Then they'll take you to Cloughprior and shove you in the ground (Mingle)

[notinflictthem]

CHARACTERS: Hawkeye and the Veteran’s Poker Club
DATE: March
LOCATION: Hawkeye’s clinic
SITUATION: Poker game (for veterans)
WARNINGS: Presumably discussion of conflict and ptsd

You need one more drop of poison and you'll dream of foreign lands

A notice goes up on the board, and Hawkeye sets up the clinic for the occasion. Obviously he’s not moving all his medical supplies out- at the back of his mind is always the possibility that something could happen that demands he put his doctor hat on again. Not choppers, but something.

But he sets up a table and chairs in the middle of the main room, with a stack of cards and some ‘chips’ (acorns, he went out and gathered some acorns, which he’s painted different colours). There’s a flask of his homemade gin, some finger food from the Oak and Iron, and he got a box of cigars for the occasion. Feels just like the conferences from home, only without sandwiches that move and Frank. So, y’know, infinitely better.

Prior to starting, while Hawkeye’s setting up, he’ll engage in some small talk with anyone who shows up early- which, they’ll all be military, it will probably be all of them.
“Ever played poker?”

Or

“Can I get you a drink?”

Or

“Can you grab that tray of implements for me?”

At the sick bed of Cuchulainn we'll kneel and say a prayer

When everyone who’s arriving arrives, Hawk sets himself at the table, one of his surgical lights over top of the table to set the mood.

“Alright- this is poker, it’s a little game we like to play back on earth, because we like losing money. I’m gonna teach you five card draw, just to get us started. I’m going to deal each of you five cards. What you’re looking for is to have the highest hand at the end of the round, then you take the pot. Easy. Hands are ranked by how hard they are to do- if you get numbered cards in order and they’re all the same suit, that’s a straight flush. Then we go four of a kind, which is just that- four of the same number. Full house is if you have three of the same number and a pair of a different numbers in the same hand. Flush is if you have all your cards in the same suit. Then straight, which is by number order but not the same suit, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and then if you have absolutely nothing we score it by your highest card.”

Hawkeye clears his throat, takes a sip of gin.

“I'll deal to start with, we all bet based on our hands and how confident we are that we’ll have the highest ranking hand, then we discard any cards we want and redraw back up to five. Then we place our final bets, and reveal our hands. You get lost at any point, just ask. Questions?”

And the ghosts are rattling at the door and the devil's in the chair

Shittalking, chewing the fat, commiseration, and general socializing with Hawkeye during games goes under this header. Tls for your characters welcome in the comments.

Comments

ghosts are rattling at the door

[be_seeing_you]

There have been a lot of impressive poker faces on display tonight. Claude's is one of them. Between that and his evasive answers when asked about his own background, Number 6 cannot help but be curious to know more. (It should be noted that Number 6 is similarly evasive with his own answers.)

During a lull between hands, he comes up beside Claude to formally introduce himself. "Good evening. If you will allow me, I am Peter Starr. A pleasure to meet you." He offers his hand out for Claude to shake.

"You seem to learn quick. If I'm not mistaken, you came into this not quite knowing the game?"

[inaurate]

"Claude von Riegan. Nice to meet you, Peter." Claude has the firm handshake of a young man who frequently has to convince men his father's age to take him seriously. "That's right; I'm more a fan of strategy and tactical games, myself. This game is a bit too luck-based for my tastes, but I can appreciate the challenge of trying to make the most of a bad hand." He smiles wryly. Oh boy, can he ever. "And the company isn't bad at all."

[be_seeing_you]

Number 6 recognizes that grip for what it is, and unlike many Claude has likely dealt with, there's no sudden squeeze or tug to assert dominance. Just a good, honest handshake.

"Ah, but it's that aspect of luck that gives it thrill. The best laid strategies are still beholden to luck, wouldn't you agree?" Spoken like a spy used to working on the fly in the field.

"The company has been excellent so far, I'd dare to say."

