All In

Trash made his way through the dimly lit alleyways of the Hollow Market, the bags on his back barely weighing him down even as they were stuffed full with recent purchases. The shady area the dull-coloured cor was familiar with was coming to an end, the street leading out to a space he hadn’t traversed before, but the road he usually took was blocked off, some idiot having set off an explosion that made part of the ceiling in that section cave in.

Stumbling through the unfamiliar street, Trash became aware of just how lost they were, having completely forgotten the directions they’d gotten from a local earlier. Not wanting to stay still for too long, he carried on, picking random directions until he came across a neon cherry symbol that burned his eyes. Having no other directional markers, he decided to just follow the sign, ending up at an elaborate building coloured gold and pink and red.

It’s not like he was going to find his way around himself, and some gambling could be fun. He headed inside, barely glancing at the slot machines and instead heading towards one of the blackjack tables to enjoy a couple rounds of low-stakes card games.

Nearly an hour and multiple wins and losses later, Trash excused himself from the table, not liking how one of the newcomers was eyeing his possessions. Heading to the back of the building, he pushed his way through a door that was slightly cracked open, finding himself in a tastefully decorated hallway. There was only one other cor lingering about, the cherry-coloured lady’s tail twisting as she notices his presence, giving a smile just as sharp as her stinger.

Smoke filters out of her nostrils as she removes a cigarette holder from her mouth, almost purring as she moves just a little closer to Trash J. Vermin, who shrank back a little. He could tell that she was someone who had power and knew it.

He processed maybe a quarter of what she said to him as his focus had decidedly been on her still moving tail, but managed to catch the end of her words and piece together the rest. Not one to be a poor guest, he nodded his head to indicate that he would play a game with her.

“Aah… not a talkative one, are you?”

Trash just shrugged with one shoulder, making the golden-clawed cor in front of him chuckle.

“Well, if you would follow me to the roulette tables…”

“...That’s not much of a game, though?”

Sasha paused where she had just taken a step forward.

“You said you wanted to play a game… just hoping for a ball to land in the correct number isn’t much of a game. Why not cards?”

Sasha looked him in the eyes for a good while before tilting her head in an exaggerated expression of thoughtfulness, seeming to consider his words before smiling again. “I suppose you’re correct. How about we head to the poker table then, hmm?”

Trash doesn’t bother forcing out words, calmly following her out to the main casino floor where she eventually sat down at an empty poker table, looking towards him expectantly until he joined her, a blue-furred cor with multiple blunt horns and the beginnings of crystallization creeping down his neck quickly appearing before them. A fresh box of cards was presented, and Sasha faced her gambling partner as the dealer explained the rules.

“How many chips would you like to purchase?” The dealer’s words were clearly spoken more towards Trash than Sasha, as the grinning cor easily demanded a thousand shards worth to gamble with, the spark in her eyes turning competitive.

Trash kept his face blank, breaking eye contact with his opponent to look towards the dealer instead, telekinetically opening one of his bags to drop a pouch of crystal shard in front of himself. “A thousand for me as well then, please”

The chips were quickly handed out, the dealer efficiently shuffling the deck and dealing out a hand of five cards to both of the table’s occupants once the buy-in of a hundred shards had been put in for the both of them. Sparing a quick glance at Sasha, Trash brought his own cards up to check what he had gotten.

A, K, J, 10, 9; Almost a perfect hand- if they weren’t playing lowball poker. Not the worst possible hand, but definitely not one with even a decent chance of winning- his best bet was probably to just get rid of all five of his cards and hope he got something better. Looking towards his opponent, Sasha had a smirk on her face, but that didn’t tell Trash much as from what he had seen of her so far, that may as well be her neutral expression. He pushed forward a small stack of chips. “I add fifty shards to my bet” - a small amount, just to see how the other reacted.

Sasha grinned. “I’ll match that” She made eye contact as she slid her own stack of chips across the table, clearly searching for a reaction. Trash only deigned to blink at her. “I’d like to exchange all my cards, please”

Golden teeth glistened as Sasha only looked more delighted, changing out three of her own cards as Trash took a look at his new hand. 10, 7, J, 6, 5. Better, at least they were all mismatched, so he could reasonably win if he managed to get rid of his higher cards. He looked back up, pushing forward another small stack of chips. “Another fifty shards to my bet.”

The other player only hummed, lips still curled upwards. “I’ll match that, and switch out a card” “Then I’ll change out three of mine”

With only one more draw attempt left, he hoped his hand improved. His 10, 6 and J had gotten replaced with a 9, 4 and 3; bringing his hand to 9, 7, 5, 4, 3. Decent. If he managed to somehow throw out the 9 and get a 2 in return, it would give him the perfect hand. But get anything else, and he’d most likely be screwed.

“All in”

Trash snapped his head up in shock to see Sasha’s magic pushing all her chips out towards the middle of the table. Had she somehow gotten the perfect hand? There was no way… or she was just betting senselessly for the entertainment value it provided.

…Well, it wouldn’t be fun to just back out now, would it? He moved his own chips away from himself. “Matching that. Just the one card exchange, please”

Sasha laughed, a sound full of joy at the sheer audacity this random street rat had to match her ridiculous bet. “Standing pat”

She clearly felt no need to change cards. When his new card slid across the table towards him, Trash didn’t pick it up. “I feel this will be far more dramatic if even I don’t know what I have until we reveal… want to show our hands at the same time?”

“I would be delighted. Samuel, give us a countdown”

Ah, so that was the dealer’s name. Trash had been having trouble reading the nametag. Samuel did as he was told, counting down from five.

“...3, 2, 1.”

Cards were flipped, and there was a brief moment of silence before both players burst out laughing. Laying on the table were two identical sets of cards; 7, 5, 4, 3, 2- the best possible combination of cards possible.

“Two more wheels and we’d have a working cart!” Maybe it wasn’t an amazing joke, or even a good one, but it only served to make them laugh more. They managed to calm down, eventually, and the both of them looked at each other.

“Well, I suppose we’re right where we started. What should we do about this, oh powerful casino owner? I do actually have somewhere else to be today”

“Well, I suppose I won’t keep you longer then. Cash in your chips… I’m sure I’ll see you another day”

This time, it was Trash showing their teeth in a wide grin “Oh, you know it”

Sasha had the grace to provide her most recent entertainment with a map she drew a route on to get him home, the four-eared cor thanking the eccentric crime lord and making his way out through the large entrance. Another interesting encounter to turn into an interesting story.