Lost in Neon-lit Confusion

As she followed his gesture to the navi on the street corner, she tilted her head, curiosity piqued. there had been decks of cards at Eric's house, and she recognised that he was probably a card-sharp of some sort, but, well, there was no harm in asking, at least.

She nodded to Di, offering him a grin, and beckoned for him to come with her at least, then approached the card table cautiously. When she was close enough, she gave a small wave, shy, and caught his eye. It wasn't too hard, and a part of her was quite sure that, as an enterprising street performer, he had probably marked her approach long before.

"Hi... I, um... how does the game work?" She asked him, once she was standing in front of his table, green eyes watching his face rather than where probably ought to have already been, on the cards.

"Well, Miss! Interested in a game, hm?" The navi, a man in a black suit with a white undershirt, gives a jovial, yet strange laugh. He shuffles the deck in his hands, shifting the cards around far faster than the eye can see, and then deals two sets of five out onto the table in a flash. "The rules are on the sign next to me." He says, nodding towards his right.

Sure enough, there's a sign there.

"It's a bit like speed Poker." The navi explains, setting the rest of the deck down. "Since you can lie, or 'bluff' about what you've actually got. If you've got any questions, I'll be happy to answer 'em. Otherwise-- the buy-in is 100z. Lose, I keep your bet. Win, I give you this."

The navi flips a small box out from under the table, juggling it in one hand, then holds it up. The lid of the box is clear, showing the chip data inside, but just in case the box itself has a label. "Zapring1" is printed just beneath the window, in big, easily-readable letters.

"Of course, if your friend there wants to play instead..." He flips a second box up with his other hand, this one holding a MistConvergence1.

"Best two out of three in either case. Of course, you two could also go double-dutch on me... that'd make it best 3 out of 5, and I'd be playing two matches at once." He hauls a second deck up from underneath the table-- how much stuff does he have under there?-- and sets it down on the top. "You in?"

Di was apathetic about playing, although his curiosity was peaked by the game. He wasn't that great at card games, but he was certainly better than Akua was. Eyeing the sign and pondering the opportunity, Di gave a small nod as he made up his mind. "Sure, I'll play, but only if my friend has enough zenny." He turned to Lyn, a strange feeling rising in his chest as he offered a polite gesture. "I'll pay for it if you want to play. I only have enough for one game though, so you'll be on your own. Don't worry about me, though. I'm terrible at these sorts of games, so you'll probably do much better than I could."

"Hey!" Akua spoke as the reasonable one this time. "We don't have a lot of zenny, and you're blowing it on her? Sheesh, you're practically drooling over this girl, and you act like you don't even care!"

Di gave a small chuckle and a slight shake of his head. Akua just didn't understand.

The rule board looked complicated, and Lyntael took a few extra moments reading over it quickly while she debated. The money she had was Rogan's after all, and he certainly hadn't given her any permission to risk or spend it. He'd be very annoyed at her wasting it on games, too, she knew. The rules seems straight forward, more or less, though, and a small part of her felt daring enough to want to try.

As she looked up at her friend, Lyntael's eyes widened slightly and she took a small step back from the table, shaking her head suddenly.

"Oh! Oh, I can't let you do that for me, we- we only just met, that's too generous! I—" She bit one lip, rocking on her toes uncertainly, trying to reach a conclusion in her own thoughts. "Oh, I really shouldn't, but, he said that this money was set aside anyway, for me to use to get stronger... and I guess that getting more chips could be taken as getting stronger, in a way, right?" She was looking up to Di with eyes that seemed to plead for reassurance while she convinced herself to go ahead, but in the need the return gaze was all she really seemed to need. She swallowed, then nodded, more to herself than anyone else.

"Alright, let's both play a round them, if you want to. One game, just one. Sound alright?" She managed a small grin, now that she'd made up her mind and tapped the corner of the card table nearest her with the base buy-in. She turned a nervous smile back towards their dealer. "I'm in," She nodded, then glanced back up to Di.

((OOC note: For fairness, convenience, and sanity, I will be using an actual deck of cards for this. That's ONE deck of cards, as one deck of 52 playing cards contains more than enough sets to make two Pixie (21-card) decks.))

Before Lyntael could so much as think the words "Maybe this isn't such a good idea", the dealer's hands whipped out, snatched the zenny, and dropped it into his pocket. A moment later he dealt two hands from the deck, five cards each, and laid them out next to each other. "Pick your hand." He set the remaining cards-- the deck-- on the table between her and him.

"How about you then?" he turned to Dee. "You in? Or are you going to make your date play by herself?"

