Chapter Text
Callum had always believed that luck was a person — a cruel, vindictive person. The sort who would watch him walk into a casino with twenty thousand in his pocket, pat him on the shoulder, and whisper, "you'll leave with nothing."
And Callum, being Callum, would grin and sit at the nearest table anyway. Tonight was no different.
The casino was loud enough to drown out common sense. Cards snapped against felt, chips clattered, glasses chimed. Somewhere across the room, somebody shouted in triumph, followed by somebody else groaning in defeat.
Callum sat at a blackjack table with his legs crossed, elbow resting casually against the armrest of his chair. He looked entirely too comfortable for someone who had just lost another hand.
When the dealer pushed the cards toward him, the blond looked back and forth between the two, "...Hit."
The next card was placed in front of him — twenty-three.
"That's unfortunate," the dealer deadpanned.
"Okay," Callum's smile became strained as he stared at the card sitting in front of him, as if the sheer intensity of his gaze could magically change the number. "Okay!" He stood up abruptly, dragging his chair backwards his a loud sound. "That was a warm-up. I'm up to bigger businesses."
The dealer stayed in complete silence, visibly already used to this behavior coming from possibly a large majority of people he met in the casino.
"Don't— Don't look at me like that," the blond stammered before walking away with what little dignity he had left, which wasn't much. His pockets were nearly empty yet again. Pulling out a single chip, he quickly made a decision with his very poor decision-making skills.
"...One last bet."
"Absolutely not."
That voice was familiar enough to make Callum freeze. He slowly turned his head to see his elder sister Chanel standing behind him, arms folded. Her platinum-blonde hair spilled over one shoulder, partly obscuring her face beneath her pastel-pink fur hat. The fluffy shawl around her shoulders made her look completely out of place in a casino full of gamblers — and somehow appeared more intimidating than all of them combined.
Callum snapped behind, surprised she showed up in such a place. "How did you find me?"> "You're predictable," she unfolded her arms with a sigh, "and always in this casino."
Her brother immediately held up a finger, eager to prove her wrong. "False. I'm mysterious and travel through multiple of them."
"That doesn't make it any better, Callum." Chanel couldn't help another exasperated sigh. "You're an addict."
"Wow," Callum placed a hand over his heart, earning a roll of his sister's eyes. "That hurt."
"It was supposed to."
"You're supposed to support your little brother!" he exclaimed, feigning hurt. "How could you make such an act of cruelty!"
"I support you in staying alive and out of debt," Chanel deadpanned disapprovingly, looking directly into her younger brother's eyes before adding, "which means certainly not right here in this casino."
"I can do both."
"You've been borrowing money from me for months," the sorority president bluntly exposed.
Callum only grinned, the sight only making his sister narrow her eyes. He narrowed his own back in order to get on her nerves. They stared at each other intensely before Chanel let out yet another sigh. "You lost." She remarked as Callum slipped the chip into his pocket. "What's so good about gambling if you're just going to continue losing over and over?"
The gambler simply shrugged, "I'll just win more money next time. Lady luck's gotta get back to me someday."
Chanel rubbed her forehead. She loved her brother, sure, but she also occasionally wanted to throw him through a window. "Come home," she demanded, attempting to grab Callum's wrist to forcefully pull him out of this place that smelled like failure.
"Can't do, Cha" the latter dodged. "I unfinished business," he quickly added as his sister's expression darkened.
Chanel stilled, squeezing her eyes shut for a second as an attempt to calm herself down. "You have debts," she finally argued, opening her eyes again just for the indifferent look on Callum's face to irritate her once more.
"Exactly. Business." He replied smoothly with a careless laughter before walking past her, but she caught his sleeve in the motion. "You're not getting another cent from me," she snapped.
"...I have other sources." Callum shrugged, earning a shaky exhale from his sister who was attempting to hold back from punching him in the face.
"Who?" She asked, letting go of the sleeve to clentch her fists tightly at her sides.
