Apple of Discord

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

“It isn’t that hard,” the girl said.

Akeem only sighed. If it was that easy, they wouldn’t be stuck in the student lounge, working on it for what must have been two hours. He was not the best partner one could have. Unless teamwork meant giving the bulk of it to his partner, using his power if he had to for a little convincing, or working each on their own side and combining it at the very end. Sadly for him, he ended up with one that didn't intend to do all the work on her own and she wanted him around as they did it.

“Let’s get over it one more time,” she suggested. Oh no! Akeem could not survive if they were to do this again! “Can’t we just have a break? We’ll think about it on our own and come back with ideas later. Or tomorrow.” Or never. whatever she suggested was so girly and unlike him and everything he thought about was not interesting enough in her own opinion. It was a miracle he did not use his power to convince her to pick one of his ideas, but he knew it would not last forever and if she were to work on her own, she’ll see it and make a scene because he convinced her into picking a bad topic. So he dealt with her. Only he grew tired of dealing with her.

She just began to argue they should really pick a theme first so they could at least do some research on their own for the next time they’ll meet. Akeem stood up. He was tired of this. “We can’t agree on anything and I’m tired of this. We’ll figure something out next time.” He was not asking for her opinion, he was done. She was free to work on her own if she wanted but he didn’t want to deal with her any longer. He left her on the couch they took. He also left his things there. He was not leaving the lounge, merely the couch. There weren’t too many people at this time of the day. It was why they chose to work here. It also gave him plenty of room.

The pool table was not occupied and even though he was not a great player of it, it would help him calm down from this fruitless discussion. And if someone wanted to join or watch, they were welcome.


TAG: Lucy James

[Lucy James]

Sitting on top of one of the tables within the student lounge, Lucy absentmindedly studied the various people within it. Not that there was a whole lot of them, mind, and few that were particularly interesting too. There was this one couple, a girl and a boy doing some sort of project together. The girl looked a little riled up, whereas the boy looked bored out of his freaking mind, which was actually something the brunette could easily enough understand. Nothing was more "fun" than being stuck with someone too eager to work when all you really wanted to do was, well, nothing.

Lucy had been stuck in that position many a times and she didn't at all envy the boy. Though, that didn't stop her from regarding the couple with some amusement. It was the only thing worth watching in here anyways, and that was saying a lot about how bored she really was. She contemplated leaving to find someone (which basically consisted of one person on this entire school) more fun to hang around, but she wasn't one to go actively searching for the Irish boy either.

As the boy rose to his feet and started wandering towards the pool table, Lucy's gaze returned to the boy in question and her head tilted curiously to the side. As he stopped next to the pool table, Lucy pushed herself off of the table she was sitting on. Moving over, she placed the palms of her hands against the pool table and leaned forward, her lips curling up into something of an amused smirk.

"A bit harsh, don't you think?" she asked, nodding towards the girl sitting on the couch. "A real heart breaker, ain't 'cha?" she mused. "Kudos for that."

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

He could hear the girl putting her things in her bag while muttering some pretty nice words about him. He didn’t care. She was the one who didn't get that he needed a break. He had been trying to hint for this for a while already. She was the one who refused to listen. She might like to study for hours without end, but he couldn’t function that way. If he were a Sim, his fun meter would drop so quickly it would be a pain to whoever’s controlling him.

She also pissed him off by not accepting his ideas. He had to get away from her before he lost it. He noticed, as he prepared the table to play, that she was leaving. He even took the time to stop and watch her, hinting that he was glad she was gone. Then he worked on unwinding a little. It didn’t take very long until another girl, luckily more pleasant, came over to talk to him.

Harsh? “Not really. It was actually the nicest thing I could do to her right now,” he replied. He acted as though he didn’t care about her but he still took a good look at her as he prepared to play. He was a little surprised that she called him a heart breaker and even more when she hinted being glad about it. He played his first shot before looking at her. This time, he really looked. Now this was something far more worthy of spending a long period of time around. “You haven’t seen me break hearts yet, young lady,” he let out. A smirk appeared on his lips. If she was happy for him for being so blunt, he wouldn’t try to play on his angelic features. “I’m Akeem.”

