Martha was shite at pool, billiards, and anything to do with sticks that didn't involve hitting someone with them. She'd played, of course--who hadn't--in the student union, usually several pints of cider worse for wear, at which point even failure seemed brilliant anyway.

Pursing her lips, she watched the two competitors at the nearby table go head to head, figuring that, as she had in her uni days, she could pick up some ability by sheer osmosis.