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

[Wade]

As she leaned across the table a chill crept up and down Wade's spine. It forced him to straighten up in an odd, jerky way and he tried to fall back as she berated him. Unfortunately, all he could do was grind his back into the back of his chair. The woman no longer seemed a pretty girl who could or could not be new to gambling, but rather a cold and ruthless woman who was ready to back up any threats. He noticed her scars for the first time as she smiled evilly at him.

Wade briefly considering trying to bluff his way out of the situation. If he professed his innocence loudly enough, he might get the staff on his side. Then again, she might pull a knife gut him before any help arrived. Even if help did come in time they would surely find the card under his chair and rapidly switch sides. No one took kindly to anyone who cheated at the card table.

Wade spotted no escape from the situation. So instead, broke eye contact with the dark-eyed, dangerous rogue and shoved his two cards forward. "Well, shyke!" he said. He reached down and picked up the card before throwing it, too, onto the table. "That teaches me to even the odds, eh?" He crossed his arms over his chest and lounged back in his chair. He suppressed his fear as best he could and put on a nonchalant attitude.

His left hand, crossed over his chest, was as close to the knife in his belt as it could be without outright grabbing it. Wade was sure that if the woman came on he would be able to hold his own. She spoke tough and her demeanor was now threatening but Wade was bigger and stronger. He took comfort in that fact as he met Sigriet's gaze. Then, oddly, he noticed that she was grinning somewhat and her expression was a little softer.

Puzzled, Wade could only wait for her response at this point or try to make a break for the door. He didn't feel like forcing through the bustle with a knife at his back or make it out into the darkness only to have her ambush him outside.

He was actually a little relieved that he had tried the trick so early, now that she had revealed her ruthless nature. If he hadn't he might have found his coin pouch very light by the time he got out of there. Judging the disregard she showed his little trick, she probably had an arsenal that could last the rest of the evening without Wade noticing a thing. He leaned his head to one side as he silently reassessed the woman and tried to figure out what she would do next.

[Sigriet]

That twisted, cruel smile only grew broader as he moved jerkily to sit upright. Her eyes twinkling with a desire for malicious mischief, she reached under the table with her left arm, her fingers brushing against the double-bladed dagger at her hip. Sigriet wasn't above trying to intimidate others, nor was she above backing up her threats with actions. If a member of the staff was drawn to their table, she was certain that she would not be punished or otherwise thrown out, not when they'd discover that he'd tried to cheat her (even if she'd been planning on laying a few traps and playing a few tricks of her own soon enough.) If he had tried to escape, she would have had no qualms whatsoever about drawing her blade and 'detaining' him for a while.

"I would petching hope you'll learn something from this." Her statement was unconcerned, even a bit bored as his cards hit the table. Sigriet was confident that if he reacted like a few would-be rakes had in the past and attacked out of fear or because they didn't like being cowed by a short, slight woman, she'd be able to hold her own against him. He was taller and doubtlessly stronger than she was, but she was quick and agile. If their exchange came to blows, it would be interesting to see who would end up victorious. However, he didn't lunge from the table with bluster and ego, nor did he roar insults to try to goad her into attacking first; unless another unforgiveable wrong move was made, she would try her best to keep her temper under control. With her right hand, she shoved his ante pile back toward him and collected her own. "Call it a draw. Warm-up's over."

Sigriet then stacked the fairly scattered deck into a pile and leaned even further across the table; such a maneuver would not have drawn any of the staff's attention, as it wasn't uncommon for people at the tables to try and discuss strategy with their friends. With her proposition, it only made sense not to draw needless attention to their table. "I don't know why you tried to pull such a stupid trick and I don't expect you to tell me why, either. Mistakes like that are stupid and sloppy. Now... either we can forget about it and start the game over, or I can teach you a few ways to make yourself a little richer when you're playing." She left the offer purposefully ambiguous, just to see what he might be able to read into it.

Sigriet leaned back a bit further, long enough to gesture for one of the serving wenches. A rather pretty, nervous-looking girl approached and tried to engage her in small-talk; which she waved off as she placed an order for a pitcher of the cheapest rotgut the bar had, then instructed the girl to bring her 'friend' whatever it was that he might want.

