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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 23, 2021 2:14:43 GMT
As the smile was returned, Nadya’s own grew deeper as she looked up at Jasper, in part spurred on by Sam’s sudden response. She detected a note of jealousy in his joke, as if he had to bring himself back into the conversation again. She only looked over at his sudden exclamation, startled enough by his sudden inspiration to look over at him.
The suggestion made her blink once, a purely innocent look that wasn’t put on. Betting?
“I…” she began, hesitantly holding her cup of wine gingerly, glancing up at Jasper. “I not know how to, nor have money for,” she admitted, even as curiosity lit up her pale eyes as she looked between them.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 23, 2021 2:39:29 GMT
“That’s fine, you can use Jasper’s!” Sam only replied smoothly. “And we’ll teach you, isn’t that right?” He looked up at his brother expectantly. Jasper looked from one to the other… then his shoulders slouched, giving in. He addressed Nadya first. “If you want to?” He questioned, wanting to be sure she actually wanted to play. It might be a good idea, a way for them all to relax, and to make the strange situation that they had found themselves in, less awkward.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 23, 2021 3:32:36 GMT
Nadya glanced at Jasper as Sam helpfully offered for him, curious at the way his shoulders slouched. Did he not like to play then? She’d seen men gambling before, serious faces intermixed with drunk and laughing ones, occasionally angry with a burst of energy directed at a supposed cheater. But she’d always been curious what the game itself was about.
With that mischievous smile returning, she looked back to Sam, nodding. “Please.”
It took two gentle rounds for Nadya to understand the rules, trading between drinking wine and reading her cards. Surprisingly, she’d started drinking the wine like water, hardly noticing how much she was having. It was hardly in the same range as what Jasper had put down before they had even spoken to one another, but it did wonders for her unease with the two men. Sitting at the head of the bed, one leg tucked up beneath her as the other dangled over the side, she had grown energized and lively as she began to understand the rules.
Ironically, it was after her hand had bumped into Jasper’s that she truly began to relax. She had flinched, initially, then looked confused when nothing happened, to the point of even glancing at her own hand. Like a jumpstart, it seemed to boost her confidence, even laughing as she’d tease the two men’s losses.
What was also ironic was the fact that the more she drank, the better she became at the game. It had started as a pleasant way to pass the time, but as Nadya’s pile of coins steadily began to grow, the two men found that she was indeed leaving them in the proverbial dust. Not quite how either had expected the evening to go. In spite of having absolutely no poker face, Nadya seemed able to produce the cards needed, quickly strategizing against the other two and winning round after round. At the moment, she had half fallen back into the pillows of the bed, knees drawn up as she peered over the top edges of her cards, the grin reaching all the way up to her eyes and the crinkle of her nose that meant she was on the verge of laughing yet again. She had another winning hand, quite obviously, but how she kept managing it was a mystery.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 30, 2021 21:23:32 GMT
It wasn’t that Jasper did not like to gamble, but rather, he wanted to ensure Nadya was comfortable before they did- it was not for everyone. Besides, he wasn’t too eager to start losing money, either...
***
Jasper did indeed lose money, but not to whom he had thought he would. Nadya clearly had a knack, despite having the worst poker face either man had ever seen. She was also not the only one treating the wine like water, they’d ordered up two more bottles since they’d started. At this point, Jasper’s sight had begun to blur at the edges again, the alcohol finally building up enough to affect him. With its hold, the walls around his demeanour had begun to drop, unaware of how often his gaze had begun to linger on Nadya. The way she sat was comical, peeking over her cards as she tried to stifle a laugh. Jasper held a faint smile on his face, one that only widened as watched the endearing way she scrunched up her nose.
“Aha!” Sam had suddenly shouted, snapping Jasper abruptly out of his daydream, the man directing his attention back to the game. Sam clearly thought he had a winning hand, if his excitement was anything to go by. In contrast, Jasper placed his cards face-down. “Fold.” Then sat back to watch the next events unfold with amusement, pretty sure by now as to what was about to happen.
“Right, little minx!” Sam announced, spreading his cards out suit-up on the bed, grinning at Nadya with clear confidence. “Lets see your hand! There’s no way you can…”
Nadya showed her cards before he could even finish his sentence, and Sam’s face had dropped as Jasper laughed out-loud. Another winning hand! The smile crept back onto Sam’s face, as, defeated once more but not bitter about it, he pushed the coins over to Nadya. “I’m not convinced this is the first time you’ve ever played.” He commented good-naturedly, with a laugh. His gaze flitted from Nadya to Jasper, pausing as he noticed his brother’s attentions were well and truly not on him. Smile widening, he began to pack the cards away. “And you Jasper, have you ever seen the like?” He prompted. Jasper blinked, realized he was staring, and turned his attention back to Sam. “Uh… no. She is gifted indeed.”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 31, 2021 2:55:15 GMT
Nadya had been giggling at Sam’s confidence, having long lost the momentary hesitation that would usually be her initial reaction. She didn’t want to be touched, and as the wine had flowed, she’d been able to see that they wouldn’t touch her, so even his boisterous and premature call of victory hadn’t phased her.
