"Kazansky!" Hangman shouted from across The Hard Deck, moving to stand from where he leaned over the pool table.

Luke rolled his eyes, before turning around to face the other man.

He had no solid evidence to warrant dislike toward Hangman. He didn't have a fierce rivalry against him like Rooster. He only found himself at the butt of a few jokes that everyone who served were all too familiar with. Sure some were distasteful, but that's how it was. Luke decided that the perfect way to describe Hangman was by comparing him to a thorn. He caused discomfort and some slight pain, but he was harmless.

And when the jokes weren't directed at him, Luke found them rather hilarious.

The other pilot beckoned him over in an exaggerated gesture, and Luke complied.
"Seresin," Luke greeted easily, eyeing the man with a raised brow.

"One on one, what do you say?" Hangman smirked, nodding his head to the two men nearby who were too enthralled by their conversation to notice Luke's arrival.
"Coyote and Payback are no competition. The question is whether you," He lifted his pool cue, the tip of it moving to rest at the center of Luke's chest. "Will be able to take me on."

Luke scoffed, batting the cue aside, before a hand gripped his shoulder from behind. He turned around to Phoenix, Rooster beside her.

"What're you doing hanging out with these losers." Phoenix jeered with a smile, moving to stand at Luke's left while Rooster silently moved to his right.

"Hey!" Payback reprimanded before almost immediately delving back into his conversation with Coyote.

"Just a friendly game of pool. Maybe you two can join?" Hangman offered before smirking. "I've been needing some simple, unchallenging practice." Rooster scoffed immediately as Phoenix rolled her eyes.

"Do you ever think maybe you're a little too confident?" Luke tilted his head, raising his brows in question.

"Nope." Hangman smirked.

"Huh," Luke shrugged innocently. "Maybe it's overcompensation." Rooster sputtered as he sipped his beer, coughing loudly.
"Not while I'm drinking, Pretty." He reprimanded, still laughing as grabbed at Luke's shoulder to mutter "good one" in his ear.

Luke's entire body burned as soon as the warm hand held onto his shoulder. He felt like a teenager again, and it was humiliating yet thrilling all the same. It didn't help that the other man decidedly didn't remove the grip he had on him after he pulled his face away.

"All right, all right." Hangman chuckled, smirk never leaving his face. "If you really want to know, strip poker will be the only way to find out." He winked before beginning to set up the billiard balls.

"Yeah, I'll pass." Phoenix spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest with a smile.

"Not it." Rooster quickly raised his finger to touch the tip of his nose.

"Alright," Hangman moved to wrap both his hands around his cue, leaning into it. "Looks like Pretty Thing will take one for the team." He smirked, wiggling his brows suggestively in Luke's direction.

The hand at his shoulder tightened, causing Luke to wince, shying away from the source of pain. Rooster immediately dropped his hand, taking a step away from Luke.
"Yeah, not too sure about that, Bagman." Luke murmured, shaking off his disorientation.

"Well," Hangman shrugged. "Guess y'all will never know."

"Yep." Phoenix began, moving to the dartboard that Bob and Halo occupied. "A mystery that I very much don't want to solve."

"Suit yourself," Hangman smirked before turning to Rooster and Luke. "So, you two, want to play some pool?"

"Nah," Rooster muttered, seemingly growing more irritated with Hangman's presence every second.

Hangman nodded his head before turning to Luke, awaiting his answer.

"Nope," Luke started. "Thanks though. All I need is a drink and a seat to fall half asleep in." He explained.

"Good plan," Hangman agreed, nodding toward the two in parting before turning around, searching for the next unlucky candidate to accept his offer to play a game. Luke turned, eyeing Rooster's sour expression, the other pilot's glare never leaving the back of Hangman's head.

"Well," Luke began quietly. He watched as Rooster's green eyes slightly softened, darting over to lock with Luke's own. Luke hesitated, licking his lips. "I'll grab a drink, you find us a table?" He offered up in a murmur.

Rooster didn't take long to deliberate, immediately giving a response. "Yeah," He agreed. "Sounds good."

They parted ways and it unsurprisingly didn't take long for Penny to quickly serve him. He scanned the crowd to find Rooster sitting in a booth near the one they had previously occupied just a few days prior. He wrapped a hand around the neck of his drink, slowly making his way through the crowd.

