"Glynda! It's good to see you." said Cinder, her arms open wide and walking toward Glynda.
Glynda smiled, leaving her plus one behind in the car to embrace her old roommate. "Likewise. You look well."
"Thank you." Cinder stepped back, her hands resting on Glynda's shoulders, looking her up and down. "My, aren't you a bit dressed up for a game in a shabby warehouse. Who's your friend?"
Glynda slipped from Cinder's hold and turned back to the car to retrieve a bag from the back seat while her companion walked around the car. "He's that guy I told you about from work, the one that started teaching there a year before me." she said before turning around and closing the door with her hip. "Zoroaster Ozpin, this is Cinder Fall. Cinder, Zoroaster."
"Oz is fine." stated the man quietly, holding out a hand.
Cinder gave him a twice-over, ignoring the hand, and leaned to the side to look at Glynda behind him. "Quite a dashing fellow you'd hooked yourself." she said with a smirk.
Glynda responded by shoving the bag, containing two bottles of wine, into Cinder's torso and walking past her. "Don't you dare think about it. I don't need that in my life."
The lights and sounds from downtown Vale crept into the wide alley but were muffled by the utter lack of activity and faded street lights around the warehouse. Oz, hesitant, was finally moved once led by Cinder, arm in arm, into following Glynda. The two shared a look, Oz's full of uncertainty and Cinder's nearly predatory.
"Oh now, don't be a pest. I'd only borrow him." Cinder called, catching up to the paused Glynda.
Her only response was that of a narrowed-eyed glare.
"Fine, fine, but no promises." Cinder shook off the accusation with a shake of her shoulders, both hands occupied. "Roman is already inside dear, up the stairs and I think he brought some good stuff."
A shudder and shaken head expressed her difference of opinion on what qualified as good alcohol. Glynda waited at the door, forcing Cinder to release Oz to hold it open.
Cinder laughed, leaning against the door. "Still can't stomach whiskey? That was so long ago. Have you at least grown into adult drinks like brandy yet?"
Glynda reached the stairs, nearly dragging her companion behind her, as the door shut behind them and the sound echoed through the building. "Grown?" she scoffed, glancing behind her. "I'll have you know that I have a very well-honed taste for wines, both dry and red. Beyond that, brandy is alright on ice cream."
Cinder's ring clanged against the railing below them as she supported herself from a fit of laughter. "I suppose you like Kahlua with cream and Bailey's in your coffee too, and call that drinking."
"There's nothing wrong with that!" argued Glynda, but despite her words her tone had softened. The flood of light from the hallway on the second floor was near enough to show Glynda's newly coloured cheeks, although it was a brief show beyond Cinder's view.
The hallway widened into an open meeting or break area, with a round table and counter-top adorned with drinks and snacks waiting for them. Roman's attention was lifted from his drink, and upon noticing the new arrivals stood and offered a short bow, his hat already resting on his chair. His plus one, in contrast, was leaning back in her chair playing with an umbrella and barely glanced sideways at their entrance.
"Hello ladies, gent." Roman greeted. He moved toward the counter of drinks but when waved off by Cinder instead used a hand to indicate the vacant chairs across from him before sitting back down.
Matching Roman's exaggerated manners, Oz pulled out a chair for Glynda before sitting down between her and Roman's friend. Cinder immediately began to pull out glasses from the cabinets.
"Please excuse my friend here; Neo doesn't seem to find enjoyment in pleasantries." said Roman as a way of introducing her.
Neo twisted to hold a hand out toward Oz, fingers pointed downward, while her left hung her umbrella on the back of her chair.
"Nice to meet you Neo, I'm Oz." he said, taking her hand in his and lifting it enough to lightly touch his lips.
Neither seemed to notice Glynda roll her eyes.
Neo giggled and turned to Roman, "I like this one."
"Don't tell me, I didn't bring him. Glynda, right?"
She nodded and looked to Neo, "Let's see how the game goes before we start making judgments."
Cinder laughed. "What a dreadful idea. Why not like each other before we steal your money, hmm? How quaint though, both of my friends paired up, but no one brought a date for lonely, single, Cinder?"
A laugh burst from Glynda, surprising Oz, and nearly matched by Roman who reined it back enough to comment.
"You could have brought your own date." he said, to which a second round of laughter filled the room.
Cinder smiled, leaning on the counter behind her to face the group. "Dear Roman, that is what you are here for."
It was Neo's turn to chuckle.
Glynda had finally gasped enough air into her lungs to contribute. "We all know that you would never be content with that, you are just too happy with many suitors."
Cinder laughed behind her hand, then changed it to a contemplative gesture. "I suppose you're right. Maybe I should just skip the formalities and start a harem in my basement."
Even Oz laughed at that, despite the small amount of horror that crossed his face.
