Poker Night!

[ecclesiophobic]

Who: Four Merry Mutants (And you?)
Broadcast: Nah
Action: Space Bar!
When: Evening

Sometime in the evening, the Space Bar plays host to a very interesting poker game; Kitty, in her infinite wisdom, having chosen that activity to keep their hands busy while they joke, catch up, and possibly scar poor Billy’s mind (Kurt).

The poker game isn’t closed to the four of them, however; anyone who wanders over will be offered a seat and the chance to be dealt into the game. So come! Pull up a chair and be dealt in, or just wander over and socialize. Distract the players. Just don’t set anything on fire that isn’t made to be.

Comments

Kitty Pryde | OTA

[passingthrough]

[Kitty is passing on the alcohol tonight. She feels like she might still be a little hung over from her New Year's Day meltdown. But she's still here to enjoy herself. She and her friends used to play poker in her last interdimensional prison and that was fun. She's surprised it took her this long to think of it. And she wanted to get to know Billy better. There aren't many mutants left in the fleet and when she was in the prison it was almost never unless she counted her other self and it's very hard to bond with another version of yourself. Of course she probably should have prepped Kurt not to be...himself? Oh well, it'll work itself out. Probably.

Welcome to mutant bonding times, Billy! Hope you survive the experience!

Of course, she won't spend her entire night at the table. Sometimes you have to get up and stretch your legs. Maybe talk to the staff and other customers. Or at least she wouldn't be hard to catch away from the game or in a quiet moment at the table either.

She's dressed very casually in jeans and a t-shirt and don't be surprised if she decides to sit on that table, back of the chair, or bar top. She doesn't use doors and sometimes she doesn't use chairs!]

twelve years later

[selfhelp]

[Billy's pretty resilient, at least in general, so he'll probably live. Social situations - or parties, or whatever - aren't his strong suit, but the benefit here is that at least he's spoken with everyone already. With Kitty being the one he knows the most of the group, hopefully she'll forgive him if he lingers around her for a while at the start.

It's also been a long time since he played poker, so he spends a lot of time squinting down at his cards.]

Um... I think I'd better fold.

[passingthrough]

[She doesn't mind at all. She wants him to feel included and welcomed and probably best she do that before Kurt or Remy come on strong. She loves those boys, but they can be a handful.]

Live to fight another hand?

[selfhelp]

Tragically, there's nothing alive about what I've got here.

[He tosses them to the table, facedown. It's such a useless hand he doesn't even want to show it. He doesn't look all that disappointed in his loss, though- it's what he'd expected when he came into this.]

Kurt Darkholme | OTA

[ecclesiophobic]

[Kurt has procured a bar stool to perch on that isn't terribly higher than the other player's chairs, because unlike some people he doesn't cheat at cards. He seems a little more relaxed than he did this time last month, although that might be due to the beer his tail spends half its time curled around. The company doesn't hurt.

When he's not crouched at the table, Kurt can be found at the bar fetching more drinks for the table, or a non-alcoholic one when he forgets that Billy isn't old enough for booze and has to make another run. He still seems relaxed, though he always looks toward the door when it opens or closes. Most people will be greeted with a half-smile that softens as the night and booze go on.]

[passingthrough]

[She comes up behind Kurt and drapes her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder during a break between games. Of course she does this only after making sure he can see her approaching from the side. She doesn't need her arms accidentally teleported off before she can phase them.] Hey you. This is fun.

[ecclesiophobic]

[Her caution is appreciated, though he's not nearly tense enough to go for porting anything but himself away. Maybe its the beer, or being surrounded by people he trusts and likes. Perhaps the last.. two? years here have changed him.

It's a question for later. For now he smiles, his tail snaking back to wrap around her waist.] Hallo yourself. This was a better idea than I thought it would be.

[passingthrough]

[Almost two. Her anniversary is February first and Kurt's is about a month later if she remembers correctly.] I think so too, but there's still time for Remy to cheat us and you to traumatize Billy. [Nah, she's pretty sure it will be fine.]

[cajunspice]

[Remy is rather amused by Kurt's need to be higher, especially if it was to stop cheating. Really, as if that would stop him. However, it wasn't that strange for the Nightcrawler, he did like to be higher than most. Remy was also happy to have a drinking partner through the night, since Billy was too young and Kitty was not for it right now. He now and then would offer some of his spirits he was working through to the fuzzy mutant, a shot glass of it, between the man's beers.]

I donno, just always took ya Nightcrawlers as light weights, then 'gain, goin' to 'ssume ya got a few more years of drinkin' under ya belt than the boy who was here.

[ecclesiophobic]

[When offered Kurt would take the shot glass with his tail, unwilling to risk setting his cards down on a table where Remy LeBeau was sitting. He spent a good chunk of his life around one version of the man, he knows well how creative he's capable of getting when it comes to cards.]

Probably. I'd imagine he was more familiar with alcohol than an American teenager, but he also didn't have Mom and Victor for influences. Or you.

[cajunspice]

Now why ya go lumpin' me with them? I don't mind bein' a bad 'nfluence, but donno if I wanna be that bad. [Insulting? Yes, ok, it was, but Kurt knew what his mother and father figure was like.

Also, never do that again, Kurt, especially in regards to Fluffy. Remy has seen what that man is capable of.] 'nd here I be all nice sharin' m' drinks with ya 'nd all that. [Though he really wasn't offended, more playing it up for the fun of it and to continue the joke.]

