Prologue: Friday

"Read it and weep, ladies and gentlemen."

Twisted Fate tossed his cards to the table, a serenade of groans and curses shortly following as he leant back, savouring his friend's misfortunes. Friday was possibly his favourite day of the week, not because it signalled the beginning of the weekends, when no champions were required to compete in matches, but mostly due to the fact that it was the sole day of the week he was admitted entrance into the Institute's local casino.

Graves shoved his chips towards his side of the table harshly, grabbing his glass of scotch that lay beside a discarded flush. "I swear to god, Tobias. You put on that toothy grin of yours one more time and I can't guarantee ya'll be able to smile again." The alcohol disappeared rapidly down his throat as the rest of the players murmured to themselves.

The gambler shrugged, inspecting one of the many chips that lay before him, elegantly flipping it between a pianist's fingers. "You have my condolences, old friend. But I did warn you to save some of that loot we made, didn't I?"

With a growl the mercenary stood, wading his way through the hustle and bustle of waitresses and patrons towards the bar for what he presumed would be more drinks. Chuckling softly his eyes averted to his other friends. Yasuo held his head in one hand, counting the small tower of winnings he had earned. Sivir and Vi were both casually chatting and Braum listened intently, sipping on a glass of ice water. As much as he loved winning, inside Tobias Foxtrot had to admit that he genuinely appreciated the company around him, at least when they inevitably lost it wasn't briefly followed by drawn pistols and knives. He was about to close his eyes before a hand was placed upon his shoulder. Sharp nails clicked in a soothing rhythm as he felt a presence all too familiar beside him. A thin smile appeared as his hand raised to source, placing it on the chilling touch he had expected. "Nice of you to drop by, Ev".

"A shame I missed out on the final hand," she commented, eyeing the mountain of tokens before him. "But a part of me is saying nothing out of the ordinary happened."

"Guilty as charged," he replied as she bent down, kissing him on the cheek. Her lips were cold as always, a little different than the usual woman, but after the tenth time he got used to it. Noticing a lack of vacant chairs, with the exception of Graves's one, he shifted in place, tapping Vi's leg with his boot. "Mind vacating that spot for my lady, ol' buddy ol' pal?"

She turned from Sivir, raising an eyebrow as he complimented his favour with a smile. "Normally I'd tell you to go fuck yourself," looking up at the widowmaker she shrugged, getting up from her place. "But that's Evelynn's job I'm guessing."

With a curtsy to the enforcer she pulled the chair closer to Tobias, sitting down while his arm wrapped around her shoulder. "Thank you Vi, and I think I'm doing you a favour by giving you some space from Twisty anyway."

"True," she commented, making her way behind Sivir to where Yasuo sat, the samurai having just put away his winnings for the night. "Windchime, care to move aside for a smokin' hot gal?"

The samurai looked up, then around at the crowded gambling hall. "Why? I don't see Riven anywhere."

His response was met with a bout of conjoined laughter, even Braum was chuckling as Tobias winked at the wanderer. "Nice one, paintbrush."

Dismissing him with a wave of her hand she delivered a soft backhand to his ponytail, sitting down where Graves sat. All of the outlaw's belongings still lay on the table, so she helped herself to a fat cigar, grabbing his ornate lighter whilst doing so. "I'm pretty sure hotshot won't mind if I borrowed one of his smokes, right Fate?"

He shrugged, noticing a hulking figure walk towards them as she took a long drag. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

A gloved hand found itself holding onto the tip of her cigar, soon followed by his face, twisted into a scowl right beside hers. "I don't exactly remember giving y'all permission to steal one of my favourite ciggies, Vi."

For a moment she sat frozen, before she turned to face him with a smug grin. "I don't steal, I just borrow," with that she inhaled another breath.

"Well, care to give me back those two drags you just took?". All eyes watched them in anticipation of what would happen next.

Vi nodded, blowing a mouthful of foul smoke straight into the Outlaw's face as response. The Outlaw shouted her name in the confusion, attempting to grab her, yet she had already begun sprinting past the group. "See you guys tomorrow, thanks for the game!"

Evelynn rolled her eyes, resting her head against his shoulder as Graves ran past as well, death threats on his lips as the crowd parted for the duo. "Sometimes I question your choice in friends" she mused.

The Freljordian looked towards them, a well-meaning smile always on his features. "Braum thinks that Tobias has made a good choice. However, it may be wise to keep mister Graves and miss Vi apart for a few days."

Sivir snorted, punching Braum playfully in the shoulder. "Let Caitlyn figure those two out big guy, probably the only one who can stop them from blowing up the Institute one day."

"Amen for that," Twisted Fate commented, turning his attention to Yasuo, who had tied his katana to his rope sash. "You heading off, Yasuo?"

"Yeah, promised to walk Riven home after her shift." He scanned over the group, confused. "I swear I saw her a few seconds ago."

With a raised eyebrow he looked behind the Ionian, spotting the aforementioned Exile a few feet away. "Behind you, windboy."

Before he could turn Riven's hand caught his waist, her head appearing soon after, resting her chin on his mantle. "Hey there."

"You're already dressed? Swear I saw you in that bunny suit of yours a few minutes ago."

She raised an eyebrow. "Sure you haven't drunk too much there? My shift ended almost ten minutes ago."

He shrugged, planting a kiss on the Noxian's forehead. "Whatever, it's late."

She nod in agreement, smiling at the rest of the group, more specifically the card master and the widowmaker. "Tobias, Evelynn. Hope you're both going well."

"Can't complain," the blue-skinned woman mused. "Same old same old."

"That's good." With that she let go of Yasuo's waist, replacing them in his grip. "ready to go?"

"Considering we've got a warm bed and sake waiting, more than ready."

The pair waved goodbye as they made their way out, much more peacefully then Graves and Vi had earlier. The table grew silent as Twisted Fate sighed in content, finally resting his eyes for the first time that night. The buzz of drinks, noise and Evelynn's cool touch finally subsiding to bring him at a total state of peace.

He had friends, money, a woman.

What could possible go wrong?

Hi...

I'm not dead.

Okay, so this is a short chapter because it's ofc the prologue. I know it's been a while since I last posted and I apologise for that, also for my updates which has a mixed reaction upon you readers. But, I can happily say that A Lucky Hand AND Project: Invictus are finally off haitus and back onto my writing schedule! I'll try to update at least weekly so you can all look forward to that. Also most of you have seen that I deleted all previous chapters, that's mainly because I didn't want to start a new story since I know quite a few people enjoy this one in particular. Therefore if I post it here the people who follow and favourite this story can be notified that I'm starting it up again. If you want any of the older chapters (idk why but hey, maybe) you can message me personally and I'll send over the ones you want, if you even want them.

It's been a long time since I've written TF and over that 6 months I've learned alot from my blog (secret) and writing in general, it's great to be back and Chapter 1 shall be seen shortly.

P.S: I want to personally thank Elly, Checkies, Juju and Tofu boy for giving me the confidence and courage to write again. They're nicknames so they may not mean much to you, but they know who they are :^)

Until next chapter,

Redgum