How Quick is Your Eye? [Attn: Drin'far'ji Danos & Drin'far'ji Avram]

[Damien]

Danos

Danos waited as the moment continued to drag out.

He was glad the common room had not yet filled with many people and that the game in the corner had not drawn a larger crowd. He felt foolish sitting there with his neck turned as he waited with Avram.

Well this is foolish, how long am I supposed to wait like this for his side bet anyways, thought Danos to himself as he decided he had waited long enough to accommodate Avram's request.

As he turned he saw the women sitting, her hands clasped in her lap. She seemed ill at ease to Danos, and he wondered how much of that was the classes on observation and the growing Gaidin like awareness within him. Still, first few days here are hard on everyone, and you don't know her story thought Danos as he recalled his adjustment to life at the Grey Tower.

Danos calmly looked over the shells, looking at the shapes and spotting the blemish on the one he had been watching. He reached out with his hand and tapped the shell, "It's that one," he said as he sat back and waited to see what happened now with Avram's odd bet.

OOC: Danos will pick the shell he had always intended to pick, which is not the shell it lies under. And he plans to honour his bet, even if it comes to light. He's the type to figure if he was silly enough to fall for the ruse, it's a lesson for him.

[Bella]

When her fellow Drin made his choice, Natlya's eyes moved to the other man briefly. She knew that things would not turn out as they had started, and when the other cups were turned over, the small ball would be found. But she also knew that the one he had chosen did not have the ball under it, and she already had roused the second one's suspicion...

She reached out and took hold of the cup, flipping it over to reveal that nothing was underneath.

"Sorry, sir," she said, managing another smile for the first Drin. He had been the more gullible one, which made her like him better automatically. "Would you care to flip over the other cups now then?"

OOC: Fair enough! He'll find it under one of the other two now, though.

[Damien]

Danos

She reached out and took hold of the cup, flipping it over to reveal that nothing was underneath.

"Sorry, sir," she said with a smile as he revealed there was nothing under the cup. "Would you care to flip over the other cups now?" she asked , gesturing with her hands at the table.

Danos wordlessly flipped the other two cups over, and shrugged when he saw the ball underneath the last one he turned over. "Well that's that, a half mark worth of chores, although I don't know how you judge that," Danos said good naturedly even with loosing. It was a small bet and he had enjoyed the game.

I wonder if the Ko'di would help with observing those cups each time Danos pondered to himself curious as to how he could improve the sharp senses and keen eyes he had seen the Gaidin possess.

Danos then looked at Avram and the woman, sitting back in his chair to let them settle their bet."Well it appears the lady wins both bets Avram. Maybe we will do our chore together," Danos said to his roommate.

[Jiggity]

Avram

Avram allowed sufficient time for the replacement to be made before he looked back. He thought at one point he had seen a flicker of motion, but he was likely just fooling himself. If this drin - he wracked his brain, trying to remember if he knew her name, but if he did it was in his book somewhere - was good enough to risk playing this bloody game with her fellow trainees, it was unlikely he'd be able to spot it without staring at her hands, and even then it was unlikely. The waiting was agony, simply having to hope that she would do the smart thing and take the out she was being given. He turned just back just before his roommate, watching Danos pick a cup. A losing cup, as it happened. Did she decide to take her chances? Avram's teeth ground slightly, waiting for Danos to flip the others.

His jaw loosened and a sigh almost escaped him as the ball came into sight. "My bet seems to have been a bad one too" he commented, laughing softly. "I'll be helping Danos with those chores then, I suppose." He clapped the bigger man on the shoulder good naturedly. Granted, the tight grip was largely to stop the hand from shaking, but no one else needed to know that. "Bad luck all around." His eyes were sharp on Natlya, not matching his jocular tone in the slightest.

"We can settle up whenever you want." He leaned forward, his tone slightly different, unconsciously losing the polish he had learned as a child and slipping into the cant he had used on the streets of the Foregate. "Tis a good thing none had to be brought before the high and mighty. It's never good when a magistrate has to be involved now is it?" His eyes bored into the con-artist. "It's never a happy occasion when someone pulls a ham-handed scheme on their own and mucks it up." It was certainly the truth. It hadn't happened to him, but there were a few that he had known where the loyalty just wasn't there. They had all been sent before the law sooner than he had, and ended up much worse than he had.

[Bella]

She liked the big one. She didn't like the little one.

Then again, Natlya had never liked anyone who found her out. It pointed out a shortcoming on her part, and her ego was never very pleased with that. His keen gaze and pointed commentary only underlined the point, and inwardly, she felt her temper rising. With a skilled inner control, however, she didn't let it out. She was treading close enough to the edge as it was.

"You're quite right," she said smoothly, keeping her expression as pretty and unassuming as possible. It was an expression that had gotten her out of trouble more times than she could count, and only into it a handful of times with the rare cranky individual.

