[h2]Cold Hands, Warm Shuttle  (Part 2)[/h2]
[h3]en route to Greenleaf[/h3]

OOC: JP/collab between [@Winters], [@MK Blitzen], [@Yule], [@Gunther], [@Aalakrys], [color=ffd700]@Maurice[/color], and [@sail3695]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/SfZ7oWZ.jpg[/img][/center]

[hider=Never Count Your Buttons When You’re Sittin’ At The Table]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9pHAeHEcgM[/youtube]
[/hider] 

 “What game ya playin? None o’ that fifty-two card pick up fer me. How bout some Texas Hold em?” Joe had never heard of Texas. Never heard of the place, but knew the card game. It looked like they were going to play some cards, betting for buttons. “Ha! Buttons!” Joe smiled. He then took a seat at the table and picked up the deck of cards. He shuffled them half a dozen times and then dealt two cards to Abby, Mathias, Isaac and himself.

“I heard tea and coffee?” Cyd said, as a heavily blanketed Pen opened the shuttle door. “Aweh, Mr. Hook the Cook!” She said brightly, seeing the other deckhand. “Come to gamble? Mathias is a madder card player.”   

“Ah would’t wanna take advantage o’ yer brother, Miss Skye.” Joe smiled as he spoke knowing all too well he would play cards. Once Cyd and the hot beverages were inside, Penelope followed behind bundled in her blankets, and shut the door. The warmth was much appreciated, and it didn’t take long at all for her to start removing layers so that she had her own seat to sit on when she was done. She helped Cyd in the distributing of mugs and tea cups while the guys and Abby played a few hands, then settled down to get on knitting now that her fingers had fully thawed.

The following hour revealed a music all its’ own...the staccato precision of cards shuffling and knitting needles clicking, the minute slaps of buttons all added a rhythm punctuated by intermittent groans of agony, and an omnipresent laughter.  Fortunes were being won, and in a few cases, lost.

Abby bit from a cookie, her habit bein’ tah keep a hand ‘neath ‘er chin to catch crumbs what somebody’d have tah sweep up otherwise.  She set the rest down on a pie plate, brushin’ her palm clean afore studyin’ her cards agin.   “I conjure I’m in,” the girl sighed as she tossed one ‘o’ the buttons from her dwindling pile.  [i]Pitious thing,[/i] she reckoned, [i]Uncle Bob not decidin’ tah teach me poker til he’s kneewalkin’...[/i]  

The boys had tha card table out an’ set right quick.  Now, if them piles was any indication, the Skye brothers  an’ Hook was all holdin’ their own, more ‘r less on par, while Abby found ‘erself eyein’ the buttons on ‘er work shirt tah keep in the game.  [i]Don’t conjure Earl would mind,[/i] she thought ‘o’ tha name monogrammed above the breast pocket.   Hell, she didn’t never use ‘em nohow.  If push come tah shove, she might jest put ‘em inta play….but not fer these cards.

Mathias made a click sound with his tongue putting his cards down to fold his hand. "Sai Weng Shi Ma."

Can't win them all. Poker was a predictable game but relied on more luck than he liked. But Abby seemed to be enjoying herself. 

Isaac was liking his odds better all the time. Seeing his older brother fold caused a big grin to grow on his face before he caught himself. [i]Poker face, gotta keep that poker face[/i], he scolded himself inwardly. Outwardly, his face turned stern and he gave a little nod, silently agreeing with his inwardly voice. "I'll raise…" his voice straining to sound deeper, more serious "...three" he finished as he dropped 3 buttons from his pile onto the pot one at a time. Click. Click. He let the silence linger before the last one in some display of confidence. Click. He rested his cards face down on the table and leaned back taking a sip of his soda before briefly leaning forward to lift them by the corner in order to peek at them once again and reassure himself. Satisfied, he leaned back again, giving a nod to the other contestants around the table.

Hook looked at the two cards he was given. He lifted the corners just enough to read the number and suit. Not a face card or ace in the pair or two consecutive numbers. He made it a rule in this game to only stay in if he had a pair, two numbers of the same suit or a face card or ace. He had neither. “I’m out too,” he placed the cards on the table. Apparently, he had been the dealer.

Them cards wasn’t gettin’ any better.  All she's doin’  was holdin’ up tha game.  She fished three buttons up...weren’t difficult, seein’s she only had five left  tah start.  Abby dropped ‘em inta the kitty.  “Can I swap three cards?” she asked.  “Is that legal in this game?”

