PM to join [Spinning Coin] At a Card Table (Sigriet)

[Wade]

Wade struggled mightily to hide his smile as he looked at his cards. It had been difficult to not let the mischievous pleasure show on his face when he dealt the loaded deck to his two opponents, seated on his left and right, and his rogue ally. The first dud had gone to the gentleman on his left, the second, higher card had gone to Sigriet and it followed the pattern so that he and Sigriet were far in the lead unless one of these gentlemen was oozing luck out of every pore.

He had to look at his cards three times before he managed to commit them to memory as he was still unable to slyly glance at them to memorize them like a pro. The Page of Swords and Ten of Spears brought excitement bubbling through Wade's stomach. He flicked his eyes back and forth to see if either of the gentlemen had caught the instantaneous flashing of his teeth but he could not tell as they seemed bogged down by the sad reveal of their own hands.

Wade cockily pushed forward a silver miza, determined to make something out of this hand. "I'll ante at a silver, if anyone would care to join me." He tried to slide it forward with a cool swagger but he sent it flicking towards one of the two men, who casually pushed it forward to the center. They looked at each other across the table and marveled at the novice sitting beside them.

The man on Wade's left entered the bet. Wade crossed his arms and tried to appear as disinterested at that turn of events as humanly possible. He stared across at Sigriet, trying to gauge whether he had the hand to beat her as well. He was also looking to see if she brought out the palming trick so that if he tried it again he would have much more success.

[Sigriet]

Sigriet merely nodded as she glanced at her cards. It was rather difficult to remain nonchalant when she saw what she had been dealt, but she managed not to grin or otherwise announce that she'd been given a very promising hand. She was quite proud of Wade for managing to stack the deck correctly; it seemed as though he was a quick learner. She glanced at their opponents, trying to ague their expressions at what they'd been dealt; though inebriated, it seemed as though the pair had played at least a few times before, as it was not easy to read them. Or maybe they were just drunk enough to make reading them difficult. She wasn't sure. She did hope that neither of their opponents were the sort that simply dripped good luck and fortune; if they didn't, she was rather certain that she and hopefully her ally would emerge victorious.

The Tree of Shields and Ten of Arrows had promised her luck and possible fortune. She watched Wade and one of their opponents wager a silver miza and she nodded again, "I'm in, too." She stated, feigning a yawn.

Waiting until the two men looked at Wade in shock, she leaned forward with her own silver miza held loosely between two fingers as she glanced at her cards again, palming the Ten of Arrows. moving her hand toward the cards and ante pile, she would possition her forearm so that, as she dropped her own silver miza on the ante pile, she would pull the Queen of Spears toward herself and leave the Ten of Arrows in its place.

The switch would be quite fast and if her trick had been successful, once she leaned back again, she'd have placed the Queen of Spears beside her Tree of Shields, creating an exceptionally promising hand. Once the maneuver was complete, she would lean back in her chair and yawn, doing her best to appear nonchalant and somewhat tired as she waved the waitress over, instructing the girl to see if their "friends" might like something to drink. If she could just keep their opponents drunk enough, she hoped that neither of them would catch on to the ruse that she and Wade were running.

Once the palm-and-exchange trick was complete and she'd finished conversing with the waitress, she glanced in Wade's direction again, wondering if he'd seen what she'd pulled. It wasn't quite as easy as loading the deck and timing was everything, but it really wasn't too hard to pull off. So long as one's opponents weren't all that observant.

[Wade]

Wade cocked his head as he stared as Sigriet's hand. Something was amiss. He licked his lips and his eyebrows lowered in confusion. Both of the men gave him looks as they waited expectantly for him to flip the first three cards. Wade ignored them and worked his jaw as he tried to figure it out. He absentmindedly flipped the first three cards before him, one hand pausing on the forth before one of the men hissed to warn him.

A Queen of Swords, followed by the Three of Shields, and finally the Page of Spears revealed themselves. Wade cut the string holding his gaze in place and focused on the cards before his staring got too weird. He wondered if the men were wondering if he had some sort of see-through vision that could tell what the cards were. The expressions on their faces certainly indicated such.

