Huck had never really understood why Strellie liked Kitty so much. He personally loved Strellie. And while he was aware of her status in the school- that she inspired fear in certain people- he had always taken that aspect of her life with a grain of salt. Everyone had another side to themselves. Kitty, however, had no other side, as far as he was concerned. She was a tiny Freddy Krueger, but with sharper claws.

The vague reference to their road trip made Huck grin like a dope. "As bored as a two-by-four."

He made certain to settle in next to Gracie. By his logic, she was certain to trounce a good deal of the group at the card game and as such it'd be silly to position himself in a spot where he'd get a good view of her. ...Okay, most of that was just his way of rationalizing his desire to sit next to her.

The alcohol was already humming pleasantly within him, and- while he had never been good at divination- he had a sneaking suspicion he'd be naked long before the rest of them. And that thought didn't bother him in the slightest. Would he be embarrassed to be naked in front of his lady friends? Sure. Did he think he had anything to be ashamed of? Hell no. His wifebeater and basketball shorts felt suddenly stifling, and he knew if he had a few more drinks he'd be shedding layers regardless of his card prowess. "Kinda warm, innit?"

‘Mildly amused’ didn’t even begin to describe that flash of feeling when Kitty Li showed up, although with that decidedly cautious getup and the twisted look that went along with it, it was a pretty damn good start. The petite girl didn’t bother to hide her distaste for Gracie’s outsider bum, and now that she was surrounded by outsider bums—barring Livi and Mimi’s fine, fine selves, of course—the other girl was easier to read. To be specific, her annoyance was easier to read, and for that Gracie’s housemate got a pretty smirk and a lazy wiggle of the fingers. No other words needed to be said; whatever poison she chose to spit at her friend was ignored. What mattered was that it was said, and that was all Gracie needed to go on not caring about the other girl’s opinion at all. But as for Erin. . .

When the blonde sauntered his adorable arse into the room, the smirk warmed into a smile. She did have a thing for blondes, after all-

Voice raised just enough, “Eleven layers, Deus?” she smoothly nipped at the end of Kitty’s words. Pointedly turning away from the girl’s direction, tucking more into Huck’s side, Gracie gave Deus a taunting smile that wasn’t directed at him. “How. . . generous of you, considering present company.” The delicate shift of movement only seemed to emphasize her shorts’ lack of length, as well the layers that she, unlike the others, didn’t  have. One could say whatever she wanted about rustic trollops and a brazenness that could only be bluff, but knowing that one could win without such handicaps was so much better.

Although losing was tempting, too.

“Maybe you should just start taking your clothes off,” she purred at the corner of Huck’s jaw, another, different kind of grin lurking behind the smirk. . . before she turned to throw the smirk Deus’ way. “Well?” she drawled, those green eyes revealing nothing. “You gonna deal, Deres, or shall I? -Though, makin’ your guest do it for you is bad form, you know.”


   

Girl scouts. Erin smiled and nodded. Like he had any idea what the hell those were.

Once upon a time he would have flinched at the kiss to the jaw, or at least squirmed away. But half a year under Razzy's fond assaults had chipped away some of the infamous Harper sense of personal space, and now he only blinked. After a second to consider he slipped an arm around Liviana in return, an uncertain smile flicking over his lips - what a strange place to be kissed. So fluttery.

"I mean, I'd watch out for poisoned parchment Howlers," he said. "But otherwise yeah, go wild. Tell her we'll have a summer wedding, open bar, the works. I'm not particular."

He grabbed one of the many bottles and then, with great solemnity, Erin began to suit up for the coming game. He stuffed a hat on his head and pulled on another shirt atop the tank and under the jumper, though he knew between the heat, the drink, and Livi snuggled up against his side he was gonna get hot too quickly. That was all right. He wasn't much of a poker player, so he'd lose some layers soon enough. He was already wearing a ring or two and socks under his trainers, so he didn't have anything else to add. The girls had lucked out. They had more accessories, but if Erin put another hat on his head he was just going to look stupid.

