kenoslogs | Closed: Wheel of Fortune II

[It is indeed a very powerful :|. Gavial might be squinting at him a bit, as if that’s going to do anything to allow her to read much more from the ultimate poker face.

Ever since this venture of theirs began down here at the Crown, she’s been almost entirely focused on trying to read her two companions rather than the other incidental players. It perhaps mattered less during their round of cards than it would in this game built around bluffing, but she doesn’t seem to pay the other players much mind even here until the woman declares her dice.

She goes to turn to give her glance over—catching that look from Yuri along the way—and pauses a moment before smiling with a laugh.]

That so…

[The smile blossoms into something more like a cheeky grin, but she refrains from calling a bluff. Instead she grabs her own cup, gives it a hearty shake, and slams it down with a rattle of dice. A quick peek and then, still grinning, she declares:]

Three threes right here.

[Gavial might've seen Byleth's poker face break when the buxom woman had taken her turn, his expression turning into one of mild bafflement at her enthusiastically shaking her bosom. He even looked like he was going to comment, but after a pause let her bluff slide unchallenged, fixing his gaze instead onto his other companion: Gavial.

Byleth was observant, and on the battlefield he felt like he could read a person quite well. But in general? He was abysmal. He hawkishly watched her shake her cup and slam it down, his gaze practically laser-focused on her as she declared her result, like if he stared hard enough he could peer into her head and pluck the answer right from her skull.

No dice (pun intended).]

Hm.

[Was he contesting? Was he going to let it slide-?]

You're bluffing.

[Bluffing for Gavial is a funny thing, as she approaches it with just as much of a straightforward tactic as just about everything else she gets up to. All smiles and her brand of enthusiasm all the time, which is an easy enough ask when they’re having themselves some fun.]

Hmm, real sure about that, aren’t you?

[Not a single bit of faltering confidence from her as she turns to regard Byleth. She drums her fingers against the top of her dice cup for a suspenseful moment before tipping it back and letting it fall to the side to reveal the dice within.

A two, a six, and three threes.]

No luck this time, pal. Sorry.

[Delivered with a bright and playful smile.]

Well now, we've got ourselves some sport.

[ It's an attempt, and it gives information just the same. Yuri watches the reveal play out and huffs an amused breath. He may excel in cards, but these two could give him a run for his money when it comes to this game. That makes their odds better, seeing as they have other players to concern themselves with.

So long as one of them wins, that's what matters.

Yuri holds to that thought as he shakes the cup he'd been issued and slaps it down. He eyes the results with a hum. ]

Four fours.

[ His delivery is calm and collected.

His dice are loaded. ]

[Darn.

Byleth briefly looked discouraged at his failure, but he concealed it after a moment and watched as Yuri cast his die. Much like Gavial, he didn't scrutinise the man so much as he laser beamed him with his gaze, clearly trying to figure out some sort of tell, but...

This was Yuri. It was likely he was cheating in some way. Perhaps he had some way to change the die to whatever he wanted...

So, after a very long moment of intense (and awkward) staring, Byleth........... says nothing.]

[There’s quiet consideration and and thoughtful shifting around the table after each of these dice rolls, and Yuri’s makes no exception. One of the other players at the table looks half-way to voicing their suspicion when Gavial leans a little closer to Yuri and beats them to it. She props one elbow on the table in front of her and rests her chin on a closed fist, scrutinizing her companion with a sharp look.]

Now that sounds a little too good to be true to me. Let’s see ‘em, champ.

[Did she have anything other than a gut feeling here? No, not really, and Yuri’s much too smooth to give much away, that much she’s already discovered after one set of games together. Misplaced accusation or not, call it a… learning opportunity to see how he might approach all this.]

[ It is too good to be true, Gavial isn't wrong about that. However, when Yuri lifts the cup, he does indeed have four fours. His smile is a genial one, not betraying whether he is or isn't particularly pleased to have just what he said he did. ]

Sorry to disappoint.

[ He's been at this sort of thing from a very young age, not that most know this. People from home might, he's got a reputation, though that's a tangled mixture of empty rumor and genuine truth. ]

[As Yuri had said, he had four fours. Amazing luck...

...if gotten legitimately.

Byleth's stare gained a certain contemplative edge to it, words clearly on the tip of his tongue but held back. He had his suspicions, but at the same time, while they were all competing for the win, only one of them had to win. Possibly outing him to the others sitting at the table would do nothing but weaken them as a whole, even if it would mean Gavial's and Byleth's defeat.

So, instead of innocently requesting he just roll those die again, just to see what numbers they'd give, he said:]

Amazing luck, Yuri.

