Jean-Phillipe and Alex - Beach Day
Aug. 31st, 2020 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsBackdated - JPC and Alex spend some time in the arcade. Trash talk and air hockey ensue.
Jean-Phillipe wasn't sure the last time he'd had a beach holiday. He'd been at the mansion so long by this point that he couldn't always remember individual details of events. It was quite possible that the last time he'd spent an extended amount of time at a beach was when he was still living at home, before going to work at the docks and then joining the Brotherhood.
He had to admit, at least to himself, that he'd picked the briefest Speedo he could find in order to cause reactions. They might have gotten a private beach, but there was still the boardwalk, and at least a few tourists to shock with his libertine French ways. His only concession to the indoor air conditioning at the food stand was an unbuttoned guayabera to blunt the coolness on his torso.
Alex had been abandoned, or had abandoned, depending on the point of view. He loved the beach as much as the next person, could happily spend all day there, but the siren call of the arcade had lured him away. He could hear the click-clack of air hockey calling his name. Problem: he had no one to play with.
Solution: the French man he saw generously providing a view for all who may admire.
"Yo," he called to Jean-Phillipe, grinning. "Can I bribe you into a round or two of air hockey?"
The Frenchman thought back, he wasn't sure he'd been in an arcade since those trips to the beaches of the French Riviera. "Certainment," he agreed. Alex's easygoing nature was always welcome to spend time around.
"Sweet. Arcade is..." He looked around, following his ears and then his eyes when he saw the flashing sign. "There!" he announced as if he had made some amazing discovery. He checked his pockets to make sure he had a bill to break (really should have done that sooner, but he was covered, thankfully. Jean-Phillipe didn't look like he was hiding money anywhere).
Jean-Phillipe chuckled. These days he probably had enough control to jolt the machine into giving them a free game. But he also had something approximating a moral code (or at least avoiding the disappointed looks of a majority of the mansion residents), so he waited for Alex to come over with coins. He ran his hand over the tiny pinholes as the machine hummed to life, feeling the air swirling out of them.
A thought about Jean-Phillipe's powers occurred to Alex at about the same moment. "Wait, can you like, electrify this thing and cheat?"
A rather wolfish grin reminded Alex that Jean-Phillipe had, once upon a time, been a dues-paying member of the Brotherhood. "Can? Yes. Will? You shall have to find out, mon ami."
"Fair enough," Alex said, getting the puck and flipping it. "Let's go." He set it on the table and hit it, sending it zipping off, clacking and bouncing off the walls.
Jean-Phillipe's reflexes were good, and scored him a few points, but Alex seemed to have a fluidity, an ease with the paddle that he couldn't match. Final score - seven to five. "Bien joue," he offered with a comradely clap to Alex's shoulder.
Alex chuckled. "You were a worthy opponent. I'll take a rematch any time. Or..." He looked at the quarters in his hand, then around the arcade like a kid who had been let loose in a candy shop. "We can see what else this place has."
Jean-Phillipe wasn't sure the last time he'd had a beach holiday. He'd been at the mansion so long by this point that he couldn't always remember individual details of events. It was quite possible that the last time he'd spent an extended amount of time at a beach was when he was still living at home, before going to work at the docks and then joining the Brotherhood.
He had to admit, at least to himself, that he'd picked the briefest Speedo he could find in order to cause reactions. They might have gotten a private beach, but there was still the boardwalk, and at least a few tourists to shock with his libertine French ways. His only concession to the indoor air conditioning at the food stand was an unbuttoned guayabera to blunt the coolness on his torso.
Alex had been abandoned, or had abandoned, depending on the point of view. He loved the beach as much as the next person, could happily spend all day there, but the siren call of the arcade had lured him away. He could hear the click-clack of air hockey calling his name. Problem: he had no one to play with.
Solution: the French man he saw generously providing a view for all who may admire.
"Yo," he called to Jean-Phillipe, grinning. "Can I bribe you into a round or two of air hockey?"
The Frenchman thought back, he wasn't sure he'd been in an arcade since those trips to the beaches of the French Riviera. "Certainment," he agreed. Alex's easygoing nature was always welcome to spend time around.
"Sweet. Arcade is..." He looked around, following his ears and then his eyes when he saw the flashing sign. "There!" he announced as if he had made some amazing discovery. He checked his pockets to make sure he had a bill to break (really should have done that sooner, but he was covered, thankfully. Jean-Phillipe didn't look like he was hiding money anywhere).
Jean-Phillipe chuckled. These days he probably had enough control to jolt the machine into giving them a free game. But he also had something approximating a moral code (or at least avoiding the disappointed looks of a majority of the mansion residents), so he waited for Alex to come over with coins. He ran his hand over the tiny pinholes as the machine hummed to life, feeling the air swirling out of them.
A thought about Jean-Phillipe's powers occurred to Alex at about the same moment. "Wait, can you like, electrify this thing and cheat?"
A rather wolfish grin reminded Alex that Jean-Phillipe had, once upon a time, been a dues-paying member of the Brotherhood. "Can? Yes. Will? You shall have to find out, mon ami."
"Fair enough," Alex said, getting the puck and flipping it. "Let's go." He set it on the table and hit it, sending it zipping off, clacking and bouncing off the walls.
Jean-Phillipe's reflexes were good, and scored him a few points, but Alex seemed to have a fluidity, an ease with the paddle that he couldn't match. Final score - seven to five. "Bien joue," he offered with a comradely clap to Alex's shoulder.
Alex chuckled. "You were a worthy opponent. I'll take a rematch any time. Or..." He looked at the quarters in his hand, then around the arcade like a kid who had been let loose in a candy shop. "We can see what else this place has."
