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30 Days of Prompts, Day 11:
A Pool Table, a Wager and an Angry Bartender
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Leon drawled, knowing it was Chris before the Captain even took a seat beside him at the hotel bar. What could he say? The man had distinctive footsteps. “What is it you want this time, Redfield?” Leon asked when Chris made no attempt to respond to his comment, fixing his gaze on the other man, only to find him trying to flag down the bartender.
“I’m just here for a drink,” Chris responded, proceeding to order a double, before giving Leon his full attention.
“Of all the gin joints…” Leon sighed, knocking back the end of his own drink and reaching for the half empty bottle the bar tender had eventually left him, not that he'd been there that long. He noticed this time that Chris didn’t try to stop him, physically at least.
“And maybe to make sure a friend doesn’t fall too deep into the bottle.”
Leon paused for a moment, bottle mid pour, but not quite tilted enough for the contents to fill his glass.
At that moment, out the corner of his eye, the pool table caught his attention. Leon put the bottle down.
“I’ll make a wager with you,” Leon offered, turning to Chris once more and making sure he had the other man’s full attention, before looking over his own shoulder at the pool table proper. “I win, you pay my tab and leave me to drown my sorrows and if you win…”
“If I win,” Chris began, eyes fixed on the pool table for a moment, thoughtfully, before turning back and making direct eye contact with Leon, who was already looking at him, “You have a drink with me and I take you back to your room.”
Leon would have wondered how Chris knew he was staying at the hotel, if he wasn’t fixated on the fact that he was pretty sure the man’s prior statement wasn’t meant to be as suggestive as Chris made it sound.
“Deal,” Leon agreed, holding out his hand for Chris to shake.
“Deal,” Chris responded, firmly shaking the offered hand.
Leon poured himself a drink, got up without too much unsteadiness and collected his glass and the bottle, then made his way over to the pool table, trusting Chris to follow. He left the other man to collect two cues as he racked the balls.
“Standard eight ball. No need to call obvious shots. Best of three frames. Coin toss decides who breaks. Any objections?” Leon rattled off.
“None.”
“Good,” Leon nodded. “Heads or tails?” He asked, pulling out a coin to flip.
“Tails,” Chris decided, watching as Leon flipped the coin with a surprising amount of dexterity. “Your break,” Leon informed Chris, showing him the outcome.
As it turned out Chris wasn’t terrible at pool. He was careful and precise, lining up his shots and taking time to think in between them. It would have been maddening had Leon not been enjoying the view so much. He’d long since come to terms with the fact he had, what could probably be termed, a crush on the other man.
“So, how did you find me this time?” Leon asked, suddenly remembering his earlier curiosity. Technically now that the Arias incident had been settled he was back on vacation and, although he didn’t need to inform the DSO of his exact whereabouts, he wasn’t naïve enough to think that they didn’t know exactly where he was.
“A hunch,” Chris shrugged and took his shot. The ball went in.
“You know, you could have just called.”
“Would you have answered?” Chris asked, looking up from the shot he was contemplating. He took a second to line it up. He missed.
Leon didn’t answer. He honestly didn’t know whether he would have or not. Instead, he moved round the table and took his shot. The ball went in, but his next shot was going to be tricky. He examined all the angles for a moment. Even without the pleasant buzz of alcohol, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to pocket the ball.
“Top left,” Leon called the ball and as he had expected missed. He grabbed the chalk and busied himself with his cue as Chris took his turn.
It was a tie. Two frames apiece. Whoever won this one won the wager. They’d been subtly trying to put each other off all frame, but as the number of balls left on the table had begun to dwindle, they’d been getting more and more suggestive with their touches. It had caused the cue ball to fly off the table more than once. The resulting clatter beginning to clearly annoy the bartender.
It was down to the eight ball and Leon was eying up which pocket he was going to attempt.
“8 ball, bottom left.”
“Are you sure about that?” Chris asked, voice warm and low against his ear as he stepped close behind him.
“Mmm-hmm,” Leon answered, biting his lip.
He took a deep breath as Chris stepped back just enough to allow Leon to bend forward and line up his shot. Yet just as he was about to strike the cue ball Chris moved sideways, gently brushing past him. The resulting shudder that ran through Leon caused the shot to go wide and the cue ball to shoot off the table as he hit it with much more force than intended. Unfortunately, this time as it clattered to the floor it took Chris’ glass, which had been set on the rail, with it.
Leon and Chris both winced, then froze as they heard purposeful footsteps approaching them.
“I’m afraid,” the bartender began with a clearly irritated and heavy sigh, “that I’m going to have to ask both of you to leave.”
“Let me handle this,” Chris whispered under his breath and without waiting for an answer turned around and went to speak with the bartender, an apologetic smile on his face.
Leon watched for a moment as Chris broke out the Redfield charm, which was clearly a family trait. However, the longer he watched the more he got the feeling that even that wasn’t going to be enough to get them out of this.
He walked over to his now empty bottle and the half full glass beside it. He picked it up just as Chris walked back over, bartender close behind him.
Chris shrugged.
Leon sighed.
“No good?” He asked, though it was more a statement than a question.
“No good,” Chris confirmed, “Sorry.”
Leon sighed again and downed the end of his drink. Wordlessly he set the glass down, took a moment to apologise to the bartender and then walked past both him and Chris and out of the bar.
“So, what now?” Leon asked, as Chris joined him outside the bar, in the hotel lobby a few moments later.
“Well, I’d call it a draw,” Chris replied.
Leon opened his mouth to argue. He’d been about to win and then Chris would have paid his tab and left him alone. There was only one problem with that. After all the flirting tonight Leon wasn’t sure that that was what he still wanted.
Chris stepping closer only confirmed it.
“As per the wager, I paid your tab,”
“I should hope so,” Leon interrupted, unable to help himself, still blaming Chris somewhat for them being kicked out the bar without completing their bet.
“Now, I take you back to your room,” Chris pitched his voice slightly lower, letting it take on a seductive edge.
Leon was unsure whether he should take it as an order or if Chris was asking for permission. Whichever it was, Leon was definitely on board.
He offered Chris a smile, before making for the elevator. Halfway there he stopped and glanced over his shoulder.
“Well, aren’t you coming?”