Life’s Die (Shane)

[ShadowVigilante1]

Somewhere in Western France
JUDA Casino
November 19, 2880
5:26 p.m

As evening slowly started to creep its way into the world, many fine establishments around the city were starting to open their doors to customers looking to unwind from the constant stress of their day to day lives. Some took to drink, others took to a simple bite of comfort food, others decide for a spot of dancing or sometimes even just a prolonged smoke break. But the one place that offers things such as these and more is winding up for the slew of people entering for the evening. Blinding lights, jazzy music, and the smell of cigarettes or beer, it was undoubtedly a casino, but not simply any casino. While on the surface, one may see these simple casino traits all around, but there is simply more to the casino than that.

With a slew of games for people to gamble on, there was no shortage of people pulling the lever to see whether they’d hit it big. Not to mention, it seemed that all the staff enjoying their time as well, whether it be dealing out cards or serving refreshments, all did so with an extra amount of flair. And when it came down to extra choices of entertainment aside from the usual, you were quite spoiled for choice all things considered, movies, restaurants, theatre, even a mini golf course.

To say that JUDA was anything but a regular casino would be a complete understatement of the services it provided to its large number of patrons every day. Though it seemed that someone interesting would through its doors quite soon.

 

[GrimmShane]

And by some accounts, Interesting would indeed be the way to describe him; a young man dressed with a neatly cared for hoodie and pants that - comparatively - had seen better times. A glint in his eye and a pep to his step as Guillermo over there cracked the door open and stepped into the Prestigious establishment; the townspeople - at this point - most likely already knew of his existence, odd jobs and otherwise uncomfortable tasks done quickly for even just a few pennies.

Not like those pennies would really last past tonight at least, if lady luck smiled upon him again.

"Alright, alright. we sleepin' with Lady Luck tonight!"

Or at least he'd try, the Factor's open eye fixating on the constantly rolling dice on every table he was passing by, such a cheery crew! working as if every one game of blackjack was a party waiting for the beat to drop; As it was though, he'd find a seat at a poker table, so clearly within any camera's view - and with such a fixation on the deck...

"Straight Flush."
(Alright, on the next round, just hold... shouldn't get a valuable hand until the one after that...)

Ah.
He's counting cards.
Great job.
Definitely not something that'll get your ass beat in a backroom
I mean- not like the colony runaway over here COULD get his ass beaten into a corner by regular people nowadays-

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

The two other people at the table set their chips down, about half their stacks for the night it seems. As Guillermo made his decision, the dealer then had the table reveal their hands. His was a single pair, the young man to the right had a straight, meanwhile the woman right next to Guillermo had 4 of a kind in her hand. Seeing as the one-eyed boy had the most valuable hand at the table, all the chips were soon pushed towards him by the dealer.

“Here you are sir, I’d suggest holding onto them. You never know when they’ll slip from your grasp.”

Just then, the dealer jolted a bit as he touched his earpiece, listening to someone giving him some new instructions it seems. And he seemed quite taken aback as he looked at Guillermo all the while. “Ma’am, you want me to… Very well.”

He then walked over to Guillermo as a few more staff members came by, one with a cart that held a tray with a lid. It seemed to be a place where he could place his current winnings. The staff member took the lid off the top, revealing a clear lockbox for his earnings to be safely kept in.

”If you could follow us sir, we will escort you to the VIP Lounge. Your winnings have earned you a spot at the higher betting tables. That is, if you wish to come with us.”

 

[GrimmShane]

Guillermo hadn't really bet that much of his initial allotment of chips, a safe bet in case he'd been somehow outplayed or miscounted in some way; but the winnings of course, were marvelously outrageous - the sheer lack of half an expression in his eye(s) and constant half-grin making for a singular complete cheeky Nothing. But of course, the really curious event here was the manner staff crowded around him; one thing was just bringing in One staffer to take him up to a higher stakes table, but this was almost suspicious.

Regardless, the factor whiped the light skepticism off his mug and carefully placed the mountain of chips he'd won onto the tray he'd been offered - sliding a single chip between his fingers and into his hoodie's sleeve, a secret tool that will definitely help us later - before standing up fully and silently bowing his kudos to the dealer and GGs to the other players at the table

"Sure, let's go; trying my luck isn't particularly an issue for me"

Placing a hand into the hoodie's pocket and carefully pushing his hair back from his face and taking a light breath before beginning to walk besides the crew, cheerfully humming to himself on the way.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

As soon as they got going, a new dealer showed up to replace the one that had just left, seemingly dealing out an equal spread of high priority cards. Guillermo’s little entourage of casino staff members managed to turn some heads, especially given his less than stellar get up. As he walked past table after table, Guillermo soon saw the entrance to the VIP casino area.

“Here we are, sir. Poker Table 1 at the end of the hall, we have someone waiting for you there.”