He hated clothes anyways. Robes were too likely to get hung on tree branches or twine around his legs when he ran or whack him in the face when he did tricks on his broom; muggle clothes were a little better, as long as they were soft and short-sleeved. But if his options were getting a little overheated vs. ending up nudie in a room full of giggling girls and potential splinters, he'd put off the latter just a little bit longer. Slytherin girls were the bestworst about things like that. They didn't even pretend they weren't looking.

He liked this group. Genuinely. Not in the alliance sort of way, or the I'll tolerate you sort of way. Not even in the just trying to get you used to me so I can rob you all when you're rich in your own right sort of way. Well maybe a little—but they couldn't take that personally. And despite it, he liked them. All of them.

Gracie, with her sass and smiles and a soul like his own.
Huck, whose friendship was easy and uncomplicated.
Erin, who complimented his war wounds and kept his cunning close to his skin.
Livi, pretty as a queen and sharp as sin.
Mimi, who wore her scars far more prettily than Deus did or ever would.
And of course, Kitty, who could match his family of criminals in brutality and outstrip them by miles in class.

But that was sentimental crap and got old fast.

And it certainly didn't mean he wouldn't use every tool at his disposal to rob them all blind, be it in terms of coin or clothing. Slytherin friendship was as much a gamble as their card game.

"Hotter'n hell." Deus responded amiably, nodding in Huck's direction.

"Gracie, sweetie," The boy drawled, deliberately interpreting only the parts he chose to, "Ye donnae 'ave tae wear e'en one if ye donnae feel keen on it." The cards blurred in his hands proprietarily. "Texas Hold 'Em it is." He announced, sparing a brief wink in Kitty's direction. Though really, with this many players, that was the only option.

But before he dealt--

"A weddin?" Deus lunged forward to clap Erin's face first, smacking an enthusiastic kiss on the fellow Slytherin's mouth before doing the same to Liviana with an overdramatic sniffle reminiscent of an old woman. He then snagged whatever bottle was nearest—looked like Pheonix Tears Whiskey from the color—and raised it high. "A toast tae th'appy couple. D'ye want tea towels or…sommat more exciting?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, but from Deus, that could mean blowing up their reception hall or lingerie that came with its own enchanted mood music. Hard to say. He downed a generous swallow, enjoying the burn and the slight fuzzy warmth that came with it before passing it on down the circle.

And then he moved on, waving a hand dismissively and changing topics with a rapidness he never seemed to display about anything in school—laziness was vastly underrated.

"We can alternate dealers each hand, if ye like. That way, cannae accuse anyone o'…stacking de deck." Blatant bullshit. Sometimes you didn't need wizarding magic to make things move your way—all you needed was quick hands and faster fingers.  And this group would know that of him certainly, even if he'd yet to truly be caught. In a show of innocence, he paused in his shuffle, so the three blackened fingers and thorny, vine like tear scars were starkly visible against the white of the cards.

Tonight, Deus would be playing honestly.

Or at least, that's what he wanted his peers to assume.

"Or nae. Depend on how ye like t'outcome, Ah guess." Two cards flew from his fingers to each person in the circle. The rest of the pile came to a swirling rest in front of him. "If ye donnae ken th'rules…" He shrugged. "Ye'll learn. Announce yer bet, ahn if ye lose when th' round's over, ye take it off then."

And with a low, pleased purr, he nodded to the person to his right to make the first pre-flop bet.

"Ante up, boys ahn girls."

---

OOC: How would we like to determine the winners? I can do a random number generator for everyone who stays in a round if that would be easiest? Or whoever deals the hand could PM everyone which cards they have.  Or each person's post can just kind of "skip" a round, and they can decide what they've lost so far. Keep in mind Deus will probably cheat a little bit to get a favorable outcome (which means everyone losing at least SOME clothing, to his mind XD)

Liv looked at Kitty before producing her card, with a bit of glee, the Queen of Spades looking rather smug, "Sorry Darling, I'm afraid you're the only one to get a joker card. Deus is so clever don't you think"? It depressed Liv a little that neither Jordyn nor Neely were in attendance. Well, Neely could be a turncoat either way, but Jordyn was a firm alliance, and with her came Nelly. More than the spectacle of the Monarchy, however, she just missed Jordyn's company. They had the same sort of values, the work ethic, the desire to be more than the path laid out in front of them would dictate.

