Fable - Ask Poker Night

[Norah]

Shot glass lowered and was flicked aside and she shrugged in Manbun's direction before her attention was drawn elsewhere.

Dark eyes watched the exchange between Colt Pirian and Lucinda. They glittered with something dangerous as she flicked one of the many knives on her person at Colt with an expert hand that had over a decade of practice when something meant life or death on the streets. A ravenous precision.

If it hit, it would be a sharp, thin stinging red line across his right cheekbone...not the butt cheeks. Shallow and not lasting. A warning.

"Maybe you shouldn't touch without a girl's permission," voice was sharp and alarmingly quiet as that small dagger she'd just thrown. Norah knew those cards she held were bad. Without breaking eye contact with Colt she folded and placed her unturned cards on the table.

Another coin gone. Another one in.

Perhaps misfortune was on her slender shoulder tonight.

 

[Takoda]

Takoda silently listened as he enjoyed smoking his cigar. He seemed to be in deep thought as he tried to remember all the rules of the game. The hand he held was either really good or really bad and he could not remember which.

With the utmost sincerity, still largely focusing on his cards, he made a comment to Lucinda.

"I would argue with your sister that it is easier the looser the screw."

Wait, was that a joke, it was impossible to tell with Takoda. In his own head, what he had said was completely factual. He considered all the Dreadlords to be crazy and the amount of people sleeping around here had been truly shocking to him upon arrival.

"Blake makes a good point Marcia...Why were you skulking about it instead of training? Are you training to be a spy? The shield will not help then."

Takado spoke with such a calm measured tone that it always felt like he truly meant what he was saying and that he was saying it with the best intentions.

The final cards were played and Takoda placed his own down, "I believe I win do I not?"

 

[Colt Pirian]

"Fuck right off, the lot of you," she finally responded, giving the cuffs a good hard tug against the radiator to stress test them, which clanged loudly. "You're all pissing about when you could be training." Another hard clang. "Improving." Clang. "Preparing for your future duties."

Unfortunately, both the cuffs and the radiator seemed pretty damn solid.

"You're all so fucked when I get out of here."

Colt let out a chuckle. "You eat pork Marcia?" He let the question stew for a second in the girl's mind. "Bout a century ago my Great-Grand Diddy Levi Pirian played the mayor of a small town then called Chikataw for his hog ranch. Won it after a long night of poker, and nowadays about a third of the hog-meat rationed to the Guard comes from historical Chikataw. Pirian's playing poker has kept food in the bellies of the Guard for generations." Or so the legend went. The distribution of hog to the guard was true, but a well-kept secret of the Pirians was that the deal had actually been negotiated the night before the very public poker game. Still, the legend was well known in Vel Numera, and even told in Vel Anir proper.

That distraction was enough to make Blake forget about Kilien's flask entirely, and instead she wiggled her empty shot glass in the air at Limont.
"Oi, do we get refills? I want this to be fun."

Somewhat recovered after a couple hands of poker Limont was on the move after potential profit.

"Just a crown a shot lo- Blake. Shall I put you down for two?"

She turned back and glared at Colt. "That didn't feel like no hitting." Her scowl intensified as she sat back down with soggy arms crossed over her chest.

Colt winked.

Dark eyes watched the exchange between @Colt Pirian and @Lucinda. They glittered with something dangerous as she flicked one of the many knives on her person at Colt with an expert hand that had over a decade of practice when something meant life or death on the streets. A ravenous precision.

If it hit, it would be a sharp, thin stinging red line across his right cheekbone...not the butt cheeks. Shallow and not lasting. A warning.

By sheer happen stance, things took a turn far worse then they should have. Colt leaned down and to his right to enjoy a puff of his cigar. Instead of the knife grazing his cheek it instead went straight through his hat, carrying it off his head and planting itself firmly in the wall behind Colt.

The tension in the room could be cut by, well, a knife.

