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Part 7 - Equilibrium (cont.)

Poor Mop with her slight cleavage and crossed legs. She straightened up and played. Not by my man. Got one. 

Scruff barked at the group. You should be a bitch. You get to be really small, like a chiiiwhohaaawa. All the scruff goes to your locks. Like a dome, dark and sleek around your head. Classy, unlike you. It tickles your shoulders. Voice still firm but soft. A girl who knows she can command without yelling around. Not an extra hair anywhere.

Small up top and skinny down there. You wear NASA panties. And birds on your sleeveless top with a dent of a bust and a flappy skirt.

So no more loudy. No more leaner. But can't do it to Mustache. Those fucking muscles. What Adonis did he have to kill to get those? Okay. Flip it. Amazon.

Pushing you to six and a half plus heels. More woman. Back muscles that can still rip logs. Mouth muscles that can make any man melt, but not my man. Legs that can cradle or crush. A black velvet dress that snakes across your figure. A dip to show your gentle cleavage and powerful chest. 

Nearly through. Little guy up front, you're stuck in with the Petites. Big, girly afro. Lips to make your sisters jealous. Hips to dance out the team win. And a smile to compliment my Lina.

And Amish. You can keep the style, but your lady friend may not smile. Sorry, girl, I feel that loss too. Your new bonnet-bud can raise a barn too with her farm-worn arms and sit softly. God, I half-assed that one. We good though? 

I blinked. They clearly didn't take my bet of men for my man and my girl for keeps. I could do it myself. Just gotta let my mind powers grow in. That'll really freak out Deb. I knoooow what you're thinking, Debraaaa!

Wahh what? Wooo! They got one! Lina in second! You go! You got this! You heal and kill then heal and rekill the shit out of them! Oh crap, people looked my way. I must've said a lotta...too much. Quietly kiss my beer some more.

Ooooh, they're getting up. "Round one is done! Our top points-getter is...Randall Hunter! In second...Lina Owlswatter! In third...Justin Olson! Great job, everyone! Round two begins next!"

Lina stood up and made her way back to the table. I waggled my arms and whooped. She settled down on the other bench and smiled at me. "Thanks for the cheers! I actually heard you through my headphones." She snickered and I blanched a little. 

How much of what was in my head had been said aloud? Thankfully, not everything. At least as far as Lina admitted. I'd cheered some really random stuff though. As that last heavy drink was starting to clear with my beer, the room felt closer to normal.

Quietly, I apologized and she waved a hand at me. "No way! You were the reason I kept going as hard as I could. They recently made the character I used, one that supports others, less powerful but I was just as strong as all those past plays because you were MY support." God, I could hug her right there.

She nibbled at her now-cold stew as Moppy ambled over towards our booth. He offered a raised hand and a quick, "Hey!"

Lina turned, dabbed her mouth, and answered, "Oh, hey! Did you wanna talk strategy for the next game?"

He chuckled. "No need. That would be Decay Rate. That's only semi-cooperative. If they get to it. You play a great Mercy. Is she your main?"

With a shrug, Lina offered, "I like to try everyone. I dunno if I have a true main but I use her quite a bit." I didn't really follow but I listened the best I could as Mop talked about his preferences. Lina nodded politely but said just a little. 

At this point, he finally said, "Justin Olson. That's me. If you ever wanna match up online...for a match. Meet up for one, I mean. Then we could exchange account names ...and stuff like that."

I narrowed my eyes. You were supposed to be a pretty girl with no interest in my currently-indisposed man. Lina gestured to her name-tag and smiled pleasantly. "Just that there."

He repeated and entered it into his phone before noting, "That's a cool last name, like something from a fantasy book. Lina of the Owlswatters, high priestess of the arcane arts."

So fucking obvious. Lina giggled and said, "I dunno. It's just me. I live and work around books, not in them." 

With his hands slipping into his pockets, he dug a little deeper. She revealed she did IT at the library. This was complicating things. I could've chimed in that she had a twin sister but I was not in the clever phase of being drunk. I was probably closer to the bitchy phase of it where I'd tell him to go "main" some other girl. But not yet.

Lina introduced me as "my best friend" and I did a little finger wave to Justin. He showed only the faintest interest in me before returning to Lina. 

"So, this is my first time coming down from Mitchellville with my buddy, Randall. This place is wild. I've never seen an event like this. They have like fifty more people for just one game. Getting through three of them and then two-player fighting matches is going to be impossible. Betcha it's gonna end in a raffle." He crept closer to the cushion on Lina's side.  

Pouting, Lina let out a bummed whimper. "Oh no. I can see it though. Round two is just starting and the first one took more than thirty minutes. Maybe...I mean Kart goes much faster and Decay Rate can be over in just a minute or two, depending on the gravity wells."

Mop pointed to the seat and asked, "You mind if I sit a sec?"

Yes. "Not at all. Please." Lina chuckled and scooted her salad and remaining stew off to the side. 

So, there he was. Sitting with that big...grinny grin that cut deep into his mouth with bloating around his teeth and a jutting chin. Siiiip. I needed to go back to the stronger shit.

Lina used the tablet and Justin chimed in, "I'd skip the stuff here. It's too expensive."

"We have a...well, it's free for this table tonight because we had trouble getting in."

He noted the pubs nearer him in whatever piece of shit town he said he was from. Siiip. Right eye twitching again. 

Persisting, he added, "I'm a local, small-business entrepreneur. Owner, operator, and shareholder of The Game Farm. We have so much stuff. You should come up and see it. I can get you ten percent off anything." He even had a business card at the ready.

Lina just said, "Cool..." as she cleared her throat. She looked over at me.

