They entered a smoky room, the smell of liquor and, people went directly into Dante's nose. The lights were fairly strong, however, this pub still gave an impression of an old place for everyone to meet. In the background, he could hear three greyhound girls sing.
"…All night long, make tropic love
Next day, sit in hot sun and cool off
Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola
Go down Point Cumana…"*
Some older cats and dogs cheered at them, you wouldn't even have to look at them to realize that they were drunk. In comparison to other bars, this attic was quite long, it even had several rooms to be specific. Most of it was manufactured wood, craftsmanship you can't find nowadays. Overall, it looked quite old-fashioned, like this window would have been a portal into the 1920s of the US. People acting like the drunken scum, you only know from movies or Dante's doomsday news, looked too decent to ever expect it from them. Some even looked like they'd be an heir of some Belgium throne or something, lying in some corner with a whiskey bottle in their paw. Accumulating on the ceiling the smoke wasn't really a problem, especially, since Dante's lungs were already fairly trained and furthermore, other windows were open as well. Nevertheless, this place definitely didn't follow any fire safety guidelines. On his right, the Teen-Dalmatian saw a long table on which some rat athletes were preparing for a sprint. Around them, a large crowd was standing, having chips in their hands, betting on the athletes. Next to him, on the right, Fergus was walking like everything here would be totally normal. Dante may not admit it, but he was happy, to not be here alone, having company with him was the only reason for him not to freak out. Slowly, the black dog reduced his distance to the fox, so that their shoulders touch. "Just stick with me, and you'll be alright.", Fergus blushed. With that, Dante nodded, until all of a sudden this atmosphere just found a new sound, he didn't know of. "NO, NO, NO, we are not selling British beer. This drink is an insult for my entire country", an old German shepherd was screaming in a deep accent. He was standing behind the bar, cleaning some glasses while being teased by some drunken pugs. The dog, Dante figured was the bartender. This old Bavarian didn't look healthy, quite shady to be clear. However, Fergus seemed to like him, since he gave him a smile, greeting him, which was replied by the German with an obligatory nod. Then, Fergus simply stopped and sat on the cheap bar stool in front of him. Thus, Dante imitated his fox-friend and sat on a chair as well, while continuing his watch around the room. Blackjack, Texas Hold'em, Roulette, this place was a small little Casino in the middle of London. As soon as he turned back to the bar, he was surprised to find a glass of beer in front of him. Shocked, he looked at Fergus, who already took a few sips of his beer. "I'm not old enough to legally drink yet, …", The Emo whispered to the wild fox until he was interrupted by the bartender, "German bar, different drinking age, now drink up some good Bavarian beer." Intimidated by the barkeeper, he started to take some sips until the old dog went back on fighting with the pugs. At the moment he swallowed the beer in his mouth, his face made an expression of a frog you just threw in a can of salt. "You ain't used to pilsner beer, are ya", Fergus smiled. "Quite the opposite", Dante whined. Following this statement, the white and purple dotted Dalmatian took another sip, "But who knows, perhaps it's like cigarettes and coffee.", his expression wasn't any better, "Maybe it grows on me." Putting his paw on his counterpart, the fox smiled, "That's the spirit." Blushing, Dante was happy about the outcome of this night, the Dalmatian smiled back. "What even is this place", his paws put the beer back down. On the other hand, the gold-toothed bandit took another sip, you could see the froth on his fur around the mouth. "Oh this, that's the Underworld!", Fergus tried pronouncing this the same way Dante always does, but it didn't really work that well. Still, the Dalmatian seemed to enjoy his little show. "But we're in an attic." Then again, the red-furred drinker took the last sip of his beer, to finally stand up again from this cheap barstool, they even had some splinters. "Well, I told ya, that I'd show you, Heaven, in Hell! Smoking, Drinking, Gambling, all what your simple mind may possibly search for is available at this place. Ya aren't sold yet, try the Blackjack table, bet on athletes, drink rum mixed with Cola and have a great time with people you today may call brothers, but tomorrow call crooks, thieves and scum. Everything you want here you pay with chips. This is a different world, with different people. A different life, with a different name. What happens here, stays here, nothing ever leaves this room.", Having his face right in front of Dante, looking him in his eyes, Fergus delivered quite a show. "A different name?", the Dalmatian grinned, "What's your name?" Fergus blushed, "It's just Fox, guess they thought this says enough about me." "Yeah, guess it does", Dante laughed, "So what should my name be then?" Fox sat back on his stool, "Your name needs to be accepted by the crowd, but you look like a … Nathanael." Taking another sip on his beer, Dante finally got used at least a bit to this beer, "Uhhh, I like it. So how do I get accepted?" A friendly grin was what the Dalmatian saw, when Fox put his paw on Dante's shoulder again, "You gotta do something that they remember you for!" His beer was now finished as well, the Dalmatian jumped off the stool and both of them started walking around the room, so Dante could get a closer look at everything. "How did you get your name?", the Teen-Dalmatian curiously asked. "Well", Fergus blushed again, "They caught me cheating on the Texas Hold'em Table." Both of them started laughing. "That sounds like you", Dante laughed. Their laughing fit would have continued if they wouldn't have been interrupted by a certain squirrel who just was sitting on the exact Texas Hold'em Table. "Hey guys", Sid screamed, "What is Dante doing here?" By an angry look, the fox intimidated the squirrel, "Easy there, you know the rules. No real names!" Hence, Sid backed off, "Sorry man, so what's his name?"