"Round of drinks, on the house!" Limont scrambled, trying to ease the scene. His voice trembled slightly. He might have been a Dreadlord Initiate, but everyone here knew there were tiers of strength. In this confined room? With these players? His only hope was escape.

Limont took a bottle of whisky and topped everyone's glasses. And when he topped, he topped. What might have normally fit a single shot was closer to a double, maybe more. If Blake, or anyone else, had purchased a drink between rounds he would bring and top a new glass. Limont finished and Colt kept his silence a little longer without touching his new spoils.

"Now now, we don't need to get so excited." Colt spoke. "We've got more hands to play, and not the stakes for this kind of air." He looked over at Norah .

"If it pleases the lady I shall do no more then asked, or 'invited' as you prefer." Colt responded. In fact, this wasn't a change from his previous state, as Lucinda had asked in a way. A fact he wouldn't bring to attention, but could of course be puzzled.

The final cards were played and Takoda placed his own down, "I believe I win do I not?"

"Well played Tak." Colt said before helping facilitate the transfer of the pot to Takoda. Kilien Basmarc would deal cards. Colt glanced the pretty sight of the two of hearts and the two of clubs. Both were decorated with twins who could be booked in unison for the right price. Colt smiled in an artistic appreciation, but it was a terrible hand.

"I'll fold." Colt said and put down his cards. "Not my night tonight it seems." He said, then took a sip of his whiskey.


OOC:
Doing some extra damage this round because

1. Tahi rolled a nat 20
2. To get us broker quicker

Name	Round Score	Total
Colt	-2	-4
Kilien	-2	-5
Blake	-2	-4
Lucinda	-2	+3
Norah	+11	+8
Takoda	-3	+2

 

[Marcia]

Marcia's eyebrow twitched at Kilien's justification for preparing income-making skills through gambling gifting. She supposed that the boy might have had some magic beans that he wished to sell her along with his bullshit.

Did he think she was so oblivious? She might have respected Basmarc more if he'd just said he wanted to blow off steam and have some fun for the night, even if she disapproved.

"What the fuck do you think I was doing?" The girl seethed at Blake and Takoda, trying to judge if she could slip the cuffs by twisting her wrists. "The same thing you lot should be doing instead of fucking about playing games." Maybe, with a bit of flexibility, she could escape. "Training."

Also, stalking her peers instead of going to bed, but that was left unsaid.

While Initiate Pirian spun a yarn that attempted to knit together the need for him to doss about to the meals that feed them, Marcia awkwardly tried to pull her right hand out of the cuffs. Predictably, this did not work, so the girl wrenched at her thumb in an attempt to make her hand smaller. Maybe a little too hard. There was a small pop, followed by a jolt of pain that caused her eyes to bulge, making it seem as if she had been stunned by Colt's point when she had, in fact, just pulled her thumb out of its socket.

"Sounds like the Pirians have been taking credit for Great Grand Diddy's triumph for generations..." Marcia muttered through a clenched jaw.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

"You train at 10 o' clock at night?" Kilien gave her a look then decided he wasn't actually all that surprised and simply shrugged it off. He noticed nothing out of the ordinary about her twitching as he'd found her to be a bit twitchy when she got herself all worked up. Honestly it was sort of cute.

With a round of free top-offs he gladly accepted a fresh cup and pour, seeing as how he'd not partaken in the first round on account of not being a pretty little lady. This hand, at least, was a fair bit better than the last two so he stayed for a few rounds and pitched in another coin or two only to lose in the end to Norah's perfect game.

A bit suspicious, that one...

"Sheeeesh," he said, slowly tipping back his cup and draining it with a squint at the burn, "I hadn't expected to go broke quite so fast. I have maybe another go or two of coin in me."

Then he got an idea and reached down into his bag, "Unless of course we can pay in with baked goods..."

