Poker Night

Posted on 24 Jul 2016 @ 1:23pm by Ensign Quinn Mackie & Lieutenant Jonathan Kilmartin & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper & Master Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin & Ensign Aidan Crehan

6,310 words; about a 32 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Rec Room
Timeline: MD 1 || 2000 hours

Rec Room Two was at the heart of deck five and would soon be the site of one of Jonathan Kilmartin's greatest ever victories. He had fought the Dominion and won; he had fought the Klingons and won; he had combated Orion raiders and won but all that paled in significance compared to the victory he was about to have - wiping out a whole bunch of junior officers and taking their latinum as reward for doing so. Of course, he didn't mean physically, but emotionally. He would toy with them, he would break their will and he would defeat them, and then take their money and run. Poker was a mans game and not for the feint of heart. Strolling his way along deck five, he contemplated his strategies for the evening.

The moment Mila heard that another poker game was on, a slow smile spread across her lips. She changed into a pair of black pants, a sleeveless purple shirt and a sleeveless leather vest and pinned her combadge to it. The back of the vest held four cards of an intricate design which matched the deck of cards sitting next to her Betazoid Poker Championship trophy she had won in twenty three eighty-four. She let her hair down with an evil smile and left her quarters with the intent of getting some credits from the enlisted and some gold-plated latinum from the more adventurous.

Entering the recreation room, she gave a nod to the other man there and sized him up; he was tall, handsome and muscular, but he wasn't Aidan and she looked forward to treating him to lessons on how poker was played. "Good evening," she said, her Russian accent faint as she approached the table. "I am Mila Rasputin," she said and offered her hand with a smile.

"Jonathan Kilmartin," the blond man spoke as he took the offered hand and shook it, returning the smile as he looked her up and down. "Now there's an accent I haven't heard in a while."

Cadet Quinn was next to arrive, choosing to wear non-regulation clothing like most of the crew did when they were off duty. He sported a grey v-neck shirt and khaki cargo shorts. As he spotted the Captain's Yeoman talking with who he believed to be one of the ship's new pilots, Quinn couldn't help but think that he should blow this off and track down Kelly. He wasn't sure she was coming, though he hadn't a chance to tell Kelly about this past time of his. but it would not be like Quinn to miss a poker game. "Hello," he greeted both with a smile.

Mila turned her attention from Kilmartin and gave a smile to to the young sandy blonde haired cadet that just came in. "Please be leaving credit chip at my table," she said with a laugh.

Quinn gave her a blank stare, almost like the proverbial deer in headlights look. Prior to being transferred to Operations, he'd only been at one of the Black Hawk's poker nights, but that was before all of this Consortium business started. And the players were mostly ranked at crewman, just as young as he. Now he'd be playing with Petty Officers and Lieutenants. This would be interesting.

Mila laughed. "Enjoy the game, Cadet," she said. "I plan to."

Cooper came jogging in. She wore black pants, running shoes and a t-shirt that said, "Security Do It With Handcuffs" with an image of padded handcuffs. She went over to the group, "Hello..." She looked at Mila, "Wow that vest is killer, all of my jealousy.." She said good naturedly, then to the group, "I'm Catherine Cooper if we've not met, I'm Deputy Chief Meat Shield on Board. Can you believe they unchained us for this game, epic huh? Will there be music there should totally be music..." She said rapid fire somewhat excited to be able to relax for once but remembering to shut up, see manners :).

Word had gotten around that there was a poker game getting ready to take place in Rec Room Two, and Joey found she couldn't pass up the opportunity to take latinum from anyone else who decided to show up. The last time she could remember actually playing was on one of her last assignments as a Close Protection Officer, and that was nearly a year ago, but some things just stayed with a person. For her, poker was like riding a bike... you just didn't forget how to do it. It wasn't long before she was walking in and looking over those present already. Maybe she'd have a little competition after all, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to put up a fight. She was dressed in a pair of fitted jeans, a pair of black knee-high boots and a black v-neck t-shirt with sunglasses on top of her head. Joey was definitely there to play.

