Chapter Text
The velvet of the poker table was soft against Isagi’s fingers, as he cleaned dust out of the divot. He straightened out his suit, fixed his hair, and turned to Hiori as the latter tapped his shoulder. He set a deck between them. “Show me that cut again.” Hiori’s blue hair hung in his face, that weird singular strand flopping around. Isagi did it, pulling aside the central chunk, then rearranging it quickly in a fashion that seemed like cutting the deck, but replaced it in the original order.
“Much better. Ya learn quick, don’t ya?” Hiori patted him on the back and left to set up the slot machines. Isagi turned to Chigiri, practising a shuffle. “Any new faces tonight?” Chigiri hummed, and ran a hand through his absurdly long hair. “New to you, yeah. Kaiser and Ness would be coming. They usually come every weekend, but Kaiser lost a shit ton to us around Jan end, so he’s been on a break.”
“And the other one? Also, where are they from?”
“Germany. Ness is Kaiser’s boyfriend, and where Kaiser goes, Ness goes. It’s genuinely pathetic. Extra pathetic considering Kaiser won’t stop flirting with me, even with his boyfriend literally hanging off his arm.” Chigiri groaned.
“He making you uncomfortable?” There was a pause, then a shrug. “It’s not that deep. He just pisses me off, and Hiori can’t deal for his table because Kaiser thought Hiori was cheating once and got aggressive. Fucking paranoid dickhead.”
“Well, was Hiori cheating?”
“Yeah, but still.”
Isagi scoffed, and turned to watch as the crowd began entering and settling at the table. Several familiar faces, and two new ones. Obviously foreign, hence Kaiser and Ness. One had hair dyed a deep magenta at the ends, hair mousy brown at the roots. His posture was unsure, head tilted upwards adoringly towards the other, despite both being equally (and unusually) tall. Shrinking himself, almost, so his boyfriend had more space. According to Chigiri’s description, this one must have been Ness. Next to him, the man who must be Kaiser, was using Ness’s shoulder as an armrest. He was tattooed, thorny vines running down his forearm. His face wasn’t bad to look at, but the image was marred by an egregious haircut, perhaps cut by a blind man using a butcher knife. (Although, that statement might be discrediting the blind men of the world)
Kaiser’s head snapped up, grin almost wolfish. “Oh? Is this fresh meat?” The tone of his voice sent a chill down Isagi’s spine. It was odd, too naturally cutting. It was difficult to imagine how he would sound if he were actually saying something mean. Isagi dealt, two to each, three open for the flop, two face down. “I thought you’d be more disappointed, Michael.” Don Lorenzo said, his gold teeth bared in a grin. “Your pretty boy’s run off.”
Ness shifted in his seat, and Isagi almost felt bad for the guy. Kaiser grinned, unaware or more likely, uncaring of Ness’s discomfort. “Don’t say that. This new boy isn’t too bad himself. Sweet looking.” Isagi rolled his eyes, already pissed. He’s not even good looking or girly, he couldn't imagine what Chigiri’s life was like. Reo, one of the youngest of the bunch, looked over his shoulder at Isagi. “Listen, if he’s making you uncomfortable…” Isagi didn’t react, but gave a slight smile to reassure him. Kaiser was at most annoying, not exactly creeping him out.
“Antes, please.” Isagi circled the table once more, collecting chips from each player. “Betting starts from there.” He gestured towards Kaiser. “Check.” Isagi observed his face, the latter’s eyes lit up with the infamous glee of a good hand, disguised behind an uncertain face. He was playing it cool. The round went by in check, and the pot got ramped up one by one over the next round. Itoshi Sae folded after the second raise within the same round, a calculated withdrawal. From what Isagi had assessed over the previous three weekends he’d seen Sae play, the guy was a reasonable, safe, low stakes player. Isagi didn’t know why guys like him even gamble.
