After a fairly benign day of studying and yard work, we returned to the room. We didn't have much going on that night. Everything had gotten resolved with Vale for now. Still some lingering questions, still some trouble. But we'd gotten it resolved in as good a fashion as we could've hoped. There was some tension in the air I wished wasn't, but it'd pass in its own time. Only thing left was to go back to business as usual.

Except tonight.

Tonight was poker night.

It started something like this:

"Four of a kind!" Nora squawked, slapping her cards down. "Gimme!"

"Sonnuva Goodwitch!" I swore, slapping down my cards. Thought I had her, Full House.

"That means the pot is Nora's." Ren said, sliding the pot to his partner. She giggled and tittered with the biggest grin while he did it.

"Come to mama!" She chirped, sorting her winnings and passing her cards back. I took them and collected everyone else's, shuffling them shortly thereafter. Couldn't stay mad, we were all playing for fun anyway.

Besides, the house always wins. The money was already mine, and I hardly cared if they pinched a piece or two.

As per the last time we'd played, we set everything aside and moved the tables together to have the space, circling it. Or ovaling it. Hard to circle a vaguely square shaped set of tables.

"We should do this more often." Pyrrha said. "Battling criminal conspiracies is fun, but I think this is charming on its own."

"A nightlife is good for a young mind." I said. "At least a little of one. But a good bit of socializing is good too, I will admit."

"Quite." Weiss agreed, counting her winnings. Which were substantially more than the last time we'd played.

Credit where it was due, the girl started paying a lot more attention after beating me.

I passed the cards across the table to Blake. "Your turn, Kitten."

Blake rolled her eyes, and gave the cards an extra shuffle, just to make sure I hadn't tried anything. We then posted blinds, got our cards, and made any small bets we wanted. Ruby, having apparently not learned from last time, bet big with an equally large grin on her face. We folded, she pouted, and set the rotation again. This time the cards went to Yang. She passed the cards out in a sullen silence. We'd decided to try Hold 'em this time. Seemed to keep things moving about the same, but I figured they'd be willing to try a slightly different way of things.

"So what are we going to do now?" Jaune asked.

"Dunno." I said, watching as Yang set out the flop, giving me an ace high, but nearly the setup for a royal flush. "But we've got time to figure it out, at least."

I sweetened the pot with a few denarii, and watched as Pyrrha, Jaune, Weiss, and Yang folded. Leaving me, Nora, Ruby, and Blake in. They anteed, and Yang set the Turn, placing a Three of Clubs down.

Ruby smirked, looking around at us. Now deciding to try and hit us with an aureus.

Nora and Blake folded instantly.

I called, watching her. She kept the smirk steady on her face, steely.

She was bluffing. Blake and Nora couldn't see it because they'd gotten used to seeing Ruby over play herself. But she had won a few hands like that in the past. Tiny may have had a terrible poker face, but she got the principle of the thing well enough.

Then Yang dropped the River. A King of Hearts.

Exactly what I needed.

Ruby raised by another two aureus, leaving her with only a handful of denarii.

I called it, but immediately set enough denarii to match hers too.

The smirk melted off her face.

"What's the matter Tiny?" I asked. "Afraid to live a little dangerously?"

Ruby's lips pinched together in determination. There was a chance she'd realized I was about to knock her out. But by this point I'd put her in a bind. If she bowed out now, she'd get to keep playing, but I'd have blown her cover. If she played along, went all in, then she'd probably lose, but then it'd look like she hadn't started to figure things out. It all came down to whatever she chose to do.

I allowed a few moments to pass. Let her come to the decision on her own.

Then she set her jaw and began to push her coins into the pot.

Right before she could say All-in, there was a knock at the door.

She blinked, I blinked, we all blinked, then looked towards the door.

"… Getting a strange sense of déjà vu." I said.

"I'll get it this time." Ruby said, stealing the excuse to get up from the game.

She quickly went across the room, dodging around us, the chairs, and the tables. She opened the door, and immediately found a quartet looming over her. Made easy by the fact that most of them were just taller than her.

"'Sup?" Coco asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Called it." I said, slapping my cards down. "Just when I was about to win too."

"You don't know that!" Ruby snapped.