Once the sounds of mirth trailed off Cinder was the first to speak. "What would you like to drink?"
Glynda opened her mouth to ask what the options were but was interrupted.
"Not you, I know what you're having. Oz, what suits your fancy?"
"Umm, what do you have?" he asked, searching the counter for something that caught his eye.
Cinder shook her head. "Tell me what you like. If we don't have it then there is enough I can come up with something along the same tastes."
Ozpin sighed. "My favorite drinks all involve coffee, but I wouldn't turn down a mint limeade or rum and coke."
Cinder turned back to the bottles. "Sweet with a bitter kick? I can see how you and Glynda get along so well."
Roman began shuffling the twin decks as Cinder poured. Glynda accusingly questioned him being the one to shuffle but the stubborn back-and-forth was ended with Oz's suggestion to split the deck into fourths, and let Cinder shuffle the sections together and deal. Neo countered with Cinder putting them together but another person dealing, and Cinder ended the entire debate by declaring that it would be split into thirds, she would put them together, and the person who had not shuffled would deal.
Cinder had brought the three drinks to the table, two white wines and a pink mint and rum concoction, when making that declaration. The group had voted Oz as the first dealer by the time she returned with the bottle of white wine to top-up Neo's glass. Cinder was not yet done; she stood over her chair to shuffle the decks together and handed the stack to Oz, then left again and returned with two trays of snacks that she placed around the cards sliding across the table, before finally sitting in the empty chair between Glynda and Roman.
The rules were simple: each player got a different colour chip and every chip was equally worth a single lien. Roman handled that distribution, although all money was to be left alone until the end. Eventually, as the formerly divided colours found themselves in five rainbow piles, the volume of taunts and chatter increased, forced louder over the laughter, and the empty snack trays were moved back to the counter. It was at the third reshuffle, still using the same complicated approach, that Cinder collected the empty bottles and glasses when she got up to stretch her legs.
"Hey, you're holding the game up, come sit back down." complained Neo playfully as she sorted her five cards.
Cinder laughed. "Hold on, we need more booze before we start thinking clearly enough to have someone wipe the others clean."
"You wish, Cin. Your pile has a cute dent in it; part of your strategy?" taunted Roman.
"Damn straight!" said Cinder, playing into his game to throw him off. She placed a glass of red, nearly pink water beside Neo. "Cranberry juice and vodka for the spiteful bluffer."
After recovering from a bout of laughter Oz chimed in. "Don't act so smug yourself Roman, my nice stack of orange suggests that won't be you either." he said, playing with his chips.
Between Glynda and Oz, Cinder placed a glass each of red wine and of rum in coke, using the moment to whisper something to Oz, to which Glynda made a sound of protest and lightly shoved Cinder back. When Cinder sat down she had a glass of whiskey for herself and slid a glass of brandy towards Roman who had been prepared to complain about the service.
"Oh! I nearly forgot . . . " Cinder jumped from her chair, which threatened to topple, and opened the fridge. With the cold tray in one hand and a stack of napkins in the other she offered the chilled desserts to each player, starting with Roman.
The tray made a second pass around the table before being placed upon the other two by Roman as the game resumed along with conversation. The clock ticked forward; the occasional yawn was had; drinks were emptied and refilled.
"I raise two." said Cinder, tossing two more chips into the center.
Roman folded, Oz called, and Neo waited a moment before folding as well. Cinder's smile stretched when she dropped her hand face-up on the table. A quick glance at Oz's face told her all she needed to know but she looked at his cards for safety before standing up and leaning over the table to pull the pool into her pile. Neo was refreshing her drink, and others on request, while Cinder quickly stacked her winnings and counted her total.
"Too bad you two folded, it looks like I've just barely broken even now." said Cinder, pushing her chair back. She tossed a green chip at Oz. "It's been fun, but unfortunately I need to be leaving; it's a bit late for me."
"Late? For you? What, just afraid you'll end up down by the end?" Roman teased.
"That's not fair." said Glynda, looking at her watch. "I'd try to go to bed later than this and you'd complain I was a prude."
"Are you calling me a prude?" asked Cinder, leaning toward Glynda. "Who did we discuss making a basement harem?"
Neo giggled, "It's all an act! Tis lies!"
"Inconceivable." said Roman, smiling at Neo.
"It all makes so much sense now." added Oz, his tone light and his eyes glazed looking past Roman to sell his comment.
Cinder let out a growl of frustration, throwing up her arms. "You people are impossible!" Her face was a tad bit flushed and a smile gave away her true feelings toward the group.
Walking past Glynda toward the door, Cinder bent down to kiss her on the cheek. "Send me a message soon, okay?" Glynda nodded in agreement while Cinder stood and addressed Roman. "And I'll be seeing you on Monday, here."
