expiationlogs | Free Night at the Casino

Entry tags:

Free Night at the Casino

Who: OPEN to all / mingle log
Where: Queens (the casino!)
What: Wow July sure was a month! Time to take a breather and have a night out, courtesy of Toph and Mitsuru!
Warnings: N/A

FREE NIGHT AT THE CASINO

GAMBLING

Feeling down after that space infestation made you murder some friends? Getting tempted to bury yourself in the sand at the beach so no one can ever perceive you again?

Time for a tone shift! It's a free night at the casino. For tonight only, chips mean nothing -- which means everyone gets a rack of chips when they walk in and can let loose! Entertainment, food, and drink are also free within reason. (Abuse the privilege and find out who works security here the hard way!)

Welcome to Queens, the formerly shady but now revamped and reimagined casino in the entertainment district of Aldrip. Classy and minimalist but not gaudy, it's run, staffed, and heavily patronized by Chosen. Maybe you know someone who works there, maybe someone dragged you in to lighten up for once, maybe you're just stopping by for some fun.

Appropriately, the most popular game of the night is Queen's Blood, with tables set aside purely for teaching. There's also the standard casino games available in spades -- poker, slots, roulette, baccarat, blackjack, and so forth.

AT THE CLUB

It wouldn't be a casino without alcohol, music, and dancing. There's a low-key bar for those looking to have a conversation where they can hear one another over the pleasant live jazz, and a much livelier dance floor set off to the side in a different part of the casino with a DJ playing dance music.

FIGHTING TOURNAMENT

Beneath the casino is a massive underground cavern converted into a fighting arena.

It's a bit hard to find, intentionally -- either you were personally invited by someone or you stumbled across the covert speakeasy-style entrance in a corner of the main floor, possibly from the people jostling to go in and out. The stairs go down and down until they suddenly open out into the huge room, lined in walkways to view the fight.

There's three circuits to the fighting tournament: a bracket for fighting with powers, a bracket for fighting without powers (hand-to-hand and weapons only), and a shooting competition. Toph (

fieldtrip) serves as referee for all of the above and is prepared to break up anything that goes too far. This is just for fun, folks!

Sign up in the comment below and maybe you'll even win something! Toph promises a super cool prize to the winner of each circuit!

FORTUNE TELLING

Get a free tarot reading!

It does seem like some of the glitching in Aldrip has made it maybe a little more accurate than usual lately... or maybe that's inaccurate? Feel free to have the cards have a real effect on them with a glitch!

DOG THERAPY

In one peaceful corner away from the din and bustle is a dog petting station. All manner of adorable and highly trained dogs are available for cuddles and play time.

Some of them are even up for adoption if you want to take one home!

Kakashi (

battlefieldbrat) runs and operates this station with the kind supervision of Koromaru, our local good boy.

Code by

10billionghosts.

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"It depends on the card. I don't remember them exactly but each of them is supposed to represent a number. I know that an ace is supposed to be a 1 or an 11." She said before looking at the stack of cards.

As she tilted her head to the side, she was hoping Hiei would be the one to pick it up. Was she purposely pretending to not know what was going on? Perhaps but if it will encourage Hiei to play then so be it.

[Kotone keeps running her thumb along Scott's knuckles, her smile softening to something almost proud as he speaks. She knows he's a pretty emotional guy, and it would have been difficult for him; honestly, she thinks Scott would have dwelled on it a lot more if it hadn't been for everything else that had happened pretty soon afterward. But it shows a lot of growth, she thinks, that he's able to keep calm and talk about something like this.

Outwardly, though, she just snorts a laugh at being called a "gun magician" and just shrugs at the accusation.] Sort of!

[And doesn't elaborate beyond that. Literally nothing personal, she just hates being the one to give exposition and avoids it as often as possible. In spite of hating to explain things, though, she squeezes Scott's hand briefly and glances back at him for a moment before returning her attention to Morph.] Something like that happened to me once before, too. My friends didn't hold it against me.

Cool!

[She glances toward Scott when he reaches out, setting down her glass and towel to drift closer to him and let him take her hand. It's not hard to guess at his worries with this kind of tournament after what happened -- everyone fighting each other and trying to kill each other, then being put in a ring? It's not really her style, but she knows enough people like Akihiko to think it's a good idea for some. Her thumb runs gently over Scott's knuckles as she squeezes his hand reassuringly as a tangible reminder that she's alive, then looks back to Toph.

