Slow Day (Odion)

Ulrich watched Odion closely, suspiciously. His thought about the ginger were not pleasant ones, and he expected the worse out of him. Because of this, it was surprising to see that he was... rather nice, which could be one of the reasons why Rhett liked him... if he still liked him at all. Rhett never answered Ulrich when he asked if he still had feelings for Odion, and Ulrich had become extremely suspicious as a result. Even after they had their little falling out outside of La Maison Magnifique, the answer to the question still bothered Ulrich, like a constant dissonance in his mind, and he needed it to be resolved. Rhett fascinated him, confused him, and even pissed him off, but no matter how hard Ulrich tried to stop thinking about the older blond.

"This is my first time playing," Ulrich commented when the ginger expressed his lack of experience. He watched on as a solid ball was sunk without expressing any discontent about Odion now being in the lead. "Yep. You're solids..."

While waiting for Odion to go again, Ulrich decided it would be best to go ahead and get the questions he was wanting to ask off of his mind. Despite his amazing patience, he couldn't think of a better time and place to ask. They were practically alone and the likelyhood of that happening again was probably very slim. Maybe it really was Odion's lucky day, it was actually Ulrich's.

"Have you spoken to... Rhett... recently?" he asked out of the blue.

Ulrich watched on as Odion took his turn again and scratched, meaning it was his turn now. He took his stick and lined it up with the cue-ball. Analyzing what other balls it might hit and where they might go. He adjusted his angle slightly with superhumanly masterful and precise movements of his hands and fingers. "Oh yeah," Ulrich replied, "I remember him telling me about that."

In fact, he remembered the day perfectly. He was shooting down soda cans and caused one to accidentally fly at Rhett. They then talked and eventually Rhett admitted to buying Odion (after A LOT of questioning). That was the day that Ulrich's suspicions were raised and his dislike of Odion began.

Ulrich then struck the cue-ball and sent it flying at the others. The balls all bounced around for a few seconds, but eventually, two stripped balls landed in corner pockets at opposite ends of the table. "This isn't too difficult," he thought to himself.

"Does he like you?" Ulrich asked next bluntly while preparing for another shot.

When he shot the second one, he sunk another stripped ball, but he also accidentally sunk a solid one as well. The game may have been technically easy for him, but he still had some adjustments to make and some learning to do before he could master it. It was similar to shooting. You could be the most accurate person in the world, but if fail to take into account things like distance, target size, and wind, you won't get very far. "Your turn."

It really was a trap.

At first, Ulrich didn't mean for it to be, but now the hunter had his prey right where he wanted him... at least until the end of the game. "I already know that," Ulrich replied quickly with a voice growing harsh. "And that's not what I asked you."

Ulrich stepped up toward the table and easily sunk in two more of his stripped balls. He then realized that he may have been playing a little too well, and if he ended the game early, he would lose time to question Odion, who was appearing to be just as stubborn as Rhett when it came to answering his questions. He would need all the time he could get, so for his next shot, he purposely missed everything.

"Does he like you?" Ulrich asked again. "It's a yes or no question."

Ulrich was stunned by Odion's outburst, but he didn't stay stunned for long. He soon became enraged. The urge to take the pool stick and break it over Odion's head was pulsing through him. His grip on the stick tightened, and he imagined what it would look like seeing Odion's blood pour from his skull while he lay unconscious on the ground. It was an enticing though, and he was very tempted to make it become a reality. It would definitely teach the ginger a lesson.

Ulrich didn't go through with it though. The satisfaction of beating Odion to a pulp wasn't worth the trouble he would be in afterward. The last thing he wanted to do was be stuck around the intrusive, annoying Hammel staff or be required to attend anger counseling with that Dr. Neville guy.

"Why do both of you have to make things so difficult?" Ulrich said through gritted teeth. He then had to take a few deep breaths in order to help relieve some of his building anger. His knuckles were growing white due to how strong his grip on the pool stick was. "I do have feelings for him," Ulrich then admitted without hesitation.

The kind of feelings he had for Rhett were not the feelings friends or lovers have for each other, they were different - unique to only Ulrich. He didn't know what to call them or even why he had the feelings, he just knew they were there. He either wanted to embrace them or get rid of them, and so far, the embracing thing hasn't worked out. He and Rhett had a falling out, and he went searching for answers as a result. And the one person who could answer his questions, Odion, wasn't being very helpful.

Ulrich wanted to give up. The search for answers was not worth his time anymore, and he knew that the feelings, like all feelings, would eventually pass as time went on if neglected. However, that didn't mean his growing hatred for Odion, and now for Rhett, would fade very quickly. That was something that would most likely stick with him for a while.

"Let's finish the game," Ulrich said bluntly, "and be quick about it."