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“Are you sure you’re supposed to teach this stuff to a kid?”
He waved a hand distractedly, popping open his card deck holder with the other as they both settled down on the soft couch.
“Eh, it’s fine. Gotta teach ‘em young.” Cayde moved his gaze from the cards to the young girl as he started shuffling. “Plus I’m on break and I don’t wanna spend it listening to Knox complain about… well, everything.”
Micah let out a small chuckle, shaking her head at the man’s antics, but reading herself to play nonetheless; meanwhile, the Exo skillfully shuffled the cards, alternating through riffles and bridges just to show off. Micah had attempted to imitate him before, but the tricks turned out to be harder than she thought.
As she gently fixed Mihaylova next to her, Cayde finally started handing out the cards. Micah quietly observed them; it looked like a personalized deck, light brown back adorned with two parallel white lines traveling diagonally, connecting the two inner angles of the white frame that mirrored the shape of the cards. “Alright kiddo, here’s the basics.”
He placed two cards in front of her, and two in front of him. “The goal of the game is to have the best hand possible, or at the very least the best hand at the table. That should be easy for now, seeing as there’s just two of us.” Micah nodded, eyes fixed on the cards.
“And how do I know if the hand is good?” She questioned. “Most people eventually memorize the combinations, but you can check a table until then. Here, I brought one for you.” Cayde replied, fishing a folded piece of paper from the deck holder and handing it to the girl.
As Micah unfolded the table, he spoke up again. “Best things that can happen to ya are a Five of a Kind or a Straight Flush. Royal Flush if you’re lucky.” He kept explaining as he fixed the remaining cards in a neat pile between the two of them, and turned over the top one - a Queen of clubs. “Five of a Kind would be when you have all the same numbers from different suits.”
Micah looked up from the paper. “But there’s only four suits, no? Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades.”
“Correct. But that’s why we have wild cards.” Cayde picked the pile of cards back up, quickly going through them until he found what he was looking for. He slipped one card out from the pile, holding it between the tips of his index and middle finger to show Micah the court jester drawn on it. “The Joker’s just one of them, but it’s enough for beginners. When you have this card, you can use it in place of whatever you want.”
“Alright, that makes sense…” Micah nodded, focusing once again on the table Cayde had given her as the man fixed the card pile back down. “The Straight Flush looks easy enough. Five cards of the same suit in sequence, no?”
“Correct again. You’re a natural, kid.” Cayde winked. “ And if your Straight Flush is made up of the three face cards, the Ace and the ten, then it’s a Royal Flush.”
“So it’s called ‘Royal’ because it has the Queen and King cards? How creative…”
“Hey, I didn’t make the rules, or the cards. Take it up with the French.”
Micah chuckled, looking at the table one more time to make sure she understood the rest of the combinations. They seemed easy enough, so she set the paper aside and grabbed the two cards still lying face down in front of her. “Okay, now what?”
Cayde mimicked her, quickly checking his cards - a five of Spades and a three of Clubs - and putting them back down. “Well, technically, before the game starts, comes the first round of bettings. You’re supposed to do that before dealing the cards, but who’s checking.”
“I’m 13, best thing I can bet on is my lunch money.”
“I don’t want your lunch money, Micah.” Cayde laughed. “We’re not gonna use real money. Usually, people use chips in it’s place, but I don’t own any, so…” He took something out of his right pocket, and dropped a bunch of screws and bolts on the soft cushions. Micah raised her brows.
“Quit judging me. And don’t tell anyone, last thing I want is to have the Brays on my ass for borrowing screws to play Poker with…” he muttered.
“I saw nothing.”
“Attagirl. Now,” the Exo rubbed his hands together before handing the girl six of the metal trinkets. He then took the remaining six for himself, “we’re gonna start off easy. Betting is pretty much what makes Poker, Poker. The game starts with an ‘ante’.”
He picked up one of his bolts. “That’s just the first bet of the game. All players have to contribute, so that there’s always something in the pot.” He drops it between the two of them. “For now, let’s just make an ante of one. We don’t have a lot of screws, so we better keep the bets low.”
Micah hummed in response, imitating the man and placing one of her own bolts next to his.
“So what are we betting on, exactly?” She questioned as her thick, dark brows furrowed in confusion.
