Upstairs at Monty's - October (IC)

[Heritage]

This was actually pretty cool; as she set up everything for her first-ever poker night above Monty's garage, Grim was pleasantly reminded of her mom, bustling around the house when her dad’s drinking buddies stopped by for cards and cigars. She arrived two hours before game time, swept and tidied up the kitchen and set the folding chairs up in a circle. The fridge was stocked with drinks both alcoholic and non, and she’d brought two grocery bags full of every snack food known to man. Last but not least, she conjured forth an eight player poker table out of pure glamour; she was especially proud of the cup holders and the feel of the green felt. She placed a new deck of cards in the middle of the table, and started to open up the poker chips.

As usual, she gave a lot of thought to her appearance; since this was casual but still street IDs only, she opted for jeans, sneakers and a black leather jacket, her domino mask and a green poker visor.

Monty was working on a junker downstairs, and promised to send all the players up to the game when they arrived.

[quotemyname]

Remembering how much Grim didn't like the smell of smoke, Colt had restrained himself from having one of the cigars in his pocket on the way over.

His motorcycle rumbled into driveway at Monty's, and he swung a leg off of it. He greeted Monty with a friendly, "Howdy, partner." and was told to head up stairs.

Once at the top of the stairs, Colt spotted Grim setting up. "Hey there, little lady. Need any help settin' up?"

Colt removed Marlin from the holster on his back, and leaned it up against the wall in the kitchen. He removed his coat and placed it up on the rack, along with his cowboy hat. He stowed his goggles in one of the pockets of his coat. "Reckon tonight outta be fun. Been a while since I played poker." Underneath the coat he was wearing a striped button down shirt, and a pair of jeans. Apparently, his wardrobe had expanded slightly since he arrived in Freedom City.

Colt opened the fridge and took out two beers. He offered one to Grim. "Why don't'cha take a quick break?"

[Eviscerus]

River Rat looked at the adress on the folded piece of paper, "Monty's Garage, yepper, this is the place." Pocketing the note he strolled into the open garage door, unbuttoning his silk, playing card jacket and producing a cigarette from an inside pocket as well as a gold, diamond encrusted zippo lighter. Jackie flicked it open and lit up, then turned to the grease spotted man currently at work, "Howdy friend, where's the action at tonight?" The man looked quizzical about something, but wordlessly motioned him upstairs.

River Rat opened the door to the room above the garage and took stock of his surroundings and the two people within. Jackie furled his brow, looking from the girl with the visor to the man dressed like Wyatt Earp. What is this, some sort of time warp poker game? We playin' with poker stars of the old west or somethin'?... Jackie revised his outlook though when he realized he probably looked less than normal wearing a silk three piece suit made to look like hundreds of playing cards. Jackie smiled and bowed slightly to the lady.

"Evenin' ma'am, sir. I heard tell of a poker game," while speaking Jackie produced a fat, diamond encrusted money clip, and threw it on the table. "Thought I might stop by and see if I could lose some money. I know it's early and all, but I like to get a look at everyone when they walk through the door, every little advantage you know? Anyways, looks like I'm not gonna have that edge with you two, but I'll live. I'm ramblin' again aren't I? Anyways, like I said, my name's River Rat, and pleased ta meet ya."

Jackie took off his dollar green sunglasses and offered a dazzling white smile as he moved to shake hands with the Wyatt Earp look-alike.

[quotemyname]

Colt accepted the hand and shook it heartily. "Howdy, partner. Reckon yer in the right place." Colt smiled at all the talk of advantages and such. "Name's Colt. Grim here organized the whole thing, an' I just like bein' on time. We're still waitin' fer some other's if'n I remember correctly."

Colt pulled another beer from the fridge and offered it to River Rat.

[Eviscerus]

Jackie graciously accepted the beverage, "Ah, you are a gentleman and a scholar sir." Jackie then turns his smile on Grim, extending a free hand to her, "Thank ye for the invitation ma'am. I'm always lookin' for a new game, most of the high stakes tables just get way too uncomfortable. People are so damned stingey with their money, you'd think I was stealin' it rather than winnin' it!"