Mila looked over at the woman who introduced herself as the Deputy Chief Meat Shield and wondered what the woman was on with the way she was talking. She made a mental note to not allow herself to be distracted by the stream of chatter. "Mila Rasputin," she said. "Captain's Yeoman." She looked at the other woman who came in and couldn't help but notice the woman's height and build before she took in the rest of the woman's clothing. It was clear she was there to play poker and meant business and Mila vowed to keep an eye on her as well.

"Nice to meet you, I've seen you around. You looked very efficient.." She smiled and was doing really well at not bouncing on her feet. As she took in the serious faces around her, this was a game but they meant to take it seriously. She wasn't sure yet how she'd play it, her strategy was ever evolving based on conditions but she could be just as competitive as the next person when she was of a mind to be. She could see Mila kept up with her talking, she'd be one to watch in the games. She glanced at the pilot, flyboys were demons with cards he'd be tough as well. She wasn't sure about the other Cadet, only time would tell. A part of her mind analyzing player strength and weaknesses was one thing that kept her from bambarding them with chatter, she really did hope there'd be music though. She'd seen some poker games where it was like golf, no one talked, no sound. It was way tense. Cooper had to fight the urge to nose tweak a few people to get a reaction.

Joey caught sight of the woman that was practically buzzing in her place out the corner of her eye. After speaking to Camila, this had to be the woman she'd mentioned. Everything about her screamed hyper and entirely overactive. Someone needed to hold her down and inject her with some sort of neutralizing drug. Lobotomies had long since been outlawed, so that was one idea that would never come to fruition. Reaching on top of her head, she pulled her sunglasses off and slipped them onto her face, the dark lenses obscuring her eyes from the view of others. She got the feeling it was going to be an extremely long game.

Like all Arakeen, Tanu-shree loved card games. She didn't know much about poker, but had read up on the rules in the ship's computer and thought she could keep up. She entered Rec Room 2 and cast her unblinking calm and steady gaze on each person in turn, lingering perhaps just a little too long on each one. She nodded once to them all and turned her attention to the card table, examining it and its contents carefully.

More alert then some gave her credit for she glanced over at the sunglasses wearing officer. Cooper recognized her as the new K-9 officer and gave a friendly smile and nod before greeting Tanu-shree, "Anyone know who else is coming?" She asked curiously as her warp speed mind kept taking in, input and her brain adjusted accordingly.

Not hearing about the poker game would have been hard for Aidan. What with he and Quinn being roommates. He entered the room wearing dark blue t-shirt, denim jeans, and black sneakers. “It appears as though as I am the last one to arrive. Or at least one of the last ones.” He noticed an empty seat between Mila and Quinn and walked over to it, sitting down. They were the only two that he recognized, so introducing himself was the next course of action. “Aidan Crehan, a pleasure to meet you all.”

"Catherine Cooper." The Deputy of Security said as she took her seat as well on the other side of Mila,"Nice to meet you..." She said to Aiden but directed it at the group at large if they wanted. She then thought as she looked at Aiden, "Very nice to meet you..." but she behaved, though it was hard, and picked up one of her chips and as habit under table she rolled it over and over around her left hand.

Mila smiled at Cooper but her attention was on Aidan as he came in, a smile spreading across her lips at seeing the handsome man. He was looking very nice and she was looking forward to seeing if he had remembered the lessons on poker that she had taught him. "A pleasure," she said, but her attention was still on the El Aurian cadet and someone could have asked her if she wanted to fold or meet a pot of a million bricks of gold-pressed latinum and she wouldn't have noticed.

Aidan smiled and nodded, as was his usual custom, "Catherine." Then he turned towards Quinn. "Thank you for telling me about this." He wasn't sure how he was going to do. It had been quite a while since he had played, but he remembered the things that Mila had taught him.

Quinn smiled, picking up the deck of cards from the middle of the table and beginning to shuffle. He looked around the table to take roll. To his immediate left was his roommate, Cadet Aiden. Next to him the Captain's Yeoman. It struck him incredible that the ship's grandfather had entered into a relationship with the ship's most powerful enlisted woman. Next to her was the Energizer Bunny, one Lieutenant Cooper. There was an empty chair or two between her and the well endowed K-9 officer. The cadet immediately blinked his eyes and moved on, wondering what Kelly would think if she caught him looking. The Deputy Commander and the blue-eyed Operations Officer that just came aboard had yet to take seats. He wasn't sure who else was coming, but he hoped they wouldn't be long. The game was scheduled to start in two minutes.