Or was that more because her own vision was a little blurry on the edges?
Launching forward, she’d tossed her cards out for the two men to see, a victorious laugh escaping her as Sam’s face fell. She’d been watching the two for their amusing responses to her winning round after round, managing somehow to not give that away. So she had seen how Jasper was watching her, but as she was buoyed by the light conversation and unexpected winning streak, she wasn’t bothered by the attention.
Instead, she clapped her hands to her face as she laughed again, nose scrunched from the expression even as Sam pushed her winnings to her, teasing her in turn.
“Nuh-uh!” Nadya responded, trying to look serious as she shook her head, but she was too giggly to make it last long. A happy drunk, it seemed. “Never played, nikogda ran’she. Otkrytki just… make sense,” she went on as her gaze met Jasper’s again, one shoulder coming up almost flirtatiously as she kept giggling, her accent growing so thick it was almost difficult to understand some of her words. It didn’t help that now over half of what she said was in that lyrical language, with no indication of what she was saying other than they were punctuated by giggles and victorious grins.
She almost looked disappointed when she realized Sam was packing up the cards, but a yawn cut off her disappointment, rubbing at an eye as weariness slowly overcame euphoria. Nadya’s smile went a little shy as they complimented her playing, even if she was beginning to lean a little as she sat.
“Mm… time for sleep, ty ne dumayesh’?” she asked, finally pushing up from the bed. The two men seemed confused, given that she was supposed to have the bed, but before either could stop her from leaving in such a drunken stupor, or avoid her simply falling over, she began to untie the corset, discarding it quickly to leave just her dress. The boots had already long been cast aside, her concerns over hiding the bruises from falling off her barstool ignored the more she drank.
Both men seemed to stop, however, as she began removing her dress…
*not ever before… Cards *don’t you think
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 5, 2021 1:47:55 GMT
It took Jasper a moment to realise exactly what was happening, but once he did, he was quick to avert his eyes. Sam, instead, stared unabashedly, mouth slowly opening in awe- at least until Jasper punched him pointedly on the shoulder. “Oh, um, yes, time for sleep!” Sam agreed, the movement knocking him from his reverie. He proceeded to look everywhere but at the woman, more out of Jasper’s warning than anything. Meanwhile, Jasper had once more turned his back to both, in an attempt to not only avoid Sam’s gaze but also to avoid the temptation of looking where he really wanted to. So, he busied himself with clearing away the glasses, as they’d been discarded at random places across the room. He noticed with surprise that they had managed to sink two bottles, he couldn’t even remember ordering the second.
“So, Na… Nade… Nads. Where is it you come from?” Sam quizzed casually, grabbing his satchel to retrieve the thin but sturdy blanket he’d packed for sleeping rough. He lay it on the floor, dropping his satchel at the head, which would act as a pillow. In contrast to their female guest, the only undressing he partook in was to kick off his boots. Jasper kicked off his too, but upon seeing what his brother had taken for a bed, he motioned questioningly towards the chair. Sam shook his head, waving the offer away. “I sleep like a starfish, I’ll end up falling off the chair.” He added, with a grin.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 6, 2021 20:55:47 GMT
The woman hardly noticed the men staring, then doing everything they could to not stare, as she was tipsy enough to get stuck halfway out of her dress. Finally she managed it, dropping the garment on the floor and so standing there with only one undergarment between her and the two men, hair disheveled from the fight with the fabric.
“Nadesht…” she began to correct, but slurred a little as the room suddenly tipped, as evidenced by the way her head tilted as she stared at the wall. “Nadya,” she simplified, the look of confusion about the angle of the world not abating even as she responded to the question. A hand rose to try and resort her long hair out of her face, half falling onto the bed as she landed with a bounce. “Yamfrm far… away,” she began answering, almost babbling as she crawled into the bed, sinking into the material with a content little sigh.
And with that, she was out like a light, unable to finish answering Sam’s question… that she was from far away, a marshland full of life and energy, until it was taken away… by men like the two in the room with her.
---
Morning came far, far too early, with bright light and songbirds outside the window. While musical and soft, they might as well have been shrieking demons, the way her head pounded.
Nadya had already covered her head with one of the pillows, as if she could muffle the sound and light and nausea out. Suffocating would be preferable, she reasoned, even though it never came.
Never had she drunk that much before. Once, with Joss, she had started to get a little tipsy, and he had saved her from going further. She’d hardly noticed it, never once realizing why he kept telling her to remember she was a ‘light weight.’
Until now.
She could hear movement around her, but she was in too much pain to move herself, her usual default of fearing those around her for their touch unable to surface from the throbbing waves of nausea. With her head stuffed under the pillows, the rest of her was mostly exposed to the room, the covers never fully covering her back, hair splayed out behind her like spider silk strewn up in a corner. Not at her best, by any stretch of the imagination…
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