Callum smiled, blinking up at her with feigned innocence. "Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?"
"Callum." The sonority president called out as she furrowed her brows, doing little to hide her irritation. "Not the time."
"Love you too!" He slipped away before she could grab him again.
Chanel watched him disappear into the crowd, her expression softening despite herself. She knew him — he would find another way — he always did, and that was exactly what frightened her.
———————————————
Callum wandered deeper into the casino, knowing he had enough money for one more game.. Maybe two if he got lucky. Which was hilarious to even think about, considering his relationship with luck.
The gambler stopped beside a roulette table. Red. Black. Red. Black. "Come on..." he murmured as his green eyes followed the spinning wheel. "Come on..."
When ball bounced, he leaned closer, eyes full of anticipation.. just for it to land black. "You're kidding," he muttered, biting the inside of his lip in frustration.
That was when an annoyingly unbothered voice beside him spoke, "perhaps you're simply betting incorrectly."
Callum turned to see that a stranger stood beside him. Narrowing his eyes, he started openly observing him, making absolutely zero effort to hide it as he inspected him from head to toe. His first thought about the man was that he must like the color brown a lot — the latter was dressed in that color almost entirely.
The gambler then noticed that he was dressed in rather formal clothes that showed he clearly didn't belong in such a place — sophisticated brown buttoned suit consisting of a matching blazer and trousers. He had brown, short wavy hair with several long strands that fell forward across his forehead, partially covering his blue eyes.
What was rather interesting was that he had the sort of expression that suggested he had never found anything particularly amusing in his life. Callum immediately disliked him, which meant he immediately wanted to bother the life out of him.
"Betting incorrectly?" He started, letting confusion take over his expression. "There's an incorrect way to gamble?"
The stranger leaned against the table more comfortably. "There are several," he answered before turning to actually look at the blond.
Callum paused, then scoffed. "Oh, you're one of those people," he exclaimed, unimpressed.
"Those?" The brunet echoed with a raise of his eyebrow.
The gambler simply grinned, "people who think they understand gambling."
"I know probability, which takes a large part in gambling."
Callum leaned against the table, "you know, you could have just said you're boring."
The latter's eyebrow twitched, the subtle change only made the gambler's grin widen. "Did I hit a nerve?"
"No." The stranger shot him a light glare. Now understanding that the blond was provoking him on purpose, he sighed. "Where are your manners?"
"They don't matter in a place like this one," the gambler said solemnly. "Real gamblers eat manners for dinner."
The stranger looked at him for a moment, then, unexpectedly, the corner of his mouth lifted. "Guess real gamblers can't afford dinner." He commented.
Callum chose with his free will to ignore what he has just said. "Was that.. a smile?" He asked despite already knowing the answer, leaning closer just to tease him.
The stranger turned back toward the roulette wheel with a now neutralized expression, refusing further conversation even as the gambler continued staring at him.
"What's your name?" The blond finally asked, letting curiosity take over.
The man didn't even bother looking at him, "Hudson."
"Hudson," Callum repeated it thoughtfully. "That sounds very serious."
"It is." Hudson replied.
The blond's eyes then widened in drastic realization. "Your parents blessed you with the power of sonion—"
"Don't."
Callum immediately erupted in a laughter violent enough to make his shoulders shake, though Hudson didn't look very pleased.
After the laughter eventually faded, the brunette glanced at him, visibly annoyed. "And yours?"
"Callum." The blond answered proudly, standing a little taller.
"I see." Hudson said thoughtfully.
An expression of absolute confusion crossed Callum's features as he tilted his head, "you see what?"
"Why you're losing."
Callum's jaw dropped as Hudson calmly watched the wheel after that comment, as if he hadn't dropped a bomb on him.
"Oh, you're a jerk." The gambler snorted, shoving the man with his elbow, "had better expectations for you."
"I've been called worse." The brunet muttered.
