12118/Day Drinking

Day Drinking
Date of Scene:	03 September 2020
Location:	Harry's Hideaway (Bar), Salem Centre
Synopsis:	Just a bit of pool and conversation between Colossus and Havok. Reflections.
Cast of Characters:	Havok, Colossus

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Havok has posed:
    It may be mid afternoon, but what's wrong with a little day drinking?

    Alex Summers can be spotted dresses casually in sneakers, jeans, and a black pull over long sleeved shirt (likely unstable molecules). He's at a pool table by himself and shooting the various balls into various holes. There are other patrons in the hideaway, but it's early afternoon and the lunch crowd has already dispersed. Near to Alex is a table with two bottles (one empty, one full) of a local draft. Along with cheesy fries in a basket. Alex is killing time.

Colossus has posed:
Piotr is not adverse to a little social time. After a relatively long nights, made longer by Piotr being unable to sleep immediately afterwards. The big Russian has determined that a drink suits him just fine. He is wearing a red tshirt and a pair of khaki pants over a pair of brown hiking boots. As he is entering the bar he is fumbling to put his phone away.

The big man gives a wave towards Alex after looking around the place and moves towards the bar to to get a drink and order a little food to pair it with. It doesn't take him long. A lot of Piotr's vices when it comes to food are due entirely to them being on the menu here. It takes him a couple of minutes, but Piotr walks over with a vodka tonic in hand. "Alex. How are you?" He looks about the bar to see if any of the others are about.

Havok has posed:
    It would be difficult for anyone to miss the Russian from entering the bar. Sure, he's not shiny metal, but he's still a very tall, very large man who stands out in any crowd. Unless you're in the Netherlands. But, here at Harry's, Piotr is a welcome sight to the pool playing blonde. As Alex spots Piotr, there's a smile that comes across his face. He too will wave back in kind coupled with a, "Hey P.". Seeing as Piotr is going to order, Alex returns to the pool playing. He sinks another ball and then begins to draw them all out of the sockets to begin the racking process anew.

    With the approach of Piotr, Alex says, "I'm great man. It's been a while. How are you?"

    And by 'a while', Alex references the entire year that he's been away from the mansion on 'walkabout'. Last year he got into his jeep and headed south - and by south, that's South America. He took a tour of the America's and just 'got away for a while'. He's only recently back and kept his return very low key.

Colossus has posed:
Piotr bobs his head. "It is very food to see you, Alex. It has been too long." Piotr makes a noncommittal gesture with his left hand in answer to Alex's questions. HIs lips quirk in a soft smile. "School, both teaching and working my way through my own education. Almost exactly the same as when you left." Piotr replies, his low voice a gentle rumble in his throat. He offers his right hand for a firm handshake. A calloused hand despite his artistic mien. Piotr shifts his stance. "Did you find what you were looking for?" From another person, it might sound mocking or critical. Piotr is genuinely curious.

The big man steps aside. "Or, rather, did you find the questions or the answers that you were seeking?" He clarifies, his smile a sincere if fleeting one. He perches his backside out of the way, against the nearby table top and lets his weight lean against it a little.

Havok has posed:
    Taking the rugged hand, Alex replies, "That and drops of Jupiter in my hair. It was a great trip. Lots of self reflection. Helped me to put things into perspective." Leaving it at that and not going into detail, Alex doesn't over share. His attention returns to the triangle and getting all the balls into it. He pulls them, drops the middle one, and makes the rack nice and tight. He lifts the triangle and says, "Funny that you mention the school and going's on are all the same as when I left. But what about the team. Everything good with yall?" then he footnotes, "Tell me while you break." and he'll step back away from the table giving Piotr a clear choice of where/how he will break. There are pool sticks on the nearby wall.

Colossus has posed:
A noncommittal grunt is Piotr's initial reply. He puts down his drink and walks over to select a cue. It is a swift selection. As he applies chalk to the tip, Piotr considers his words. "Sometimes it seems as if very little changes. We are a family. The years roll into one another and the rituals of a family, birthdays and holidays, are the only real markers of time passing. Life is good. The children grow up. Most leave. A few, perhaps too many, remain." HIs shoulders rise and then fall in a massive shrug. He's ruminating on things. The look on his face is more thoughtful than pensive.

Piotr has always been more of a darts guy. It is a clean break, though the far back pocket looks likely it will not see much use as the *-ball is situated a little close to it. Piotr sinks both a stripe and a solid. He casually puts the cue aside, leaning it on the table. "Solids or stripes is up to you." HIs voice is quiet.

Havok has posed:
    Grabbing his stick, Alex looks at the 8-ball and the balls nearto it as well as those away from it. "Looks like I'll be going for stripes. Cause solids are way too close to the 8... but we'll see what I put in." He moves around to a place and lines up a shot. He draws back, strokes, and wiffs. He puts nothing in and the cue ball bounces around to finally roll to a stop. He admits, "Or, I'm neither.' It's said with a half grin and the realization that he was talking way too much about how cool it would be to have been a successful shot.

    "What about you? Anything interesting been going on? New, you and Kitty back together or off again?" - having a total history of his own with on again/off again with Lorna.

Colossus has posed:
    "Katya and I were never really on." Piotr answers with a wistful look. He does move over and goes after solids. To him, Alex called stripes; it's that simple. Piotr walks around the table a couple of times, thinking over his words and over the shot. Neither come easy to him for a moment or two.

