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[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

Time: August 8, 2000
Place: In the gardens, then the pool room.
Status: Public- Shadow, Pepper, others
Summary: Shadow mopes, then gets invited to play pool.

Shadow went beyond the regular part of the gardens and found a bench secluded off behind several thick rose bushes. He resisted putting his head in his hands, because it seemed too maudlin and cliché, instead leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees.

He stared morosely at a tree, feeling like shit. A part of him was disappointed in the way he had acted at the bar… but truthfully not a very large part. How else was a man supposed to act when suddenly faced with his wife’s murderer?

His thoughts drifted to another time when he’d been reduced to such rage for Laura. This one had ended better than that… the others had fought back physically (and one with a knife) and hadn’t had a small pregnant woman to come to their rescue. Shadow had paid the price for that… the price now was at once much less and yet, in a way, heavier.

He missed Laura. He missed the life they had had together before the robbery and he missed, too, his dreams in prison, when he had known that she was waiting for him.

He missed his rock solid belief in her love.

No. He wasn’t going to let anger with Loki ruin the peace he had made with that, and he wasn’t going to sully his memories of Laura with jealousy. He had forgiven her. She had loved him. She would have been there for him when he came home- she’d told him that she had broken it off. It had just been a fling. She had needed someone. She’d been alone and lonesome.

You were alone too, a small voice whispered in his mind. Shadow quashed the thought.

Comments

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper had been pruning the rose bushes on the outer perimeter of a little secluded spot out back. She had supposed that the area was sectioned off for a romantic shelter along the gardens, but with thorns poking her in the legs and thick stems refusing to severe, she was failing to see the appeal of the place.

She heard someone walking nearby and followed the footsteps inside the little space, where she saw someone sitting and clearly having a good pout. It was the man from the library in London, the one who had helped her after she'd been attacked by War. She had been meaning to thank him for days now, but she hadn't been sure where to find him. Still, now that she had crossed his path, she wasn't sure she should break silence. He didn't look too happy at the moment. Which didn't seem right, as he was such a big, tough sort. Pepper normally stayed away from men like that on principle - they'd been her natural enemy since she was a child, after all. But there was something in his face that looked too crushed, too embedded. Wrong on a face like that.

He looked like he needed a friend. And there didn't look to be any about.

Sighing, she stepped forward a bit so that her toes came into his peripheral. "Hey," she said quietly, trying not to startle him. "You want to be up a tree for brooding like that. This place is too fuzzy and pink for deep, dark thoughts."

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

Shadow blinked and looked up and around until he spotted Pippin behind the bushes.

“Oh, hi,” he said, feeling embarrassed at being caught brooding. He didn’t normally sulk like this, after all, but then he didn’t normally loose his temper the way he just had either.

He hadn't really noticed the flowers, but she had a point about the pink, now that he thought about it. “A tree?” he ventured, grinning a little. “I guess that might work… unless you’re in the mood to break something.”

He nodded toward the pruning shears in her hands. “Working?” he asked.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

It was odd that for a man with such an imposing figure he seemed to come off rather... sweet? Was that it? Or was it mild? Unassuming?

Whatever it was, it was out of place. That, and the fact that she seemed to have embarrassed him a little by sneaking up on him. She came around from the bushes and stood in front of him, smirking. "Well, if I want to break something, I usually go into the greenhouse storeroom and find old plant pots. Clay makes a satisfying sound when it breaks. You're welcome to a few, if you ever need 'em."

She put the shears in the little holster she had at her hip. The one that she never pretended to be a cowboy with. No, she never used her pruning shears to 'draw'. That would just be silly. "Not anymore," she decided abruptly. "I'm done for the day. Bushes can wait a while. I owe you a thank you, though. Never got the chance to say so that day, things were a bit crazy."

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

“They certainly were,” Shadow agreed with a small smile. “And you’re welcome. I’m glad that… uh, Gabriel, could fix you up so quickly. Broken collar bones aren’t fun.”

Which clearly she knew, but Shadow meant the recovery period specifically.

“So,” he ventured after a moment. “You were at University in London, right? Is this your home town?”

He still wasn’t sure quite who Pippin was- she seemed more human somehow than many of the others here, but she also seemed to know at least some of what was going on (more than Shadow, anyway) and she also seemed pretty close to Adam, who was clearly not human.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper nodded. "Yeah, this is were I grew up. Me, Brian, Wenlsey and Adam. We were sort of the gang around here that frightened all the parents," she said with a laugh.

She realized that she knew nothing about him at all. Not even his name. It also occurred to her that with how Adam worried about all of them, it was probably a good idea to make friends as much as she could. And he was a familiar face to boot.

"I don't think I got your name proper before," she admitted sheepishly. "But let's not stand out here, it's too hot. You shoot pool ever? I think there's a table in the basement..."

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

That was right, they hadn’t ever been properly introduced. Shadow stood, offering a smile.