"Guess we showed up at the right time then." Coco smirked, looking out over her shades.

"Yeah, impeccable timing." I said.

Ruby stepped aside and let CFVY into the room. Better to talk with them behind closed doors than to leave them standing there.

"We interrupting something?" Coco asked, still smirking at us.

"Poker night," Blake said blandly.

Coco's eyebrow quirked up.

"Gambling game where you draw cards, best hand wins." I supplied.

"Really?" Coco asked, smirking. "Mind if we buy in?"

"Did you seriously just barge in to ask if you could play poker?" Weiss asked.

Which somehow led us to here:

CFVY inserted themselves into the game with all the grace of a hammer and nail. They made pleasantries with everyone, then took seats around the tables. Zwei decided to even come out from underneath and join the party. Velvet let him rest on her lap, giving him a little scratch behind the ears. He didn't mind more company, especially familiar faces. Even if their added number did make things a little uncomfortable when it came to elbow room. Blake had to get up and crack a window not long after everyone got seated. It'd gotten warm fast.

I explained the rules of Hold 'em for a second time, and we did a couple practice hands. Hold 'em was more about how you played than Five Card was. In Five Card you could substitute poor playing with better cards. Hold 'em you had to work with what you were dealt, or fold. Both easier and harder to play depending on who you were up against. Though we were definitely starting to push things a little bit. Things started to get a little crazy, with that many players. We'd increased our number by half, so it made sense. More people betting meant more chips exchanging hands. More chips meant people played differently, more cautiously, more aggressively.

"Raise." Pyrrha said, voice calmer and cooler than her normally warm tone. Her green eyes calmly tracking over the players as we all either called or folded.

"Let's actually play here, eh champ?" Coco said, smirking as she met Pyrrha's bet and raised it further.

We circled around from them again, and almost everyone bowed out then, myself included. Only Pyrrha, Coco, and Yatsu stayed in. Though I could see he was trying, and probably failing, to read his teammate. Of the hands we'd played up to that point, Coco was about as readable as the scratchings of a jet-fiend. She was a cool customer, always calm, always composed. Translated to being good at poker. Always seemed to know when it was good to push, when to fold. The only person I'd put close to her by that point was Fox. Though he seemed less to be about the aggressive play, and more about knowing what cards were worth playing at all.

Pyrrha, coolly, looked down to her card, then at Coco. She nodded, and called.

Flop. Turn. River.

Pyrrha showed a triple of threes, Yatsu a pair of aces.

Coco showed a triple of sevens.

She smirked as she collected her winnings "Luck be a lady tonight."

"Hm, goes by the name of Ms. Fortune." I hummed.

Despite the dour look she was giving me, Yang snorted out a chuckle. And I mean snorted, she was pretty red afterwards.

We set the cards up and played another hand. Coco Folded that one, but Fox won. Pass, shuffle, draw, rinse and repeat. They didn't have a hot streak, but they definitely picked the game up quickly. Put all of us on our toes. Went from a purely friendly game to a competition in the blink of an eye. Ren won a hand, then Yatsu, then Blake, Weiss, Jaune, Weiss, Me, Coco, Weiss, Fox, and then Coco again, twice in a row.

"Read 'em and weep," Coco said, flipping her cards over as she raked the coins in.

"I am," Ruby huffed, fiddling with her dwindling coinage.

"Y'know you're not going to be keeping any of that, right?" I asked. "We're just playing for fun. Most you're going to get out of tonight is a handful of peanuts."

And a boot in the rear, but I wasn't going to say that. That would be un-sportsman-like conduct.

"Ignore her, this is fun." Velvet said, rubbing Zwei's head. "Thank you for letting us play."

"But of course." I said, taking my turn as dealer. "Might've stormed in without so much as an invitation, but you four certainly liven things up."

"We bring the party wherever we go." Yatsu chuckled, voice like a plucked bass.

"If you really want us to liven things up, I might have a few ideas." Weiss said, drawing everyone's attention. A bit out of type for her to show interest in such base things as gambling.

Weiss met the gaze of our teammates, friends, and guests with calm repose. A look of business I'm sure was long practiced. Calm, graceful, yet stern and focused. A more perfect poker face only achieved using a long brimmed hat or mirror polished shades.

