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Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Ivory didn't respond, knowing he had taken satisfaction in the fact she had won with that card. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of receiving a retort. At his final comment, the dhampir just looked over in Aurel's direction. It was really up to him, considering he was the one who had to learn. While she would prefer to be doing something that did not require the magician's presence, it wasn't like she had anything else to do at this time of day either.

Aurel glanced at Geralt and then at Ivory as the man suggested a different game. Honestly he would have been okay with watching the two of them play, since it wasn't often he got to see someone who could compete with Ivory's pokerface, but he didn't mind changing the game either.

"Sure.. I don't mind. This is how we usually pass the time." He said.

It was by then that Akane and Cora had finished with the dishes, and had returned to the table.

"May we join you? It looks like fun." Akane commented as she brought Cora up to the end of the table, before taking the spot that Lucien had previously been occupying. She always found the games of cards interesting, and even though she usually lost, it was fun to take part with everyone else.

Ivory glanced at the two women, she didn't like that Cora had been placed next to Geralt but, she'd be sure to keep an eye on him.

"I don't see why not."

--

Lucien listened quietly as Illyana spoke. He could not deny that the things she was telling him were definitely of interest, but he didn't find them strongly alarming.

"Well.. at this point we know that he's not human, but not many here are." He said with a small sigh.

"Look, Illy, I know you're really hung up on wanting to know what's going on with him, but we do not have to react negatively to everything. Akane's shadow shifts all the time, that doesn't necessarily mean it's something bad. I'm not telling you not to be worried or curious, I know you trust your instincts, and I do too. We're keeping an eye on him, I'm less concerned about what he is, and more concerned about what his intentions are." Over the years, Lucien had learned to never judge a book by it's cover. In his travels he had encountered other supernatural, he knew they were out there, and he never judged them by what they were, only by their actions. It had been the same with Faolan too.. despite how intimidating he appeared at first glance.. he knew the man was kind.

"I don't want you losing anymore sleep over this."

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien briefly glanced down at Marie at her question, honestly distracted by having been keeping his eyes on Faolan. He didn't like how close the other woman was getting to him when he was clearly uncomfortable with it. Granted not everyone could read Faolan's body language like he could but.. still.

"Me? I'm twenty-seven." He told her honestly, not even thinking twice about it. The Frenchman definitely did not look his age, but in that circumstance he had not even considered lying.

"The French age quite well, then. I'm a bit jealous." Marie chimed, before glancing over at Charlotte.

"Just the next block over, it's quite close." She responded to Faolan's question.

It was difficult for Lucien to maintain his focus on Faolan and Charlotte, any time he'd glance over to see what they were doing, Marie seemed to try to pull his attention away from them.

"So how come you've waited so long to drink? I hear the French love their wine." She commented.

"Oh.. well I've drank before, just not to this extent." Despite how sensible he sounded, he was trying to make an attempt to not slur his words as he spoke. He knew his head was still not clear, but at least the cool night air was helping him feel less warm. If he was feeling like this, he wondered how Faolan was faring. The man had a much higher body temperature than he.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien didn't respond to the woman, turning slightly to look at Faolan as the woman named Charlotte spoke to him. It was clear by his body language that he was uncomfortable. He of all people knew that Faolan did not like to be touched, even more so by people he didn't know. His stare was more than enough to ask for his assistance, and honestly he couldn't say he liked how close this woman was getting to him. He was about to speak up, but he felt a slight tug on his shoulder as Marie sought his attention again.

"Oh you're about to leave? Well in that case, would you care to walk us home? I hear the French have the best manners. You wouldn't allow two women to walk home by themselves at this hour would you? We don't live that far." She asked, leaning closely against his shoulder. At this, Lucien hesitated slightly, knowing Faolan wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. They weren't wrong, walking home by themselves could be dangerous.. and while the sober version of himself might actually know better, his drunk self couldn't bear the thought. What if something happened?

"No.. of course not. We'll be sure to see you two home." He said, using that chance to also rise to his feet. For a moment his lightheadedness kicked in, and he almost lost his balance, however, Marie had been quite sure to hang on tightly to him, placing a hand on his chest.

"You alright there? You can hang on to me if it's difficult to walk." Marie said with a smile.

Lucien shook his head, attempting to pull away slightly. "It's quite alright, I just stood up too suddenly." He said before calling the bartender over and paying the tab. With that, they were quick to leave the bar. Despite his previous words, Marie didn't seem to be in a particular rush to let go of him. The fresh, cold air felt good on his face, but he didn't get too long to focus on the feeling as the woman spoke up again.

"So, what brought you two out tonight?" She asked.