Having noticed Quinn pick up the deck of cards, he turned to face Mila. He returned the smile she gave him as he walked in, raised an eyebrow, and slightly tilted his head to the side. "It seems as though I was correct in my thoughts when Chow first showed me your vest. It looks terrific on you, Mila." Then he did as was his custom with her, and courtly dipped his head.

"Thank you, Aidan," Mila said with a slight blush. "I wear it on poker nights, but it stays in my quarters the rest of the time. Speaking of Chow, I think he misses you."

Still without speaking, Kynes took one of the empty seats at the table and gazed around at everyone. She blinked once, slowly, and watched the Cadet shuffling the cards. She showed no sign of introducing herself or of speaking at all.

Cooper nodded to Kynes but left her alone, Cooper could be a bit much to deal with sometimes but if she wasn't at least somewhat sensitive to the energies and moods of the people around her she'd never be able to adjust. Just like she could tell when someone was getting 'Cooper fatigue' she got the impression of a quieter kind of person. She knew a bit about the species too so she just nodded and smiled warmly before turning her attention elsewhere.

Kilmartin had been having fun listening to all the conversation about clothing and the introductions whilst eying up all the women present. As a red blooded male he was more than able to appreciate the high calibrate of females that were present.

Then 'the blonde bombshell' from engineering entered, wearing some tight ripped jeans and a white blouse. Emily Peters looked around and spotted a familiar face, the Lieutenant from the flight deck and smiled in his direction.

"You heard about the game too?" Kilmartin smiled as he gestured to the others in the room. "Right peeps!" He exclaimed, "hope you have plenty of latinum and other valuables to help me fund some long stays on Risa when we get back to the alpha quadrant." He pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table, rubbing his hands together at the thought of wiping the floor with the junior staff.

"You wish flyboy, Game on..." Cooper joked.

Aidan grabbed the edge of his chair and scooted it closer to the table. As he brought his hand up, he put it on Mila's knee and gave a small squeeze. Then he interlaced his fingers, placing them on the table. He was not about to tell anyone that it had been a long time since he'd played. Or that he had to have refresher courses. He looked at the young man that had just spoken. "Flyboy...I take it that you are one of the fighter pilots?" he asked.

Cooper heard that and considered if she should say something, she sometimes forgot who knew who and not everyone could skim personnel records like security did for their jobs. So while Cooper didn't know everyone she knew a fair amount by sight at least. It seemed to be a good way to avoid under the cover intruders. She let Kilmartin handle though even as she caught how Aidan and Mila were together, of course he was taken. With a small, mental sigh of regret she let thoughts of him go following the ancient code of Mila had dibs. She she'd slowed down twirling the chip around her left fingers, her attention being drawn by the others and thoughts of the game.

Mila smiled at Aidan and reached down to give his leg a squeeze before she brought her hand back up to the table. She watched the Deputy Meat Shield play with a chip and gave an inward smile at the woman's apparent attempt to throw others off. She picked up a chip and slowly turned it in her right hand, then turned her hand and opened her fingers, but the chip was nowhere to be seen.

From behind her sunglasses, Joey cast a glance toward Mila. So, she was capable of 'magic' tricks? Perhaps, she'd keep an eye on that one for signs of cheating. It was likely meant to be a completely innocent gesture, but the world of poker was a dangerous one, depending on the group someone was playing with... a simple act such as that could have rather large consequences. Maybe she should give the woman the benefit of the doubt, but that wasn't going to happen.

"Flyboy by day, card shark by night," Kilmartin grinned as he relaxed in his chair, sipping on a drink he had replicated. In his left hand, he held some of his poker chips. Was it bravado or was he as good as he was making out? Only time would tell.

These Humans- and others- sure did talk a lot. When the Arakeen got together to play card games, they played card games. Tanu-shree really had no idea what she was supposed to do, so she simply waited. Hopefully they would actually start the game soon.