"Really?" I asked, curious. "Well there's a surprise, given how much you didn't want to play last time."

Weiss's poker face cracked slightly, but quickly patched itself back together. "Well, that was before I saw its merits-"

"You mean before you realized you've got Ms. Fortune at your back." I said.

"- and it grew on me." Weiss said. "However, there is a point to gambling, isn't there? To gain something."

"… So you want us to actually start placing bets?" I asked, looking at everyone. "… Alright, coins and caps back guys. If we're going to be making bets-"

" Not with money." Weiss said, ever so slightly annoyed. "I'm talking about what we bet with last time. I want to exchange favors."

"… Favors?" Velvet asked, clearly confused.

"Simple things." I said. "Basically asking someone to do something for you, no questions asked, and followed through on good faith. Y'know, a favor."

"Good faith?" Weiss asked. "Is that what that was last time?"

"I did what you asked." I defended. "You just need to be better with your syntax."

"What did she ask for?" Coco asked.

"A moment." I said. "So I gave her one."

"…"

CFVY collective buried their heads in their hands. Velvet even bent forward and bumped her into the table. Zwei promptly jumped up and tried to lick her face.

"That about sums it, yeah." Ruby said.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're just a giant smartass?" Coco asked.

"Wiseass, not smartass." I corrected. "Being smart implies I know better." I then turned back towards Weiss "Although, perhaps I do this time."

"Do I detect a hint of fear?" Weiss challenged.

"Not fear." I said. "I just don't make bets unless I know I've got a decent chance at winning."

Weiss's brow furrowed for a moment. "I can't tell if that's supposed to be a compliment or not."

"It's called pragmatism." I told her. "And I know better than to bet against someone who drew the winning hand five times in a single game." Then I shrugged. "Besides, betting favors doesn't work so well here. Makes more sense in Five Card, where there's no real downside to playing your hand because you change your cards. Here, it's more bluster and persuasion. You're forced to play through because you'll lose anyway, it's less of a gamble."

"And where's the thrill in that?" Ruby said, drumming her fingers anxiously.

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I was gonna have to keep an eye on her, if she turned into a gambling addict, I'd feel like a heel.

"Point is, it doesn't work so well in this game." I said. "Probably only really worked last time because it was between the two of us anyway, little miss 'I don't want to play your stupid card game'."

Weiss flushed slightly. "Well, I was wrong, and I admitted to it. This is… fun."

"And here you are wanting to get something out of it." I said, giving the deck a final shuffle.

"…" Weiss wilted a little. "You know what? Forget it."

I looked at her as I began to deal the cards out. She wasn't upset per say, but she seemed a bit grumpier, a bit frumpier. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with her idea, we were gambling after all. But I wasn't about to take what'd been a friendly game between everyone and turn it into something more serious. Besides the fact, the game would've absolutely been stacked in Weiss's favor. The odds of getting a Royal Flush weren't a million to one, but damn if they weren't close. Not even counting she'd gotten dealt it straight five times .

By that same token though, we'd established the favor wasn't supposed to be anything extraordinary. So it wasn't like I was going to lose my kidneys, or liver, or left nut trying to pay her off.

I dealt the cards out, and we played another couple hands. Weiss's mood didn't improve, even as she won a few of them.

"… So, what's the other version of this?" Velvet asked idly. "Since this is apparently just one type of game."

"There's a couple versions, really. Hold'em, the game we're playing now is just the most common. Or most popular." I said double checking my current hand. "Five Card, however, is its direct predecessor. Instead of being dealt two cards, and building a five card hand with what's set down, you're given a Five Card hand to start with. Hence the name. You get a chance to trade cards, make any extra bets, and then you show your hand. As per the standard, best one wins the pot."

"… I'm not going to lie, it sounds a little more fun than this version." Velvet said, calmly sweetening the pot, everyone else either folding or following after her.

I nodded and folded, cards weren't good enough to risk it. "Agreed. This version's good for gambling, and lets a bigger crowd play. But I feel like it relies a bit too much on bluffing. Still fun, but I know my preference."

"Well, thank you for showing it to us anyway." Pyrrha smiled, as they all showed their cards. She promptly dragged the pot towards her.

I nodded, handing my cards back in to be reshuffled.

