【 Thank you for choosing the Golden Peacock, 5-Star Resort and Casino. You are currently registered as a WILDCARD in our system.
Due to unprecedented high demand we are temporarily unable to check you in to your reserved room. We apologize for the inconvenience. We have arranged for a temporary room while we work on processing your reservation as quickly as possible. We appreciate your understanding.
As a special wedding gift from us, we have arranged for you and your new spouse to stay in one of our junior penthouses while you wait. Congratulations on your new marriage. We are so pleased you have chosen our resort for your honeymoon.
You will be notified as soon as your official reservation has been processed. Your comfort and happiness are our utmost priority. We hope you enjoy the provided amenities and lose yourself in marital bliss. 】
EVENS
EVENS: NEW CHARACTERS
Music plays. Instrumental, the tune gentle enough not to disturb peaceful rest. The sudden insistent beep of the Watch is a cutting cacophony across an otherwise sweet lullaby. Upon opening their eyes, new arrivals will quickly discover that something is wrong. The quilt snug across their body is weighty. Crystals glint in a weave of embroidery and cotton shimmers with threads of silver. Dozens of decorative pillows surround the bed. The gauzy curtains of the canopied bed are drawn, obscuring the rest of the room.
Extravagant for a kidnapping. Too extravagent. What’s more, these new guests will find something even stranger than this new diamond-studded suite tucked into bed beside them. Someone else. Who are they, what are they wearing? What happened last night?!
Guests are encouraged to explore the resort from here! There are paper maps available for those who would like and staff are happy to recommend locations if they have any preferences. Enjoy your honeymoon, you lovebirds!
ODDS
ODDS: SPECIAL RE-ARRIVAL
Never trust a hallway in the Golden peacock.
Cross the wrong threshold and time begins to slow. A short hallway becomes long, sheds its doors, only leading to turns without end. Guests too eager to explore the resort have gotten lost before. For how long always varies, dependent upon capriciousness of the resort. Hours? Yes. Years? Yes. Every guest caught in the winding hallways has reported the same thing: time is different there and too difficult to discern.
Some wayward guests have been caught in the endless hallways since the FIRST TDM. Weeks pass before a single doorway appears in the distance. It creaks upon opening before everything goes topsy-turvy. These guests have been let out of a trap door in the depths of Crane's Respite.
All water corridors will eventually lead back to the populated areas of Crane's Respite. The waters are warm, the scent of bath salts returns, and staff are wild with joy at finally finding all of you. They have been beside themselves searching ever since you vanished!
NOTES
PROMPT NOTES
▶ Because we love all of the new characters premiering on this TDM, we kindly request that our Evens prompt be top level exclusive for new characters. Current characters are encouraged to tag in to these prompts with the caveat that they’ve been picked up from their assigned suite (or wherever else they were before) and dumped into the new arrival’s bed. We would like for new characters to have this prompt unique to their top level comments!
▶ Players are welcome to have their current character riff off of these prompts in the log community with the exclusion of the new arrival element. This request is just for TDM top levels.
▶ Current characters and new characters are both welcome to freely mess around with the Odds prompt with the exclusion of the arrival element. For new characters, players may participate with the idea that their character is exploring Crane’s Respite after their unique arrival in the Evens prompt. The Odds arrival element may also be utilized by current player characters who may have been on an unofficial hiatus in January and did not tag as much as they would have liked, to explain any long IC absence.
▶ Octopi may be killed. If a character decides to eat one of the octopi they may find themselves taking on some of its traits. Which traits are up to player discretion.
ELEVATORS
ELEVATORS
The house has recently ordered a full changeout of art in all high traffic areas. The elevators in particular have received special attention with many different famous artworks and portraits studded to the walls for guests to admire. These artworks are treasures of the modern world that one would typically see behind glass at a museum. Guests may even find works from their own world hanging in the elevators. Even famous works that maybe have been lost to time. So this is where they ended up. Is that Vermeer's The Concert?
Guests may find their elevator suddenly stopping without warning. The portraits on the wall stir, curiously studying them, but there are three main portraits calling the shots. The portrait that controls that particular elevator will make their demands known with the threat that, if they are not obeyed, you will be trapped forever.
Elevators will function after the portrait's demands are met. Guests that hold out and refuse may find themselves trapped upwards of twelve hours. Guests with the ability to do so may crawl out of the top emergency door, free to go wherever they want from there.
GREAT TIT!
GREAT TIT!
