The Way of a Gambler (Open)

[Lillianne Crasse]

Placing her arm on top of his, she looked to him and smiled. At least he was being a gentleman, she thought.

"Adèle," she offered and turned her face forward again. Raising her hand, she pointed him in the direction of one of the VIP rooms, private at that.

 

[SophiaM]

A private room? She's well connected then. He thought to himself as they made themselves comfortable on the plush sofa that ran along one wall of the room. Drinks would be brought to them as they sat together in the almost romantically lit suite.

So, how long have you been on board Adele? The luck-jobs in the casino seem to know you quite well, not that they wanted to make a show of it though.

He sat slightly twisted so that he was both facing the door and looking directly at her. A wry smile creeping accross his lips.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

She didn't seem to be shaken at his observation. It was her duty to appear frequently, yet many saw her at the tables and just considered her a permanent fixture like a few other gamblers, going out of their way to play the game.

"When you win a lot of money, the casino likes to keep you around. They call it 'good business'. Make the customer feel happy and important, and one day you'll win back all those credits," she replied with a satisfied smile on her face as her usual glass of wine was brought to her.

Sniffing the wine and swirling it in her glass, she raised her gaze to his, a questioning look on her face. "That wasn't what you meant, though, was it?" she asked, setting her glass of wine down and turning her body toward him, a frown forming on her lips.

"My ex-husband was well known in this part of the galaxy. Those on this ship remember his importance and honor me in his absence."

 

[SophiaM]

Husband?

Dyce was genuinly shocked by that little piece of information. She certainly was attractive enough to have a lover, but to have once been wed, and at her age. He lifted his glass into the air.

A toast then. To the Winners, for keeping things interesting. And to the Loosers, for keeping the Casinos open!

With a haughty laugh he virtually drained the glass of wine in one mouthful.

So; What could be so honorable about a man who would abandon a woman of beauty such as yourself?

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

A chuckle rose in her throat, a musical one, as she turned her gaze toward a piece of artwork, "yes, a husband."

Hearing his toast, she turned her dark eyes back toward his upraised glass and reached down for her own, clinking to his, a smile reforming on her lips.

"Abandon? Trust me, he would not have ever abandoned me. No, I am a widow," she offered, yet turned her gaze away to indicate she wanted to go no further down that road.

 

[SophiaM]

Taking the shy as a queue to stop talking about such things, Dyce changed the subject back to gambling. He slipped a deck of cards out from the top of his boot and began to shuffle them.

I bet you're dieing to know how I won that last game. And I can assure you, at no point did I cheat. At least not by Casino standards anyway.

Once again, that wry smile spread accross his face as he dealt out a few cards. It wasn't oftent hat he shared his gaming secrets with people, especially women who gambled.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Her eyebrows rose with intrigue as she turned her gaze back toward him and sat up on the couch. Her eyes followed his hands and the cards held within them. The delight he saw in her eyes could only be compared to a child receiving a gift on their birthday.

"You...you'll show me?" she half-asked, half said in amazement.

 

[SophiaM]

Seeing the look in her eyes made him blush ever so slightly. She really was beautiful, and for once he wasn't just looking at her as a mark or bed mate for the night. With a cough, he turned his attention to the cards.

Not exactly. I'll tell you what happened, but I can't go showing you anything that might be construde as counting the cards so to say.

He gave her a slight glance out of the corner of his ruby eyes, that look that says: "I know you were doing it, go on, lie to me..."
He picked up the deck, shuffled it and handed the stack of cards to her.

Now. Shuffle that deck, but stack it as you do. Make it so that certain cards will draw from the top but don't show me or tell me which ones.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

As he coughed and the color rose on his cheeks, she smiled and bowed her head in amusement. Perhaps she had been wrong about him, just maybe...

Yet her smile faded and her eyes darted to his own as he spoke of counting cards, catching that glance and searching within their depths to see just how much he knew.

Her proper demeanor seemed to crack a little as she reached for her wine glass, finishing off the cool, red liquor. Was her technique that obvious? She had thought she had hidden it well while at the table. Replacing it on the table, she turned her somewhat wary gaze to the cards held in his hands and tentatively took them from him.

According to his instructions, she carefully shuffled the deck, showing her talents extended past just the wagering. It seemed as if Adèle was an old pro. Picking a few cards, random cards to which he could never guess, she placed them on the top of the deck in a particular order and then handed the cards back to him.

 

[SophiaM]

Dyce raised his hands as she handed him the deck.

Put them on the table. The player doesn't touch the deck, only the dealer.

Adele put the cards on the table and Dyce took a good look at the deck. He focused his eyes and little black spots formed in a ring around the bright ruby red iris. As quickly as the spots appeared, they were gone. He looked up at Adele and nodded.

