He wore a trilby hat, and called it a fedora. He introduced her to the underground poker game as “m’lady,” and bet hard, and often. He was the first out of the game. She was not his lady. She had pulled the trigger, herself. It was nothing personal. He had simply been someone with information, disposable after said information was freely given.

Lenna had played a lot of poker in her childhood. Games had been with adults far more often than with people her own age. Sailors, thugs, members of militia or cartel. It did not matter what their ties were. She won some, she lost some. She played fair. Lenna took her losses. She won often enough, she could recoup those losses, afford them when they happened. And some people, you let them keep your money, if you know what is good for you. Some of her experiences were lost when she was de-aged, but a lot remained.

She was playing well enough, presently. Not dominating, a clear “middle of the pack”. Or had been, until she took out trilby hat. What had his name been, again? M’Carl? M’Earl? M’Conne— oh, it has been Martin. That was right.

M’Artin.

Lenna looked at the cards in her hand. She had something good going on, and if she could get one more card in particular, it could be very good. She did not give away what she had with any body language. She merely looked ahead, as if this were another Tuesday. Nothing special.

It was wild, though, where this entire underground Poker game was located. She would never have thought to look for it in this location. Who would have? Absolutely wild they had arranged an entire poker game, tables and chairs and all, in the middle of a maze of hedges on the mansion grounds.

It was always fun when someone brought a new player to the poker game. Lenna had brought the fresh meat that night and the kid had been fleeced. Martin had done okay. Lenna and Ion had played okay at best, Lenna more so than Ion. Martin had thought he was on a roll and then right before Ion flipped the script on the poor kid, Lenna dropped him like a sack of last months potatoes.

The kid went from top dog to sent to a farm upstate in one hand. It was fantastic to see. Would have been better if Ion had done it himself, but game recognize game. Now with one less player, Ion was dealing.

”...Then I put about a million volts into it and bam! Like magic, door opened.” Ion was saying as he dealt out cards. ”I heard the danger room access panel got rebuilt after that. Trick still works here though. Who would have guessed there was hidden storage in the middle of the hedge maze.”

Ion looked at his hand, keeping his face a perfect poker face. He had read up on himself. Turns out poker and hustling pool had been how he covered the bills in law school. He wasn’t good enough yet to clean up at any bar in the city, but he wasn’t bad. More practice as he made his way through his undergrad and he would be a force to be reckoned with.

”Alright, Lenna. You're under the gun.” Ion said to Lenna. She was up first to bet. Ion smiled. Yes, starting these games had been a great decision.

Sure, he graduated and had a reputation still to maintain. Carrick viewed it as a man of means, he was a product of his environment even if he had spent a lot of time at the mansion, even if he was dating Atlantean royalty old habits died hard and it was a craft he was particularly proud of. ”Look, all I’m saying is ya don’t even invite me ta the game? I don’t know if I should be impressed or distressed about it all. Shame on ya ta think ya could host me game without me.” Carrick said looking over his cards sighing loudly, ”**** got nothin’. Fold.” All part of his ploy.

Carrick had a hard childhood, the only thing his father taught him was to cheat. Well that and how to fly but Carrick didn’t really think that counted. Throwing a winged child off a cliff and hoping for the best didn’t really count. No matter what his Da said. His time in the circus only helped expand his methods. Distraction, showmanship and of course bluffing. There was a deck of cards in his pocket. Also a king and queen of hearts up his sleeves waiting to be added into the mix should he need to.

Lenna cleared one of the kids out pretty quick, ”How long has this been going on? The hat I mean. It’s a look alright.” Carrick asked gesturing to the hat and trying not to chuckle. The shifters mismatched colored eyes shifted from everyone around the table trying to gauge any tells. Something else he had learned over his years of lying and cheating his way across the states with the circus. Everyone always had one.

>>> “Who would have guessed there was hidden storage in the middle of the hedge maze.”

”Me, the amount of paranoid preppers in the mansion? Please. They are looking fer reasons to dig a hole and bury something. Locks sound new though. Found three of Frosty’s out in the woods. Man has a signature with his stuff.” Carrick barely even looked at his cards, lifting it in the corner enough to see a face card and a ten. Different suits but still not bad. Carrick waited to call.

”How long has this been going on? The hat I mean. It’s a look alright.”

Martin fled, like boohoohoo. In the m’anliest way possible, of course.

After Carrick’s comment, Lenna wished she had stolen Martin’s hat from him before he had left. If only to annoy the shifter.

The boy said something,

>>> “Who would have guessed there was hidden storage in the middle of the hedge maze.”

And Carrick said “Me, the amount of paranoid preppers in the mansion? Please. They are looking fer reasons to dig a hole and bury something. Locks sound new though. Found three of Frosty’s out in the woods. Man has a signature with his stuff.”

And suddenly, Lenna was up to bet first.

Lenna placed her bet. A modest amount. Starting small. Not too much. She wanted to see what came next, did not want to bet it all.

”It is strange. This was intentional, after the rebuild someone had to say ‘terrible idea, let us do it twice’. Yeah?”

She looked to the others in the game.

She had two pair presently, on her way to a full house if she got something good. 10s and queens.