Behind the Poker Face

Seated at a small round table while the hours were growing late, Cana and Laxus took turns throwing down cards on the table. It was a solemn game of poker after Cana had deemed it boring to stay up drinking alone on an autumn night. Laxus agreed to it seeing the woman would bother the others if he did not agree. Also, secretly he hoped this would give him a chance to read behind that poker face of hers.

"Fold." Cana discards her cards and draws new ones.

Laxus looks at his hand and smirks. "Raise."

A few minutes passed and Cana calls it. Laxus follows suit and they opened their cards. She had a Full House and looked pleased. Laxus let the cards speak for themselves with a smug look. Cana's jaw slackens in disbelief.

"Five of a Kind three times in a row... you have got to be kidding me..."

Laxus shrugs and took a swig of his mug. The alcohol burned his throat pleasantly. "Lady Luck is favoring me tonight."

Cana huffed. She kept the cards away and Laxus drained the last of the dregs in the mug. The stars were shining brilliantly over Magnolia. "Reminds me of her eyes when she does fortune telling..."

Cana observes Laxus curiously. The dragon slayer did not usually hang around with other members in Fairy Tail besides Raijinshuu. She never liked him much but after the Tenroujima episode, she was beginning to see him in a new light.

"Hey Laxus," Cana called out. The lightning dragon slayer looked at her with half lidded eyes. "How about some fortune telling?"

Laxus chuckled as the mug was placed on the table. "You want to do fortune telling for me?"

Cana nodded. Her heart hammered in her chest. It was a good chance for her to get to know him better. "I might even get to clarify if he is the one my cards had been hinting about."

"Sure, why not? You are the only one other than Gildarts who I have never done fortune telling for."

Laxus cocked an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?"

Cana shrugged casually. She tried to play it cool and Laxus saw through her nervousness. He sighed. "I don't believe in handing my fate over to a bunch of cards."

Cana paused. She burst out in laughter. Laxus blushed. It must be the alcohol getting to him. "What?" he growled.

Cana gasped for air and the laughing simmered to occasional giggles. "Laxus, fortune telling in my case isn't about handing people's fates over to my cards. They are merely a reflection of the things inside of you. I'm not a clairvoyant like Charles. I can't see the future."

Laxus was surprised. "I thought fortune telling meant prying into the future. Why else would people go for fortune telling?"

Cana's eyes twinkled. "Could it be because they needed answers to some things?"