Rooster Imagines (Top Gun: Maverick)

'I'm Better at Pool then You'

Author: Whynnter 

The Hard Deck was packed to the brim with people. It was just past nine and the typical crowd that frequented the establishment were scattered around the bar. I made my way through the dense crowd toward the back of the room where a group of Fightertown pilots congregated, a few of them in the middle of a game of pool.

I slowly moved in their direction, glancing down at my phone briefly at a text message that popped up on my screen.

Call me - Dad

I wasn't surprised it was from a new phone number. If my dad wasn't losing his phones he was breaking them. Sometimes it was by accident, and other times it was on purpose. I chose to ignore him for the moment, and as I looked up from my phone I was immediately stopped by a tall blonde man in a pilot's uniform.

"To get past me you must pay the toll, sweetheart."

I gave him half a smile, "A toll, huh. What's the price?"

He looked over his shoulder at his comrades, a cocky smile written across his face. I could feel the rest of them looking at me, but the blonde kept my attention.

"Your name for a start, and how about a drink?"

"And who says you are deserving of those things?" I countered.

He leaned in closer, "I'm a great guy once you get to know me."

"I bet," I paused, locking eyes with one of the guys standing near the pool table. "But I have a better idea. How about if I beat your friend over there in the sunglasses at a round of pool, you have to buy a round of drinks for the bar. If I lose, you can have my name and the next round of drinks are on me."

The man looked a bit confused but I didn't give him a chance to question me as I grabbed the cue from his hand and moved toward the table.

"Hangman, is it?" I said, reading aloud the name that appeared on his name tag. "Am I stripes or solids?"

He smiled, "Yes ma'am, and stripes."

"Well Hangman, you might as well get your credit card out because you just lost."

He chuckled behind me. "You seem very confident. Why do you see that?"

"Because you see, Hangman. Rooster here has never been good at pool," he quickly glanced between the two of us, a confused look on his face, "And I'm very good." I said, smiling at him.

I leaned over the pool table and lined my cue up with the white ball. They were already in the middle of a game and stripes were losing with not one in the pocket. That wouldn't be a problem.

I lined up the shot, but right before I took it I looked up at my competitor, " Where you been Rooster?"

I took the shot without taking my eyes off of him and three balls landed in three different pockets. The game was now tied.

Rooster removed the sunglasses from his face and shoved them into his left pocket. "Y/N, I know you're mad-"

"I came back after being out of the country for over a month and you are nowhere to be found. No note, no call, nothing."

A female figure appeared beside me, "I warned him, but you know how well he listens."

I smiled at my friend, "Thanks Phoenix."

Hangman chimed in, "I gather you all know each other. Especially you two," he said, gesturing between Rooster and I.

Rooster ignored him, "I thought you were coming back next week." He took a shot but missed.