Lyntael's eyes flickered with his movements, blinking as he dealt out the cards with an unnerving smoothness. Her own naivety prevented anything more than a look of slight concentration from crossing her features, however, and she tentatively reached out to take up the hand on her left.

She looked up to Di briefly before examining her cards, but was quickly lost in a deeper focus of concentration as her eyes shifted back and forth frequently between her own hand and the rules board as she waited for her companion to make his own decision. While she focused, her right hand, unoccupied, drifted up to her chest, beginning to trail one finger in a gentle circle over her emblem in a distracted, unconscious action.

Di eyed the dealer's black suit, not finding his comment towards him the least bit humorous. With a heavy hand and a handful of zenny, Di gave a curt reply. "She's not my date." He picked up the hand of cards on his right and took a glance at it, then looked back over to Lyn as he lightened up. He wasn't trying to be offensive, but a reassuring nod was his only indication that he didn't mind being around the electric Navi. Akua couldn't help but crack up at Di's response.

The aquatic Navi ignored his partner's hysterical laugh as he waited for further instruction from the dealer. The rules might have been posted on the sign next to him, all of which was generally easy to understand, but this was still a new game to Di. He might not be that great at card games, but his poker face isn't all that bad. That didn't mean he'd do well, of course, but it was better than nothing.

"Ready when you are."

The dealer picked up Dee's buy-in with a similar swiftness-- and then snatched up the hand that the navi hadn't picked. He beamed at them as he held up each of his hands in turn-- one for each of the games-- and nodded. "Well then, I believe I will go first." He said cheerily, slipping a pair of cards onto the table.

"Seven of Hearts." was the card he supposedly put down next to Lyntael's deck, a perfect smile spreading across his features as he put it on the table. Perhaps too perfect?

A moment later he turned and put down a card in Dee's game, almost like an afterthought. "Four of Hearts." Saying the card name was the longest part of his move; Dee was pretty sure he hadn't even looked at him.

...So then, what to play against him?

LYNTAEL'S HAND: 10 S, 6 S, 7 S, 10 H, 8 C
Dealer: 4 cards

DEE'S HAND: A H, 2 C, 3 D, 5 S, PIXIE
Dealer: 4 cards

As she examined her own hand, concentrating, tiny sparks danced along the slender lines of her eyebrows, knit tightly. Her eyes jumped back to the rules again and she bit one lip, thinking carefully. It was always her wont to over-examine things like this, and her mind jumped back and forth over possible strategies that her opponent might be using.

She turned her head to glance up to Di, her apparent deep concentration faltering as she broke into a happy smile. Her eyes twinkled slightly.
"It's fun to think about, don't you think? There's so many possibilities for what could be, or isn't, hehe!" Her nose made a cute crinkle as she grinned at him, before her eyes returned to her cards, trying to focus again.

The finger trailing lazily around her emblem began to tap gently instead and she reached a decision. She pulled two cards up, still holding them close in.
"So... If you put Seven of Hearts, then... I could play..." She tentatively slipped one card onto the table, keeping two fingers on it while she called its name.
"Seven of Spades... And then..." She slipped a second card down after it with the same delicate precision. "I can follow with... Six of Spades? Is that right?" She blinked a few times, looking at their dealer and tilting her head, holding her remaining three cards closer to her chest now.

----

Down: 8C, 6S.

Lyntael's Hand: 10H, 7S, 10S.

Di had no reason to think the dealer was lying. It was the first move, after all. Why start out on a lie? He gave the dealer a suspicious look, but played a card down confidently as he declared his move. "Ace of Hearts." Better start out telling the truth before moving on to the gutsy calls.

---

Down: A H

Hand: 2 C, 3 D, 5 S, PIXIE

"An interesting move..." The dealer smirked at Lyntael's play, an awareness glittering in his eyes. His hands flicked to his cards-- "Six of Hearts, Nine of Hearts, Seven of Hearts." One by one, three blue-backed cards laid down upon Lyntael's lie, her move unchallenged.

"And now for you." He put the hand for Lyntael's game down, then turned to her partner across the way. The cardshark flipped the small hand outward like a fan, looking at the "secrets" held inside, and stared Dee down. A moment later his hand plucked three of them from the deck and put them on the table. "Two of Hearts, Four of Hearts, Four of Diamonds."

Down: 6H, 9H, 7H (Current)
LYNTAEL'S HAND: 10S, 7S, 10H
Dealer: 1 card

Down: 2H, 4H, 4D (Current)
DEE'S HAND: 2C, 3D, 5S, PIXIE
Dealer: 1 card

The young girl's eyes flickered over the table as the cards went down, and she silently mouthed what each of them had claimed to be. She grinned at the dealer after he played, and giggled, holding her cards in front of her face impishly.