[Heritage]

"Why don't'cha take a quick break?"

Grim smiles as she removes her visor, mops her brow with the back of her hand, and takes the offered beer.

"Hey, thanks."

Extending a long curved talon from her thumb, she easily flips off the top and takes a swig.

"Mmm, that's the good stuff! Glad you could make it!"

"Evenin' ma'am, sir. I heard tell of a poker game," while speaking Jackie produced a fat, diamond encrusted money clip, and threw it on the table. "Thought I might stop by and see if I could lose some money. I know it's early and all, but I like to get a look at everyone when they walk through the door, every little advantage you know? Anyways, looks like I'm not gonna have that edge with you two, but I'll live. I'm ramblin' again aren't I? Anyways, like I said, my name's River Rat, and pleased ta meet ya."

She shakes the big spender's hand and grins.

"Hi, River Rat, I'm Grimalkin, or just 'Grim'. Welcome to the game."

Noting River Rat's cigarette (and Colt's lack of same), Grim reached into her bag and pulled out a battery-powered smokeless ashtray.

"Um, I know guys like to smoke while they play cards; heck, I used to smoke myself before I got my powers and stuff. But as Colt knows, I have a very acute sense of smell; I don't want to be all girly-girl, but can we try using this?"

She switches on the ashtray and places it between the two men, where it hums softly. She smiles at Colt.

"If this works out, you can light up, too."

"Thank ye for the invitation ma'am. I'm always lookin' for a new game, most of the high stakes tables just get way too uncomfortable. People are so damned stingey with their money, you'd think I was stealin' it rather than winnin' it!"

Somewhat concerned by the new arrivals money clip and mention of high stakes, Grim becomes a bit concerned, and holds up her hands.

"Hey now, this is a friendly game, boys and girls. I am not the best poker player in the world; I think I'm somewhere down near the bottom, to be honest."

She holds up a colorful cheat sheet you printed off the internet.

"In fact, I've still got on my training wheels. If we can start slow, I would seriously appreaciate it."

She stops herself and puts her hands on her hips as she shakes her head, chuckling to herself. "I'm sorry, this must be your guys idea of hell; a bossy chick ruining poker night by telling you not to smoke your stinky cigars and only do girly-girl nickel bets."

[quotemyname]

Colt smiled at Grim. She was actually quite fun to be around, despite what she thought. "Reckon its a good thing we like ya then."

Colt eyed the strange ash tray. "Well, maybe if'n the game heats up. I've decided I'm gonna cut back, though."

[Geez3r]

It wasn't very long until the poker game had it's next player. Atlas rolled up to the garage in his rather run down clunker. He needed to get out of the habit of just leaping everywhere when he needed to. He entered the garage carrying a grocery bag full of food. He had quite a large appetite and didn't want to hover everything that people had brought with them. Also, he would have had to throw this stuff out in a day or two anyways so it was better that he made use of it.

He mounted the stairs, causing a bit of a ruckus as he did so. He knocked on the door frame before he passed through. He set the bags down on the table. "How are you doing people? Is a good night for ze games. Atlas by ze way." he added as he looked at those gathered. He grabbed a drink from the fridge and popped the cap off with his thumb.

[Heritage]

"How are you doing people? Is a good night for ze games. Atlas by ze way."

Grim flashes a smile at the newcomer, and holds up a hand in greeting.

"Hi Atlas! Well, we’ve got four players, so I guess we can start, if people want to.â€Â

She looks up at her green visor and frowns. “This thing is getting on my nerves; hold on a sec.†She blows upward, as though to get stray hair out of her eyes, and the visor dissolves into vapor. “Much better!â€Â

She takes a seat, has a nice swig of beer, and then starts expertly shuffling the cards; from the look of it, she knows her way around a deck. “I’m better at card tricks than card games, so don’t let this little display fool you.†;)

[quotemyname]

Colt smiled at the mention of getting started. He sat at the table next to Grim and made himself comfortable. "Get started? Reckon that's the best idea I heard all night." As he waited for the cards to be dealt, he began fingering the chips on the table. He performed various tricks such as palming a chip only to have it reappear in the other hand. He was also able to make chips "run" across one set of fingers and onto the other hand. He made these tricks look rather easy.

