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[parodeity]

DAVE STRIDER

consider this your warning about stairs. itll just keep happening bro. im telling you man

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[windeity]

[It was definitely the discards and like most of the draw pile, so someone is going to walk out of the dorm in the morning and find most of a deck of playing cards.]

...eheh. Well...whoops.

[parodeity]

...Do we finish it with what we got or modify this to war. Best two out of three battles.

[ they should each have at least more than three cards in their hands? he shuffles his and places them face down in front of him. ]

Or best one out of one, if you feel particularly lucky.

[windeity]

[He'll stare at the cards he has and he calmly shuffles his as well. They have an uneven amount of cards but that's fine. It makes the game riskier. And while he shuffles, he says:]

Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a game of stakes, the most powerful game in the world, and would blow your mind when I win, you've got to ask yourself one question...'Do I feel lucky?' [A smirk.] Well, do ya, punk?

[This is literally not the right time to quote a Clint Eastwood movie but you know what, he'll do it. And he'll flip his first card which is nine of spades.]

[parodeity]

We didn't decide aces high or low. [ dave points out, rolling his eyes, but he flips his card. ] And the implication that you're about to try to blow my head off ain't comfortin'.

[ it's the fucking five of diamonds and dave has been BETRAYED. ]

[windeity]

Aces low to change it up. [And he draws the cards into his hand.] Blowing your mind and blowing your head off are two different things, dummy. I would never actually do something like that. [Next card down is queen of clubs.]

[parodeity]

[ okay. dave has ten cards left. ten of diamonds is next because lmfao most of his red high cards were spent. ]

You're only makin' 'em low 'cause I have no other high cards, aren't you.

[windeity]

No. [Yes. And he'll swoop up the cards to add to his deck.] What makes you think I'd cheat like that?

[Flipping the queen of hearts.]

[parodeity]

Because you are a cheating asshole??

[ so why hasn't dave stopped playing.

ace of hearts. ]

[windeity]

[A great question. John will take the cards and pull them toward him. Dave, how many cards do you even have left at this point...]

An asshole, maybe, but I am not a cheating asshole. How could I possibly know what cards you have in your hand? [Other than he's good at reading tells in this kind of game and at least paying attention. It's a form of sleight of hand. He'll flip jack of clubs next.]

[parodeity]

[ okay, john, if you want to CHEAT.

perfectly deadpan and with absolutely no change in expression, dave flips over the queen of spades.

that was definitely not in his fucking hand, but he's blase about it, and it is basically just an annoyed comment on john's life choices. it's sleight of hand that's pretty much supernatural, since he shouldn't have been able to snag one of john's cards without john noticing, and yet ]

Please. It's one deck, and you know what I've played.

[ also he's at eight rn but he just pulled a dick move. ]

[windeity]

[Yeah that. He looks surprised suddenly because he thought he had all of the high cards but maybe he counted wrong?]

You make it sound like I am actually really noticing that. [He shoves the cards at Dave then since he's being a jerk. At this rate they each have like three more face down cards probably given what Dave's already flipped and so John's flipping the king of hearts.]

[parodeity]

[ of course, now that he's cheated once, dave's aware he could just. bullshit his way out of this. if he doesn't cap his skills, it's possible to win, and he's extremely aware of that. it's not hard to be faster than other people, and it's how he won at poker against some very annoying coyotes he's pretty sure were cheating, too.

he doesn't immediately flip his card, but stares at it, and debates.he hates making choices, but he makes this one with a sigh, shoulders slouching.

dave flips the ace of hearts. ]

[windeity]

[Somehow in staring at the two cards John remembers he's not. Actually doing this because he's mad. He's a little mad because everything is hard and stupid and frustrating but the game wasn't about that and he gives Dave a light grin as he picks up the two cards.

This...maybe it was a stupid idea, but he's getting it. He's getting how Dave operates and they have two cards each. He flips the eight of clubs.]

[parodeity]

[ ace of diamonds.

so it'll be his next card that determines if he loses or flips the fucking table again. does john want to hazard a bet on this. ]

[windeity]

[He does, seeing how he takes the cards and immediately flips his last which is the ten of spades. He's also just staring at Dave for a minute to see what he's going to pull next.]

[parodeity]

[ he cheats, of course.

ace of clubs, which definitely wasn't in his hand to start with and which was borrowed out of john's (replaced with the ten of hearts), so whatever. why he's cheating to lose is dave's own weird bullshit and he lets go of the final card without hesitation or any change in expression besides a raised eyebrow.

what's the favor, john? ]

[windeity]

[So that's it. The game's over and he vanishes the rest of his cards back into his sylladex with a reminder to himself to maybe go pick up the rest. He doesn't quite know how he won through all of that.

And instead of saying anything he sits there, staring at Dave for a minute before he settles for just kind of opening his arms wordlessly.

A hug is like. Half the favor, but he's pretty sure if he had just tried it on his own Dave would have absconded.

This was literally the stupidest way to go about this.]

[parodeity]

[ ...okay whatever he expected it wasn't that. dave stares. ]

That's all you want?

[ jfc he thought he was throwing a game for something bigger. hilariously fun facts john doesn't get to know: dave would have just let him hug him regardless, even if he would have been - and likely will be - a little stiff and awkward and unsure. ]

[windeity]

[Just a Look. He's not saying yes or no. Actually he's not saying anything until Dave complies but he'll just stay in that same position. Eventually he may raise an eyebrow if Dave doesn't move, but otherwise he's quiet and weirdly patient.

Dave's not wrong. There's a bigger agenda here but he's testing things out.]

[parodeity]

[ look. ]

You have to actually confirm that's what you want for your win.

[ and it's almost reluctant but he's serious: the body language is obvious but he read that wrong a few times and he's wary of some greater trap. ]

[windeity]

[Dave goddamnit why.]

Part of it. Are you really denying me my win, Strider? [There's a grin, but it's just a touch desperate too because come on, please something work with him a little. Fucking universe.]

[parodeity]

[ an eyebrow goes up. ]

I'm not. You won. [ he does not add "fair and square" ] But what's part two? [ that's. said with some amount of suspicion even though he's at least up on his knees instead of seated now. he hasn't moved except to shift so that he can move when he decides to. ]

[windeity]

Part two is a part I think you might fight me on but I figured it was worth trying a little. I just want you to try giving me your opinions on stuff instead of going mono-syllable on me again. Even if it's calling me a hypocritical jackass--which I know I can be, it's fine--or telling me why red is your favorite color despite blue being superior, I want to hear those things when you're ready to give them to me. Ask me questions. Yell at me. Whatever. I like you much better that way.

[parodeity]

[ okay the idea of yelling at someone is still kind of laughable but maybe someday. he ignores...most of that for the moment to focus on: ]

Askin' you questions has a fifty percent or higher chance of hurtin' you if it ain't pointless bullshit, or getting you to go mono-syllable.

[ ...? is that calling him a hypocritical jackass or not. ]

[windeity]

[And he just gives him a flat look.]

So okay, we both need to work on being a little more...whatever. [He refuses to use the word "honest."] I'm sorry. The last week has just been a lot and I am not really used to talking about stuff like this, so yeah, mono-syllable kind of made sense at the time. But that doesn't mean I want you to stop or anything and I can answer whatever you want. I think...I never thought it was stuff you needed to hear since it was my own shit and this is exactly why you called me a hypocrite, isn't it.

[Yeah. He finally gets it. Congrats, John.] Do you want me to stop?