Event || The New Year

[melodiesmods]

Characters: Anyone!
Where: The Enterprise.
When: The Night from December 31st to January 1st.
Summary: A Ball aboard the Enterprise, for well-dressed (mostly) Heroes of Light and their friends who want to dance and (especially) eat for free.
Warning: Nothing.

While the passing from a year to another isn't as big of an event as the Starlight Celebration, it is no reason to pass up an ocasion to celebrate and have fun. There are fireworks in all major cities and various activities to enjoy. Noticeably, there are gatherings of people in Aqures Ixen and Trano Golsaucia in particular, if only to conclude what is one of the most celebrated week in the year, and wish to each other the best possible year to come-- Though most people are worried about what's to come soon. After all, the end might be nigh with the Calamity about to take over the planet...

To celebrate this, the Heroes of Light have all been invited to stay aboard the Enterprise for a particularly prestigious and animated Ball. Indeed, the Enterprise will from Aqures Ixen and go all the way to Mysidia at midnight-- This way, New Year is going to last even longer than normal thanks to the magic of timezones.

There are tables with foods for everyone to eat and of course, music for people to dance together if they so wish. There is also a consequent number of chairs lined up, for all those who refuse to dance or are too awkward to do so.

Comments

[no1]

Ace knew better than to be offended at Billy's posture, briefly leaning back against his chair to retrieve a deck of cards from his pocket. The gesture was nothing but symbolic, considering that there was little use for them without the Gambler being equipped, but he'd made it something of a habit to always carry his old weapon by his side, anyway.

"No, in fact that is a fair point. I did not mean to criticize you." While the cadet spoke with solemnity in his voice, the mention of the familiar figure managed to break his composure a bit. Absentmindedly twirling one of the cards between his fingers, he responded with a smirk of his own.

"... I didn't know you two had some kind of history. I find his stance on the means of transportation rather odd, myself."

[unetoned]

Billy snorted. "I mean, I don't really know him or anything..." Sparks just rubbed him the wrong way, and though Billy would never admit it, they were too alike to ever get along well.

"But yeah, I'd rather work at the hospital with Yuna and the others."

He gave Ace's cards a pointed look. "Are we playing something, or do you just shuffle for no reason?"

[no1]

Or anything. For some reason, the cadet found it difficult to mask his amusement at the response, but he still tried his best, settling for an acknowledging nod.

So swept up in his attempt to respond in an appropriate manner, he hadn't really been prepared to hear the question that followed. To be honest, his absent-minded habits had long since accompanied him, and it was a wonder nobody had ever seemed to have minded... up until now.

The blond's eyes widened slightly. "... It's more like a force of habit, I guess. Still, I wouldn't mind if you're up for it." While genuinely meant it, the boy's knowledge of the deck was a thing to consider, since most of them he could easily recognize without as much as giving them a glance.

[unetoned]

Billy gave Ace an uncertain look. Did he think Billy didn't know how to play cards? That he didn't know how to have fun? As a matter of fact, he played cards with his kids back at the orphanage just not anything that resembled gambling because the Ethos church was strict about that sort of thing.

"What are we playing? Rummy, War, Speed? I don't know poker and I am not playing 52 Card Pick-up." He had almost banned cards in the house when the kids had first gotten wind of that particular game.

I imagine he knows them under different names, but I'm too tired to come up with anything witty...

[no1]

Somebody might have been slightly overthinking things. Not only it had never been his intention to leave a similar impression, it wasn't as if Ace would dare to make such claims, considering....

"Any will do, if you'd be so kind to explain the rules, first." Even in his general obliviousness to things, it quickly dawned on him how strange it must have sounded, and sheepishly, he added. "... You see, I've never had the opportunity to play with anyone here before."

Sure, he'd tried his hand at the Triple Triad, but that was different. There was only one name that rang a bell among the ones Billy had listed, and the cadet wholeheartedly agreed poker was a rather poor fit, given the circumstances.

[unetoned]

Ace was treated to one of Billy's patented world-weary sighs.

"Alright... War is the easiest. We'll start there." He turned in his chair and folded his legs up, sitting crosslegged.

"Deal out the cards into two piles. We flip a card one at a time, and the higher card wins. If we have the same card, we have to 'war'. I'll explain when we get there. Ace is high," he told his companion with a smirk.

making stuff up, go

[no1]

War is never easy, Billy, don't you know that.

Since his roommate clearly meant business, Ace decided to pull one of the empty chairs closer for a more convenient way to place one's cards; a neutral zone, so to speak. He listened to Billy's explanation with patience, though the last sentence would just earn the other boy an incredulous look. Really?

But then, he would just snicker to himself, refusing to comment on it further. "Sounds pretty close to how Ultima is played out." Giving the deck a quick shuffle and dividing it in two (he didn't have to check if the numbers matched, he never did), he placed one half next to Billy, while keeping his own on the other side of the chair. "Picking the same value forces each player to place another card face down, while the 'war', as you called it, resumes with their next pick, except the winner takes it all."

The cadet looked at Billy expectantly, waiting to be either corrected or receive a confirmation. Quite frankly, it wasn't exactly rocket science, so the chances of this simple game existing across various universes were actually pretty high.

[unetoned]

Billy nodded. "One card, or three, if you want to raise the stakes."

He flipped a card over and waited for Ace to play his. "Why do you carry them around if you don't play?" He'd never seen Ace building houses out of them, and as far as Billy knew, those were the only two uses for a deck.

[no1]

The way he said it, made Ace wonder if his housemate wasn't by any chance more competitive of a soul than he had thought.

He would let the boy have the first round, setting down - or rather tossing his card so that it flips over right before touching the surface, revealing a lower rank. Resting beneath his fingertips was a King, though, so he was rather confident, even with the completely randomized procedure.

The boy lifted his eyes to glance at Billy. "Fighting. Cards are my primary weapon, and they have been since I can remember. Unfortunately, they do not seem to hold the same power they did back home."