❦ 13th Record

[iattractmushi]

Valeth-san, Target-san - I'm fit for duty again. Hope nothing dire happened while I was [slight pause] unavailable.

Sniper, Youth, Smoke, Snake, [pause] Silvar [little ink blot] you guys ok?

Lea, Castor, Pollux - [long, long pause] thanks.

[[Yeah, he pretty much booked it out of the Spa as soon as he regained his sight, lol. Now somewhere on

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[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

[Stares at the words 'card game' for a bit. He's not even sure what Lea means by 'card,' not exactly, so this could be interesting. teach him to play 'Go fish' I dare you] Alright.

Quicklog

[It was just changing from dusk to true dark by the time Cloud wandered down to Smoke's. He pushed the door open and slipped inside, taking a moment to look around--he'd only been in here once before, and that had been a special case.

Hitching his box a little higher on his shoulder, he walked further into the building, heading for the bar. Lea had been right, there was barely anyone in here... he looked around for the animated red-head, but didn't spot him right away.]

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

[Having spent most of the evening in the upstairs card parlor with nothing to do but shuffle and lose at solitaire, Lea had wandered down to the first floor where there was a little more activity. He had actually ducked into the back room to get something to drink when Cloud walked in. Lea wasn't really a big drinker--he didn't like what alcohol chemically did to people, lowering their inhibitions and sort of skewing them sideways. If there was one thing Lea actively detested without provocation, it was feeling out of control. Thus he rarely drank anything the bar-proper had to offer, and preferred to have at the sugary sodas in the back.

Popping the tab, he stepped back out into the main room and spotted Cloud sort of meandering in the general direction of the bar, looking a little awkward the way he tended to look, like he was never sure if he was really welcome. Lifting his free hand, Lea waved.]

Yo, Cloud. [He fought the urge to make a long time no see remark, figuring it was a little too soon, and he didn't know Cloud

[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

[Spotting Lea just as he waved, Cloud lifted his own hand in response, grinning a little.] Yo.

[Cloud had no idea what 'Card Shark 101' could possibly be, but he was pretty sure Lea was about to show him. Or teach him, if he was referring to the card game they'd talked about in the journals.] Hmm. I... wouldn't say no to a cup of sake, if you've got any here.

[Just a cup, though; he was here to talk, and apparently play cards, and he couldn't imagine either of those things would be easier to do when drunk.]

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

A man of fine taste, I see. [Lea turned to the bartender and spoke too low for Cloud to hear, making a vague gesture to indicate this one was on him. Lea wasn't particularly generous as a general rule, but he could foot the bill on a round or two in exchange for information, which is something Cloud always seems to have a bit of.

The tender slid a small individual-sized bottle of sake across the counter along with a shallow choku cup, and Lea plucked them from the bartop and offered them to Cloud before tilting his head toward the stairs that went up to the second level.]

Card floor's closed early tonight. [A grin.] Rookie training. The boss understands, of course. [Heading up the stairs and assuming Cloud would follow, he moves to the table and sets his drink down, then gives the other man a curious look.]

So, I've gotta ask: what's in the big box? Looks like it weighs a ton.

[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

[Cloud accepted both things with a nod of thanks; he'd watched the exchange between Lea and the tender and, going by the gestures, assumed (correctly in this case) that this one was on Lea.]

Ooooh? We'll have it all to ourselves then, huh. [That'd be nice; no chance of anyone else overhearing this conversation. He followed Lea to the table, setting his drink and cup down before lifting his box off his shoulder and setting it down near the seat. Sitting, he poured a little sake into the cup, though he didn't drink quite yet.]

Oh, you know... one or two spare changes of clothes, bandages and some other medical things, food, ink and a few brushes, some paper... the usual. [He spoke casually, with a slight smile.] It's actually not that heavy.

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

Oh, the usual, huh. [He tilted his head at the box, wondering why it needed to be so very large if there wasn't that much in it. Well, to each their own.

After Cloud sat down, Lea shuffled the cards between his hands and lifted his eyes.]

