Scene #9215: Poker Night

Owner	Pose
Arthur Lowell	A large Prospit space-yacht is the setting of tonight's first Poker Night. The upper deck faces Afterus, where the shining lights of the urban sprawl of Home are visible in a spirographic pattern on its wide, green surface. Infrequent passing shooting stars light the sky as they're intercepted before impact on Afterus by distant psychic impulses. It's a beautiful sight... it looks like the yacht is sailing on a sea of stars while the planet above puts on a lightshow. The yacht itself is crafted in stylish gold-like substance, brushed in certain places and polished in others, intricately inscribed, delicately etched, and otherwise thoroughly dedicated as much to a cathedral-style aesthetic as it is to a spaceworthy look. There's no issue of oxygen here, for whatever reason. A polished mahogany table covered in an intricately spirograph-patterned felt playing surface marks the classy poker table. Plenty of food and drinks are available, mostly snacks and fountain drinks that Arthur Lowell himself is getting for folks. Transport has been provided to those who took the challenge, or the ship stopped by a nearby port itself, offering social relaxation. There's many seats at the table, and all of them have floating text above them, indicating... PRESS START TO JOIN - 1,000 BOONDOLLARS What a boondollar is, exactly, is unclear, but everyone here seems to have a lot of them. Experienced adventurers will find themselves in possession of hundreds of thousands of them at the very least, and so they have no trouble joining the game and fulfilling the buy-in for tonight's game. Arthur himself sits above the table rather than at it. His legs are crossed, and he drifts weightlessly, utterly relaxed. Above and below him are a pair of spinning, glowing green spirographic designs which shift with magic, and within them are the cards. He'll be the dealer, it seems!
Riku Asakura	Riku Asakura was here tonight! He got onto the boat when it sailed into a port nearby to him. His friends pitched in to get him a vacation away from his duties as an Ultraman for a bit so he could heal. Right now he's pretty injured, but he can still walk and play poker under his own power. He's never played poker for stakes before so this was an interesting prospect. He pays the thousand boondollars, whatever a boondollar was. He had a fair bit of them, enough to get at least a few days of enjoyment on the yacht. Riku himself is a young man with a jean jacket and jeans, wearing an orange shirt with the logo of Donshine, likely some sort of Kamen Rider-like hero in his home world. He sits down and looks up at Arthur. "Hello!" he offers, not knowing the young man other than a voice on the radio.
Rufus Shinra	A yacht! Yeah! Now we're talking Rufus's speed and going at his language. "Huh," says Rufus, glancing at his boondollar account. "I've got... a decent amount of these?" A lot of them are earmarked as coming from Lobotomy Corporation, and a large subset of those are from the fall of the aforementioned. Rufus orders a coke, and wishes he had a hip flask to add rum to it with. To do: order a hip flask. "So - where do these spend? Or - are they just for minigames, or what?" he says as he takes a seat at the table. "And what's the game? Hold'em, I'm guessing? Pineapple or regular? There a limit? How many decks we using?" He leans back in his seat, giving the impression of being completely at ease.
Sarracenia	After her last gambling night, Sarra was not even going to leave the castle. But, once again her trusty butler, Gregory, pushed her out the door. The princess arrives on the yacht via her own airship. The Sundew Sovereign is certainly not made of gold or a gold-like substance, but it does have a generous amount of gold on it. It accents the polished wooden architecture of the wooden airship. She walks in wearing a form-fitting but skin-covering red evening gown, and of course has her crown and the rust red metal lotus in her hair. She also has a black eyepatch over her right eye and grey hair done up in an elegant style. Small braids from her temples meet in the back of her head, forming a slightly larger braid that flows down her back along with the rest of her hair, reaching to about her waist. PRESS START TO JOIN Indeed, Sarra has no idea what a boondollar is, but since she seems to have no shortage of them she does not hesitate to pay it. Riku and Rufus are here. Sarra supposes it is no surprise to see others from the Lob Corp War here. She offers each a wave as she sees them. "Hello Riku. Hello Rufus." she says, then hesitates a moment. "My apologies Rufus, for...last time." she says. Sarra happily accepts the food and drink. Junk food is good for helping one forget one's troubles. Not quite alcohol, but they still help. As she snacks on some spicy tortilla chips she watches the spirographic and the person floating above it. "So...how does one play poker?"
Merelisa Shaynore	If there's two things Hikaru Hoshina is known to love, it's people who are strongly interested in space, and GAMBLING. Well, in practice, her first time gambling meaningfully was at the casino on Planet Zeni, where she and Lala were cheated out of a win that could have instantly ended their careers as magical girls if not for teaming up with the most wanted woman in the Starscape Galaxy. So her feelings on it are a little soured by that, and Lala is outright unwilling, and it's a school night besides. It'd be irresponsible! HOWEVER: Arthur Lowell is a space wizard. And both of the girls find that fact cool enough that they immediately decide to trust Arthur completely, because surely a space wizard could do no wrong, as long as you don't include the numerous kinds of space themed magic wielded against them by their many enemies. So with Yuma's help and a star-shaped yellow and green wormhole, the two Precures find their own way to the space-yacht on their adorable pink spaceship, drifting over to the port to let them off. AI wishes them a good time and good luck, and Yuma, their small floating alien creature, trills in MIDI tones and happily follows the two girls out onto the casino carpet. Hikaru spins a singular five hundred yen coin around between her thumb and pointer finger, utterly confident that this will be enough to play poker with, while Lala does her very best to remember the rules of poker that Hikaru, inaccurately, relayed to her. "Hellooooooooooooooo!!~" The poker table is beset upon by two fourteen year old girls and a small creature thing, immediately recontextualizing the entire atmosphere. Hikaru grabs an extra chair and slams it into place right by her own for Lala to squeeze in next to her rather than playing separately, then swings into place with a wide smile and an enthralled look at the holographic text. She holds up her coin and squints, as if looking at it and the boondollars simultaneously will let her discern the exchange rate. "Hi everyone! I'm Hikaru Hoshina!" Arthur is here so she doesn't need to continue her introduction after that, she assumes. "I'm Lala, lun. We're playing a game, Hikaru said...?" "Yeah! It's cards! And, see, since we can see everyone's scores, there's no way that anyone's gonna cheat like Doramus did." "Lun. Then we'll fight our hardest! --Oh! Sarracenia, you're here too, lun!" "Your highness! Hi! Are you okay?"
