[Does he really? Or maybe he does, but--Uchiha. Execution? Remember.
He's quiet for a long time, and then he lets his arms fall down to his sides. Something about it feels like he's reached the beginning of a resolution within himself. Maybe.] I want to see your room before I go. [It sounds more like a request than a demand, actually.]
This time it's more like I can't instead of I don't want to. It's part of our rules we ended up making. Participants have to earn things like that, even if it's free game after that. You can look if you really want, but that's up to you.
[There's a shrug.] And it's not like anybody will walk in and trap you under a bed.
That's what I mean. [Also Sasuke 100% deserves this.] They're meant for you guys to find, we don't care about that, but it's an extra challenge? Don't ask me how we ended up passing that as a rule.
[This............ manages to legitimately get the barest hints of one of the first subdued smiles he's given in earnest??? It really does look better on him than the scowl.]
I don't even want to know. [Probably. The gods are as much disasters as they are.] I'll look for it then.
[Sasuke...you're so strange and Merriment continues being intrigued. The kazoo plays a note by itself again.]
Knowing you, you'll find it a lot faster than you think. [He sounds like he's grinning though.] I wouldn't worry about snow, but maybe bring a jacket anyway. [A beat.] ...and don't be disappointed by what you might find.
I'm not looking for anything important. [Maybe answers he can give his own self just by seeing a new place, if anything.] If it's important to you, that's what matters.
[He has zero qualms with this and nods in agreement.] Then okay. You come back and look around, figure out how to open the door, and you're free to look around. I'll even give you space to snoop on your own if you want.
[A look down at the table and a hand reaches out to pick up one of the billiard balls from the triangle rack, rolling it across the felt of the table.]
It's a game. I've learned how to play but it's kind of a strategy game for people with good aim. Pretty easy to pick up on, too.
Okay. [That's surprisingly easy, and though Merriment looks at Sasuke through the mask he's pocketing the kazoo and swinging himself off of the table.] There's a couple of games you can play on this table, but we'll start with a really easy one. Grab a cue. [A gesture to the rack of wooden pool cues on the wall. While Sasuke does that, a white cue ball seemingly appears out of nowhere, bright and glistening.]
You might like this one. It's all about planning your next move. We'll do solids versus stripes.
[The billiard balls are still in the triangle formation at one of the table, and Merriment centers them in a very specific place. Pulling off the triangle-rack to leave the balls in place, he's also grabbing a cue.
Maybe Sasuke will understand later why this is interesting.]
[He follows the hand to the rack of sticks on the wall, and then he moves to slide one down out of the clamp. Carefully, he looks it over--heavy and thicker on one end, small on the other. The tip is strange? Flatter, rounded, defined.
When he comes back over to watch Merriment, his eyes linger on the pockets along the edges, the cue ball, the triangle of other pool balls. Sets colored differently and they're numbered...?]
I'll let you break to make it easier, too. [Merriment sets down the cueball at the opposite end, taking his cue and lining it up as an example.] What you want to do is aim to break apart the cluster and send the balls wherever. If you sink one of the balls, that's your pattern to go after. If you sink one of each, you get to pick. Save the eight ball--the black one--for last or the game's automatically over. Make sense?
[Sasuke watches Merriment like he would watch anyone back home, studious, intense. He glances out at the triangle of colored balls and then sets up at the opposite end as Merriment had. Hm.
It's not much different than trying to use chakra to walk up a tree. If he hits them too hard, they'll fly everywhere. If he hits them too softly, he won't break them enough. Carefully, he tests the cue stick in his hand by bobbing it forward and back.
He aims and then swats the ball down the table to crack into the top of the triangle. Most of them disperse without being tossed roughly. The striped fifteen rolls into the middle pocket on the right.]
[Merriment is a surprisingly patient teacher and allows Sasuke time to check out the table and align himself. As the triangle cracks and the 15 sinks, he uses his cue to gesture.]
Nice shot. So now that the balls are split, stripes are yours. You'll want to aim to sink all of the stripes before going for the eight ball. With the eight ball you have to specify which pocket you're going for, but not with the others.