"Hmm? Oh.. I saw a few men leaving the bar having quite the good time, and I got curious and wanted to give drinking a try." He didn't feel conflicted about being honest, there wasn't really any reason to hide why they had come.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien was snapped out of his train of thought by the two women that had approached him. Honestly his attention had been almost completely entranced by Faolan that he hadn't even noticed them. He didn't necessarily feel annoyed, but he wished he could have spoken with Faolan a little longer on the subject. He turned slightly toward the woman that had taken a seat next to him.

"I'm French. My good friend here is Irish." He responded for the both of them. He could tell by the women's accents that they were American.

"Oh? How interesting! What brings you all the way to Wisconsin?" The one named Marie asked, leaning a little more toward Lucien.

"Hmm? Ah, well we travel around a lot, this was just one of many stops we've made." His tone was bright and chipper as he spoke, in quite the good mood.

"To have home all the way from France, you've certainly travelled a long way! I hear the French language is very romantic, would you mind saying something in French for us?"

This was not the first time Lucien had heard this, so he didn't really mind, if that's what the woman wanted. "What would you like me to say?" He asked.

"You two were having such a lovely conversation before our arrival, how do you say romance in French?" Marie asked curiously. At this, Lucien couldn't help but smile a little amusingly.

"Romance." He said, but thick with his French accent. Throughout the years he had gotten a lot better at hiding it, but it came out completely when he was drunk like this.

"It sounds so much better when you say it!" The woman exclaimed, her hand running along the back of his chair. It was then that Charlotte turned to Faolan.

"What about you, big man? Do you want to say something in Irish for us?" She asked, leaning a bit closer to the Irishman.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Ivory didn't comment on anything Geralt said. It wasn't surprising that he had noticed her slight irritation, though she doubted he would have known the reason behind it at the time. She glanced down at the table as he turned his cards, before she moved her cards toward the center of the table and flipped them as well. The same card defined both of what could have been either of their victories, but Ivory's suit was higher, granting her the win. Still, she couldn't help but feel irritated that it was the Ace of Spades that had given it to her.

"Beeindruckend." Aurel said, eyes shooting from Geralt to Ivory as the cards were set down. This round had been an extremely close call, just the fact that an Ace had showed up in both of their hands was pretty amazing on it's own. Glancing at Ivory's, he could remember that it was the card she had said she had found on her person after they had seen Geralt. Now it made sense as to why she had seemed annoyed, even though the card itself was good. It made sense why that of all things could betray her composure. If it hadn't been for that, Aurel might have assumed that the dhampir had been trying to trick him.

"Better luck next time." She said simply.

"You're definitely a lot better at this than I am." The man commented. Even though the Ace he held was really good, he had never once let it show in his expression. If Aurel hadn't seen the card for himself, he would have never suspected it.

--

Lucien looked curiously down at Illy as she refused to speak until they had finally arrived, but he decided not to ask as they continued on. She hadn't wasted any time once they were inside. He raised his eyebrows slightly as she spoke, surely hoping that this wasn't the reason why she had been staying up. Knowing her though, it was probably exactly why.

"Well, what did you see?" He asked.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien looked at Faolan almost innocently at his comment. "Indeed." He said a little amusingly. He should have known this would encourage Faolan to take another drink to even the odds. He honestly hadn't known that it would be this easy for him to rope Faolan into competition, but he liked how things were going.

At the Irishman's following comment, it was his turn to laugh. "I wouldn't mind, I can actually sing pretty well~" He said. It was something that he often had to do in Church, so he was well practiced. It did make him curious as to whether Faolan could do the same, but he didn't ask.

--

By the time they had almost made it through the bottle, Lucien was definitely feeling the effects of alcohol. He felt a little lightheaded and.. awfully bright in terms of mood. He was very satisfied with himself, because by the fifth glass, it had been clear that Faolan was drunk, but Lucien was still hanging on. Despite that, though, Faolan had refused to give up, and they had continued to drink until they had almost swept through the bottle. The bartender had stopped a couple more times after this to offer them more water, and had commended him. Definitely one of the most resilient Frenchman he had ever seen.

The now red-faced Frenchman was facing Faolan, elbow on the table as he rested his cheek against his palm, swirling a cup of water in his hand. He couldn't help but not be able to tear his eyes from the Irishman in his current state. There.. was just something about him. He really wished they could do this more often.

At his comment, the nephilim raised his eyebrows and shook his head, golden eyes still on the Irishman. Right now it didn’t even matter how loud the bar actually was. He was focused on only him. "No, but I'd love to know." He said, clearly interested in what Faolan had to say.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Aurel moved aside a little to give Geralt more room as he began to play against Ivory, paying very close attention to him, before shifting his gaze to the dhampir. He did actually catch the change in her expression, which was a little odd, considering she almost never gave anything away.

