Chapter Twenty-Five: Cocktail

The next few hands go about the same as the first, just with varying winners and less chatting. In her smug glory at winning two hands in a row, Sleipnir had proclaimed that she was factually superior and that seemed to rankle everyone's pride enough to get them to focus, at least until the comment was thoroughly stomped into the ground. I mean sure, she still won quite a lot in the process of this stomping, but not enough to truly prove herself. Even I won a pot or two, getting me some appreciative nods from the older Engines in the process.

It’s as Aeolus wins a pot that Sleipnir deflates beside me, her 7-2 hand face up in front of her. “I really thought I had that…”

Nero snorts, shaking his head. “You seriously tried to bluff pocket aces against the best social player at this table when all you had was seven-deuce. I appreciate your gusto but sometimes you just gotta fold, Nir.”

“I woulda’ beat anyone else,” Nir whines, “She doesn’t show emotion even when we’re not playing poker, how am I supposed to read that she has the exact hand I was trying to claim?”

I tilt my head just a tad as I look at the girl at the other end of the table, noting how particularly amused she seems at this entire conversation. Can other people not read her emotions well? Why? Is that just something I’m particularly good at?

“Probably by the fact she didn’t fold as well when two aces were flipped…” Pale Rider says with a sigh, which gets him a glare from Nir. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.”

Nir slaps her hand against the table as she rises up. “Grr, why you-”

“Actually, I have a question for you, Sleipnir,” Aeolus says, cutting the girl off before she can blow up on Pale Rider, “Why is it that you only fold when going up against Grim?”

The girl in question blinks, then huffs as she sinks back into her seat. “Well, when I look at her I get this weird ass urge to run far away, and I think it’s messing with my head. Shouldn’t mental interference be classified as cheating in this game?”

Everyone at the table goes silent, looking at Nir in confusion. The door to the private room opens abruptly, and two women carrying trays of colorful drinks enter silently. After a moment, Pale Rider begins to laugh.

“Holy shit, thank you Grim!” The man takes a small stack of chips, throwing it over to me. “I owe you about a thousand favors, I think.”

Confused, I tilt my head, all while I gather the chips regardless. Free money is free money. Aeolus stares at me for a second, then snorts. “Grim, he’s talking about your fear aura.”

Eh? Oh. Huh. Nir and I share a look, all while the waitresses start handing out the cocktails. “ This is what fear feels like? Damn, I don’t blame the mooks for running now I guess.”

My eyes shift to the fancy glass placed in front of me, and I find myself a bit entranced by it. Penelope laughs as she takes a sip of hers. “Why’re you looking at the drink like that? It can’t be your first time drinking right?”

I flush, then reach over and take the glass, from which I very cautiously let some of the liquid slip into my mouth. The first thing that strikes me about it is that alcohol tastes exactly how I expected it too, and the second is that I kinda hate it. Resisting the urge to spit the alcohol back up, I swallow it down and shiver. The entire table cracks up and my cheeks heat deeply.

“Hooooly shit, it was!” Nero playfully shoves Penelope’s shoulder. “That was fuckin’ great!”

Pale Rider shrugs. “I don’t blame you, alcohol is overrated.”

“Oh, uh,” Penelope quickly adds as she gives me a look of pity, “Remember that is most likely booze modified by an Engine Power, so it can get higher Ignitions drunk at around the same rate as most people do with normal alcohol. The lower ignition that you are, the more that it’s going to hit you.”

Aeolus picks up her drink and takes a sip herself. “I find I get a few sips out of it before I start getting tipsy at V1, so perhaps you can drink slightly more?”

“Bah. She won’t do it.” Sleipnir swipes up her glass, downs a huge gulp, then grins from ear to ear as she wipes her mouth. “Bet you can’t beat that, puppy girl.”

Jokes on her, I’m here specifically to make bad decisions.

Before anyone can stop me and before I can think twice, I pick up the cocktail and down twice as much as Sleipnir did. I slam the glass onto the table, then look up with a smirk as the entire rest of the table looks at me with jaws agape. Well, except Aeolus at least, who starts incessantly giggling.

“Oh honey no…” Penelope quietly says, getting out her phone and typing something into it.