With a smile, she said, "I should use the gulls' room. Be right back." He waited till she was right next to him to scoot his ass out of the way and stand up. When it was just him and me alone, I set my hands on the table and declared, "Take a seat, Justin."

He looked at me and said, "Nah, I'm good. I'll just wai..."

"Take. A. Seat. Or I will flip you upside-down and use your head as a goddamn push-broom."

He sat and answered, "Listen, I mean no offense. I just think your friend is cool. And you obviously have had a few drinks in you."

"Six drinks. I have had six, hard drinks and a shitty beer and I am a force to be reckoned with stone sober. Imagine what might happen with my restraint dialed down."

He looked away and said, "Just relax. I'm a nice guy. I just want to get to know Lina. It's a long night and it will be a while till round one comes up again."

"Oh, fuck off. 'Nice guy'? Who the fuck says that? Go buy a fedora for that fucking mop and get out of here. Lina is here to play games and kick ass."

He tapped on the table. "Well, I'm a top-ranked player. And I'm sure I could show her a thing or two. You're just a drunk bitch. How about you fuck off and leave Lina to decide how her night goes?"

I really wanted to crush his junk with my shoe, but I was lucid enough to know that would be assault. "Yeah, I'm a drunk bitch but you're sober and still an asshole."

He sighed through his nose and shook his head. "I pity you. You poor, vain thing. Bet you have to control every aspect of her life. Some friend."

Okay, I was definitely gonna smash his balls. Damn the consequences.

Before I could respond, Lina returned with a blank expression. Justin smiled at her and said, "Oh, hey. We were just chatting about your amazing performance. Definitely top-tier."

"Leave, Justin. Right now." Her face turned stern.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Something wrong?" 

"I didn't actually go to the gulls. I've been standing about five feet over since I left. Nice couple in that booth."

Justin mouthed a swear to himself and rapped the table. "Well, I'm a competitor. All kinds of stuff gets said. It doesn't mean anything."

Pressing her hands to her hips, Lina said sharply, "Go now. Or I will ask the owner to remove you."

Justin scoffed, "Woah. No need to be like that. Besides, I'm cool with the owner so...I don't think so. And..."

"Justie? Babe? The fuck are you.... What the fuck are you fucking doing with these goddamn cunts!?" A familiar voice. Becky, with fire in her eyes and her claws out. I almost felt sorry for Justin as Becky struck, dragging him from the table and, presumably, back to the pits of Hell. He didn't even get a word out. But I gave him one last finger wave.

Lina just marveled and said, "Well...uhh...oh, I should go pee for real now." She slipped off her gloves and hustled away. Siiip. My eye stopped twitching.

Justin was right about one thing; three games was too ambitious. Mario Kart got moved to the end of the night at 1 AM. The round two people were just finishing their second match when Lina returned.

I took a deep breath and asked, "You okay?"

Lina nodded, sliding her gloves back on. "Yeah. I just wanna play games. Fun games. Hopefully they can get the two-player fighting matches going. Also, I kinda want a drink. Any suggestions?" She smiled gently.

One above all, "Order a half serving." 

She wound up with a drink called "Sandy Shore" with triple sec, peach schnapps, vodka, orange juice, and coconut juice. Her expression when taking a sip was adorable as she said, "Wow. Okay, plenty for now. I need to be lucid if I want to keep playing." 

We finished off my longboat as I kept sipping my beer. Now for some bangers. Dark sausages, no mash. More like little meaty pinkies than the show-stopping sausages of some meals. Still plenty juicy. Lina nibbled at one on a fork. 

The numbing-effect of the drinks was wearing off. I felt the stiffness in my feet of all those hours at the OWL. A lower-back throb perched way down near my butt and my right wrist felt like something had taken a chunk out of it. But my eye wasn't throbbing.

Lina still looked perky. She snuck the occasional peek at the third group starting their game. Behind the main table, some of those other electronics and controllers were getting organized. No announcement though.

If it were just me, I would've been satiated by that epic first round. Kicked some ass, took down a two-timer, and ate some free food. Time to head on back and sleep for work on Thursday.

But Lina. She had been over the moon for this since I told her. She was clearly counting the minutes to this time. She had been outwardly accepting of spectator status with Becky's bitch move but, inside, I could tell it was like cancelling Christmas. 

Clearly, my situation called for more alcohol to make it through. A Blue Lagoon could do the trick. But no downing it. Careful numbing. For a full release of energetic Super-Baba and my special and ultimate moves.

"Babs? Are you okay?"

Somehow, I had my cheek pressed to the table with my eyes shut. Strangest thing. I coughed slightly and told her, "Snap nap. Just a quickie to get my second wind. Did I order my Blue Lagoon?"

She shook her head. Ah, the sneaky tablet had slipped away from me. Well, I was gonna make sure I got it this time. Maybe a coffee too. Coffee saves everything. Coffee and alcohol.

As I ordered, Lina set her hands on mine. "I can take you home. You don't have to stay. It's clear they won't be on to the next thing for at least maybe an hour and a half, so there's time. I can go with you and get back."

Sure, it was a nice pub and not some cheap dive but there were Becky and Justin still around and who knew what else lurking. And then her heading back alone? No way!

I slipped out from under her hands. "I'll be fine. You worked hard to get to this night. This is your night. And my job is to cheer you on. I'm not quitting until you're finished."

She flashed a quick, friendly smile and softly answered, "Okay. But it looks like a lot of downtime yet."

As I confirmed my order, I proposed to her, "Well, tell me about your most exciting matches you can remember and I'll cheer those to get ready for the next one."

She sat up. "Ooooh! I have lots of stories! But it might get kinda complicated."

Tapping my chin, I resolved, "Well, in that case, just tell them the way it felt."

She beamed. "Alright!"