Fifth Floor Common Room, Thursday Afternoon

[suitably_heroic]

A new week, a new term, new classes... and an old card game.

So far, Atton didn't have much to complain about regarding his classes (except for all the things he did complain about) but he was pretty glad they were over for the week. After all, the school had flooded with a bunch of new students who, presumably, didn't know how to play pazaak so good (or at all). So now he was stretching out in the common room, watching something called The Real Hustle (or whatever) while playing a friendly game of cards against himself.

Good. Friendly. Accessible! He might even switch to poker if you asked real nice. He was a nice guy like that.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[arsenicmauls]

Considering how little Gert cared for stairs, it was weird that she could be found browsing the upper floors of the dorms today, but there she was all the same. She would have liked to blame Old Lace for wanting to check out more of the dorms, but Old Lace was napping in her room, so not so much.

Gert eyed the TV, deemed it mildly interesting, and flopped down on the couch.

"What're you playing?"

[suitably_heroic]

Aaand there we had potential victim number one. "Pazaak," Atton said easily, putting down a +2/-2 card. Flipped it. "One of the better games in this galaxy." Beat. "My galaxy."

[arsenicmauls]

Yeah, sorry, Atton, but Gert had no money. It was really pretty sad.

"What, it's like Solitaire?" she guessed, leaning over to watch. "It's this one-player game office bureaucrats play on the computer instead of doing work."

[suitably_heroic]

"No, it's not like Solitaire," Atton retorted, rolling his eyes. "Pazaak's usually a two-player game, but... I like to keep my mind trained."

[glacial_queen]

"Hey, Gert," Karla said, nodding to the one person she recognized in the room. "How're you and Old Lace settling in?"

WOULD OLD LACE LIKE A DINO PLAYDATE?!?!?!

...Karla was going to wait until after the polite greetings and such before pouncing on Gert and demanding that. Because she was classy, that's why.

[arsenicmauls]

IT WAS POSSIBLE THAT OLD LACE MIGHT EAT NEMIT, KARLA, FYI.

"Okay so far," Gert said. "I guess as schools go, this one isn't as lame as I was expecting."

High praise!

[glacial_queen]

HE WOULD GET A TELEPATHIC THWAP THAT DIDN'T COME FROM GERT IF HE TRIED.

Karla actually had to laugh at that. "Lame is not a word most people would describe Fandom," she agreed. "At least, not after their first invasion."

[pursuedthestars]

Jim was gonna fall under the category of someone who wasn't good at pazaak but that's because he hadn't ever heard of it. So, it made sense in that realm of things, at least.

"That is such a lonely sight," Jim observed when he wandered in. "One guy playing cards with himself."

[suitably_heroic]

"Well, sing me a sad, sad song," Atton said, leaning back and giving Jim some really exaggerated puppy dog eyes.

[pursuedthestars]

"Never knew you had such a thing for my singing voice," Jim quipped, finding an empty seat and taking it. He'd even managed to stay away from the kitchen during this common room trip. "I'm touched."

[arsenicmauls]

"So I think I met your roommate," Gert informed Jim, leaning across her armrest to talk to him. "So did Old Lace. He kind of shrieked."

[pursuedthestars]

"Did he?" Damn, Jim was sad that he hadn't been there to hear that. "What'd you think of him?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla had been heading up to the sixth floor to cook something for lunch, so the rest of the student body should probably be thanking Atton for saving them. Whether or not Atton would be in any condition to recognize their gratitude was another story altogether.

"Oooh, playing cards?" Karla asked, ducking her head in. "What game?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Pazaak," Atton volunteered. Tossed the -5 card onto the table and sat back, surveying his handiwork. "Probably not any game you know."

Carrick was pretty much the only guy who would know it, so he felt pretty confident in this assumption.

[glacial_queen]

Karla cracked a grin at him. "Probably not," she admitted. "But then, I'm not from around here." She took a chair across from him and asked, "Is it hard to learn?"

[reven8e.livejournal.com]

"So, is that a real card game or you're just trying to impress people."

But where were her manners?

"Hello, Atton."

[suitably_heroic]

"If I was trying to impress people, I got other ways to do that," Atton said lightly. "Just trying to enjoy some pazaak on my own. Afternoon."

[reven8e.livejournal.com]

"Paazak? Never heard of it." So she was going to feign interest. Well, half feign; card games were something she hadn't done in a while. "How do you play it?"

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Making credits off of new wermos?" Cade guessed, glancing at the deck.

[suitably_heroic]

"Just playing a nice, friendly game of pazaak," Atton retorted. "You're so cynical."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade snorted as he flopped onto the sofa. "Follow up question of why aren't you making credits off of them."

[arsenicmauls]

"Was that the idea?" Gert asked with a snort. "So far I haven't seen any cash change hands."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"What's the point of a card game if you're not playing for money?" Cade asked.

[reven8e.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't mind making it more interesting, but hey, a game's a game right?"

Plus betting on school grounds? Tempting, but she didn't know just how lax was security here.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Games are for kids," Cade replied languidly.

He was a hardcore 16-year-old, oh yeah.