Great Tit! is the Golden Peacock’s popular dessert bar and cafe. With its bright pops of color and whimsical treats, guests simply can’t resist stopping in for a butt shaped cookie and hazelnut coffee. After catching wind that the resort has decided to celebrate a dessert shop's most lucrative holiday, Great Tit! is ready to impress the masses. Advertisements for limited edition drinks and desserts rain the main lobby; one can’t go three steps without slipping on a neon pink coupon for 10 percent off nipple buns. Guests that decide to pass by the cafe will find themselves assaulted with confetti cannons and eager employees ushering them inside.
Guests will find a temporary communal shower room upon exiting Great Tit! where they can wash off after a fun day of rolling around in sugar. All guests will be gifted a tee branded with a, CHOCOLATE IS MY LOVER logo.
NOTES
PROMPT NOTES
▶ This portraits prompt has been triggered by several characters expressing interest in and investigating the lore of the resort paintings. This is just dipping a beginning toe in, but congrats to all for poking around!
▶ Portraits in the elevator should not be destroyed, purely for continuity’s sake. If a character would go far enough to attack one of the portraits, the portrait will slap them back with ghostly power.
▶ Characters may also figure other ways out of the elevator if they have specific abilities to do so. While the portraits can control the elevators, they cannot control your character(s). Any destruction to the elevator itself is liable to result in a rush of security dragging the culprit(s) away to the Iron Net.
▶ Great Tit! is running a massive sale! Even characters who are on the broke end of the spectrum will be able to afford to join in on the fun and indulge in sugar at these prices.
▶ Players are encouraged to make up any other elements for the Hall of Chocolate. If it’s a dessert and edible, it’s there. Enjoy your sugar coma!
▶ While the chocolate boxes are ICly limited due to Alessandro’s skills as a chocolatier, this is only an IC mechanic. There is no OOC limitation on this prompt as far as chocolate rarity goes.
THE NEST
ALICE AND THE PARROTS
Fashion boutiques are a dime a dozen in the Nest. The shopping hub is massive, lined with stores all trying to aggressively appeal to guests. A challenge in itself — but the guests of the Golden Peacock are no ordinary people. Used to being pampered and fed excitement, if these boutiques don’t bust their bottoms to appeal to the fickle nature of their patrons, they won’t be in business for much longer! One particular boutique, Alice and the Parrots, is riding winds of romantic thrill and churning out a couple of brand new fashion lines sure to draw in loads of chips.
Guests are welcome to try on clothes in Alice and the Parrots' dressing rooms. These dressing rooms are small and can only accommodate two people sharing at a time. Such is the life of a small boutique store. Sharing is no big deal, right? And there’s no way you can buy clothing this expensive without giving it a test first.
NOTES
PROMPT NOTES
▶ Players are encouraged to make up whatever cute outfits they would like for this prompt.
▶ Wedding clothes do not have to be cute and frilly; this section accommodates tastes of everyone.
▶ Alice and the Parrots is more expensive than Love Dove. Their clothing quality is excellent but their price tags are high. Staff may watch low ranks extra diligently to cut off any stealing. Thieves will be chased by NPC security! Anyone caught gets a day in the Iron Net.
CASINO CHAPEL
CASINO FLOOR
A Pop up Chapel has appeared in the Phoenix Casino. Guests are delighting in playing out weddings and pretending to get married — and a few guests are even tying the knot for real. They aren't worried about the sanctity of marriage; they can divorce tomorrow if they get bored of each other. And everyone knows that getting married doesn't mean you can't fuck whoever you want!
Since the resort isn't keeping track of how many marriages a guest has, all guests are encouraged to marry as many people as they would like. The more the merrier!
Wild wedding events will continue all throughout the month of February, until the guests find it's gotten stale. A divorce rush will round out the fun at the end of the month.
NOTES
PROMPT NOTES
▶ Weddings are not legally binding. Birdvis is not registered as a real officiant, but he does have an excellent beak and pompadour.
▶ Prizes from easy mode slot machines are automatic and do not require mod thumbs up to claim.
▶ Chip prize from difficult mode slot machines is automatic. The special prize is 5 reward points to add to your bank on rewards. Players who wish to claim the special prize should link the finished thread (the kink in question has been completed) under their rewards header with the header, Wedding Slot Machine. If you do any combination of 6/6 (finger hand lol) we ask you somehow make this sexy or involve a climax in order to claim the points.