Now that everyone was seating, Quinn passed out a number of chips from the holder in the middle, making sure every crewmember had an equal amount. He then retrieved the deck and continued to shuffle the cards. "The game," he said, since it was his turn to manage the table, "is Texas Hold'em. Small blind is 5, big blind is ten. Check in your latinum and credits, and winner takes all."

Aidan looked at his cards and gave it some thought. He tossed a red chip into the center of the table. The game had begun and it was time to see if he could beat these people gathered at the table. It was time to see how well he fared against a champion.

Mila decided against looking at her card since the flop wasn't out yet and placed two red chips down on the table calmly. She glanced at Aidan and then at the other members who were sitting in the game and wondered how they would take her action.

With the pot established, Quinn dealt a single card facedown to each player beginning with Aiden to his left, then Mila, Cooper, Klimartin, Corwin, Peters, Kynes and then himself. He followed that with another face down card to complete each player's hole. "Lieutenant," Quinn said, setting the deck down before him and looking at Lieutenant Cooper. "The bet is yours."

Cooper had glanced at Mila, she felt the not looking was a great idea and you couldn't give away tells if you didn't know your cards but Cooper was insanely curious. So she looked, her face reacted but she was always reacting so it was a bit hard to see what she may have been reacting too. "I'm in..." She said placing two red chips in the middle.

Kilmartin, with the idea that the game was in its infancy, decided that it would be wise to look at his cards also. Remaining straight faced, the 'flyboy' tossed in his chips. "Call," he declared.

The blonde bombshell from engineering had been looking at her cards from the minute she had received them both and had been contemplating what she would do. "Call," she told.

Corwin raised the corners of her two cards to glance at them from behind her sunglasses. Keeping her face an unreadable mask, she tossed in her two red chips and followed it with a blue one. Still, she said nothing, but decided her actions would speak for themselves.

Kynes blinked once, slowly, the first time she had done so since entering the room. Without a word, she matched the bet and gazed around at everyone.

Quinn had watched the other players, and were it not for Corwin's raise, he would have grabbed the cards for dealing the flop. Since his hand let go of the deck after dealing the hole cards, Quinn hadn't yet looked at his cards. The people at the table, save Aidan, were those who did not know him. He had a chance to make an impression, so he calmly slid two blue chips towards the pot.

Aidan looked at the pot and considered his cards. He tossed in two blue chips...and then a red one. "Call."

Now Mila looked at her cards impassively before she put in the two blue, one red and then put a gold one in the pile. "Raise."

Quinn raised his left eyebrow, surprised at the yeoman's eagerness to raise the stakes so high so early, especially by another thirty points. He surmised at this rate, at least one player would not survive this first hand.

Cooper grinned, "Oh that's good..." She quipped at Mila approvingly. Mila was giving very little in the ways of clues so was hard to read. She had no clear idea what Mila was trying to do but the gold chip sat on the felt table like a siren beckoning unprepared players to their doom, she couldn't help but feel that was part of Mila's strategy. "That should shake things up nicely", Cooper thought, happy to watch things unfold. Cooper thought briefly on her cards, she really wanted to see what the flop was before deciding her future moves, well insomuch as she felt like planning anyway. "Call". She said matching the bet, she'd stopped twirling the blue chip placing it on the pile. Then like a proper adult resisted the urge to build a small house out of the chips. Her ever present smile in place.

Kilmartin couldn't risk folding before the flop had even been shown so silently met the bet by tossing in the right chips before looking to Peters with a smile.

The blonde echoed the mans sentiments and tossed in the chips to 'call' the bet.

Joey glanced at Mila out the corner of her eye. She definitely wanted to raise the current bet even higher, but the game had only just begun. Although she was fairly sure she could drive it up more and watch people fold easier than laundry. "Call." She tossed a gold chip on top of the pile.

Again without a word, Kynes tossed in the chips. Always match, never raise. Nobody could tell if you're bluffing or not if you only ever match.

Quinn instinctively tossed in his chips to match. He thought it somewhat impressive that the game had already esclated this far and no one had yet seen the flop.