[inaurate]

"Agree to disagree-- I prefer to leave as little to chance as I can where it matters." Spoken like a man that has had the lives of an entire country's soldiers, plus the fates of all her citizens, on his shoulders. Of course, that doesn't mean he's never had to rely on a stroke of luck-- just that he doesn't like to. The risks he takes are carefully calculated, and he's pretty damn good at math. "I'd rather have the satisfaction of a strategy playing out exactly the way I planned. And if it doesn't, that's what back-up plans are for."

[be_seeing_you]

"Spoken like a commander?" Number 6 makes it a question with his inflection, but he's fairly sure of himself in this guess.

"I agree with you that one can never have too many contingencies."

[inaurate]

"Gave myself away with that, did I?" Claude chuckles, conceding with a nod. "If I want a thrill, I'll go for a flight on wyvernback. Or, I would've back home anyway." No trained mount-sized wyverns around for him to go flying on here... "Maybe being here will change my mind more towards your line of thinking." Now that he's no longer directly responsible for lives other than his own, that is. Probably not, though.

[be_seeing_you]

"Yes, but in your defense my previous line of work was as a secret agent. I wouldn't have been very good at my job if I couldn't make such determinations quickly." Number 6 can read the room like it's a speed-reading course.

"Wyvern? Isn't that daring! Such beasts did not exist in my world. The best I could do was racing fast cars." His wings flap behind him and then settle, "That is, until I acquired these."

[inaurate]

"That explains a few things." And brings up a few questions. Is Peter Starr even his real name? Well, Claude can hardly judge someone for going by a different name. It makes him curious, but he's no longer the kid tanking his own relationships with his incessant curiosity-- there are no lack of things to investigate here, things far more pressing to him than a new acquaintance's true name.

"Wyverns are a huge part of the culture where I grew up. Learning to fly on one is something of a rite of passage." Certainly for nobility, and many of the warriors. "Being able to fly under your own power, though-- that must really be something else." He's kind of envious, actually... going for a flight with Anisa always helped to clear his head, or helped him to just get out of it for a while. "So is a car anything like a carriage?" He's from Dubiously Medieval Times, help him out here.

[be_seeing_you]

Peter Starr certainly wasn't the name he was born with, but ask him today and it is the realest name he's ever used--especially because Starr is his wife's maiden name that he decided to adopt for himself as well.

"I see. Do you ride them into battle as well?" He's picturing something like cavalry, but flying.

"Being able to fly is a very nice perk. And a good thing, too because these wings were bestowed to me quite suddenly not even a year ago." He wasn't given a choice in the matter, but he's since gotten fond of them.

"Yes. They are, essentially, a carriage that needs no horse to drive it."

[inaurate]

"We do, they're great in battle. As an archer, the range it allows is unparalleled." So, Peter's picture is accurate.

He has no way of knowing the sort of circumstances where one would 'suddenly' have wings, but-- it's not hard to imagine it might have been less than pleasant. The phrasing definitely implies it was a change that was not asked for. "Got to make the most of the hand you're dealt, right? That you were able to learn how to fly with them in such a short time is pretty impressive." He can't even imagine how strange it would feel, to suddenly have an extra pair of limbs like that.

Several questions about how exactly these cars work spring to mind. Is it magic? Or is it more like the train running from the town out to where the hot springs are? How fast do the fast ones go? "I've got about a thousand questions about the different kinds of technology I've heard you all talking about tonight."

[be_seeing_you]

"You must be an exceptionally accomplished archer." Shooting from horseback is complicated enough, but from the sky? Perhaps Number 6 should ask for some instruction. He may find himself in need of the skill now.

"Yes. Thank you," he preens. "I did have some assistance with learning. I fear the process might have resulted in a lot more bruises and broken bones if not for that." Essentially, he got a good friend to levitate him so that he could learn gradually without the fear of falling.

He smiles knowingly. He would be absolutely delighted to impart his knowledge about cars (off-screen where this writer doesn't have to pretend she knows what she's talking about). "I know the feeling. However impressive all of this sounds, it barely scratches the surface, believe me."