Wade chuckled and slid another coin forward. "I'm in," he stated. He ignored the men at his sides and focused on the only opponent left at the table; Sigriet. He now had a pair of pages, but he knew that she might have something better. He figured if he puffed his chest out and acted with the cool ease of a man secure in victory he might intimidate her into folding if she did. And if her hand was worse, then he would win either way. The pleasurable tremble from his trick still going unnoticed, though, caused his wide smile to be totally real.

The edges fell suddenly when he realized what was amiss. Her cards, one of which had borne a bend so that it curved upward in the middle while it sat on the table, were now both perfectly straight. Wade wasn't sure why he knew this, as he had not been carefully tracking the movements of her cards as he had planned. He had been too concerned with looking nonchalant despite the pleasure of his trick. Wade frowned as he realized that he must have missed the palming trick.

He realized, too, that every silver miza he pushed forward was going to be lost.

[Sigriet]

Sigriet feigned a yawn as she waited for the cards to be flipped. She knew it had been risky to just switch cards so early on in the game, but she had hoped that she hadn't been caught. It seemed as though she wasn't; which was a good thing, as far as she was concerned. She would have to do the palm-and-switch trick again later in the game, if luck continued to smile on her. She had to bite back a grin as she waited for the cards to be flipped: she was quite pleased that her ruse didn't seem to have been noticed. Regardless of how many times she cheated at a table, it was always a relief when something like that went unnoticed by the people that she intended to take out. However, it would have been rather foolish to completely ignore the way that the other two men were playing. It was impossible to tell if their current state of inebriation was a ruse in and of itself, or if either of them had a trick up their sleeve.

She looked at the cards that had been flipped over and had to bite back a grin. She had a pair of Queens, which was a great way to start. "I am, too," She replied, pushing another coin into the ante pile and glancing at everyone at the table. It was doubtful that either of their opponents had better hands than either she or Wade did, unless one of them was best friends with Ovek. She knew that it was quite possible that Wade had a better hand than she did, but it was a hard call, as his cocky posture may have easily been a bluff as well. The only way to tell would be to play and unless the tables turned, she would not fold until she was satisfied with her winnings.

Sigriet sat back yet again and would try her best to seem completely bored, not wanting to alert their opponents to her hand being a pretty good one. As long as those two could be kept relaxed and hopefully thinking that she and Wade were either novices or bluffers, it shouldn't be hard at all to take them for a ride. The only flaw at the time was that both of her cards were perfectly straight and if she tried to bend one before her turn came up again, that would certainly draw unwanted attention. It would be difficult not to end up getting too cocky, but she'd try not to and would try to take their opponents for a very long ride that would hopefully land both of them broke and too drunk to realize it before the night was over.

Things were just starting to get interesting.

((Her cheating doesn't always have to go unnoticed or mostly unnoticed. Just thought I'd let ya know.))

[Wade]

Everyone was in for another round. Both of the men were either simpletons or daredevils to still be in with the obviously horrible hands they had been dealt. Sigriet seemed to be calm, businesslike; a coyote circling the coupe as she waited for more and more chicks to hatch. The next cards, the Two of Spears, offered nothing at all besides providing the weakest of pairs.

Wade sent a hand across his forehead. It was shaking somewhat as his nervousness mounted. He grabbed the edges of the table to force them to remain steady. He wasn't sure what that would indicate to his opponents but he did not want to take any more chances than he already was. His foot started absentmindedly tapping against the floor. His back was straight and rigid as he stared down at the two facedown cards before him that were everything he was putting his faith into.

For some reason, Wade had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had a pair of pages and, last round, he had felt pretty good about them. Now, though, he felt like he was in over his head. His two valiant pages spoke confident words into his ears but they could not steady his courage. He looked about as he sought a way out of his predicament. He felt like he was now the rabbit he had hunted yesterday, a hunter's arrow trained upon him.

Wade wanted to just spring away from the table and away from this predicament.

Wade slammed his fists upon the table. The two strangers, startled, looked at him and demanded the cause. Their eyebrows were raised expectantly and lines of anger appeared on their foreheads. Wade waved his arms dramatically. "I can't do it!" he shouted.

