<div class="floatleft">(http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/q774/anniemaccloud/Tomoe%20Mami%20Avatars/Mami_avatar_65_zps11b0b589.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Alice Deschain (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=176393.msg8367695#msg8367695)</strong></span><br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Some bar.<br/><strong>With:</strong>A bunch of poker players (Red among them).<br/><br/><hr/><br/>The other players must be really pissed, because they forgot completely to hid their reactions from the cards they draw. Only Red stood impassible. It was clear that the game would be played just between Alice and this guy.<br/><br/>Red kept that playful smile, giving no hint whatsoever about his hand to Alice. Instead, he said, simply:<em><strong>"Betting with other people's money is boring, don't you think? I mean, it's not like you've got anything on the line. I was thinking, why don't we spice this up a little bit, blondie? How about the loser of this hand shares their name with the table, hm?</strong></em><br/><br/>That suggestion rang a bell on Alice's head. Wasn't it strange how he was so suddenly interested in her? She wasn't a famous player, by any means. That would kill her profit. Maybe he could've heard of a very very pretty, sweet and innocent girl that earned a lot of money in a poker table or two, but that would be unlikely... right?<br/><br/>Maybe... he was<em>really</em>interested in her! Alice blushed. If that was true, he sure had a cute, interesting way to get her name.<br/><br/><strong>"Ah... I..."</strong><br/><br/><em><strong>"Even still, that seems pretty damn petty, Red,"</strong></em>some of the players retorted.<br/><br/>Red just smiled again and replied, in his cool tone:<em><strong>"Gotta start out gently, right? Like I said before, you three were boring me senseless before blondie showed up, so now I'm in the mood to spice things up a bit, and gamble with more then just jewels. It's the risk and reward that makes it so fun, you see? It's a special kind of thrill with the knowledge that you can be on top of the world one moment, and then in the gutters, broken, the next. Seeking out that danger is what makes us gamblers who we are, and if you don't think that way, then you have no business playing at this table."</strong></em><br/><br/>Alice wasn't like that. She never played just for the thrill of gambling. Cheating, flirting or playing rationally and patiently, Alice always played to win. She never counted on luck.<em>"Do not believe in luck, Alice,"</em>said once Angel Eyes,<em>"because it doesn't exist. You're the only one who makes up your own luck."</em>And, somehow, she felt that Red didn't count on luck, also.<em>He just wants to know my name... I wonder what he would want to bet next...</em><br/><br/>He looked into her eyes once more, while they waited for the river.<em>Damn, he's handsome</em>, she thought. Red asked, calmly, with that smirk on his face:<em><strong>"What do you say? You in?"</strong></em>Alice looked to her cards. She had just a pair of jacks. Not the brightest hand, but it was a start. If the last card turned out to be a K, she would make two pairs. Well, the worst that could happen was her giving him out her name. Alice looked at him and said, shyly, still with that flush on her cheeks:<strong>"H-Hai! I'm in!"</strong><br/><br/>Then the last card was turned.