[Lucy James]

Arching her eyebrow at that, a smirk splayed over the brunette's lips. "I can get in on that," she replied, nodding as she tossed a glance towards where the girl had been sitting. She could definitely admire someone who spoke up, no matter how blunt or offending it would sound, but the fact that he actually considered it 'nice' was the most amusing thing of it all. As he started playing, Lucy pulled back enough not to get hit by any of the balls. You never knew about these pools players. Suddenly you found yourself knocked out from getting a flying ball shot straight at your head. It had happened before, after all, though that hard been done purposely, but that was a story for another time.

"Oh, is that so," she mused, nodding at his words. My, my, was the boy barking up the wrong tree or what? "Well, if it's any consolation, I hardly think I'd be impressed," she fired back with a simple shrug. She did however smirk at it. The boy clearly had a lot of confidence, and it was a nice change of pace from all the sulky and angsty teenagers roaming about. Either, the boy was used to getting exactly what he wanted, or he simply didn't give a shit about anything. She wasn't sure which of the two was the most interesting, but it wasn't like Lucy cared enough to find out.

"Akeem," she repeated. "That's a new one." Of course, the power mimic didn't offer her own name in return. Instead, she circled the table and tapped her finger against the back end of the pool stick. "Your posture is all wrong," she commented before circling the boy. All the way around she kept her blue eyes on him. "I'm disappointed. Guess that's another talent you lack." She wondered just how much it would take to rile him up.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem might not be the best pool player around, then again was there really a contest here, but he was confident he would not accidentally send a ball flying. He could not promise it not to happen though and it was best for Lucy to move away a little, at least just to prevent any of her fingers to be somewhere a ball could hit them. He didn't know if this girl was trying to upset him or just act all jaded by everything. Either way, it felt almost like she was a high schooler trying to appear older to impress the college students. It amused him but anything else she might have tried failed. “There is nothing really impressing about that, isn’t it?” He replied, leaning towards her as he said that before looking back at the pool table.

He shrugged at her comment after he gave her his name, trying to focus instead on where he should stand to get the right angle. “It is Arabic indeed, in case you were wondering. I’m Egyptian. But you can forget your terrorists’ jokes, I love being in America too much to try to blow things up.” He was pretty laid back about it. He didn’t think she seriously was about to come up with any comment on the origin of his name and whether or not people should be scared of him. They should, but definitely not because of that.

He was not all that surprised to hear his posture was not quite right. It was not impossible at all, it wasn’t like he played enough in his life to really know the way ‘professionals’ did it. Her next comment did not anger him. It surprised him a little, true, but he was mostly amused and didn’t hide it as he smiled at her. “Oh really? And what’s that other talent I lack of?” He asked her. She might be trying a little too hard in his taste but he had to admit it, she was interesting. “You, you definitely lack some tact,” he replied. But, as he did, he still had his smile on. He really was not offended about her lacking tact.

[Lucy James]

"Actually, there is," she countered, her brow quirking. "But I suppose I can see why someone wouldn't agree with that." Then again, Lucy didn't exactly work the same way "normal" people did. She found some kind of amusement in the pain of others. Not because she enjoyed it or particularly wished anyone any harm, but because of the way people reacted and the look they got on their faces the moment they realized they were fucked - or got their heart broken. It was a fascinating thing. Maybe because she saw so much of herself in it. She wasn't sure. Maybe she found some consolation in the fact that she wasn't the only one.

Lucy's head tilted somewhat at the boy's comments about terrorist jokes. Pursing her lips, she wondered if he got those kind of things a lot. It seemed awfully low- and pathetic, but hey. She figured it was an easy way to insult someone. "Wouldn't dream of it," she grinned. No, if she wanted to insult him, she'd come up with something else. She had someone else she could mock for where they were from, she surely didn't need another one.

"That's the million dollar question, isn't it?" His comment about her lacking tact was met with nothing more than a shrug. He was right though; Lucy wasn't tactful. She never really had been. She'd always had a habit of speaking whatever was on her mind - which was usually nothing good and more often than not offensive. Hence why only so few people bothered to stay around her, but then again, that was exactly what she wanted, wasn't it?