[Wink wink, nudge nudge (in Byleth style)]

[Gavial leans back and crosses her arms as those oh-so-lucky dice are revealed, and while she’s frowning for just a moment, it’s dismissed with an amused huff.]

Well, would you look at that. Nice rolls!

[Tone utterly and completely genuine, even as there’s a few murmurs and thoughtful looks from around the table. It’s in their best interest as long as one of them wins, sure, but even still, Gavial’s gonna give it a good go for it. Doesn’t mean she won’t be a good sport about being proven wrong.

The remainder of that first round begins to play out around the table, with more shaken dice and thoughtful consideration of declared numbers.]

[ As their game progresses, Yuri looks for patterns in their opponents' rolls. One is quite clearly cheating, just as he is — but a sloppy attempt at changing the dice gets them caught and hauled from the table. The buxom woman tends to bluff just conservatively enough to get away with it much of the time.

Then there's Byleth and Gavial, wildcards in their own right. Yuri doesn't concern himself with them as much; so long as any of them win, their goal is achieved. So beyond his initial roll, his results become more conservatively favorable. Steady, but not outrageous.

This too is a tactic as their game progresses. ]

[Byleth is coasting along the power of his :| alone, his impenetrable expression making even the most suspicious members of their table doubt themselves out of calling on his bluffs...

Which was good, because he was definitely cursed in some way. His rolls were continuously low or incredibly mismatched, and it was getting to the point where he was beginning to suspect that someone had to be meddling somehow, right? He can't be this unlucky, right??

These were his thoughts as his turn to roll came yet again, and he rolled... two ones.

He couldn't help it. He frowned, briefly, but it was a break in his otherwise impassive mask, and his tone was somewhat grudging as he said:] A pair of fives.

[Maybe Kenos has a god of dice running around somewhere too, one that’s doing their best to make this as annoying of a challenge as possible for them. Not that Gavial isn’t having a good time, but she’s been contemplating how to tip things in her favor for a decisive win before things get out of hand. She’s had a few good rolls, a few bad ones, trying to maintain the same air of casual confidence all throughout, to somewhat mixed results.

She’s sitting back in her seat, drumming her fingers idly against the tabletop as each roll continues—and she catches that momentary frown from Byleth. Wow, so he is capable of emotion. …And she’s almost sure it’s all a ruse, solely based on the consistent power of the :| so far.]

Pair of fives, huh…?

[Thoughtful and mildly accusatory, but mostly a prod to see if there were any more cracks in that mask of his to detect.]

[ As someone who had months to study minute changes in Byleth's expression and posture, Yuri has endeavored to read them properly. He suspects he knows what that frown is for, but he doesn't make any indication of his opinion. Odds are that Byleth's bluffing. Can he be entirely certain of that?

Only Jeralt could, surely.

It makes him wonder, with proper time to prepare, just what sort of menace the man could be at games like this. A resting poker-face is certainly an asset... Of course, there's always the chance Byleth has managed some deceit on his own here.

Casually, Yuri surveys the other competitors at the table. Like Gavial, they seem conflicted as to whether Byleth's account of his dice is accurate or a lie. For his part, Yuri doesn't comment, merely exuding an air of casual interest in Gavial's approach to the matter of two fives. ]

A pair of fives...

[Repeated with far less enthusiasm this time. His expression was still rather fixed, but there was definitely a displeased tilt to his mouth that he couldn't quite flatten. He stared at Gavial, his gaze all but boring into her very soul, as if trying to psychically compel her to swallow his lie and move on.]

[A pair of fives.

She stares right back.

Instinct is telling her to call him on it. Oh, she wants to so, so bad. But there is just enough doubt there to hold her tongue, because it almost feels like kicking a puppy, somehow. Is this his real strategy?? To confuse and befuddle?

She drums her fingers along the side of her own dice cup, thinking for another moment. Then she leans back in her seat, nice and easy.]

Guess that rotten luck of yours tonight is turning around, huh?

[You’re off the hook, mister. For now…]

[ The others at the table scrutinize Byleth, but just like Gavial (or perhaps because of her), they seem to accept his roll as legitimate. For Yuri's part, he makes no comment, letting the game progress until his turn comes around again.

By now, he notes the buxom woman across the table is changing her dice out through some creative methods, and he can't help wondering whether the others have noticed. For the moment, he bides his time, reporting a modest roll as their game nears its conclusion.

They'll have to total up soon, and numbers are close from what he can gauge. ]

[Byleth's terrible luck with low numbers means that as they approach the time to total up, he's actually lagging behind at the rear of the pack by a good margin, and he didn't bother hiding it, now that winning was well and truly out of his grasp.