Kukuru	Kukuru's here, too! And for once, she doesn't bring food and drinks, because she's still exhausted as all hell from the past week. A chance to just go somewhere and relax with friends while experiencing a game she's never played should be a nice change of pace from everything, although part of her still wants to just nap on top of something and people-watch instead. "Never heard of these, but there's a lot of them here. That's nice...~" She hums softly while taking a seat at the table with everyone else, already setting her head down on the table to catch even a few more seconds of shuteye. Spotting some familiar faces, her smile brightens as she raises a hand to wave lazily in greeting. Kukuru actually has both arms now, too! She's still just under 5 feet tall and scrawny as heck, though. "Oh, you're all here... Hehe. Hello, hellooo~" She greets, giggling softly at the enthusiasm shown by Hikaru and Lala while also nodding firmly in solidarity with Sarracenia. "Ah, looks like some of us are gonna be learning something new today... How fun~"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur greets the various gamers arriving. Riku gets a wave and a quick, "WHAT UP DAWG?" Kukuru's sleep might be interrupted by his enthusiasm but she'll surely appreciate his positive tone when he hollers, "Gonna be a FUN TIME!" "So - where do these spend?" "Most'a the old ITEM SHOPS still take 'em. Not that most dudes want FRAYMOTIFS these days." "And what's the game? Hold'em, I'm guessing?" "Texas hold'em! I don't got the WRISTS for all that DEALING, so we're sticking to TWO. And we're 10/20 NO LIMIT until I bring it UP on the SCHEDULE." Arthur takes a long drink of his own cheap soda as he drifts above. "But without that RAISE MINIMUM part. Can't remember how to get the CARDS to do that, I'll FIGURE IT OUT LATER. If you start doing ANTAGONISTIC MINI-RAISES then I'm KICKIN' YA OUT." He laughs obnoxiously. "So...how does one play poker?" "If you slam ALL-INS at the START, what I do is I POUR MOUNTAIN DEW ON YOU. 'Sides that?" He gestures at the table. "Get the BEST HAND YOU CAN. Aim for the SAME SYMBOLS or the SAME NUMBERS, yo. You'll PICK IT UP." He makes a couple of fingergun and wink gestures. But there's a nice Poker Hand Value cheat-sheet! It is identical to what you of the modern day would know as a "Balatro" so all you gotta do is work based on that. "Hi everyone! I'm Hikaru Hoshina!" "I'm Lala, lun." "Hey, you're that CURE gang I heard 'bout!" Arthur's waving from above (and for Hikaru's fixation, that technically counts as "below", orbitally-speaking. "Good stuff, seein' ya! C'mon, c'mon, pull a seat up. Y'all got plenty of BOONDOLLARS and we're keeping tonight MID-STAKES at worst. I even CHEAT-PROOFED THE CARDS best I can, and I'm just DEALING, not PLAYING." "You all good to GET GOIN'?"
Rufus Shinra	> "My apologies Rufus, for...last time." "The table only cost a couple grand," says Rufus dismissively. "I'm more worried about you, really." "If you've got, uh, anger issues going on." > "Not that most dudes want FRAYMOTIFS these days." "And those are... what? Some sort of powerset?" > "Hi everyone! I'm Hikaru Hoshina!" "I'm Lala, lun. We're playing a game, Hikaru said...?" "Oh, well, you two seem bubbly," says Rufus. Finger-guns. > "Ah, looks like some of us are gonna be learning something new today... How fun~" "Well, looks like we're all new at the game," says Rufus. "I'd never played before today." "Remind me, the little red ones that look like diamonds, it's good if you have those, right?" > And we're 10/20 NO LIMIT until I bring it UP on the SCHEDULE. "Oh good, it gets old really quick if you don't up the limits. Bunch of people being cowards about putting their chips where their mouths are." "Not that I've played before. That's just what I've heard," adds Rufus, innocently. "Also, nobody's mucking, right?"
Riku Asakura	Riku waves to Rufus, Sarracenia, and Kukuru. He almost winces at seeing their injuries and considers they are here on the yacht for the same reason he is, to get a break and maybe heal some. As Arthur breaks down the rules, he pretends to understand what he's saying, other than the basics. '"Hi everyone! I'm Hikaru Hoshina!" "I'm Lala, lun. We're playing a game, Hikaru said...?"' "Oh hi! I'm Riku Asakura, you can just call me Riku. Nice to meet you both!" he says, though thinking they're both a bit young to be playing in a gambling establishment. It must be because of Arthur, he considers, as the one running this entire thing. Riku gets some much-needed junk food inside him, already starting to settle in and getting ready for cards. '"Also, nobody's mucking, right?"' "Mucking? What's that?" he asks Rufus.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur dips down near Sarracenia, as the cards slowly disperse across the table. "Alright," He explains. "If you got SHIT BAD NOTHING-CARDS, if you got a SEVEN-TWO or some dogshit like that, you FOLD now. Or you CALL, which means, twenty in the pot. It's the ANTE."
Rufus Shinra	"So when do you say 'go fish'?" asks Rufus as he briefly glances at his cards.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur deals out the flop now. Three more onto the table, now everyone can see these. A Six of Spades, a Queen of Clubs, and an Eight of Spades! "Anyone aiming for a FLUSH, start AIMING TRUER, for real."
Rufus Shinra	"Well I didn't get the old maid so I'm out," says Rufus, dropping his cards on the table.
Kukuru	"It does sound like we've got a fun group today..." Kukuru shares in at least a bit of of Arthur's enthusiasm with that playful giggle, rolling her head from side to side on her chin lazily. She listens closely as he explains the game being played tonight, although the terms he brings up just get a long and blank stare from her instead of anything approaching comprehension. "Huh... Okay! Best hand sounds like a good way to do okay in this game... Hmm. Same symbols, same numbers..." She can commit at least that much to memory, and she takes a look at that cheat sheet so she can... Still probably not comprehend most of it. It's not for a lack of trying, but she does seem to be looking at it closely. She gets distracted fairly easily, though, as she turns her attention to the Precures with a warm and drowsy smile. "Cure gang? Oooh, young healers... That's lovely to see. It's so good to see younger Elites getting into fixing people up instead of hurting them. Aah... Feel free to ask me if you eeever need a hand, okay?" She reaches into her pocket, pauses,t hen remembers that she hasn't actually restocked on any food. Instead, she takes out a pair of small cards and clumsily slides them across the table at where Hikaru and Lala, then a third card when she gets a better look at the third creature thing with them. They're Concord business cards! Fancy paper, and with Kukuru's own contact information on them. Riku gets a card, too, since she doesn't recall ever giving him one. "Ah, hello again Rikuuu... Oh. My name's Kukuru." She pauses, yawns, then finally- "That's Ku-ku-ru. It's so nice to meet you agaaain... Oh. What's mucking? And go...? Oh! I know go fish." She giggles lightly while looking at her cards, just sort of blindly poking at the cards. "Do you have any... Threeees?"
