FreckersFrog

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt couldn't help but nod at Ivory's assessment of Aurel's play-style. It was clear in his body language that he was tense, always waiting for the next card, anticipating his hand before he had it. He couldn't fault the boy for having nervous energy, there was a time, long ago, when Geralt was the same way. A product of his upbringing, he supposed. He wondered if Aurel had suffered from the same overbearing father and over-medicated mother. If he was this nervous with nothing at stake, what would happen when the upped the ante?

During the next hand, Geralt decided to watch Ivory instead of Aurel. He had his tells and his faults, but what did she have? There had to be something, everyone had...something. Some just hid it better than others. He noted her rough handling of the Ace of Spades, and smirked to himself, making sure that she saw. Other than this, there was nothing he could glean from watching this hand. She was a brick wall, a challenge, and he wanted to rise to it.

When she folded, Geralt raised an eyebrow. So, it seemed that she was committed to teaching Aurel more than to winning. Geralt respected this, but it only made him want to teach Aurel himself. Ivory would be a great teacher, that was clear, but there were some things one could only learn for a master.

When the hand was over, Geralt's lips tightened a little bit and he leaned into Aurel. "Forgive me if I am covering old ground, here, but have you ever watched someone else play Ivory, Aurel? If not, I would love to cut in..." he paused and glanced at the vampire, "If that's agreeable to you, of course." His kept his smile soft and pleasant, not wanting to set off any more alarm bells, although he was certain now that there was nothing he could do to ease her distaste for him.

Cora had finished eating and was simply watching the game. She didn't really understand it, but she had played Go Fish with Ivory and Akane before, and she quite liked that game. This one seemed a little out of her wheelhouse, though she watched with interest anyway. She smiled at Illy as the girl approached, and handed her dish over. "Yeah, Illy," she added, "Do you need help?"

Illyana looked over the card game as she passed by, but determined there was no foul play. Geralt was keeping his hands where everyone could see them, anyway. She took Akane and Cora's plates, then nodded down at them, "Thank you for offering...actually, Cora, your hair is looking a little dry, did you want to wash while Akane dries? I had some things to discuss with Lucien."

Cora smiled brightly and began wheeling herself away from the table even before Illyana was finished, "Of course, Illyana! I'd love to help." And it was true, any help that the mermaid could provide, she was happy for. She considered it 'earning her keep', and didn't want to appear lazy or ungrateful, especially in front of Geralt.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan, who had turned away from Lucien to get the attention of the bartender to return the bottle, paused and looked back at Lucien's retort. He raised his eyebrows, shocked at just how devoted Lucien was to this facade. He slowly lowered his hand, and furrowed his brows. While he was slightly pink in the cheeks, Lucien seemed fine after knocking back two fingers of whiskey for the first time. Faolan had his first snort when he was thirteen, and it had nearly knocked him flat. He was impressed, but also annoyed that Lucien would continue to prod him in this way. Seeing that he had taken his drink with no hesitation or aftereffects had not been enough, it seemed.

"Hhmm, you're bold this evening." There was another pause as he held the Frenchman's gaze for a moment, before he pushed his glass toward him. "If you're looking to get fluthered, so be it. Don't come crying to me when you get weak in the knees." He nodded toward the bottle, "Pour."

Usually mild-mannered, Faolan did not prefer to rise to challenges like these and typically walked away. However, he knew his dad would be rolling in his grave if he lost a drinking wager to a Frenchman.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt watched the two as they folded and played another round. It was clear after only watching twice that not only was Ivory the luckier of the two, she had a far better poker-face than Aurel. Every time he drew, the result was plain to see in the look on his face. Geralt nearly winced when he laid down the King of Spades. After the second hand, he became antsy, and the toe of his boot gently tapped the dirt beneath them. Aurel's pokerface was awful, that was for sure, but he could certainly be worked with.

"She's right about your eyebrows, junge, not to mention your tongue." During the entirety of the game, as Aurel concentrated on what would come next, the tips of his small split tongue would peek out from between his lips like a snake. It made sense, given his act and his affinity with the serpents. He had to be some sort of half-breed as had been guessed before. Akane had animal ears and tails, but Aurel's features were much more subtle. Geralt would need to do some research before he pegged him down. "But these are things to work on," he added, remembering not to defeat the boy too early and gracing him with a smile, "The harder you think about hiding it, the more you show your tell. You have to make it subconscious...effortless, verstehen?"

