Author's Note:
The plot thickens! ...Sort of. Anyway. I have no idea where this is going, or if it's going anywhere for that matter. I do hope you'll enjoy it, though.
Also, thank you for the lovely reviews! :)
...
"TOO SOON! YOU HAVE FOLDED TOO SOON, EXECUTUS!"
Everyone else dropped what they were doing and stared. Ragnaros coughed, then looked around sheepishly. "Sorry," he muttered. "Force of habit."
Majordomo Executus turned around from the poker table long enough to give Ragnaros a gentle pat on the arm. "'s all right, boss," he said reassuringly. "We don't mind."
'Actually, we do mind,' thought Jaina Proudmoore, who'd offered to host the weekly poker and games night and was already beginning to regret it. Prudently, she didn't say anything out loud. Instead, she glanced at her cards. Two queens. Hmm.
"Jaina...?"
"I call," Jaina said sweetly.
The blood elf sitting to her left (whose name she couldn't remember for the world, although she did know that everyone commonly referred to him as, 'Who?') promptly dropped his cards, "I fold too."
Jaina grinned a little. This only left her, and-
"YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!"
'Great,' Jaina thought, cringing. 'That's all we needed now' Out loud, she said, "Two queens."
"Hah." Illidan grinned smugly. "Flush." He paused a little for effect. "Royal flush."
"You win the pot," Jaina said with the sweetest smile she could muster under the circumstances. "Again."
"He can see our cards," 'Who?', the blood elf, hissed from the other side.
"Anyway," Jaina said, pointedly ignoring... ah, what was his name, anyway? Oh well. "I'll go get a drink. Anyone want-"
"Decaf," 'Who' said quickly.
"Vodka, please," Majordomo Executus chimed in merrily. "And make it a double."
Illidan thought for a few moments. "Ditto," he said finally.
Jaina blinked once, "Sure." 'This is the last time I'm offering to be nice to these guys,' she thought furiously as she strode to the kitchen.
And that wasn't even the worst of it. Not two weeks ago, a drunken Illidan had broken down and confessed his 'undying love' to every female in the room... in turns. Jaina had found herself forced to physically restrain Ragnaros's near-human incarnation from tearing the poor chap a new one to defend his new-found sweetheart's 'honor'. And now, barely half an hour into the game, Illidan was well on his way to getting hammered yet again...
"Oh." 'Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no...'
Varian quickly stood up from where he was rummaging inside the fridge. "Sorry," he said with a guilty look on his face. "Ragnaros let us in."
"...Oh." Belatedly, Jaina remembered manners. "Hello, Varian." She turned to Varian's companion, who was swirling some unidentifiable drink inside a glass with a thoughtful frown. "Hello, Vaala."
Vaala smiled pleasantly, then nodded her head in a silent greeting.
"Uh. Varian. There's something I, uh, have to tell you," Jaina began, shuffling her foot uneasily. Best to get it out of the way while she was still sane enough to be coherent. She took a deep breath. "I-"
"It's okay," Varian said quickly. "I know."
"You – know?" Inwardly, Jaina breathed a sight of relief. The way she'd imagined it, Varian would throw a hell of a fit over this. "And you're fine with it?"
"Sure," Varian said, hesitating only briefly. "After all, it's not my call to make, and-"
"Great!" Jaina's relief was obvious. "I made sure to tell him to be on his best behavior, and I know you'll do the same. I'm sure we can all just-"
"Wait, what?"
"What?" Jaina echoed weakly. Suddenly, the world didn't seem so nice anymore.
"What are you talking about?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Varian," Vaala said softly, tapping said monarch on the shoulder and offering him a wide grin when he turned to raise his eyebrows at her. "I don't think she's talking about what you think she's talking about."
"TOO SOON! YOU HAV—oh damn, I did it again didn't I. Sorry... sorry, everyone, I—hey, hey, that is my – get away from that! BY FIRE BE PURGED!"
Jaina glanced briefly towards the living room, then rolled her eyes. "Look," she hissed, and for some reason Varian flinched at the single word. "I didn't know you were coming tonight, so I called Garrosh and asked him over so we can all have a nice evening together. I'm going to stop Ragnaros from setting the place on fire now, but you'd better damn well play along, or so help me I will polymorph the ever-living bejebus out of you!" She'd nearly whispered the last words, but somehow, that made them even more eerie.
"Well?"
Varian nodded blankly.
"Good."
"Wow," Vaala said dryly as Jaina disappeared. "I was most definitely not 'prepared' for that."
"Bloody hell," Varian mumbled under his breath. "I mean Thrall? Fine. Saurfang? Sure, as long as he doesn't try to cleave anything. But Hellscream? Here? Tonight?" He squared his shoulders. "We should go."
"Go ahead then."
"Just like that?" Varian asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. It couldn't be that simple. With Vaala, it never was.
"Just like that. Because -" she waved a hand idly "- that leaves me the pleasure of telling everyone just how the mighty Wrynn ran away because-"
"You wouldn't!"
Vaala shrugged a shoulder casually, and Varian rubbed his forehead with a sigh. Of course she would. "All right," he said warily, deciding to try for another angle this time. "I'll let you have the car. When I'm not using it," he added quickly when her eyes lit up.
"Hm." Vaala considered this briefly, then shook her head. "Not good enough."
"I'll pay you double rent this month."
"Still not good enough."
"I'll..." Damn. He was running out of ideas.
"Car, rent, and you'll have to stay for at least another game, Hellscream or not."
Now it was Varian's turn to shake his head, "I can't-"
"Trust me. All I need, is this one shot."
Varian raised a finger. "One game."
"Just one," Vaala said, nodding strongly for emphasis.
Varian had to admit he'd gotten off easy this time. He still remembered pleading with her for cable TV and new armchairs in the living room, and the many things he'd tossed in as bargaining chips then. "I'll go ahead and see how long before this hand is over. Feel free to join wh-" He stopped mid-word, jaw hanging.
"What?" Vaala asked, trying to peek over his shoulder, only to miss hitting her head on the door frame by less than an inch.
Varian swallowed audibly, then turned, his massive bulk still keeping her from seeing in the other room. "I... think it's time you found someone else to crush on," he said as gently as he could.
Vaala arched an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because Illidan..." Varian took a deep breath, then finished, "He's kissing Jaina."