"Oh, come on, it'll be fun. Why don't you pick yourself a card?"

He frowned and looked up at his new client. This one was really a troublesome one. Of course, Larry was troublesome (he didn't pay him, though he suppose it's okay since they were friends), so was Max Galactica (he kept calling him Sweetie; what was that supposed to mean?!) and also Ron DeLite (he screams too much). But this one, Thomas Ferret, was simply… unbelievable. For someone who was put in the defendant's chair he was extremely calm and collected. Was it because of he trusted him? Or was it because he was truly guilty? No! He slapped himself mentally. All his clients are innocent. This one was also innocent. He was. He must be.

"Well, Mr. Wright?" Ferret smiled calmly, a calmness that slowly creeped Phoenix out.

"Come on, Nick! It's just a game!" Maya encouraged him.

"Yes, Mr. Nick, I also want to see you play poker!" Pearl chided.

"Yup! Besides, I'm sure you'll be good in this one!" Maya smiled.

"How come?" Phoenix couldn't help but ask.

"Isn't poker and court trials similar?" Maya asked back.

Similar? Phoenix's eyes diverted to the cards in Ferret's hands. Ferret slowly shuffled the cards in his hands, still smiling calmly to Phoenix, but his eyes screamed for a new challenge. His eyes said, "Beat me, that way I'll be sure you'll have me declared innocent." Seeing the look in Ferret's eyes, Phoenix decided to take on the challenge.

"You know, I'm really good in poker," Ferret said as he handed Phoenix his cards. "My friends calls me The Poker King back in my neighborhood. No one could beat me there."

"Really?" Phoenix asked, amazed. "I don't really know about poker myself. I haven't got the chance to really know this game."

"What! But you were so good when you played that game in the computer!" Maya gasped in shock.

"That was Solitaire, Maya, not poker," Phoenix retorted.

"Sol-lye-terr?" Pearl mumbled. "That card game in your computer, Mr. Nick?"

"Yes, that was it," Phoenix muttered while looking at his hand. He wondered inwardly, how could he have such good cards. He glanced to Ferret who was looking at his own hand in flat, almost emotionless expression.

"Can we start now?" Ferret asked.

Phoenix nodded, then frowned. "We're doing Texas Hold 'em, right?"

Ferret simply nodded, and the game began.

As they played, they chatted calmly.

"So you're saying you're not really good in this?" Ferret asked.

"Well, yes," Phoenix replied. "After all, I haven't met someone I can ask to teach me about it."

"Hm, I wouldn't say that if I were you," Ferret retorted, calmly shuffling his cards in his hands. "After all, all you need in poker is to know the rules, ability to read your opponent, and a good luck. Well, at least that's the case with me. My friends all take poker as much more serious matter than I do."

"Then you should be able to win, Nick!" Maya encouraged Phoenix once more. "You have the most tremendous luck anyone could ever have!"

"Are you kidding?" Phoenix asked in disbelief. "If I really do have that kind of luck, I'll be famous and rich in no time without those kind of serious cases! My clients always seem to forget to pay me."

"But Mr. Nick!" Pearl gasped. "They were all your friends! Friends help each other, right?"

That doesn't mean they could walk away without paying me, Pearl… do you know how stressful it becomes when you're out of money and your friend with bottomless pit as a stomach keeps asking you to buy her burgers? Phoenix wondered inwardly.

"However, you did survive that fall from the bridge in the temple up high mountains, didn't you?" Ferret asked, still shuffling his cards. "You do have tremendous luck, Mr. Wright. You're much luckier than you think you are."

Somehow I'm not entirely convinced.

The game lasted longer than both parties expected. The two kept on playing while chatting, and Phoenix ended up telling that he was pretty good in poker compared to Larry, but he didn't think he would be able to beat someone who has experience and is used to the game. Ferret, however, shrugged it off by saying that the kind of pessimistic attitude like that would only make Phoenix lose.

In the end, Phoenix won.

"As I expected," Ferret calmly gathered the cards. "You are more skillful than you look, I'll give you that, Mr. Wright. You beat me."

"I think that's just a coincidence," Phoenix said. "Even now I'm still a bit confused with the rules."

"No, Mr. Wright, you truly and fully understand the rules, I'm sure of it," Ferret cut him off. "You only try to act humble. You won, that's it."

"See, Nick," Maya smirked, "I told you you'd be good in this."

"You were amazing, Mr. Nick!" Pearl chimed, bumping on her toes. "Can you teach me to play, too?"

"And me too!" Maya shot. "You really are lucky, aren't you, Nick! You've beaten The Poker King! I've told you that you have tremendous luck that it's almost scary!"

"He's also got the skills," Ferret added.

"See?"

But in the end, Phoenix was still unconvinced, was he really skilled in poker, or was it only his luck?

~end

ElinaLin, 8.11.2012

A/N: I'm sorry! I haven't updated my other story, Beyond the Grave, since... like, forever? I'm still trying to keep up with it, but school kind of making me busy. I mean, three tests plus two homework a day is a bit merciless, don't you think?

I decided to take a break from that story for a while to figure out the plot and finish it before updating it again, but 'gone' from the without posting another story first feels a bit... sinful, so made this.

I've always wanted to make a story about Nick playing poker, but since I myself don't know a thing about that game, it feels kind of slow. Sorry. And I chose to use an OC because, well, the only person who played poker with Nick was Zak Gramarye, right? I don't understand his character, so I can't write about him. I really need to replay that game. (But God, when?! *cries)

I think that's about it... leave a review, please? I need to know what you think about this one.