“I’m Shadow,” he said, adding jokingly; “and I am a crack shot with a pool que.”

Shadow liked pool for the same reason he liked coin tricks- he could be good at it, but it took all his concentration. In other words, he wouldn’t be spending his time brooding alone behind some rose bushes.

“A game would be fun,” he said, more seriously. “Thanks.”

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper smiled. She liked him already. At least he had a sense of humor. "Are you now? Well then, Shadow, you better follow me down into the basement and we'll see if you're true to your word."

She waited for him to fall into step beside her before thinking up what to say next. "So... what're you here for, if you don't mind my askin'? The same thing that had you down behind the roses frownin' like a basset hound?" She knew it was none of her business, might be a touchy subject. But she had always wondered why he had worked in that library. Would make sense if there was more to him.

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

“I’m not really sure why I’m here, actually,” Shadow confessed. “I’ve been on a sabbatical of sorts, traveling around Europe and seeing the sights, working for money on the way. I’d say it was complete coincidence that I ended up here at all, except I’m not sure I believe in coincidence anymore.” He shrugged and sighed a little. “That back there,” he jerked his head back toward the little bench, “well, that was another seeming coincidence. I just ran into an old… friend.”

From the tone of Shadow’s voice there was no mistaking just what he really meant when he used the term ‘friend’. He shrugged again. “Something like your encounter with… um… War. Although a little different.”

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper nodded. Sounded like he'd been through a lot. "I always thought you looked out of place at that old library. What with it bein' run by those two ladies with their tie-dyed shirts and their 'Make Love Not War' signs plastered up all over." Pepper had actually frequented that library because of the two women. Made the city feel more like home.

She stared at Shadow thoughtfully for a moment. "You wanna talk about your 'friend'?" Whoever he was, he clearly had done something to upset Shadow enough that the grown man had been seething amongst pink budding roses. Clearly something serious.

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

Shadow chuckled. The two had certainly been characters.

"Well, I liked the signs," he said good naturedly. He shook his head at her question, however. "That's alright, thanks."

He really didn't want to talk about Loki, or Laura. He'd rather not even think about them, actually. What he wanted was a game of pool and several beers. Though come to think of it...

"I'd like to ask you a question, though, if you don't mind," he told her. "About this place. I know you're friends with Adam..." he paused, not entirely sure how exactly to ask what he wanted to know.

Before now he'd been content not asking- he'd had enough practice with not that, after all- but suddenly things had gotten more complicated and he was rather hoping that he didn't have to muddle his way through this new mess quite as blindly as he had the last one.

"What is this place?" he managed finally. "And why are all these people here?"

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper let Shadow keep his secret. She didn't want to pry if he needed to handle it on his own. She understood that need well enough.

When he asked about the place, she pursed her lips for a moment and considered. She was supposed to be careful about what she said to people, especially ones she didn't really know, but then she thought of Adam, how he kept it all to himself and how difficult that was for her. If she put anybody in the same position, she'd be just as bad. Besides, she had a feeling about Shadow. He wasn't going to hurt any of them, she was certain of it.

"This is a safe place," she began carefully, trying to think of how Adam might word it. "You see Adam... well, Adam's...." She still couldn't say it. Even after all this time. She would have to try a different tack. "You know 'bout the Apocalypse? End a the world thing? 'Bout who was s'posed to get it started 'ccording to the Bible? Well... that's what Adam is."

She thundered through the next part to avoid any sort of negative reaction to it. That wouldn't get them anywhere. "He didn't do it. When it was happenin', you see, Adam stopped them. Told them no, said that it was wrong to punish people for jus' bein' people, and that he wouldn't let it go through. So it didn't. And everythin' was fine for a while, but..." This was the part that Pepper had a hard time with. "...he says it's happenin' again. Or that people are tryin' to make it happen again. So that's why we're all here. To be safe and ready when the time comes." She took a deep breath once she'd finished. It felt like she given some sort long, involved lecture, like the ones she attended at uni.

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

...

This was why Shadow was generally content when people told him not to ask questions; the answers to the questions often turned out to be complicated and alarming. He’d accepted a lot in the last few years- believed a lot , but this was a little hard to wrap his brain around.

A host of gods, angels, and other supernaturals gathered together in a hotel awaiting the coming (second coming?) of the apocalypse under the supervision of the antichrist himself, who looked more like a young cherub and acted more like an ordinary English boy than the son of the devil?

He blinked a couple of times at Pippin. “And… who you?” he asked finally.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Her? What about her? She was... well, she was...

"I was with Adam the first time," she told him. "Went up against War with a sw-" she had to stop midsentence and amend the description, "a stick tied together with some string. And it destroyed her at the time. Which is why she wasn't so glad to see me at that barbeque..."

It occurred to her then, that maybe he was inquiring about something else. "Oh, I'm nothin' special, not like some of the others 'round here. Just a regular ol' human." She smiled. "What about you? You got wings hidin' in that back somewhere? Spells your goin' to cast on me to make me forget that this conversation ever happened?"