At the stairs she called back, "Thank you all for a delightful evening."
Cinder's abrupt departure took a moment to settle in on the group.
"Now that she's gone, we could switch to a more interesting game, something with more exciting stakes." suggested Roman, breaking the silence.
"What to you have in mind?" Glynda asked.
"Why not square away these chips and play for clothes?" Roman pressed.
"Maybe," started Neo, looking around the table, "but let's play something other than poker, something a bit different."
"Anything in mind?" asked Roman.
Neo tilted her head, tapping her chin with a finger, before shrugging her shoulders. "Nothing in particular, any ideas?" She turned to Glynda and Oz expectantly.
Glynda held her gaze, "Have you ever play kemps?" she asked the whole table, but specifically watching Neo.
The other three affirmed that they had and the game was agreed upon. To keep it interesting they decided partners would be the person across, as per Glynda's suggestion of men vs women so no one had to move, with no time to discuss tells.
Neo started to clear the table while Roman and Glynda counted up chips and started settling accounts. Oz was left the task of splitting the two decks and then reshuffling one of them. Before long the table was completely clear, save for the one deck that Neo was dealing out. She placed the final four cards upside-down on the table, then the desk beside her, and had a hand over her four cards.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Go!" called Roman, his hand hitting his cards and picking them up as his other reached to flip one of the public cards.
The other three players followed suit and so began the mad rush to trade out cards. One by one the players leaned back, watching carefully but not seeing any cards of their chosen type appear. Oz reached across the table and dragged the four cards to a spot between him and Neo, the latter picking up the deck to deal the next four.
"Kemps!" called Glynda before the new cards could be laid out. She pointed her hand at Neo, smiling at her wide-eyed partner.
Neo shook her head, but Glynda repeated herself.
Neo laid down her hand, "No," she said with uncertainty. A look at Glynda's smirk, not far off from the one Cinder often wears, and her hands moving to her stomach were all the clues she needed. "No, I don't even have three of a kind." Neo said with far more conviction and a slight smile of her own.
Glynda took her time, carefully unlacing her corset one pull at a time. Neo cleared her throat and tapped the shuffled deck in front of Roman, reminding him to deal the next hand.
Even before the first flurry of card changes ended Roman took a sip from his drink.
"KEMPS!" exclaimed Neo a bit too loudly. Her empty hand was pointed accusingly at Roman, she herself on her feet.
Roman laughed. "Do you two not know how to play this game? People don't win that quickly, nor use such obvious tells."
"Show us your cards." demanded Neo.
He did, displaying a hand with not a single pair.
Neo coughed into a fist, her face a bit redder than one might expect of her, then put her hands on her waist. She squeezed, her gaze fixated on her clothing, and excruciatingly slowly pulled her hands out, all but the top clasps of her corset coming apart. She put her hands down her jacket and the garment fell to the floor sounding heavier than one might expect. Neo saw Glynda's smile, hidden behind her cards, and returned it as she sat back down.
That was the last round the pair would lose for the rest of the night.
"Evil witches, the lot of you!" cried Roman.
An unsympathetic Neo shrugged. "You lost. Your payment please."
Roman had won the debate on whether his scarf would count earlier, but now with just his boxers he was regretting challenging them for one last round.
"Come on, isn't there something else?"
"Shy Roman? Not something I would expect from you. You were the one to suggest this version of the game."
"What about my hat, doesn't that count?" he pleaded.
Three voices in unison responded with, "No!"
Glynda tapped her cheek with a finger. "No, but perhaps there is something else you can do to pay your debts. Neo, how would you like some fresh air? I think these two are fine to clean up on their own."
Neo was quiet for a minute, looking between the other three faces. "I suppose I would not be opposed to that. What did you have in mind?"
Glynda smiled, "I'd be up for about anything. I've heard the city glows at night and it's been awhile since I've seen that."
"Alright. Roman, do you acc-"
"Yes! Yes dear god yes." said Roman emphatically.
The two women picked up their corsets and turned away from the table to put them back on. Neo was fast, adjusting her jacket and walking behind Roman before Glynda turned around. She rested her hands on his shoulders for a moment before plucking his jacket from the chair and swinging it over her shoulders.
"Wait! That wasn't part of the deal."
"It is now."
Glynda turned, her fingers tying her laces and tucking them in while she looked on in amusement. She passed Oz, just as bare as Roman, on her way out.
"This has been fun, let's do it again sometime." she whispered, her hands on his shoulders mirroring what Neo had done. As she slid her hands away she took his coat as well. "I'll give it back to you on Monday." she said, walking away.
It took Oz a beat to respond, but with a red face and indecently attired he sprung from his chair, knocking it over, and called down the stairs, "Nnn-no! Th-that's fine! Just keep it!"