BLANKET CW: Aphrodisiac; Compulsion; Costumes; Dubcon; Entrapment; Foodplay; Gambling; Lingerie; Matrimony; Tentacles; NSFW Images and Language; NTR; Nudity; Roleplay; Sacrilegious Themes
▶ All new characters on the TDM are WILDCARDS, which means they have not yet been assigned a card value. The house is still observing and deciding. As rank and suits are assigned upon acceptance your new character's suit will not manifest until they are accepted into the game.
▶ All TDMs are game canon. This TDM acts as the game's February event.
▶ Current characters may top level on the TDM. Please make sure to review the arrival prompt notes! Any current characters posting to the TDM should note they are current in their subject header.
▶ The top level directory is for new characters only. We want to make sure new characters are priority and receive attention!
▶ If you aren't satisfied with the prompts on this TDM please feel free to check out our LOCATIONS to explore more of the resort.
▶ Smut threads that take place on this TDM can be used for rewards. If both parties in the smut thread join the game, you may retroactively apply the character's initial card values to your 52 bank. If one character does not join the game the thread will not be applicable toward rewards (as that character would not have a card value). The character that does join would still receive a small payout for the encounter. Hopefully it was a fun thread anyway!
▶ We ask you to kindly add content warnings to your threads as appropriate.
▶ If you do not currently have permissions and kinks listed in your character’s journal we suggest leaving a note in your top level of any limits or boundaries for other players to reference.
▶ Thank you for spending Valentine's Day with us! You're our sweetheart this year. 💕
[ another silence follows, radiant with dislike of an entirely different kind.
(it's one thing to make plain his own tastes and standards, another to have them known -- and a separate dimension entirely for aventurine to assemble them like cards to a hand.
azidoazide azide, he thinks, because a petty corporate gambler isn't worth profanity or a chemically accurate insult.)
outwardly, what registers: the tick of his brows, a dour little hook at one corner of his mouth as his head tips in thought. ]
A point to your opponent if your chosen participant leaves unmatched.
[ aventurine, whose rock-steady smile is certainly not being called chemically and explosively into question, merely cants his head. ratio carefully closes a loophole. it is in his nature to find gaps and head them off, the alacrity of his mind racing against the pitfalls of reality - and winning. that was the thing, with the intelligentsia. the ipc valued them because reality always sprinted to catch up to what they were pursuing. but even amongst the intelligentsia, ratio is an exception.
the little tick of his brows, the way the moue of his lips dip. aventurine documents what he is allowed to see, and in turn, lets the hallucination of his sigonian eyes curve. ]
Deal. [ his fingers flicker. the white-and-red chip dances across his knuckles. he tips his head back towards ratio. ] I'd offer to flip for who goes first, but you wouldn't trust it, coming from me. Will you do the honours, professor?
[ object permanence. the understanding that an object continues to exist even though they can no longer be seen or heard. aventurine has never been to school, and therefore learned the concept far later in life. the clarification: concept, not practice, because in practice, aventurine has always known that continuity is something that simply happened to other people.
there had been a single bullet cloistered in its revolving chamber. aventurine had pulled the trigger three times. the sound of those empty clicks had reverberated in that marbled hall. ratio had been wearing his human face. aventurine hadn't known, or cared, what his expression meant. those three resounding clicks had been better than looping cursive on a signature line. ]
... what an unbelievable man. [ says aventurine, with a helpless little laugh. the chip rolls to a stop between his index and middle fingers, where it sits on the balance of a precipice. to what end, ratio says, a single pulled trigger whose empty bullets have travelled through time and space to land in a moment that aventurine has yet to define.
[ only an absolute louche could make an epiphany of an ongoing working relationship.
a peremptory wave's his only answer -- a flick which says, yes, yes, he knows ratio's tastes, no need to rub it in. his head turns; his eyes are already scanning the crowd. the flip isn't worth watching, especially since - ]
[ aventurine, who certainly is an absolute louche, only laughs. it's a polite little thing on the heels of a dismissive flicker, the considerable weight of ratio's attention shifting like a bulwark to the milling crowd. the mortifying ordeal of being known goes two ways. aventurine had always been the first to make certain that was the case.
the chip flickers into the air. it lands. aventurine shifts the result to the centre of the table, where it rests a solid tails. of course it would. ]
That young lady there. Sweetheart neckline, cashmere scarf, gorgeous 3-carat diamond pendant, faint chip on her index nail on her left hand, poor thing, she had to open a drink on her own today. [ aventurine leans back, all languid lines and exuding confidence, as he surveys the lady in ruffled pink. her gaze flickers off to the casino in an attempt to seem unaffected by the milling rampage before her. her lips, aventurine notes, are chapped.
his head tips back towards the bloodbath. with a saccharine drawl: ] Any guesses?