He'd fibbed, obviously, though whether in the first play, like she had, or in the second, she had no real way of knowing. Her eyes twinkled with an enthusiastic glee anyway though, getting more caught up in the back and forth of the game. Something in her opponent's eye kept her wary, though no sign of such underlying thoughts managed to break through her enthusiasm. Even so... Her own bluff had been as a card from her own hand; there was no honest way he could know she had, and yet... something in his eye stayed with her.

As she glanced down at her own hand again, thinking, her free hand returned to its lazy rubbing at her emblem, tracing slow, delicate circles with a fingertip. Apparently it was something unconscious that happened, whenever she was thinking. Lie or not, there was no sense in attempting to call him on it, not when her next move was simple and honest.

She offered her dealer another impish grin, showing a full set of neat white teeth in her glee, then started to place her cards in response.

"I think I get how this works now, hehe... So..." First card, with two fingers holding it delicately in place as she called. "I follow with Seven of Spades," She couldn't resist a small wink to the dealer here, as her repeat call mirrored his. Without slowing though she placed her second card, sliding it up with the same two fingers and holding it there while she called. "Then Ten of Spades," She put her last card down with the same precision as the first two. "And then Ten of Hearts."

Lyntael giggled and clapped her hands close to her chest, bouncing up and down on her toes for a few moments. On a more endowed young woman, the motion might have provided some eye candy, but skimpy vest or not, Lyntael had precious little to cause any sort of real movement there at all. When she calmed she smiled brightly for the dealer, her eyes dancing.

"Aand I'm out! Is that right?" Sparks danced in her hair again, more visibly jumping from spike to spike, rather than simply running up and down them now, in her glee. She looked over to Di, eager to glance at his hand and see how he was doing, but not daring to in case it wasn't allowed.

----

Down: 7S, 10S, 10H (Current)
Lyntael's Hand: (Out!)

Di kept a stone cold expression on his face. The dealer certainly had a lot of hearts, but the aquatic navi missed that the dealer played the seven of hearts twice. Di was sure he was lying, but he didn't know if he was lying to both of them or not. Since Lyn didn't bring it up, Di would. "I'll call."

----

Move: Call

Hand: 2 C, 3 D, 5 S, PIXIE

"Hm, well played." The dealer nods at Lyntael, smirking. "That's one out of three. If you or your partner win two more together, you both get the chips."

A moment later he snatches up all of Lyntael's cards and shuffles them into a neat little deck, then turns to Di... and flips the last card. It's a 2 of Spades. The dealer then draws three cards, his penalty-- and lays down a single card. "3 of Spades."

Lyntael: WON, waiting on next round...

DOWN: 3S
DEE'S HAND: 2C, 3D, 5S, PIXIE
Dealer: 3 cards

Still bouncing on her toes, Lyntael made a stark contrast to the serious play of her companion, and the cool demeanour of their dealer, both. Her eyes watched the cardsharp shuffle her deck back together as she awaited his next deal, but she was distracted less than a moment or two later, turning her attention to Di.

With a broad grin, she took a step closer, standing slightly behind him now so that she could lean up on her toes and glance at his hand from behind. The action left her body pressed quite firmly against his, but fortunately, high emotion or not, when she was happy at least, it seemed her current behaved itself well enough; all that could be felt was the soft fabric of her vest and skirt, or the warmth of her skin, wherever it touched. Her skin was perhaps notably warmer than one might expect for a non fire-type, but it would be hard to say with any certainty, given how varied individual navis could be from one another.

As she peeked at his hand, she was at least, sensitive enough not to let any sign of anything show through her features, though when her face was mostly lit up in eager joy from her own initial victory, it would be hard to read anything else in her anyway... she kept her silence after looking, continuing to watch on for a few more seconds before dropping back from her toes, and retuning to her own spot in front of the table.

When she looked to the dealer she clapped her hands softly, holding them together in front of her after the second.
"Again! Hehe..." Her voice matched her grin now, sounding vaguely like a small child with candy, and she glanced between him and Di for a second as something more occurred to her. "Or do I have to wait, to keep the rounds even? Sorry."