[With that, Merriment looks at the set-up.] We alternate. You can't move the cue ball unless it lands in a pocket. Then it's on the starter side of the table. If you sink the cue ball you forfeit a turn and you lose a ball. You take it out of the pocket to set it up again.
[With that, he strikes and sends the 2 ball into a back corner pocket. ]
[Moving down the table to the other end, Sasuke peers at the eight ball, sizing it up with the rest of the scattered balls.
The rest are a little close together. Tricky. He stands on one side of the table like he plans to set up there, but thinks better of it and moves to the adjacent side. He has to position his fingers high to dodge some of Merriment's solid colors. One is still in the way, but--
He bumps the edge of the cue ball to send it forward and to the side a bit. It hits Merriment's ball at enough of an angle it clips his own 10 and rolls it into the corner pocket.]
I can see why it's about planning. [He pauses as he sets the bottom of the cue stick on the floor to wait.] Itachi... would have liked this.
[Merriment's letting him move, casually leaning against the table to watch and try to pinpoint how, exactly, Sasuke thinks. He's clever, using his opponents for his own game and as the 10 rolls away and sinks in Merriment finds himself a little more impressed.
Granted, then Sasuke brings up Itachi and it's a strange sort of acknowledgement.]
Yeah? He's a big planner, too? [He follows the cue ball and works to line up his shot, bouncing off of the 7 and letting it hit one of the bumpers instead of the side pocket he was aiming for. He's obviously curious about Sasuke's view on his brother though and waits without prompting.]
[Sasuke watches Merriment work the table, and he doesn't seem judging or even arrogant in regards to the bumper hit.
Again, he looks out over the whole of the green, thinking. One of his stripes is close to a pocket, but Merriment's is in the way again. They're too close; hitting any even gently may send them in after his own ball.]
He even spent his death doing the same.
[It's risky, but Sasuke seems to think the higher the risk, the higher the reward. He places his fingers down high again, arcs the cue stick... but waits like he's trying to judge the trajectory, his path. He jabs the cue stick down at the table, popping the ball up in the air over one of Merriment's.
It hits his 14 in, but the cue ball is a bit too fast, and it goes in after it. Sasuke frowns.]
[Ah. So...maybe that's why Sasuke went a little off the rails. He doesn't know the relationship between the Uchihas, just that it changed something based on context clues, and as he watches the ball roll away and the cue ball follow after he leans forward to pull both of them out of the hole. He sets the fourteen back on one end and takes the cue ball with him to the other end.]
Did he ever tell you his plans? Or were those all a huge surprise? [The ball's set down and he eyes the playing field, not yet hitting the cue ball yet.]
[He watches his failure get picked up and placed back, another chance, but he could be behind now. Merriment gets a glance, but then he looks back down the table to watch the rest of the balls for when the cue inevitably comes rolling through.]
Itachi never told me anything. Because I was a part of his plans too.
[Merriment's taking a shot, lining to hit the 1 ball and watching it roll and knock one of Sasuke's out of the way and toward a corner pocket instead. That could have been planned better, but he's distracted by what Sasuke says.]
...really. [That's...not cool.] Did you know that part, at least?
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Sometimes things change and bigger, and sometimes better, plans take a priority. Doesn't mean that's a bad thing. Do you get that?
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[Does he really? Or maybe he does, but--Uchiha. Execution? Remember.
He's quiet for a long time, and then he lets his arms fall down to his sides. Something about it feels like he's reached the beginning of a resolution within himself. Maybe.] I want to see your room before I go. [It sounds more like a request than a demand, actually.]
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[Mostly he's just wondering.]
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I want to see what it means to you.
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This time it's more like I can't instead of I don't want to. It's part of our rules we ended up making. Participants have to earn things like that, even if it's free game after that. You can look if you really want, but that's up to you.
[There's a shrug.] And it's not like anybody will walk in and trap you under a bed.
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So if I find it for myself, I can see it? Is what you mean.
[He makes a face about being teased for the bed trapping... and... everything else.]
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I don't even want to know. [Probably. The gods are as much disasters as they are.] I'll look for it then.
Do I have to prepare for snow?
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Knowing you, you'll find it a lot faster than you think. [He sounds like he's grinning though.] I wouldn't worry about snow, but maybe bring a jacket anyway. [A beat.] ...and don't be disappointed by what you might find.