[ in answer: the skimming, narrow look of a man withholding his contempt only because he harbours dark suspicions that his recipient would enjoy it on an unspeakable level. ]
You were fixating on her hands for a significant period. Even accounting for existing predilections.
[ look, is it his fault that ratio wears contempt the same way lesser men wear crowns? aventurine laughs. ]
I like hands. They tell you where a person has been, what they do, and what they intend to do. And what does the great professor, doctor of universal ignorance, fixate on to glean truth?
Now who's fixating? [ with open, transparent amusement.
aventurine's gaze never quite leaves that of the young woman's trail, but his hand does drum itself against the table, a quick flicker of fingers that retracts the chip there. his hand then goes still, evidently untrustworthy: ] Though I suppose if we're watching my pick, you don't get to watch my hands. Don't worry; next time, I'll bet something closer to home.
[ leaning on a hand with the shining disinterest of a man who understands that the metaphorical cat will be dead when he opens the box, regardless. off she goes, farther, farther, and - ]
That depends, solely, on whether you've earned it, my dear doctor. [ says aventurine, as he watches the back-end of her pleats disappear around a set of slot machines. it's only until the bob of her brown hair becomes entirely unseen that he turns back.
the sigonian hallucination of his eyes meets gold. ]
[ any guesses? what a pity, he thinks, that aventurine had never visited the university of veritas prime. his mere existence on campus would have reduced the department of aesthetic philosophy to shambles. no thinking being ought to live so insincerely and survive.
(at the back of his mind, a pedantic footnote scrawls itself out, because aventurine's ongoing crimes against truth should be recorded somewhere: the defining principle of gambling is uncertainty. have you figured it out is a question only posed by men who've confirmed their answer.
why rig your wager, then put your trick on display?) ]
Guessing is the province of those who lack judgement.
[ without the slightest shift in tone - ]
She's waiting for a man who left some time ago. How long have you kept him waiting?
[ there exist in this universe geniuses beyond parallel. a good number of them, aventurine thinks, would pay good money to peel the scalp from ratio's head, to take drill to the open mine of his skull and part the gray matter within to see what lies in that wonderous head of his.
aventurine will be there at the counter selling tickets to the experience. he is laughing. ]
Veritas, Veritas, Veritas. [ three times, they say, and the image of the ghost will appear behind you - sigonians are liars, murderers and cheaters, but above all else, they are superstitious. aventurine says veritas' name like a prayer, ] If I had any doubt that I am no longer in a dream, I only need you to say what you so plainly see. I've kept him waiting for four hours now. I wonder if he'll ever pluck up the courage to come collect.
[ there are, in fact, three boxes of chocolates left.
aventurine grins. ]
A point to you, professor. To my unparalleled detriment, I'm sure.
Tread carefully. Shamelessness to that degree borders on honesty.
[ which might be only a remark about the game they're playing, the fact that he's kept his seat for nearly forty comments and counting -- if only his gaze weren't dropping, on cue, to the remaining boxes. ]
Why bother with lies when the truth works just as well, when it comes to you?
[ aventurine observes the drop of ratio's eyes. the implication sinks in with the quiet skim of aventurine's smile. there hadn't been a clause in their agreement that prevented the stacking of the deck. aventurine knows that ratio knows this, and ratio knows that aventurine knows that ratio knows this. the careful hierarchy of knowledge is built on that tacit understanding; chip by chip, they form a triangle.
aventurine flicks his chip up into the air, and allows it to land in his open palm. ]
[ in anyone else, that sort of metaphorical triangle might lead to understanding. in aventurine's case, somehow it only seems likely to foster pyramid schemes.
he leans on his bridged hands, gazing into the aimless distance, specifically because - ]
There are five clerks in attendance. Look for the closest customer seeking to cheat one out of payment.
[ this is why, aventurine thinks, he likes ratio so much. the three boxes of chocolates remaining on the table are unspoken testimony. in mitigating risk, the best way to do so is to pick an outcome that cannot be influenced by said risk. it follows that any customer ratio picks could have been previously rigged by aventurine to have the outcome he wants, whereas any clerk that ratio picks would not.
aventurine is smiling as he surveys the clerks present. ]
Are you sure about the 'seeking' part? Because that could cover just about anyone, no? You're practically handing me a win. [ with a sympathetic lean of his shoulders: ] Not looking forward to me propositioning someone other than you?