Riku Asakura	"I'd like to Fusion Rise, but these cards need work," Riku says and folds
Merelisa Shaynore	"If you start doing ANTAGONISTIC MINI-RAISES then I'm KICKIN' YA OUT." "If you slam ALL-INS at the START, what I do is I POUR MOUNTAIN DEW ON YOU." It seems this game is higher stakes than Hikaru thought... the consequences are intense!! Hikaru folds her hands over each other and leans forwards, Locking In for the explanation of the rules. "Got it. We'll make sure to only in an acceptable amount." "What's a fraymotif, by the way?" Hikaru raises her hand and looks up at Arthur earnestly. "Lala and I have tons and tons of those boondollars." "Aim for the SAME SYMBOLS or the SAME NUMBERS, yo." Being given an explanation by an Authority makes Lala feel considerably more confident in her ability to play the game. When the cards are dealt, Hikaru is the one to scoop them up, Lala leans over to scrutinize them, and Yuma floats behind them with her fluid-light face making glowing green symbols for a club and a spade, because of the three of them, none of them have good poker faces, but the alien without a face has the worst.
Sarracenia	'Lun. Then we'll fight our hardest! --Oh! Sarracenia, you're here too, lun!' 'Your highness! Hi! Are you okay?' Sarra can't very well tell two bright-eyed fourteen year old magical girls that she is not okay. It could ruin their entire night! So, Sarra smiles as best she can even as a hand goes to her eyepatch self-consciously. "I...will be. Eventually." she says to them. Just having their energy around is therapeutic in a way. It makes her smile more genuine and her eyes tear up a bit. She wipes at them with one of her black velvet gloves, then smiles at them. "It is good to see you two. I heard you had another adventure. I am sorry I could not join you in it. I hope you had fun, though." 'Oh, you're all here... Hehe. Hello, hellooo~ h, looks like some of us are gonna be learning something new today... How fun~' Kukuru being here is nice as well. "Hello Ku~ku~ru~" Sarra says, apparently fond of the way Kukuru often introduces herself. 'I'm more worried about you, really. If you've got, uh, anger issues going on.' Sarra snorts softly at that. "Many would say I have always had anger issues." she says, dodging the issue. Arthur and Rufus both giving fingerguns makes Sarracenia actually smirk a bit and giggle softly. "And...what does 10/20 no limit mean?" she asks, then raises an eyebrow (the eyepatch one because that's what she's used to) at Rufus. "...mucking?"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur explains idly. "Used to be, you could spend a couple trillion of these things on buying a kind of..." He makes a vague gesture. "MUSIC-POWER THING. It's super hard to explain. Those were FRAYMOTIFS."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur also explains mucking. "If you don't have a FULL-ON SHOWDOWN, then you can do what's called MUCKING. Which is, you're the LAST ONE STANDING after everyone FOLDS, so you won't SHOW YOUR CARDS."
Rufus Shinra	"A couple trillion? Why are we playing with a thousand buy-in, then..." says Rufus. "Is this penny ante?"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur shrugs! "They're OLD-STYLE STUFF. This is actually BIG CASH, it's just there was BIGGEST MAXIMUM CASH back in the day." Then a quick grin to Sarra. "Hey, no need to FOLD if you can CHECK! Still-- good on the FIRST ROUND."
Riku Asakura	"Congratulations, Kukuru!" Riku says with a big smile on his face, despite having wished he stayed in.
Sarracenia	Sarra looks at her hold cards and the cards on the table several times before huffing. She folds, then gets advice from Arthur. "Oh. I see." she replies. "Well, I think Kukuru had the better cards either way."
Rufus Shinra	"So - Kukuru won?" says Rufus, feigning confusion. "Good for you!" He claps his hands together. "It's nice that nobody's taking this too seriously," he says, while mentally marking Kukuru as someone to watch in later rounds.
Kukuru	"Fraymotifs sound fun.... Oh, but I don't think I could ever afford one of those, even with these..." Kukuru yawns and waves at the cards. "Boondollar thingies. I don't even remember getting them before, you knooow?" "Anger issues are... Ah, it's too much work getting angry most of the time. And other times..." Her gaze flits from Sarracenia to Rufus, and then she keeps her head on the table while muffling a yawn into her cards. "Nah.. Too much work. So much work..." She looks so tired right now. She's even having trouble staying awake when it's time to show the cards! "I did? Oh, wonderful.. Hehe. I.. Don't get how, but okaaay." She says as she shows her cards, still looking visibly confused. "but I didn't get any matches and swap out any of my cards..."
Arthur Lowell	"Anyway!" Arthur calls out. "Blinds up to 15/30! Blinds are that 10/20 stuff. It means... basically, someone's gotta put some cash into the pot. So the blinds do that! They force someone to put something in."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur gathers up all those cards that were dealt, slips them up into the magical orbit above him... they shuffle around rapidly, twirling above, before dealing another pair of cards to everyone.
Riku Asakura	Riku folds again, making a face. "Well it's fun to watch the game unfold around you too!"
Kukuru	"Oh, that's how you keep the numbers moving.. That's smart. Ah, you've really thought of everything~" Kukuru chimes in, pausing to peer at her cards. "Oh... Does anyone have any twos?"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur hollers when Riku folds. "C'mon! You'll get in there EVENTUALLY. This way people are SUPER ATTENTIVE if you get into that BLUFF at least."
Riku Asakura	"I'm not very good at lying!" Riku says with a frown.
Arthur Lowell	"EXACTLY." Arthur gives Riku one of those fingergun winks. "LIKE THAT."
Kukuru	"That's not bad, Riku. It means you're easy to trust, then." Kukuru affirms with an easygoing laugh, followed by another yawn and resting her head sideways on the table. The drill on that side keeps her head propped up at an angle.
Riku Asakura	"I don't get it..." Riku says with a drawn out sigh.
Rufus Shinra	"Go fish!" yells Rufus triumphantly, throwing a stack of chips in.
Kukuru	Kukuru purses her lips. "Wait, then... Where do I get more cards from?"