While he knew that only one of the three had to win, he was still a little bit sour that victory had been snatched from him due to the uncontrollable element that was luck. No matter how maturely he viewed the whole thing, he still allowed himself a few sulky moments, his perpetual :| expression now a :( face.]

No matches...

[And it's now the last round of dice rolls, and Byleth's unenthused response didn't conceal his gloominess at all. Guess it's obvious who's losing here, you guys...]

[Gavial’s been putting more focus into how things go from round to round rather than keeping it all in mind as a cohesive whole, so when the final round is called, it catches her by surprise. She’s glancing around to see what she can glean about the totals around the table. A few close, some not so close (sorry, Byleth).]

Can’t win ‘em all, I guess. I’ll roll this next one in your honor, then.

[Cheer up, buddy! Gavial’s not nearly as close to the top in winnings here, so she’ll have to really go for it on this last hand. In the dice go, rattle rattle, and roll.]

Think I nabbed the luck from you. [The bad luck, because all she’s got is a pair of snake eyes.] Two pairs!

[Called confidently and a little smugly, but she is very clearly not wanting to look back at the dice under her cup again.]

[ When Gavial calls her roll, Yuri finds it dubious. Of course he does, hasty as she was to look at her dice no longer. If it slides, it should ensure that one of them wins, so Yuri doesn't opt to call her out on it... But the buxom woman across the table does, and eagerly at that, asserting there's clearly no way she got two pairs.

Funny, it's almost as though she doesn't know how games of chance work. That or she thinks she knows something others don't at this table. Who's to say? ]

Looks like you'll have to show her what you've got.

[ Yuri observes this casually, hands folded primly on the table as they tend to be when it's not his turn. It does well for the illusion of having nothing to hide or no particular artifice, even if that's not the truth of it. ]

Guess I do.

[Gavial sets her hand atop her dice cup as if ready to pull it back to reveal her lie to the table. Yet instead of doing just that, she tilts her head to the side, staring hard at the woman across the table who’d thrown the accusation her way.]

But y’know, I think it’s a bold accusation from Ms. Cheater over there.

[Does Gavial have any hard evidence of the sort? Oh no, but there has been something off about that gal's antics all game and she’s not going down without a fight. It’s not like getting off scot free with this bluff of hers is gonna really win her the game at this point, but it’s the principle of the thing!

The woman doesn’t like the implication she’s made one bit, and she sputters out a clearly offended denial. Gavial eyes the rest of the players around the table to gauge their thoughts on it, lingering the longest on her two mercenary pals.]

[First rule of mercenary alliances: always back up your fellow merc.]

True. It's very audacious.

[Said without hesitation, complete with a disapproving nod and a solemn expression, as if to say 'for shame, for shame' (he had no idea this lady was cheating).]

[ Well, if they're all ganging up, who is Yuri to sit out? Just as the woman opens her mouth to offer a proper protest to the accusation, he casually tosses out: ]

I'd have called it inventive. Loved the use of magnets, personally.

[ The woman's jaw drops. Silence takes reign. ]

Wow, sure sounds like someone was trying to distract from some brazen dishonesty, eh?

[Kind of like Gavial’s doing! Shhh!

She stands up and puts her hands on her hips, looking perhaps a tad too smug.]

Damn near made it too, I’ll give you that much!

[Not that that’s any consolation to the increasingly agitated-looking woman—particularly when the player beside her tries to snake a hand over toward her cup in a bid to discover said magnets, which she swats away with a scowl. Look, the name of the game was cheating without being caught. Not Gavial’s fault that her stupid attempt at maintaining a bluff struck gold!]

[The lady, of course, protested her innocence, but she was also quite defensive over her cup. It could be that she was simply offended at her integrity being questioned in general, but Byleth figuratively pounced on the 'evidence', also rising from his seat with his arms crossed and his head bobbing in a supportive nod or Gavial.

(They looked like a pair of gangsters getting ready to haul this lady away...)]

I say we should examine her cup... just to confirm that she'd been playing clean this whole time.

[ Mention of examining the cup only makes the woman clutch it that much more defensively, insisting that they've got no reason to suspect her. Yuri waits as she attempts, quite weakly, to cast the focus onto another player... Only for the man to offer his cup up without hesitation. ]

Looks like he's got nothing to hide. And if I'm wrong, why not prove it?

[ He smiles, genial but sharp around the edges, as she sputters and casts for some kind of response that will take the focus off of her. ]

Closed: Wheel of Fortune II

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