[ it's a sequence as neat as thermodynamics: aventurine looks at the crowd, and ratio looks at him.
(he knows that look, is the thing: the hunting tilt of those shoulders, that sugar-bright hair and corrosive smile. the thrumming energy that tends to dawn on aventurine only in the closing stages of a transaction -- heartbeats before the last signature's scrawled into place, the bankruptcy's sealed, and the vultures descend.
nothing's closed yet; they've barely begun. and still -- it feels impossible to put a name to the weight and warmth of it, sure as steel beneath the blinding clash of casino lights.) ]
I have never needed to cheat you.
[ - as his eyes drift past and onwards, as if the look had been no more than incidental. he rolls his shoulders, then settles back. ]
You cheat yourself more than enough for both of us.
[ idly, his fingers twitch for the weight of a book he isn't carrying. ]
In any case, I provided more than one condition. If multiple candidates satisfy my criteria, then you should have no issue with choosing the closest one.
[ there is a widespread understanding that a sigonian who still breathes is a sigonian who lives to lie, steal and cheat their way through another day. aventurine, who has lived beneath the weight of that gaze, knows to give them something to look at. the casual drift of ratio's glance is caught in the net of aventurine's, that split-second of gold reflected in unholy matrimony, before the curve of aventurine's smile takes the lean turn of his head behind him. he lifts his hand. the young man who had been patiently waiting for the gesture comes forward. he is brown-haired, and puppy-eyed, and leans in with the nervous energy of the young and the not-yet-brave with something prove.
aventurine whispers words against the shell of his ear. the young man nods, twice, and then, without a backward glance, begins to circle around the crowd.
the tap of aventurine's chip against the table signals the beginning of a short and entirely irreverent countdown. aventurine tips his head ratio's way, and smiles. ]
It'll take him another two minutes before he is the closest. Well? [ therein lies the gamble beneath the showman's flare: ] Can you pick out someone sooner?
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peacockstop2024-02-10 11:29 am
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(it's one thing to make plain his own tastes and standards, another to have them known -- and a separate dimension entirely for aventurine to assemble them like cards to a hand.
azidoazide azide, he thinks, because a petty corporate gambler isn't worth profanity or a chemically accurate insult.)
outwardly, what registers: the tick of his brows, a dour little hook at one corner of his mouth as his head tips in thought. ]
A point to your opponent if your chosen participant leaves unmatched.
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the little tick of his brows, the way the moue of his lips dip. aventurine documents what he is allowed to see, and in turn, lets the hallucination of his sigonian eyes curve. ]
Deal. [ his fingers flicker. the white-and-red chip dances across his knuckles. he tips his head back towards ratio. ] I'd offer to flip for who goes first, but you wouldn't trust it, coming from me. Will you do the honours, professor?
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I don't remember being notified that our collaboration was at an end.
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Colour me surprised. And here I thought you would insist that a new venue comes with new rules.
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there had been a single bullet cloistered in its revolving chamber. aventurine had pulled the trigger three times. the sound of those empty clicks had reverberated in that marbled hall. ratio had been wearing his human face. aventurine hadn't known, or cared, what his expression meant. those three resounding clicks had been better than looping cursive on a signature line. ]
... what an unbelievable man. [ says aventurine, with a helpless little laugh. the chip rolls to a stop between his index and middle fingers, where it sits on the balance of a precipice. to what end, ratio says, a single pulled trigger whose empty bullets have travelled through time and space to land in a moment that aventurine has yet to define.
what a dangerous man. ] Heads for you, as usual?
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a peremptory wave's his only answer -- a flick which says, yes, yes, he knows ratio's tastes, no need to rub it in. his head turns; his eyes are already scanning the crowd. the flip isn't worth watching, especially since - ]
Choose wisely.
[ it's aventurine, after all. ]
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the chip flickers into the air. it lands. aventurine shifts the result to the centre of the table, where it rests a solid tails. of course it would. ]
That young lady there. Sweetheart neckline, cashmere scarf, gorgeous 3-carat diamond pendant, faint chip on her index nail on her left hand, poor thing, she had to open a drink on her own today. [ aventurine leans back, all languid lines and exuding confidence, as he surveys the lady in ruffled pink. her gaze flickers off to the casino in an attempt to seem unaffected by the milling rampage before her. her lips, aventurine notes, are chapped.
his head tips back towards the bloodbath. with a saccharine drawl: ] Any guesses?
