abyssdressing | (no subject)

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characters: scionofhispower

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[Clearly, redheads have never been in short supply here.

As a result of this fact, seeing Asch sitting at a table with that smug "I'm better than you" look of his shouldn't really take too many people by surprise. Oh, sure, the lack of any discernible agitation is probably a little disconcerting as is the presence of a deck of playing cards set upon the table within easy reach of his right hand. Of course, this Asch is a little different from most, missing anger notwithstanding; it isn't too hard to tell he is a fair bit older, somewhere within his early-to-mid twenties.

Regardless, he is Asch. And he? He is challenging you to a game of poker.

Ready to try your luck?]

[ooc; Unlike

swallowfury, Asch here is definitely not reset, so he retains any CR he had from the last time I was around a couple years back. Of course, he's not going to come out and just let you know who he is; he feels like being a bit of a jerk, so even if you do know him, he's going to leave you guessing. Especially. If you're a certain replica. Why? Because he can. ~~And, no, he's not going to deal cards to kids. But he might go into papa mode on them.~~]

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[Asch raises an eyebrow at the noise, explains the other hands in order of strength, and then shuffles the deck.] Friendly challenge, or did you want to bet on it?

Friendly will be acceptable. I don't have anything of monetary value to offer.

[It's unnerving for him, hearing a Luke sound so intelligent. Although he supposes he shouldn't be surprised there'd be one around who has some brain cells to rub together.] Fair enough. [And once he's finished shuffling, he deals five cards to each of them.] Dealer draws last; your move.

[Luke's expression did not change as he observed his hand.]

So you are saying I can discard whatever cards I wish and have them replaced with others?

Exactly.

[He doesn't show it, but Asch is a little amused at seeing a Luke who can actually mask his expressions. Since most Lukes are easier to read than a picture book.]

Very well.

[Luke withdrew two cards, placing them down for two more.]

[He deals two new cards to Luke before taking a look at his own hand; after a few moments, he sets one card down and draws a new one.

And since this is Luke's first time playing, Asch will bend the rules slightly and show his hand first, despite being the dealer. He spreads his hand face-up on the table: two queens, two fives, and an ace.] Dealer has two pair.

[Luke frowned at his hand in concern, taking that display as the end of the round, and spreading out his cards: an ace high straight.]

I am uncertain if this meets the requirements you specified.

It does; player takes the first hand [He actually smiles a bit; it's been a while since anyone's beaten him, really, and while losing doesn't exactly make him excited or anything, it gets a little boring when you're stuck in a pretty repetitive loop. Not that he could complain when he was playing for gald, though - he'd needed the money to get around and gambling was a pretty easy way to get it without drawing too much attention to himself. Few people liked to discuss who they lost their money to, after all.]

Play again, or...?

[Luke raised an eyebrow, before his expression finally changed, a bit of a smirk coming to his face.]

Or? This seems to be suitable entertainment.

If you're sure. [Asch shuffles the deck again.] I have to say, you're certainly an interesting Luke. [As he says this, he deals five cards to each of them.]

[The calm expression fell back over his face as he observed his new hand.]

So I have observed. Sadly, ninety-nine percent of the instances of myself that reside here are still in the weak, human stage of their lives.

Hn. Being human isn't necessarily as weak as you'd think. Just means we have to work a bit harder at times.

[His own expression returns to that confident smirk he'd had when Luke had first sat at the table.]

Hn... perhaps. I am completely dissatisfied with the 'work' I did back then.

[He set three cards down.]

Well, you can't really blame the work of a defective replica for being defective. [He provides three new cards to Luke before replacing one of his own.]

Thankfully this defect was fixable.

[He frowned thoughtfully at his hand, unsure of what to do now.]

[...That comment was unexpected. And here Asch was just being a bit of a troll.] ...I can't presume to know how it was for you, but I will say this: my own replica did manage to work through any faults and difficulties of her own, regardless of how much help she may have required to do so.

Anyway, since your first hand went well enough, the proper way to go about this is the player shows his hand first.

[Luke frowned again, before laying his cards down: three Queens and two Aces.]

Is this acceptable?

It is, but... [Asch lays his own hand down on the table: four nines and a two.] It would seem my luck returns.

Interesting...

[So four of a kind beat out this kind of pair. Understandable. He handed his cards back over, expecting the next hand.]

[Asch takes the cards and starts shuffling again. As he does, though, he figures he might try to gain some information.] You say you're no longer human; if you don't mind my asking, what are you, then?

I am a hybrid; while I retain some humanity, I relate more to my arrancar side.

[He paused, before glancing up at him.]

I believe you humans refer to arrancar as 'evil spirits'.

[Asch's eyes narrow very slightly at this.] I see. I can't say my past experiences with anything we'd consider an evil spirit have been particularly amicable...

[Luke shrugged easily.]

Evil spirit is a bit of a misnomer, especially for the arrancar. We are what we choose to be; our capacity for emotional depth is just significantly less due to our need to feed on souls.

Tch. Sounds rather like the sorts I've dealt with, just with a different source of sustenance. Besides... [Asch really can't believe he's about to say this; he'll lose all of his trolling credibility.] I'd say being emotional is just about my replica's best trait; I can't imagine it would have been much different for you before.