He reached forward and flipped his cards over, revealing his promising hand. "The rouge woman before you has taken me captive and told me to stack the deck to swindle you good men!" Wade's eyes were wide as the gentlemen's own. Tables near Wade were staring at him. Wade forced one more sentence past the lump of fear in his throat as he considered Sigriet's vengeful dagger. "I... I won't do it!"

He turned and, thinking to take advantage of the gentlemen being stunned by his statements, tried to run out between the tables and out the door before the rogue could get to him. If he made it out the door and into the patrols of the Knights, then he would be safe.

OOCNotice this!

[Sigriet]

A gambler and risk-taker at heart, Sigriet was in her element as everyone was willing to go in for another round. It was becoming increasingly difficult not to grin and laugh; she was thouroughly enjoying herself as the two men let their cockiness or perhaps drunkenness show. Remaining calm and businesslike was hard; she might as well have been a cat that had gotten into the cream without notice; so easy was it to fool these two! She simply shrugged as the Two of Spears was flipped over. At best, it might have offered one of the other two what they hoped to be a fighting chance.

However, Wade's sudden nervousness had not gone without notice: as calm as the two drunks seemed to be, he appeared to be downright fearful; a mouse staring directly into a fox's waiting maw. Sigriet's back straightened and she cocked her head, the boredom in her expression being replaced by something more akin to wariness. When he punched the table and startled the other two, her free hand strayed toward her belt as that wariness became predatory anger. "I can't believe this!" She yelled in response to his proclamation. It seemed as though her luck had run out as he flipped his cards and told the strangers that she'd taken him captive!

She flung her own cards across the table, not caring whether they ended up face-up or face down as she slammed her chair back, her lips curling into a sneer. "How could you possibly believe I could take anyone captive, or make them do something against their will?!" Her voice cracked with disbelief, "I had no idea that he stacked the deck, or that he planned to frame me!" She yelled the last part as she rose to her feet and turned toward the door. "He's nothing but a filthy cheater, trying to take us for a ride!" Sigriet was trying to get their suspicion off of her and possibly incite them as well. "And a coward as well!"

With those words, she would turn and follow after Wade, but not before snagging "her" share of winnings off the table: exactly half of what had been wagered so far. She stuffed the coins into her pouch as she darted off, weaving between tables and ducking around milling people, trying to follow Wade out the door before he managed to reach safety. She planned to show him what a mistake it was to get on her bad side- and she could only hope that at least the men who had been at their table had believed her. Sigriet would not forgive Wade for his sudden cowardice. Only if fortune favored her would she be able to catch him, rather than running into the Knights.

((Haha! XD And ugh, pretty bad post, but I'm exhausted right now and should head to bed.))

[Wade]

Wade moved with all the speed he could muster without braining himself against someone's chair as they pulled out in front of him. He weaved through, squeezing through spaces he didn't know he could speed though, as he sought to put distance between himself and the rogue. More than that, though, if the men at the table cared to report them and knew descriptions pretty well he might not escape retribution. He had heard Sigriet throwing the blame back on him and did not know who the gentlemen would believe.

Wade saw the door before him, a portal to the darkness of the outside world. Generally he saw a door of light as the safe haven. When he wandered into town after a long day of hunting, the sun already below the horizon, the tavern's bright, warm glow shining through its door frame always beckoned him in and promised relief. Now it was the darkness of the outside world that promised protection for him and a secret cloak to conceal his escape to his room.

He reached it and turned about as a thought struck him. He scanned the room for Sigriet. If the vengeful rogue was only a step behind he might find a dagger in his back before he found some Syliran Knights to protect him. Sure, the rogue would get justice, but that would be little in the way of comfort to his dead body. All that moaning about what he was going to do with his life was about to be cut short by one angry gambler.

He spotted the woman moving toward him through the bustle. She had a vengeful look in her eyes and she hardly looked away from him, only doing so when she was surprised by a patron standing up suddenly next to her. A chill of fear crept up Wade's spine as it feared a dagger slicing into it. Wade set his teeth and hesitated in the doorway.

Wade quickly swept out the door and into the night, keeping close to the wall of the Spinning Coin. If he had to face her vengeance, he would do so after finding a patrol of knights to keep him safe.