FIREBALL

Chapter 4

 after the eventful first day, thalia decided to go down to the hard deck. as she meandered through the common room, her eyes fell on natasha and bob sat on the sofa in the middle of the homely room. she paused in her tracks debating the next words to come out of her mouth. she'd told bates the previous day that she wasn't here to make friends, but after their conversation earlier, she had decided that maybe a couple of friends wouldn't hurt.

"hey!" bob's voice snapped her out of her stupor. she turned to face the duo and smiled politely as she watched them eye her leathers curiously.

"hi..." thalia trailed off, not sure how to ask if they wanted to join her. "i'm thinking of heading to the hard deck if you guys wanna come with? i get it if not it's just today was kinda stressful and -"

natasha cut her off with a laugh and a reassuring grin. "we'd love to, fireball."

"call me thalia. or thals, or jacks, i don't really mind." the younger woman let out a nervous chuckle. 

"we'll meet you there then jacks," bob replied kindly. 

-----

the hard deck was quiet, with the bartender, penny, being the only one needing to work the shift. thalia bought her wingmen a beer each, and a cider for herself.

they arrived almost ten minutes after her, surprised at her presence, but took their drinks and found a booth in the corner. they chatted aimlessly for a while, and after an hour, it seemed like they'd been friends for life, the yorkshire accent complementing the other two's american voices surprisingly nicely.

"so, how did you get here, thalia," phoenix asked, grabbing her beer and taking a quick mouthful. "our car was the only car in the lot."

thalia laughed. "you see that harley out there? that's my baby. her name's 'starfire'." 

she admired her sleek black motorcycle until natasha snorted in laughter at her expression, snapping her friend back to reality. at thalia's sudden startled look, bob burst into a fit of giggles. his laugh was contagious and it wasn't long until all three of them were red-faced and teary-eyed. 

"what-" thalia gasped for air, letting out a small hiccup that almost caused the trio to spiral back. "what was even so funny?"

"you- you looked at your bike with hearts in your eyes!" natasha's usually alto tones were squeaky with oxygen loss. "i thought you were gonna go out there and marry it!"

bob chuckled, the red on his cheeks slowly fading back to their usual pale complexion. he quickly diverted the topic of conversation knowingly as thalia and natasha grew pinker the long they maintained eye contact. "who's up for a game of darts? whoever loses buys the next round."

"oooh! me!" thalia immediately stood and made her way over to the board, leaving her wingmen to pick up her drink and follow her through the slight throng of people. when they got over there, she was taking practice shots. bob examined her form, noting how instead of bringing her whole arm back like one usually would, she merely flicked her wrist and the dart sped through the air, hitting the bullseye dead straight.

"bob..." natasha trailed off slightly, a hint of warning in her tone.

"yeah?" bob's reply was naught but a squeak.

"what have you gotten us into?"

thalia spun round. "do you take practice shots?" bob shrugged and natasha picked up the darts on the counter next to them, lining up her shot.

the other two watched intently as her throw curved slightly and she hit just millimetres south of the bullseye. she swore softly and nodded for bob to step up.