The top card is a ten.

He said with so much confidence in his voice that it almost sounded as though he was telling the deck to put a ten at the top of the deck.

Draw it and let's see.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Believing he might be able to guess one, she did as he asked and reached across to pick up the card. Looking at it first before showing it to him, she glanced at the card and then back at him before flipping it over for him to see. Indeed it was the number 10.

"Lucky guess," she said as she placed the card back down on the table. "Yet, can you tell me the third card in the deck?"

 

[SophiaM]

Dyce smirked and looked at the deck again. The black ring of dots appeared in his eyes again and then he looked up and they were gone once more.

Two.

He said firmly, daring her to prove him wrong.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

She pulled the second card, laying it upon the first overturned 10 and looked at it. It was a 5.

Eyes darted to him once before, before returning to the deck and pulling the third card, a two.

"I...I don't understand," she said, flabbergasted. "How can you..what is...how?" she finally managed to say, looking to him for an answer.

 

[SophiaM]

I can see the deck. Not in the way you see it, another way. I can see how the cards are stacked. And no, I'm not counting them. Don't ask me how I do it because I'm not sure I know.

He leaned over to get some more wine and brushed up against her slightly. She smelled of flowers, he liked that.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Uncertain of how to respond to this tidbit of news, she lowered her eyes and began to think of the implications. Could he be a lightsaber wielder? If so, then where did his alliances fall? Surely no Jedi would come to their establishment unless there was something foul afoot. Foulness only ran from the Captain and some of his men, not the business side of the casino. Yet, if the Sith were interested?

Feeling a chill run down her spine, she raised her eyes to him again, trying to hide the apprehension toward him as he leaned over, brushing against her. Not daring to move away and alert him to her wariness, she waited until he was finished pouring his wine. Holding out her own glass, she waited to see if he was gentleman enough to fill it.

"Is it common practice to use such an ability at the tables?" she asked, eluding to his reason for being here.

 

[SophiaM]

Dyce smiled at her, she hadn't shyed away when he brushed up against her, quite a forward woman. He poured wine into her glass so that it almost overflow.

Common practice? For me certainly, as for anyone else I have no idea.

As he sat back to drink his wine his lightsaber hilt slid out from beneath the sash of his outfit. However this was something he did not notice for he was too busy looking at Adele.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Her mouth opened in a small "o" as he poured the wine, almost causing it to spill upon her, catching only half of what was said. Very cautiously, she brought the glass to her lips, sipping the wine, fearful of moving it too far and spilling it upon her dress.

The cool, red liquid burned as it went down her throat, causing her to quietly clear her throat and eyes to water.

"You...so, then you use your...talent to help you win at the tables," she finally was able to muster, catching a flash of metal as his lightsaber slid out from his sash.

Her face paled a little as she quickly took another sip and on purpose spilled some wine upon her dress. Immediately, she put the glass down upon the table and grabbed for a napkin in the center of the table.

"How clumsy of me," she chided herself and half apologized. "Please, excuse me for a moment," she said, rising from her seat and turning for the door.

She had to alert someone that a possible Jedi or Sith was aboard...

 

[Viggy]

Outside the VIP room where Adèle spoke with the gambler, Qur'tik stood very still, completely undetectable with his camoflauge active. He had been eavesdropping. Since the Kerestian didn't seem to be going through with the assassination of a possible Sith, the Jawa had decided to find out what it was in this man that had gotten him the interest of Adele... or what was it was about Adele that had gotten the interest of this man.

Judging by the way the conversation was turning, Qur'tik suspected there may be yet another Sith in the casino. Or a Jedi, but no matter. Any Force-user was bad news in the Jawa's opinion.

He smiled under his hood as Adele found a clever excuse to leave the room. Anxious to solve the casino's newest problem, Qur'tik waited for her to come out so he could talk to her.

 

[SophiaM]

Dyce fumbled and apologised for his mistake, To be honest with himself he'd meant to do it to see how she reacted. He helped her attempt to get dry and nodded as she made to leave the room. Then he noticed that his lightsaber had come loose from his sash and cursed himself for being so clumsy, but there was nothing he could do about it now. If she'd seen it then she'd seen it; if not then he was in luck.

 

[The Balance]

Seeing the lady move through the room, Anzello knew his time to act was now, moving steadly closer to him Anzello gave a thumbs up to where the jawa was supposed to be in the hall. Anzello did not want to be too close otherwise the sith might kill him in cold blood. But Anzello also did not want to be like the sith and throw a darkstick at him from far away. He waite until he knew the jawa would be in the room, then he would strike.