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You were fixating on her hands for a significant period. Even accounting for existing predilections.
[ chipped nails, for the love of nous. ]
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I like hands. They tell you where a person has been, what they do, and what they intend to do. And what does the great professor, doctor of universal ignorance, fixate on to glean truth?
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[ as his gaze swings back to the hapless mark, now straying across the floor with martini-lightness. ]
Should I bet gloves next time?
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aventurine's gaze never quite leaves that of the young woman's trail, but his hand does drum itself against the table, a quick flicker of fingers that retracts the chip there. his hand then goes still, evidently untrustworthy: ] Though I suppose if we're watching my pick, you don't get to watch my hands. Don't worry; next time, I'll bet something closer to home.
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I would settle for something of value.
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the sigonian hallucination of his eyes meets gold. ]
Well? Have you figured it out?
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(at the back of his mind, a pedantic footnote scrawls itself out, because aventurine's ongoing crimes against truth should be recorded somewhere: the defining principle of gambling is uncertainty. have you figured it out is a question only posed by men who've confirmed their answer.
why rig your wager, then put your trick on display?) ]
Guessing is the province of those who lack judgement.
[ without the slightest shift in tone - ]
She's waiting for a man who left some time ago. How long have you kept him waiting?
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aventurine will be there at the counter selling tickets to the experience. he is laughing. ]
Veritas, Veritas, Veritas. [ three times, they say, and the image of the ghost will appear behind you - sigonians are liars, murderers and cheaters, but above all else, they are superstitious. aventurine says veritas' name like a prayer, ] If I had any doubt that I am no longer in a dream, I only need you to say what you so plainly see. I've kept him waiting for four hours now. I wonder if he'll ever pluck up the courage to come collect.
[ there are, in fact, three boxes of chocolates left.
aventurine grins. ]
A point to you, professor. To my unparalleled detriment, I'm sure.
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[ which might be only a remark about the game they're playing, the fact that he's kept his seat for nearly forty comments and counting -- if only his gaze weren't dropping, on cue, to the remaining boxes. ]
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[ aventurine observes the drop of ratio's eyes. the implication sinks in with the quiet skim of aventurine's smile. there hadn't been a clause in their agreement that prevented the stacking of the deck. aventurine knows that ratio knows this, and ratio knows that aventurine knows that ratio knows this. the careful hierarchy of knowledge is built on that tacit understanding; chip by chip, they form a triangle.
aventurine flicks his chip up into the air, and allows it to land in his open palm. ]
Your turn. Who's your pick?
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he leans on his bridged hands, gazing into the aimless distance, specifically because - ]
There are five clerks in attendance. Look for the closest customer seeking to cheat one out of payment.
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aventurine is smiling as he surveys the clerks present. ]
Are you sure about the 'seeking' part? Because that could cover just about anyone, no? You're practically handing me a win. [ with a sympathetic lean of his shoulders: ] Not looking forward to me propositioning someone other than you?
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(he knows that look, is the thing: the hunting tilt of those shoulders, that sugar-bright hair and corrosive smile. the thrumming energy that tends to dawn on aventurine only in the closing stages of a transaction -- heartbeats before the last signature's scrawled into place, the bankruptcy's sealed, and the vultures descend.
nothing's closed yet; they've barely begun. and still -- it feels impossible to put a name to the weight and warmth of it, sure as steel beneath the blinding clash of casino lights.) ]
I have never needed to cheat you.
[ - as his eyes drift past and onwards, as if the look had been no more than incidental. he rolls his shoulders, then settles back. ]
You cheat yourself more than enough for both of us.
[ idly, his fingers twitch for the weight of a book he isn't carrying. ]
In any case, I provided more than one condition. If multiple candidates satisfy my criteria, then you should have no issue with choosing the closest one.
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aventurine whispers words against the shell of his ear. the young man nods, twice, and then, without a backward glance, begins to circle around the crowd.
the tap of aventurine's chip against the table signals the beginning of a short and entirely irreverent countdown. aventurine tips his head ratio's way, and smiles. ]
It'll take him another two minutes before he is the closest. Well? [ therein lies the gamble beneath the showman's flare: ] Can you pick out someone sooner?
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Are we playing out a wager or a chess-match?
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happily kicks the fourth wall on my way out
WHY.
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