Poker Night

Posted on Thu May 29th, 2025 @ 12:43am by GM Nicole & Sub-Lieutenant Osirin Acainus & Major Clay McEntyre III & Lieutenant Xalanth & Lieutenant JG Isabella Rodriguez & Ensign Tyler Williams & Ensign Wrenleigh Reed & Corporal Eden McKenzie

1,855 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Menagerie II
Location: Clay's Quarters
Timeline: Friday Night

The poker table was set up, chips laid out. The snack bar was also fully stocked, something that was very important to Clay. No one liked to play poker on an empty stomach.

His quarters on the Armory deck was larger than most. Perfect for someone of his size and stature. a large window dominated the space, a great view of the majesty of space. 2000 square feet of what one would call a loft apartment, if quarters on a starship could be described as that but Clay made it his own and it was stunning. A kitchen to one side, a living area in the middle of the space and a bedroom space with a large California King bed, and a partitioned bathroom area.

Osirin loved playing poker, yet at the same time, found it a challenge not to cheat. He didn't want to, that's not who he was. So he had to put his mental shield up to its highest capacity. His natural intuition would have to suffice. Play the person, not the cards had been ingrained on him the minute he picked up a deck of cards to play the game, and it was a principal he continued to maintain.

Tyler waited for his chime to enter to be answered and walked on in when it was. He'd brought a bottle of whiskey for those who liked it and drunk it, just to be on the safe side. If it didn't get drunk, that was okay too. "Clay!" He greeted the Caitain, "Great set-up you've got here. Can't wait for it to start."

"Well, welcome to my humble abode." The Caitian greeted with a cigar in his mouth.

He then saw Osirin standing over to one side and automatically felt awkward, "Hey, how's it going?" The Akadian had worried him to no end when he disappeared, but he wouldn't admit it if he didn't have to, it was only a fling, right?

Osirin felt a familiar presence enter the room. He turned in the direction of the voice. "Oh hey," he said, clueless about the awkwardness Tyler was feeling. "How are you?"

"I'm... alright." Tyler replied with a nod, "Nothing a good game of poker and some real whiskey can't fix."

"So," Osirin said with a sly wink. "Do you come here often?"

Awidat arrived at Clay's quarters wearing casual Vulcan robes while carrying traditional appetizers. She wasn't expecting a game of simple probability, and inferred that it was likely to have human psychology involved. Despite the volacity of her human colleagues, it would be an interesting challenge. She chimed the bell and entered when it was answered.

Noticing that Awidat arrived carrying appetizers, Clay gestured toward a counter. "You can set those on the Kitchen Bar. Help yourself to snacks. The liquor cabinet is over by the window there. Smoke 'em if you got them." Clay walked over to the large poker table where he had everything laid out for a night of cards.

Awidat nodded, and after laying the appetizers on the table she headed towards the replicator. "Water, cold." She then proceeded to the poker table and sat down.

The doors slid open as the ship's security lizard stepped through. He had a smile on his raptor face and was dressed in some black combat trousers and a t-shirt. He smelt slightly of the ship's pool ash pine cleaner, "Hello everyone, I'm not late am I?" He asked.

"Actually, I think we might be some of the last people to arrive," came the short, no-nonsense tone of Wren as she and another woman popped their heads around the corner and walked in. The other woman was a young marine, Eden McKinnon, one of Clay's combat engineers. "Sorry, I'm Wren, one of the Diplomats, and this is Eden, a Marine Combat Engineer."

"Hello," Eden gave everyone a small wave, and remained silent as she looked around at the other people gathered. She hoped her social awkwardness would get better over the night and felt slightly more at ease once she spotted Clay.

" Nice to meet the two of you. I'm Xalanth. " The red lizard said as warmly as she could as he walked over to the two newcomers.

"It's lovely to meet you too," Wren said as she walked with him to get a drink with Eden in tow, the latter just following Wren because she knew no one else, "I've seen you around before, you're in Security, right?"

" Yup. Security Xo. " The red lizard explained. " Sorry for the smell. I just finished taking some my daughters to the pool and the smell sticks to my scales for days. "

"That's fully understandable, but I don't believe that there is any particular scent that I can smell, so I don't see why it would be an issue," Wren cocked her head to the side. "You say 'some of', how many do you have, if you don't mind me asking?"

" Seven in total, six are on the ship. " Xalanth said with a grin.

"Wow, that's amazing." Wren was genuinely surprised: to her, two was a lot, but seven? The man must have the patience of a saint.

