Chapter Twenty-One
Newfoundland rearranged his hand, cursing internally. It wasn't junk, but it was close. He plucked out two cards and slid them facedown across the table, thinking hard. The odds were stacked against him here, and he knew it. Not just for this round, but for the game as a whole. He could only pray that lady luck deigned to smile on him.
Nova Scotia tilted his head slightly as he grabbed the two cards and put them at the bottom of the pack, allowing the gleam from the setting sun to catch on his glasses for a brief fraction of a second.
Newfoundland swallowed dryly. A beer would be real nice about now, but alas. Sobreity was a small price to pay for a good night's sleep.
Nova Scotia dealt two cards off the top, sliding them Newfoundland's way and checking over his own hand. Newfoundland put them in and oh, oh yeah. That was much better.
It wasn't the strongest full house on the planet, but it would do.
He glanced up and caught the faintest hint of a smirk on Nova Scotia's face as he rearranged the cards in his own hand.
Newfoundland gulped.
Meanwhile...
Manitoba paced back and forth in the hotel's lobby, glancing at the clock. He was shaking- he looked at one of his hands, holding it still for a moment in the air and- oh, yeah. Wow.
It was trembling, practically vibrating. Wow.
He'd had too much coffee at dinner.
Way, way too much.
The sliding glass doors parted automatically, and finally, FINALLY it was someone Manitoba actually wanted to see, instead of the constant influx of tourists.
PEI frowned and marched over to Manitoba, stopping just short as he regarded the much taller man's bloodshot eyes.
"...Hi, Manny." PEI said slowly, cautiously. The Métis man looked just short of deranged- the thousand-yard stare coupled with wide, bloodshot eyes and dark purple bags under his eyes really weren't doing his appearance any favours.
"Hey PEI. Like I said, sorry to do this to ya, but the argument that's going on upstairs right now..." he shuddered.
"You don't wanna know." He finished flatly.
PEI rolled his eyes and muscled pasty Manitoba to get to the front desk.
Nova Scotia smirked, pulling out two cards and shuffling them into the deck. So what if he'd been dealt junk the first round? It had dawned on him that the deck was stacked in his favour on this one. All he needed was a really good hand, and the game was his. He pulled the two replacement cards off the top, slipping them into his hand. A cursory glance over the new hand caused a frown to form on this lips. This, it seemed, wasn't going to be that hand.
Newfoundland pulled out three cards from his hand and tapped them sideways on the table, the minute noise getting the redhead's attention. The old man's pokerface was impeccable, it had to be said-the entire time, his face had been a stone mask that Nova Scotia couldn't penetrate.
He took the three cards and placed them aside, pulling out three replacements and sliding them back across the table, still smirking. Projecting an aura of smug confidence didn't seem too bad an idea- if he managed to get into Newfoundland's head, managed to tick him off by being insufferably smug, then the odds of the old man screwing up would skyrocket.
Nova Scotia grinned gleefully. The game was stacked in his favour in every way possible. What could possibly go wrong?
Meanwhile...
Saskatchewan cracked open his book, flopped leisurely on the hotel's bed. Manitoba had gone downstairs to do something or other- not that the farmer cared. All that mattered was he had the hotel room all to himself, and that meant it was quiet enough for him to catch up on some light reading.
As he read peacefully, though, a tiny, almost imperceptible sound started to emanate from his bag. A buzzing- he kept his phone on vibrate almost all the time, and for good reason. He detested the sound of ringing it made, detested how loud and obnoxious it was. The near-silent buzzing, while difficult to hear, was much better for him.
It was enough of a distraction, however, for him to snap his book shut with a decisive groan and roll out of bed to go see what the blasted thing wanted this time.
He crouched by his open suitcase, fishing through his bundle of dirty clothes for the damn device. It was still buzzing- someone was calling him. He yanked it out of his suit pocket and fumbled to unlock it- these newfangled smartphones and their stupid touchscreens were not particularly kind to farmers with big thumbs, he decided in a huff as he typed his password in wrong for the third time.
