Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"So I drew another ogre. Does that mean I win?" Emma asked in confusion.
Alistair leaned over to look at her hand. "Um... no. You need to have four," he pointed at her cards, "when you have four, then it's an automatic win."
"Ohhhhh. Alright then," she nodded. She looked over her hand, but was quickly confused once more. "So then, if I have a unicorn, and then I have two ogre's and a griffon... this game doesn't make any sense!" she exclaimed as she threw her cards down on the table. She pushed her chair away from the table and stood. "I don't want to play this game anymore!" She turned and stormed off to the bar. Wynne and Leliana both couldn't help but giggle.
"Emma wait!" Alistair called to her, "come back! I'll help you!" She held up a hand as she walked away, signifying that she was done.
Alistair picked up her cards and looked them over more thoroughly. He saw she had a wild, two ogre's, a griffon, a unicorn and a castle. When you had the unicorn, castle and griffon it was a triple, and with the wild card it made it one more of any of the three... meaning you won. She also had two too many card's in her hand.
"Look at this," Alistair turned the cards to show Wynne and Leliana, "she probably won four turns ago," he laughed.
Leliana covered her mouth with her right hand and she laughed, "oh Maker. That girl..."
Wynne laid her cards down with a smile and a shake of the head, "her temper is a marvel," she gathered up the cards from the table.
Alistair looked over to Emma at the bar as she ordered more ale. "Emma!"
she was slipping her finger's through the handles of four mugs as she looked back at him. "I don't care! I'm not playing that game anymore!" she confirmed as she returned to the table.
"But look! I told you, when you have two-" he tried to explain it to her once more but was cut off.
"Alistair shush! I don't want to know what a griffon and a ogre and blahblah means. I am rubbish at this, and I don't like it," Emma set the mugs down on the table, gently pushing Wynne and Leliana's to them. She slid Alistair his and sat down, lifting her own mug to her lips.
"Okay now be quiet, and look," he insisted as he held her cards out to her. "Remember the three pair-wild card thing I told you about?" he asked.
Emma swallowed and set her mug down. She sighed with disinterest as she looked to the cards. "Okay, yeah?"
"When you have these three, and then get a wild to pair one of them...?" he left his sentence open for her to finish.
Her eyebrow's scrunched. She leaned in a little and saw that she indeed had those cards. She recalled having them for a while. She looked to Alistair who was waiting for her to speak.
"Then you win the game," her voice was soft and quiet.
Alistair laid her cards down and nodded. "Yes. That's right."
Emma looked over at Wynne and Leliana and could see their best efforts at hiding their amusement. She frowned. "Well... well then I won!" she exclaimed, trying to hide her embarrassment. She looked to the ale's on the table. "That means you all now owe me an ale, because I indeed won that last game," she boasted.
Alistair scoffed, "but you forfeit!"
"I still had the winning cards!" she argued.
"That doesn't matter!" he laughed. "Maker's breath, you're a cheater!"
"I am not!" Emma glared at him, "you just showed me the cards I had! I won!"
Wynne and Leliana were laughing heartily now at the ridiculous argument blossoming before them.
Emma turned to face Alistair and picked up the winning cards from her hand. "Look, you just told me. I had-" she tried to explain when he cut her off.
"I showed you that! You didn't even know you had them!" he snatched the cards out of her hand.
"Hey!" she reached for them but Alistair held them out of reach.
"This is a child's game! Why are you fighting?" Leliana asked, catching her breath from laughing at them.
Alistair hid the cards under the table where Emma couldn't grab them from him. "It's her, not me!" he protested his innocence.
"Oh, blame me! You were supposed to be helping me!" Emma glowered. Her brow then lifted with realization. She pointed to Alistair as she paused in her efforts to take her cards back from him. "You. You sabotaged me! You were looking at my hand the whole time!"
Alistair looked to her with hurt in his eyes. "I, I did no such thing! I was trying to help you!"
Emma crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, lifting her chin. "Lies. I can't believe you."
He pulled his hands from under the table and tossed the cards on its surface. "I'm never helping you again," he threatened sadly.
Emma turned her head and looked at the sad look on his face. Her heart crumbled. "Aw," she uncrossed her arms and turned to face him. She laid her hands on the top of his right thigh as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, "I'm sorry," she apologized sweetly.
Alistair smiled at the kiss, his expression brightening. Very well, then. I forgive you." Emma smiled. She gave his leg a squeeze before retracting her hands and turning to face the table. She watched on as Wynne gathered up the cards Alistair just tossed onto the table and shuffled them in with the rest.
"So... do you guys want to play again?" Emma asked. Her three companions looked at her before laughing heartily at the inquiry.
Alistair grabbed up his ale, took a sip and set it back down with a sigh of refreshment. He scooted his chair closer to the table and laid his hands palm down flat on the surface, "alright then. If I win, losers buy me a blueberry muffin."
"Ooh," Leliana liked the gamble. "I'll have a croissant with honey," she put in her prize if she won.
Wynne tilted her head as the shuffled the cards, thinking. "Hmm. Perhaps, a glass of wine will do," she bridged the cards as she spoke.
Emma leaned back in her chair as she grinned, "another ale'll be just fine."