“No Miss Abby. You have to make a play with the cards you was dealt,” Joe informed the young deckhand.

He waited for Abby to see Isaac’s raise of three buttons and then placed the first three of five cards face up on the table. They were the 5 of diamonds, the Queen of Hearts and the two of diamonds. Joe saw this and figured if someone had two diamonds, they were four fifths of the way to a flush or straight flush. He did not have a diamond. The face up cards were known as the Community Cards. “How you like them cookies, Miss Abby?”

The girl smirked.  [i]”La shi,[/i] I’m two buttons away from likin’ ‘em jest fine...less I start cuttin’ ‘em off mah shirt.”

Joe flipped another card onto the table. It was the three of clubs. Didn’t help the flush, but maybe someone could use it.

“Miss Travis?”  The voice what come through the walkie sounded heavy with sleep.

Abby pulled it from her belt.  “Ms. Wyman?  How can I help?”

“I think I slept too long,” the woman answered.  “My coffee’s cold.  Could I get some more?”

“That yah can,” the deckhand replied.  “I’ll have a fresh carafe down in two shakes.  Our cook baked up some cookies an’ pie also.  Wouldja like some?”

The sleepy voice popped back in the com. “A cookie or two would be nice.  Thank you.”

After clippin’ the walkie back on her belt, Abby stood up.  “Gotta run,” she said, “but y’all took me tah tha cleaners, anyhoo.  I conjure it’s Pen’s turn now.  Pen! Yer turn.”  She wriggled inta her sweater, an’ then pulled the knit cap over her head.  “Thank y’all,” Abby offered up a warm smile fer the three hosts.  “Had a real fine time tahnight.”

“Waardeer, appreciate you stopping by,” Cyd replied with a wave. “Open invite if you get chilly later on.”  She rested her hand on Isaac’s shoulder before turning back to her cortex to fiddle with the next song. 

Penelope looked up from a half-knitted mitten, sans shimmer, at being addressed. She had been more interested in watching, but she did indeed stand. Rather than go right over, she lifted up her patchwork quilt from the pile and wrapped it around Abby’s shoulders. “Don’t doubt I’ll get this one back - unlike my poor pastel knit…”

The girl’s smile widened a touch.  “Thank yew.  Ah’ll make sure it finds it’s way home.  See that’n?”  She pointed toward Isaac.  “He’s the one tah beat.  Won most ‘o’ my buttons tahnight.  Git ‘em back, [i]jiejie[/i].”   With a wave fer the group an’ a pat on Hook’s shoulder, she headed fer tha hatch.

“I’ll try my best.” Penelope gave a wink and went to her new spot as instructed after collecting her little comfortable pile of blankets to sit on while Abby said her goodbyes.

“The bet is to you, Miss Penny,” Joe stated. The four revealed community cards remained on display in front of Joe Hooker. If Penelope had a card that could be used with either of the community cards and they made a better hand than whatever Isaac was holding, she just might win.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/SxVTmXJ.png[/img][/center]

Since Abby had left her button pile and cards splayed down when she’d stood, Penelope looked at what she’d been dealt. A faint little smirk touched her lips, the amusement that always seem lit in her eyes returning, as she let them back down. From what she’d gathered in the conversation over the game, Abby was learning. She had no idea what she held. Pure beginner’s luck, is what Penelope recalled it being called. Those hazel eyes lifted to look towards Hook, since he seemed to be the one that was leading this little game. “Can I put in my own buttons or am I just playin’ with what is here?”

“You can either pass, which means you don’t want to bet or you can raise the bet for Isaac to match,” Joe explained to Penelope.

The answer she got had Penelope’s brows wrinkling. She knew the basics of how to play the game, and that wasn’t what she’d asked. But Hook was a bit odd, so she just lifted her shoulders and pushed the few buttons Abby had left across the table. “Alright… All in.”

 If she lost, she had more than enough buttons to give to Abby. And if she won, it’d be fun to see whatever reaction it got out of the always delightful Isaac. Besides, she was more than a little tired from the stay on New Melbourne and the lack of sleep, so the warmth of the shuttle had her more inclined to take a nap than play for long.