If she has any worries of her own, they're not remotely audible in her voice as she adds in an attempt to reassure Scott further,] It's a good idea for people to let off some steam. I bet you won your tournaments all the time, huh Toph?

Isn't it?

[Her question is more rhetorical than anything as she takes a loud sip of bubble tea. That's always felt like part of her job -- making things better for people. Talking them through whatever situation they're in, helping them through it until they leave her life forever. (So maybe she shouldn't try to make things better for Scott if that's the case.)

Chewing on a few tapioca pearls, she adds more quietly,] We talked about it. What to do if either of us disappear. [If she "goes home" and dies for real.] I knew it would be hard for him, but...

[She hadn't seen anyone's reactions directly after her death. Even when she'd met Ken, he'd had two years to process what had happened. Seeing Scott's despondent slump in the two days after had hurt a lot. It's not right.

But all she can do is shrug, mustering up a smile for Shinji as she glances over at him.] What about you and Dara-san?

Says the guy wearing glasses!

[Walked right into that one, buddy. She laughs with abandon and kisses Scott's cheek in spite of the dig, grinning over at Dara as if expecting the goddess to think it's equally as funny. She's proud of it!! Laugh!!]

I just wanna watch you two play. I'm not brave enough to try to take on a goddess.

[And that's another joke, clear in the way her eyes sparkle, though this one's more for her. She has nothing if not a long track record of fighting gods and goddesses -- but not playing cards with them!]

Gross, right?

[Kotone claps a little, impressed with the way the other girl had just gulped the whole thing down so quickly. No way could she do something like that (though if someone challenged her in some kind of contest, she'd definitely try...), but she can applaud the effort! And then steal that beer glass to sweep under the counter to replace with an equal sized glass of water.]

Who are Yusuke and Kazuma? Friends of yours?

[The only Yusuke that Kotone had met was Yusuke Kitagawa a long time ago, and Yusuke is kind of a common name, but she can't help but be curious. Is that weird guy back?]

"One or eleven?" Seems odd, but sure. He doesn't know what the hell is going on here, or how the hell a card can be worth two very different amounts at the end of the day but.. here they are anyway. It's set the ball rolling, though, and Hiei is now even more curious than he was before. Unfortunately for Yukina he is far too busy analyzing everything to realize what she wants him to do.

"So.. the king can be worth.. 14, then?"

[He's not going to be stuck elaborating on Kotone's powers again, right?! RIGHT...

If Morph doesn't ask them to elaborate, Scott's not going to volunteer that information. He's sure that Kotone or someone (or him...) will explain it to them later, but he's totally fine just leaving that topic alone, even if the next one is a bit harder to talk about. Hah, maybe it would be better if he talked about her Personas, but this is still important. Morph's talking about what they went through and Scott truly wants to focus on that.

It really sucks that they had to go through something like that again. Something that's just awful, there's no other way to put it. Scott bites his lip, nodding, something sympathetic flashing across his face as he squeezes Kotone's hand back when she talks about her own trial with being controlled. He definitely remembers that. He almost died that day.

Perhaps he can talk about Phoenix now, but... is it the same thing? That wasn't entirely the fault of this place, not to mention he's not sure if he can talk about it now.

So, he doesn't bring that up. Although...]

Something like that happened to me too, sort of. Lost control and everything.

[He destroyed the club building. Hurt a couple of friends.]

A little but it is supposed to be that way, right? Scott and my friends told me that's the point. The worse it tastes, the better for you to drink it!

[Or rather to drink as quickly as one could. However, she wasn't complaining. Not when Scott's complaining made her smile! She wasn't human but to know that she passed a rite of passage was good to hear!]

But yes, they are. They're people from my world along with Kurama and Hiei. Although, I'm not sure if they sound familiar to you.

"I think it's a 10?"

It made sense in her mind. All the over cards were supposed to go up to 9. So, the other ones are supposed to go up to 10, right? But then again, that was from what she had seen. Looking the card, she was still waiting to see if he would pick them up. However, as her hand got closer, it seemed like she would have to take the initiative.

[Right now Morph's not too interested in asking for more info about Kotone's whole thing, though they might try to get a little more out of one of them about it at a later date. Yeah, they're curious because the magical spirit beings had been weird and tough to fight, but they can worry about the whole 'how do you fight a gun magician' problem later. It wasn't that they were planning on fighting Kotone again, just that suddenly there was something new they needed to prepare for.