"Do you think we could try the other version?" Velvet asked.

I shrugged. "We could, depending on if anyone else wants to play."

Velvet looked to her teammates. Yatsu and Fox gave her a quick glance, then the others at the table, before shaking their heads. Coco merely smirked, and nodded. Didn't take much to get her in, let the boys have their fun.

"Aight, makes three then." I said, before looking to everyone else "Anyon-"

"Yes." Weiss suddenly answered.

"… Ok then, anyone besides Snowflake?" I asked.

"I think we're good over here." Ren said, then eyed Nora, who gave him a questioning brow. "… Though we should probably think about dinner soon."

"Noted." I said, looking to CFVY. "One more hand, then we figure out what we're eating?"

Coco smirked. "Loser buys."

We shuffled the chairs and reorganized ourselves for our quick game. While doing it, I dug back through my supplies for any extra cards I had lingering around. Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly I had enough cards for a spare deck and half. I collected a lot of cards early on.

"Why do you have so many of them?" Velvet asked as we sorted ourselves.

"Collected them for another game we played back home called Caravan. Had to build your own deck to play against other people. Right cards made all the difference, so you'd have to be good about collecting them."

Velvet nodded, pursing her lips "I see, kinda like Red vs Blue then."

"Red vs blue?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it." She dismissed, almost embarrassedly. "It's just a children's card game."

"Because clearly this is meant for a more refined and mature audience." I said, rolling my eyes as I motioned to everything around us. "Only things we're missing are the cigars and snifters of brandy. Then we'd be real high-class."

Made me wish I still had some of my moonshine but, eh, close enough.

Velvet chuckled, and I shuffled the cards. The four of us circled each other, for a rudimentary and non-indicative definition, and I began to deal the cards.

"So, about spicing things up." Coco said, smirking.

"We're still on that?" I asked.

"We're playing the right game now, aren't we?" she countered.

"We are." Weiss agreed, giving me a sly look.

"Next you'll be telling me you both planned to have Velvet ask to play this game." I said snidely.

"No, I just wanted to try it." Velvet said. "… But I'm not against a little… spice."

"…" I sighed. "Of course you're not… Alright, since we're only doing the one game anyway. Remember though: Winner only gets one from each of us. And they're not meant for anything inappropriate either, so keep it clean."

"So no asking you to take your-"

"Yes, Coco, asking me to strip is an inappropriate request. Shocker, I know." I said.

Coco didn't respond to that, instead fixing me with her poker face.

"Who's dealing?" I asked.

Velvet inclined her head, and I passed the cards towards her. I instructed her to pass out five to each of us, one at a time while going clockwise around the table. She did, and we each waited. When she finished, we each looked at our hands.

I had a two, four, seven, ten, and a jack. Not much I could do with them off the bat, but I noted the jack, two and four were all of the same suit. Reading my opponents, I could see Velvet hadn't quite caught the concept of a poker face yet, but Weiss and Coco had.

"So next I remove the cards I want to trade." Velvet said, discard most of the cards from her hand and draw the equal replacement. "Then draw new."

"Correct." I nodded. "Then you pass the deck clockwise and we all do the same. Normally, you'd be allowed to raise after the card exchange, make raises, fold, that sort of thing. Since we're all-in though, there's not much point."

"You could fold and make it easy for us." Coco smirked, as she began exchanging her cards. "Give an example for the visual learners."

"Funny." I intoned.

The deck made its way around to me, and I exchanged my seven and ten for a three and eight. But it worked well, they matched the suit of my other cards. Giving me a Flush. Not the best of hands, but when most hands ended with Either a High Card or Pair, it was still worth something.

We finished changing cards and studied each other. Coco was a tough nut, her shades hid where her eyes moved, and her mouth was set firm. Weiss was all ice and business, could get more out of a hard locked Terminal than her.

Velvet looked like she'd just struck gold and was desperately trying not to break out in dance.

"Last call ladies, then we got a winner." I said. "Already got some ideas of what chores I could have you take care of for me."

"Could say the same." Coco countered, a scant smirk at her lips. "I'm starting to feel a bit hungry, how do you feel about cooking?"

I refrained from answering. Though I saw Weiss's mask crack slightly.

