Home Forum Wiki The Rules Newbie Guide Roleplay Guide Plot & Setting Wanted Characters Aedolis Teinar Edanith Libra Cancer Thanatos Inc. Contact Us Copyright Affiliates Advertise Us Advertise You Donate! Playing a Leader

Author Topic: This is not the Outlaw You're Looking For (Drac)  (Read 610 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline Lion

This is not the Outlaw You're Looking For (Drac)
« on: November 14, 2017, 08:36:03 pm »
Win some. Lose some. It was all the same to him.

Heavens forbid he give anyone more than a glare from underneath the brim of his hat. Shade Ridge wasn’t a particularly huge settlement, but it was right in the crossways between a few others not too out of the way. He was here for a little refuel a little RnR and didn’t plan on staying longer than he had to. At money he had was enough to cover what he needed, and the pot on the table was what he planned to win from the rest of the fools at the table.

Oklahoma’s eye narrowed as he glared at his hand, knowing full-well he could probably wipe out at least 3 of the others at the table with him. One of them was rubbing at her temples, a little nervous. A little worse for wear. The one next to her was scratching at his beard and balding scabby head. Didn’t look no more than say a few years older than him, but goddamn that was a nasty burn on that ripened melon scalp.

Truth be told, it was a nice distraction, even if the only one worth a damn at the table was an older woman, probably in her late fifties, red headed and chewing idly on her bottom lip. Occasionally she’d smile and offer Oklahoma a wink. Clever tell. She had a good hand and was trying to butter him up for a decent fall.

He tilted his head and pushed the brim of his hat back, before the moment of truth came about. His heart was pounding in his skull when he dropped his hand. There were a few hissed curses, and the woman with red hair soon had red brimming right under her eyes as she threw her cards on the table. Hehehehehe.  Oklahoma scooped the pot closer to him and didn’t bother counting the worn and weathered bills that he rolled up and stuck in his duster pocket.

“Another one in the pocket,” he snickered and downed the shot of whiskey that was beside him. It wasn’t much of a win, but even a small amount could go a long way. And if there was a good game to be had somewhere he just couldn’t resist. Oklahoma took his hat off and pushed back his dark brown hair, glancing behind him when the door opened and someone walked in.

Shade Ridge wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to hide in. Lots of folks passing through, traveling from place to place, buying tack and feed, making a living just like everyone else. Oklahoma had rented out a room with a bed, a real bed, and he couldn’t wait to fall in it when the sun went down. A few hours of shut eye did him some good. Some nights, admittedly, were better than others.

The worst ones were restless. Even when the ground had give and he was warm, and huddled under his hat, but the dreams didn’t cease, and he woke up every hour, jerking at the slightest sound. Tonight would be better, he told himself. He was gonna make the most of that real bed.

Oklahoma pushed that glass out of the way and glanced up at the people in the bar. A few folks in the corner, someone reading quietly by the stairs, the woman behind the counter polishing the tins.  Empty, but not. Quiet, yet somehow he could have sworn he’d heard a din. Someone with blonde hair took a seat at the bar and he locked eyes a moment, narrowing them and averting his gaze to reshuffle the cards in front of him.

Yup it was better not to draw attention. Just finish up his drink, maybe turn in early. He didn’t want to lose out on that bed.

Offline Draconian

Re: This is not the Outlaw You're Looking For (Drac)
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2017, 12:07:57 am »
Cool. Calm. Collected.

The three C's of not sticking out like a sore thumb when it came to bounty hunting. Sure he was technically a law enforcer, but out here he was little more than a wolf chasing after rabbits. Or, no. That was too cool an analogy for Sebastian Lockland. Some sort of rabbit with fangs chasing other rabbits. Whatever. Sebastian fixed his hat, straightened his coat and rolled his shoulders as he walked into the tavern at Shade Ridge.

Who named it that?

Was there a point? Maybe they couldn't come up with anything and it just happened to be the perfect time of day for a shady ridge. Sebastian glanced around, chewing on his lower lip for a moment before he spotted his quarry. Sitting right there looking entirely too pleased with himself. Oh no, he was gambling. Sebastian needed to get close though. He could gamble a bit. Did he have money for that? Taking a seat beside the man after patting at a pocket to make sure he had shit to gamble with, he puffed out his cheeks after a moment and tossed a few dollars into the pot.

"Afternoon," Sebastian said, keeping his voice low and his face down - though he politely tipped his hat. "Name's Sebastian," He nodded to the cards, "Deal me in? I'm rusty, it'll be like taking candy from a baby, I promise." He chuckled at his own joke in a semi-forced manner before he took off his hat and fixed his hair, flicking those lavender eyes to the man. Kaivalt Renquist. Thirty-five. Gruff. Big. Scary dude. He'd studied the profile enough, followed leads. Followed rumours.

They were always scarier once he got up next to them but - so far - the only trouble they'd been was the convincing them they should go with him. He returns them to their jailers and he gets paid for delivering them. Flawless system kind of.

Sebastian couldn't keep the shiver at bay when he looked at Kaivalt - Oklahoma he'd been going by -  and quickly looked down to his empty hands.