Aidan knew that Mila was an excellent poker player, but she had caught him quite off guard. He picked up the chips and tossed them into the ever increasing pot. "Call," he said.

Quinn took a moment to confirm the table had finished before reaching out to pick up the deck. He took the top card, laid it facedown on the table and slid it off to the side. He then dealt three more cards face down on top of each other. Quinn set the deck down, reached out and flipped the short stack over and spread them out in front of him to reveal the Nine of Spades, Five of Spades and the King of Clubs.

"The bet is yours, Aidan," Quinn said, fighting a sigh.

Aidan looked at the cards on the table and tossed two blue chips into the pile.

Mila glanced at the cards on the table and matched the two blue chips Aidan tossed in. "Call."

Cooper grinned, "You could have at least bought me dinner first..." She quipped glancing at Mila and Aidan good naturedly. "call" She said putting in the right number of chips, curious what the last two cards would be.

An intriguing turn of events in the pilots eyes. "I'll match your twenty and raise you..." the Lieutenant picked up a gold chip, "and raise you 25."

"Yeah, I'm out," Peters scoffed as she slid her cards, face down and folded her hand.

Joey kept her face an unreadable mask as she glanced at Kilmartin from behind her sunglasses. It seemed the pilot came to play, but so did she. "I see your twenty-five..." She tossed in a gold chip. "and I'll raise fifty." She tossed in two additional gold chips.

Kynes glanced at her cards again and pretended to consider her move before tossing in a match. Always match. Never raise.

Quinn considered his cards, and considered what was before him. Ninety-five points was too much, and certainly not worth the hand he had. Without saying a word, he tossed his two cards away. Perhaps the next hand would be more favorable.

Aidan looked at the pot and took a deep breath. "Too much for me. I'm out," he said, putting his two cards aside. He looked at Mila and grinned. Champ, he thought to himself.

Mila looked at her two face down cards, the pile of chips out and then at the ones on the table. She tapped a nail on the table for a moment, then shook her head. "Nyet. Is not hand for me. Fold."

Cooper shook her head, "I'm out but you guys go right ahead..." She said passing her cards to the dealer and leaning back, thinking to herself, " I can't wait to see how this plays out..." then spoke aloud one again, "Anyone want synthale? I can get some?" She gestured to the replicator across the room.

Peters raised her hand for a synthale as she watched the game unfold.

Quinn raised his hands as well while his eyes remained on the action at the table.

Kilmartin, all business and no play after the raft of withdrawals, gazed in the direction of Joey before tossing in the chips that she had counters with. "Call," he replied quietly.

Cooper got the rest of the room's orders and went to the replicator, placing the bottles at the elbows of those who wanted them and sat down. She took a drink of her own bottle as she watched the drama unfold before her with the remaining players. "I wished I'd thought to get popcorn..." She thought.

Before he could take a drink of his synthale, Quinn decided it was best to fully accept the role of the dealer for the remainder of the hand, especially since he'd already folded. He discarded the top card face down right next to the first one from the flop. He then flipped over the top card in the direction of the rest of the players and not himself, setting the Jack of Diamonds down as the turn. Quinn fought back a sigh, actually relieved that it would not have helped him in the process. At least he didn't try to bluff his way though this.

"Lieutenant Corwin," Quinn said, suddenly realizing this was the woman Kelly had told him about earlier. "The bet is yours."

Now, it was down to her and two others. The question was... who was bluffing, and who actually had a good hand? Without a word, she picked up a blue chip and tossed it into the pile in the center of the table.

Silently, Kynes matched the bet, gazing unblinkingly at the others still in the game.

Kilmartin silently tossed in a blue chip to match the bet.

With all players ready to move on, Quinn made his final discard. He waited a moment, purposely building a bit of tension. He may not be finishing this hand, but he could still learn a thing or two before the next round. Finally, he picked up the top card of the dwindling deck. He flipped it over and set it beside the other four face up cards, revealing the Eight of Spades. "Lieutenant Corwin?" Quinn asked, just to clarify that she was the next person to go.

Once the last of the cards was revealed, Joey pondered a moment before grabbing a red chip and tossing it into the pot.

