Geralt couldn't help but hide his excitement as Aurel and Ivory consented to have him play. He pushed his sleeves, which were already rolled up, a little higher on his elbows before he scooted a little closer to the table to accept the cards that Ivory had dealt to him. Before looking at them, he leaned over to Aurel, keeping his eyes on the dealer, [color=crimson]"You see, Aurel, it isn't about playing the hand, it's about playing the player. In this case, Miss Ivory."[/color] He slid the cards toward him, and bent the corners up to glance at them while leaving them on the table. His face was completely stone cold, betraying nothing, with his trademark hint of a grin. He was leaning back in his chair, totally relaxed, one ankle resting on the opposite knee, one hand in his lap and the fingers on his other hand barely touching his cards. One could only catch him glancing at the hand on the table if they really watched his eyes, otherwise, he appeared completely fixated on Ivory.

[color=crimson]"You have to watch her, not the cards. Her face, her hands...her eyes, her lips, eyebrows,"[/color] he tilted his head toward Aurel when he mentioned this. [color=crimson]"Every little movement could betray her hand."[/color] He noticed the twitch in her brow and her lip, but did not call it out. Clearly, she was not pleased with her cards, though Geralt knew better than to try and guess what they were. 

Illyana, seeing that Lucien had finished with his task, approached and took the clipboard from him. [color=598527]"After you."[/color] She said, glancing over her shoulder briefly as they left the mess area, hopeful that Ivory would be able to keep her cool without Lucien there to monitor her.