fandomtownies | Fast Eddie's, Saturday afternoon

"No," Leto said. If he went back far enough in his memories, he might found some ancestor who knew this game, but he decided not to. "And does it matter?" He grinned at Dinah as he accepted the cue.

Dinah grinned. "With you? Probably not." She dragged the pool balls inside the triangle and then removed the frame, grabbing the cue ball and heading to the opposite side of the table. "The point is to sink your balls before your opponent does. It can get more complicated, but stripes versus solid colors is pretty simple." She dimpled at him, glad of all the times she'd goofed off and played pool when Barbara thought she was somewhere else. "Whichever color ball lands in the pocket, I'll be that color, okay?" She grinned and leaned over the table, lining up her shot.

He listened. The rules were simple enough, and he gave a quick nod. Watching Dinah on the other side of the table, Leto leaned against his cue. "And are you allowed to distract the opponent while they are aiming?"

Dinah gave him a grin. "I always do."

A crack, and the balls shot off in different directions, bouncing off the sides, with one solid blue ball falling into a side pocket. Dinah lined up her next shot. "You shoot until you miss. Pretty simple, really." She tilted her head toward him, cue slipping through her fingers as she hit the cue ball. "So, what were you telling Merlin about marriage here?"

Leto's eyes were on the table. "That the customs here were different than at Camelot, and that dating that dating someone eventually would lead to a monogamous arrangement similar to a betrothal," he replied. "Merlin seemed to think that Francine understood that his loyalty to Arthur came before anything else, and I suggested he clarify that to avoid misunderstandings."

He shot a quick glance at Dinah. "Why?"

One ball sunk, and Dinah moved around the table to set up her second shot, a much harder one. "He nearly gave her a heart attack on one of their dates, wondering if she expected to get married. I told you that's not how it worked," she said, and hit the ball too hard, watching it rebound off the far side. Her mouth quirked in a smile. "You can break up whenever you want, you know. People get their feelings hurt all the time, but no one demands you get married if you're dating. Your turn." She hummed innocently, and leaned on her pool cue.

"And that wasn't what I told him," Leto replied, walking a quarter circle around the table. "But it is a matter of definition. In some cultures marriage are for life, in some they are easily dissolved. In some places you are betrothed for a long time, in others you are not." He aimed, trying to understand how to achieve the shot he wanted with the cue. "To me, this dating does sound a little like a temporary marriage."

He hit the ball far too hard.

Dinah grinned as the balls bounced off the bumpers, and got into position to sink her ball into a corner pocket. "Then I so explained it wrong. I mean, aside from not dating other people, what does dating have in common with marriage?" She pulled the cue back, trying to concentrate. "You don't live together, you don't share expenses, you might not meet each others' families..."

"You are only allowed to do that once you marry?" Leto asked.

"Well, no. That's not it." Dinah hit the ball, and smiled in satisfaction as it sunk, then frowned at the limited set-ups available on the table. "Those are steps along the way. You can back out any time. Dating, dating exclusively, living together, engaged, married..." She leaned over to take another shot, frowning.

Edited 2009-03-07 18:48 (UTC)

"But once you marry, it's for life?" Leto had watched her shots, observing her technique. Now he leaned his hands against the table, right next to her.

Dinah slid him a sideways look, and tried to concentrate with him that close. "It's supposed to be. I think it's only about half the time, though. People get divorced for a lot of reasons. At least here in the U.S. But that's the ideal. 'Til death do you part."

Annnnd shoot and miss, nuts. "Your turn."

"But if you are just dating, there is no ideal that it should last?" Leto asked. He took a step back, trying to decide which ball to aim for. Having made his choice - and it wasn't too hard, there was one nicely lined up - he shot, and sank the ball. He smiled.

"Nope." Dinah smiled back at him, and rolled her eyes, then settled herself on the opposite side of the table, looking innocent as she perched on the end, one leg swinging. "I mean, you want it to last, but everyone knows stuff happens. Especially at our age. People go to different colleges, or move away, or start jobs that take up all their time, or meet someone else they have more in common with... Some people handle break-ups better than others, but no one's really surprised." She made a face, remembering her own break-up with Matt. "Except the people involved, sometimes."