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

So she thought it could be impressive to see someone’s heart break? Well, if she was that kind of girl... He was not planning on falling in love with her anyway. They were just talking. He’ll try to remember that though. That girl had a weird idea on what could be amusing. “Remind me not to fall in love with you,” he told her. But Akeem didn’t think he was likely to fall in love with her. She didn't even tell him her name. And love at first sight was such a stupid concept. Lust at first sight, it made sense, but love... If you loved someone after just looking at them, you want to sleep with them, you don’t want to marry them and have a house, a dog and three kids.

Terrorists jokes were indeed easy and pathetic but that didn't stop some people to say them. He didn’t even think he looked all that foreign but those who loved that kind of joke, or thought them to be real, didn’t need much to start quivering in fear.

“Oh, so you want to be cryptic with me and let me guess on my own?” Akeem let out as she refused to tell him what he may lack. She had no problem with him pointing out her lack of tact. She better accept it because he doubted anyone could tell her that she was tactful, unless they were being sarcastic. “Do I have the right to know your name or is that too something I’ll have to figure out for myself?” he asked her. He was amused by her attitude. If she were cruel or anything, he didn’t see that. She had yet showed the worst she could come up with but then again, the same could be said about him. He grabbed another cue, for her. “And what is supposed to be the right posture exactly? If you’re that much more well versed in this than I am, surely you wouldn’t mind showing me.”

[Lucy James]

Quirking her brow in obvious amusement, Lucy smirked. "I will. That would be an awful decision on your part." After all, that would bring the boy nothing but misery. She'd end up breaking his heart and she wouldn't even care for a second. Lucy wasn't the kind of girl you cared about. If you were smart, you kept your distance. She was a disaster waiting to happen. Like her mother always told her, she destroyed everything she touched and that was something even Lucy had to agree with her mother on. Probably one of the few things her mother had been right about too. At least what Lucy would admit to.

However, if you wanted casual sex or a one night stand, Lucy was your type. No strings attached, no feelings or emotions, and no heartache. Just like Lucy preferred. Sadly, that wasn't always as easy. So many people seemed to find her too interesting to leave alone and she couldn't understand why. Hadn't she made it obvious time and time again that they were all wasting their precious little time? Ah well. It wasn't her problem at the end of the day. At the very least she'd warned them, so it wasn't like they didn't know what they were walking into.

Thankfully. This guy seemed to be a little more clever than that.

"Perhaps," she drawled. "Though, I hardly think it's something you're going to waste your time bothering with." At the end of the day, it wasn't like it mattered either way. He probably cared as little about her words as she did when it came to his. She didn't even think he was all that curious. "That depends," she said, her eyes moving over the table. "I don't understand why it matters if you know my name or not." She looked back at the boy, her blue eyes gleaming mischievously. "Or why you would benefit from knowing it."

Taking the cue he grabbed, Lucy's gaze was pulled towards the table once more. Leaning over it, she placed the cue between her thumb and index finger. Pulling her other hand back to a little further behind the middle of the cue, she leaned over the table. "Of course not," she replied. Putting the cue in position of the white ball, Lucy moved the cue forward and watched as the white ball started moving.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

“Is it that awful to fall in love with you?” Akeem asked, somewhat amused. Sure, she said she knew a few impressive ways to break someone’s heart but she looked like that kind of girl you might fall in love with. Or want to sleep with, at the very least. “It wouldn’t be the first, but I think I’m safe on this one,” he added with a light shrug. No, the ‘awful’ in this decision would more be that she might not be eighteen at all and he wasn’t sure how legal it could be. Not that he personally cared but he’d rather avoid unnecessary trouble.

“Bother over the things I lack? I might just do that when it’s a problem but I don’t intend to become a billiard champion anytime soon so I think I can survive it,” he replied, agreeing with her there. There were enough stuff to worry about and whatever she might decide he lacked didn’t come very high on his list. She was not important enough in his eyes to really bother. She was nothing more than a toy to play with right now. He was more likely to toss her on the floor once he’d be done and not look back.