Finally it unlocked, just a little too late for him to catch the call. With a sigh, he tapped around for the phone icon, scrolling through the list of missed calls. The topmost one- was that New Brunswick's number?
HE raised an eyebrow as he attempted to tap the message to call her back- the stupid phone instead selected the one just below it, which happened to be the number for a phone s- er, pizza place. Yeah. He swore and closed out of it as quickly as possible- no need for anyone else in the hotel to hear that. Yeah.
The second attempt to hit the number went much better than the first, and soon Saskatchewan was sitting on his bed, drumming his fingers on the cover of his book as he waited for it to connect.
What could New Brunswick possibly want?
"Hello?"
He smiled. "Hey, Brunsie. You called earlier?"
On the other end of the line, he could barely make out the sound of leaves rustling or something- it sounded like she was outside.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I did. Uh, Listen, Sasky, I have a question for ya..."
"Yeah? What question?" He sat back, a concerned expression on his face. "If it's about the thing with Allie's driving, I don't wanna talk about-"
"Did you and Allie bury a treasure in the yard when you were kids?"
Saskatchewan blinked a few times, staring out the hotel window. "I-yeah? I...I think so, why?"
On the other end of the line, New Brunswick grinned devilishly.
Newfoundland had a strong urge to start cackling like a madman.
Yes. Three kings. This hand...well, it could get a LOT better. But considering the crap he and Scottie had been drawing thus far, it was a vast improvement.
And then Nova Scotia gasped.
Newfoundland instantly looked up from his cards, trying not to show a flicker of concern on his face. That wasn't a fake gasp- it was quiet, muffled, and his eyes were completely agog as he stared at the card's he'd drawn.
Newfoundland's heart sank.
A look like that could only mean one thing. Whatever Scottie had just drawn, it was something else entirely.
Nova Scotia, eyes still wide, slapped his cards facedown on the table and dove for his pile of chips. He shoved them all into the center with all the subtlety of a marching band on parade - and then he smirked up at Newfoundland.
"All in, old man."
A tiny, smug little grin. It was the smallest thing. The smallest, most insufferable little thing.
Newfoundland's face darkened.
"Not so fast, B'y. I ain't swapped out me cards yet." He scanned over them, pulling at all four- except the king of spades. Fuck it. Fuck Nova Scotia, fuck his stupid grin and his stupid face and this stupid, stupid game.
"Four." he snapped, none too kindly.
Nova Scotia swelled with triumph. The smugness on his face was oozing off of him almost palpably.
"You wanna just tell me where the treasure's buried now and save us the trouble, Newf?" he offered, the grin on his face causing the Newfoundlander's blood to boil even more fiercely.
"Fuck you an' fuck yer mudder."
Nova Scotia tilted his head. "...I don't HAVE a mother. Neither do you."
Newfoundland groaned, putting his one solitary card facedown on the table so he could massage both his temples.
"Shut da fuck up an' gimme my cards, B'y."
Nova Scotia rolled his eyes as he dealt four off the top.
"Calm the hell down, bud. It's only a game. Jesus."
He slid the four across the table, his smirk sliding back onto his face as he watched the fisherman rearrange his cards carefully.
Nova Scotia glanced down to his own cards- and in that fraction of a second, he missed something very, very small.
One of the corners of Newfoundland's mouth turned up in a tiny little smirk.
A/N:
Hahaha, I'm so sorry it took so freaking long for me to write this. It's short and crapy but hey, at least I didn't abandon it, eh?
Sorry for breaking up the ending into two, but it's a bit long for a conventional chapter, so hopefully, (if all goes to plan) I'll post the second part of the grand finale tomorrow. Huzzah.
Hope your Halloween was happy and spooky and whatnot.
Next time: I finally finish this thing! Maybe!
As always, Reviews, follows, and favorites are greatly appreciated!
Seriously. Reviews give me life and the motivation to get off my lazy ass and continue.