Callum laughed and felt his mood improve — which was rather impressive as, after several losses, he'd usually look like a kicked puppy before getting dragged away by Chanel.
"Okay, I like you," he said solemnly
The latter looked at the blonde with a look that said he was already done with him, "I didn't ask you to."
"Didn't say you had a choice." Callum said cheekily.
Hudson's expression remained stoic, but there was another tiny flicker of amusement in his eyes.
———————————————
Hudson had been staying at the casino for some time, it was supposed to be temporary.
Everything had been temporary since the Seven Wonders.
He had once believed he was destined for supremacy; a warlock from the outpost, gifted with power and ambition, he had believed the Seven Wonders would be the proof that he deserved something greater.
He then failed.
The memory still burned, so he stayed at the casino. It was loud and full of people desperately trying to turn chance into destiny.
In other words, it was a place where failure was common enough to become invisible.
Hudson found that strangely comforting.
And then there was Callum — very visible, impossible not to notice with his platinum-blond hair, white suit jacket, black vest and striped tie.
The mage had observed the gambler's green eyes that practically sparkled whenever he was about to say something irritating.
He also saw that he possessed an inability to leave a losing bet alone.
Hudson paused as he watched him place another chip, "don't."
Callum glanced at him. "Don't what?"
"Bet," the brunet answered, smoothing his brow with his fingers.
"Why?" the gambler didn't make the effort of stopping his movements.
"Because you're going to lose," Hudson answered matter-of-factly.
"That's a very confident prediction," Callum commented with a smile that looked way too cheeky for Hudson's liking.
The brunet felt like he was going to lose his mind if this went on.
"It's an observation," he stated.
"Okay," Callum acknowledged, putting the chip down. "I'll bet anyway."
Hudson sighed as the wheel spun, and as Callum watched with the anticipation of a child waiting for their turn on the slide.
Red.
The blond's face lit up as he finally won. "HA!" He immediately turned toward the brunet with a proudly raised eyebrow, "Did you see that?"
The latter nodded, "yes."
"I won," the gambler peeked over at Hudson to search for any sign of defeat across his features.
"I noticed," Hudson deadpanned, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing what he wished to see.
"You said I'd lose," Callum pestered with a cross of his arms.
The mage glanced at him, giving the gambler a flat look. "I was wrong," he admitted.
Callum stared at him, then slowly let the corners of his lips tug into a smile. "Oh my god."
"What?" Hudson narrowed his eyes in question.
"You admitted you were wrong."
The brunet shrugged, "occasionally, I am."
Callum looked delighted. "Holy shit. I need to keep you around."
"Why?"
"You're entertaining."
"I haven't done anything."
"Exactly."
Hudson almost laughed when across the casino, his twin brother Luke had just arrived.
Luke had striking brown eyes with wavy brown hair falling over one side of his face. He wore a dark brown three-piece suit with a matching black tie and white dress shirt layered underneath, similar to Hudson's dressing.
He had made sure to look exactly like him in order to annoy him
He spotted his brother almost immediately — the mage was standing at a roulette table, talking to someone.
The sight made Luke pause. That alone was strange — Hudson wasn't exactly known for making friends.
The brunette approached, "Hudson!" He exclaimed louder than his brother would've liked, making the latter turn to shoot him a glare.
His brown eyes flicked toward Callum, "Who's this?" He asked, though his voice held a teasing edge that implied he already took guesses.
The gambler pointed at Hudson yet again. "His new favorite person," he announced proudly, earning himself a look that practically screamed disbelief.
Luke burst out laughing. "Oh, I like you already," he exclaimed, visibly amused by how done with life Hudson looked.
Callum extended his hand, "name's Callum."
The brunet shook it, "Luke."
The gambler then looked between the two men standing in front of him. "You're twins?" He asked with a tilt of his head, noticing the similarity between them.
"Unfortunately," Hudson sighed.