Kynes did not hesitate, but tossed in the single red chip as required.

Sunbeam echoed their sentiments and silently tossed in the red chip required to call the bet. This was getting expensive for a first round.

Emily Peters glanced at the flyboy and took a sip of her synthale before leaning in towards him and whispering "I hope you know what you are doing." Kilmartin simply shrugged, his eyes focused on the growing pot in the middle of the table.

Quinn leaned back in his chair and looked to Lieutenant Corwin. They had all called her, and there were no more cards to be revealed. It was time to find out who had the best hand.

Corwin leaned back and flipped her cards over, revealing two pair. Kings and nines. Of course, someone likely had the better hand, but she planned to see it to the end and got as many people to fold as she could during the process.

Kynes flipped her two over one at a time: ace of diamonds, ace of hearts. She then blinked slowly and waited.

It was down to the flyboy. With a smil, he flipped over his two cards. "King of diamonds and the three of spades. Full house peeps, read them and weep," the Lieutenant from the flight deck grinned.

Joey looked toward Kilmartin and offered him a smile, finally lifting the sunglasses onto her head. "You actually have a pair of kings, and she..." She gestured to Kynes. "only has a pair of aces, which means, this is mine." She leaned forward to pull the chips toward her, stacking them in front of her.

As Corwin picked up her chips, Quinn collected the cards from the table and shuffled the deck. "Small blind is now yours, Senior Chief. Big blind to you, Cooper. Five and Ten as before."

"Congratulations, Lieutenant," Mila said to Corwin as she laid a red chip down, then nodded to Cooper.

"Well played..." Cooper said to Corwin, oddly pleased someone in security won it. It was sort of a win for the department when looked at it that way. She looked at her cards and put in two red chips as required, her face giving its usual expressions but nothing special.

With the pot refreshed, Quinn dealt the new hands, two cards face down to each player. The first bet would be to Lieutenant Kilmartin.

What a schoolboy error the man had made, much to his embarrassment. What a waste of chips, too. He contemplated folding at the first attempt, but this time he made sure to look before chucking in the required chips. For now, he was still in.

Emily patted the pilot on the shoulder in comiseration and looked at her own cards before calling the bet.

Still riding the high from her last win, Joey lowered her sunglasses back down to her face and tossed in two red chips before she even looked at her cards. Once that was done, she lifted the corners to see what she'd been dealt. This was going to be an interesting evening, and if she was able to take everyone for what they had, that's make things even better.

Kynes made no change of expression when Corwin won the pot. It did not matter who won. It was not life and death. She checked her cards- a pointless endevor to be sure as she would continue at least through the first round no matter what- before throwing in her own chips.

Quinn called as well. It seemed the last hand had scared everyone into acting more cautiously this round. He hoped the pot would at least be as good or better than the last hand.

Aidan, like everyone else it seemed, was facing this hand more cautiously. He tossed in two red chips, "Call." He wasn't about to lose as much this time if he could help it. That is, unless the rest of the cards fell nicely.

"Raise," Mila said and tossed a blue chip.

Cooper matched the last bid, "Call" She had thought to raise but odds were about even others would and preferred to wait a bit. She was fidgeting less, her attention on the others players and the game. This was fun, she thought as she took a drink of her synthale. Her mind working on angles, odds, and other factors as she leaned, in easy body language, on her part of the table. Briefly debating on whether or not she could get a chip to spin upright on felt.

After the shambles of the first round, Kilmartin had to tread carefully from now on, but for now, he decided to stay in the round. He tossed in the chips required to call the bet.

Lieutenant Peters swiftly followed suit.

Joey smiled. She'd already taken a great deal from those at the table the first hand, and her mama definitely didn't raise a fool. "Fold." She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and leaned back as she crossed her arms. Sure, she may have won again, but at the same time, she may not have. It didn't matter, though, because she planned to leave with much fatter pockets.

Never fold; never raise. Those were the rules Kynes followed. She tossed in her chips silently, fixing anyone who looked her way with a steady gaze that revealed nothing.

Quinn followed suit, tossing in a blue chip to call.