"What was that ya said about card tricks?" He asked, giving Grim a smirk. He was no stranger to tricking the eyes of an onlooker himself.

[Heritage]

Grim sticks an Utz pretzel rod in the corner of her mouth like a fine Cuban and grins. “Not bad, Colt. My great-grandfather was a stage magician, ‘the Amazing Al-Kazar’; he specialized in close-up magic involving scarves, swords and cards."

She shrugs.

"Grampa Lou sometimes acted as his assistant, and he taught me a few tricks when I was little.â€Â

She splits the deck in two, then forms two perfect fans with each half of the deck, which she then neatly folds together.

“Should I deal first, or would one of you gentlemen like to start? I assume we’re playing Texas hold ‘em?â€Â

[Geez3r]

<"Ah cripes, I'm going to lose my shirt to these yaboos."> mutters Atlas as he sits down and takes another swig of his drink and drains about half the bottle. He takes a seat at the table and starts shuffling a few things about, getting himself all situated for the night to come.

Atlas' head jerks up and begins speaking indignantly to the other players. "Vat!? Playing already? I can still see straight! You are doing it wrong!" Atlas mutters a few Russian curses as he digs through his jacket angrily. He pulls out a pair of sunglasses and jammed them on his face. "OK. Now, ve can play." said Atlas in total seriousness before he bursted out laughing.

[Eviscerus]

Jackie watches the obvious amateurs and takes his seat, smiling. Jackie hadn't been to a friendly game in years, and Jackie was excited to get to it. Jackie replaced his green shades and lounged back, putting out his cigarette in the smokeless ashtray before taking a swig of the beer, watching Grim's card antics.

Jackie turned to Atlas and smiled. "Say big fella, you sound Russian, is that Vodka ya got thar? I wouldn't mind a swig of it myself, you know, to loosen the nerves. I always get a bit anxious before any game."

Jackie looks to Grim and nods, "That sounds just fine to me, as long as we ain't playin Razz. Always hated that game, what's the point of playin a game where the object is to ge the worst cards? Completely sideways if ya ask me."

[quotemyname]

"Never understood that game meself." Colt said, smiling. "Ain't much liked that under over crap either."

Colt's poker face was astonishingly bright. He kept a winning smile on his face, because that's exactly what he planed to do. Win. Friendly game or not, he wasn't going to underestimate his opponents. "Reckon my vote's fer Hold'em too. Makes us all in agreement if'n I ain't mistaken."

[Angel]

Angel was riding discreetly tonight. She would not be busting up bad guys, but swimming with sharks. Poker sharks. Colt told her of the game. While not knowing much about the game everyone was crazy about these days, she did some research. It was simple enough. But a lot of games are simple. The sharks would make it hard.

She hoped she didn't bring too much cash. This type of neighborhood not withstanding. She didn't want to seem like a bully type player. The one with the most cash can make the most cash can make the most frivilous types of bets and the other players wouldnt find her fun. $5000 seemed like a nice round number.

She pulled into the garage and locked the car. It wasn't her Veyron, but still, she loved her Vanquish too. Walking up to the room she breathed a sigh of relief that no photographers had found her. Walking into the poker room, she greeted the group with a wave, "How's it goin, guys?"

[Eviscerus]

Jackie turned in his seat and stood politely as the lady entered the room, seeing her expensive style of dress, his smile broadened by a few degrees. "Well hello there darlin'! I take it yer here to participate in this here friendly game? Why doncha have a seat and I'll see if I can scrounge you up a drink."

Jackie lowered the glasses from his face and met her eyes as he offered her a seat before moving to the fridge. "What's your pleasure hon?"