She was somewhat glad that he'd tried to con her before they were in the middle of a serious game. Had he waited to pull the same trick when the stakes were higher, she would not have relented at simple threats. Sigriet just thought it was a shame that she hadn't had enough time to play a few of her own tricks beforehand. She arched an eyebrow as she impatiently waited for her pitcher to arrive and to see what he might have made of her offer. If nothing else, by the time the evening was over, she'd at least have a few interesting stories to tell, no matter what happened.

[Wade]

Wade shook his head as the waitress asked if he wanted something to drink. His throat was dry but he did not feel as if he would enjoy a drink, no matter its strength, in the situation he had now put himself in. No use paying for something just to wet his throat. The woman disappeared into the crowd after her drink and Wade found himself envious of her ability to walk away from this accursed table and the dangerous Sigriet sitting across from him.

The knot in Wade's stomach loosened somewhat as he considered the woman's offer. She seemed to be offering him the chance to learn a few tricks to cheating at cards. It was a strange proposition and Wade wasn't sure that it didn't have some strings attached. He couldn't decide what she would gain from teaching someone that had failed to cheat her how to cheat better! Most of the people he knew would have not tolerated such a thing and, if he was lucky, he would have gotten a tongue lashing and maybe reported to the guard. This woman, this rogue, was different from everyone Wade knew though and had different, strange motives.

Wade decided that the offer was probably his best way out of the tense situation. Strings be damned. If he refused her rather generous offer he might enrage the rogue and find his life shortened considerably. He only hoped that whatever hi-jinks the woman planned would not get him in too much trouble. Besides, he still felt a little bit of the thrill of his adrenaline pumping when he had poorly swapped out the cards. If the woman's offer was actually meant to be kind then he might end up having quite a bit of fun before the night was over.

Wade cocked his head to one side and regarded the woman, trying to decide if the offer was kind or if she was trying to find herself a scapegoat. He cleared his throat before answering. "Why do you want to teach me your tricks?" he decided to ask. He fingered the dagger on his belt with the hand closes to it, his arms still casually crossed over his chest. "You saw how pitiful my attempt at cheating was, I think that I might just be hopeless."

On an impulse, he decided to add a little more. "Though I am interested in learning how to improve."

[Sigriet]

Sigriet shrugged, hoping that the waitress wouldn't take too long to return. She was sure that she'd be able to enjoy the swill that she'd ordered, so long as it was as bitter as the waitress had promised. There was always the possibility in such a place that the waitresses were trained to promise whatever they were asked for; but so long as the girl didn't return with wine or something that was either sweet or extremely weak, Sig wouldn't care enough to berate the girl when she returned.

She had indeed just offered Wade the opportunity to learn how to cheat at cards; perhaps even dice too, depending on how quick a learner he was. There were strings attached of course: Sigriet rarely ever did anything just to be kind and certainly would not have made such a proposition if she didn't think she would gain something from it. Her motives were strange, perhaps a bit different than what most swindlers' motives would have been, but the number one reason for such an offer was that she was simply trying to find a way to entertain herself. If everything went as she hoped it would, she'd end up wealthier by the end of the night and she'd have a scapegoat if something ended up going wrong. Of course, she hoped to make sure that the night was fun for both of them if her offer was accepted; that much she could try. Plus, she couldn't stand to watch someone cheat so poorly and seemingly without a clue. Inexperienced cheaters usually ended up destitute and with their lives being cut drastically short.

Not that she had managed to become an expert con-artist, at least not yet. She knew a handful or two of tricks that she used with confidence, whenever the opportunity to use them arose. While most of her facial scars came from failing to pay the gambling debts that she had accrued and continued to rack up, some of them had come from bungling a few attempts to cheat at one game or another when she'd been younger. Reporting someone to the guards for cheating was something that she wouldn't do, not unless she had actually ended up falling for whatever tricks might be sprung on her and she ended up with a lightened coin purse. Sigriet was an impulsive and mercurial woman, but that didn't make her stupid: if he had chosen to report her to the guards for offering to teach him how to cheat, she would have done her best to find a way and turn the tables on him.

The shenanigans that Sigriet was planning weren't the kind that she would have got up to on her own: while there would most likely be some risk involved, she didn't believe the stakes were all that high, or the danger. It would be something of a warm-up exercise to swindle a few wealthy-looking drunks. There were several factors that would determine if that would be the only con she ran that night or not: namely, how wealthy and inebriated said drunks would be when it was time to really start playing.