Rooster looked up with a smile once Luke made it to their table, leaning back in his seat to stretch. Luke timidly matched the smile, moving to sit down across from him.

He wasn't sure how to act after the moment they had shared the night prior. He'd call it rather intimate but would Rooster say the same? Rooster was acting like his usual confident self, smirking at Luke as he nursed his beer. Does he have the same confusing fucked up feelings that Luke holds? Or is he just acting as if nothing happened because he didn't? Luke didn't like thinking so hard, he kept his grip on his drink in one hand as the other moved to rub at his forehead soothingly.

"I see what you're doing." Rooster muttered cryptically, eyes burning into Luke's own.

Luke's hand dropped from his face as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Um—Uh," He stuttered out. "What?"

Rooster leaned forward, finger tapping at Luke's left hand that was still wrapped around his drink before moving to sit again.
"I'm not gonna steal it this time." He said, slightly raising his hands up in the air for a moment.

"Oh," Luke laughed nervously. "Yeah, guess I don't believe you." He shrugged with a small smile. Rooster returned the smile but it seemed a much more genuine one.

"Speaking of your hand," Bradshaw began, gesturing his hand lazily toward Luke's left. "I looked it up, and The Iceman didn't have that one. They were on his back, his legs." Luke nodded his head silently, turning his hand to look at the tally marks.

"The," Luke started, growing nervous under Rooster's unwavering eyes. "The tattoos were believed to be medicinal." Rooster nodded his head, full attention being payed to Luke.
"I broke my, uh, my wrist in high school." He ran a finger across the tattoo lightly.

"Huh," Rooster frowned in thought. "Does it feel better now?"

"No." Luke murmured simply, half smile on his face. Rooster cracked up at that, leaning further into his seat with a large grin. Luke relaxed slightly, though still uncomfortable.

Phoenix and Bob jogged up to them, grins plastered onto their faces. They were silent, expectantly staring between the two.

"...Can we help you?" Rooster tilted his head, raising a brow. He seemed slightly peeved which Luke found rather confusing. Rooster never showed outward annoyance or animosity toward any one of his friends from what he noticed.

Phoenix elbowed Bob in the gut who got the hint that he was the one that most likely had whatever bright idea they were about to propose to them.

"Group's gonna talk a walk along the beach." He looked to the awaiting gang of Hangman, Payback, Coyote, and Fanboy before turning around to whisper. "Hangman and Coyote are cut off and bored. We need help fishing them out of the ocean in case they decide to jump in." He muttered with a look of genuine concern.

Luke noticed Rooster's narrowed eyes and decided to answer for both of them.
"Yeah, we'll come along." He murmured cheerily, gauging the atmosphere. "Mind if we just sit at the patio though?"

"Sure, just make sure that the idiots don't break anything when they inevitably stumble over to visit you." Phoenix rolled her eyes, grabbing at Bob's arm to lead them to the door.

"We can just stick around in here if you want." Luke immediately offered, ever the people pleaser.
"Nah," Rooster shook his head, moving to stand, gesturing his hand to allow Luke to lead the way.

The patio was well lit with fairy lights wrapped around the wooden fence surrounding the platform. Illuminated mason jars centered each table, all of the the tables surprisingly empty that night. Luke and Rooster moved to occupy the one nearest the stairs, eyeing the group for a moment as they walked along the coast, Hangman drunkenly shoving Coyote into a headlock.

Luke shook his head lightly, turning in his seat to face Rooster, giving the latter sole responsibility of surveilling the drunks. His eyes traveled across Rooster's unknowing form. The other pilot seemed comfortable, right arm resting on the wooden back of his seat as his neck craned languidly to the side, his surveillance duties seemingly taken seriously. Luke shifted in his seat, growing uncomfortably hot. He kicked his legs out, attempting to situate himself in a way that didn't feel like he was on fire. He unintentionally kicked at one of Rooster's own, causing the other man's eyes to lazily turn to meet his. Luke shrunk under his gaze, hands clasping to rest on his lap innocently.