"Ok." Velvet said, looking at everyone, smirking. "Show'em." She flattened her cards out. "Royal flush."

I felt my heart drop for a moment, before actually getting to see the cards. Then a moment passed, and I felt it even back out. She'd made a rookie mistake.

"… Those aren't the same suit." I said.

"Hm?" Velvet hummed.

"The cards, they all need to be the same suit to count as a Royal Flush." I explained, as Coco and Weiss looked over her cards. "Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace make a straight, but all being the same suit turns them into a Royal Flush. You've got a straight."

"…" Velvet's face turned a bright red that I couldn't blame on my mask. "Oh… S-straight."

"All good Vel." I said, laying my cards out. "Flush, just a bunch of commoners though."

Velvet pursed her lips, and nodded. Silent acceptance of her defeat, and perhaps a hint of embarrassment.

"Oh, is that all?" Weiss asked, haughty and looking pleased as punch. She fanned her cards out onto the table. Three Queens and a pair of deuces. "Full House."

I grimaced, but nodded. It was a good hand.

Then Coco chuckled.

"Oh, is that all?" She mocked, slowly flipping each of her cards out. Nine. Nine. Nine. Five. Nine.

Four of a kind.

"Crap." I muttered.

"Language." Velvet muttered back.

"Four of a Kind." Coco said, smirking triumphantly. "I think that makes mine the winning hand."

"… Drat." Weiss said, pouting.

"Which means I'm owed a couple of favors." Coco's smirk bloomed into a cocky smile

"Double drat/crap." Weiss and I said at the same time. We shared a look, and I'll admit, it at least made me chuckle. Being on the same wavelength was a weird feeling.

"None of the sass you two." Coco said, leaning back in her chair. "You know the rules."

"Well if that's how you want to spend-" Weiss started.

"Ah-ah." Coco interrupted. "None of that."

"Hmph." Weiss huffed.

"You've got the favors." I said. "I'd suggest using them while you can."

"I'm thinking about it." Coco said, tipping her shades enough for me to look her in the eye. She must've thought she was the coolest thing since Iced Nuka Cola.

"Does it really count as a favor when you're already team leader?" Velvet questioned.

"…" Coco looked at her teammate for a moment, then made her request. "Can I see your cards real quick?"

Without missing a beat, Velvet passed them to her.

"Thanks bun-bun." Coco said, briefly looking over the cards, then setting them aside.

"That's one down." I said, resisting the urge to call shenanigans for throwing her a softball.

"Hm." Coco hummed, then licking her lips. "Y'know what? I'm feeling a bit thirsty… Snowflake?"

Weiss looked disdainfully at Coco, whose smile was only growing by the second.

"Why don't you go get everyone something to drink, we're probably all getting a bit thirsty." She then looked past us to the other players in the room. "You guys getting thirsty over there?"

"I could use a drink!" Ruby chimed.

"Drinks then." Coco decided, snapping her fingers. "Be quick."

Weiss scowled and started grumbling. But being an honorable, humble woman of her word, she got up out of her chair and trudged towards the door.

"Oh, and one more thing." Coco said, raising her hand.

Weiss turned back towards Coco, her eye twitching.

"… Curtsy." Coco told her.

Weiss promptly made a very impolite and unladylike gesture with her hands and left the room. It made me want to laugh.

"Now there's just you." Coco said, leveling her gaze at me.

"Just me." I agreed. "So, what'll it be?"

"Depends." Coco shrugged, looking down her nose at me. "What would it take for you to take that helmet off?"

"Dinner, a show, a couple of really strong drinks, and a winning personality." I said, collecting my cards. "I'd give you as having two, maybe three of those, dealer's choice. Unfortunately, asking me to strip violates one of the few rules we established."

"Hm. Oh well, you're not my type anyway." Coco said, allowing herself to sit normally in the chair again. "Next question, since you never answered before, can you cook?"

I heard the room go quiet, save for the sound of creaking wood. A little over half a dozen chairs shifting to look at Coco.

"… perhaps." I answered.

"Cool. Fix us something, make it taste good." Coco ordered.

"And make sure it has vegetables." Velvet added, followed quietly by "… please?"

"… Only because she asked nicely." I said, motioning to Velvet.