Merelisa Shaynore	"Oh, well, you two seem bubbly," "Lun! I'm having a good day!" "Yeah! Meeting new friends is always galact~errific!" Oh no! They're the two most scammable people alive! And they seem really happy about it! "Oh hi! I'm Riku Asakura, you can just call me Riku." "Hi Riku, lun." "Hi, Mister Riku! It's nice to meet you." "Wait, Hikaru, Hikaru, we should get sweets too, lun." "Yup, yup, do you have anything you want?" "Hmmmmm..." Lala takes Hikaru's question extremely seriously, closing her eyes and meditating on it with her antennae coiling up and lightly sparking with the energy of intense thought. After a minute, she opens her eyes again and resolutely decides, "Cookies, lun," and soon she's munching on some sugar biscuits happily. "Cure gang? Oooh, young healers... That's lovely to see." Hikaru takes the business cards and recognizes the word on them, showing them over to Lala who nods excitedly. "Oh! The Concord, lun. AI said that was like the government of this galaxy, like the Starscape Union is, lun." "You work for the government, Miss Kukuru?" "Also, we're not healers, lun. Um... we're Precure! We transform to fight and protect Yuma from all the people that want to steal her." "I...will be. Eventually." Lala looks like she understands that a little better than Sarra might give her credit for. Her own smile softens, and she offers an antenna over to gently tap the bulb to the back of Sarra's hand with a small, warm jolt of electricity. "I hope you can heal up quickly, lun."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur whistles hard with the precures start amping the heat up more. "DAMN GIRLS, you got some GUTS!" He shakes his head, somewhat astounded, and readiest another three cards.
Arthur Lowell	"Anyone with a NINE TEN around here better start -- or even, like, a FIVE -- you're about to walk away real BOON-RICH." Arthur laughs, regarding the table and scratching his cheek.
Rufus Shinra	"I've got a really good hand," observes Rufus innocently as he looks at the cards on the table. "I think?"
Merelisa Shaynore	On this hand, Yuma's face, while she looks up to meet Kukuru's eyes, she has two green glowing diamonds dancing around in orbit on her little yellow head. The fact that Hikaru and Lala don't notice this doesn't make them any less of a vulnerable point in their own poker play, because Lala tries to smoothly point at the two corners of their cards while Hikaru excitedly says something just-barely under her breath aside.
Sarracenia	Sarra has little idea what she is doing, so she has little rhyme or reason to her bets. She is keeping in mind the rule about micro-bets. "So...how much is a large bet in this instance?" she wonders aloud. The precures raise the heat, and Sarra hmms. 'I hope you can heal up quickly, lun.' Sarra smiles softly back, and lightly runs a few knuckles along that bulb. "Thank you, Lala."
Kukuru	"The government...? Oh. The Concord does control a loooot of places, mhm. So we're like... Seeeveral governments?" Kukuru rolls her head from side to side again while peering at Hikaru and Lala curiously. "Although it's really more like a biiig family. Everyone in the Concord helps each other no matter what, you know? And even if we're not all the smartest about things..." She pauses briefly, holds in a sigh, then resumes smiling. "We all take great care of each other. Does that sound like somewhere you'd want to be, dears?" Another pause as Arthur speaks, and then Kukuru lets out an excited noise. "Oh! I've got one of thoooose~"
Arthur Lowell	"Good fuckin' amount. What's with the HEAT at this table? God DAMN." Arthur makes another "wheeewww" sound. "My BLINDS are just, what, FUN LITTLE PENNIES or something."
Rufus Shinra	Rufus... ... peers over the top of his cards. "Do you now," he says, coldly, looking across the table at Kukuru.
Riku Asakura	Riku watches the table, he watches the hands go back and forth and is suddenly very glad he got out as early as he did.
Merelisa Shaynore	"DAMN GIRLS, you got some GUTS!" When the bets start raising, Hikaru leans back in her chair smugly and nods, having extremely little clue what she's doing but utterly certain in her own ability to have guts. It's impossible to tell how much of her bravado is from a bad poker face and a good hand, or a complete lack of game skill and a massive amount of confidence to figure it out on the way. Unless you look over her shoulder at Yuma, who's poking at the cards with the green ends of her head-tendrils and shifting her glowing face to the symbols on the cards. "You betcha I do."
Kukuru	Kukuru nods slowly at Rufus with another lazy yawn as she holds up one of her cards to wiggle it around. "Mhm...! Oh. Wait. I mean..." She's remembering the rules of Go Fish. "Do you haaave... Any tens?"
Rufus Shinra	Rufus slowly looks down at his hand, and then back up to Kukuru. "Go fish."
Sarracenia	The bet keeps growing and growing, and Rufus says he has a good hand. Sarra frowns lightly looking at her own cards. "I...think I have a decent hand as well? Though, I do not have one of those." The precures energy is once again infectious, just like it was on the Pikmin planet. Sarra is suddenly very glad that Gregory convinced her to come to this game. 'DAMN GIRLS, you got some GUTS!' "Well of course they do. They are the heroes of an entire galaxy or perhaps universe." Sarra says. 'Do you haaave... Any tens?' 'Go fish.' Sarra blinks, then laughs. "That is not how you play this one!"
Riku Asakura	"I think that's the wrong game..." Riku says to both Rufus and Kukuru.
Arthur Lowell	"If someone's got TWO DIAMONDS in the hand, it's time to CAUSE LOTS OF PROBLEMS." Arthur declares, when he deals the river. "But me? I'd just stick to a game of TELEPHONE, not GO FISH. Now's a time to CALL IT SMALL, nobody's made BIG SHAKEUPS with a QUEEN OF DIAMONDS."
Sarracenia	Sarra mmphs and frowns lightly as the River is revealed. "Well, that is..." She pauses, then coughs. "...very good. Yes."
Rufus Shinra	Rufus considers the other players. Kukuru - probably doesn't know much. Nor does Sarracenia. Are they bluffing? Is he? Round and round the roulette ball goes... oh, wait, wrong game. "470 is okay but let's make it an even 500, shall we?" he says. "Get some blood on the field."
Kukuru	"It's not..?" Kukuru asks Sarracenia as she instinctively reaches for a new card after Rufus says to Go Fish, only to remember that she doesn't actually know where to get new cards from. "It is?" She asks Riku as a quick followup, then remembers what Arthur said earlier. Finally. "Oh yeah. This is Texas Hold Them... Um. " She looks at her cards again, then at the table cards. She looks at her cards again. "Uh... Huh." She still looks utterly confused, then distracts herself with some drinks!