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

"Nope, no wings," Shadow answered. It was nice, actually, to meet another human who had experiences as strange as his own. "And I can't do any magic spells or anything. Except this."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 2p coin. Holding it in his right hand he held out both hands, palms up, showing Pippin his empty left hand and the coin resting on the tip of the second and third fingers of his right hand. Then, holding the coin in place his right thumb, he turned his hand so the palm faced down and held it above and to the right of his left hand.

He put the coin in the center of his left hand, then palmed it back into his right as he took the hand away, closing his left hand as he did so, making it look like the coin was still in it. He tapped his closed fingers with the index finger of his right hand three times, then, slipping the coin into his right sleeve he showed her both palms again, now empty.

“Nothing up my sleeves either,” he told her, pushing up first his left, then his right sleeve in demonstration, palming the coin back into his left hand again.

Pushing his sleeves back down again he slid the coin into his left sleeve, reached forward, empty hand clearly visible for a moment, and pretended to pull the coin out of Pippin’s ear.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper applauded appropriately after the trick was done. She'd seen that one a few times, but never so well performed. She really wasn't sure where the coin had gone that time around. Impressive. "Ah, so you are a wizard. I might have known..." She snatched the coin from him and turned it over in her hands a few times.

"Would you be willing to teach that to me sometime?" she asked as they started walking again, heading toward the front door.

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

Shadow grinned shyly at the applause, secretly proud to be able to impress someone with his tricks.

"Sure, I could teach you," he told her, reaching forward to open the door for her. "I'm still learning myself, from books mostly, and sometimes I try to make up my own."

He let her lead the way, as he hadn't been down to the basement yet.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper is sort of surprised when he opens the door for her. First of all because she's not used to men doing things like that for her, being such a tomboy through her youth, and secondly because she was constantly surprised at how much of a gentleman Shadow was. She just wouldn't have figured a big lumbering guy like him for that kind of behavior. "Thanks," she said ducking inside, and waiting for him to follow.

"So that's why you worked in a library: all the coin trick books," she joked on her way through the lobby, finally reaching the staircase further back that led to the basment. "But you makin' up your own? That's fantastic! So then we'll have to pick some time during the week where you can teach me. That sounds like it'd be brilliant."

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

"You've found me out," Shadow answered, chuckling. "I needed to work there so that I could have them long enough to actually learn anything."

They made their way down to the basement and found not only a very nice pool table with a good selection of cues and a comfortable looking couch but a mini-bar as well. Shadow went looking for a beer.

"Can I pour you anything?" he asked Pippin.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper walked over to the rack and picked a pool cue, grabbing some blue chalk from the edge of the billiard table while Shadow went over to the mini-bar. "Still actin' the bartender, even when you're off duty, eh? All right then..." She thought for a moment, then told him, "Well, seeing as you are the bartender, I bet you usually pick the right drinks for people. Got that special sixth sense? You pick it." Pepper liked letting people chose drinks for her a lot. It let her try new things.

She started pulling all the balls out of the pockets and sending them to one end of the table so she could set them up. "You want to break, or should I?"

((edited pour vous, my dear ;D))

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

“Well, normally people just tell me what they want...” Shadow joked, chuckling. He took two glasses from the shelf and considered the fairly impressive array of alcoholic beverages before him, glancing at the red-haired, freckled girl at the pool table before making his choice.

In response to Pippin’s question he pulled out his handy 2p coin again and held it up. "Call it," he told her. "Winner breaks."

He flipped the coin.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

She grinned. "Well, isn't that borin'. Good thing I usually dun't know what I want, then. More fun for you." Especially when she was little. She'd been that kid who always changed her mind about what she wanted for dinner five times.

"Tails," she said automatically. It was her favorite side to call, she never knew why.

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

Shadow grinned back. He liked this girl.

He watched the coin spin in the air a moment, caught it on its way down and slapped it onto his arm.

"Tails it is," he told her. "You break, I pour."

He opened the two bottles and deftly poured the Murphy's Stout he had chosen into the two glasses, then moved to join Pippin at the table.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper nodded and leaned over the table, lining up the shot. Breaks were hit or miss with her. Sometimes she had it, other times she didn't. And this time she -

crack

Did. Wow. Her breaks were seldom that good, but two red balls went straight for the pockets and the yellow didn't dare. Everything scattered across the table, and the setup was good. "Guess I'm red," she told him. She tried to take another shot, but it failed miserably, as she had figured. "And it looks to be your turn."

[classic-palm.livejournal.com]

"Nice," Shadow complimented, taking a long, grateful swig of his beer.

True to his word, Shadow was very good at pool, and sank three yellow balls in rapid secession, narrowly missing the forth. He shrugged and motioned for Pippin to step up to the table again.

"So how's the beer?" he asked.