Another year, another chance. [open]

[Lucas Blacke]

backdated to august 1st

The birthday boy had just finished his training for the day and decided he could use some relaxation. Even though it was his birthday he felt absolutely no need to celebrate anything about it and just went on with his day like normal. Except this birthday was anything but normal.

He flopped down on a couch and closed his eyes a bit. This was his first birthday after having having broken up with his first girlfriend, which he assumed could be seen as quite a big deal to people. He half considered messaging her to come over or something, could be fun. Maybe finally catch up a bit, talk about nothing too serious. He'd like that. All in all there were just 3 people he would even consider inviting at the moment and one of them didn't even have his number, and that was all his own fault, he realized. He fucked things up way too much for his own good.

He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes and thought about actually going out for once. No, too much of a hassle. Besides, going out alone was no fun, right?

He fished his phone from his pocket and went through all the contacts he had in there and then followed it up by looking at every picture in there. Despite him wanting to change and actually having changed quite a bit he still felt a wave of deppression with every photo on his phone which led him to delete them all. Even the Marnie ones.

He smiled as he stared at the empty gallery in his phone, and the empty room around him.

''Happy birthday, dickface.'' He sighed.

[Rory Hartt]

Rory had just gotten the grand tour of her new school, and then been left to her own devices. Okay, perhaps "left to her own devices" was a bit of an exaggeration. She was supposed to be settling in and finding where her classes would be, but Rory wasn't exactly an eager student. So instead she headed to the spot she hoped to find more fun and less function: the student's lounge.

She'd just opened the door when she heard the dude on one of the couches muttering. She tucked a strand of auburn hair back, trying to push it back into her ponytail and failing, and thrust her hands into the pockets of her unzipped hoodie, pulling them down to double-pocket in her running shorts. Wandering over behind him, she glanced over the back of the couch curiously. "Who's dickface?" She asked, with an amused smile and raised brow, trying to see what he was looking at on his phone.

[Lucas Blacke]

Luke quite nearly fell from the couch and barely held on to his phone. He hadn't seen the source of the sound but his phone didn't need one and started dialing. 'Calling Lucas Blacke' it said, Luke only just now realizing he had an old number of himself and a discarded old cell phone from before he could pay his current one off.

He moved his fingers around the screen trying to cancel the call and nearly dropped his phone after which he just yelled 'cancel!' out loud in order for his phone to take the command and stop dialing. He took a deep breath aand finally put the phone on the table and got up from the couch.

Te source of the sound and the reason he was startled was a girl, though Luke wasn't quite sure of her age he knew she was probably younger than he was. ''Dude.'' He said with a straight face at the girl. ''No matter how cute you are,'' He leaned in and quite nearly poked the girl with his nose. ''don't do shit like that.''

He paused and hovered in front of the girl a bit as he finally withdrew his head and coughed. ''Luke's the name.''

He smiled. ''Being a dick is my fame.''

[Rory Hartt]

Rory's brows lifted in sheer amusement as she tried not to laugh at the guy's fumblings. It was tough: the situation was pretty hilarious. "That's what you get for having a fancy phone," she pointed out with a slight smirk, though it was all meant in good fun. For her part, Rory was perfectly happy having a phone without all the fancy extras - she'd never had to deal with weird accidental dialings.

As the guy stood and faced her, Rory kept her self-satisfied smirk -- until he called her cute. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed, but she didn't bite his head off for it. Yet. She didn't even budge from her position as he leaned toward her, though she was highly tempted to head-butt him.

"Oh, is asking questions frowned on here?" Her voice was sarcastic, but more pointedly teasing than mean, as she folded her arms in front of her stubbornly, her smirk returning.

''Luke's the name. Being a dick is my fame.''

Rory snorted. "Oh yeah, that's something to be proud of," she rolled her eyes, unable to keep a straight face even if she'd tried.

Now that he'd backed off, she felt more comfortable about backing down as well, and looked away to explore the student lounge, wandering toward the counters and cabinets. "I'm Rory," she tossed the comment over her shoulder casually, "I'm new. And don't call me cute."

[Lucas Blacke]

''I didn't call you cute.'' Luke defended with a raised index finger as he slowly picked up his phone of the table out of habit. ''I said that being cute doesn't help, never said you were.''

He plopped back down on the couch and eyed the girl as she went to look at the ins and outs of the lounge. Luke threw his arm over one side of he couch and looked in the direction of the one allegedly called Rory. ''Nice to meet ya.'' He droned as he turned back and eyed the television in front of him.

'''Say, wanna play a game or something?'' He wondered as he noticed a game system and realizing he felt like getting away from his own world for a moment. ''I'm sure there are some decent co-op games here..'' He continued as he rummaged through the stack of games next to the system.

''Or are ya scared that I'm better than you?''

[Rory Hartt]

"Good." Despite the insult implied by Luke's correction, Rory was actually quite pleased. She didn't like being called cute, it was like being called weak. Or girly. She wasn't any of those things. Well, maybe cute at times, but not on purpose.

''Say, wanna play a game or something?''

