narrowing his eyes, aimed, and made the hit, "harder."

The cue ball did bounce off the three spots he'd indicated spots and hit the striped ball - but not strong enough to actually tip it into the pocket. "Oops. 'm good, not perfect?" But he was grinning again, point mostly demonstrated. "Your turn. Pick your next shot?"

Pool teaching (for 6thseasonbuffy)

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