Di couldn't help but grin at Lyn's first win, her energy rubbing off on him. He moved his hand closer to Lyn so she could see, but made sure it stayed covered from the dealer. Di could feel the heat from her body, and although he was indifferent about her gender, he couldn't help but feel his cheeks blush ever so slightly. He didn't let the moment linger for long before he decided to make his next move. "3 of Diamonds and 7 of Diamonds." Both cards were placed confidently and quick, almost a little too quick. Di was trying to give off the impression he had a good legit move, but he wasn't sure if he came off as too forceful. He wasn't doing too bad so far.

While Di played his card game, Akua couldn't help but roll his eyes at his partner. Here he was playing cards and flirting with a girl, all while denying Akua the chance to get involved. He wanted to speak up in defiance, to get his own word in, but his partner was in a world all his own. For a moment, he felt like Di.

"Play the joker!" Akua had to at least try and insert himself into the game, even though only Di could hear him. "Do it! It's a good move! I bet, at least."

----

Move: 3D, 7D (Actually 2C)

Hand: 5S, PIXIE

"A good lie, sir." The dealer called, nodding. For a moment Dee thought he was going to flip the offending cards over; it seemed like such an obvious move, if he knew.

Then the dealer laid down his last three cards, face up.

5D, 5H, 5C. A perfect trio; no matter what Dee had played, the dealer could have gone out. The only option would've been to use the Pixie... but he had no way to know.

"You did very well for your first time. I simply got lucky with my penalty." The dealer continued, gathering up all the cards. He shuffled Dee's deck and Lyntael's deck separately, cards whizzing through the air as each hand handled a set of 21-- until he started to mess up.

A card here, two cards there, small little mistakes that sent individual or paired cards fumbling to the table, spinning too fast for any of the navis to see. Folloing their descent, however, would reveal an almost startling truth; they were falling perfectly into place as four hands, laid out on the table.

The dealer set down the remaining decks between himself and his opponents, and smiled.

"To answer your question, miss Lyntael, yes, it is to keep the rounds even."

SCORE: Party 1 / Dealer 1
Lyntael: CHOOSE LEFT OR RIGHT
Dee: CHOOSE LEFT OR RIGHT

Lyntael's gleeful smile was displaced for a moment by a small pout as the dealer played out across from her, but it only lasted a moment before being replaced in turn by a furrowed brow and a look of thought as her mind traced back the cards and possibilities. As she pondered, one hand drifted back to her chest, two fingers inscribing a slow circle over her emblem until she sighed and shrugged softly. The hand dropped back to join her other, in front of her on the table while their opponent reclaimed and reshuffled the cards.

Her eyes flickered and blinked as she watched him shuffle, opening wider for a moment as he seemed to lose control of them, only for her to break into a surprised smile as they landed so neatly into freshly dealt hands. She clapped happily again for the trick, giggling, then turned her eyes up to her companion. Her smile was no less bright for Di and she tilted her head slightly.

"You pick first! Maybe you'll get a nice hand this time." She bobbed her head enthusiastically to him as though this somehow reaffirmed things, before turning her attention back to the table. Though her head was tilted down towards the cards, she nonetheless trained her eyes up through her eyelashes, watching the cardsharp; as much as she was enamoured by the skill and flair of his dealing, something about it has still left a small thread of uncertainty in her, which added itself to her earlier caution. It wasn't enough to dampen her eagerness, certainly, but enough to keep her watching closely.

A look of disappointed crossed his face as the owner picked up his cards. Luck just wasn't on his side that game, and Akua reveled in the fact he was right. "Hah! See? I told you to play the joker! Maybe you should keep your eyes off of that girl and starting listening to me!" Di rolled his eyes as he acknowledged the dealer's victory in a brief phrase. It looked like he was giving an attitude towards the dealer, even if he meant his aggravated mood to be directed at his partner. "Good move."

Di watched as the dealer re-dealt the cards, picking up the pile to his left. Even with the pixie last game, it didn't make much of a difference. The aquatic Navi wasn't as good as card games as he though, not that he thought he was great or anything.

Lyn's eyes flicked across to her friend for a second or two, concerned that he wasn't enjoying himself for a moment, but her attention jumped back to the table again as he selected the left hand from the two options in front of him. She moved only a hair after him, reaching out to follow suit, claiming the hand on the left from the two piles before her as well.

Her features calmed back to a soft smile as she examined her cards, moving them around in her hand for a moment before pressing them close to her chest once more, looking up to their dealer.

"So, is it always dealer first? Or is it decided by the round before? Who goes?" She still grinned, but now, rather than bouncing on her toes, she swayed back and forth slightly; a very small motion led with her hips and followed smoothly by her shoulders and head. It seemed every bit as subconscious as any of her other jigging; an incidental affectation of her mood.