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[sub][color=dimgray][b][color=a0410d]Location | [/color][/b] Red Rock
[b][color=a0410d]Los Angeles Time |  [/color][/b] 9:11 PM     /[b]     [color=a0410d]London Time |  [/color][/b] 5:11 AM     /[b]     [color=a0410d]Moscow Time |[/color][/b] 7:11 AM
[b][color=a0410d]Interacting with |[/color][/b] Ellie   [@Bee]  (Mentions: AJ [@TootsiePop], Yessi [@Hoekage]  /   [color=#99F1FF]ｙ[/color] [color=#A6E4FF]ｅ[/color] [color=#B3D7FF]ｔ[/color]　[color=#C0CBFF]ａ[/color] [color=#CDBEFF]ｎ[/color]  [color=#DAB2FF]ｏ[/color] [color=#CDBEFF]ｔ[/color] [color=#C0CBFF]ｈ[/color] [color=#B3D7FF]ｅ[/color] [color=#A6E4FF]ｒ[/color]　[color=#CDBEFF][b]ｐｉｎｋ[/b][/color]　[color=#DAB2FF]ｓ[/color] [color=#CDBEFF]ｔ[/color] [color=#C0CBFF]ａ[/color] [color=#B3D7FF]ｒ[/color] [color=#A6E4FF]ｂ[/color] [color=#99F1FF]ｕ[/color] [color=#A6E4FF]ｒ[/color] [color=#B3D7FF]ｓ[/color] [color=#C0CBFF]ｔ[/color] [/color][/sub]
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The Gearheads liked to say that Aleks never slept. Obviously the idea was ludicrous at face value; after all, Yessi alone had seen him fall asleep a hundred times, and he was sure once or twice he'd dozed off on the couch at Monica's place watching movies with her. Once he'd fallen asleep behind the wheel while driving AJ away from a drunken, tearful argument - another death throe in the forever war that was his comrade's relationship with that forgettable gossipy twink. Luckily AJ's vision had been bleary from salt and whiskey, and he hadn't caught on to Aleks' brief recharging period. It was for the best. Even Aleks' corpse would have made for a better driver than AJ operating under...[i]ideal[/i] conditions. But from an outside perspective it certainly seemed true. Aleks was on call like a doctor, a doctor who made a habit of appearing in parking lots or at bars with more scrapes and bruises than his patients when summoned. You ain't never had a friend like him.

Part of being a well-mannered, hyper-engineered, sexually fluid post-Soviet Terminator with a lack of personal drama and a head full of bedroom secrets and ideas that were as debauched as they were highly classified meant that part of Aleks was always mentally prepared for whatever the remaining parts of their fucked up Voltron-esque auto-clique was throwing at him. In lieu of sleep, generally that meant falling into a sort of sleep [i]mode[/i] - a series of patterns, simple activities that required no higher function. Shuffling cards was near the top of this list of the T-800 'Aleks' Model's approved autopilot features - sitting directly below handjobs and above chin ups.

[color=a0410d][i]Jesus, no wonder Yessi thinks I'm a head case.[/i][/color]

But hey, which one of them was the lunatic who thought it was okay to barter off their dearly beloved's fucking stuff for a sport they didn't even like? If he started selling off Yessi's jewelry in order to go watch water aerobics, Aleks guessed the first words out of her mouth in Spanish wouldn't exactly be fucking [i]'te amo.'[/i]

[right][color=a0410d][i]Ellie is talking to you.[/i][/color][/right]

The arrival of a friend was enough to snap Aleks out of his reverie; the abrupt break in his concentration was almost enough to send the deck flying, turning what was a simple overhand shuffle into an impromptu game of fifty-two pickup. Instead, he corrected; the cards all landed in his hand, a half a dozen at a time sliding along into a uniform deck, with no rounded corners of askew cards to detract from the set's perfection. He looked up at his fellow Gearhead and pursed his lips in a faint smile, colder and more rehearsed than the warmth of a chocolate brown eye winking closed and open at her. 

[color=a0410d]"Hey,"[/color] he greeted her simply, [color=a0410d]"yeah."[/color]

He started shuffling again, although this time he directed his attention up to Ellie instead of towards the cards. There was someone to focus on now; the autopilot was no longer an option.

[color=a0410d]"I learned at Piccadilly,"[/color] he explained. [color=a0410d]"These days it's nothing but a tourist trap, but it's also a quick and dirty choice for a field trip. We went when I was in Yearrrrrrr...6 or 7. 7. One of the attractions there was this douchebag from Italy, skimming fifty quid at a time off of foreigners who didn't know better. So I gave him fifty quid at a time, let him think I was [i]son of a shepherd Russian boy,[/i] and eventually I knew every trick in his book. Last time Yessi and I were in Vegas I made the money back, so it was a solid investment. And it's a fun way to distract your drunk friends."[/color]

Aleks turned his head slightly towards Yessi, taking a long drag off of the Manson Family peace pipe. He heard his best friend make a playful joke about them all being murdered while high. [color=a0410d][i]More like [b]I'll[/b] be murdered and she'll wind up one of his wives.[/i][/color] If the bearded newcomer was actually a cult leader, he pitied him. Yessi wouldn't even believe that he was at home exercising instead of eating another girl out. Good luck making her believe in Heaven's Gate.

And AJ...

He took a long, shallow breath and shrugged his eyebrows in the direction of their wayward, fearless leader before looking back to Ellie. Instead of the weed or booze that many of the Gearheads liked to indulge, he unfolded another strawberry Starburst and popped the candy into his mouth, letting it settle into his right cheek.

[color=a0410d]"This turned into a shitshow fast, huh?"[/color]