Rory glanced back toward the TV and spotted the gaming console as well. Games she could totally do. Also - sweet! She'd never been at a school with a console in the student's lounge before. Then again, she didn't think her last school had even had a student's lounge, so this whole thing was new to her.

''Or are ya scared that I'm better than you?''

She barked out a laugh, "Yeah, like I'd be scared of someone who doesn't even know how to use his own phone," she joked, pointedly. With a quick calculation, she vaulted over the back of the couch, landing comfortably beside him, and looked at what games she could spot by the TV. Just her luck (or, well, it was probably also partially her power), the lounge happened to have Rory's favorite game to play in a competitive setting: "Mario Kart?" She suggested.

And yes, her favorite game to play competitively was Mario Kart, despite her skills in the more serious FPS's, because Mario Kart was just... more fun. The lack of seriousness made her less angry if she lost. Not that she'd lose. She was pretty sure her luck was still running golden for the day, though come evening she expected it to turn for it's requisite half hour or so. ...Stupid power.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Eh.'' Luke shrugged at the suggestion. ''Sure, Mario Kart.'' There wasn't all that much he could use in terms of cheating that would be any good for Mario Kart, all he could do was secure the fastest time on each lap, and that was not counting powerups. Fact was, he realized, the game was mostly about luck and getting the right powerups while hoping to avoid bumping into other players.

''Just know that I'll throw lotsa blue shells your way.'' He said with a grin aimed at the girl. He was in no way good at the game, he just knew how to move the controller to make happen what he wanted since he'd seen people play it before. ''No matter the track, no matter the kart, I will give you a run for your money.''

He bent over to get the game and plopped it into the system, booted it up and sat back as he turned on the television in one swift motion. He put the remote back on the table and rubbed his hands together before wrapping his fingers around the controller. The menu popped up and Luke went through the videos he had seen on the game, allowing him to speed through the menu without even watching what he picked.

''And to think I don't even know how to play this game.'' He said with a wink.

[Rory Hartt]

Rory had a slightly smug smile as he agreed to her game. She'd been playing this against her bros for years now - and with her power in her favor she was pretty sure she'd slaughter the self-proclaimed dickface.

''No matter the track, no matter the kart, I will give you a run for your money.''

"Yeah, good luck with that," Rory smirked at him. His zooming through the menu was a little annoyingly superior - as though she had no choice in the track or mode? - but she could deal. Her expression was determined and favoring the competitive side of 'playfully competitive,' but that was just how she got when there was something to win.

''And to think I don't even know how to play this game.''

As she glanced to him, she snorted. "Oh, it winks," she jabbed, "is there some string I can pull for a snappy catchphrase, too?" She kept her verbal game up even as the game started, "Maybe 'Look at me, I'm a dick!' Or 'check out my massive ego!"

[Lucas Blacke]

''That would be 'Luke at me.' for starters. Also, I do come with strings attached, I know girls hate that.'' He replied with a smirk as he motioned for his back with a controller in his hand. The fact he knew the track he chose combined with no one going for a powerup at the start meant that he could safely look away as his fingers did all the moving for him.

He turned his head and looked at Rory as he kept on playing the game with little to no error, until someone was to pick up a powerup which was hopefully later than sooner. ''I have four strings as is. The first is my Marnie-string, if you pull that I'll ask if you read any good books lately.''

''The second is my Karalie-string, that one makes me like everything about you. That one is off limits to just about anyone.''

''The third string is my IDGAF-string, it simply makes me shrug.

''My fourth string is the one you want, it's my catchphrase-string. It makes me say random stuff. Like... for instance..''

Luke inhaled and moved his head closer to Rory. ''Feel the agony of da feet.''

[Rory Hartt]

Rory didn't look away from the game as he spoke, but returned the smirk regardless. The wordplay was worthy of a good 'that was stupid but still funny' lauding, but she knew that would just inflate his already too-large ego. Not that that was a bad thing at the moment, it was pretty entertaining for now (hopefully he wasn't like that all the time). The 'girls' comment did make her scoff lightly and roll her eyes, but it wasn't worthy of a real response.

As he went on to talk of strings, Rory was blissfully ignorant of all the names he mentioned -- and blissfully undistracted as she hit two powerups in a row and left a trail of banana peels in her (well, Toad's) wake.

His leaning in was obviously a tactic to distract her, but it wasn't about to work.

''Feel the agony of da feet.''

As he hit the 't' of 'feet,' Rory punctuated his statement for him with a jab from her elbow right as her kart swung around a corner. "Whoops," she grinned, obviously unapologetic.

[Lucas Blacke]

''OW!'' Luke yelled as Rory jabbed him in the arm. He dropped the controller on his lap and instantly saw the kart on screen stop moving. ''My arm! It hurts!'' He grabbed the side of his arm and rubbed it vicariously. ''Why in the name of holy fuck would you- okay I'm good again.'' He said with a smile as he picked up the controller again now that Rory had passed him in game.

''I know I'm playing as Wario, but it is on like Donkey Kong!'' He said as he pressed down on the trigger and accelerated his kart through a powerup. A red shell. Talk about unusable projectiles. ''But not just yet.''