So you've really never played cards before? [He clicked his tongue.] Shame, shame, it's a wonderful way to pass time. There's even a few card games you can play without another player, so they're really quite versatile. [He dealt two cards to each of them, then set the deck down.] We'll start with something simple, then. Blackjack. The quick rules go, you want your cards to add up to twenty-one. Cards with faces on them are worth ten, and the cards with only one emblem on them that say A are worth one, or eleven, that's up to you. [He points at the two cards in front of Cloud.] Have a look, and I'll give you some hints as we go.

[He lifts up the corners of his cards to peer at them. Hm, the Jack of Clubs and a four. Well, he had to hit again either way. He would wait for Cloud.]So

[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

Pretty sure I haven't. [Cloud sipped the sake, hummed appreciatively, and picked up the cards Lea had dealt him with his other hand.] Sounds simple enough, I guess.

[He glanced at Lea to see that the other man was being careful not to show Cloud the cards he dealt himself. Cloud raised his visible eyebrow slightly.] I... take it I should keep what cards I have to myself? [They just so happen to be a black number 9, with a symbol that looks something like a leaf, and a red number 5 with the symbol of a heart. He tilted his head to one side a little.] ...do the symbols mean anything?

[Cloud turned the cup in his fingers a little before he sipped from it again. Might as well jump right to the heart of why he'd come, then...] Hmmm... you saw my memory. I was wondering what you thought about it.

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

Well, normally you wouldn't show your hand, but since you're learning, I can't exactly help you if I can't see what you've got. Here, ah... [He slid his chair around so he was seated at 90 degrees from Cloud and made a beckoning motion with one hand.] Here, lemme see. [He took a glance at Cloud's cards, then showed him his own.]

Okay, this is actually a good example; see how yours add up to fourteen? Mine also add up to fourteen. So if we both played these hands, I would win, even though they're the same number, because I'm the dealer. That's one of the rules of a lot of card games, is that if it's a tie, the dealer wins. But! [He held up one finger.] Technically, I wouldn't be allowed to play this hand--if the dealer's hand is under seventeen, he has to take a hit. That is, another card.

Now, since fourteen is a pretty low hand on the way to twenty-one, I'd recommend you take another card, too. So at this point, you'd say to the dealer, 'hit,' or just tap your fingers on the table, and I'd deal you another card. [He

[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

[Cloud tilted his hand when Lea motioned to him, allowing him to see the cards more easily. He listened closely while Lea explained the ever-more-complicated rules in more depth, finishing the sake in the small cup and setting it down to pick up the card--a 3 with more of the black spade markings on it.] Looks like I'm up to seventeen.

Oooh? [He grinned.] How morbid, putting them on something people play games with.

Mushi. [The correction of Lea's pronunciation was automatic. Cloud shook his head slowly.] No... it couldn't be a mushi, or at least not that one... besides, if it was, why am I the only one who's heard of creatures called that? [He fiddled with his cards a little, wondering if Lea would mind if he had a cigarette, but didn't actually reach for one just yet.] I think... I don't know enough, yet.

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

Personally, I find the hearts a bit more disconcerting than the spades. [He flicked the corner of Cloud's 5 of hearts and shook his head.] I mean, they don't even look like hearts--the organ looks nothing like that. Not that I've ever seen one in real life, but... [He absently pressed a hand over his collarbone, looking a bit uncomfortable, like maybe he had sudden inexplicable heartburn, then cleared his throat and got back on topic.] An-anyway.

Er... mushi, right. Ah... I don't put it past the Sphere to pull crap like that, make us think that this is all something we're familiar with, something we should know, something we should be able to figure out, but in the end if it was that easy someone would have figured it out by now.

[He went back to the cards in Cloud's hands.]

