No More Games

1: I Guess Practice Doesn't Make Perfect

There they stood, two diametrically opposed foes. This is what it all came down to. This was the end. For one of them, at least.

He pulled his new card up to his eye line. A flicker of a scornful smirk and a sardonic gaze flashed across his face. The other knew all too well what this expression meant. He'd seen it too many times before, and it went as far as to haunt him in his dreams. It was the look that he associated with sheer and utter loss.

"You wouldn't dare," His opponent challenged. He had intended to come off intimidating but sounded somewhat fearful instead. And who could blame him? No one knew if he could take another defeat like this. Or if his ego could, for that matter.

"Watch me," He hissed before slamming it face down on the countertop with a deafening blow.

"You cheeky bastard. You beat me," The opponent scoffed, throwing his now useless cards to the other side of the room.

"Yeah, like that hasn't happened before. You're never gonna beat me, Zushi," He said, trotting over to where the other had thrown his cards in a defeated tantrum.

"I'm not gonna give up, Gon. I almost had you in that last game," Zushi claimed, holding his head high. Everyone within a ten feet radius could hear Gon scoff at his allegations.

"Please, you weren't even close," He shot back, holding up the remnants of Zushi's crappy hand. He hadn't even managed to string together three of a pair.

"I'm gonna beat you one day, Gon," Zushi said, with determination in his voice, paired with weariness. Gon walked back towards the cafe counter, where he grabbed the rest of the cards from their blow-out game and started shuffling them in his hands.

"In your dreams, Zush," He cooed, taking a seat at the stool behind the cash register. He pointed to a small whiteboard behind his co-worker, adorned with multi-colored tally marks under Gon's name and none under Zushi's. "Put it on the board, woulda?"

Zushi glared at Gon, eyes narrowed by his scowl. Coming in at five-foot-four, though, Zushi was just about as menacing as a sixth-grader. "Put it on the board, woulda?" He mocked in a high-pitched and fluffy voice. "Asshole," He growled under his breath, walking off to make his defeat known to those who could see the board. Such was the punishment for losing to Gon at Gin Rummy for the sixty-seventh time.

Gon gave his sulking co-worker a small laugh. He didn't enjoy crushing his soul over and over and over again. But he didn't hate it either.

The door opened, signaling its movement with the ringing of a small bell at the top of the doorframe.

Gon droned out their enforced welcoming with as much fake enthusiasm as he could muster. "Hey, welcome to Games and Grounds. Will you be playing or dining today?"

Games and Grounds, the board game cafe where Zushi and Gon both worked. Located in the heart of downtown York New and suppliers of mediocre coffee, home to a wide arrangement of card and board games alike. It wasn't the best pay, but both boys had fun together, and with the customers, so it sufficed.

After Gon finished attending to the customer who ordered a hot chocolate and then left, he turned back to Zushi to pick up their conversation where it left off.

"How are you so good at this?" Zushi groaned, letting his forehead fall to the marble counter. Gon walked over and patted his back, trying his best to stifle his building laughter. "I'm never gonna win," He mumbled, the counter slightly muffling his words.

"There, there, Zush. You might win one day," He consoled, leaning against the counter next to him. Zushi turned his head and looked at him with a pitiful expression.