To his right, Shidou. Who raised once again, grinning like a fool. The perfect polar opposite to Sae’s rationale. From Isagi’s observations so far, Shidou and Sae had something going on. Maybe it was unreciprocated, but Sae, ever so often, had been neutral rather than cold towards the antennaed cockroach. Shidou was a high stakes player, a bluffer, and an obvious bluffer at that. A stupid bluffer. Isagi had seen him, two Sundays ago, raise and raise till chips towered sky-high in the pot, only to eventually show a hand containing a pair of threes.
To Shidou’s right, ever the gentleman, Reo. The purple haired heir to the Mikage corp, a household name. He gambled in big amounts, but not recklessly. He was capable of going all in on a good hand, yet reasonable enough to fold immediately on a bad one. Today, he folded. He had matched Kaiser and Shidou’s bets for a little while, but he must have been intimidated, setting his cards down.
Nagi clung onto Reo like a jellyfish, groaning at his cards. They both sat close enough that they could see each other’s hands, but it was between them, so Isagi didn’t comment. “I’ll fold too, I guess. I don’t even like this game, ugh.” Isagi had overheard that Nagi was a YouTuber or something, which didn’t sound like a profession to him. He was way below Reo’s league, and had seemingly been dragged to the casino by the latter. He folded constantly, not cautious like Sae but simply unwilling to play. Wasted money one blind at a time.
Aiku and Don Lorenzo played next, in that order. The pot was getting bigger, all thanks to Kaiser and Shidou, and both seemed intimidated. Both were very average players, not too trigger happy but could get swept up in the excitement of a promising hand and not consider the possibility of losing. Aiku was a cop, and didn't really seem like it. Too easily excited, yet sometimes too quick to fold. The exact definition of a bad gambler. Don Lorenzo was different. He came off initially like the excitable types, given his appearance. But he erred on the side of caution, although not as cautious as Sae. He had come from a tough background, Isagi had deduced from eavesdropping, and hence must have valued his money.
And now, the last player in the round, Kaiser’s lapdog. Almost immediately, he folded. “Can I see?” Kaiser asked, and attempted to look at the discarded pair of cards. “Sorry, you can’t do that.” Isagi called out, breaking out of his observing trance. “My bad, new boy.” Kaiser answered, smirking at him. Ness must have whispered about his hand into Kaiser’s ear, and the latter seemed puzzled. “That’s a good hand, though. Why did you fold?” Ness shrugged. “Sorry.”
Isagi found it disgusting. How reliant on Kaiser could this guy be? His hand suddenly became good when Kaiser deemed it so? A good hand was a good hand, and a bad hand was a bad hand. And Kaiser seemed to have a good hand now, swallowing down a grin as Isagi opened the last card of the flop. He raised the stakes by quite a lot. Shidou called, and put down his cards as Isagi instructed them to reveal.
Seven of clubs and Ten of Hearts, plus the Eight, Nine and Jack of Clubs in the flop. A straight.
Kaiser, very smugly, put down his own. Ace of Clubs, and Ten of Clubs. Plus the Jack, Queen and King of Clubs in the flop made…..a Royal Flush.
On the first game of the night? Really?
“Looks like you’re my good luck charm, new boy.” Kaiser said. Isagi looked up amidst collecting the cards and chips. Lorenzo cackled. “Boy is right. How old are you, kid, 20?”
Before Isagi could answer, Hiori tapped him on the shoulder. He whispered, “Listen. If he’s making ya uncomfortable, yer free to ignore him or tell him off. But if it’s only annoying ya, suck it up and flirt back. Ya ain’t gonna get any tips standing there like a statue. Do some customer service.” Isagi nodded.
“Sorry,” He chuckled, hoping it sounded natural. “What were you saying?”
“I was asking how old you were. You look like a baby.” Lorenzo said flatly. “24.” Isagi answered, dealing the next hands. “He’s in my range then.” Kaiser said, elbowing Lorenzo. “Don’t forget, your boyfriend is sitting right there.” Reo interjected. Ness practically squirmed. “Don’t be a spoilsport, moneybags.” Kaiser snapped.