Eden didn't much care for that kind of talk, so she wandered off to get a drink, spilling half of it in the process due to her hands shaking but was saved by a guy who introduced himself as Tyler, and they had a small chat before she walked off and came to find Clay, "Major, it's a good turn out here."

“I think it is.” He beams as he picks up a tray of snacks and head for the poker table.

“Right, shall we get started?” He asked the crowd, nodding towards the table to indicate the game was about to begin.

" Sounds good. We betting anything or is this just a friendly game? " Xalanth said as he pulled up a chair after grabbing a bowl of some jerky chips.

"It wouldn't be a poker game without betting," Osirin suggested. "Not that we have to play for huge wages."

Xalanth reached into his pocket and tossed a small leather pouch which clinched slightly as it landed. A few coins fell out as it landed. They looked fairly primitive even by coining standards. " Dragonian crazes. Not like i need them much anymore. "

Clay took a seat, looking around before pulling out a deck of cards. They were lucky, at least to Clay, a memento from his academy days. He shuffled the deck, getting a read on everyone at the table before dealing out the cards.

"Texas Hold 'em, Gentlemen. No Limits." He says with a devious grin.

The group gathered around the table and began tossing in their chips.

Once they were ready Clay began passing out the cards, starting to his right was Osirin, then Xalanth, after him was Awidat, and next to her was Tyler. After Tyler was Wrenleigh, Eden, then finally Bella was sitting next to Clay in the dealer's chair. When everyone had their cards, the table turned to Osirin.

Osirin looked at his cards and then glanced around the rest of the players. Keeping his face impassive, not letting anyone know whether he had a good hand, or a bad one. "I'll check." he said.

Xalanth took a quick look at his cards before lying them down on the desk. " I'll check." He said tapping the table as he did so.

Awidat checked as well, her face showing no expressing as she indicated her intention with a single word, "Check."

Tyler made himself comfortable with his drink in one hand and cards in the other. Looking at them, he tossed up the odds in his mind before saying, "I'll check." He followed suit with Xalanth and tapped the table.

Wren had played before and kind of knew what she was doing so she called it. "Check." she tapped the table too.

Eden, however, had no clue what she was doing, having never played poker before. She was more just along for the ride and to get over some social anxiety. "I'll fold?" she asked, unsure of what to do.

Isabella let out a low whistle, looking at her cards, "I'm gonna have to fold this well."

Clay didn't betray his hand, his face still and calm. Pausing a moment before he tossed some chips to the center.

"I call, 20" Clay said, picking up the deck and dealing out three cards to the center of the table in a row: A 3 of Spades, A 5 of Diamonds and a 3 of Hearts.

"Check or Call, Ladies," He says with a smirk.

Osirin didn't appreciate the lady's comment but wasn't so sensitive to let his mild irritation show. "I'll call," he said keeping his face as impassive as he could.

Xalanth clicked his middle fingers on the table as he thought it through before giving a simple. "Call."

"Fold," Awidat said simply as she placed her cards face down on the table.

"I'll call," Tyler said in an indifferent tone as he looked at his cards and shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. His drink was now empty, and he could've gone for another but chose not to.

Wren looked at the cards on the table and made a note of who had called and folded, then she looked at her own, "I'll fold this time around." She looked at Eden, who simply smiled back, not having a clue on how to play this game.

Bella smiled, "I'm out, the cards aren't in my favor tonight."

“I’ll call” Clay spoke to the group, holding his cards tight.

"Is there another round?" Osirin asked, "I'm not very familiar with this game."

Clay nodded and flipped over the next card and laid it face up on the table: the King of Diamonds.

The cards on the table were now the King of Diamonds, the 3 of Hearts, the 5 of Diamonds, and the 3 of Spades.

The Akadian did some quick calculations in his head. "I will bet 50 credits," he said with an air of confidence."

" Match," Xalanth said, tapping the table as he did so.

"I raise it to 100 credits," Tyler said. His confidence was through the roof, but he still kept an air of composure. "Who doesn't like some high stakes?" he grinned.

Clay furrowed his brow. Seriousness on his face.

“Call, 100 credits,” He said as he tossed the chips to the center of the table.

Osirin was tempted to read the room with more than his eyes and intuition, but fought the temptation and won. "I'll call," he said. "Are we ready to show our cards?"

"Show 'em" Clay smiles a Caitian smirk to the others, not going to be the first to show his cards, but will wait for the others to show theirs.

Osirin put his cards on the table in front of him.

Xalanth fliped his cards over. The ninth of diamonds and the seventh of spades.

Tyler was the last to flip his cards over with a smile: the two of spades and the three of clubs.

"Three of a kind wins. Shall we go again?"

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