A/N: So I don't really know how to play poker; I'm super lame. But the only poker game I'm sort of (kinda) familiar with is Texas Hold 'Em, so that's what they're playing. And the five cards on the table are kind of confusing, so I'll lay it out for you:

First flip: jack of hearts, six of clubs, nine of diamonds

Second flip: eight of diamonds

Third flip: six of diamonds

Also, I kind of mashed up the in-game poker match that Ryder has with Gil at the Vortex into this fic because I thought it would be more of a relationship-builder than the random game invite. Jill isn't mentioned simply because I don't like her. Enjoy!

Vetra slapped her mandibles close to her face. No way Gil was winning this round again, the little bastard. He had emptied her pockets days before and she must be some kind of masochist because here she was again, in the cargo bay— losing badly. At least she wasn't the only one; Kallo had shown up to play, too.

"You sure you want to keep going?" Gil teased. "I feel bad taking all your credits."

She glared at him. "Just flip it, cheater."

Gil put his hand to his chest in mock hurt. "I would never! This is all skill, baby."

He flipped the last card: a six of diamonds.

Exactly what she needed.

"All in," she declared, pushing her pile of credit chits to the center of the table. No, Gil would not win today.

Kallo made an annoyed click of his tongue. "Fold," he grumbled.

"That's one down." He raised his brow at Vetra. "You sure?"

"I said it, didn't I?" she snapped. She was getting anxious.

He shrugged uncommittedly and reciprocated her bet. "Okay, all in it is then. Show."

Vetra placed her hand down on the table, revealing a five and seven of diamonds. "Straight diamond flush," she announced with a toothy grin, gesturing to the six, eight, and nine of diamonds on the table.

Gil whistled. "Hell of a hand, Nyx. Too bad though." He set his cards down— a pair of sixes of hearts and spades. "Four of a kind— with the sixes."

She stared at his cards and the cards laid out on the table, her mind begging her eyes to spot a way out of losing. No go. Gil had won again.

She stood from her seat and towered over him, shaking a talon in his stupid, smug little face. "You," she growled. "You no-good, lying, cheating son of a—"

"What's going on here, guys?" came a voice from behind the Nomad. Vetra whipped her head around to see who had interrupted Gil's impending beatdown, while Kallo craned his neck to see past her frame. Gil merely chuckled, shuffling the deck of cards.

"Oh, Vetra's just a sore loser," Gil laughed.

She glared at him, her eyes promising a slow and painful death. "I am—"

"Why don't you pull up a chair and play a round or two with us, Ryder?" Kallo interjected, veering the topic away from possible dismemberment.

Gil looked up excitedly. "How about it, Ryder?"

Vetra blinked as she realized that she'd never really seen Ryder act casual. She was always flitting around the ship, pathfinding. She wondered if she ever found some down time to herself.

"Yeah, we need more people to realize what a cheat this guy is," she seethed.

Ryder took a second to consider before cocking a smirk. "Alright, I'm game."

"Well, Ryder, you should know you're going to help me fulfill my true purpose in life," Gil mused.

"And what's that?"

He met her gaze, smirking with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Thrashing you at poker."

Vetra rolled her eyes. And so it begins.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Never mind that Vetra had been eliminated a handful of games ago— Ryder was killing Gil! Why hadn't she teamed up with her earlier to take him down?

Gil groaned, his hand slapping his forehead, as Ryder gathered her winnings. Vetra eyed her pile of credits with envy, agonizing over how many more backroom deals she'd have to conduct to even get half of her credits back.

"Were you holding out on me? You're pretty good at this," Gil pointed out. Vetra nodded in agreement; high praise indeed from the king of cheats.

"Don't act so surprised," Ryder snorted.

Kallo grinned. "Hard not to be. Not everyone gets to see the end of Gil's tyranny."

"Even if I did lose everything to my name," Vetra mourned.

Gil sighed heavily in defeat. Vetra narrowed her eyes— his sigh had been far too dramatic to be genuine. "Well, the winning streak's over. You beat me, Ryder, fair and square. Guess I continue searching for my true purpose in life."

Vetra childishly shooed him away. "Then go search for it somewhere else not here." She crossed her arms. "This table is for non-cheaters only."

For some reason, Gil raised a brow pointedly at Ryder, while Ryder avoided his gaze and tried to hold back a smile. Vetra glanced between the two of them. What was going on?

"Ryder?"

An airy chuckle escaped her and she slapped her thighs, standing up from her seat. "Damn," she breathed. "How'd you know?" she asked Gil.

"I figured. Pretty obvious actually," he shrugged.

Kallo seemed to figure out what they were saying and shook his head disapprovingly. "Oh, Ryder… such high hopes."

"Will someone clue me in?" Vetra growled, annoyed that they seemed to be excluding her.

Ryder looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, Vetra. There's only one cheater at this table and, unfortunately, it isn't Gil."

It clicked. "Nooooo," she whined.

"Really wish I could say that was skill— because I'm God-awful at poker and almost never play— but… I was getting help from SAM," she confirmed. At Vetra's disappointed look, she added, "You mad?"

Vetra looked up, shocked. "Mad? At you? No. Never." She took a deep breath. "If anything, it just means Gil's not undefeatable. I'll get him, one of these days."

"Then you'd better teach your kids how to play, too," Gil taunted. "Maybe one of them could actually give me a run for my money. On second thought, maybe not, if you're the one teaching them."

She jumped from her seat, clawing for him. "Why, you—"

Ryder grabbed her underarms from behind her. "Now, now. Let's all calm down." Vetra let her sit her down. "Gil's right— you are a sore loser," she snickered to her.

"Damn right," she grumbled back.

"Vetra has yet to win a single round," Kallo supplied.

She glared at him. "Thanks for the reminder. I needed that."

Ryder patted her shoulder in comfort, laughing. "Well, since I didn't win fairly, I'm giving back the credits I won. So, Vetra, Kallo… try not to lose it again." She snorted at their expressions of betrayal and walked away, waving at them. "You guys have fun!"

They watched her turn the corner before Gil asked, "One more?"

Vetra grimaced. "Spirits, no. I've lost enough dignity for one day. Maybe Kallo."

He shook his head. "No. I can't stand Gil alone." And with those parting words, he got up and followed the Pathfinder.

Gil gaped after him. "I was… right here. Does he think I have no feelings?"

Vetra shrugged. "At this point, I don't think he cares."

He squinted his eyes in thought. "Yeah, fair enough. I've said worse to him."

"I'm sure," She deadpanned, getting up. "Well, I wish I could say getting my ass handed to me again was fun, but let's face it— it wasn't."

He barked out a loud cackle. "Not for you! My pockets feel heavy already."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I'll get you next time," she mumbled.

He gathered up the mess and made his way towards the lift, waving to her. "Looking forward to it!"

In her room, Vetra thought back to the game, wondering how she had missed the fact that Ryder was cheating. And realized that either she was really bad at gauging other people's poker faces (she wasn't— the only exception was Gil) or Ryder's poker face was impeccable. And Ryder had said she hardly played poker…

So how had she perfected her poker face?

She'd have to ask her next time. For now, she was just glad she still had credits.

2nd A/N (01/17/18): I was told that Vetra should have won because a straight flush is actually higher than four of a kind, but I swear I didn't know! If you could just pretend that four of a kind is higher than a straight flush for this story's sake, I would really appreciate that! Thank you! I'm sorry for being useless!