Isagi contemplated the moral issues with this situation while gathering and sorting the chips. It was bad to flirt with a taken guy, but money was money and Ness was a wimp. If he wasn’t even going to tell Kaiser to stop, why should Isagi bother to refuse to his own detriment? Now, he was all for helping the helpless, but Ness wasn’t powerless here. If he had read the situation right, Isagi believed Ness had rendered himself powerless for the sake of having Kaiser, for the sake of giving Kaiser power. It was the guy’s own fault.
In went the antes, and betting began again with Kaiser. He didn’t fake uncertainty this time, throwing in two chips immediately. This intimidated most of the other players into folding, bar Shidou. Sae had also folded, but hadn’t seemed intimidated, more calculated. The pot didn’t go as high as the first time, with one round going by in the limbo of check, and then a single raise in the next one, which Shidou matched. Both revealed their hands, and Isagi winced. He’d never seen so many foolish, insane bluffers in one room. Shidou’s hand, king high, and Kaiser’s hand, an ace high. What the fuck were they thinking?
“Brave play.” Isagi murmured, sliding all the chips towards Kaiser. Not really big winnings, but much more than his cards were worth. “Looks like it’s someone’s lucky day.” He said, glancing at Kaiser. He made sure to lightly make contact with Kaiser’s hand when sliding him this round’s chips. He looked up at Hiori, who was by the slot machines and within Isagi’s line of sight. Non-verbally asked, am I doing it right, to which Hiori nodded.
Isagi was never a flirt, especially never with guys. He’d dated a girl for a short while in college, but that was by pure circumstance and common interests, he’d never needed to play the game. But Kaiser seemed to be doing the majority of it, all Isagi had to do was flash a smile once in a while. He was chatty with each player, at least the ones that seemed talkative, congratulating them on wins and oohing and aahing whenever the pot went too high or the hands were too close in rank. By mid-round, the chatty players left were few, limited to Kaiser and Shidou (although Shidou was mostly just talking Sae’s ear off, not really talking to Isagi.). The previously chatty players were all fading into silence, frustrated by the lack of results.
The hands appeared to be getting worse, with mostly only folding and bluffs. Nobody was brave enough to bet high on a bluff, so the game began to get dull. The entire group’s luck seemed to have been wasted on the first round, with the straight flush and royal flush. Kaiser had the most money currently, seconded by Shidou. The latter had been earning in small amounts over the past few rounds, winning on slightly good hands such as a pair of 4s and a pair of Kings. Pocket aces brought him one more win this time, although the pot was mostly his own money.
It was a long night, and many had packed up and left by the end of the night. It was now Kaiser, Ness, Aiku, Lorenzo, and Shidou, who were all packing up to leave. Kaiser rested a hand on Ness’s shoulder. “Need a ride, babe?” After Ness shook his head, Kaiser spoke again. “You go ahead, then. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ness smiled, and it looked like acting. “Of course. Good night.”
Kaiser then, inevitably, turned to Isagi. He slipped a tip into Isagi’s hand, and Isagi thanked him. “You might just be my lucky charm, new boy.” Isagi laughed, then watched Kaiser leave. It was his twenty minute break now, so he stepped into the break room and stepped towards his bag. Ate half his sandwich, then lit a cigarette.
His mother must be so embarrassed by him. She had never shown it, sweet and kind whenever he visited, same with his father. He had always been a good kid, but he’d been on and off sick throughout high school. It hadn’t turned out to be anything serious, just some walking pneumonia he hadn’t been able to shake, yet it distracted him enough from studies to bring his average grades to below average. He went to some mediocre college, and had around enough qualifications for a drab office job, but he wanted something that was somewhat interesting at least. Eh. It could be worse, he could have been one of the gamblers. Besides, his mom was more likely to be upset about him smoking. He put out the cigarette in the ladybug shaped ashtray, heading back into the casino.