He sensed like there was some flirt underneath it all and there probably was. Said flirt didn't come only from him. But he couldn’t say this was seriously, for neither of them. “Being civil?” he answered when she claimed not to know why he cared to know her name. He had a little laughter at this. “It’s alright. I’ll just have to think of something to call you then.” Not that he wanted to think about it right now. Or had anyone to talk of her with.

He watched her position herself to hit the ball. He honestly watched her more than he watched the cue and didn’t try to hide it. He still bothered to look at the ball once she hit it. “Alright, I give it to you, you are better than I am.”

[Lucy James]

"Yes," she replied simply. There was nothing else for her to add about it. It was true, of course. Lucy wasn't the kind of girl you fell in love with. Not just because of her obvious problems or issues, or because of the way she looked at the world. No, it was a lot more complicated than that. Lucy, as it stood, was incapable of putting anyone else before herself. She was selfish and always looked out for number one. There was no length she wouldn't walk in order to ensure her own survival (or lack thereof), even if that meant throwing people under the bus.

Nodding slowly, Lucy licked her bottom lip. "That's not what I meant," she pushed. "My point is, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what people think of you." She looked at him then and offered him something of a carefree shrug. After all, you were the only one who could define you, and if Lucy's life taught anyone anything, it was that no one but yourself mattered. Not really. You could do just fine on your own.

Ah well. She supposed it didn't matter. She hardly cared enough to run around teaching people not to give a fuck.

Lucy's eyes rolled as he told her he'd come up with something to call her. She could only imagine what horrible nicknames he'd pick for her. This was going to be interesting for sure. As long as it wasn't some god awful pet name, she figured she'd be fine. She usually was.

Straightening herself up, Lucy tossed a grin in the boy's direction before shrugging her shoulders. "I told you so," she replied before turning her attention back to the pool table. Putting the cue down, Lucy leaned against the table as she halfway turned to face the boy. "Your turn."

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem was not one to pity people. He would even less when the girl who claimed it was awful to love her said it so simply she didn't even appear sad about it. “I’m not much for love either,” he admitted, dismissing the whole topic with that comment alone. He was not going to fall in love with her anytime soon anyway. He could easily make her fall in love with him, but it would be fake and definitely not interesting enough for him to care about it. Why would he want to have her in love with him?

“Not exactly something easy to do. And perhaps a little too simple. You might not care most of the time about what people think of you but there is always that one moment where you wish at least one of them recognized yourself for you really are.” Eh, she was a teenager, she probably loved to dwell in a ‘me against the world’ mentality that gave her the right to judge others without listening to anything they might say about her in return. Akeem was not really one to listen much to critic either and would rather go his own way if he could. “Of course, the tricky part is to accept that your opinion about yourself should always be the one that matters the most. Otherwise you’ll turn into a doormat.” Akeem was no doormat. He refused to ever be one.

“Don’t expect me to have learned your technique in just one shot. I might not have paid enough attention,” he admitted with a sly grin before taking his turn in hitting that white ball. It was not like they betted anything on this game anyway so Akeem was not playing to win but he did have a bit of a competitive side that really wanted to show her he was no lame player. So he tried his shot. He actually missed what he wanted to do but still managed to toss a ball in a hole so he figured it was not a total loss.

[Lucy James]

"Not really," she replied. Lucy wasted no time wondering what people thought of her. Considering how she was the kind of person who actively pushed others away and forced most of them to loathe her, she figured that was more than proof enough. Lucy didn't need to be around people. In fact, she probably would have been a lot more content if she kept to herself, but sadly, sitting alone in your room often proved to be quite... Dull.

It didn't matter though. It was not something Lucy was bothered to discuss. At the end of the day, it didn't matter and she didn't care.

Smiling coyly at his words, Lucy's hands came up, her palms pressed flat against the air as she shrugged. "Whatever you need to tell yourself," she replied, her eyebrow quirking in amusement. Leaning her back against the pool table, Lucy let her gaze wander over the small room as the boy took his turn. She could hear the sound of the ball hitting another one and she briefly turned her head to look at it as it fell into the hole. "Not bad," she replied, her lips pursing.

Hey, at least he'd hit it. That was something.