"Ah," he said. "Well, people have to be older here to be considered adults." He aimed at the next ball, then shot a glance at Dinah. "Any specific people involved?"

Dinah thought about that, and realized that that might be where the disconnect crept in; to Leto and Merlin, people their age were adults. To Dinah and Francine, the idea was ludicrous.

At his question, she sighed, then shrugged. "I had a boyfriend before I came here. Matt. We'd only been dating a couple months, but... I liked him. He dumped me a couple weeks before I got here. I didn't really see it coming."

Another shot, another ball sunk. Leto was beginning to understand the basics.

He looked up at Dinah. "I am sorry. Why?"

Dinah wandered around the table, hoping the movement would mess up his concentration. "Mostly, he didn't like that the press were kind of stalking my family. They were always around, trying to snap photos. Helena just inherited a god-awful amount of money and property, and the reporters have been swarming." She sighed and leaned on her pool cue. "And then I broke a guy's nose."

"Those are bad things?" Leto replied, frowning. He noticed her movement, but if there was one thing he was good at, it was concentrating.

The next shot he missed though, and the ball stopped in the middle of the table.

Dinah grinned, and bounced on her toes, before moving around the table to look for another shot. With the ball in the middle, it was going to be tricky.

"The attention unnerved him, and after I beat up the reporter, I got arrested. Even though they dropped the charges. There was a lot of teasing and he just didn't want to deal with it." Dinah frowned, and finally gave up, hitching herself on top of the table and leaning waaay over to reach the ball. "Which, I kind of can't blame him? But it was still disappointing, and hurt."

"You beat up a reporter? Shouldn't he be proud of that?" The look Leto gave her said he clearly meant that. He was biased, he knew that; he liked Dinah.

She made the shot, missing because it was just impossible without cheating and using TK, then beamed at him, and hopped off the table. "Helena was, after she got over being mad. And her boyfriend was the one who got the charges dropped for me, he was all for arresting the reporter for stalking. Matt was just fed up, I think. So maybe I'm better off. I want a guy who'd have my back." Dinah picked up the chalk for her cue, then gave him a curious look. "Have you ever had something boyfriendy or girlfriendy? I know you can't permanently, but, you know. Has there been anybody special?"

He watched her for a moment, then shook his head. "No. But I always had Ghanima. We were different, but we had each other." Noticing the chalk, he added: "What is that for?"

"This?" Dinah offered it to him. "It's to chalk the tip of the cue, so it hits the balls easier." She blew the excess chalk of the tip of hers, and grinned. "Ignore the metaphors."

His grinned widened. "Why?"

But he turned to the table and aimed another shot, this time sinking the ball. "And I hope you find someone better. Clearly he was not worthy of you." He observed the table, considering the options.

Dinah didn't know how to answer that, assuming he got the metaphor, turning pink instead. She leaned into him for a second and said, "Thanks." Then she stepped back so he could get a shot. "Anyway. That's a big part of why I'm here, too. The swarming got really bad after that, and I needed a break, so Alfred suggested Fandom. I'm really glad he did."

He gave her a quick smile. "Yes, anonymity can have its advantages." The next shot was difficult, and he missed.

Dinah remembered what Professor Atreides had said the day before, and said, "I guess you'd know a bit about that, right? Your sister was talking about being at court yesterday, and having to negotiate stuff, and it sounded like a headache for your family." She made a face. "Helena hates it."

She moved around the table, and set up another shot, very very carefully.

Leto moved to stand next to her. "Yes, it can be... demanding at times. Although our aunt Alia is the regent and she is more of a public figure that my sister and I."

And he was doing it again. Dinah smirked at him, shaking her head. Concentrate, concentrate... he smelled nice.

She still made the shot, though. "I thought your stepmother was in charge." Take a breath, and move around the table. "The one your sister was going to send the sparkly hat to." She knew his mom was gone, and was pretty sure he'd said something that made her think his dad was too.

He chuckled, and slipped an arm around her, resting his chin on her shoulder for a moment before releasing her.

"Irulan? No. When our father... died, shortly after our mother, Alia became regent in our place. Irulan has been responsible for our upbringing."