"Nathanael?", Dante blushed, which resulted in the whole crowd laughing. Then again, a pug on the table started talking, "Did you hear that Nuts? He thinks his name here is Nathanael, Hahaha. How about we call you Coward." Again, the crowd started laughing. "Or would you like to change that?", The pug was pointing on the empty chair. "I don't have any money on me right now.", the Dalmatian stuttered, but was promptly interrupted by the pug again, "Your collar seems like it's worth a hundred chips, wanna make a deal?", the dog in front of him maliciously grinned, "If you later still have enough chips to pay me back, I'll sell it back to you." Fergus held him on the shoulder trying to signal him not to accept this offer. However, Dante didn't listen, he simply laid the collar on the table and sat down on the not so comfy chair. With that, the crowd laughed again, and the pug gave him one hundred chips. Next to him, an older dachshund was sitting, "That was a mistake newbie!" The crowd went into their laughing circle, but Dante wasn't impressed any longer. Having an annoyed expression on his face, he simply replied with the words, "Are we here to play or laugh?" Suddenly, the crowd went silent. "Oh, you're so going down Coward.", the pug maliciously grinned, "You start with the Big Blind, it's five chips!" Fast but controlled movement and Dante laid the chips into the middle. "Bring it on", he said and the dealer gave everyone two cards. Following that, everyone checked, everyone except the pug, who raised to 100, smiling with a very dark expression, resulting in everyone folding. Continuing their play, the pug did the same again. As before, everyone folded, until someone interrupted. "C'mon man, that ain't proper Poker, no one likes people who raise before the Flop", Sid finally started talking again. Furthermore, the dogs on the table agreed with the Squirrel, which made the pug go back to a proper playing style. Thus, Dante checked and everyone else did so as well. The first three cards were on the table, it were the Ace of Spades, 3 of Diamonds, and a 5 of Spades. One person raised, but it wasn't the pug. Dante went with it and called. As a result, the Turn came and a 5 of Heart showed up. However, no one raised, so everyone went along and checked. The moment the River was shown, a 10 of Spades, the pug started laughing and simply went All-in. Suspecting something, the Dalmatian was inspecting his counterpart, while everyone else folded. Behind him, Fergus was standing telling Dante to fold as well. But Dante wouldn't listen, he simply would need time to think.
"What could he have? Did he speculate on a Flush? Quite possible, if he had two Spades his chance on the Turn or River would have been around 50 percent. Still, he doesn't seem so certain. His forehead is wrinkled and he's looking directly at me. He probably wants to scare me out. No this doesn't seem like he's trying to get a higher value out of the pod. He definitely doesn't have a Flush, not even a Straight. But he can see the danger laying there. Most definitely I'm going out there as the winner", the Dalmatian got into a state in which he analyzed his battlefield until he was interrupted by the Dealer asking him what he wanted to do.
With that, he gave the signal. His paw went up and touched the ground two times, showing that he called. His metaphorical blade went down. The canons were shot. The crowd went silent. The pug showed his cards.
"Three of a Kind?"
The Dalmatian maliciously grinned: "Straight."
* Song: Rum and Coca-Cola by The Andrew Sisters