"Not very impressive, but... I guess that's to be expected," she winked at him.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem shrugged as if the fact she shoved away all he said with a mere ‘not really’ was of no concern to him. She might think that but what people think and what they do often happened to be two different things. Akeem was not interested in people enough to poke them at different places and see what kind of reaction he got from this. He cared about people only when there was something of interest for him at the end of it. Right now, what he got from Lucy was a nice distraction after a never-ending amount of crap from his partner. He needed that. But, to him, she was nothing but a teenager trying to act all careless to give herself an attitude in front of a college student. It was not like he knew her enough to know this was her usual self. Even if it was... well, it was not like he was wholly disliking it.

He laughed at her attitude. “Are you calling me a doormat then? Harsh. You barely know me,” he let out before flashing her a grin. Akeem was not exactly the best at giving people funny but bitchy comments. He could be sarcastic but it certainly didn’t sound nearly as flirtatious as her words might be. She could not help herself, not even when he managed to play what he considered a good shot. He managed to hit a ball, it was good.

Of course, her attitude would tire him if she was to keep going over and over but for now it was amusing. “Is that your way of dealing with people? You break them with your words but you wink and smile at them so they know you’ll get them up after?” He asked. He was not annoyed. In fact, something in his tone sounded like he was savouring the little slash at his ego she was doing. He sure didn’t know he could be a masochist. He was not, really, he simply had such a big ego that a few tiny scratches barely affected him. That kitty could not sink her claws deep enough to affect him. “I was not taking you for the fixing type,” he added as he leaned closer to her. He still had his smile on as he said that. He looked at her for a moment but looked away, any interest in studying her leaving him to go back towards the pool table. “It’s true that I am no great player but who seriously cares about pool?”

[Lucy James]

"Exactly. Therefore I can only judge from what I see right now." She wasn't sure what to call this boy, to be exact. Unlike so many other kids at the school, he seemed to be fully capable of standing up to himself, but he also had that "I don't care" thing going on about him. She could probably have thrown the worst of the worst kind of insults his way, and they'd probably just bounce right off without any affect whatsoever. Good, this place needed more people like that.

Furrowing her brows, Lucy's shoulders shrugged. "Not really," she replied. She was tempted to point out that she usually pushed people away, rather than making them come back, but it seemed pointless. She sincerely doubted this guy cared anyways, and she felt no need to really explain. She doubted they'd ever cross paths after this meeting, so at the end of the day, it didn't matter. "I'm not," she replied with another shrug. Her brows furrowed further as he leaned in, and her body tensed slightly, but she made no move to pull away. Instead, she simply watched him cautiously, as if she expected him to do something she wouldn't like.

However, when he pulled away, the brunette's nose wrinkled and she took a step away. She'd never been one who cared much for people getting all up in her personal space, and tensing up seemed to be a reflex she couldn't quite control yet. "That's like saying "who cares about swimming" or "who cares about dancing"," she said. Though, she didn't wholly disagree. Everyone had something they cared about.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

“Well, I guess I could tell you that I’m not but it would be easier for you to simply see for yourself, isn’t it?” Akeem let out. Alright, maybe she had more spunk than he first assumed. He would give her some credit even though she still looked like a schoolgirl trying to show off in front of older students. It helped that she mattered little to him. It made getting away or getting rid of her so much more easier should she push him there. He wouldn’t have any remorse crushing her, though it would be more amusing using his power on her. He bet he could have her fall for him and do all sorts of crazy shit for him. It happened before.

“Oh, so it’s just the breaking then and the batting of lashes is to trick them into thinking you’re not going to entirely destroy them?” He smirked as he said that. It was actually amusing. He would love to watch her do that on someone. Not on himself, of course, but on others, see how she played it. He could get her out if things got too heated. Then again, maybe not. It would be amusing too, to watch her wiggle her way out. “You need to show me next time you have a victim,” he told her.

He noticed how she tensed slightly as he moved closer. His brow arched up at this. He didn’t take her for someone who’d tense over this. What was she expecting to happen? He was not going to kiss her but he had fun over her reaction and took note of it. He stared at her, flinching slightly at her words. He then paused, thinking about it and shrugged as he came to a conclusion. “I guess you’re right. But I meant I was not going to make a career as a pool champion. Then again, I won’t be a professional dancer or in any swimming team,” he replied.