Which *completely* threw Dinah again, even though not as badly as it once would have, wondering where it was going. Now she just enjoyed it for a second, and sent him a mock-glare for cheating and snuggling while she was trying to focus.

"Ohhh." And she missed the shot. Well. It was a difficult shot anyway. "What's Alia like?"

He smirked, taking a step back. "Alia is... Pre-Born, like Ghani and I. She was very young when she had to take on the responsibility our father left behind. It hasn't been easy for her." Leto wasn't going to talk about the suspicions he had about Alia, and how she tried to persuade him and Ghani to take part in the spice trance.

"That has to be rough. Like you said, at least you had your twin." Dinah stood out of the way, then went around the table to fold her arms on the edge of the table top and stare at Leto, hoping to mess up his aim with the attention.

Edited 2009-03-07 20:53 (UTC)

He might not have much experience with pool, but attempts at distraction were the same whatever you were doing. Leto focused his attention on the table, but the shot was difficult, and he failed to sink any of the balls.

"Yes," he said. "I have never been lonely. Not in that way." He looked at Dinah while leaning against the cue.

By now, there were only half the balls left on the table, which made it harder to have a shot set up when it was her turn. Dinah circled the table twice, biting her lip. "You were lucky. And your sister's so cool." She cocked her head, and settled in to make a set-up shot, since she couldn't sink a ball this time. Hopefully Leto wouldn't be able to ruin her angle too much with his. "Barbara wanted to meet her, after she wrote to her. Maybe they can visit in a few months."

"Why not? And it makes me happy to hear that you and Ghani get along." He observed her shot, noticing her strategy. This time, he managed to sink another ball.

Dinah grinned. "She's so awesome. And studying with her has really helped my concentration with the telekinesis. I can ignore distractions a lot better now." She hummed and then wandered over to lean next to him while he made his next shot. "Barbara teaches, and Helena works at a bar. Although..." She debated with herself. Did she trust Leto to know about the other stuff? About being a crimefighter? He definitely knew about secrets. "It's more the side-jobs that keep them in New Gotham."

He paused, letting the cue rest on the table, while he turned his head to watch her. "Oh?" There was more; he noticed that. As if to tell her that he would listen if she wanted to tell him, he reached out to squeeze her hand.

Which derailed her train of thought for a minute, but did remind her that this wasn't Arthur, and he would take it seriously. Tony and Priestly had understood, so... "New Gotham is a really big city. With a meta-criminal element, people the police can't handle. Too many abilities, too sneaky. Barbara and Helena..." Oh, this sounded so weird. She held onto his hand a little harder. "Fight them. When the police can't."

"And that's what you will do one day?" He held on to her hand, waiting for her to let go.

Dinah nodded, then bit her lip. "Kind of already doing it. I had fun when I went home, three muggers and a carjacker. We drop them off for the police to handle, with the evidence, or leave a note." She added hastily, "But I take it seriously! I'm just the sidekick for now. But someday, that'll be my job. Night job. I'll have to get a day job, too. I'm still figuring that out."

"You have your path set, then," he said gently. "You just have to stay on it." He smiled at Dinah.

"Yes. Exactly." Dinah grinned at him, and squeezed his hand. "Have to use my powers responsibly, you know? And I'm good at it. I want to be the best." She made a face. "Although Helena will probably always be better." She sobered. "It's just a matter of details now."

Edited 2009-03-07 21:46 (UTC)

"Oh, Dinah." He pulled her close and hugged her. It was clear it wasn't easy for her to speak about this, and Leto wanted to make sure she understood he knew that.

Dinah hugged him back, surprised but pleased. She curved her arms around him and squeezed tight. Yay friends who got it.

She pulled back a little still smiling, to look at him. "It's nice not to have any more secrets, you know? I'm not telling everyone that. But I don't like lying to people I care about."

"You are not lying," he reminded her, smiling back. "But yes, when the truth is known and accepted, you are less lonely."

"Yup." She grinned at him, and squeezed his hand. "Your shot. Then do you want to get some nachos?"

He laughed, picking up the cue. "Yes. I'm not sure what they are, but I trust your judgement."

Fast Eddie's, Saturday afternoon

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