The entourage of staff entered the VIP area, where Guillermo was able to see a few low ranking officials from Erebonia playing at some of the tables, even some Britannian diplomats it seemed. There was also for a split second, someone in a seemingly gentlemanly getup, though it was hard to see what exactly he was doing given his extremely expressive scrutinization of his given deck. But those sights passed quite quickly as they were moved to an even more exclusive looking room. It seemed to be separated from the rest of the room by a wall decorated to look like the top half of a poker table, with the top of the door leading into the completely new room being adorned by a single Spade.

Inside of the room was even more casino delights, a set of different tables for other games, a billiard table, a bar, even a large flat screen TV with a karaoke setup. If anything, this place looked like an oversized rec room. In front of Guillermo was the poker table, 3 people were already sat, 2 were simply men in business suits, and the other a woman.

”Here he is, ma’am. Will you be requiring any additional refreshments before you play?”

Guillermo was very easily able to spot a woman with a wide brimmed hat and a black dress with an overcoat. She appeared as if she was dressing for some type of royal fashion show, though clearly it suited her somehow despite the little bits of unkept stray hair that Guillermo was able to see underneath the woman’s hat. She appeared to be shuffling that they would use later on, though once she head the question of the dealer she paused for a moment.

“A bottle of soju will do for now. Though for our guest of honor, give him something non-alcoholic. While he is an adult, I have a feeling he wouldn’t want to ruin his chances against me, isn’t that right young man~?”

She gave Guillermo a bit of a smirk as she continued shuffling the deck before eventually setting it down and standing up from her chair. She then gave a bit of a curtsy and held it as she introduced herself.

“My name is Eun-Ji Shin. Owner of JUDA Casino. Though if that is too hard for you to say monsiuer, you may call me Eugene instead.”

The self-proclaimed owner then stood tall once again as the staff members left Guillermo to his own devices with the tray containing his chips right next to him. Of course, a few of them began to prepare drinks according to the preferences of the people there right at the bar nearby.

“So tell me, how have you been enjoying your time at my casino? Luck not dragging you down yet?”

 

[GrimmShane]

The sight of the rich and powerful, so many influences converging in tables where potentially their very attempts at further increasing their exponentially larger wallets, to enlarge their egos and watch as those opposed burn at the whim of Miss Fortune; not surprising but definitely an interesting sight, a surprising view to meet with on the way to a table locked away from even those. The very end of the hall, the single digit with no reservation.

And there was the owner, the Veritable Owner of this wonderful establishment, with an interesting outfit perfectly contrasting the borderline street rat look of Guillermo's; his grin and expression going somewhat flatter as soon as alcohol was requested, and as soon as he himself took a seat

"A pleasure, Madam Eugene; name's James Guillermo Rose - Guillermo is fine."

Although his tone remained lightly playful, the expression that accompanied the words was one of curiosity rather than inquiry; After all, he was stupid, but not blind. And if both the staffer's comment as he was brought in, and the larger hall just out the door were something to off of - the one-eyed factor had a question or two

"I must admit, just as fine a place as the looks say; hoping lady luck doesn't turn a wry look in my direction I'd say"

But as it was, asking questions that COULD get him in trouble wasn't exactly the best thing to do - not with the owner right infront, not with other people who might as well be folks who gained their spot with luck and nicely judged cards. So instead, Guillermo just paid enough attention to the deck on the table, throwing a chip to his mouth and relaxing his expression - the raised up brow lightly opening his hollow eye; the empty eye socket covered with the clean black shadow of the eyelid over it.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Eugene giggled a little as she sat back down on her seat. She seemed quite relaxed and confident at the moment, though her eyes were seemingly looking past Guillermo’s rugged get up, with her clearly experienced eyes attempting to decipher what he really was. After all, the eyes were the gateway to one’s soul were they not? As this soul in particular seemed quite experienced, perhaps even more than her mostly youthful appearance would suggest.

“Please, just Eugene is fine. But I see, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself so far. Though as we like to say here, luck can betray you, best to keep an open mind as to what you’ll do when it does.”

Eugene took the deck of cards back into her hands, continuing the shuffle the deck with elaborate movements. First she fanned the deck out onto the table before using two hands to pull the split deck into two stacks of cards. From there she shuffled the stacks into a single deck before taking the deck into her hands as she took out some cards and held them in a manner in which she was holding 5 cards out in an almost lightning bolt pattern. The 5 cards she showed formed a 4 of a kind deck, each being an Ace from each of the 4 suites, the last card being the Queen of Hearts. She the twirled some cards between her fingers and collapsed the cards back into the deck as she began to one handed shuffle the cards without much thought as she focused back on the conversation.

“So, I heard you’ve been about town helping people, mostly lifting stuff. But you clearly aren’t from around here, where are you from? Somewhere else in Erebonia? Stumbled in from Eorzea? Or perhaps from outside Europe.”

She decided to ask the mostly regular questions, she already had an idea of where he might have been from, but it’s nice to ask about it to judge their character.