Nat took a breath and collected the cups, stacking them together and putting them opening side up before she dropped the ball into the one on top as she flashed another smile. "Thanks to you both for playing the game today. We'll meet up later to make arrangements for the handling of the chore." In truth, she wanted to be away from here before the one enlightened the other...or changed his mind.

[Jiggity]

Avram

"Meeting up later sounds great." He agreed, smiling. There had been something vaguely refreshing about the whole situation. A sort of... nostalgia. Everyone here had been so here honest, he hadn't had to be on his toes this way in a long time. He stepped around Danos and spoke quietly, pitching his voice so she could hear but Danos would have to listen hard to catch it.

"Look, I ran a crew in the Foregate for a while. Not the best crew, but that's another story. I have no objection to you running a con. Just not here, where some of the most observant people in the known world walk through now and again. If, on the other hand, you'd like to make some extra coin, I know some folk in the guard barracks. If you're as good with cards and dice as you are with those cups, we could both be in new boots by the end of the month. Heb and Jem could both do with being out a few silvers a week. You're not trying to fleece a nice guy like Danos under the nose of Ravak Gaidin, some people who deserve to have a bit less in life are out some cash, we get a few trinkets, the world is a better place." He grinned, the prospect of having a mark again without them knowing reigniting something in him. "Probably shouldn't talk about it more in here. The walls have ears and all."

He stepped back. "So when would you like to settle up? For the chores?"

[Bella]

Natlya listened to what he had to say with growing suspicion.

Was he trying to trap her? She didn't know if anyone else in the Tower would have the sort of experience that she and Morgan had. It was possible he did...or it was possible he was trying to set her up. Then again, he hadn't given her trouble about this and had, in fact, given her an out. He'd kept his word (given by implication, of course) to give her a shot, and he had.

Still, she couldn't find it in herself to simply trust his ideas. She bit the inside of her lip as she examined his eyes, seeking out the tell-tale clues that would give her more information. But it seemed that her paranoia was up a little too much to be at her best. "Come find me during first free period tomorrow. I'll be here."

She got to her feet and bowed her head to each of them. "Good day to you both."

[Damien]

Danos

Danos scratched his arm idly as he waited for the woman and Avram to finish their conversation.

He knew there was some context beyond a simple game, but wondered if perhaps there was rivalry from a spar or class at work.

When Avram approached the other Drin, Danos did his best to not eavesdrop and so when the attractive woman began chewing her lips and stood abruptly he was surprised.

He stood as well, an old habit of manners drilled into him by his mother, aunt and an army of goodwives who had watched the apprentices of Jornhill like hawks.

"Right then, first free period it is. And before you leave, I should introduce myself. Danos al'Sheen, it's nice to meet another Drin'far'ji and will make it easier to call in your marker if you know my name," said Danos with a smile.

Anyone who had made a living watching people would know that Danos' greeting was warm, honest and without even the faint odour of guile.

When the woman departed, Danos turned to his roommate and clapped him on the shoulder, "Not sure what all that was about, but glad to see two of us losing a bet. Takes the sting out of it somehow."

"Tell me, is the betting on the result of it like that something from Cairhein? I've never seen the like before," Danos asked amicably as he waited for his roommate before heading to their next scheduled assignment.

[Bella]

Pausing on her attempted exit, she met his gaze and offered a slightly more genuine, easier smile. She did like the big one. He was so...open, like a book whose pages she could flip through easily and at will. It was easier for her to deal with than the ones who knew and saw too much; you know, the ones like her.

"Natlya," she replied. "Just Natlya. I have no family name." With her free hand, she gestured at her hair. "I'm never too hard to find." She then turned on a heel and hurried out of the room.

OOC: Thank you, guys!

[Jiggity]

Avram

Avram nodded. "The first free period." Danos politely gave his name and Avram noted her response, repeating it a few times to keep it straight for later. It would be added to his growing list of people to keep an eye on. She could certainly be useful. And to an extent, even the mistrust was refreshing. It was easy to get along with people like Fiona and Danos, but they trusted far more easily than he could understand or be comfortable with.

"Aye friend, losing is sometimes the better option." He responded to Danos. "That was a bet I'm much happier was lost. Where I saw that game, in the Foregate, it was usually completely rigged. The fleecer would be fast enough that the ball would be off the table completely by the time the sheep were ready to pick a cup. A few people I knew came up with that as a counter, to keep the games fair." He shrugged and started walking to the yards with Danos. "I figured that if she was honest, I'd be doing a bit more work. If she wasn't, you and I would both win a bet and she'd be on her way to Master Darrow. Habit more than anything, to be honest. I'm just glad you weren't being fleeced, to be honest. That would be a truly impressive pile of wool, given your size." The last line was said with a half smile, given that it was looking up quite a distance.

OOC: Yeah I think this is pretty much done