He drove a bit in the game and was constantly distracted by seeing Toad just on the edge of the screen, he needed to fix that somehow. He lined up his kart and decided to fire off the red shell he still carried, only to have it bounce off of a banana peel that Rory had just left behind.

With little to no chance of catching up now, unless he got a powerup he could actually use, he raised a single eyebrow. ''Well that's just not fair.''

''Also, thought I should at least tell you, this is a bet.''

[Rory Hartt]

The sound of the older boy whining just made Rory grin. "Pussy," she taunted, zooming Toad straight on through. "Do you play soccer, or are you just a pussy all the time?" She had no problems ripping on fellow gamers - it was part of the sport.

The 'it's on like Donkey Kong' comment also deserved a touch of praise, but Rory was hesitant to give it until she felt like he deserved some pity praise. His head was still too big to keep pumping it with affirmations.

As his attempt at waylaying her backfired (almost literally), Rory laughed, and took the risk of raising a hand from her controller briefly, trusting her power to keep her on the right track as she jabbed a finger in his direction; "Ha! Nice try, punk!" It was only off for a fraction of a second before coming back to her controller again.

''Well that's just not fair.''

Rory wasn't about to verify just how right he was -- her power did skew the game in her favor -- she just preened happily, though his bet comment was coming a bit too late. "Well, it looks like you're the unfortunate loser for this round, at least," she was well ahead of him now and closing in on her last lap, "What are the terms?"

[Lucas Blacke]

''The terms.'' Luke replied with a thought brewing in his mind as he landed on a powerup that somehow landed him a blooper six times in as a row, the squid like thing that inked up your screen partially. ''I'll have to think on that.'' He said as he fired off the blooper and smiled, though quickly that smile faded as he saw Rory get a bullet bill, which meant she steered automatically for the duration of the ink on her screen. She somehow got all the good things.

He feigned a smile as he saw her nearing the finish line. ''It ain't over until the fat lady sings.'' He bumped against the girl. ''So start singing, I seem to have lost.'' He winked.

''As for the bet.'' He began with a hint of hesitance. ''A question.'' He nodded. ''The loser, in this case me, has to answer one question truthfully.''

''So choose wisely.''

[Rory Hartt]

Rory felt the smirk growing more and more smug as she neared the finish line. She didn't bother responding to his words, more focused on the winning.

''It ain't over until the fat lady sings.''

She bumped him right back as he bumped into her - possibly harder than he had. And then -"Ha!" She punched her controller into the air in victory. "Suck it!"

''So start singing, I seem to have lost.''

She shot him a casual glare, scoffing at the wink. "Are you calling me fat?" Not that she cared. Any of her friends who saw her enjoying a summer bonfire complete with hot dogs and pizza knew she was a fat kid at heart. If only her moms would feed her like that every day.

She juggled the controller between her hands as he set out the terms for the bet, her head cocked to the side as she listened, her ponytail cascading over one shoulder. "Hmmmm..." She tapped her nails on the controller with a satisfying clicking sound.

One question. Just one.

Well, fuck. She knew nothing about this kid. She knew barely anything about this school, except for what she'd heard from Kayla. How could she choose a single question to ask? Ooh, and he'd have to answer truthfully.... she should really take this opportunity to get nosy. So why couldn't she think of any good questions?

"Fuck, dude, I'm totally blanking," she admitted, her lips twisting in annoyance. Suddenly, it came to her. "Okay: most embarrassing moment." While not exactly deep, it did offer her both entertainment value and possible blackmail (not that she ever thought she'd need it, but it couldn't hurt).

[Lucas Blacke]

Over the course of the years it had become increasingly more easy for Luke to cope with losses. They were still crappy, but he could handle losing a game just fine. He shrugged and shot a smile at Rory. She had retorted to his last comment which made the boy smile awkwardly but as soon as he noticed she didn't seem that offended he was able to shrug it off and nod like a man possessed.

''People who win from me are automatically flawed in some way. It's my coping mechanism.'' He replied, and suddenly he realized ''Maybe to really get to you I need to call you cute.''

''Cutey.''

He got a slam against his shoulder (very well, he deserved one) and witnessed Rory mulling over things to ask as she said she was drawing a blank, that she didn't know. Luke admitted to himself that it would be pretty hard to ask something personal about someone you'd just met. And it could just as well turn out to open up old wounds. Which, as Rory opened her mouth, it didn't.

''Most embarrassing moment?'' Luke repeated in an attempt to buy himself time to think of an answer. ''Truthfully.. right-o. You've earned it, I suppose.'' He continued as he put his index finger against his chin with the controller still in his hand.

''I suppose..'' He started as he finally settled upon easily the most embarrassing moment in his life. ''The time my uncle died for sure. Not alot of people know this, but I was pretty close with him. Imagine my face when I had to explain missing his funeral when I didn't even know he died.''

He coughed. ''Not what you were expecting, was it?''

''Honestly, going out with my current girlfriend and running into my ex. And on top of that my power malfunctioned right then and there.''