Illyana nodded, satisfied with Lucien's answer. She merely leaned against the basin, watching him tick off items on the inventory list. "I will," she said, "I promise." before she turned back to the table to retrieve the other's dishes.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan's smirk did not break as Lucien raised his glass in toast, in fact, he tilted his head in satisfaction at this and raised his glass in turn. "Sláinte," he returned, then tossed the whiskey into the back of his throat, watching Lucien the whole time. Although it had been some time since he had imbibed any taste of home, he held his expression well. Only a quiet click of his tongue escaped his mouth as he set the glass down, right side up, on the bar beside him. Right away, he felt the heat of the liquor burning down his throat and into his belly, warming his already high body temperature. It was not entirely unpleasant, and was even a bit familiar.

All things considered, Lucien did quite well. For someone who had never had whiskey before, Lucien managed to take it with only a small cough and reddening of his cheeks. Faolan was impressed, and subconsciously his smile remained even after the two had finished their first drink. "I can see that." He said, almost chuckling. "Puts your sweet red juice to shame, eh?" If Faolan was going to drink, he preferred the harsh taste of hard liquor. He couldn't say if that was his personal preference, or just the whiskey in his blood that made him feel this way.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan watched silently as Lucien tilted his wine glass back and finished it off. He rose an eyebrow, only slightly, impressed at the Frenchman's dedication to this crusade. It was clear by his words, tone, and actions that he wanted Faolan to give in to him. This made the Irishman feel incredibly conflicted. Of course, his rule about not drinking was no moral quandary, he simply did not prefer to be drunk, but the smug look on Lucien's face was pulling him in two different directions. On the one hand, he wanted to show the Frenchman that he could hold his liquor just fine, but on the other, he did not want to give in simply for the sake of frustrating his friend.

In the end, he could not resist Lucien's crooked smirk. He growled quietly in frustration, "Fine, if you're so confident..." he grumbled, then rose two fingers to the bartender. The man looked over, having almost no other patrons in the bar this early in the evening. "Whiskey, neat." Faolan said, and waited while the man smiled and grabbed a bottle of Jameson from the shelf behind him. He placed two glasses in front of them and poured two fingers of the amber liquid into each, then turned to put the bottle back. Having second thoughts, however, the man paused and then left the bottle there between Faolan and Lucien, smiled and walked away to serve someone else.

Faolan slid one of the glasses closer to Lucien as he picked his up, sharing a smirk of his own, "Unless you want ice?" he asked, a challenge in his voice.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora nodded at Geralt and smiled to Akane before she continued to eat, her spirits definitely rising with each passing interaction. She preferred this, to be surrounded by pleasant people and busy herself with things as opposed to sitting alone in her trailer all throughout the day. Hearing that Aurel and Ivory were about to play cards was also very interesting, she hoped she would be allowed to stay and watch too.

Geralt smiled at Aurel and shrugged, then glanced around, "I don't see much else going on around here, and this is certainly more interesting than the front page today." He pushed the newspaper he had been reading to the side. "Besides, there are lessons everywhere, Aurel, you just have to know where to look." He winked at the young man knowingly before turning to Ivory. "Aah...that makes sense. Let's see if we can't change that, hm?" He asked, his eyebrow cocked high. He was certainly intrigued in this game, it was not something he needed to pretend about. A chance to watch Ivory's pokerface would do him some good anyway, and maybe his presence would throw her off just enough to let something slip.

He watched Ivory deal, saw Aurel's hand, and watched Ivory's face carefully as she looked down at her cards. As expected, she was quite good at not betraying her hand. There was little anyone could hide from him, however. After a moment, he heard the whisper in his head An 8 and 9 of clubs.... A solid hand for Ivory, but Aurel's had more potential. Geralt almost let his lip twitch as he saw Aurel's eyebrows raise and a slight smile touch him. He was not exaggerating, he had an absolutely awful pokerface. Geralt could work with it though, he knew what to do, he just had to learn how to do it. Before giving any advice, he decided to just watch their game to see what it could tell him about the players.

Illyana nearly scoffed at Lucien and his comment, but settled for rolling her eyes slightly with her back to Geralt. "That's an understatement..." she said quietly to herself. It was clear from this morning's interaction that Geralt was not about to take Ivory's indifference lying down. He was aggressive, to say the least, but to Illy's ear the two seemed to be evenly matched in wit. It was hard to imagine them getting along...ever.