So, seventeen. That's kind of the make or break hand, really--only four more to twenty-one, and if you go over, you bust and lose the hand. The cards value from one to eleven, but there are more cards that are worth ten points than any other value--[He

[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

Hmmm. [Cloud decided to forgo the temptation of a cigarette in favor of pouring some more sake into his cup. He didn't miss Lea's weird move, pressing a hand over roughly where his heart should be--if he was a normal human. But after six months of living in this place, and having read through several of the medical records the Clinic had on hand (though he hadn't read Lea's yet, or even found it), Cloud wasn't about to assume Lea was a normal human.] Putting anatomically correct hearts on the cards would be pretty gory, actually. It isn't the prettiest organ.

[He nodded, setting down the little bottle and picking up the cup.] This place seems to get a kick out of taunting us. [Slight hesitation, covered by taking a sip from the cup.] ...have you heard if Snake, Youth, or Smoke said anything about what they saw? [Sylvar had told him something about the memory she'd experienced over the journals already, and he'd talked to Sniper earlier in the day... it was a reasonable assumption that the other victims, for lack of a better word, had

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

[Lea really isn't certain why the subject of the heart makes him uneasy the way it does. It's not emotion that spooks him, because he knows how those work. Well, as much as someone really CAN, anyway. He knows he likes ice cream and hates bitter things. He knows he loves his sister and fears being forgotten one day. Those are emotions, right? Besides, you don't show emotion with your heart. Maybe you FEEL it there, but emotion is in the voice, the hands, the eyes... not the organ behind the sternum.

It's the OTHER stuff about the heart that bothers him--like how it just keeps going without being told. Like how it knows what to do without thinking, without the person even being conscious. The heart is a muscle and nothing more, and yet it seems to have a mind all its own, and something about that is just kind of creepy.

Anyway... Moving along.

He shakes his head.] Mm, nope, can't say I have. I don't know Snake much--we've talked a few times, but he seems a little... odd. Youth might play the part of the obtuse loudmouth

[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

[Cloud nodded, understandingly. Memories were personal--it was just too bad this place saw fit to keep dragging his out for others to see. He lifted his half-full cup to take another sip.

He smirked, lazily, around the cup when Lea revealed the card.] Heh. Maybe my luck is taking a turn for the better.

What now, is that the end of the game?

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

Only if you want it to be. [He reached out and sweeps up the cards, shuffling them absently between his hands.] Wanna see how you fare when I ain't walkin' you through it?

[He doesn't really wait for an answer, and deals out two cards to each of them, lifting the corners of his to have a look--the eight and Ace of hearts. There's something ironic about this, and he can't quite put his finger on it. Then he threads his fingers together and gives Cloud a sly look.]

So tell me something. You said it was an accident that you dropped the used crystal in the boiling water, right? [His eyebrows lifted a bit.] Do you usually keep your used crystals?

[Quicklog]

[iattractmushi]

[Cloud watched Lea shuffle the cards. He was pretty sure he had figured out what he was doing, but the other man's fingers moved so quickly...

When he received his cards he copied Lea, peeking at them without showing them... a two with a black symbol of three little balls--must be a club, that wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting it to look like--and one of the 'face' cards, with the symbol of a heart and a 'Q' in two of the corners. So that made twelve. Alright.]

Yeah, it was. [He didn't sound defensive; it was just a fact. It had been an accident.] I've only... found one other, but yeah. I held onto it. Why?

[Quicklog]

[seeya_next_life]

[Lea isn't trying to make accusations--it was just an honest question. It just happened to be in regards to a rather serendipitous event. Maybe it wasn't a GOOD thing that Cloud and the others had wound up blind, but all things considered, it's a low price to pay for what the accident revealed.]

I've kept mine, too. I've got three I've used so far. [And one he hasn't, but that's not the subject here.] Now... I'm not a man of science, personally, I find the rigidity of scientific method a bit too dull for my tastes, but I can't deny a certain curiosity on the whole topic. [He gives Cloud's cards a glance, inquiring silently if he plans to hit or stay.] If there's more to these crystals than obvious face value, then I think I'd like to know about it, wouldn't you? [A chuckle and a wave of one hand.] Well, perhaps with a little extra caution on the side in future endeavors...