"Damnit I can never win at this game!"
"Sorry, miss, maybe next time!"
Natsu Dragneel smiled, sending the young, rich, and probably drunk, woman off with a wave. Of course he just told the biggest lie in the universe, seeing as he never lost a game. If there was anything Natsu was good at, it was pulling the wool over people's eyes, and deceiving.
Well maybe combat also fit the bill.
Unbeknownst to the people who entered the small casino parlor, Natsu Dragneel had actually aided the victory of many-a-war, but somewhere down the road, the lives that he took began weighing on his soul too heavily, and eventually, he just kinda stopped.
Of course he still had a way of getting what he wanted. And that was through games. Card games, board games, party games, games of chance, luck, life and death. And after about after about 400 years he had perfected his skill, and could flawlessly outsmart people at any day of the week.
And what he craved now, more than anything else? Information. Information on a person close to him who had gone missing recently. But the odd thing was, why was sniffing him out so hard to do? Tracking was usually one of his strong suits.
Natsu stuffed his deck in his pocket, as another dealer came to take over, forcing Natsu to straighten his tie, before leaving the small establishment, into the dark, damp street. Grimacing, he found it was drizzling out. Now his clothes would be ruined. Great.
Hat now tipped down to keep the rain out of his eyes as he picked up his pace into a light jog. Natsu took cover into a alley, where the roofs were angled in such a way that the water just missed him, allowing the lean man to rest while he waited for the rain to pass.
Natsu paused as he wrung the water out of his tie, hearing voices further down the alley, one of that being a more feminine voice, the other obviously being male. And so, with the utmost delicacy, he crept to the corner, the voices becoming louder as he did so.
"I won already, girlie, now... It's time for my prize."
"W-Wait, best two out of three...?"
"Not interested"
Natsu quickly showed himself before the situation could get anymore dicey than it already was, revealing a blonde girl in a red silky dress, and a guy in a suit, with a pin tacked on the front, looking like two intertwined hammers.
Looks like fate was smiling on Natsu today.
"Mind a change in players?" Natsu practically purred, stepping forward, past the shocked blonde, sizing up the man before him, who had dirty blonde, chin length hair, and animalistic eyes. This one shouldn't be too hard.
"Oh yeah? And what do you want?" His opponent growled, eyes glancing back at the young woman who was to be his prize.
Natsu grinned, the corners of his mouth pulling back to reveal fanged teeth "Double or nothing, shall we?" he insisted "You win, you get both me and the girl, no questions asked." Natsu could faintly hear said girl protesting behind her, but he easily dismissed it.
There was a small pause before the young man across from them raised a thin, curious brow "And if YOU win?"
"You tell us anything we want to know." Natsu reasoned simply "Unless, that is, you're scared to take a chance?" The two men entered a stare off., but Natsu already knew the outcome. Male pride was something so easy to use, it was laughable, really. Not accepting a presented challenge was like saying your own self-doubt to the enemy, at least in their own minds.
It wasn't long before he agreed, albeit, a bit reluctantly, and Natsu walked over, sitting himself across from his new target, crossing one leg over the other.
"What's the game?" The blonde male asked as Natsu pulled his deck from his vest pocket, shuffling the cards expertly.
"A game of wit." Natsu answered, eyes alight with playful mischief , as he set the deck in the middle, of the small, makeshift table. "The game itself is simple. We each pull a card off the top of this deck, and the other must guess what it is. We each have three turns"
The other man looked apprehensive, narrowing his dark eyes at the pink haired guy across from him "Game of wit? More like game of luck. And what if neither gets it right after three turns?" he demanded, making Natsu roll his eyes.
"If it reassures you, if none of us get it within the allotted time, you automatically win." Natsu answered impatiently, waving his hand dismissively, watching his expression turn much more sinister. Natsu couldn't help but smirk. "With the odds stacked up like that, I'd say Lady Luck is in your favor, no?"
Human nature was always so easy to manipulate, and that much hadn't changed over the years. Always so easy to rile them up, and make them walk right into your trap. Even now it was stupidly easy to read them. 'I just have to wait it out and I win!' was such a simple and cowardly thought, and this man would have to try much harder to win against Natsu in cards.
The first two rounds went as anyone would expect, and neither had guessed the others card, which in turn made the gentleman more excited and less focused, as he anticipated his victory.
Well, that was a lie; Natsu knew what the man's card was, but he always enjoyed letting them think they had bested him only to utterly disappoint them again.
"Is it a queen of hearts?" the man said, eyes flashing dangerously as he thought he had already won. But what he hadn't known was that he had lost the moment he crossed paths with Natsu.
"No. And your card is the jack of spades." Natsu said simply, watching his opponent's face drop in seconds.
"H-How-?! You just got lucky!" He barked, standing abruptly, Natsu standing casually after him, chuckling.
"I also know your last two cards you held were a two of diamonds and a 8 of clubs, because you were SO insecure about your game skills, that you swapped out your card on each turn." Natsu stated matter-of-factly, stepping forward to rip the man's sleeve, sending cards scattering from it, and fluttering into the puddles of water around them.
The once cocky individual paled, stepping back "H-How did you-!" he stammered, backing up, gasping as his back hit the wall, Natsu stepping towards him the whole way.
"If you paid any attention to your surroundings, you would've noticed the window directly behind you, which made it easy to see your cards and what you were doing, thanks to the dim sky." Natsu quipped, before reaching out, snagging the terrified person by his suit collar.
"And now, you will tell me." Natsu started coolly, before his gaze hardened, glaring hard enough to set the boy to flames in his hand, and speaking loudly and firmly;
"WHERE. IS. ZEREF?"