"Katya and I were children." He says, his tone ginger as he says things that he has left unsaid for awhile. "I will always care for her. I think she has outgrown me. That is good. I am simple. I like to work. I like to do my art. I like my life to be mostly quiet. I would be happy on a farm in Russia. That would be Hell on Earth for her. It might be time that I grow up." Piotr is gently critical of himself.

He lines up his shot and there is a soft crack as he smacks the cue ball in to bust up his own. He sinks none of the balls, but he'll have easier shots on the solids if Alex doesn't run the table. "I take it that you are not faring quite as well as you might with your lady?" HIs tone is gentle; he takes no pleasure in even asking the question.

Havok has posed:
    "I have a lady?" Alex laughs his response. With a lighter, comical tone, he states, "Dude, I ain't seen Lorna in over a year. That is, if you're talkin about Lorna. I mean, you could be talkin about Maddie for all I know. And that was two years ago." He walks around the table, lines up a shot, misses and even scratches. The cue ball goes straight into the side pocket, no passing go, no collecting two hundred bucks. Alex is all grins. He stands up and backs away from the table, holding the stick in hand and between his feet. "Guess we're both gonna be chasing balls all around the table."

Colossus has posed:
"I am sorry to hear you say that." Piotr takes a couple of swallows from his drink before sitting it back down on a coaster with some care. "My father always said that nothing worth doing was easy, yet, my mother said that falling in love with my father was the easiest thing she had ever done. I think it is both. Having the feeling is easy. Taking the chance and acting on it, that is harder. Keeping two people on the same page and balancing their conflicting needs and wants is the hardest part." Piotr shrugs, tilting his head. "But then, I also think the heart is not always the best chooser. I should be more practical."

Piotr walks over and fishes the ball out. He walks over, lines up a shot and sinks one ball with authority. The follow up shot, conversely, falls short of the mark, pausing some six inches short of the pocket. Piotr notes. "Your brother would have already run the entire table."

Considering things, Piotr just shakes his head."It is never too late to try again. It is not as if we are all old men. I will not lie and say I do not want children and a family, but I am still in college and still trying to figure out what I actually want. I will always be X-Man." He makes sure not to say that too loud, pitching his voice just for Alex. "But I am not sure if I want to teach, if I am being honest."

Havok has posed:
    "My brother is a cheating jerk with all his spatial awareness crap." Alex says with a grin and the notation of how Scott is a master of pool as well as deflecting shots and proper angles with his optic juice beams.

    Alex moves around the table for his own shot. He takes his time, and now that things are split up a bit better, he puts the target in the hole. He then moves to the next and shoots. Misses, because he's really not good at pool.

    He states, "I've still got a few hours on my PhD that I'm really behind on. But, while in south america, I did do a bit of 'research'. I mean, that's what I filed the trip as with the Doctorate Review Board. They gave me an extension on my paper and research because of it. Which brings me back to Lorna... I need to find her. We were both working together on the project in New Mexico. We at least need to sure that up so we get a degree."

Colossus has posed:
That makes him smile. "I am still working on a bachelors, and here you are about to finish your doctorate." Piotr's tone is wholly complimentary. He walks around the table again and then shoots. He has wasted more time at Harry's of late than Alex. He sinks another, but again cannot make the second shot.
r"If I am being honest, having my own place, or rather being on my own like you were? It scares me." Piotr says softly. "So, what you did, leaving for a year is something I doubt I could do. I went from my parents home to the school. I was sixteen." Piotr says it carefully. "We do not operate that way anymore. Your brother saw to that." Piotr's tone betrays his approval of that. "I have never been on my own. I know I can care for myself, but I am not sure I would like it. I would not know what to do with myself if I could not walk down the hall and talk to Kurt." Piotr admits this is a soft and thoughtful tone. Here might be a strain of regret in his voice as he continues. "I am who I am, for good or for ill. I love my comrades, and would not choose another life, except sometimes I am curious how I might have turned out if I had actually left to go away to university."

Piotr moves his shoulders in a little shrug. "It is hard to leave home. It is likeâ?¦ defying gravity?" Piotr considers. He likes that. "I am proud of you for having the courage to walk away. I appreciate the faith that you showed in us by doing it too."

Havok has posed:
    "You say courage when I think you're the bravest person on our team. That's funny." Notes Alex as he takes another shot and sinks it and by accident he sinks one of P's balls.

    Alex backs away as he reflects a moment and then notes, "That's one thing which has changed at the school. College courses. Dual credit. I didn't have that when I was attending classes here. We had to go off to university after graduating Xaviers. With the thought of returning when we'd gotten our degrees. But, like always, life gets in the way and made some of us come back earlier than planned."

Colossus has posed:
"Bad luck." Piotr says about the ball. He moves around and leans forwards, shooting and missing another ball entirely. The big man scoffs. "I am not brave at all. There must be two things to have courage." Piotr ticks them off on the fingers of his left hand. "You have to be scared and over come it. You must also have a choice. You must choose to be brave.". I am nigh invulnerable. I walk into everything we do knowing that I will be fine. I know I must go, because I can take it. If I am there to take the hit, my family will be fine. It is not a choice. I love my family and I will not see them harmed."
    It is that simple to the Russian. His shoulders move. "Kurt is bravest. He does everything we do and he does it without any respite of who or what he is." Piotr sounds like he genuinely admires the fuzzy elf.

He nods. "I am attending NYU, online, rather than the school. My advisor thinks this is my last semester. He talks a great deal, though." Piotr again shrugs before gesturing. "Stop going easy on me."