[Geez3r]

"OOoooooh. I'm ze big Russian guy? You Americans vith your stereotypes - all ze same. Big Russian guy with big guns, big punching and big vodka bottle." Samael shakes his head indignantly before reaching into his bag and withdrawing a rather large bottle of Russian vodka. "Okay. I am sucker for stereotype. Anyone else vant?" says Atlas with a shrug as he starts pouring out quite generous portions into 2 glasses (also procured from the bag). "Greetings." adds Atlas to Angel as she makes her appearance.

[quotemyname]

Colt smiled and flipped another chip around in his hand. "Don't mind if a do, long as yer pourin'." Colt reached out, took one of the shot glasses, saluted Atlas, and downed its contents.

"Well, reckon we best get started then," He looked at grim, "You dealin'? It's two ta each. Then bure'em an' turn'em."

[Angel]

Angel politely nodded as she remembered the first rule. Beware the nice ones. They're the ones with the sharpest teeth. "I'll have a juice." She sat down at the table looking at the crew.

She saw a big dude. He looked and sounded like one of those prankster types. The dealer. She was looking cool. The guy who offered her a drink. Nice of him. And Colt. They had been together for a week or two before they amicably split. Good thing too. She wouldn't have found out about this game.

"I'm Angel," she said confidently introducing herself. "One of you already knows that," she winked at Colt. "Who might the rest of you be?"

[Eviscerus]

Jackie procures a small juice box from the fridge, apparently some child's leftover from lunch. Jackie tosses the box to Angel before smiling and saying, "Name's River Rat, but y'all can call me Jackie."

Jackie returns to the table and takes the offered drink. He downs a good two swallows before returning the glass to the table. "Thanks friend, I needed that."

[Heritage]

"You dealin'? It's two ta each. Then bure'em an' turn'em."

Grim nods and starts dealing out the cards; once she’s finished, she smacks her forehead.

“Oops, forgot the dealer button.â€Â

She snaps her fingers and an oversized poker chip appears in her hand, white with the words “Kiss the Dealer!†in bright red letters; she places it on the felt in front of her.

“Okay, now we start with the pre-flop bets, ladies and gentlemen.â€Â

Who might the rest of you be?"

The young woman dealing smiles and waves. “Hi, I’m Grimalkin, Mistress of Mystery! Nice to meecha.â€Â

[Angel]

Angel caught the boxed juice and snickered. Surely they kept some orange juice or apple juice around here. She wasn't here for juice though. It was time to play some cards.

Nodding at the introductions, she knew not to pull out the cash until limits were set. "So, how much is the buy in? Any limits or are we going No Limit?"

[Geez3r]

"Atlas." said the big Russian guy between mouthfuls of a Phillie Cheese steak. After brushing a few crumbs off his hands (not onto the table) he digs into his bag and pulls out his money-clip. You could tell that the money had changed hands a few times. These weren't bills taken from a bank, they were likely taken from a cash register."Try to keep ze buy in low. Don't vant zis to be over too soon. Is friendly game da?"

[quotemyname]

"Reckon we c'n keep the buy in small," Colt said as he reached into one of his pockets and brought out a few bills. "But if'n ya wanna keep the game goin' slow, ya'll gotta limit the blinds, not the buy in."

Colt smiled as he peeled a few bills away from a folded set of bills. "How much're we talkin'? Twenty? Fifty?"

[Heritage]

"Reckon we c'n keep the buy in small," Colt said as he reached into one of his pockets and brought out a few bills. "But if'n ya wanna keep the game goin' slow, ya'll gotta limit the blinds, not the buy in."

Colt smiled as he peeled a few bills away from a folded set of bills. "How much're we talkin'? Twenty? Fifty?"

Grim suddenly looks a little queasy when money comes out and bids start being discussed; she holds up her hand like a kid at the first day of school.

“Uh, just for tonight can we start with ten dollar bids? I hate to go all penny ante, but I had a lot of expenses this week; all the money I made at the kissing booth yesterday went to widows and tiny orphans.â€Â

She swallows and smiles nervously.

“I will have more money next month if we play again, I swear.â€Â