09/28/34
WHO: Riff and Theo
WHERE: On campus, outdoors
WHEN: Afternoon-evening
WHY: The jerks need to meet.
( Riff didn't so much as glare at the cards as much look appropriately mature while internally wishing they would light ablaze. )
WHERE: On campus, outdoors
WHEN: Afternoon-evening
WHY: The jerks need to meet.
( Riff didn't so much as glare at the cards as much look appropriately mature while internally wishing they would light ablaze. )
It was almost simple, when he thought about it; his hand moves and flipped the cards as his mind pieced together the possible paths he could try now. Not so impossible to win anymore...
Except, of course, it took someone else pointing the solution out before Riff got it. That thought curdled the triumph he would have gotten out of the move. Still, he fiddled with his glasses and said,
"My thanks, I can't imagine how I missed that." He really couldn't, and it bothered him as he slapped another card onto a foundation pile with less interest than he would have before. Sloppy, sloppy... Adding politely, "Do you play?"
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To Theo's credit, he didn't give any hint of smugness or bragging at all. Merely shifted back on his heels and enjoyed his coffee while the upperclassman put down cards with far more force than was needed; that didn't keep some small bit of superiority from worming it's way into his heart, but at least he kept quiet about it.
He took another calm sip of coffee, seeming to think Riff's question over. "Not often." Not without betting. "Don't often find people willing to play up here." Because either he won, or managed to slip away and let the others take the fall just before an RA found them
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With all the four piles done, he stretched lazily and said to Theo with a smile, "In that case, I would love to have a game with you. If you'd indulge me, that is."
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Probably something with some sort of pot to make it worth it. The two of them had never shared a class, persay, but were plenty aware enough tended to recognize one of their own - even if it was only a hunch, or hidden nearly flawlessly.
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From what Riff knew, how someone played a game revealed a lot about themselves. He was interested in wringing out any interesting information he could about Theo and besides, it was a distraction. Also, it didn't hurt that these were games Riff was confident he could win.
Riff scratched the back of his head, feigning sheepishness. "Unless, of course, there's something else you'd rather play..."
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"Ah, no, no. Your invitation, after all." He gave the coffee cup in his hand an idle stir of the wrist, mixing up the dregs and cream. And with that, he slipped over to the bench seat opposite Riff's, all casual confidence - why bother hiding that at this point? In fact, why not play it up just that little more. "Haven't heard of Mao, though. If you're willing to teach?"
It was going to rely on some sort of cheating or lying or overall twisting of the truth, he could guess as much by the simple fact Riff brought it up. Nothing that they hadn't started already, actually.
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"Of course! Except," he adjusted his glasses, "that's a little difficult in this game. But, I will try to the best of my abilities," he quickly assured. He meant to teach Theo as well as Ian had him. "The first rule of Mao is - how was it worded again? Oh yes, I think it was,'the only rule you may be told is this one', players are forbidden from explaining the rules.
"Rules are learned through trial and error. A player who breaks the rules can be penalized by another player and must pick up an additional card from the deck. The penalizing player must state what the incorrect action was however, he is not does not have to explain the broken rule. The game continues until someone had gotten rid of all the cards in his hand. It can be a little challenging at times, especially for newcomers, so I can understand if you would rather play something else..."
Not that he was expecting Theo to back down. However, it was the 'polite' thing to offer him the chance anyway.
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What an obnoxious little game. Obnoxious only because it was so obvious why Riff had chosen it. Granted, he hadn't expected much better from the other boy in the first place. Those smiles oh his were always stretched a little too thin, always so impeccably polite and nonthreatening to others; Theo traded one right back, all too comfortable on the bench.
"I don't see why it's not worth trying once. Deal me in," he finally said, his words oh-so-carefully neutral and friendly. Just as well - he would be more surprised if Riff didn't cheat at cards, Mao's rules were just a polite neon sign that let him declare it to the world without fear of payback.
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He still smiled as he hummed cheerfully, gathering the cards back up smoothly and shuffling them with practiced ease and speed. He debated for a brief moment whether to offer the deck to Theo to shuffle (people had less reason to call 'cheater' when he did that, after all) but decided he had no 'reason' to think he had to offer. Once he felt he'd mixed it up enough, he gave them each five cards.
"The initial cards per hand is usually three or seven but since this is just us and it's your first time, five should do. That should last us long enough." He gave the remaining cards one more shuffle before placing the deck between them. He flipped the top card faceup in a separate pile with a quiet 'ah': the four of spades. Looking to Theo, he inclined his head gamely as if to say 'your move'.