With Penelope's smile after checking her hand, Isaac's confidence in his own hand wavered. [i] The heck does she possibly have?[/i], he wondered as he leaned forward, resting his chin on his folded hands and chewing on his lower lip in consternation. He glared at the pilot's face down cards as if to will their values onto his mind through the posterboard. It never worked before and, unfortunately for him, this time was no different. He looked up at the cards' current owner and narrowed his eyes. "No way Abby just up and walked away from a good hand for you to inherit." The youngest Skye deduced, his voice low, almost accusatory. "No way at all." He repeated, more to reassure himself than anything else. He absentmindedly clutched a few of the buttons at the top of one of his little stacks and dropped them repeatedly back on top, making a cadence out of the plastic clicks. His glance darted over briefly towards one of the dark corners, thinking he saw something over there but then immediately brought them back to bear on his prey. "Your call…fly girl," he said in almost a hiss, "raise...or call…"

The reaction from the kid had the devious side of Penelope rein in her expression, pressing her smirk with a vague shrug as her eyes drifted casually away. “If I had more buttons, I’d raise. Ain’t got none of Abby’s left, but I can match that whole stack you got there and then some with my own. Feel like losin’ it all at once?”

Mathias lazily rolled a button along his finger as he watched his baby brother play high noon with the pilot. Leave it to Isaac to make any game more interesting with his antics. The button vanished as Mathis switched elbows before reappearing in his other hand smoothly rolling along his fingers.

There was no possible way she's got anything that good. He was certain of it. Isaac started to push his pile into the pot when he caught himself. "Whoa whoa whoa!" He wagged a finger at Penelope. "Almost got me. How do we even know you're good for it?" He eyed the pilot up and down. "Maybe you were just hoping no one would call ya on it, hmm??" The hand that was on his hoard now curled defensively around it as he made a "come, come" motion with the free one. "Let's see the buttons, sister." He insisted, the edge of his lip twisted into his best intimidating sneer.

The pressed smirk spread into a full grin as Penelope shifted from the splayed back position on her palms to retrieve her satchel. She pulled it from behind her and sat it in her lap, and now that Abby was gone she could rummage freely in the contents. The little velvet bag that used to hold a glass bottle a few folk would find more interesting than the current contents was dropped atop the table, making an audible thump. She undid the string in a fluid slip of her finger, and the treasure spilled free. Not one button appeared to be like another, a kaleidoscope of color in different shapes and sizes spread out towards the pile. “I’d say this makes me good for it?”

“Ok, high rollers at this table,” Joe chuckled. He then pulled out the fifth and final community card to reveal it next to the other four. This card was the six of Diamonds.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ztPVgLF.png[/img][/center]

“Well, that feeds nicely into either a diamond flush or a straight depending on what y’all have,” Joe was really interested in what cards Penelope and Isaac were holding onto.

Mathias watched the ensuing staring contest and tried not to giggle at the absurdity of it. It was adorable, really. He reached over nibbling on a sweet pretzel feeling something painfully pinch his foot. “What the cao?” Mathias jumped and angrily went to peek under the table. [i]‘I swear if Isaac is pinching my toes …’[/i] He grounsed already planning vengeance. 

Now Mathias was not a small guy and he was relatively long limbed so it had taken him a relatively longer time to learn some self-coordination and spatial awareness and that just flew right out the window in the span of three seconds. In Mathias’s mad scramble to get away from the table he painfully knocked one knee hard enough to send snacks, cards and buttons spraying all over Hook.

Isaac watched helplessly as the table went up and over with all his sweet, sweet "winnings". He quickly went from surprised to annoyed as he turned towards the source of the calamity… Mathias.

Unaware of the rodent upsetting the Skyes, all Joe Hooker saw was the table flying up into his face along with the playing cards, snacks and buttons spread across the table. His reaction was to push back away from the incoming table, but he just wasn’t fast enough. His chair tipped over backwards, he sprawled out on his back across the floor with the table and all its acoutrements scattered across him and the floor around him. “Ha ha ha ha ha,” Joe let out a guttural uproarious laughter at the predicament. He had gotten himself so involved with the game, upsetting the table eliminated that sensation. Hitting the floor with everything scattered across him appeared to be quite amusing.

“Godverdoem gorrel my spyt kak hoender poes se bloed poes! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETOFF.” Mathias screeched kicking foot out, something brown and fuzzy nearly smashing Isaac in the face. A rat sailed across the shuttle with Mathias' sock still latched in its mouth.

Isaac never got a good look at the thing. When his eyes locked in on the brown fuzzy blur flying at his face, he let out a high-pitched squeal and threw his hands up to protect his precious face! "WHAT IS IT?!?!" He shrieked as he shielded his head from the incoming rodent!