She glanced about for the waitress and sighed, not yet seeing the girl, before deciding to answer. "Easy. I'm bored. Yes, your attempt was lousy, but who knows? You might just end up pulling one over on some moron tonight. You might just be right about being hopeless, but if you don't try, you'll never know." Her fingers closed around the hilt of her double-bladed dagger as she rested her chin in her free hand, trying to appear nonchalant. Depending on how he reacted to what she said, she'd at least teach him the very basics, such as stacking the deck and palming cards.

[Wade]

Wade leaned back further in his chair, taking the first two legs off of the ground as he did so. "Well, it seems I'm trapped and don't have much choice," he stated, his tone even. "I might as well try to educate myself. It might even be fun." He watched Sigriet as she casually stared him down. He couldn't decide if she was trying to be friendly or threatening at this point.

Wade had already decided that rogues were a dangerous sort. They had a reputation for smiling in your face and being very polite, but turning about and planting a knife right between a man's shoulder blades when no one was looking. They often didn't have morals, as his father had told him, and would gladly swindle you out of a hard day's work just so that they could sit back and enjoy life.

He partially regretted throwing his lot in with that sort when he'd decided to cheat on that rather fateful hand of cards. It was a dismal hand, to be sure, but an honest man would have just taken his licks and looked for fortune to turn her radiant smile back upon him. Wade had been struck with the childish desire to seek some fun and cash without thinking of what it might cost the other person. Though now, to be honest, he not really concerned with what Sigriet would have lost but rather how badly he was going to be punished for his transgression.

Wade wondered if he had the nimble feet to be able to outmaneuver Sigriet whenever the time came to ditch the scapegoat. If he was smart enough and played his cards rightHeh heh then he might be able to make it through the night without the rogue's dagger in his back and with some money still in his coin pouch. The woman seemed far more experienced than he at getting out of sticky situations but the scars on her face might be telling a story of times when she failed to be smooth enough to escape retribution.

If Wade could just outsmart her when the time came, he would have the fortunate bonus of being taught the ways of cheating at cards for free. He could only imagine the fun he could have with the skills of a con-man at his disposal. Even till that critical moment came, Wade knew he was going to have a rather exciting night. One more thing that people always said about the life of a scoundrel; it was full of excitement.

[Sigriet]

Sigriet's attention was drawn elsewhere as her rotgut finally arrived. She paid the waitress and finally permitted to a bit of small-talk, which revolved around listening to the waitress explain that she'd seen a few crowded tables where the patrons seemed to be having extraordinary luck. Whether she was telling the truth or not, it was just part of her job to try and talk about games that she might or might not know anything about, in order to keep peoples' interest from waning. And of course, she had to try and advertise over-priced "drink specials." Sigriet listened to her ramble on impatiently, finally paying her before waving her away again.

She snorted and shook her head at Wade's acceptance of her offer. You're wrong, there's always a way out of everything. However, she wasn't about to inform him that there was usually an escape to most situations. She might have been bored enough to take the chance to offer to teach him a few basic card tricks, but she didn't intend to teach anything else. "Trapped?" Sigriet repeated, feigning indigence. She wasn't consciously trying to be intimidating as she continued to stare him down- at least not that time around. "Nah, you're not trapped." Not yet. She didn't comment on his having no choice: as far as she was concerned, there were always choices in every situation, even if they weren't always apparent.

Sigriet couldn't understand the way that more upstanding and morally sound people thought. She found them to be rigid and closed-minded for the most part, not usually willing to try something "fun" or "exciting." They clung to their moral codes far too tightly and would run to alert the guards or even worse if they thought it was the "right" thing to do to roguish sorts.

She didn't regret her actions and words at all: if luck was on her side, she would continue to turn the tables in her favor that night. She had been looking for an honest person to swindle out of their wealth and didn't care whatsoever if she would have robbed some poor fool out of everything they had, so long as she ended up a bit more wealthy by the end of the night. Sigriet wanted to have fun and regardless of how she found that "fun," it would be hers for the taking as well.