A quick motion to a server and soon enough, a frosty beer was on it's way to him.  "How's the drink?" He nodded down to it, absentmindedly ( on purpose ) playing with his fingertips and picking at his nails, "I could never stomach the hard stuff."

Offline Lion

Re: This is not the Outlaw You're Looking For (Drac)
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2017, 12:59:46 pm »
There it was. Any hopes of not drawing any attention to himself shot right out the double doors of the building. Oklahoma didn't show, not through his stony face, the amount of exasperation that passed through him, a cold ebbing edge of water he'd stepped into soaking right through his boots. Oklahoma wiggled his toes passively, just making sure that he was still on dry ground, that he was still here at a bar, in the middle of some podunk town in the middle of the frontier on a planet in the middle of void.

One thing he hadn't been counting on was someone else joining him at that table. He'd been ready to shuffle close the deck and tuck the cards away in his pocket. It was an old deck, well worn and some of the corners were bent up. He couldn't remember for the life of him just how he got it, and he supposed now it didn't matter, and there was tape where the sections had been ripped. More or less intact. That's how things tended to be these days.

The newcomer at the table was talking to him. Or waggling his tongue to try and make himself out to seem bigger than he was. He wasn't exactly a pipsqueak now was he? 

But something about him felt distinctly green.

"Hey there. Nice evenin' we're having ain't it," he nodded to him. Not bothering to introduce himself. Not yet. They weren't there yet. And what did names matter in the scheme of card games anyway. Well, they couldn't exactly play poker with just two people now could they? But there were a few that could just as easily be dealt between them.

"High card sound good?" he nodded, and when the confirmation was met, Oklahoma shuffled the deck again and then slid it forward to Sebastian to split the deck.  "We get three shots. Best 2 out of 3 wins. I guess I could spare a few bucks to start the pot."  Oklahoma had been careful with the money he'd bothered revealing. It helped to have a healthy enough paranoia, to be aware of who was watching you, where and when and for what. So he pulled out a few rolled bills and laid them out. Nothing huge, just a few bucks to start.

"Drink's fine," he said, and raised it up to the newcomer. "You want something for yourself? I'll tell you what, you order whatever you want. It'll be on me."  Hmm, name? "Call me Oakley."  His aquamarine eyes were squinting a little, nope he didn't like the way this guy was looking at him at all. Made his nerves stand on end. 

Offline Draconian

Re: This is not the Outlaw You're Looking For (Drac)
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2018, 09:41:22 pm »
At least he wasn't observant.

Sebastian lifted an eyebrow at Oakley and took a sip of his beer before smiling and putting it back down. A silent answer the offer of getting him a drink. He was nervous and he couldn't stop twitching his fingers and picking at loose threads on his coat and shirt. Not that there were many loose threads. For now. Sebastian smiled politely and looked down at the shuffled deck in front of him.

Had he ever played cards before? He suddenly blanked on if he ever had. Had he? Maybe Go Fish.  Was High Card exactly what it sounded like? Sebastian sure hoped so. He sipped his beer and pushed the deck back to Oakly before tossing his own money in. Nervous and twitchy Sebastian chewed on his lip and tapped his finger tips against the table. "You know if they have any rooms free?" He asked casually, making a point to look relaxed and rest his head on his hand on the table. Looking through his eyelashes.

Act casual.

or something.

Sebastian's leg twitched and he moved a lot, shifting in his seat and glancing away, chewing on his lip. "Remind me how to play High Card?"

Offline Lion

Re: This is not the Outlaw You're Looking For (Drac)
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2018, 08:12:30 pm »
Yup his nerves were still standing on end. And it didn't help matters further that this guy just seemed to be slightly and very conveniently naive on how to play a rather simple and common card game. Or maybe Oklahoma was just drunk enough that he assumed the name said it all. High Card. The highest card won. Poker was much more complicated. But this, well anyone with basic math skills could do it.  Aaand in fairness, that wasn't much of the Frontier population.

So maybe he was just being paranoid about the whole thing.  He clearly had too much to drink.

Oklahoma shuffled the cards when they were pushed back to him and he kept his eyes steady on what his hands were doing, until they flicked up to meet Sebastian's. If that even was his real name. Oklahoma grinned, the little corner of his mouth flickering with a twitch when he caught the other man biting his lip. So that was his tell, huh?

Good to know.

"So the game's pretty simple, Sebastian," he nodded to him. "We each pull a card from the deck and the person that gets the higher card wins that round. Loser has the option to up the ante and draw again. Usually the rounds are about best 2 out of 3. But it can go as high as 4 of 5 or 9 of 10. Pretty simple. Anyone can get the hold of it."

He dealt out two cards from the deck set the pile expertly to the side. "Each card is worth it's face value. From 2 to 10. Then in ascending order ya got the Jack, the Queen, and the King. For this game, we'll leave the suits as more or less equally valued. So it's just a numbers game." Oklahoma's fingers moved neatly and stared at Sebastian dead on. "So you read to flip your card then, Sebastian?  On the count a three. One, two..."

 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal