stick with me baby, i'm the guy that you came in with [closed]

[sweetdeath]

Who: Tsuzuki Asato, Jae-Ha, Kija, Gojyo and Ronald Knox
What: Poker night!
When: May 1, evening
Where: Tajimamori's temple
Warnings: Booze, gambling and probably stupid arguments?

[Looks like it's a buffet style dinner! Some of that food over on the sideboard looks like Tsuzuki got it from a supermarket deli and reheated it. The deep-fried sugar-glazed sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are too burned and the sauce too drippy for them to be anything but homemade. And nobody would deliberately sell that gorgonzola spaghetti he's got in the center of the spread.

There's a couple of six-packs of beer in the fridge and a battered flea market poker set in the middle of the kitchen table, and Tsuzuki's hovering by the front door ready to greet his guests. Kija's going to have a fun night out! Tsuzuki'll make sure of it.

And hey, with any luck, the rest of them will have a good time too.]


[ooc; feel free to make top-levels and tag around mingle style! it's a party: go wild.]

Comments

[bighand]

kija no
[Kija has never played poker before! He doesn't even know what poker is!! But Jae-Ha invited him to come out and Have Fun, and he happens to like both fun and Dragon Brethren Jae-Ha, so he thinks this is a perfectly great way to spend the evening.

When he arrives at Tsuzuki's temple, his Big Hand(tm) is mostly wrapped in bandages (but still obviously Big), and he's holding a... convenience store sponge cake?? Literally the moment anyone tries to greet him, he will say the same thing:] This is called a "sponge cake" and I hope you are able to enjoy it!

[He's not nervous why would anyone think that??]


wow
[Other things Kija is doing at this party at almost any given time:

a) being terrible at poker and showing everyone his hand to ask what he should do,
b) trying to discuss the finer points of batteries,
c) drinking something alcoholic when Jae-Ha is too distracted to stop him and near-immediately putting his head down on the table, tipsy as hell

FUN STUFF]

[razzledazzles]

[A lot has been happening lately, but he's gotten most of it out of his system earlier in the day. He's at least ready to focus on keeping Kija cheered up! He's even dressed for the occasion, wearing more modern clothing with pants and shoes that still cover his legs. He's made for social situations like this, so it's easy to get right into the mood. Poker was something he hadn't learned until recently, but with Hazel as his teacher he's learned just enough to know how to win with some effort, and he's always been great with bluffs. So, maybe he'll play it off like he doesn't know at all from the start.

He'll introduce Kija to everyone he knows, introduce himself and Kija to the man he hasn't met, and jumps right into things! At various times during this little hang out, Jae-Ha can be found:

a. quietly trying to slip some of Tsuzuki's burnt gross foods in the trash.
b. pretending he doesn't know much about poker but still probably winning quite a few hands and being irritatingly calm and cheery about it.
c. excitedly mentioning things he's read about on the internet, like bladeless fans. very exciting.

Unlike his poor dragon friend over there, he's going to keep drinking nonstop and never seem even a bit tipsy. But well, if his antics aren't enough for conversation, perhaps him leaning into your space and slinging an arm around your shoulder will be.]

Would you like to play a little side game?

a yes

[razzledazzles]

[Ah. He blinks, looking over at Kija as the hand is shown and quickly reaching over to turn his cards back to himself.]

Kija, you're supposed to keep your hand a secret.

[bighand]

[But Jae-Ha?? How is he supposed to learn?]

But— I do not know what these symbols are supposed to signify! And why are there two of this woman on the same card? She is not a "two"!

[Ah- wait. More quietly,] Did I break a rule...?

[razzledazzles]

[Did he break a rule... God.]

Kind of. [He leans over, pointing to his cards.] Those are letters or numbers to represent the status of the cards. You don't need to know what they mean to memorize that they're like a kingdom.

Has no one gone over this with you at the start...? [Why is he the one left to teach, maybe they should switch activities.]

[bighand]

Oh, a kingdom. [He says, like, of course! Of course he understands what a kingdom is, unlike poker.] Then this woman— or both of her must be the queens.

[Yes, good, he understands perfectly now. There's a pause while he plucks a little at the corner of the card, sheepishly looking down.] And I did not want to seem foolish for my lack of knowledge...

[razzledazzles]

You've got that right.

[Good, he's on the right track, this makes it slightly easier. If only he could have convinced Hazel to teach Kija poker, too... Whatever, he's going to stall on having to explain more.]

You shouldn't feel ashamed for asking for help, Kija. Without our memories, there's a lot that's foreign to us. Don't you want to learn more about the world?

[bighand]

I do learn about the world! I have been reading "online," like you showed me! [HE LEARNS!! He knows stuff!]

For example, I now know how to approach "shipping and handling"...

1/2

[razzledazzles]

Eh? Really? I haven't learned anything like that. Could you teach me?

[razzledazzles]

Wait, wait, no—

[Don't distract him with googles...] This is a separate issue. Should I teach you simply?

1/2 also

[bighand]

[The googles, Jae-Ha...]

I would like to learn...

[bighand]

[BUT ALSO, SMUGLY—] But please let me know when you would like to learn all about shipping and handling! It is fascinating.

[razzledazzles]

I'll keep that in mind.

[He probably will cave in and text him later... Ugh. But for now, he leans closer to see his hand, observing his cards.]

The idea is to keep what you have a secret while trying to get the best combination of cards that you can. I'll explain what all of the possibilities are after this round, but right here...

[I don't know poker but Jae-Ha was listening enough to Hazel that day to be able to point out what good cards Kija has and offer suggestions for his turn. He'll even go over the importance of the cards...]

[bighand]

[Yes, text him... learn from him, big brother. But ah, poker rules! Kija listens intently, and how much of this he manages to grasp beyond keeping his cards a secret is... debatable. He's trying, at least.]

I see... So I will keep this queen and use her to fortify my kingdom— my hand.

[HEH, HIS HAND!! he is holding up the queen with his dragon hand, that's what he's doing.

He's having a good time, good job??]

[razzledazzles]

Be careful which hand you hold your hand with.

[Haha... Kija is pure and cute. It's a good thing that the goal of this little shindig is to make him happy, and not to care about getting poker rules exact.] That's right, she's a good match. In other cases, if the rest of your numbered hand had been more desirable, you might want to keep them and sacrifice her...

[Or something, but like, that's a little complex. Anyway, more poker rules, Jae-Ha will probably tell him what move to take next.]

kija yes?

[sweetdeath]

Oh hey, come on in! Thanks! We can always use more desserts!

[Please come add your cake to the world's most terrible buffet table, Kija! Tsuzuki's cheerfully clapping a hand on the young man's shoulder and guiding him over towards it.]

I can grab a knife from the kitchen to serve it with if you want.

[bighand]

[He's so good at poker!!]

I couldn't sacrifice the queen... [Jeez Jae-Ha, don't you know anything about kingdoms?? Anyway, he'll just do whatever Jae-Ha says annnd show him his new hand right after, despite being told not to. This is the tutorial.]

Have I improved?

[This hand is just as garbage as before.]

kija maybe

[bighand]

[Ah, his cake has been approved... He's proud of himself.]

Oh— yes, that would be very helpful! [He'll put his cake down on the table, and... these other foods, uh...] This all looks... delicious.

[ennnh]

c.

[sweetdeath]

Whoa, wait, bladeless? How does that even work? [Tsuzuki sets down his beer can to wave one finger in a circle in imitation of a fan's blades.]

Don't fans need a blade to even work? That's how they...

[... there's an arm around his shoulder. Tsuzuki blinks at him.]

What game?

[razzledazzles]

Yes.

[Not at all.] But not enough to win this round. You'll have to give in, so you don't try to go up against the others that are likely to beat you and only end up losing.

[bighand]

Oh... [Well, at least he improved a little bit. Still, he's disappointed... His poor queen has lost, he's failed her. Sad.

But anyway-] So, I will be forced to "fold," correct? This allows me to concede defeat with dignity...?

[Is he going to literally start bending a card, whoa, whoa—]

[razzledazzles]

They're completely bladeless! [Well, the blades are somewhere, but Jae-Ha loves that article he found. He gives Tsuzuki's shoulders a little squeeze as he smiles.] Let me show you on my phone.

But first, the game... a competition! Why don't we see who can drink the most quickly and stay standing?

[He always only wants to do things like this.]

[sweetdeath]

Try some of the pasta! It's a specialty of mine!

[It tastes about like it smells, which is terrible. There's something gone horribly wrong with the spice.

Tsuzuki's beaming so earnestly, though! Will you trust him, Kija?]

I'm gonna grab a plate and knife for you! Be right back.

[He's disappearing into the kitchen, to return in half a minute or so.]

[razzledazzles]

Ah— hold on! It's a figure of speech.

[He reaches out to him to hopefully swat away that gesture. Don't fold the cards!!] Place them flat down on the table and declare that you're folding.

1/2

[bighand]

[Unfortunately, he will— why shouldn't he? Tsuzuki is a nice person. Hesitantly he takes a plate from the buffet table and serves himself some of this pasta...

The first bite makes him tear up. He swallows it only to allow himself to never think about it again. He's glad he didn't take very much, holy shit—]