Sigriet wondered if Wade was more cunning and devious as he seemed: while she would teach him how to stack the deck and perhaps even the old card-palming trick, she was only going to show him the very basics. If everything went the way she planned, she'd end up blameless; perhaps even unnoticed. She wasn't going to reveal her hand until the right time came; keep her new scapegoat and whoever they ended up playing with in the dark until it was time to strike. Should luck and fortune smile on her, she would thoroughly enjoy the rest of the night and would have plenty of winnings to show for it.

After taking a long swallow of her rotgut, Sigriet picked up the cards and began separating them into two piles: high cards at her left hand and low at her right. Once they were separated, she would slowly begin to shuffle the cards, so that the high and low would be alternated through the deck in her favor. It was a very simple maneuver that could have been completed far quicker, but she figured some explanation was in order, rather than just showing him how it was done. "When you're stacking cards, you've got to think about how many people you're playing with and how you're going to deal. Since it's just us, it's simple: make sure you end up with the high cards and your opponent gets the low. It doesn't really matter what hits the table, because you will always have decent cards in your hand. Don't let anyone else cut or deal once you've stacked the cards, just deal them."

She would then deal two hands, making sure to alternate the cards: he got the first, she got the second, the third went to him and she took the fourth. As it was only meant as a demonstration, she wouldn't complete the spread and would flip both of her cards over, revealing a Knight of Arrows and a Nine of Spears. While it wasn't a hand that would win immediately, it wasn't bad, either and might have provided an advantage in a real game. "Look at what I just gave you, then it's your turn to try."

[Wade]

Sigriet waved the waitress away but Wade grabbed her gently on the elbow as she passed him by. He smiled at her kindly. "I'm sorry for not asking for one earlier, but my throat just went dry. Could you get me a simple cheap ale please?" He was feeling more comfortable by the second and he figured if he was going for a ride, he would ride drunk. The waitress momentarily tried to convince him to get something more expensive but he politely declined, complaining of a light wallet.

Wade listened intently to her explanation of what she was doing. For some reason, she thought that if she stacked the cards in a certain way, she would end up with much more promising hands. She had all the high cards on one side and all the low on the other, but when she shuffled they were mixed up as always. He shook his head as she alternatively gave them both cards.

She flipped her cards, revealing a decently promising hand. He did the same, but found that he had the Three of Swords and Five of Spears. That was a dismal hand that would only bear fruit if no one at the table had even a smidgen of luck. Her trick at alternating the cards had evidently paid dividends. If every second card was of the more valuable and she dealt to herself second, then she would have the stronger hand. Her instruction about stacking the cards differently depending on the number of people started to make sense to him; you would make three piles and make sure every third card was the valuable one if you were playing against two people.

Wade nodded when she told him to try. He picked up the cards and separated them into two piles depending on their value. However, when it came to shuffling he was still not competent enough to bridge. He clumsily shuffled, carefully trying to make sure he cut the deck evenly. He passed out the cards, the first going to Sigriet as he had planned.

Wade flipped his cards, the Queen and the Page of Spears smiling up at him. He smiled at the rather lucky hand. He realized that it was rather lucky, but luck was a little pushed in his favor thanks to the scoundrel woman's trick. He looked across the table to see if his hand would have beaten Sigriet's new hand.

[Sigriet]

Sigriet was actually beginning to enjoy herself as she started teaching him how to stack the deck; her posture was no longer as tense as it had been and she'd gone so far as to release her double-bladed dagger's hilt. She was still fairly cautious, but she wasn't going to lunge across the table and punch him in the face if he didn't get the trick right on the very first try, even if she wasn't the most natural teacher or most patient person.

She nodded when he flipped his cards, revealing an extremely poor hand. No matter what the odds might have been, it would have been next to impossible to win with it, unless he was incredibly talented when it came to bluffing. "If you let someone else cut and deal after you've stacked the deck, everything you've done will be in vain; if they don't re-shuffle, they'll end up dealing the high cards to themselves." Sigriet didn't know how else to explain the dangers of handing a stacked deck to someone else-- unless one had partnered up with another con in an attempt to run a more complicated ruse.

She tilted her head and watched as he separated the cards the same way that she had, cutting them rather evenly and shuffling in a clumsy manner. She wasn't going to teach him how to shuffle better: as long as he didn't manage to have cards fall when he shuffled like that, she thought he might have had an edge over more skilled gamblers, since it made him seem to be very much a beginner.