Aidan considered what he had and tossed in a blue chip as well. "Call."

Without further ado, Quinn picked up the deck and made the first discard, placing the card facedown to the side. He then flipped three cards over to reveal the Eight of Clubs, Two of Hearts and Seven of Clubs. "Mr. Kilmartin, the bet is to you."

Kilmartin considered his next move. He was running short on chips and had very little option but to throw in two red chips to make the bet 10.

Peters quickly followed suit.

Kynes also tossed in the chips with a slow blink. She was surprised at how dull this game was. If she'd been playing with other Arakeen, at least two knife fights would have broken out by now. Of course, Arakeen card games often required knife fights. Oh, well. The knife on her hip would not be put to use after all.

Quinn frowned. He didn't have the turn of fortune that he was hoping for, but it wasn't worth folding yet. He tossed in two red chips to call.

Aidan looked at the pot and the cards on the table. He tossed in the two red chips and a gold one. "Raise."

Mila looked at her cards, then the cards on the table. Sometimes luck and fortune were with her, other times they weren't. This was one of those times when fortune looked the other way while luck slinked out the door. "Fold," she said.

Cooper looked at Aidan consideringly then thought of her own hand. And tossed in chips to match then added one more red chip, "Raise" she said taking another drink of her sythale with a genuine smile. This was fun, she was glad they decided to do this in spite of all that was going on, or maybe that was why. Either way, she glanced at Kilmartin.

Kilmartin glanced at Cooper. It was almost like she had made the decision on purpose, as if to take him out of the equation. If he called her bet, he would be all in and would risk not making it to the next round. Could he take that risk? He lifted the corners of his cards and glanced at them briefly then looked towards the cards at the heart of the table. "All in..." he called, pushing his remaining chips forward.

Game on.

"Flying by the seat of your pants there flyboy?" Peters smiled as she looked at the man next to her. With a swift hand gesture, she pushed forward the required chips to call his bet.

Kynes gave a long, unblinking look at the cards on the table and the chips in the center, then finally waved her hand. Her rule of never folding was broken, but it didn't seem prudent to match this ridiculous bet.

This was too rich for Quinn. He tossed his cards into the center, reducing the number of players to four. Hopefully his roommate would have a chance of knocking out the pilot.

Aidan considered his cards for a moment and looked at the pot. He sighed and tossed his cards in after Quinn's. It was just too much and he wanted to take a little home. "Fold."

Cooper looked at Kilmartin, a new respect flittered behind her eyes, with pilots you never knew they were crazy and bet accordingly, still that made for a wonderfully unpredictable opponent. Still her own hand was pretty good and she'd never get anywhere playing it safe. Worst case she drank more synthale and got to observe the rest of the game. She finished off her bottle of synthale then with a grin of enjoyment she pushed the required chips to the center, "Call" She said mildly.

With the final three players settled, Quinn discarded one card face down and flipped over another to reveal the Ace of Clubs. He waited a moment before discarding one more card and flipping over the final card, revealing the Ace of Diamonds. With a pair of Aces revealed in front of everyone, it could be anyone's game.

Mila looked at the pair of aces on the table and cursed, glared at Aidan, then got up and went to get something strong to drink while muttering a string of Russian under her breath.

Tossing down his cards with a smile, the pilot revealed the five of clubs and the jack of clubs. A flush.

Peters tossed down her cards. By her reckoning, with a five and a ten of diamonds, she'd come away with nothing.

Cooper laid her cards face up, a Queen and ten of Hearts. It had been a good bluff and she still might of made something out of it but she couldn't beat a flush. "You have redeemed all pilot kind..." She said ruefully but with a kind of respect.

Sunbeam nodded in the Lieutenant's direction and smiled. "I'll be able to show my face on the flight deck and not get a kickin' for losing," the pilot grinned as he cupped all of the chips in his hands and pulled them in his direction. It felt good to win, especially after the shambles of a last round.

Quinn just shook his head with a smile. After two hands, everyone was still in the game. As he gathered the cards to shuffle for another hand, he still thought it was anyone's game except his own. At least they were having fun. Isn't that what mattered above all?

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