Ivory attempted to keep a neutral expression after that, determined not to give anything else away to him. She was annoyed by his words, but it wasn't like he was wrong. The key was to keep an eye on your opponent, he was just being creepy about it. She drew the next card and set it down, the Ace of Diamonds. She kept a completely blank expression this time, with just a hint of her previous annoyance, but that wasn't in relation to any of the cards. Of course she wasn't surprised to see Geralt's expression betraying nothing, she knew better than to trust whatever tell he might give her, the man was clearly an expert when it came to hiding his true feelings, so she didn't expect to get any sort of read on him. She didn't speak, since the man was clearly knowledgeable on the subject, she decided to just let him explain.

Lucien nodded, giving the others one last glance before taking his leave with Illyana. While he was a little concerned of what might happen with him gone, he did have faith in Aurel to keep things calm. Despite his shyness, he was actually pretty good at it. When they were far enough away to not risk getting overheard, he spoke up as they made their way to his trailer.

"So.. what did you need to speak to me about?" He asked.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien could begin to see the change in Faolan's physique. He wasn't sure if he was actually feeling the alcohol, or if this was just the warmth of the alcohol that was making him this way. He could only imagine he also looked a little red. In their years of travel he had seen how he got when he was exposed to the sun for too long, similarly to how he was now. It was kind of cute, in all honesty. It made him smile.

"It's a matter of getting used to it, I suppose." He said, before his smile shifted into a bit of a grin again. "Though I should remind you that I already did have a glass of wine. That's three drinks for me versus the two you've had. Just.. throwing it out there." He said a little amusingly, just as the bartender stopped by again with two glasses of water.

"Gotta say I never thought I'd see the day where a Frenchman was holding his own against an Irishman in a drinking contest. Best of luck to ya." He said, before heading off to attend someone else. Lucien gratefully took the glass of water, it definitely helped to clear away a bit of the aftertaste of that whiskey. He couldn't help but feel at least a little proud that he was still hanging on, even if he could begin to feel physically affected in temperature, he still felt like his head was quite clear.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Faolan." He added.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Aurel glanced at Geralt as he spoke.

"Akane's attempted her hand at it, but her pokerface is a little worse than mine." He commented, causing the kitsune's ears to twitch and smile sheepishly in their direction. If Aurel was obvious, Akane was on a whole other level. The motions of her ears and tails were usually what gave her away. Lucien was really the only one who was good at it, but Aurel didn't have the need to state that their ringleader had a good pokerface. Illy was also a good contender, but there were some games she didn't want to play with them because of unfairness. At his offer to play Ivory, the man simply looked to Ivory, leaving the decision up to her.

Even though the dhampir was not particularly inclined to play Geralt, she knew this would probably be a good learning experience for him. Lucien did not really have as much free time to help her teach him. She simply shrugged in acceptance, and began to shuffle the cards again, giving the man his two cards before taking her own.

The three cards placed in the middle of the table were the Ace of Clovers, The Three of Spades, and the Five of Hearts. Ivory glanced down at her cards, though this time she had only lifted them just enough to see them. She could not help the twitch of her brow this time around, a sign of brief irritation, before her expression neutralized again.

Akane was quick to rise from her chair, glad that Illyana had accepted their help, before reaching for Cora's hand and leading her up to the sink so they could begin to help out with the dishes.

It was around this time that Lucien finished taking inventory, and then gave the table a brief glance. So Geralt was playing Ivory? That was certainly.. interesting. He hoped no sparks would fly while he was gone, though knowing how much Ivory wanted to teach Aurel to get better, he figured it would go alright. He walked to Illy and handed her the clipboard.

"It's done." He said. "Shall we go?"

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien couldn't help but laugh at Faolan's words. "It's not often I see you get competitive, forgive me for wanting to see a bit more." He said with a small grin, though he didn't tear his gaze away from the Irishman.

"I won't, promise." He said with confidence. While he wasn't sure whether it would be true, he kept in mind that his body had always been pretty resilient. That made him believe that he had the potential to last a lot longer than the average person when it came to this. It was also one of the things he had been curious to find out for sure. He reached for the bottle, and poured the same amount as before into both glasses, before sliding Faolan's glass back in his direction.

"But if it does happen, you can just carry me back. Since you'll probably be okay." He said jokingly as he raised his glass, and then drank it in the same way as the previous time. Now that he wasn't caught by surprise by the strong taste, it was a little easier to down this time around. He couldn't deny the warmth this drink brought on, but he still felt relatively clear headed.

"That time wasn't so bad." He commented, his voice less hoarse this time around.