The Life I Live

New Beginnings

        "No! Impossible! You must be cheating!" A half naked Shachi shouted, knocking his chair over in the process, as Bepo showed the table his hand of a Royal flush. Penguin, equally unclothed, furiously threw his measly pair of sixes down onto the table in a flurry of cards, just as angry as his best friend. They stood fuming at the bear who watched innocently at their violent outburst.

        "Sorry…" The bear said in apology, his head hanging low. Both men sweat dropped at the bear's depressing state.

        "Ah! So easily defeated!" They said in unison.

        "Hey, don't yell at Bepo." Summer ordered sternly, sitting next to the polar bear as she revealed a flush of her own. Both men fell to the floor at her cards, their faces darkening with depression.

        "Not fair…"

        "How is it possible?" They mumbled into the metal floor. The surrounding crewmembers who had been watching the impromptu game of poker laughed wholeheartedly at the defeated engineers. One of the mechanics for the engine room, Toby, patted Summer none too gently on the back.

        "You're one hell of a poker player, Summer-chan!" Summer coughed discreetly as she gained her breath back. She turned and gave the man a timid smile.

        Being officially 'inducted' into the crew had really changed Summer's experience on the little sub. Men more openly greeted her in the hallways and invited her into their entertainment. She had yet to really get used to the kindness and caring nature of everyone aboard. Nonetheless, Summer felt a weight fall off her shoulders at each wild antic the crew performed, such as the sudden poker game she found herself playing.

        "Ah! Summer-chan! Come play a game with us! You've played poker before, right?" Penguin shouted, waving at her from across the mess hall. Shachi beamed up at his friend.

        "Oi, maybe a game of strip poker?" Shachi suggested quietly to his friend. Both men's faces took on a daydream-ish look as they envisioned the possible outcomes of such a game. Bepo, who was sitting across from them, scrunched his face up in confusion.

        "Why do you want to play a game of strip poker? You'll lose all your clothes." The bear said innocently. Both men angrily turned on the bear.

        "Shut up! You wouldn't understand!" They shouted. Summer had wandered over to the loud group of pirates by this time.

        "I've played poker before." She smiled hesitantly, still unaccustomed to being fully part of the crew. Penguin closed his eyes as he smiled widely.

        "The thing is, us Heart Pirates only play strip poker." Shachi nodded vehemently beside him.

        "That's right! We can't just change to a normal game all of a sudden!" Summer furrowed her brows.

        "You only play strip poker? How strange." She said quietly.

        "So, if you want to be a fully fledged member of this pirate crew, you've gotta play a game at least once! Why not get it out of the way?" Penguin desperately tried to convince her to play, raising his eyebrows expectantly. She seemed torn.

        "Well…I guess one game wouldn't hurt. I don't know all the different rules attached to strip poker so you might have to teach me a little bit." She said, sitting down next to the polar bear, his face still scrunched in thought. He was still wondering why the two had lied and said they always played strip poker. They never played anything other than the classic game. He assumed that this time something was different. The only difference from usual was…He perked up as he had a thought. Suddenly, his confused expression cleared up, and he smacked his fist into his paw.