kenoslogs | Closed: Wheel of Fortune II

[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. ]

[With the game at a standstill just moments before the final tallies are made (and with Gavial and Byleth making that a bit literal with the way they’re sternly looming), it’s only natural that staff has to make a move to step in. Which is probably a good thing, because the longer this lady refuses to cooperate, the more Gavial is contemplating just going over there and wrestling the cup from her hands herself.

Considering how much her antics in the last game had cost her in the end, she figures it’s better to hold back, no matter how deserved it might be.]

C’mon, don’t be a spoilsport just because you weren’t sly enough to get one by me.

[Yeah, that’s totally what happened… Either way, the one running the game eventually gets her to capitulate, revealing the magnets Yuri had so keenly pointed out. Gavial can’t help the cheeky grin as the woman is dismissed from the table in a huff, and she turns to offer a high-five to her two companions in turn.

With the biggest source of competition at the table removed, the game’s wrap-up gets on smoothly.]

[With one threat removed from the game and eagerly returning the high-five with Gavial (he remembered this gesture!!! He was happy he got to perform it correctly off-the-cuff), he took his seat and the results were tallied.

He was unsurprised with his own result: bottom of the pack, a complete and abysmal loss, but he accepted it with grace, because Gavial's and Yuri's count was high enough that they were neck-in-neck in winning. Either way, it seemed like their victory was assurred.]

[ The totals come quite close, and Yuri wonders what the rules might be in the event of a draw... But the results favor him by a slim margin in the end. That leaves their gambling venture successful, though he wonders just what sort of businessman Coalbrand will prove to be.

Still, they've collectively prevailed, with a little bit of subterfuge and a few shenanigans. Once it was down to him or Gavial, their success had been assured, though he does wish he'd done more to undermine their competition now that he sees how easily they could manage as a team. ]

Looks like it's time to see how the house treats us.

[ They had come out on top, but Yuri never has assumed that means things will play out as expected (or for that matter, agreed upon). He does come from a criminal background, after all. ]

Closed: Wheel of Fortune II

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