At Lucien's next comment, Illy's cheeks turned slightly pink and she looked down at the dish she was drying. It was true, she had done a little more research, but Lucien knew she couldn't sleep thinking there was knowledge out there for her that she didn't have. "Whenever you're free, I'd like to do it as soon as possible." She paused a moment and gingerly set the dish down before shrugging, slightly guilty, "I know, I know, I just did some light reading before bed. Just recreational...you know it helps me sleep." Illyana was careful to be sure there was no lie in her words.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Despite his unwillingness to drink, the mention of the word "lightweight" got Faolan's blood to stir. He looked down at Lucien, his eyes slightly narrowed as he felt a surge of competitiveness rise up in him. This was not usually like him, to feel the need to prove himself. He was far more than confident in the way that he carried himself, he knew his limits and he hardly ever pushed them. But still, something about a Frenchman using that word to refer to him...it didn't strike the right cord.

"Of course I'm not a lightweight...but if you're looking to get pissed, you ain't going to do it with a fancy glass and yer pinky out. You're going to need to graduate to something stronger before you ask me to have a drink with you." Of course, his tone was not harsh, it was light and playful. But, despite his fondness toward Lucien, he felt the need now to prove his mettle. What would his da say, if he could hear this conversation?

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora, her mouth full of food, let Akane wipe her cheek and then smiled, cheeks puffed out. She covered her mouth as she thanked her friend, at least she had remembered to do that. After swallowing, she added, "I'm sorry, I know I should slow down." Her cheeks turned slightly pink as she glanced at Geralt.

Geralt, feeling Cora's eyes on him for just a moment, looked at Cora and said, "There is nothing more enticing than a woman with a healthy appetite." He winked at her, and delighted in her giggle, before turning his attention back to Aurel.

He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder briefly, "Ach, unsinn! Alle fähigkeiten können trainiert werden. Why don't I help you, while I'm here? Who knows, maybe I'll learn something from the two of you." He glanced at Ivory, his expression darknening only slightly as he looked at her, "What's the game?" Whether she liked it or not, she had his company, at least until he lost interest in their game.

As Illyana finished washing the dishes, she noticed Lucien had taken over keeping inventory. Although this annoyed her, as it was her responsibility, this was her opportunity to speak with him while the others were distracted. She shimmied over to where he was and leaned in speaking, quietly but not whispering so as not to draw attention. "At least we can count on Ivory to keep him at a distance...Will you be around, later? There are a couple of things I wanted to discuss with you." There were still details about Geralt that she wanted to share from the night of their meeting. Although this was no urgent business, she wanted to keep Lucien appraised of all of the information she had on the Magician.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan huffed and looked away for a moment again, "Typical or not, the French love their wine..." Although this bias was comparable to the Irish Whiskey bias, Faolan just couldn't understand it. He could smell the viscous red liquid from here, and even this made his stomach turn. Wine, in his opinion, was the worst of alcohols. It took everything that was good about fruit, its sweetness and juiciness, and made it dry and tangy and bitter. Faolan almost stuck his tongue out in distaste at the thought.

At Lucien's next question, he looked to the Frenchman and his glass, then to the bartender. "Drinkin' has never been my favorite past time, no. I like to keep me wits about. Besides...you couldn't get me to drink that," he nodded to the glass, "if you were paying me."

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt kept his eyes on Ivory even through the Fortune Teller's interruption. Of course, while he did like to have the last word, he would have preferred it to be because he had outwitted whoever it was he was speaking with, and not because of some intrusion. It was no matter, though, he was sure that he would have many more chances to butt head's with the vampire knife thrower in the future.

Illyana, excited that her distraction had worked, took Aurel's plate and left the table to wash up. She had her back to the table as she did so, but kept her ears open in case the discussion started up again.

Cora was about to say something to Ivory when Akane returned with her plate. She looked over and a large smile lit her face as she saw the mound of savory treats the Kitsune had grabbed for her. "Oh, thank you so much! It smells delicious!" She slid the plate close to her, mouth watering and eyes wide with delight. She reached for a fat piece of sausage with her fingers, before pausing and, almost ashamed, reached down to pick up her fork. She then proceeded to eat, hastily and messily.

At the introduction of the cards to the table, Geralt's eyes seemed to brighten. He leaned forward, glancing between Ivory and Aurel, devilish glee in his expression as he spoke, "Oh, now that is interesting. I would love to stay and...observe, if that's alright with the two of you? I am quite a fan of cards, after all." The magician decided to shift his attention to Aurel, knowing that he would get his chance with Ivory. Her time in his spotlight was over...for the time being.