Arthur Lowell	Arthur regards the tremendous pile in the middle of the table now. He glances.. to Riku. "Bro. You are PRECOGNITIVE, gettin' out of this." He snaps a few times, gradually condensing chips into hundred-boondollar tokens that gleam and rotate enticingly like game pickups.
Riku Asakura	"No I just had really bad cards when this started. Like really bad cards," Riku admits.
Kukuru	"Oh... Are we supposed to put the cards down when we have bad ones?" Kukuru looks between Arthur and Riku next, then taps her chin. "Oh, but if we're in this far anyway..."
Sarracenia	The numbers just keep growing. Surely the others would have given up by now if they had bad cards, right? "...perhaps I had bad cards at the start. I am not sure I know what good cards look like." she says, then huffs. "Well, since I do not have one of those -and- I did not get the card I was hoping for...I suppose I have no choice." She folds.
Rufus Shinra	Rufus looks a bit less confident. "... Not backing down here." He pushes more chips into the center of the table.
Rufus Shinra	"Wait everyone else was bluffing?" Rufus looks flabberghasted. "I thought- Nevermind."
Riku Asakura	"Wow, that was a lot of money that was just won..." Riku says and pats Kukuru on the back.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur whistles, impressed! "With the five! With the FIVE!!" He hoots a little, shaking a bag of snacks excitedly! "That was the lowest heavy-hitter to hit with!"
Merelisa Shaynore	"Does that sound like somewhere you'd want to be, dears?" Hikaru is completely taken in by Kukuru's energy, and Lala seems positively inclined, if a bit more reserved. Neither one particularly understand what she's offering, though, and Hikaru grabs Yuma with her hands on either side and wiggles her around to show her off explanatorally. "We're not from around here! Um, we're not involved with any government. Mostly there's a couple governments that are hunting us down, actually...." "Thank you, Lala." Lala either empathizes, or senses that Sarracenia needs some sympathy, because she lingers on Sarracenia for a little while longer. The antenna stays nearby her as a friendly affectionate gesture, though it doesn't have the same dexterity as a hand so when she leans in to the next dealt card it accidentally retracts a bit before returning. She lowers her voice to softly share a bit more with Sarracenia. "Um... when you get hurt, it's important that you get up again, lun. If you need help from people, I hope you're able to ask, lun. I don't know who it was that hurt you, but they shouldn't get to be the ones that stop you from trying your best, okay?" SHOWDOWN WINNER: Rufus Shinra won 2165, with a STRAIGHT! Hikaru looks utterly shocked at this result. "Oh!! It was a bad hand!"
Rufus Shinra	"I thought for sure at least someone else had the nine-ten, or the flush..." says Rufus. "Er, I mean, I heard those were good to have. I'm still figuring this game out."
Merelisa Shaynore	"I'm still figuring this game out." "But you did really good that round!" At first, this might seem like Hikaru is casting suspicion on Rufus being a new player. In actuality, she's just earnestly praising him for catching on so quickly. "I'm still having trouble... but I'll catch up and give you a real challenge next round!"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur recalls all the deck. The cards flutter up into his orbit once more, and shuffle as they do. The soft sounds of cardstock... He snaps his fingers again. "Let's hit TWENTY-FIVE-SLASH-FIFTY for the next one." More shuffling. He'll start things up soon...
Sarracenia	Sarra mmphs, heavily annoyed. "If it had been a ten..." she says, pouting with cheeks puffed. "I was not bluffing. I had a nine." She sighs heavily and slumps back in her chair, then looks at her remaining boondollars. "Well...that was certainly a waste." With how the last hand went, Sarra folds almost as soon as her cards are dealt to her.
Kukuru	"Bluffing?" Kukuru blinks slowly as she casts a curious look at Rufus, then laughs a moment later. "Mm-mm! I wouldn't do that to anyone here, Rufus. That'd be mean." She affirms, giggling lightly a moment later at Riku patting her back. "It waaas. Such big numbers, too..." She probably doesn't realize she even lost that hand yet. Turning to the trio of Hikaru, Lala, and Yuma again, she giggles softly at seeing Hikaru showing off the little creature. "Aw, that's cute... Oh. Wait. Being hunted? that's not so cute..." She murmurs, pursing her lips a moment later. "That's awful, even... Well. If you ever dooo want to join, call me, okay? I can be a sponsor for you both." Another pause, and then she lets out a giddy little squeal without even looking at her cards. "Oh, that paperwork~! Hehe..."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur also peers at Hikaru. "Girl why are you ON THE LAM. What's THAT about?" He looks astounded at the idea. "Can't have the fuckin' COPS chasing down TINY MAGICAL GIRLS. Someone's gotta WRITE A LETTER."
Riku Asakura	"On the lamb? I don't think I heard of that before..." Riku says looking between Arthur and Hikaru.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur puts the Flop and the Turn down, scratching his cheek... Then eventually the River. "Is there ANYTHING HERE?" He rambles confusedly. "Maybe if you got an EIGHT and a SIX? TWO FIVES? Whatever, it'll be good." Onward to the showdown...
Riku Asakura	Riku reveals his two pair, and takes the relitively modest pot in the showdown. "Haha, good game Kukuru!"
Kukuru	Kukuru's head is still in the clouds all giddy-like as she goes through her cards, only pausing briefly to put in a cheeky raise for a change of pace. It doesn't turn out well for her, but she's still in a pleasant mood. "Mhm! Thank you, Riku~ I think I'm even starting to get it now..." She doesn't, but she doesn't want anyone here to feel bad about that.
Arthur Lowell	"NICE NICE NICE. Guess I'm used to HIGHER HEAT at the table." Arthur rambles, as he retrieves the cards cheerfully. "TWO PAIR gets games, sometimes!" He snaps again. "THIRTY SIXTY. I don't gotta TURN THE HEAT UP super hard, on account of y'all some DARING MOTHERFUCKERS here tonight. But the heat gotta RISE!"
Merelisa Shaynore	"Can't have the fuckin' COPS chasing down TINY MAGICAL GIRLS." "Oh!!! We haven't done anything criminal--" Hikaru protests, then hesitates to wonder if that's really true. "... on Earth!" "Oh, um... so the Nottraiders are a government, lun, and they're trying to fight us because we're protecting Yuma and stopping them from taking over the galaxy..." "And on Earth, the government's been trying to find Yuma and Lala to dissect them! They keep sending vans and stuff. Well, probably not dissect, eheh. But they keep trying to steal Yuma too, and I bet Lala would be taken away somewhere..." "And if they found us, then the Starscape Union would be after me, too, lun! I'd go to jail! I can't let Earth know that there's aliens or I'll be breaking intergalactic law, lun!"