“How good your hand is, and how good you think the other players’ hands are.” Cayde explained. “But you also need to keep future hands into consideration. It all boils down to maths and probability, really.”
Micah groaned. “My head hurts.” “It’s easier than you think, seriously. You think I’m good at maths?”
“Fair enough.” She shuffled her two cards, keeping her hands occupied. “So how does betting work?”
“With each turn, a player makes their own bet. Following that, everyone else has to either call, raise, check or fold. These mean, respectively, betting the same amount as the first person, betting a higher amount as the first person, not betting anything - which can only be done if everyone before you either checked or folded - and finally, retreating from the turn.” The young girl opened her mouth to comment, but Cayde raised his finger before she could say anything. “But. We never back out in this household. Folding isn’t, and has never been, an option.”
“Cayde.” She deadpanned. “We’re in a BrayTech lounge. And we don’t live together.”
He shook his head. “Whatever. My point is, never fold. Especially not in real life.”
Deep brown eyes bore into bright blue ones as Micah processed Cayde’s words. He seemed suddenly serious, which didn’t happen very often. Micah could count the times she saw Cayde sober up on one hand. She bit the inside of her cheek.
“Got it. Never fold.” She firmly nodded. “I promise to keep it in mind.”
The Exo said nothing, simply smiling to the best of his efforts - he was, after all, made of metal - and bringing up a hand to ruffle Micah’s hair.
“Good.” The girl wasted no time in fixing her brown locks as soon as he lowered his arm, pulling up her hood for good measure. “Well then.” Cayde started, picking the poker topic back up. “I think we’re good to go. Ready?”
“Ready.”
Cayde picked the top three cards from the pile, placing them face up between him and Micah. “This is the flop. We share these cards, and you have to observe them, and think up how well they go with the ones you have. The next two rounds add two cards to this line-up, the turn and the river, and then there’s the showdown.”
Micah grinned mischievously from behind her cards. “Alright… just don’t be a sore loser when I beat you, okay?”
“I like your confidence, kid.” Cayde replied. “But you’re talking to Europa’s top Poker player.”
“We’ll see about that.” And with that, the game started.
It didn’t take long for Micah to get acclimated to the game. She kept silent the entire time, hiding her face behind her cards and only ever speaking to call or raise. Never once checking, and certainly never, ever folding.
The community cards were looking good. Cayde reveled in his hand; a Two Pair was probably enough to win against a first-timer. He might’ve been an overall good mentor, but he wasn’t above destroying newbies at card games.
Yet all his confidence came crashing down exactly five seconds later.
“Royal Flush.”
Cayde blinked. Micah had laid down her two cards for him to see. A Queen of Spades. An Ace of Spades. He looked down at the community cards, and indeed; a King, a Jack, and a ten of Spades looked back at him.
Micah grinned, and her eyes sparkled in satisfaction. “Told you not to be a sore loser~”
The rest of Cayde’s break was spent in a similar style. From Full Houses to simple Pairs of Aces, Micah kept winning, and at the end of each showdown, most - if not all - of Cayde’s bolts and screws would end up in her hands.
“Holy shit, kid.” Micah giggled at the indirect praise as Cayde picked up the cards to give them one last shuffle before putting them away. “You might be a rising Poker prodigy. You really are a natural.”
He slid the cards and the folded combinations table back into the deck holder, making sure it was properly closed before slipping it into one of his many hidden pockets. He did the same with his borrowed screws and bolt, and reluctantly stood up.
“Right, my break’s over. Sorry, Micah.” The man sighed, looking down at the young girl. She looked a little sad, but did her best to still smile at him.
“That’s okay.” She said, although Cayde could swear she sounded a bit off. “We can continue playing next time. Me and Mihaylova will wait for you, don’t worry.” The penguin plush next to her sat silently, unmoving, but Cayde still felt better knowing that Micah considered it company.
He had taught her that the first time they met. He had found this little child, no older than eleven years old, crying alone at the bottom of a staff staircase in Eventide, squeezing the life out of that very same penguin plush. He had approached the kid carefully, making sure not to startle him, although he seemed to panic when he saw Cayde’s face. But the Exo wasn’t hostile, the kid soon noticed, he was actually interested in Mihaylova. None of the other adults or kids ever were, if anything they would make fun of him for still having plushies at that age.