 

[Blake]

"Your training looks an awful lot like simple snooping around, Marci. What kinda skills you workin' on?" Blake chimed towards the captive girl. "Tell ya what? Why don't you and I make a little bet of our own, outside the poker table?"

While she waited for an answer, Blake took hold of her next hand and had to hide her enthusiasm. A pair of kings, clubs and diamonds! Really good, but she'd have to wait to see what came next. First three cards on the table were the jack of hearts, the seven of spades, and the ten of hearts. Nothing to build on there, but that was okay.

Next came the flop: the king of clubs! Now we were talking! Blake bet a little higher, but not too high as to dissuade the others from staying in.

Finally, the river...the king of hearts. Four of a kind!!! This hand was practically unbeatable! And she bet accordingly.
"Alrighty...time to call, I think, huh?" she grinned, confidence radiating off of her. She just had to be in the money this time! She threw her cards on the table.

"Four kings!"

 

[Lucinda]

Lucy studied her new hand and looked up to Takoda, a toothy grin replacing the scowl that had made its way on her face after the worst hand known to mankind. Aside from maybe her new hand: a two of girls kissing and another one of those pretty Queens. This one looked sad, though.

"You see, that's what I told her, but she thinks the problem's with my head. I thought she was talkin' about my loose joints the whole time." She shrugged and tossed the cards on the table. A sad queen would win no battles here.

Lucinda pulled something out of her soaking wet jacket and popped it into her mouth.

Blake's hollering only made her flinch and turn towards the girl with a look of contemplation in her eyes. "Four kings...huh. I had a dream about that once. 'Spose it was more than four kings because when I'd try and kill them, more would just pop up. Big ugly things, too. Must have called themselves the king because I refuse to believe a king would be so ugly. I mean have you seen King Randall?" Someone should have put that hot piece of ass on a card.

 

[Takoda]

Takoda started off with a pretty strong hand, judging by the looks of things, and focused on not giving away any signs. Of course, it was difficult to focus on the game with the current background that was Marcia's complaint.

"I'll raise."

He threw in a few more coins before smirked at Lucinda's story, along with Killen's question. Pastry? They better be damn good pastry to be equal to his coin. Not to insult the cuisine, but Anirians did not cook very well...Their lack of spices was disappointing, to say the least.

Blake's hand quickly killed his mood as he realized he would not be winning that hand even with such good card.

"Ah, I flew too close to the sun."

His eyes finally drew up to Marcia once again and just smiled, "I have always found your fighting spirit and resiliency endearing when on my side. I now understand why it irritates your enemies."

 

[Norah]

Norah didn’t break her stare from Colt Pirian and Limont as she muttered a simple college spell that brought her knife back to her. When the new drink was poured she finally looked away at the cards being played.

“Blake,” Norah actually smiled. But it wasn’t sweet like if Lucinda smiled. It was as sharp as a knife.

One by one she let her cards fall.

A royal flush.

“King Randall isn’t my type but maybe we should look into making and selling our own nude cards.” The rogue scooped the winnings up. A glance at Kil. And Takoda. And the others.

“Any of those chocolates from Elbion? We could do that. Why not make it a little more interesting? How about truth or dare? Winner sets the challenge or calls for a secret from all who lose.”

 

[Colt Pirian]

Did Marcia say something under her breath? Colt couldn't hear, but suspected something. As Kil mentioned he was outta coin, Colt's looked up, doing a quick count of his own. Between what he lost at the table and owed Limont he was out as well. He could try to write an IOU, and was fairly certain he could get the coin with a few well written letters. The Pirian's were not without wealth, but Colt preferred not call on such without cause. Nor did he wish to write a debt. Instead Colt would have to scrounge for the rest of the night.

Blake let down her cards and Colt let out a short whistle. Or rather, a whistle the table would think was short. The wind would replicate the noise in the ear of Marcia , and only Marcia, for the next 60 seconds. In response Lucy would pull . . . something out of her coat and stuff it into her face before making a comment on Anirian royalty.

