Time in the rec room.

[Anonymous]

Another day of work burned off like fat from a squirrel, not exactly the way he liked spending his days, but Ryvn no longer gave two shits. He stood silently watching his pool cue, as much in contemplation as in sheer boredom. The balls were set up already, and he turned his attention to them, setting the cue ball on the table, leaning against the table. He would be playing by himself again if no one came by. People hardly spent time in the rec room, which was why he frequented. Most of the pilots he had come across so far had been idiots or had personalities that were so far out of the norm he'd much rather spend time with his dragon rather than spend it with them. Andraste was temperamental, but at least she could keep on par with, if not surpass, him in his in level of intellect.

Surprisingly, he enjoyed silence, much unlike other people. His mind was swimming with the thoughts of people who were too stupid to guard their own minds. He learned stuff he supposed he shouldn't have. Ryvn lit a cigarette, but quickly snuffed it out, realizing he didn't need it. he stuck a toothpick between his teeth and walked to where the pool cue was on the pool table. He got closer and set his hand next to it, lining his sights up with the pyramid of fifteen balls. It was time for a game of solitare. For every turn he didn't get a ball in a hole, he would have to do a push up for training, but it also gave him incentive not to miss completely. His concentration rose and his mind went completely silent.

'You aren't really playing ANOTHER game are you? I think you might be addicted.'Andraste's voice echoed in his head. Ryvn stood up straight, an extremely annoyed look on his face. 'I am, and I'm beginning to think you do that right as I'm about to shoot just to throw me off.' Ryvn replied, not quite as annoyed as before, but the annoyance still written clearly on his face. Andraste's voice chuckled and then replied with a quite amused tone. 'You know I do, Ryvn, it's always too easy to do that. Your focus needs more focus.'

Ryvn smiled at that and just went back to his original position, preparing his breakshot. He didn't say a word, it was dead silent, which he loved. He shot and the balls scattered, the silence being broken immediately as the balls rolled across the table. The first ball in was a striped. This meant he was going after stripes first.

----------------------
word count: 442
thoughts: not very long, but I think it was long overdue.

[Anonymous]

Alaric needed a break. He blinked at the terminal in front of him, then shook his head. His eyes felt like there was sand in them after spending more time than he cared to think about staring at code. Normally he dealt more with hardware, but there had just been too much work piling up, so he got called in.

And now he was drained. A glance at the clock made Alaric wince. He had been here for over 24 hours. Though he didn't want to go to bed yet. It was too early and he would totally fuck his sleep schedule up if he tried to sleep now. Dragging himself to his feet, Alaric leaned down and shut everything down. He yawned, flashing fangs and reached for his coffee.

And found it empty. Frowning, Alaric shook the styrofoam cup, as if that would magically make coffee appear. Well, he should probably stop by the rec room, fill up and see what was going on. Going home would just end up with him passed out.

The pale alien shuffled his way down the hallway toward the room, yawning again. Sliding the door open, he was rather surprised to see Ryvn there. He didn't know the other Pilot all that well, though they both worked in tech. He gave a nod, heading over to the coffee machine, pouring himself another cup of shitty coffee before turning to face the pool table, "You seem pretty good."

Not that Alaric had any real idea, he had only played pool a few times. And that was mostly with Gabriel and they both cheated like mad and the last game had ended in a cue fight.

[Anonymous]

Ryvn was silent, ignoring the other rider coming through the door. He shot again, three balls finding their way to the various pockets. "Yeah, well, it's not like I haven't had practice either." He said calmly. "Its the only thing that keeps me sane." His eyes went back to the pool table. "Would you like to play a game? I can reset the table." Ryvn was calm, watching the other rider. Ryvn was a Pilot Noble, he wasn't sure if the other rider was of the same rank or lower, or even possibly higher than him.

Silently, but surely, Ryvn took a seat, his hard case for his guitar resting on the couch next to him. A home-made case, but that's what  you got when you built stuff with your bare hands.

[Anonymous]

Alaric rubbed his eyes as he took another sip of the coffee. It tasted like tar, but damn was it strong. Which was how most of the caffeine addicted Pilots needed it. He shook his head at the offer to play, "Thanks, but no. I'm a little out of it for pool. Besides," Alaric gave an awkward laugh, "I wouldn't be much of a challenge."

Silence fell and Alaric shifted, feeling like he should fill it. He doubted Ryvn would be interested in WoW or the new boxing cartoon Alaric was currently obsessed with. His claws tapped lightly against his cup, "So...um....you play guitar?"