Hearing that both of them went through a similar experience makes Morph frown. What, was brainwashing starting to go around like a disease? And something beyond the gnosia was doing it? That wasn't good at all. Even for the X-Men, that wasn't something that happened every day. Yeah, there were glitches going around and other strange things, but Morph is still getting used to what goes on here.]

It feels pretty bad, huh? To lose control over yourself like that. But yeah, my friends forgave me. And the bad guy that did it got chased off, so things worked out.

[What they'd gone through at home had still been hard on Morph for a few reasons, but they didn't need to go into all of that. They had already shared plenty. They just needed Scott and Kotone to know where they were coming from.]

As long as you two don't hold it against me, I'm happy. But hey, go get back to having fun. I don't want to take up your time by being all gloomy.

Oh, you mean how serious it'll be? Yeah, I really don't think I want you to go all out.

[ Toph laughs a little. ]

I've fought huge spirit gods before, but usually with a lot of backup.

[She's so glad Toph understands. Last thing Dara would want is ~~shounen protag energy~~ someone who doesn't understand one human's capabilities compared to a god's. Even she could not have slain the original Yamatagi Madara without her elder sister's help. And that took DAYS!]

I can imagine, although I may not be so similar to the gods you faced. Mine is more of a resonance type, and you don't deserve to go through that sort of suffering. Although it's pretty quick to render most people helpless...

[Dara pauses for a moment before canting her head, as if stumbling onto a revelation.]

I guess you could consider it a cheat code? Anyways-- don't worry about it. Would you prefer that I keep my tail out or look more human during the fight?

[Did he say that? Yeah, that sounds like him. He'll just ignore Kotone if she starts giving him a side eye for telling Yukina something like that. Look on the bright side, she can now enjoy fancy girly cocktails and all that stuff. He's not going to stop Kotone from doing that now because Yukina passed the trial.

Scott just hurriedly tries to finish the rest of his drink, grimacing just a little, before pushing his glass away.]

I still haven't met Kurama, but it'll happen at some point.

[He tends to meet a lot of people, one way or another. God, when did he become so social anyway??]

[ Toph is absolutely the sidekick to the silly shounen protag, and therefore is far more sensible. Seeing a challenge makes her want to smash her face into it, but not, like, actually endanger herself. She saves that for when something important is on the line. ]

Okaayyyy, that's the creepiest thing I've heard lately, but thanks for thinking I don't deserve it? I guess?

[ She really hadn't paid attention to most of the blah blah about the spirits Aang went on about, so frankly she has no idea how similar to dissimilar Dara is to her world's spirit gods, anyway. She just has a sense that if Agni himself came down to Earth she would respect the hell out of him. ]

Why would I care how human you look? [ Toph waves a hand in front of her face. But okay, obvious blind joke aside... ] Whatever you want. I don't need you to pretend you're somebody else.

Hiei's brows furrow - look, if this is about counting he's kind of got it covered, but... he still wants to see an example first. Visual learner, or something... definitely just a guy who hates to lose if he doesn't have to. Even if it's just a stupid human card game that he doesn't truly understand. He's trying here, for Yukina's sake, but he's more concerned about winning or trying to win than having fun at this point.

"You do the first hand." There, he finally says it, gesturing for her to take it.

"I want to watch the first one, at least."

[At least in Kotone's case, hers had been a cult whose members have since died horrible deaths. So! Probably not at risk of coming back (as far as she knows). But keeping with the theme of the evening, she doesn't elaborate on something Morph didn't ask, just humming softly and nodding. Even before her arrival in Aldrip, she'd heard about how one of her teammates had lost control of his Persona and accidentally killed someone, and witnessed herself how much that murder had torn him up inside.

So she does understand where they're coming from, and it's evident in the slight quirk to her smile. She just nods when Morph verbally wipes their hands of it and dismisses it as something in the past. No need to pry for details if the older mutant isn't inclined to share! But Kotone will remember that.]

You're welcome to hang out with us if you want! [she offers, the sympathetic tinge to her smile disappearing behind something more mischievous. She's teasing Scott, mostly, because he'd been so annoyed about the interruption from the old bingo lady.]

Ooooh... I'll make sure to say hi!