"If we're talking royalty, I think Kassandra could compete with these girls." Colt added. He'd seen the poster of her, trying to boost recruitment for the guard. They were quite convincing, but lacked a certain appeal in his deck of cards.

Colt wouldn't comment on Norah 's suggestion. He had certainly noticed that dreadlords, even initiates, seemed to either sport a face adorned with cuts, or be carved from marble. Except for that strange fellow Kael. Colt couldn't figure why a shapeshifter would have settled on such a weak chin when he could have any in the world. In any case Colt held his tongue as the girl layed down her cards. Colt's eyebrows raised in admiration. The girl held her cards to her chest until just the right moment, and played the table like a fiddle.

Colt felt his heart skip a beat. Was this love?

"Kil's not the only one out of coin for the night." Colt said. He reached out a hand and his hat, now sporting two knife-shaped holes went to his hand. He put it on the table. "I'll put up a gently used hat as my first bid, for anyone that accepts it as tender." He looked over at Norah. "And a dare for anyone who does not." Then a glance to Kilien Basmarc .

"But Kil doesn't get to deal this hand." Colt said, and insisted the cards be passed around the table. Blake would have to shuffle. Maybe luck was a lady tonight.

As Colt received his hand he held a seven and a four. On the table the shared card was a seven, and Colt decided to stay over fold. The next card was turned and matched his four. Colt was at worst two pairs. A beatable, but respectable hand.

"I raise one truth or dare, winner's choice." He sweetened the deal. The final card turned over, and as the cards went down Colt saw victory swept out of his hands.

Lucinda was now his debtor, and would get to choose first between his hat and a dare, and second a truth or a dare.

In honesty, he had no idea what to expect as to her choices, but he did expect to remember them for quite some time.


OOC:

Kil and Colt are now Broke. Broke people have no money, give no money, lose no money, but do provide other things we can work out IC and/or OOC. I won't bring them down on the table, but if they win they may take cash from the pot.

Name	Round Score	Total
Colt (Broke)	-2	-4
Kilien (Broke)	-1	-5
Blake	-1	-5
Lucy	+3	+6
Takoda	-1	+1
Norah	-1	+7

 

[Marcia]

Marcia offered Basmarc a look crafted from only the finest incredulity, his pondering of who was still training at this time of night a showcase of just how lax standards were in the Academy. He'd have probably shit his britches were she to tell him just how early she woke up too.

"Stealth is a valuable asset," she grunted at Blake, her hands still busy at work trying to escape the cuffs as her thumb radiated in protest. "Managed to follow you shitheads here, didn't I? Got past your little patrol, too."

Not that it was a particularly effective patrol. Initiate Naser had been keeping an eye out for Proctors for a short while, but it hadn't taken long for him to, somewhat predictably, get bored of existing. So he had fucked off with his flask in hand, no doubt in pursuit of more exciting but arguably more illicit ventures.

"Do you really think I'm going to be agreeable to any kind of bet after this little stunt?"

Takoda's jab was taken as something of a compliment; the girl was aware that she wasn't going to win the trophy for Most Congenial Initiate, an accolade she wouldn't have been surprised to see rung in by the travesty of Revolution. Fighting spirit and resiliency were much more worthwhile traits.

She might have responded, were it not for the awful whistling that resonated in her skull, travelling from ear to ear in a circuit like a plague. "Gah! Knock it off, you fuck nugget!" She seethed before shaking her head as if it might have dislodged the sound from her head, but when that failed, she grit her teeth and resumed the escape attempt.

Having not learned the lessons of thumb mutilation, she repeated the exact same strategy as before with the other hand.

Pop!

A sharp inhale through gritted teeth left the girl with two dislocated thumbs.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

“Any of those chocolates from Elbion? We could do that. Why not make it a little more interesting? How about truth or dare? Winner sets the challenge or calls for a secret from all who lose.”

