original - texas hold 'em
In which Danny plays poker with the Pratchetts and Alan's family realizes he's picked a winner. Metaphorically.
I'm... really unhappy with this, but I'm so unhappy with it I can't even bring myself to edit it. It sucks. A lot. There's no established PoV, there's no actual plot, plus I don't actually know a single thing about poker, which makes writing about it even harder... basically, this story is pretty bad, save for a few funny lines from Denise.
Prompt was "joker."
***
Texas Hold 'Em
Thanksgiving 1998
"It's three o'clock in the morning," Danny said. Alan, Richie, Richard, and Denise ignored him. "Seriously," he added.
"Shut up," Denise said. "And Rich, would you make a decision already?" Alan glanced up from his cards and shared a tiny smile with Danny, who he thought was being incredibly patient with the Pratchett family poker game. The last boyfriend he brought home for poker night was Matt from college and he had passed out around one-thirty, mostly from boredom. Danny, at least, was mostly holding his own, even if he was starting to look tired.
"This will probably be the last hand anyway," Richie said. "Alan's broke, you've just about had it, Denise is done, and the game's no fun if it's just me and Dad." He pushed some chips forward. "Raise fifty." There was a chorus of groans from around the table.
"Fold," muttered Alan.
"Thank god we share a bank account," Denise said as she threw down her cards. Richard just smirked and added his own chips to the pile. "Remember, Richard, this bet will directly effect your grandchildren's college education."
"Don't worry, honey, I've got this in the bag," Richie said. Denise rolled her eyes and turned to her father-in-law, giving him a pleading look.
"Really, Richard, don't you want them to have a future?"
Alan laughed softly and reached for Danny's hand, leaning against his shoulder.
"Did you have a good time?" he asked quietly. His brother, sister-in-law, and father were still arguing about bets, ignoring the fact that the best way to settle the score would probably be to just show their hands and get the damn thing over with.
"I did," Danny replied. "I am. I admit, it was much more relaxed and fun than I thought it would be." He dropped Alan's hand and slid an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. "I like your family," he added, his lips close to Alan's ear. "I mean, I knew that I liked your father and sister, but seeing the whole family together... I really enjoy being around them. I feel very... accepted." Alan beamed at him - there was no other word for it - and kissed him.
"You taste like stale beer," Danny murmured once they'd pulled apart. He smiled affectionately and kissed Alan's cheek when the other man rolled his eyes.
"That's because it's all I've had to eat or drink in the past four hours," he said settling back with his arms around Danny's chest, his head on Danny's shoulder, to watch the rest of the argument.
With the final round of betting over, Richie and Richard revealed their hands to show a not altogether unsurprising win from Richard.
"Fuck!" Richie said. "I was so close!" Denise snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. Right. Next time I'm capping how much you're allowed to bet. You're such a bad card player."
"I'm a great card player," he insisted. "I'm just not as good as Dad."
"No, you really are pretty bad sometimes," Alan said. This earned him a thumbs-up from Denise and a scowl from Richie. "You get so arrogant, it never occurs to you that people could possibly have better hands than you."
"You're just saying that because you're a crappy poker player," Richie groused.
"I'm not crappy, I'm just not as good as you are sometimes. I can still beat you at pool." He let go of Danny and stood up, stretching. They'd been playing for almost six hours and he had definitely lost all of the cash he started with.
"That's because you're a pool shark," Richie said. He nudged Danny with his elbow. "Did you know your boyfriend's a pool shark?"
"I can't be a pool shark if you know I'm good at pool, Richie," Alan pointed out. "The whole point of being a pool shark is hiding your talent in order to win money. I've never done that. You're just bitter because it's simple physics and you're still terrible at it."
"My ego's already been crushed for the night," Richie muttered, watching Richard open the plastic box the money had been in and start to dole out everyone's winnings. "Don't you have better things to do than make fun of me more?"
"Actually, I do," Alan said with a smirk. "And he's been waiting very patiently for the past six hours, so I should probably get a move on." It took Danny a second to process that, and by the time he had figured it out, Alan was already halfway across the basement and towards the stairs. "I'll see you upstairs," he called over his shoulder.
Danny grabbed his eight dollars off the table and shoved it into his pocket. "It was very nice to play with you all," he said, fumbling to stand up. "And I'll see you tomorrow. And... hey! You'd better have a mint if you expect to be kissing me on the mouth!" he yelled as he rushed to catch up with Alan. The Pratchetts collectively rolled their eyes, but fondly so.
"Who'd of thought, after the way he played tonight, that Alan would get lucky?" Denise mused.
"That is the worst pun and the worst mental image I've had to deal with in a long time," Richie said. He winced for emphasis. "Come on. We should go to bed too. As the winner, you get the clean up our mess, Dad."
"Thirty years later and I'm still picking up your toys? I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Richard said, but he smiled as his oldest son and his wife left the basement. Picking up cards was a small price to pay for a happy family.