Arthur Lowell	"To dissect? Wait, they're gonna SEND YOU TO JAIL? Fuck." Arthur rubs his face a moment, laughing a bit. "So that's THREE GOVERNMENTS? That's definitely THREE GOVERNMENTS being SUPER EVIL. Or like. Evil enough? It's FUCKED!" He wrings his hands a little, shaking his head. "Well, now you're TRIPLE CRIMINAL. That makes you EXTRA COOL." He deals everyone some more cards.
Riku Asakura	'"And on Earth, the government's been trying to find Yuma and Lala to dissect them! They keep sending vans and stuff. Well, probably not dissect, eheh. But they keep trying to steal Yuma too, and I bet Lala would be taken away somewhere..."' "Oh wow, that's terrible. On my Earth, there is the AIB but they don't dissect aliens..." at least he doesn't think they do. He doesn't know exactly what they do besides regulate aliens.
Rufus Shinra	"Well, well. Now I have all the money and most of the rest of you have practically nothing..." "..." "..." "Actually kinda boring that it's like this again," says Rufus. "Suffering from success." He pushes a pile of chips in again. "Let's spice it up."
Arthur Lowell	"This shit is so super-hot. What are you people doin'." Arthur is both laughing and astounded. "I'm dealing CARDS, not WEAPONS. Y'all gotta keep it COOL. If one'a you got an ACE this is about to be SO BAD."
Kukuru	"Another pause, and then Kukuru looks over towards Arthur sternly for the first time tonight. "Language, dear." Her eyes flick over at Hikaru and Lala as she says that. She doesn't know how old they are, but she can make a vague guess based on appearances! "Nottraiders.. Jail? Oh dear. I wonder if..." Another pause. "I haven't heard of them coming to the Concord to try and arrange anything with us, either. So if they don't, and you're with us..." She murmurs, apparently already getting way ahead of herself and also peering at her cards finally. "Theeen... You'd be even more protected, you knoooow?"
Rufus Shinra	"You should deal weapons, though," says Rufus, cool as a cucumber. "They sell better than cards." "Riku, Kukuru, my condolences. I'll spend your boondollars on a fidget spinner that I name after you. Or something." Finger-guns. "So! Everyone else want to go ahead and surrender now?"
Riku Asakura	"Aw, I thought I had you..." Riku says, dejected as he gets up from the table. "Guess I'll find some snacks to eat..."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur announces it in a bitcrushed voice: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- \| BUSTED!! \| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "But GOOD SHOT there, that would'a been a BIG FUCKIN' CHUNK OUTTA RUFUS. Get that HERO'S WELCOME out at the BAR!" He misunderstands Kukuru. "Sorry, don't know any others but ENGLISH, buddy. I NEVER FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL."
Sarracenia	Sarra starts to think she should have stayed in, but by th time the round ends she is glad she did not. Especially with Rufus bombing people with giant bets. WHen invited to surrender though, she shoots him a look. "...I do not surrender." she says, perhaps a bit more seriously than is necessary for a poker game. Riku is taken out, and Sarra's expression softens. "Oh, I am sorry Riku. You put in a..." Valiant effort, she starts to say. But after the war week that doesn't seem like it is worth as much anymore. "...well, anyway...I suppose this means you can enjoy the snacks and drinks while you watch Rufus destroy the rest of us." she says, somehow finding the silver lining in such a situation.
Arthur Lowell	"FOR SURE lookin' like RUFUS is gonna win this one. We got some UNDERDOG SPIRIT HERE? You just gotta knock, what, COUPLE REAL ROUNDS IN A ROW off him?" Arthur pumps a fist dramatically. "C'mon! Princess and mahous! Fightin' the BIG MAN. It's supposed to be like that, kick his ass! Anyway, FORTY EIGHTY. I gotta set these up for minimum bets." He snaps his fingers...
Merelisa Shaynore	"So that's THREE GOVERNMENTS? That's definitely THREE GOVERNMENTS being SUPER EVIL." "Um... well, they have their reasons. I can't let them hurt Yuma or Lala, but... they don't really know they're being evil. Or-- well, the Nottraiders do. Eyewon is always saying about how evil she's being." "Lun. But the Starscape Union's always doing stuff for the 'greater good'. It's not allowed to let primitive planets know about aliens before they've left their solar system, or it'd cause problems." "Um, and Earth is... they're... if it wasn't Lala, then I'd be sad that aliens were being kept a secret, but...." After that uncertain glance to each other as they both immediately try to justify the many governments hunting for their blood, Lala gets rejuvenated by looking at Hikaru. She firmly nods, hugging Yuma to her chest like a plushie. "But we don't need protection, lun. I'm an adult. We can handle it, and we'll ask for help when we need it, lun." Then, after a couple rounds where Lala, mildly crushed by getting owned earlier in a way Hikaru isn't, suggests folding early, Rufus absolutely runs away with the game. Lala gasps in surprise when he gets his second big win of the night, and narrows her eyes in focus. "I have underdog spirit, lun. Hikaru, let's do this."
Kukuru	"Aw, I thought I had a good one that time. They're so pretty together, too..." Kukuru pouts lightly as she slides her queen pair forward, then giggles a moment later. "A fidget spinner? Oh, I didn't know you had that much... Oh dear." Getting the completly wrong idea from that, she gets up from her seat to approach Rufus, then pulls him into a light hug. "You know you can always come to me if you're worried about anything, okay?" She asks-but-really-declares while rubbing her cheek against Rufus' forehead briefly before stepping back. "Now.. Oh! Snack time, snack tiiiime~" She's about to join Riku, too, sounding completely unbothered with being ejected, but pauses for a moment when Arthur clarifies something for her! "You didn't? Oh, theeen.. Would you want to, dear? I don't have the qualif... Quanty... License for that, but I'm sure we could get you inton one if you wanted to finish it up~"
Arthur Lowell	"Ough, GREATER GOOD." Arthur mutters. "Girl, lemme tell you how many times I've FUMBLED the GREATER GOOD. I cannot fucking HOLD a GREATER GOOD. Best I've got is like, a GREAT GOOD." He makes a grossed-out face. "Or a GREAT-ISH GOOD. But I'mma keep it AMBIGUOUS." He deals some cards as he rambles to the remaining players. "On account of that shit SUCKS TO HEAR DEETS ABOUT but it contributes to my SICK-ASS ATMOSPHERE OF COOLNESS."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur watches the quick round... "Knocked a piece off his lead. A PIECE! Keeep that up."
