ghostthatlingers | Sanctum IC Contact

"What--you're gonna make me carry all your shit anyway, how is that a bet?!"

But fuck, he'll take it. D1 here they come! "Good luck not spending all your money, asshole! I'm gonna order the most expensive thing off that menu!"

Sure is a lot of confidence for someone who can't shoot straight to save, well...anyone's life. But hell, isn't half the fun actually playing? (The other half is winning and rubbing it in faces.)

Oh, she wins. There's no doubt that her score is higher than everyone else in the arena. The troubling part is that for all the trash talk and confidence that she isn't going to pay for shit, he manages to score one point on her. A point off of her at the last possible fucking second.

Anyone else watching would be incredibly confused as to why the person with the top score is this pissed off, but she is. Tex never was a graceful loser, not to Church. "How the hell did you manage that?"

And Church is not a graceful winner. "It's alllllll skill, baby! WOO! I fucking nailed your ass! Guess who has to pay for lunch--hint: not me."

How did he do it? No one will ever fucking know. But it happened. "Suck on that, Freelancer bitch!" Don't let him do an awkward victory dance/hip gyration. The fact that he's got the lowest score and that his team lost doesn't even matter.

It was only one shot, but dammit. She knows she's better and she got plenty of hits in on him. This doesn't stop her from being ready to jump right back into the laser tag arena.

"We're going again. Stay on that team, you're not getting a shot on me this next round."

"Oh what, you want me to hit you again? Hell yeah we'll go again! You're still paying for lunch, no best two out of three."

Of course, Church spends the majority of the next round being mercilessly hunted from the shadows, and he jumps at any flash of color once he figures that out. No, shooting blindly does not help.

Still doesn't override the fact that he managed to hit her once that one time. Bitch.

Paying for lunch is an afterthought at this point. There's no real reason to her decimating Church in this round except to feed her ego and she feels that the outcome of this match is what the first one should have been.

"I knew it was a fluke," she says smugly as they step out of the arena.

"Still hit you. See, that second time? You knew I was a threat. You had it out for me!" Doesn't she always? "And that's why I didn't get a point that time." He will hear no arguments otherwise. None.

"I bet you weren't even aiming for me the first time. And since you couldn't hit me again, we're going to the cheapest place in the district for lunch." Okay, not really, because even she doesn't want to see what passes for terrible food in this city. She'd like to enjoy eating.

"Fine. But you still can't deny that I totally shot your ass. And it was awesome." The shot or the ass? Both. Both is good. "After that, anything will taste like victory. Sweet, delicious victory."

"Yeah, we'll see how long you think that when you're eating a dressed-up MRE." Careful, Tex. The more shit she talks, the more she might actually have to go through with it. "You're still carrying everything later."

"Yeah, okay, you go off to the militia and pay them for some MREs and make that your lunch. I'll wait." He elbows her playfully. "Even my robot senses can tell me that stuff's probably more toxic than Command'll admit."

"How toxic do you think you can make a MRE?" The musing is aloud and intentional and she might not stop at MREs. "I might have to find out later."

"...Or, we could have a nice polite lunch out, and I will carry all the things we buy after." The whip has been cracked. "I mean. That was gonna happen anyway, let's be honest, but I'm down for a nice, non-toxic lunch."

She smirks. She might not have won the bet, but that doesn't mean she hasn't won anyway. "We'll see. I might be in the mood for that after another round of kicking your ass."

"Doesn't that ever get tiring? Ever? I want to just savor the victory." No, no one is ever tired of kicking your ass, Church. Deal. "You're just a sore fucking loser."

"You're going to be a lonely asshole if you don't shut up and play." Because yes, she is heading back into the arena. She's getting her money's worth out of this place and she's enjoying doing something so simple and mundane for a chance.

One more match and she'll be happy to hang up the equipment and leave.

Don't be so sure that Church won't. But he gleefully heads back in to go another round. Sadly he can't exactly show York a laser tag score and call that 'learning to shoot', but hey, this proves he's not a completely useless shot, right? Right! And even if he loses, and of course he loses, because who's really gonna beat Tex at something like this, he's not actually sore about it even if he acts it.

It strikes him that this is kinda like a date. And that's pretty cool.

This is what she needed to get her mind off of the baggage that had been brought into this city. She doesn't often smile, not a genuine one anyway, but she's in good spirits as they come out of the match.

Once the equipment is put away, she pulls out her glasses to make sure she has this place marked on her map. "We'll be coming back here again."

"Damn right we will. Hell, I might even pay." Really? "Pff, nah, you can pay for as many rounds as you like, though."

It's good, though, to see her happy. It's been a while. It's been--he knows in whatever logic Delta left that he must not have ever seen her face, but at the same time it's exactly the way it should be. And she's happy. And that makes him happier. He could just kiss her.

Instead, he's going to try pulling her in for a noogie. Means the same thing, right?

He's only successful because she's busy trying to make sure she has everything set on her glasses. There's something terribly wrong about him being the one to give her a noogie. First he manages to shoot her in laser tag and now this?

"Asshole!" Retaliation is swift and comes in the form of merciless tickling that may or may not stop when the noogie does.

"No fair, no fair!" Totally fair. He didn't even know this body was ticklish! He'll get her back though. He will find any of her ticklish spots, rest assured.

"Man, you're losing your touch if I keep getting the drop on you." That's only twice, and once was when she was distracted. It's not the greatest victory streak ever. But good enough for him!

"You really want to sleep downstairs by yourself tonight, don't you?" There's only a slight edge to her voice. It's about a good as it's going to get given that the sensation from that damn noogie hasn't gone away yet.

"Next time I'm not stopping until there's a puddle."

"There's only one place I plan on sleeping, and that's the place where all the covers are. Now you wanna go for another round or you wanna quit bitching and do other shit?" On this date-not-date. Neither of them are going to use the word. But it's hanging in the periphery.

"Every time you talk, poisoning your food starts sounding better and better," she replies flatly and moves to take the laser tag equipment off. "I'll kick your ass more next time."

"Sounds like you mean that way more literally. So maybe the safest course is to shut up." Yeah, maybe, but when has that ever stopped him?

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