“Ag, man! Shame, it’s a scaly ship mouse.” Cyd chastised as Isaac physically shook off the incident, “Eish, Yobo - get the broom!” The middle Skye kept her eye on the interloper while waving a hand towards where the broom was upstanding. The furry brown rat with the long pink tail scurried off to the corner of the shuttle, squeezing itself between two boxes. 

“Oh, no, don’t do that.” Penelope said as she gathered her nearly empty button sack from the pile she’d been poking around in. All things considered, she’d been pretty calm comparatively though the spectacle of Mathias and Isaac had her eyes wide as it unfolded. Now, she simply shook the remaining buttons free of her velvet bag as she made to stand. “I’ll get him in here - he is just looking to be warm, is all.”

With the assistance of a spare cookie, she went to trap a mouse. Usually it was spiders - or sometimes snakes - that she’d snuck up on with a cup or bowl, something she might want to warn the Skyes about Greenleaf since they seemed to not like critters… But that was for later. 

While Joe lay covered in the remains of their card game, he listened to the conversation about the rodent. It appeared Penelope would catch the mouse. He got to his feet and began to upright the table. He also gathered the cards up and brought them back to a full neatly stacked deck of cards. Then he began picking up as many buttons he could find and returning them to the table. “You kin sweep this flo’ once yous done dealing with tha’ mouse.”

“Thanks, Mr. Hook the cook,” Cyd replied, taking the broom. “Pen, don’t get bit, or you’ll get lank sick! We near lost Isaac to rat bite fever when he was little. He was in bad shape for a long time.” She made a mental note to keep an eye on Mathias for signs of illness.

“Aw, li’l fella won’t bite - hopefully,” Pen said as she assessed the mouse’s refuge. The boxes were wedged against the wall tight, so it was only the one-way little crevasse he’d trapped himself in. She sat down on her haunches at the opening, peeking in to make sure he wasn’t scaling a side, and placed the cookie just inside the mouth of her bag after lying it open at the entrance. “Besides, we have a doc on board and we’re headin’ to Greenleaf - I’m as safe as can be.”

Cyd handed the broom to Mathias, who was the better shot, while she watched and made a mental note to throw out Isaac’s secret snack stash. 

“Yew kin have mah buttons ahm, headin’ back to the galley,” Joe stated. Joe chuckled a little more upon leaving the shuttle. Meanwhile, Penelope spotted movement in the dimly lit crevasse between the boxes, and just as quickly felt a scurrying at her wrist. The little booger had bypassed the bag in favor of making his escape up the pilot's arm. With her free hand, she part-instinct and part-surprise clamped her hand down atop it, swooping it down towards the ground. It landed right atop the velvet bag, momentarily dazed, so Penelope risked a bite to cup it under her hand while she turned the bag in on itself. "Gotcha, troublemaker."

Content, she turned with the little bag in her palm, movement wild within until the mouse found the cookie, most like. Penelope asked the room at large, as if it were a perfectly reasonable inquiry. "Got anything that could be a make-shift cage till Greenleaf? Reckon my bag won't last long against those little snippers."

Cyd looked around quickly after Pen gave a mouse a cookie, and Isaac clutched a big  jug of cheese puffs warily. Her eyes drifted across the shuttle to his new bucket. It was a painters bucket, never used except for as a drum by the youngest Skye, purchased at a hardware store to placate him and help ease a broken heart. Isaac threw his sister a mistrustful glance, tracing her gaze. He tapped his finger on the top of the cheese puffs, a code Cyd ignored. Mathias took half a step back before his two sibs dove for his makeshift drum. 

“This or the cheese puffs, Lolo!” Cyd grumbled as they locked in a bucket tug of war. 

“Neither!” Isaac replied. 

“I don’t have anything that would make a good mouse house!” Cyd reasoned while grappling. “I can’t help it if your stuff is more… rodent residential… rodential!”  

The battle continued for a few seconds until Cyd eyed the cheese puffs again. Isaac quickly weighed his options, the gears turning in his head. With a disgruntled huff, he let go of the bucket and saved his snacks. Cyd, who had put her entire weight into the war, leaning back on her heels would have fallen flat on her backside if it weren’t for Mathias’ quick reflexes. In one swift move he one-handedly steadied his sister on her feet. Even so, she still considered herself victorious.  She handed the clean 10 gallon pail over to Pen to give the furry interloper somewhere other than their shuttle to stay. 

It was a swak way to end a jol, but like someone should’ve said, the best laid parties of mice and men often go awry.