Rule: player left of dealer goes first. Not that that rule mattered here. He wondered whether Theo would be lucky his first turn. He doubted it but it'd be interesting to see what he would try.
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Theo suspected that "The Right Attitude" was really more of a proposed willingness to be a gullible victim in the face of Riff's ego. Not like he could blame the upperclassman entirely; it was just sound business, so long as you weren't caught. The only wrench in Riff's plan was that Theo tended to be a little more wily than the usual target.
All that ego didn't stop Theo from being a cautious boy, and he picked up his offered hand of cards and fanned them out just enough for the numbers on the corners to show in the most casual fashion. Ace of hearts, ten of hearts, four of clubs, Jack of clubs, and the five of spades. Nothing especially exciting as far as he knew (being more taught in recognizing poker hands than any other game). His gaze shifted from hand to pile, and the four of spades face up next to it.
There was no real way of knowing the rules, not until he made the mistake of acting in glaring offense of them. Theo's hand hovered over the face-down pile, as if debating to draw a card for the start of his turn; a fingertip brushed the back of the topmost card, but he withdrew it. If he was wrong, what was one extra card on top of one he'd have drawn otherwise? It was a favorable enough risk. Besides, it was a good barometer of sorts right off the bat while he mulled over the cards in his hand.
It couldn't be too wildly different from Cheat, if Riff had offered to play the same game, right? That game focused on the numbers over card suit, and it wasn't like he didn't have the option to safely play out the theory so early in the game. He wasn't intending on repeating anything that earned him an extra drawn card, anyways.
The five of spades was tapped out of his hand and neatly placed on top of the four of spades. Theo didn't even look as if he was going to chance measuring Riff's expression. The upperclassman's hands on the table could tell him something.
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He ended with a light teasing note. That was part of the reason Riff liked Mao: when you threw someone in with no rules what do they do? How quickly would someone like Theo pick up? As insufferable as the underclassman was, he did seem like he might, at least enough to give Riff a better feel for what to store away in his mental assessment. At least, that was the main reason he was holding onto for challenging Theo.
Theo wasn't jumping in immediately, unsurprisingly. He didn’t seem like the type, as opposed to someone like his ‘dear’ roommate. Unlike Theo, Riff kept a polite stare on Theo's face as he deliberated. He felt a little disappointed when Theo's hand moved away from the face-down pile, however, Riff could understand why he himself would avoid picking up from the pile at the get-go. With a high chance of failure, why potentially waste your turn picking up a card you would already be penalized with? When Theo finally placed down the five of spades, Riff's mask remained intact. Lucky after all…
Rule: The player may play any hand that matches the value or suit of the face-up card on the table. He couldn't get Theo on that (unconsciously, with his free hand, Riff's thumb scratched against his index finger as though crossing off a possibility). However...
Rule: Spades must be named when played. Hearing nothing to follow up Theo's move, Riff said,
"Penalty. Did not name suit."
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Now there was a thought. Nothing so obvious, but maybe just on par with that little nervous scratch Riff made with his hand.
"MmHmm…" Naming suits… well, was that so? With light fingers he drew a card from the deck, allowing his eyes to flick downwards at the cards before up to meet Riff's, just the sort of reaction that could be misread as nervous. The upperclassman was exactly the sort of type to call out any and all penalties with that weasel-like glee. Theo had few worries that Riff would keep silent to trip him up, and surely Riff wouldn't expect him not to pay attention to what rules he was told exactly, if they just so happened to not be an issue during Riff's turn. "Duly noted. Now, I wouldn't want to keep you..?"
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Then what card to play? What did he even want to give away this early? Riff had a seven of spades and a five of diamonds, either could be played. He thought about it. If he played diamonds, he wouldn't have to name suit, which was something he had already called Theo on, of course he would pick up on that. Seven of spades, he would have to call suit but seven of spades had another rule: seven forces the next player to draw a penalty card and requires the person who played it to announce 'have a nice day'. Ian had been more than happy to gleefully enforce that rule on Riff - both for the confusion and frustration Riff felt - before Riff caught on.
...Well, if he was testing for reactions, wasn't it better to help push for it? It'd get rid of a card in his hand, at any rate. That decided, he looked back up at Theo with that disarming smile of his, placed down the seven of spades, and said,
"Seven of spades. Have a nice day."
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