Luke simply grinned, "he's jealous because I'm the fun one and got the good genes."
"You're unbearable."
He turned toward Callum, "he loves me."
"That seems to be debatable."
Hudson watched as the gambler laughed. He couldn't help but notice that there was something strangely effortless about him — even after losing, even with empty pockets, he kept smiling.
He didn't know why, but he caught himself finding that smile endearing. It felt like a rather new-found situation for the mage that was used to enjoying the looks of defeat on others' faces.
His thoughts were then brutally interrupted by a shout.
"Callum!" Shouted a voice from across the room, making Callum visibly stiffen.
"Oh no," he started, "the devil herself is here."
Chanel was coming toward them.
"Who's that?" Luke asked discreetly, "looks scary, wouldn't want to mess with her."
"My sister," Callum muttered.
"Ouu shittings..."
As Chanel reached them, she immediately looked at Hudson, then Luke and only then did her gaze stop on Callum.
Her eyes narrowed, "you."
Callum offered a sheepish smile under her fairly intimidating gaze, "me."
"I told you to come home," she sighed.
"I don't remember that."
"I said it ten minutes ago."
"Did you?"
"Yes."
"Interesting."
Chanel snapped and grabbed his arm, already starting to drag him away.
"Ow, ow, okay!" The gambler laughed as an attempt to look tougher in this situation.
His sister didn't give him the chance to, "you are leaving."
"But—"
"No."
Callum looked desperately toward Hudson. The latter raised an eyebrow as the gambler mouthed 'help me'.
"He's been gambling continuously," he said, turning to face Chanel. "You should perhaps drag him out."
Callum stared at him in betrayal. "You traitor," he huffed as the mage's lips curved.
"Goodnight, Callum."
The blond squinted, "you think this is funny."
"A little." Hudson admitted.
"You're horrible."
"So I've heard."
As Chanel started dragging Callum away, he twisted around as he walked backward.
"I'll see you again!" He announced with an enthousiastic wave of his hand.
Hudson raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"Because I said so!" Callum said with an exaggerated cross of his fingers before he disappeared behind the door.
Luke watched Callum disappear, then looked at his brother who was still staring in the direction Callum had gone. His grin slowly returned, "ooh."
"Luke."
"You like him."
"I met him ten minutes ago."
"So?"
Luke's smile became unbearable as Hudson fell silent. "You absolutely like him."
The mage turned away — 'out of sight, out of mind', he repeated in his head.
———————
Outside the casino, Chanel finally released Callum. "You are impossible," she breathed out.
Callum straightened his tie, "and yet lovable."
"Unfortunately."
She sighed. Despite everything, reached over and fixed his collar, which earned a smile from the gambler. "You really need to stop."
Callum's smile faded slightly. "I know."
Chanel paused before adding, "you don't have to keep chasing the money you lost."
"I know," he looked away.
For a moment, there was no joke, no teasing, no grin. Just Callum.
Then he shrugged, deciding to ruin the moment, "I'll possibly think about it."
Chanel knew that meant no. Still, she squeezed his shoulder. "Come on."
Callum followed her.
But as they walked away, he glanced back toward the casino, toward the windows, the roulette tables, and the serious man in the brown suit.
Hudson.
Callum smiled to himself.
Maybe tonight hadn't been such a complete loss after all.
———————————
Inside, Hudson watched the entrance close behind him.
Luke bumped his shoulder, "you're definitely waiting to see that guy again."
The mage looked at him, exasperated. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
His brother grinned, "sure you don't."
Hudson turned back toward the casino floor, letting his gaze linger on the empty spot where Callum had been standing.
For someone who had spent so long believing in fate, Hudson had learned to distrust it.
But.. He found himself wondering if perhaps losing wasn't always a bad thing. Maybe sometimes, losing one thing was how you found something else.
And Callum?
He had no idea what kind of trouble he'd just stumbled into, but he was already looking forward to it.