Challenge Name and Number: Cards, #30
Drabble Title: Lucky Streak
Word Count: 446 (not counting this bit)
Warnings (if applicable): Jou's shirtless, but that's about it, really.
Pairings (if applicable): Hinted Jou/Mai, but only if you REALLY squint.
Author's note: First time doing this and I found that this was the best option. I tweaked it a tad bit, too.
Summary: His lucky streak only seemed to work when Duel Monsters were involved.
He eyed the cards in his hand carefully, making certain that they were the right ones; he'd already screwed up once because he hadn't checked his hand and had played, costing him valuable property. He wasn't going to make the same mistake again. He couldn't afford to lose at this point.
He watched his opponent draw a card from the deck, watching their expression intently as they looked at it; there was not even a flicker in their eyes, merely adding it to their hand before discarding another card into the pile in the middle of the table.
He inwardly smirked. No way could his rival come up with anything better than what was in his hand right now. Time to take another gamble.
"Straight flush," he announced, grinning triumphantly at his opponent as he set his hand down with a flourish. "Beat that!"
Mai yawned lazily, eyeing him boredly before setting her hand down as well. "Royal flush. I win again," she said flatly, though her eyes twinkled in amusement.
Jounouchi did a double take, staring at her cards before nearly roaring in frustration. "How do you do that?" he asked, scowling at her from his place across the table. "You always come out of nowhere with some random card and beat me."
Mai raised a fine eyebrow. "You should know all about that, Jounouchi," she said, leaning back in the chair.
The other blonde sighed in resignation, knowing that he had no room to complain. "When did you learn to be such a good player?" he chose to say instead. "You aren't cheating, are you?"
"Did you forget that I've worked as a poker dealer before?" she countered as she stacked the cards back into the deck, getting her answer from Jounouchi's suddenly blank expression.
"It wouldn't kill you to lose, y'know," he grumbled in response after a moment's pause, folding his arms over his bare chest and frowning at her.
Mai snorted, though her eyes shone with amusement. "Oh please. Like I'm losing any of my clothes to you—which reminds me," she said with a wicked smirk as she looked at him, causing Jounouchi to sink in his seat uncomfortably.
The woman held her hand out expectantly, her eyes twinkling in mischief. "The pants, please."
"…You can't be serious."
"Fork 'em over, Jounouchi. I've already got your jacket and shirt."
Jounouchi hesitated for one last moment before scowling, beginning to undo his belt and muttering darkly all the while. This was the last time he was ever playing strip poker with Mai—his lucky streak seemed to only work when Duel Monsters were involved.
(And that meant he owed Honda some money.)