If there was one thing North knew, it was that he should never underestimate a French woman. Or any woman, really, but especially the French. How did he learn this lesson, you might ask? Well, it was one late afternoon at the end of January when two bored Seasonals dropped by the North Pole.
"So your boyfriends are away and you came to me?" North asked. Scarlett and Ash looked at one another and nodded their heads in unison.
"It's the end of winter and Jack wants to finish with one last blizzard," Scarlett stated. "Which means he doesn't have to entertain me."
"And since it's almost spring, Bunny's super busy with preparations. I mean, I am too, but it's not that hard to start spring. Winter and summer are the big seasons," Ash added. "So we thought we'd drop by and see what you were up to."
"Way to make me feel special," North grumbled. Scarlett smiled softly and patted North's shoulder comfortingly.
"Hey, we chose to come see you before Sandy, Tooth, and River. That has to count for something," Scarlett looked around North's office. Along with trains made of ice, small tools, a chainsaw, and books, there wasn't much else of interest.
Ash, however, spotted something. "Are those playing cards?"
North nodded slightly as he plucked up one of his trains and began to chip at it with a small screwdriver. "You two may borrow them and play Go Fish or Rummy or something like that. Anything to get you two out of my hair."
"Come on," Scarlett begged. "Christmas is over and you have months before you have to start working again!"
"That is true, but-"
"But nothing. You just don't want to admit that you're going to lose," Ash hid a sly smile as she picked up the cards and began to drag Scarlett out of the room. "Let's go find someone who knows how to play poker, or maybe blackjack."
"Oh, you think I don't know how to play, huh?" North placed his train down, and snatched back the deck. "Well, I'll show you. Whoever wins the most rounds of whichever game we play is declared the victor! Deal?"
Ash smirked and winked at Scarlett, who looked slightly confused but excited at the same time. "Deal."
"And that, ladies, is how you win yet another round of poker," North grinned as he pulled his chips closer to him. Scarlett huffed and leaned back in her chair with irritation written on her face. AN: I don't know how to play poker or most card games so I'm keeping this as vague as possible.
Ash rolled her eyes but bit her lip. One thing she had learned was that North liked to brag. A lot. He had this cocky smirk on his face as he took a swing of vodka. As much as Ash hated to admit it, he was good. Really good. And the man knew how to handle his alcohol too. She'd hoped he'd be thrown off his game if he had alcohol in his system; unfortunately, that was not the case. "We get it, you're good. Really good. Now let's go again."
"I don't know, maybe we should call it a day. We've been at this for a couple of hours," Scarlett suggested. She didn't mind winning but North seemed to be a great example of a sore winner. She'd never met someone like that, and while she adored North, it was a little difficult to keep herself from trying to slap him upside the head from time to time.
"Ah, well, you two gave it your best shot. Why don't we just agree that I am unbeatable."
"North-" Ash began, but North ignored the annoyed tone in Ash's voice and kept on talking.
"I mean, it's not your fault, of course."
"Please stop."
"After all, Russians are the best when it comes to cards. Especially when they're ex-bandits like myself. I had an unfair advantage."
"Alright, that's it. We're playing again," Ash stated firmly, an edge to her voice. North cocked an eyebrow out of confusion but simply shrugged and began to shuffle the cards. Scarlett gave Ash a questioning look but the brunette ignored her, lost in her thoughts. 'Why don't we just see who's the best at cards?'
Ash smiled wickedly and pulled half of the chips out of the pot (middle of the table). "Oh lookie there. I do believe the tables have turned."
"Yay!" Scarlett exclaimed. She had decided to root for Ash to win as Scarlett had already given up any hope she had of winning the game. Somewhere in the Warren, Bunny frowned as he felt his fellow Guardian lose hope, unaware that his girlfriend was the cause of said lack of hope. "That's the third time in a row!"
"Hmph!" North pouted as he crossed his arms. "Beginner's Luck."
"Aw, don't be like that," Scarlett tried to keep a grin off her face as 'comforted' North. "Jealousy doesn't look good on you."
"I am not jealous!"
"Sure you aren't," Ash nudged Scarlett's arm before she spoke again. "You gave it your best shot. Ready to give up?"
North's face turned as red as Rudolph's nose as his words were thrown back at him. But being the stubborn ex-bandit, North refused to admit defeat.
"That is not possible! We already used four aces. There's no more left!" (North)
"North, that was the last round. We've only used two so far." (Scarlett)
"Accusing me of cheating? Little childish, isn't it?" (Ash)
"I am not a child! I am a Guardian of children. It's different!" (North)
"Whatever you say. Hey...wanna make a bet?" (Ash)
"Oh no. This won't end well."
"...what did you have in mind?" (North)
"Whoever gets all the chips in the end gets to make the losers do whatever they want. Well, not Scarlett. She's honestly just a cheerleader at this point. Do we have a deal?" (Ash)
"Hey! I'm not...I mean...you're right but you don't have to say it!" (Scarlett)
"Deal." (North)
"This is a terrible idea. I can't wait to see what happens." (Scarlett)
North glanced at Ash, then Scarlett, before he returned his attention to the cards in his hand. He cleared his throat and took a sip from his second vodka bottle (he finished the first one quickly after Ash began to win). With a smile, he looked straight into Ash's blue eyes. "Well?"
Ash examined her cards, her face scrunched up in concentration. She bit her lip and tapped the table as she thought about her next move.
Meanwhile, Scarlett was on the edge of her seat as she waited for Ash to say something. If Ash called his bluff and he didn't have the cards he said he did, then she won the game and the bet. But if he did have the cards...Ash would lose. And if the Spirit of Spring lost, Scarlett knew that North would hold this over both their heads for who knows how long.
"I'm calling it."
North groaned and slammed his cars down on the table. Ash laughed with glee and pulled all the remaining poker chips towards her. "How? I was doing so well earlier!"
"Who cares? She won!" Scarlett got out of her seat and hugged the older woman happily. North muttered under his breath words that were definitely not kid-friendly.
"Tell me how you went from being average to astounding!" North demanded. Ash just shook her head and smiled mischievously.
"Perhaps Russians aren't as good as they think they are," Ash winked and began to head out the door. Before she left, though, she turned back to look North dead in the eye. "Either way; never underestimate the French, Monsieur Russe."
AN: Okay, I have nothing against Russians and/or the French. I just thought it'd be fun to have a little rivalry between the two immortals because of what country they came from. This was all in good fun.
"Hey, Red. What's up?" Jack asked. Scarlett beamed and hugged her boyfriend once he landed on the ground beside his lake, directly in front of the redhead.
"I'm so glad to see you!" Scarlett smiled. "You have to hear about what happened at North's."
After a few minutes of explaining how Scarlett had spent her afternoon, Jack laughed and shook his head in amusement. "I should've warned you; Ash is great at playing cards. She grew up as a lady, you know, like the nobility kind? And she had to spend hours in these parlors or whatever they're called and play games with other nobility. Even the newer games that weren't around in her time period. The girl is definitely a fast learner."
"That makes so much sense. You know, North had said something about Russians being great at cards right before Ash started to win. You think that had something to do with it?"
"Probably," Jack admitted. "She's pretty proud of her country. "I can't say I'm surprised the French lady beat the Russian bandit."
AN: I want to do a one-shot for Valentine's but I don't have a lot of ideas. If someone could recommend something in the reviews, that'd be great! I appreciate the help and I'll make sure to include a shout-out (if you don't want one, PM me the idea and I'll just say I had an anonymous helper or something). I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Until next time...
- Kitkat Out!
