guess who!

[bronze]

what's this? it seems like there's a board game for you and a friend to play — one guess who, featuring all the guests currently in saltburnt! post a blank top-level with your character and play the game in the comments, keeping your assigned character in mind (you'll want a different character for each thread, fyi!).

for ease's sake, all threads will be outside of the au event 🖤

Comments

[haggle]

( knowledge tucked away as someone not in koby's little black book of good fucks. she bites back a winning, feline grin — not a cat going in for the kill, but enjoying the drawn-out thrill of the hunt. no obnoxious shade of blinding hot pink sits on the table, so she makes a grab for the next best: red, uncapped with a flick of a sharp nail tip. )

What, you're asking if they're, like, fucking ET? ( a scoff, pfft. a good distraction from wondering if that's the next mindfuck she needs to brace for. ) Yeah, they're from Earth.

( underscored by an implication: where else would they be from then, leaning in, slumber-party-sly, the kind that goes fishing for gossip in the dark: )

Do you want to have firsthand experience with their ass?

[kobes]

[koby's chosen blue, like the sea, like the horizon, and he carefully draws a series of "x" marks over everyone who isn't from Earth -- including himself.]

What's an ET? [then, pointing his marker at her:] That doesn't count as my question, um. Are they from your time period? More or less?

[koby's ears immediately turn the same color as his hair, and he stage whispers:] Ani. That's -- is that really your question? [huff, huff, blushing, looking down at the page again.] I-I mean. I wouldn't -- be opposed? I guess?

[haggle]

( through the thick, syrupy drawl of an accent: ) Extraterrestrial. Y'know. ET, phone home.

( will she be elaborating? all signs point to no. (un)helpfully, she wiggles a demonstrative finger at him. et, phone home. )

Yeah, think so. They'd know what ET is.

( between her molars, her gum snaps, crackles, pops. koby's splotchy face is almost an exact color match for the blotches of xs she's furtively scribbling down like einstein discovering an equation, little factors in every single one of koby's tells. not someone he's slept with. someone he would. not a girl. cute. it narrows down the playing field more than anyone might consider. )

Don't sound so sure there, babe. ( a laugh, more of a hyena-esque cackle, in its lack of restraint. ) Do they look like a Daddy?

[kobes]

[koby's expression is momentarily concerned, because he understands all those words but not -- in that order. the possibility that ani's having some sort of stroke crosses his mind, and he very nearly pauses the fame to see if she can track the pen with her eyes, count backwards from fifty, something.

but she moves on, and koby quietly consigns the commentary to the litany of references he doesn't understand. a little huff as he adds more x-es, frowning.] Hm. Were they here last summer?

[then, wrinkling his nose, the pink blotches turning into a full on blush:] No. He's -- my age. Ish.

[haggle]

I don't know their life like that. Here before me.

( god, how organized are koby's notes if he's asking shit like that? color-coded, set up by timeline? shame he's quick to give away extras for her benefit. she lifts her eyebrows, total shot in the fucking dark: )

Is your guy Travis?

[kobes]

Oh, well, I could tell you, I have a spreadsheet.

[cheerfully, helpfully, because of course he does. he has multiple spreadsheets.

then, triumphantly, he shakes his head.] It is not. Does yours work with me? [wider net than "with you", because it contains the pink slip, the hex club and nami's restaurant.]

[haggle]

Yeah. ( she wobbles her hand, like she's balancing a coin flip. pros, cons, tilted on a scale. ) But then I'd have to give you a better clue, so.

( in conclusion: fuck that. )

Don't think so. Does yours have light hair?

[kobes]

Well, after, maybe. Silco's read them, my notes. [a glance over the tops of his glasses, meaningful -- it's a useful thing to have familiarity with, being a business owner.]

Hm. That narrows it down. [squeak, squeak of the marker.] Yes, actually.

Is yours around my age?

[haggle]

Yeah. ( a snort. ) Of course he fuckin' has.

( that's what she keeps silco around for — good company, better brains, boring ass interest in paperwork. she'll ask, later, for the sparknotes. for now: )

Nope. ( a raining patter of her fingertips on laminate, again. tap, tap, tap. ) Do I know yours?

[kobes]

I'll make you a slideshow. [something set to music, flashy, quick. glittery, maybe, like her pamphlet had been.]

Mmmm, I don't know. I don't think so? I think you might get along, though. [a thoughtful taptap against his pursed lips with the pen, echoing the drum of her nails.] Is it -- August?

[haggle]

Music had better be good.

( the unspoken implication: if he wants her to pay attention. like she won't be paying attention already, like she doesn't know it's better to keep a little something useful in your pocket — a switchblade tucked in a boot, pepper spray in a purse, details on the freaks rooming with them. self-preservation insists girls like ani stay equipped, stay sharp. )

Wrong. ( she grins, still in the game. ) Gideon?

[kobes]

I'll use one of the ones you mentioned. [because he remembers them, which would be unsettling, weird from anyone who isn't koby, who gathers information like it's the best way he knows how to show care, show affection -- i remembered this, i remember you, i remember everything you say.]

Wrong. [heavy sigh, clearly disappointed in himself.] We both fail.

[haggle]

( her smile lists to the side. of course he'd remember — koby has an encyclopedia where his brain sits. )

It's not over 'til it's over. I ain't no fuckin' quitter.

( ignoring the fact it's not even her turn: )

Dom? He's cute.

[kobes]

[for all intents and purposes, yes -- though the truth of it is that the important, pertinent issues tend to take up more brainpower than the minor details. unless he actually likes the person.

case in point: it's not her turn, she's beaten him, but koby just looks delighted by that fact.] Yes, it is! Ani, you're so smart!

[haggle]

( from another mouth, she knows what it could sound like — a shitty fucking attitude from someone who thinks only money and fancy tuition can buy you a brain, who doesn't understand there's more than one type of smart. not the kind spoon-fed from books, but fought for in the concrete streets of brooklyn, in a city that dishes out life experiences in hard, bruising lessons.

from koby? it's so tooth-rottingly earnest her mouth lights up on its own in a neon-bright smile. all smug wattage, pride brightening the healthy glow of her complexion. she sweeps a hand through her hair, flicking it over one shoulder. it swishes and swings, all drama. )

I know, right? ( a laugh slips out as she leans in, all pointed looks. ) So? The fuck are you waiting for? Go grab his hot ass. The two of you'd look cute together.

[kobes]

Ani! [her grin sets off a wider one in koby, pink-cheeked as he grabs a couple tissues and gives her one before starting to wipe off his own little laminated sheet. perhaps it’s a irony that he’d understand that world – a place where lessons are taught in pain, in work, in bruised knuckles and sleepless nights and in folding yourself into a small box over and over again – better than many others.

koby knows the idea of intelligence won through observation and cunning and planning, the strategic approach of someone who can’t brute force their way out of things. he admires that about silco – he admires it about her too.

huffing a little and wiping his board clean:] I have a very demanding work schedule, you know. I wouldn’t mind spending time with Dom, but – it’d have to be when I’m not scheduled for a shift. I take my responsibilities very seriously, you know.

[dweeb.]