Nero coughs, awkwardly running his hand through his hair as he looks away from me. “Damn, can’t say I saw that one coming…”

Snorting, Pale Rider shakes his head. “Nir, sometime you gotta learn not to call bluffs like that.”

My neighbor throws her hands up. “Aeolus JUST said how strong this shit was, and those two have been making eyes at each other since Grim walked in!”

Wait, huh? I blink a few times as I look up at Aeolus, who wipes away a tear as she finishes giggling. When she notices my gaze, she winks at me and gives me an almost sultry smile. My heart decides to melt a little bit at that, and I pointedly look away towards the hand that has just been passed to me by the dealer.

Queen of diamonds, queen of hearts. Decent, but not the best? I think? Kinda losing track of the percentage game here. And well, the entire game as a whole I guess. My focus has become almost locked onto Aeolus at this point, something at the back of my head swearing I know her from somewhere. Maybe she visited Trinity River once and I met her then? She can’t be that much older than me…

As Aeolus throws out some chips, I can’t help but look at her slender hands, noting how perfect they are. Definitely not someone whose worked with their hands before. Someone clears their throat, and I notice that everyone is looking at me, so I frantically throw the same amount into the pot as Aeolus did.

The flop is queen of spades, king of spades, and the four of diamonds, which immediately has the three older players at the table fold, leaving just Sleipnir, Aeolus and I.

“It’s good to bet on triples right?”

The table goes quiet, and I look up to find everyone looking at me with a wild mix of emotions. Wait fuck, did I say that out loud? Flushing, I try to hide my uncovered face with my cards.

Nero loudly guffaws. “The most words she’s spoken all night, and it’s outing her hand!”

Pale Rider rolls his eyes. “Nah, no way, that’s a blatant bluff.”

“I dunno…” Penelope leans over the table, staring me down. “It is strange that she hid like she did. Perhaps it was legitimately a mistake.”

Aeolus grins widely, then covers her grin with her cards like they’re a fan. “What if I said I also had a three of a kind, Grim? Would you fold?”

Sleipnir’s eye twitches as she looks between us, until she huffs and tosses her hand onto the table muttering, “She won’t but I definitely will. At least one of them is probably telling the truth… I think?”

As my world shrinks to just me and Aeolus, I look down at my cards, then back to her. She could be telling the truth and bluffing to push Sleipnir out, but my gut is saying that she’s probably telling the truth. So either, she’s got pocket kings, or pocket fours? A 50/50 chance for an advantage for me, might as well check the turn? I tap the table, which she immediately follows.

When the dealer puts down the queen of clubs, my eyes widen just a fraction. This is the best hand I’ve gotten all night, bar none. Doing my best to not show emotion, I slowly push my entire pile of chips forward, a hiss of air coming from the other people at the table.

Aeolus looks at my declaration of victory and simply grins. “Queens, hm? What if I told you I had kings?”

I pause, then look down at my chips. “Well, I suppose I’d lose if that was the river then? It’s unlikely, but be my guest to call. As my friend used to say, when life gives you a chance for lemons, punch life in the face and take them instead.”

Her eyes open wide as she brightly laughs at that, and my heart clenches at the noise. She wipes another tear as she says, “While that doesn’t work, I appreciate it regardless. In that spirit of things, shall we add a little something to this? I’ll raise that whoever wins, gets to make a request of the other, in private after the game of course.”

Nearly choking on nothing, I look at her like she’s crazy, then back down at my hand. Realistically, she has a what, 1 in 36 chance to beat me if she’s telling the truth about the kings? Plus, it’s not like I can change my mind about this, I’m already all in…

What’s her game here?

My head feeling a bit light, I sigh. The odds are in my favor, I don’t know why I’m hesitating. “Fine.”

Aeolus smiles widely. “Excellent.”

She pushes her stack in as well. The dealer seems to be feeling the same way as me, as he looks at her very strangely, before flipping the river.

King.

Fuck, really? How did she even do that? I deflate, throwing my hand down to show my queens. “Got me.”

“You seem to be assuming something here, Grim.” She places her hand down as she stands up. “It’s your win.”

Raising an eyebrow I glance over at her hand.

Two fours.

Huh?

