Poker Night in Atlantis
Poker night in Atlantis. The women play a separate game from the men. It used to be coed, until Cadman or Weir cleaned out the rest of the players once too often. (Besides, there was the whole currency debate - the women wanted to play for chocolate and the men for coffee.) The men worried about the women complaining when they brought up the subject of segregating the games by gender, but the women had decided that the men were too whiny when they lost and conversation was much more interesting when it was just the girls.
Girls’ poker night involves a rotating cast made up of whoever is free. The women are few enough in number that they all know each other, at least casually. Chocolate, snacks and erotica are the preferred currencies. Conversation involves gossip, who may or may not be sleeping together, extended grilling of anyone whose personal life might be getting interesting, and shamelessly explicit discussion of the men on Atlantis (and sometimes the SGC). When Weir can make it, she avoids active participation in most of the discussions. She loves to listen, though and has found it an effective source of information. Cadman and Weir still walk away winners a disproportionate number of nights, but they all have enough fun that no one really minds. Teyla took a while to get the basics down, but she is improving rapidly.
The men have a couple of games going. There is one game made up mostly of military and another made up mostly of scientists. (The support staff wants to get a regular game going, but they never seem to have any free time - they do drop in on the other games on rare occasions.)
The most interesting men’s game has a mix of participants from different disciplines. Any given game might include Sheppard, Lorne, McKay, Zelenka, Beckett, and a soldier or scientist who was part of the original expedition. Ronon Dex has been learning the game and while he is still sorting out what beats what and the odds of drawing a winning hand, he has proven surprisingly adept at bluffing. McKay has a lousy poker face and is usually the first to leave the table. Sheppard counts cards, unless he gets distracted. Lorne and Zelenka make it a point to wind up McKay into a full blown rant (science in television shows works well) because a ranting McKay is the most effective way to distract Sheppard. Lorne is so low key, no one notices when he’s cleaning out the table until it’s too late; and Zelenka is so devious, he’s equally hard to catch. Beckett stares at each hand with the same concerned face he uses on his patients. Currency is coffee, DVD’s of fairly recent sports events, and porn. Conversation usually involves debating the merits of various sports (don’t get Lorne started on the superiority of baseball), dissection of off-world missions and lab incidents requiring rescue efforts, and the women. If anyone asks, Sheppard and Lorne never discuss any of the women under their command, and no one discusses Teyla. The truth of the matter, though, is whatever happens at poker night, stays at poker night.