Arthur Lowell	"Some advice," Arthur leans in, waggling a finger. "If you're ever CALLING ZERO, that's basically FREE. No reason not to STAY IN!" He taps the pot's currently light status. "'Cause you don't gotta PUT ANYTHING IN! It's just FREE RIDE."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur deals a flop of pure Clubs, then whistles... "This one's gonna be a BIG ONE for anyone who got TWO CLUBS. Or ONE CLUBS. Or a good POKER FACE FOR BLUFFING. Big CLUBS NIGHT either way."
Rufus Shinra	Rufus shuffles his two cards around, and then starts making a tiny castle out of his chips. Is this a tell?
Arthur Lowell	Arthur deals a subsequent turn and river with another Clubs... "BIG NIGHT FOR KINGS AND CLUBS." He declares, laughing. "What fuckin' DICKHEAD was in charge of THIS SHUFFLE? Someone TOSS HIM OFF THE BOAT."
Riku Asakura	From the bar Riku turns towards the table and speaks up, "Didn't you shuffle the cards?" He asks innocently.
Rufus Shinra	"Sorry Sarracenia. You made it out better than that roulette table, though," says Rufus. "... Well, now, newbies. Just you two and me."
Kukuru	"Sounds like we're all going to the... Club tonight." Kukuru giggles lightly at her own... Was that even a pun? She also pauses to listen for a bit, then gets some more drinks at the bar. Non-alcoholic, of course, since there's kids watching.
Merelisa Shaynore	"On account of that shit SUCKS TO HEAR DEETS ABOUT but it contributes to my SICK-ASS ATMOSPHERE OF COOLNESS." "Good point!" Hikaru leans back in her chair, nodding. "You are super cool, so I won't ask. And I'll be vague about how hunted we are, so it sounds like we're super cool too." Meanwhile, Lala is communicating with Yuma to win the next hand. The little Star Drop makes a MIDI tone "--¯_--¯¯¯? ¯¯¯-_-___." of observation and curiosity at a card, and Lala nods with a decisive "Lun!" "Knocked a piece off his lead. A PIECE! Keeep that up." The tiny win inflates Lala's ego an absolutely disproportional amount. She's so in it.
Arthur Lowell	"Ahhh, don't worry about it. Sometimes CHANCE is CHANCE." Arthur makes dismissing noises at Riku, upsidedownly, as he regathers the cards and shuffles them. He makes sure to shuffle them with his hands as well! Let's make sure to get this done right! "I'm gonna bring us up to FIFTY-SLASH-ONE-HUNDRED. We're not gonna have a lot more rounds left!"
Rufus Shinra	"There are, truly, only so many worthwhile people in the world," says Rufus. He leans back in his seat."Are you two among them?" "Let's put some blood on the table. Find out where the chips lie."
Arthur Lowell	"It's ONE ON ONE NOW," Arthur deals some cards out. It moves to the flop... "And more fuckin' HEAVY CLUBS on the field. Y'all gonna FLUSH IT AGAIN?" He gestures at Rufus pretty firmly. "Don't get BLOOD on my FELT though, the CARAPACIANS hate CLEANING UP after me. But sure-- let's see some HEAT!"
Sarracenia	Sarra notices the tiny castle. She saw Rufus do that at the casino. She is not sure what it means since...he wasn't even gambling at the time he built that one. He calls her for all she has left. Feeling lucky with two pair, Sarra goes all in. And gets destroyed by a full on flush. "Are you serious?!" she exclaims, with some volume and definite high pitch. She huffs heavily after that and crosses her arms over her chest grumpily. 'Sorry Sarracenia. You made it out better than that roulette table, though.' Sarra hmphs. "I suppose so...and this table has made it out better than that one." she says, though she obviously wants to cut this table in half, too. 'Sounds like we're all going to the...Club tonight.' It is so terrible that Sarra can't help a small laugh despite her mood. "Kukuru...that was so bad." she says, but in a friendly teasing soft of way. "Well, I suppose now I must cheer for the cutest ones at the table. How terrible~" Sarra says. "Beat him like you do those nottraiders, Lala and Hikaru!"
Merelisa Shaynore	The final duel... the trio of the Precures and Yuma versus the much faster learning newbie. They're at a heavy disadvantage, but this is when they struggle back up to their feet while covered in scuff marks, theme music beginning to swell, and take back the game for the noble underdogs! "Are you two among them?" "Absteroidlutely." Hikaru says, completely seriously. "Lala is the most worthwhile person I've ever met. Between the two of us... you're finished!" They immediately lose the first round, to their dismay.
Arthur Lowell	"Mmm, not gonna be able to chip away much longer..." Arthur waggles his finger a bit. "But I believe in COOL AS HELL WARRIORS OF SPACE, so I'm rooting for the DUO HERE." He points at the Precures! "DON'T GIVE UP, PRETTY CURES." He declares, as if the term were somehow canned or meaningful in some specific way. He also twists his hand in a little wrist-flick. "Anyway, SIXTY-AND-ONE-TWENTY."
Rufus Shinra	"How disappointing. One pair of eights, and no possibility of a flush. You couldn't even pass that trial?" Rufus steeples his fingers. "Is there truly no more beauty left in the world? None who'll shine brilliantly?" "How... droll." Rufus doesn't even look at his cards this time, leaving them where they were dealt out.
Merelisa Shaynore	"Everyone's rooting for us, Lala...!" "Lun! I'm giving it all I've got!"
Riku Asakura	"You girls can do it!" Riku says from the bar, drinking... soda! He doesn't really do alchohal.
Rufus Shinra	Rufus continues to not look at his cards, and simply keeps calling.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur deals out the cards, then the flop, the turn, the river... Rufus's heel-mode shenanigans get a laugh from him. He runs facefirst into the Precure's win, but it only chips him! "DAMN. The gals and their PLUS ONE take the ANTE! Someone make sure the STARDROP ain't EATIN' THOSE CHIPS, how's she WIN SO MUCH but still have SO LITTLE CASH?" He re-gathers the cards.
Merelisa Shaynore	"Alright, Lala... we're getting the hang of it! Now it's time for our finisher attack!" "Oyo? Do we have one of those for card games?" "We'll make one!"