Sigriet flipped her cards, a One of Arrows and Three of Shields forming one of the most terrible hands she had ever seen. During an actual game, the only way she could have turned the tables would have been if she'd been playing with a bunch of drunks she could have bluffed into believing her hand was exceptional. She looked across the table to see what Wade had and grinned; he had stacked the deck well, his hand was a very good one, extremely promising and easy to play.

"Depending on how much I wagered, you could have left me destitute," She stated, humor coloring her voice. "Even when you're stacking the cards, you want to watch the people you're playin' against. If you think they'll gut you, don't try to trap them, just play." She couldn't think of a better warning to give him: she'd learned the hard way to watch her opponents. One careless move against someone larger, stronger and angrier could end up being quite dangerous and painful; especially if they were with friends, or got a staff member involved.

"Unless you wanna try one more time, to figure out how you'd stack and deal if there were more people to play against, the other thing I want to show ya is how to pull that trick you tried against me, but the right way."

[Wade]

The dangerous scoundrel's posture was beginning to relax. Wade felt some of the nervous energy seep out of him even as some of the remaining tension faded from the air. Sigriet had once again put on her rather convincing friendly face, though Wade knew now that he couldn't be sure if her expressions were genuine. Still, he felt himself growing more at ease as she gave him a helpful warning and offered to teach him out to do the card trick he had failed so miserably at earlier.

Wade smiled and nodded. He was eager to learn how to correctly stack his hand in the middle of a game. It seemed like such a fun and useful trick. "I'd like to learn how to do that trick I-"

Wade paused midsentence as two men walked up to their table. They greeted Sigriet and Wade rather boisterously and sat down, intent on playing cards. Wade shot Sigriet a glance and, seeing no way to really turn them away politely, accepted their offer of a game. They both smiled at him and took big gulps of their drinks as they cracked their knuckles and laughed at private jokes. Wade smiled back and wondered if Sigriet would be able to show him the card trick while in the middle of a game.

They asked what game that Wade wanted to play and he paused a moment. "Stammer and Blush, if you please?" He picked up the deck, which was still mixed in the proper order as before, and began to clumsily shuffle them. He tried to look nonchalant as he did so but he always made sure that he separated an even number of cards so that the deck would still be stacked in his, and also Sigriet's, favor.

The two gentlemen looked as if they'd had quite a bit to drink. Perhaps their heads weren't on straight as they allowed Wade to cut the deck and deal. Then again, maybe they saw how thick his fingers seemed on the cards and figured that this was a novice who didn't know any tricks. Either way, Wade was feeling a surge of excitement up his spine as the trick that Sigriet just showed him was being put to use.

[Sigriet]

Sigriet was actually beginning to enjoy herself; there was a gleam of mischief in her eyes that hadn't been there previously, her smile was genuine this time around and the rake actually grinned at Wade's enthusiasm to learn how to palm cards. While she wasn't the best or most patient teacher, she would do her best to instruct him in that particular trick; it was a fun maneuver when pulled off correctly and she didn't see the harm in it at all. "It's a little bit harder than st-"

She cut herself off as the two rather drunk men approached their table, speaking boisterously and cracking private jokes. Sigriet glanced over at Wade and shrugged, not even having the time to gesture at the empty chairs before the new pair were already seated. Drunk and cocky. Might be just what we need! It was very easy to tell that the newcomers were drunk; they reeked of alcohol, were in extremely high spirits and slurring their words a bit. Her smile became somewhat predatory at the thought of potentially easy targets as the pair began conversing with Wade.

"We were just warming up. Lucky that ya caught us before we started!" She hoped that she sounded welcoming as she addressed them, tilting her head a bit and trying to engage them in small-talk while Wade shuffled. While she was disinterested in their haphazard and sometimes downright clumsy and strange attempts to converse with her, she wanted to at least try to keep their attention on her while Wade stacked the deck and dealt. Sigriet was relieved that they did not seem suspicious; either they were too inebriated to care, perhaps they thought they'd found an easy win, or both?

She was quite interested to see how their new opponents would play while drunk. With luck, she'd be able to play and palm cards without rousing their suspicion; she'd just have to be cautious and try not to get cocky in the process. That would probably end up being the difficult part; not ending up too confident.