Cayde had asked many questions about Mihaylova and her fellow penguin plushies. Micah had happily told him all about them and their real life counterparts, and the Exo had listened intently.
And when Micah had finally explained the reason behind his tears, that he felt alone because he had no friends and his Dad and Papa were fighting and were always at work, Cayde had been quick to offer a solution.
“Ah, but you see, you’re not really alone. You have Mihaylova. And Calumet, and Hardy, and all the others. All you need is a little imagination.” He had said, ruffling Micah’s short hair.
And the kid had really liked that; he wasn’t one to make friends easily, but that made it easier. And so he had offered his thanks in the best way he knew.
“Would you like to be my friend too, Mister?”
“Of course. My name is Cayde-3.”
The kid had repeated that name a few times, as if getting used to saying it.
“Cayde…”
“Cayde?”
The man snapped out of his thoughts, his optics focusing again as he looked back down at Micah. “Are you ok?” She asked.
“Yeah, sorry. Got lost in my own head.” He smiled at her. “I better go. Make sure you get home safely, alright? And go to school tomorrow, if you keep skipping class like this you’ll end up like me.”
Micah crossed her arms in protest, a small pout forming on her lips, but huffed out a ‘fine…’ all the same, making Cayde chuckle. He gently patted her head one last time before turning around towards the staff door of the lounge, but before he could even make it halfway there, he felt a weight holding him back.
As he looked down, he was met with a full head of brown hair pressing against his back and two thin arms wrapped around his torso.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Moving as gently as possible, Cayde loosened her grip around him to turn around and kneel down to her height. She was always quite a petite child, despite her age.
She suddenly looked sad, and slightly nervous. “I just…” she kept her eyes glued to the pristine floor, anxiously fidgeting with her hands, “sometimes I get scared you might not come back. And Dad and Papa have been fighting so much lately, I don’t wanna go home to them.” She finally looked up, and Cayde’s heart ached a little at the sight of the kid holding back tears. “Can’t I just stay here with you?”
“Micah…” He sighed. “I’m sorry, kiddo. You know you can’t. This isn’t a place where kids should be at all, I don’t want you getting involved with what happens in here.” He gently placed his hands on her arms, rubbing his thumbs against the fabric of her hoodie in a comforting manner. “I know things at home can be difficult. But it’s still your home, and they are still your parents. They love you, that much you can be sure of.”
Micah’s tears threatened to spill at any second. “And whatever happens, I’m always gonna come back, alright? You don’t have to worry ‘bout that.” He moved a hand, gently wiping away the few tears that were now rolling down the girl’s cheeks. “And even if we get separated one day, I promise to find my way back to you. There’s no way I’d give up on my young, promising protégé.”
Cayde felt the knot in his chest loosen a little as a small smile formed on Micah’s face. “Pr-promise?” She whispered, her voice a bit shaky from the tears.
The Exo put his right hand between them, fist closed and pinky up. “I pinky promise.”
Micah's small frame shook with laughter. “I’m too old for that…” she muttered.
“Aaah, come on… no one’s too old for a pinky promise.”
A small, tawny pinky hesitantly wrapped around his white metal one.
“I pinky promise to also do my best to find you if we get separated.” She murmured. “But I also pinky promise to do my best to never let that happen.”
Cayde’s face melted into a soft smile. “That’s my girl. Always two steps ahead.”
He leaned in closer and gently bonked his horn against Micah’s forehead, making her erupt in giggles. Her tears finally stopped, and Cayde felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders as her crisp laughter filled the empty lounge.
Micah wasn’t Cayde’s biological daughter, not even remotely. But he loved her like one, and could not help but be disappointed in her dads for spending more time on their stupid BrayTech work rather than their own daughter. He was ready to do anything if it meant his girl could lead the life she wanted and deserved, and if it meant he could be part of it.
Cayde wasn’t Micah’s biological father, not in the slightest. But lately, Micah felt closer to him than she did her Dad and Papa. Cayde was her best friend, he had taken her under his wing when she needed it most and had helped her in countless ways. And Micah would’ve given anything to be able to always be with him, and help him like he had helped her.