Lost in Neon-lit Confusion

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.
(([Checks 'last post by'] [Sees Rogan] "Oh, Omega still hasn't posted"

[3 days later] "Come on, still?" [Clicks thread]

"..."

"..."

"[expletive]"))

He nodded at Dee. "Thank you, sir."

In response to Lyntael's question, he grinned. "It is whoever did not go first in the last round. So, assuming I also win and lose one match in this round, I will go first in the tie breaker." The dealer plucked up his two hands, looked them over, and then set them down. "It is your move first, sir, madam." The dealer nodded to each of them in turn,

DEALER: 5 cards
DEE HAND: 2C, 3S, 5C, PIXIE, 2S

DEALER: 5 cards
LYN HAND: 10H, 6S, 9D, 9H, 10D
Nodding, Lyntael took another peek at her hand, her eyes flicking back and forth between two of them while she rethought her options, now as an opener instead. She bit her lip, the finger tracing her emblem beginning to tap against it gently as she made her decision. At last she seemed to make up her mind and picked a card, slipping it face down onto the table between them.

"Alright. I'll open with ten of hearts, then." She kept two fingers on the card as she spoke, then took them back to hold onto her remaining cards with both hands. Pressing the remaining cards close against her chest again, she leaned up on her toes to steal a peek over at Di's hand quickly, trying to see what he was dealt, though she carefully did her best not to make any sort of reaction that might be visible. Content, she resettled back at her own spot, head tilted down to watch the table-top, though still stealing glances every few moments up through her eyelashes to their dealer.

Pensive for a moment, her mind seems to drift away from the cards a few seconds later, and she glances up across to Di again.

"Hey... Di..." she bit her lip, clearly unsure if she should ask or not, but continued after a moment. "I... can you... tell me a bit more about your operator?" The question seemed strangely out of place, in the middle of their gaming, but the distant set of her eyes revealed that something deeper was on her mind.

----

Down: 6S

Lyntael's Hand: 10H, 9D, 10D, 9H
Di was beginning to get absorbed into the game, but he took notice of Lyn's question as he picked out his move. "You mean Akua? He's okay, I suppose. He likes to drive me crazy by dragging me into things I don't necessarily want to do, but that's just part of being partners. He can be pretty immature, but he's got a good heart. It doesn't excuse him from doing whatever he wants though. The kid has a lot of growing up to do, that's for sure." He grabbed his card and put it facedown on the table confidently, looking at the dealer's eyes as he did. "Ace of Spades"

----

Move: AS (Actually the PIXIE)

Hand: 2C, 3S, 5C, 2S
"Hmm..." The dealer thought for a moment after Lyn's move, grabbed two cards-- and then hesitated. His hand shifted back, away from the cards his other held, and then reached back in and grabbed three cards. "Ten of Clubs, Eight of Clubs, Seven of Clubs." He called, putting three cards down.

DOWN: 10C, 8C, 7C
DEALER: 2 cards
LYN HAND: 10H, 9D, 9H, 10D

He turned to Dee at that, pondering over the navi's starting move-- and then laid down a single card. "Ace of Clubs." With that done, he sorted both of his hands back into neat little stacks, then set them down next to him. Their move, again.

Down: AC
DEALER: 4 cards
DEE HAND: 2C, 3S, 5C, 2S
"Partner..." Again, the young girl's thoughts seemed to linger over the choice of words as she watched the dealer respond. Her eyes still flicked back and forth between the table and her cards, but the rest of her expression had softened to something more thoughtful and it was hard to tell how much she was really concentrating on the game now.

"I don't think Rogan would ever call me that..." She glanced up to Di again, her smile returning, though now it was soft and small, much changed from the bright enthusiasm she'd borne before her thoughts drifted. "It's funny, you know. The way you talk, the way I've seen you interact with him... It sounds more like you take care of him, rather than the other way around. I always just assumed that..." she lapsed into quiet again, but only for a moment, though now her eyes dropped again and she looked back to the cards. "I'm not sure... it's hard to find the words." she fell silent and refocussed her attention on the cards, tapping lightly on her emblem with one finger as she planned. She swayed back and forth, wavering between two ideas, then blinked suddenly, as though coming to a realisation. Her grin crept back into one corner of her mouth and she met the dealer's eyes with a slight twinkle.

"You said, ten, eight, and seven, all of clubs, yes? Ok, then I'll play..." She selected her cards, slipping them down onto the table neatly and holding two fingers on each as she named it, as before.

"Ten of Clubs," she watched him for an extra second or two through her lashes as she placed this one, her grin showing her teeth. "Then ten of Diamonds, and lastly, Nine of Diamonds."

Cards down, she stood back again, pressing her remaining card to her chest with one hand while her other trailed back and forth along her edge of the table. After a moment she turned to look to Di again.

"I guess... what I mean is... I've not seen a lot of the world, but I suppose, I always felt like we were the ones who needed taking care of, not our operators. I feel like Rogan needs me for something, but, I don't know why, because he doesn't really need me at all. It's strange." she shook her head then looked back to the table.

----

Down: 10H, 10D, 9D

Lyn's Hand: 9H
"Heh." Di couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at Lyn's remark. "Akua would be helplessly lost without me. To be honest, I wish he'd show a little more effort and act like he cares instead of coasting along on my hard work."

"Hey! I do stuff too, you know. It's not like I'd die if you weren't around! I'm 18 for crying out loud!"

Di ignored his partner as he tried to correct himself to Lyn, placing his hand face down as he focused more on the conversation at hand instead of the game. "Whether he shows it or not, Rogan needs you, I'm sure of it. He takes care of you, sure, but you also do things that he can't do on his own. For instance, he can't travel the Net like you, can't physically interact with this world like you, and I'm sure he can't use his battle cards without you. You're useful to him whether he shows it or not, so cheer up." With kind words passed, Di quickly took a look at his hand, knowing what his move would be. He laid down three cards.

"5 of Clubs, 2 of Clubs, 2 of Spades"

---

Move: 5C, 2C, 2S
Hand: 3S