Duality;Solaris Vol. 1

Chapter 3-4: Wine & Ash

—Game 31—

    As the clock chimes mutely into the deep night, the monthly poker night winds down. The ruckus outside having subsided greater in the past hour than the rest on the weekday night, the clock chimes nine, ten, eleven. The group of four sit at the table as they take in the final verdict of their games. At the cusp of thirty-first game's completion, only two competitors truly remain: Siv and Theo. In the final game they find themselves following the gambit of the queen in 'Follow the Queen'. A variation on the game type, 7 Card Stud, the queen is always wild— regardless of facing the field or in one's own shrouded hand. Yet, if the queen finds herself visible on the playing field, then whatever card follows also becomes wild along with said queen. Nevertheless, this additional wild card is always up for change as, if another queen gets to face the light of day, it will switch to the newest card behind the said new queen. And, there are currently two queens showing.

    A game type filled with far more betting opportunities than many others. The pot at the table's center full of black and colorful chips, the fullest it has been all night. The incentive weight becoming almost as tangible as it is suffocating for a competitive gambler.

"You've really come a long way, Barry. I'm sort of proud of you, in a way.", Siv taunts along with her piercing gaze.

Theo pauses, disgruntled, before mundanely pleading, "Please don't start using Mr. Riou's cruddy new name for me. It's somehow worse than 'T'.", in such a deflated, displeased tone.

"That hurts, Allen.", Arturo adds pointing to his heart,"Right here."

    The chimes strike for a twelfth time. The time has come. The final cards crash down upon the table. The final contenders reveal their final play. From the victorious shout from Siv to the calmly, nonchalant demeanor of Theo, the winner is revealed.

"Huhh!, an aggressive yell from Siv fires out, "What the hell?!"

"Hmm.", Theo unsurely acknowledges, "What happens when something like this happens?"

    The two have the near impossible: they both have a full house. Albeit with different combination of wild cards, they both have the equivalent to a three-of-kind of aces and a pair of eights. Yet, their base hands were still comprised of the same cards: pairs of aces and eights. Theo with black and Siv with red, even their shown cards were divided equally by color. While a full house only encompasses five cards, the victor is then dictated by the highest value of the remaining cards. In the case of 'Follow the Queen', they have two extras to choose from. Out of the two extras, they, of course, would choose their highest card. Thus, Siv throws down her highest, and Theo his.

"You're kidding me, right?" Arturo states in the most well-meaning he has been all night, "This has got to be planned."

Theo and Siv both threw down kings. If that wasn't enough, they were both of the red coloration.

"If we planned this, we wouldn't be as weirded out by it as you," Siv corrects Arturo, "Would we?"

    Bewildering to them both, the sheer coincidence isn't unheard of, but instances like this would be obviously weird to even the most greenhorn of players. The three share a look with each other before trying their best to move on and put it in the past— for a winner still hadn't been shown, and, for competitive individuals like them, that is a far worse feeling in comparison. Thus, Theo and Siv reach for their next, and last, card in their dwindled arsenals. An air of adrenaline rushes through their various levels of anxious hands as they peek at their card— double-checking, just in case, for their own sanity. The two flip over the said cards swiftly. Black eyebrows rise from the head of the person opposite of Siv.