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[He's very blase about it, too.]
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[But he doesn't turn around to leave. He glances up from the floor, at Merriment, at the kazoo, and then at the billiard table. Quietly:]
Do you know how to play? The table you're on. It's a game, right?
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It's a game. I've learned how to play but it's kind of a strategy game for people with good aim. Pretty easy to pick up on, too.
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Teach me how, and I'll play one with you.
[He can do maybe one game with Merriment before slinking out like a cat.]
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You might like this one. It's all about planning your next move. We'll do solids versus stripes.
[The billiard balls are still in the triangle formation at one of the table, and Merriment centers them in a very specific place. Pulling off the triangle-rack to leave the balls in place, he's also grabbing a cue.
Maybe Sasuke will understand later why this is interesting.]
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When he comes back over to watch Merriment, his eyes linger on the pockets along the edges, the cue ball, the triangle of other pool balls. Sets colored differently and they're numbered...?]
Alright.
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[Sasuke watches Merriment like he would watch anyone back home, studious, intense. He glances out at the triangle of colored balls and then sets up at the opposite end as Merriment had. Hm.
It's not much different than trying to use chakra to walk up a tree. If he hits them too hard, they'll fly everywhere. If he hits them too softly, he won't break them enough. Carefully, he tests the cue stick in his hand by bobbing it forward and back.
He aims and then swats the ball down the table to crack into the top of the triangle. Most of them disperse without being tossed roughly. The striped fifteen rolls into the middle pocket on the right.]
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Nice shot. So now that the balls are split, stripes are yours. You'll want to aim to sink all of the stripes before going for the eight ball. With the eight ball you have to specify which pocket you're going for, but not with the others.
[With that, Merriment looks at the set-up.] We alternate. You can't move the cue ball unless it lands in a pocket. Then it's on the starter side of the table. If you sink the cue ball you forfeit a turn and you lose a ball. You take it out of the pocket to set it up again.
[With that, he strikes and sends the 2 ball into a back corner pocket. ]
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The rest are a little close together. Tricky. He stands on one side of the table like he plans to set up there, but thinks better of it and moves to the adjacent side. He has to position his fingers high to dodge some of Merriment's solid colors. One is still in the way, but--
He bumps the edge of the cue ball to send it forward and to the side a bit. It hits Merriment's ball at enough of an angle it clips his own 10 and rolls it into the corner pocket.]
I can see why it's about planning. [He pauses as he sets the bottom of the cue stick on the floor to wait.] Itachi... would have liked this.
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Granted, then Sasuke brings up Itachi and it's a strange sort of acknowledgement.]
Yeah? He's a big planner, too? [He follows the cue ball and works to line up his shot, bouncing off of the 7 and letting it hit one of the bumpers instead of the side pocket he was aiming for. He's obviously curious about Sasuke's view on his brother though and waits without prompting.]
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[Sasuke watches Merriment work the table, and he doesn't seem judging or even arrogant in regards to the bumper hit.
Again, he looks out over the whole of the green, thinking. One of his stripes is close to a pocket, but Merriment's is in the way again. They're too close; hitting any even gently may send them in after his own ball.]
He even spent his death doing the same.
[It's risky, but Sasuke seems to think the higher the risk, the higher the reward. He places his fingers down high again, arcs the cue stick... but waits like he's trying to judge the trajectory, his path. He jabs the cue stick down at the table, popping the ball up in the air over one of Merriment's.
It hits his 14 in, but the cue ball is a bit too fast, and it goes in after it. Sasuke frowns.]
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Did he ever tell you his plans? Or were those all a huge surprise? [The ball's set down and he eyes the playing field, not yet hitting the cue ball yet.]
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Itachi never told me anything. Because I was a part of his plans too.
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...really. [That's...not cool.] Did you know that part, at least?
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closes my eyes i knew
sparkles gently hey i hate this btw
i can't believe fucking jack and sasuke get along with shit in common stop
me literally from their first thread. suffer with me, thanks
im literally trying so hard to make him go turbo and you're ruining my PLANS
I ASKED FOR NONE OF THIS...
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