[selfhelp]

[He'd been quite apologetic the first few times, but after that Billy had started to wonder if he could just turn his booze into juice or something. Or is that too much of an anti-Jesus move? He's Jewish but he knows it was a thing, maybe it would offend someone.

Whatever, he's nursing his hot chocolate and peering over at Kurt's posture, all curiosity. Such strong toes!]

Is it more comfortable to sit like that, or are you training?

[ecclesiophobic]

[Offensive to a religious Nightcrawler, possibly. But this one, who despises organized religion in general and Christianity specifically, would be delighted at the inversion.]

Comfort. [He stretches the toes of his feet out before curling them around the edge of the seat again, seeming completely at ease with the attention and questions.] Sitting like you are isn't as comfortable; if I lean back, it puts pressure on my tail. Sitting like this, I can move more.

[selfhelp]

Ah, got it. Cool.

[He ain't judgin', it actually is cool. plus it kind of reminds him of Tommy, how the speedster would zoom around and perch where he pleased, position changing at the drop of a hat.]

Okay, but seriously, I have no idea what I'm doing in this game.

Remy LeBeau | OTA

[cajunspice]

[Poker night? Of course he’s drinking, and maybe a casual smoke or two. It had taken a lot of effort (even if it was brought on by a shortage of cigarettes) to stop smoking that Remy didn’t want to get fully hooked again, but he wasn’t going to turn down the chance considering his beloved trench coat was returned to him full of it’s normal goodies, including said smokes. He was also spending most the night drinking something equivalent to whiskey, having stolen a bottle of it from behind the bar to slowly work his way through. It took a bit to get him drunk now days, thanks to his powers no longer being limited, but he was certainly going to try.

Most the night he could be found at whatever table the mutants are using for cards, maybe moping a little that he is not allowed to deal or have any extra decks to keep his hands busy between rounds, settling for playing with a coaster instead most the time. If not, he is doing drink runs as much as Kurt is, though normally going behind the bar to pour them himself, despite being off duty from the place.]

[passingthrough]

Smoking again? [Watching him take one out and light it. This might be a new form of porn. She hasn't smoked regularly in two years or at all in, what, a year? But that doesn't mean the cravings are totally gone, especially when she sees it in action.]

[cajunspice]

Ahhh, seems right, considerin' what we doin'. [He did pause to take that first breath in of it, holding it, but also turning his head away from the rest of the table to exhale, not wanting to blow smoke in anyone's face.] Not quite a cigar, but will leave that for Wolverine. He seems more the type.

[passingthrough]

[Some sad part of her was hoping to breathe that smoke in, but this is better.] He definitely liked his cigars in my world too. Didn't go by Wolverine, but definitely yes on the cigars.

Vash the Stampede | OTA

[goldenglasses]

[Vash promises that he's not stalking half of his crew. He's here to work like a good employee.

He spends most of the time back in the kitchen doing his job as the place's chef. Although he pops out if things get too busy at the bar to help make drinks. He'll even bring any food that was ordered over to the table so the game doesn't have to stop too much.

Okay, and he might linger to watch a hand or two when there's nothing to do in the kitchen. Poker is like a little reminder of home for him.

Feel free to boss him around, have a chat, give him a food/drink order, or tell him to get out of the way.] How can I help you?

[ecclesiophobic]

[Sure he isn't.

At first, Kurt is hesitant to strike up conversation with Vash. One of the last times they'd spoken at length had been a very loud and angry conversation about the other man's stance on killing. Then Kurt had run off into the forest on the next planet to howl at the moon, and this was the most social he'd been since returning.

But the man is his captain, and even though he's a fool Kurt can understand where it comes from. If his life had been kinder, they might see eye to eye. He waits until Vash wanders over and clears his throat.] If you want, we could deal you in after your shift ends.

[goldenglasses]

[If Vash feels any animosity over their heated discussion or Kurt himself he doesn't show it. After all, you don't have a friend like Wolfwood without having daily verbal fights about killing.

He's still his usual derpy, smiling face as he brings people out their orders, but he perks up even more at the invite.]

Yeah? Well, I mean, I wouldn't want to disrupt your game. You guys seem to be having a good time catching up with each other.

[ecclesiophobic]

[Vash's bright smile and open friendliness, in the light of their last conversation, only makes Kurt feel more and more like a heel. Vash, he's beginning to think, is exactly the kind of person who'd live in the world that his X-Men fought to create; before they changed tactics and tried to erase it.]

If we wanted to keep the game private, we would have had it somewhere private. [His eyes don't move from the table, Kurt preoccupying himself with clearing space for the orders.] When's your shift over?

[passingthrough]

[Kitty smirks as she comes up to the bar while Vash is there.]

So polite and attentive. Hmmm, how can you help me. I wonder. [Tapping a finger against her chin in faux thoughtfulness.]

Stand on your head? I'd love to see what it does to your hair.

[goldenglasses]

[Vash grins and looks around the bar. He doesn't see Nami anywhere so...] The customer is always right! [That's all the warning she gets before with a burst of energy he jumps forward onto his hands. It looks effortless to him. This could be because as part of his daily training routine includes one armed hand stand push ups. So two armed is nothing difficult for him.

He holds his upside pose for a moment or two. At least long enough to grin back up at Kitty before jumping upright again.] Ta-da! Anything else I can do? Oh, most loyal of customers?

[passingthrough]

[She smiles, not even that shocked he went along with it.] I really wanted the hair to fight gravity even upside down, but it didn't. I guess I'll just soothe myself with some water. The boys keep trying to bring me booze.