I'm... really unhappy with this, but I'm so unhappy with it I can't even bring myself to edit it. It sucks. A lot. There's no established PoV, there's no actual plot, plus I don't actually know a single thing about poker, which makes writing about it even harder... basically, this story is pretty bad, save for a few funny lines from Denise.
Prompt was "joker."
***
Texas Hold 'Em
Thanksgiving 1998
"It's three o'clock in the morning," Danny said. Alan, Richie, Richard, and Denise ignored him. "Seriously," he added.
"Shut up," Denise said. "And Rich, would you make a decision already?" Alan glanced up from his cards and shared a tiny smile with Danny, who he thought was being incredibly patient with the Pratchett family poker game. The last boyfriend he brought home for poker night was Matt from college and he had passed out around one-thirty, mostly from boredom. Danny, at least, was mostly holding his own, even if he was starting to look tired.
"This will probably be the last hand anyway," Richie said. "Alan's broke, you've just about had it, Denise is done, and the game's no fun if it's just me and Dad." He pushed some chips forward. "Raise fifty." There was a chorus of groans from around the table.
"Fold," muttered Alan.
"Thank god we share a bank account," Denise said as she threw down her cards. Richard just smirked and added his own chips to the pile. "Remember, Richard, this bet will directly effect your grandchildren's college education."
"Don't worry, honey, I've got this in the bag," Richie said. Denise rolled her eyes and turned to her father-in-law, giving him a pleading look.
"Really, Richard, don't you want them to have a future?"
Alan laughed softly and reached for Danny's hand, leaning against his shoulder.
"Did you have a good time?" he asked quietly. His brother, sister-in-law, and father were still arguing about bets, ignoring the fact that the best way to settle the score would probably be to just show their hands and get the damn thing over with.
"I did," Danny replied. "I am. I admit, it was much more relaxed and fun than I thought it would be." He dropped Alan's hand and slid an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. "I like your family," he added, his lips close to Alan's ear. "I mean, I knew that I liked your father and sister, but seeing the whole family together... I really enjoy being around them. I feel very... accepted." Alan beamed at him - there was no other word for it - and kissed him.
"You taste like stale beer," Danny murmured once they'd pulled apart. He smiled affectionately and kissed Alan's cheek when the other man rolled his eyes.
"That's because it's all I've had to eat or drink in the past four hours," he said settling back with his arms around Danny's chest, his head on Danny's shoulder, to watch the rest of the argument.
With the final round of betting over, Richie and Richard revealed their hands to show a not altogether unsurprising win from Richard.
"Fuck!" Richie said. "I was so close!" Denise snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. Right. Next time I'm capping how much you're allowed to bet. You're such a bad card player."
"I'm a great card player," he insisted. "I'm just not as good as Dad."
"No, you really are pretty bad sometimes," Alan said. This earned him a thumbs-up from Denise and a scowl from Richie. "You get so arrogant, it never occurs to you that people could possibly have better hands than you."
"You're just saying that because you're a crappy poker player," Richie groused.
"I'm not crappy, I'm just not as good as you are sometimes. I can still beat you at pool." He let go of Danny and stood up, stretching. They'd been playing for almost six hours and he had definitely lost all of the cash he started with.
"That's because you're a pool shark," Richie said. He nudged Danny with his elbow. "Did you know your boyfriend's a pool shark?"
"I can't be a pool shark if you know I'm good at pool, Richie," Alan pointed out. "The whole point of being a pool shark is hiding your talent in order to win money. I've never done that. You're just bitter because it's simple physics and you're still terrible at it."
"My ego's already been crushed for the night," Richie muttered, watching Richard open the plastic box the money had been in and start to dole out everyone's winnings. "Don't you have better things to do than make fun of me more?"
"Actually, I do," Alan said with a smirk. "And he's been waiting very patiently for the past six hours, so I should probably get a move on." It took Danny a second to process that, and by the time he had figured it out, Alan was already halfway across the basement and towards the stairs. "I'll see you upstairs," he called over his shoulder.
Danny grabbed his eight dollars off the table and shoved it into his pocket. "It was very nice to play with you all," he said, fumbling to stand up. "And I'll see you tomorrow. And... hey! You'd better have a mint if you expect to be kissing me on the mouth!" he yelled as he rushed to catch up with Alan. The Pratchetts collectively rolled their eyes, but fondly so.
"Who'd of thought, after the way he played tonight, that Alan would get lucky?" Denise mused.
"That is the worst pun and the worst mental image I've had to deal with in a long time," Richie said. He winced for emphasis. "Come on. We should go to bed too. As the winner, you get the clean up our mess, Dad."
"Thirty years later and I'm still picking up your toys? I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Richard said, but he smiled as his oldest son and his wife left the basement. Picking up cards was a small price to pay for a happy family.