"Never, uh," Luke interrupted the silence awkwardly. "I never noticed that scar on your neck." He attempted to broach a topic, coming up with a half creepy assumption. He definitely noticed that scar before, along with the few others that littered the man's face. He'd unknowingly had them mapped out not long into their friendship.

Rooster's left hand rose up to grip lightly at his throat, running down the length of it absentmindedly in thought.

Jesus Christ, Luke was about to end it all there.

"Yeah," Rooster began, dropping his hand to give his full attention to the other man. "Dirt bike accident." He explained.

Well, that was that. Now what was he supposed to say?

"What about you?" Rooster questioned, his hand moving up to tap at his forehead. Luke immediately nodded, recognizing what the other was referring to.

"Had to eject during a training a few years back. My visor broke off into my face." Luke quickly explained.

"Man," Rooster grimaced, leaning forward in his seat to further eye the scar. He then gestured to his chin where a previous injury lay. "Got this in Top Gun. Some jackass hit me with his helmet." He smirked, which must mean he had been the one to win the fight.

"Jesus, Roo." Luke muttered. It took him a moment to realize what he'd said, but once he did, his eyes shot up to meet Rooster's. The other man's brows raised slightly, before he scooted his chair off to the side of the table, knees touching Luke's own as he leaned an arm on the tabletop alongside him.

"Roo, huh?" He smiled. Luke's face almost immediately turned a very embarrassing shade of red, which caused Rooster's smile to widen even further.
"It's cute." Rooster said, leaning his head down slightly to catch Luke's darting eyes.

Luke only hummed quietly in acknowledgment, the heat he felt on his cheeks not allowing him to verbalize anything.

"You're cute." Rooster said finally, with a confidence that Luke could never match. The sentence caught him off guard, making him look up at the other. Rooster leaned forward in his seat, left hand moving to rest on Luke's knee, but it didn't stop there. He moved in further, nose brushing lightly against Luke's, asking for invitation. Luke shakily took a breath before lightly nodding his head.

Drunken laughter caused Rooster to pull away, head turning to face the nearing group of friends. He kept his hand atop Luke's knee for a moment, giving it a light squeeze before letting go.

Coyote stomped up the wooden stairs first, followed by the rest of them soon after. Fanboy seemed just as drunk as Coyote and Hangman while the other three were tipsy. Phoenix moved to stand behind Luke, slapping a hand on his shoulder in greeting.
"Hey, guys!" Fanboy broke out into a grin, raising his arms to wrap around the both of them. The other members of the group payed nearly no mind, instead conversing amongst themselves.

"Yup," Rooster rolled his eyes, patting at the man's forearm. "Let go." He muttered, to which Fanboy immediately complied.

"The sunset can't compare to these two beautiful faces." Hangman spoke up, raising both his hands in a vague gesture. He pointed a finger at Rooster. "Not yours." He smirked before turning to Luke and Phoenix with a wink.

"Jesus Christ, Hangman cut it out." Phoenix groaned, turning to look at Rooster and Luke with a pleading expression. "He's been like this the whole time. The flirting won't stop."

"You're just jealous Pretty Thing has my full attention now." Hangman made grabby hands toward Luke. Rooster moved to stand, clearing his throat, a universal sign that he was ready to call it a night. Luke got the hint.

"Alright, Bagman." Luke placated calmly. "Let's reel it in, yeah?"

"Sure, thing." Hangman smirked again. "Your place or mine?" He asked, walking up to grab at Luke's shoulder and moving to sit on his lap. He only was on it for half a second before a strong hand on his upper arm caused him to land his butt quickly onto the wood flooring.

"Sober your ass up." Rooster muttered, letting go of his arm to turn to Phoenix. "You'll call a ride for them?" He gestured to Hangman's still sitting form, the man in question was rapping his knuckles against the floor to the tune of a made up song. Phoenix nodded her head, rolling her eyes at Hangman's drunken antics.

"You said you had that pool table you wanted to show me?" Rooster began, turning to Luke at look as the latter moved to stand. Luke's brows furrowed immediately. He didn't have a pool table. Rooster's narrowed eyes made Luke's own widen in realization.

"Uh, yeah... We can head over there if you want." He voiced just above a whisper, reeling at the surreality of the night.

"Sounds good." Rooster nodded, a lopsided smile on his face.