Tilting my head to the side, I look between her and the pot being pushed to me, my heart deciding to slam at the sheer wealth that is apparently just mine now.

Uhhh.

I slowly swipe up the chips into my area, thoroughly confused at this point. “Uhhh.”

The rest of the table seems to be as taken aback at this as I am, all four of them whispering amongst themselves. Aeolus walks over to me, offering me a hand. “Well, my game is over, shall we go take care of that ‘request’ now, Grim?”

What.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and look towards Jeremiah, who nods at me as he begins to collect all my chips without me even asking to. He seems convinced that what, I’m just going to take the hand of a beautiful girl obviously trying to get alone with me without thinking twice about it?

Wait fuck, he’s totally right isn’t he…?

With a gulp I put my hand in hers as I stand up, where I find that I probably have a few inches on her even if I wasn’t wearing the wedges. She smiles at me, and the rest of the world once again disappears. Standing on top of her toes, she whispers quietly into my ear, “Lets go have a talk, cutie.”

I have to forcibly hold myself up at that point, my legs attempting to give out from underneath me. My entire body feels like warm jelly for some reason, weird enough overall that I can’t help but absentmindedly giggle at the feeling. I barely notice as we step out into the hallway, the noise of the crowded floor outside returning.

“Sorry about the noise,” She says in such a caring tone, “it’ll just be a moment, I’ve rented one of the rooms up ahead just for things like this.”

Quietly I nod, finding my gaze stuck firmly onto our hands. Why is this so familiar? I know I’ve never done anything like this before. There are footsteps behind us, but I can’t find myself to care about attendants at this point.

We move through a snaking set of hallways, the clamor slowly fading into nothing after a minute or so when we step off into a small area jutting out from the main corridor. A single lonely door decorates this place, which Aeolus walks up to and opens without even a second thought. The room is not really anything special, a vanity is placed off to one side while a pair of couches sit on the other.

“Oh whoops, forgot.” Aeolus turns around and reaches past me, shutting the door behind us. When she does though, she doesn’t retreat afterwards, instead standing as close to me as she possibly can while looking me over with a deeply piercing gaze. “You know, your mask suits you quite well. Alongside that dress, I can’t help but reluctantly admit that that Melody character did quite a good job with you.”

I gulp, finding my eyes strolling across her heart-shaped face, but continue to return to her pinkish-red lips, wondering if she has lipstick on or if they’re just that vibrant shade normally. “I uh, guess?”

Aeolus sighs deeply, reaching up to brush a hand against my mask. “It’s unfortunate that I’m pretty sure I like you better without it.”

“I mean, I can take it off?” Immediately after I say that, what she said actually parses through the fog. “Wait, wha-”

Before I can finish my words, my eyes open wide as she leans forward and touches her lips to mine. Amidst anoverwhelming number of sensations, my sudden apprehensions are completely banished away to the back of my mind. We hold that kiss for a good few seconds, the heat of her touch slowly increasing until it’s scorching hot, after which she pulls away and I can’t help but quietly whine at her sudden absence.

Aeolus sighs, very blatantly biting her lip. “I kind of hate that you’re this fucking cute, Minea. I can’t believe you haven’t recognized me yet.”

My blood runs cold at that. She does know me? How?

I narrow my eyes, doing my best to remember. “Who are you?”

She gives me a look, crossing her arms in frustration. “It’s been over a decade, but you should still remember me. There’s no way you don’t.”

After a few moments of thinking, I shake my head. “I only knew one redhead around that time, as far as I know.”

The woman groans, facepalming. “Right, sorry, I forgot I was wearing this.”

As she removes her ivy mask, her crown braid suddenly loses all of it’s structure, falling down by itself. Her straight hair dramatically shifts from that pretty shade of crimson to a curly, deep black mass that stretches down to her hips. Her face shifts just a bit, and my heart almost stops as it clicks.

“Okay, point proven.” I clench my teeth, doing my best to keep my voice down. “I do recognize you.”

She grins, putting a hand on her chin. “Humor me. Say my name.”

Grimacing, my stomach roiling as the last few minutes replay themselves in my mind. The ugly truth is right there, but I don’t want to admit it.

“Olivia,” I manage to spit out, “You’re Olivia Colton.”

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