"This has got to be the lamest convention of all time," Liz groaned, draped over the back of one of the plush leather sofas in the common room of the lodge, looking upside down through a wide insulated window at the unceasing blizzard outside.
"I don't know," said Amy, turning over another card from the game of solitaire she had laid out before her. Luca meowed and tapped a stack with her paw—really, a game of solitaire was impossible with a hyperintelligent cat micromanaging every move. "It feels kinda homey, you know? Especially with Team Skylark back and since White Snow isn't here."
"Oh don't make me laugh, white snow isn't here!" Liz abandoned the window watching to curl up on the couch again, nestled deep in her borrowed sweater and clutching her knees. "Yeah, some vacation. Stuck in a building full of competition and team investors—whoop de friggin' do."
Luca meowed some chastisement and Amy rubbed her head with a smile. "Well, think about it—after the blizzard calms down, we can go skiing."
"Yeah, cold, more cold, and then how about a little extra cold," Liz grumbled into the turtleneck as Takeshi came back into the common room from the guest kitchen with mugs of cocoa. He only had two instead of their three, and then Liz saw Fantine Valjean following behind him with two more mugs and a saucer.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?" she asked with a smile, and Amy answered a yes while Liz avoided eye contact. Takeshi sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, handing her her mug of cocoa. "Also, we had a bit extra milk—I thought Luca might enjoy a saucer of hot milk." Luca pounced on the saucer with the same ferocity that Liz stared at Fantine. Fantine smoothed her skirt, sitting at the farthest possible point from Takeshi.
"Well, since we're all here, why don't we play cards?" she suggested with a bright smile.
In the two hours that followed… things escalated.
River "Slimy Bastard" Marque, probably holding two queens and claiming something about the spirit of Canada with red cards, eh?, egging on the others with every Canada joke which was made, and was quite probably more than halfway drunk. These Canada jokes came primarily from Liz "Gutter Rat" Ricarro, who was in all likelihood cheating for all her Puerto Rican slum youth was worth, and Yamma "Fucking Gringo" Stephens, who gave not one single damn about team loyalty as he kept having Irish coffees sent to his backup. It was unclear whether his strategy was to get River blackout drunk or make him abandon the game for the bathroom first. The classier side of the game was played by Alex "Prince" Cunningham and Fantine "Madame de Pompadour" Valjean (who really had no chance to win since this particular game played more stock in the vehemence of the players' verbal attacks than in her natural talent for seductive eye batting). Luca "Damn Cat" Stapleton had already been ejected from the game for counting cards, resulting in a brief squabble over how to divide the cat's spoils. At that moment, Jesse had stepped in, slapping her steno pad (less cumbersome than a clip board for travel) down, and declared herself the House, and collected Luca's winnings, fifty percent into a winner's pot, and the other fifty percent equally divided among the other players.
Liz Ricarro was out of money having made bet on a hand she had no idea if she could win, and was toying with a set of tiny gold hoops in her ears.
"I raise," she declared, removing the earrings as more than one woman gasped. Liz was slightly worried that two of the women gasping were standing behind the Slimy Bastard with his impervious Canadian maple syrupy smirk.
"L-Liz! I gave those to you!" Takeshi said, his hands ineffectually twitching as she hooked the rings together.
"Hey, it's not like I'm gonna lose 'em!" Liz said. She knew her tell was a dimple on the side of her chin that appeared when she faked bravado loud enough. Was that it? Did he see? Could he tell? Slimy Bastard. Liz dropped her earrings in the betting pile and Takeshi visibly deflated.
"Ooh my," Fantine said amidst the general reaction.
"Hey, you're up next Miss Priss," Liz said, throwing a possessive arm around Takeshi. "I'll have plenty to bet with when this hand is out." Her chin felt smoother that time, and it helped that people were laughing. Laughter was better than tense analysis. "C'mon, pretty boy! I'm callin'!"
"Oh, 'pretty boy'? I might just get jealous of Takeshi," River slurred. "All right. Call!"
He put down his cards. Two of Hearts, Three and Four of Diamonds, Queen of Hearts and Queen of Diamonds.
Liz waited half a beat for dramatic effect, laying down her cards—Four of Hearts, Five of Clubs, then three in a row black Jack, Queen and King. Liz howled with laughter, picked up her earrings, and started raking in the chips and cash.
"Um, Liz?" said Jesse
"What, you're gonna hold me to paying you back for that pizza now? Fine! Here, I've got the money!" Liz tossed a pair of 20s at Jesse.
"Liz, you didn't win the hand," Jesse said.
"What? What?" Liz grabbed her card. "Three in a row! Three in a row trumps a pair Especially since my three in a row has a king! Look!"
"That's two clubs and a spade," Jesse said. "Meaning you have two in a row, which doesn't beat a pair. River wins the hand."
Liz howled and collapsed, hunched between her knees, and surreptitiously slipped her earrings into the cuff of her shoe as she moaned.
"Hey, no hard feelin's right?" River asked, leaning over the table to gather his winnings. "And for the pretty lady with the notebook, I'd hate to see a pizza go unpaid for—" He pushed a pair of twenties and gave her a simultaneous wink, finger gun, and click of the tongue.
"The House does not accept bribes," Jesse said, rising from her seat on the floor to her knees, glaring at the company. "It does however accept tips and payments of debts." She slipped the bills into her back pocket and sat back down to the roars of laughter from the crowd.
In this distraction Liz put her earrings back on and grinned at Takeshi. They kissed as the next round was being dealt.