Rufus Shinra	"There we go. Now we've got the blood pumping a bit." Rufus stretches. "But I do believe it's time I laid on the finishing blow, and determined once and for all how brilliantly..." "... or how dully..." "... you actually do shine under pressure." "Keep the cards rolling, Mr. Lowell. I'm looking forward to that shiny new fidget spinner."
Arthur Lowell	"The blinds aaaaare EIGHTY-AND-ONE-SIXTY!" Arthur declares. "And a solid FINISHER is going ALL IN on a REALLY GOOD HAND! Don't do that unless you got REAL CONFIDENCE though, or a GREAT POKER FACE." He deals another round...
Kukuru	"A finisher? In a card game? Oh, that would be a reaaal fun sight, for sure..." Another giggle, and Kukuru orders another drink. She's getting a bit flushed now, but she's totally ordering non-alcoholic drinks. Totally.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur snaps his fingers. "DAMMIT." He swears. "And the MAHOUS are KNOCKED OUT. Looks like RUFUS takes the FIVE GRAND. I'll keep holding out HOPE... Good fuckin' FIGHT though, you HELD OUT A WHILE there. Real good HOPE! Can't believe it came down to TWO TWO-PAIRS!"
Merelisa Shaynore	The Precures blink, and then suddenly they've lost their entire stock of Boondollars in a single move. "O-oyo?!"} "H-how! But we were so motivated...!" "Lala..." Hikaru confesses, head hanging. "I think this game can't be beaten with the power of our hearts alone...."
Merelisa Shaynore	"But you played really well, though! Good job!! I had lots of fun!" Hikaru, in a proper Adult Casino, understands that the proper thing to do here is to shake Rufus's hand, so she stands up and offers it to him with an absolutely beaming smile. "We still have tons of those boondollars left, so don't think you'll be winning forever...!"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur happily rambles, "Down to QUEENS AND FOURS versus FOURS AND TWOS for the BIG SHOWDOWN. PAIR OF PAIRS BY THE PAIR. So close!" He thinks about what they were saying with each other... "Power of the HEART comes in when it's time to LIE LIKE A BASTARD. Come around NEXT TIME, start thinking with your HOPE." He drops from his light-show night-sky, and pounds his chest once. "SOMETIMES," He declares. "A BLUFF or a LIE is just another kind of HOPE! And that means, when you BLUFF SOMEONE OUT, it's with the POWER OF YOUR HEART!" His teeth gleam when he dispenses one of his classic shit-eating grins.
Rufus Shinra	"And that..." Rufus gathers the chips together. "Was profoundly disappointing." "I can say, without a doubt, that I'm disappointed." "There was no... thrill. There was no heroic last surge. It was just..." He stands up. "Like crushing ants underfoot." "I don't need such things in my life. Only that which excites. That which thrills. That which is beautiful, and worthwhile, and preciously unique." "Anything else..." He walks towards the railing, bypassing the extended handshake entirely. "Might as well be discarded." And then all 5000 of everyone's BoonDollars are thrown over the edge of the yacht's railing.
Arthur Lowell	"BOOOOOO!" Arthur gets into Rufus's heel act. "BOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It's booing, but it comes with enthusiasm, making it clear how Arthur is engaging with it. "Y'all gotta fuckin' GET THIS GUY sometime." He insists, jabbing one index finger at Rufus and another into the felt of the table. "ANOTHER NIGHT though. Grab some SNACKS and watch the NIGHT-SIDE first."
Riku Asakura	'"Might as well be discarded."' Riku watches Rufus dump the money over the side, worse than that he completely disregards the Precure's offer of a hand. He's not sure what's gotten into Rufus after everything they went through, but Riku stands up and puts the drink down. "Hey, what's gotten into you?"
Merelisa Shaynore	Handshake spurned, Hikaru flinches a tiny bit, and her face falls. Rufus's bleakly apathetic dismissal of the narrative arc of the game is deeply counter to her own cheer for playing, but it's exactly that antipodality that gives her the energy to rebound. "That... I know how you feel! I know how disappointing it can be, when things turn out the same over and over!" Hikaru squeezes her fists and raises her voice to be audible to Rufus from behind as he's walking away. "And you might act like you're just bored and done with it, but you're really not!" "And I know! Because you're still looking for those beautiful things! You're still full of hope that the whole wide universe can show you something you'll love! Of all the trillions of stars in the sky, I know one of them will have what you're looking for! I hope I can help you find it, one day, over a different game!"
Kukuru	"It was a real fun game, mhm. Thanks for inviting us here, Arthuur..." Kukuru drones on with an amused giggle, swaying a little in her seat as she turns back around to rejoin the table. "I dunno a lot about this bluffing stuff, but... I think everyone did great!" And then Rufus chucks the B~~is~~oondollars over the edge. That actually gets her to pout a little more. "Aw, Rufus... That could've been spent on more snacks or dr-" Wait. Drinks are fine, "Drinks. Are you feeling alright, dear? You're..." She pauses, pursing her lips again before clapping a hand gently against his shoulder. "Well. Don't forget what I said earlier, okaaay?" She circles around to Hikaru and Lala afterwards, giving each of them light pats on the head in quick succession while smiling brightly the more she listens. "Oh, you... You have such a wonderful way with words, daer. Don't lose that, okay? I'm sure you'll be able to help him get there one daaaay..~"
Rufus Shinra	> "Hey, what's gotten into you?" "A profoundly disappointing round of cards." > "That... I know how you feel! I know how disappointing it can be, when things turn out the same over and over!" Rufus pauses as he's about to walk to the exit (or the tender that takes you back to the port, or whatever gets him dramatically off the ship). He listens to Hikaru's spiel... and then hmphs, and keeps walking. But, faintly visible, he's smiling as he leaves.
Sarracenia	Sarra doesn't receive Rufus's words well. She stands up quickly and is just about to let him have it when Arthur starts booing. She blinks in confusion and...slowly sits back down. Hikaru gives him a magical girl speech, and Sarra's fuse is put out. She just hmphs at Rufus and crosses her arms. "...if he dares to compare me to an ant again..." she mutters. With the money thrown out and the game over, Sarra stands and stretches her arms over her head...then winces as something somewhere (or maybe everywhere) hurts after. "...ow..." After taking a few breaths to recover, she smiles tiredly to those remaining. "It was...well, I lost so it was not quite fun. But it was not terrible. And it was good to see all of you. Especially you girls, and you Yuma." A big yawn escapes Sarra. "Oh my...excuse me. I should head home and...try to sleep." For some reason, the prospect of sleeping makes her look nervous instead of happy. "Until next time."