"Nay on the chocolates," Kilien replied as he rifled through his bag for the cheesecloth bundle given to him by one of the very nice kitchen staff. He plopped it on the table, presumably ignoring the idea of truth or dare, and fiddled with the knot of cloth at the top until it pulled apart.

"Let's see... got some sweet rolls, some shortbread biscuits, a handful of macarons, and -" he looked to Norah and bobbed his eyebrows smugly at her, "some chocolate filled pastries."

Those last ones definitely weighed in at the most valuable. Chocolate was a rarity around these halls.

"I'll see your hat with three biscuits..." he placed the cookies on the pile but the jingle-jangling of cuffs against radiator drew his attention and he looked back to Marcia, "hungry Mar? I got a sweet roll here with your name on it."

 

[Blake]

A ROYAL FLUSH?!
"Shit, fuck, balls! Holy hell, Nor, you've gotta have the devil's own luck!"
Tonight was not Blake's night, it seemed. And she just polished off the last of her second drink, as well.

"Damn it all, I'm one hand from being out of allowance money here..." she grumbled, glancing at Colt and Kilien as they started substituting money for other bets. She patted over her own person, but as usual, the only thing Blake carried on her was her clothes.

"I didn't figure I'd be runnin' out of fun so soon...all in on this hand, I suppose."

Blake looked back to Marcia again, noticing her gross, floppy thumbs. The fuck was up with that?

"I dunno, Marci, I figure if the stakes are good enough anyone might go for anything."

 

[Lucinda]

Colt spoke and Lucinda's brow furrowed, "Yes, yes Kassandra is pretty, but I hear she's quite scary. Have you seen the new Princess though? Think the King might have Prince Lynus executed for bringing a whore from The Crowing Cock home and marrying her. Can't say I blame him though...she's..." She held her hands over her chest, but quite a few inches beyond her own and blew out a long breath, glancing away. "...Yeah..."

When she looked up again, it was with wide eyes and pupils dilated until they nearly reached the limbal ring.

"Hmm. Guess they didn't call me Lucky Lu for nothin' then, now did they?" She collected whatever winnings she had made and examined the choices Colt had given her. "Okay then, okay. What'll it be? Truth or dare, Colt?" She snatched his hat up, placing it on her head as she made her other decision.

"And, you." She pointed at Kilien. "Anything better than pastries to offer? I prefer to trade in secrets, not sugar. Or clothing." She tacked on, pointing at her new hat.

---

Lucinda's grin for Colt was anything but pure when he chose dare, and was presented with a handful of small discs that looked just like candies in various colors. "Choose one and eat half." She ordered. The options were as follows: a red disc, a teal disc, a rainbow disc, a black disc with white and yellow speckles, and a white disc that Lucinda removed and pocketed before he could choose it.

 

[Takoda]

"Marcia, it is rather painful to watch you hurt yourself."

Takoda had folded his own cards halfway through, after once again mistaking his hand for one of potential. It looked as if Lady Luck had abandoned him when he needed her the most.

Things had escalated quickly as soon as people went broke, rather than bow out like any sensible person would do, they resorted to bartering. The first options were sweets and even clothing, which even Takoda could admit seemed like a poor substitute.

Though he had not expected the next stage after offering clothes to now just be consuming what was most certainly drugs.

"I would suggest staying away from the black one...that is the color of death and bile."

 

[Norah]

"Shit, fuck, balls! Holy hell, Nor, you've gotta have the devil's own luck!"

A small shrug that was anything but innocent.

Norah leaned in at the word chocolate pastries. Her tongue dipped across her lower lip even her her shrewd gaze slide briefly to Marcia. Lingering eyes followed by a small frown. A clench in her jaw. Uncomfortable about something.

She had to agree with Takoda on what he said.

Norah also preferred secrets but didn't voice it as she put in her next bet. Watchful as a cat and silent as a mouse.