FicWad

"Uh...Luxord? Could...you do me a favor?" Demyx had abrief "what the hell am I doing here" moment, and not his first one. He'd always been a little afraid of the Gambler of Fate, though not in the same way he was afraid of, say, Saix and Larxene. With Saix and Larxene, he was worried that he'd walk out of any given encounter with substantial blood loss; in Luxord's case, he was worried about financial loss. Though he couldn't come up with asensible reason why to save his life, he preferred to keep both his blood and his munny. Just in case he really could hypnotize you into gambling away your life savings.

For a known card sharp and probable con artist, Luxord was mostly a courteous sort. "What sort of (favor do you) need?" he asked with a nod and a smile.

Demyx couldn't help but swallow nervously, wondering how he was going to say what he wanted to. "...I wanna learn how to play poker," was what eventually came out. True, but not the whole story.

Luxord raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's certain(ly something I can do) for you, but you've nev(er shown any interest in) card games before."

Demyx scratched his head. "Well...I, uh...kinda wanted to...arrange for a particular day off...for me and a few others...and, uh...I know Xigbar is in charge of mission assignments...and he likes playing poker..."

Luxord actually chuckled slightly. "And you were ho(ping to win a short vaca)tion for yourself and your (friends? I wondered how long) it would take for some(one else to think of that)...very well, I can't ar(gue with your motives. Step in)side; this will take no time at all." Since this was Luxord, he believed it literally. Demyx followed him into the room, keeping his eyes on Luxord's face as much as possible and wondering how much munny this was going to cost him and whether it might have been better spent trying to bribe Xigbar. "All right, the (game we usually play is) called five-card draw..." He pulled out a chair at the card table for Demyx, took a seat himself, and started shuffling his omnipresent cards. Then he dealt them at speeds too fast for the eye to quite make out, five each to the two of them and to two Gamblers who suddenly appeared to fill out the table. "All right, do (you see how the cards) are laid out?" Demyx didn't look away from the other man's face, not wanting to miss anything important. Luxord gestured impatiently at the table. "Look at the cards."

But...if I can't see your face...I won't know what you're saying... Demyx sighed heavily and looked down at the cards lying facedown on the table. He'd just found another way for this to go spectacularly wrong.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall, watching it carefully for a few moments. The second hand didn't budge, but he knew Luxord would never keep a broken clock in his room. He sighed again. Well, as long as they were going to take no time at all, Luxord could afford to repeat himself as often as necessary...