[Kotone reaches over and takes Scott's glass with a giggle at his expression, replacing it with a similar glass of water like she'd given Yukina. The main difference is that Scott gets a little pat on the head as if to say "good job!" Affection is clear in her eyes and in her smile, even as she turns back toward Yukina again.]

What are your friends like?

Edited 2024-09-20 02:00 (UTC)

[ Toph squeaks aloud and immediately lets go of his hand.

There's a long moment in which her own heartbeat seems loud in her ears and then she hurriedly reaches out and grabs his hand again, deeply incredulous. The subtler aspects of the mental contact are frankly lost on Toph, who has never engaged in anything even remotely psychic before.

But as one would expect, there is a solid clarity to her mental shape, as smooth and certain as polished granite. ]

This is so weird. Have you always been able to do this?!

[Morph's right, it did feel bad, but similarly, all his friends forgave him. They did more than that honestly, as he thinks about Mikey and how the biker tossed him a sleepover and crap. Kind of girly, but whatever, he appreciated it then and he appreciates it now. Not that he's about to invite his teammate over for a sleepover, but he definitely holds no ill will towards the other mutant.

The forgiveness is definitely apparent in Scott's expression, lasting for a few seconds before it scrunches in slight displeasure. Kotone inviting Morph to their date night, of course.

She's definitely teasing, but also...

Maybe in any other scenario, Scott would've easily rolled his eyes or went along with it, but it's clear that he's not too fond of the idea. He just wants to spend time and be normal with her after watching her die in front of him, is that too much to ask???? But those upset feelings that threaten to climb to the surface are swallowed down, repressed, and he only stiffens in his seat for a moment before breathing out.]

...Yeah, that's cool. There's a lot of games open.

They're demons!

[Of course, was that intentional? Was she giving a slight pause or two as she let the information sunk in? Perhaps but she wasn't going to think too much about it.]

However, they are very sweet people. From what I've heard, it seems that they're helping and making friends! It's very exciting to see!

Here, she was trying so hard to get her brother to at least participate in this game. However, at least she will consider this them being interested. Taking the deck of cards in her hands, she picks up the first card she sees. It was a four of hearts.

"This card is supposed to be a 4 so I need find another card to make 21."

With that, she got a ten of hearts. While it didn't quite add up to the number she wanted, she picked up yet another. As she does so, she managed to get a two of clubs. It made her raise an eyebrow as she has yet to make it that high up. As she questioned if she should continue, she decided against it as to teach Hiei what to do. She managed to pick up a three of hearts.

Looking at Hiei and then back at the cards, she knew the next one would be where she goes beyond 21. With that, she managed to get an 8 of diamonds.

"If you add up the numbers, I went beyond 21. So..."

[Caitlyn is grateful Toph can't see the flush crossing her face, but she can probably sense the flutter of her heart, so it's just as bad. Sighs.]

N-- No. Just her. [She's basically admitting to it, but there's no point in really denying it, is there? Everyone seems to see through them, these days. They've been called out, more and more, lately.]

That sounds amazing. [She never doubted herself with her firearm skills, but with this magic, she's always been more hesitant. Magic is forbidden where she's from, so she knows she's still internalizing that and needs to let go. This was an amazing gift, and Toph was going to help her be even more amazing.]

I'll be looking forward to it.

[That gesture may have been a little demeaning from anyone else, but from Kotone, Scott will still accept it. It's one of her special privileges because ~~he loves her~~ she's cute. IT'S A GOOD THING YOU'RE CUTE KOTO--]

Yeah, they're pretty cool.

[Scott adds on with a small shrug, figuring that his girlfriend will barely bat an eyelash about Yukina's friends being demons. Plus yeah, he thinks Yusuke and Hiei are pretty chill at least. He's sure that Kurama is as well, once he meets him and everything.]

[Morph does briefly think about it, but they're also not totally blind. They flash the the two a smile as they rise from their chair,]

Naaah, I think I'm going to go hit the dance floor. I heard the music earlier and it's not bad.

[It would at least work to burn off the rest of their nervous energy. They're relieved that their apology went over so well, but Morph meant it when they said they didn't want to interrupt Scott and Kotone's time together. They weren't all that keen on hanging around and being a third wheel during what was obviously a date - they'd just be a mood-killer to a mood they didn't need to witness in the first place.]

We can always get together and hang out some other time. Don't be strangers, okay?

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Free Night at the Casino

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