 

[GrimmShane]

Eyes were truly a window to the soul, more than what most people would think in this case; the reflections of the casino's lights on Guillermo's eye, dimmed and equally as focused on his surroundings as his eye was on the cards moving before his very sight. The question that assaulted him in this moment as well, such a quick and to the point woman this one was; talking of rumor and fact like the gossip spreaders of some towns he'd passed in his travels; but of course, the response she might be looking for with such prodding perhaps wasn't the expected one - teeth ever so sharply grit for a moment as the Lucky survivor slowly breathed in to speak

"I'd say--- the most accurate is the latter; off-world colonies actually, don't exactly remember which one off the top of my head"

The breath and grin of course, weren't so much a marker of tone - equally as light and free of concern as it'd seemed to be just the moment prior, and the minutes before that as well; a nonchalant response to a question Guillermo likely received fairly often when staying more than one night at a town, though usually he'd expect it from an equally traveling bar patron - not the head of a casino who seems to be quite well informed about general coming and goings

"though to be fair, I did waltz right out of the continent to the south - what was it called..."

The lad begun almost deliberately thinking, snapping his fingers a couple times before eating another potato chip; of course, the answer itself couldn't be more outlandish, waltzed out of-

"Africa- Yeah, that one, crawled out of a pile of scrap in the middle o' there"

Beastman territory- to be fair, there WAS mention in some newspaper several months before of another lost shipment going down over Africa, that much likely checks out; another question remaining there, about whether he was actually making shit up on the spot, or if he was actually there and somehow lived to be here in the first place. Of course, the end of his elaboration would be met with a playful "oooOOOoooOo" and an almost practiced chuckle; James Guillermo Rose, considering himself lucky, proceeded to lean back on his seat - one leg crossing over the other.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

The fact that he was from the colonies managed to pique her interest, not to mention following that up with coming straight from Africa confirmed what she was thinking. But, the time to reveal her hand will come. At the very least, she appreciated someone who was able to be honest, a trait she very much admires.

“Well, that’s quite the interesting tale. Since you are from the colonies, I assume it took a bit getting used to Earth’s gravity, along with what we might have on offer here given it’s more… organic. But I do know one thing that isn’t out of style up there.”

As the servers returned, they served Eugune her requested soju along with a shot glass, she placed the deck down as she popped open her bottle and poured herself a small amount into the glass. Meanwhile, the servers handed the two men what appeared to be cocktails of some kind, one clearly with pineapple, and the other with a blue hue that was reminiscent of a shimmering crystal. Lastly, one of the servers handed Guillermo his drink, it seemed to be a bit different from what one usually saw from a bar, it was a coffee latte.

“Coffee, never lets you down, especially on a long night of doing… well almost anything. I hope you enjoy, those beans came all the way from Hydealyn, so there’s gonna be a bit of a magical flavor to it once you taste it.”

Eugune took a shot of soju, letting out a sigh as she placed the glass down before she continued to shuffle the cards, this time splitting the deck before placing cards between cards in a way that allowed one stack of the deck to remain extended from the main stack. She then turned the cards towards the table members as she fanned the cards out in a display that showed many of the cards on top of one another. She then very quickly returned the deck to normal as she performed one of the more basic shuffles, splitting the deck before recombining them by stacking parts of them on top of each other by allowing each card to flick freely from her hands before forming a full deck. She did this once more before picking the deck up as she felt the deck aloft before allowing the cards to fall into her other hand, creating an almost accordion-like pattern with the cards flying through the air.

“But let’s get to the game. So, we’ll be doing 5 draw poker, any problems with that Mister Guillermo?”

 

[GrimmShane]

This really was the first time his "tall" tale was met with a simple "interesting", no further questions, no calls of bullshit; it almost took him aback for a moment, if he wasn't in a generally more relaxed setting anyways. The followup comments though, specially that definitely planned pause as he was handed a nice and warm latte, did make him chuckle ever so slightly; a blend from some magical place down here on the surface, somewhere he'd be frankly incapable of locating on an unlabelled map.

The rules being set though were casual as well, what you'd usually see being played outside of a professional enviroment - but of course not unbecoming of said locations or tones; the outworlder taking a sip of his warm drink before carefully setting it down and paying attention to the cards once more

"Fine by me, simpler setup, less to think about really"

Confirmation! that only left waiting for the initial draw to begin not that along after anyways, Guillermo's smile becoming Less sharp, a "poker face" only caracterized by the ever present glint in his remaining eye

"Though, 'nuff about me; might I ask, any particular reason behind my being called up? Didn't really win that big - just some unlucky fellas with no moderation"

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

As Guillermo gave his confirmation, the other players placed their chips into the winning pot, herself included before she began to deal out the cards face down. Once each them had received their cards, the person to Guillermo‘s left decided to Check, skipping on betting for the entire rest of the round. Now it was Guillermo’s turn to decide what to do. Looking at his hand, he held a pair of aces one a heart and the other a club, an 8 of spades, a 6 of clubs, and a 2 of hearts.

“Oh, not really. It’s just that, I’ve been hearing certain things about you, Mr. Guillermo. Aside from all the help you have given that is. This town was built around JUDA after all, so news travels to me fast, even beyond our little space of land. You mentioned yourself before that you came out from Africa, right? It’s a dangerous place down there, all kinds of people and things that would kill you if you looked at them wrong, or were at the wrong place at the wrong time.“