They were kindred spirits really, not to the level Gracie was perhaps, but close. There were people you tolerated and there were people you felt some sort of genuine emotion for. Kitty was the former while Jordy was the latter; Liv secretly hoped the Durmstrang girls were even a third as awful as people predicted so that Kitty might finally be put in her proper place.  Of course she couldn't really think about all of that when Erin mentioned a summer wedding and then her person was quickly molested by Deus, "Oh always something more exciting Deres. I hope you're not too broken hearted, I know you've had secret plans to whisk me off to be a bar maid at the Lazy K. for years"!

Her brown eyes were wide and playful, lips twitching as she tried to suppress a smile "But I ask you, honestly, how could a resist this face? I simply cannot," she gleefully swung her arms around Erin and nuzzled his cheek again - she knew it had to be annoying him but, well, that was how they were with one another. Or rather how they had been before Razzy decided Erin belonged solely to him and Liv had feared for her life if she should dare touch a hair on Harper's head. Liv wasn't actually scared of many people, but Razzy Chancelier was that rare breed of crazy that one could not completely comprehend. Liv wasn't a fan of people she couldn't suss out.

Dropping into Erin's lap she took a bottle of what she was fairly sure was just Firewhiskey (she knew the shape, size, and color well enough, spending time with Dom) and downed a fair gulp before tossing a bracelet onto the table, "I don't trust any of you," she glanced over her shoulder at Erin, "but as my future husband I suppose for now I trust you the most. Don't peek at my cards, and keep your hands where I can see them," the alcohol was already winding it's way through Liv's limbs, making them loose and her far more affectionate than she would ever be on her own stone cold sober. The idea of telling her mother she'd won Erin in a poker game was mildly amusing, Liviana didn't often give her mother a reason to be mortified - maybe it was time she started.

Deus lunged towards him; Erin, who'd developed a pretty healthy survival instinct by now, tried to leap away. But leaping was difficult when one was sitting down, and he mostly just ended up falling over. Deus seized his face and gave him a great wet kiss before moving onto Livi, then he sat back and looked pleased with himself as Erin blinked and then burst out laughing. "Your technique's a bit sloppy, mate," he told him. "Enthusiasm doesn't make up for everything."

"But I ask you, honestly, how could a resist this face? I simply cannot."

Livi flung her arms around her neck and wormed closer; Erin's eyebrows shot up but he endured manfully, a grin cracking the faint alarm of his countenance after a moment or two. Yeah, he knew, he looked a positive angel. He batted his youthful blue eyes at Deus when the cue came.

"Yes, dear," he said, gently tugging at her arms. "But maybe save the choking for after the wedding?" And of course he wouldn't look at her cards... except when she tilted them towards him, and when she got too drunk to care, and when he wouldn't get caught. Erin hadn't played enough to much good at poker; he needed all the advantages he could get, and he'd much rather Livi shed clothes than he did. It was a sentiment that all the blokes here could agree on, he was sure.

"First round's the jumper," he said after Livi'd thrown down her jewelry, and nodded to the next.

Bottles were being passed around, and each time they came his way Erin happily drank. But he didn't really much like to share, and so at some point he grabbed a bottle for his very own. It was interesting, sort of hot and sour at the same time - it'd had a picture of a dragon on the label, sort of predictable, so it burned at first. He drank from it steadily and with great determination, solitary except for the times when Livi stole it from him for a sip. She was on his lap; he wasn't going to begrudge her much of anything right now.

Green eyes catching the nod thrown her way, Gracie hummed a little under her breath—shook her head to clear the faint buzz that had built between her ears—and took another swig of her drink as she peered down at her cards, more clearheaded than she looked but not as much as she liked. Her hand wasn’t bad, from what she could make out, but admittedly she was. . . distracted, to say the least, and the bottle that stood close by had done its part in accomplishing just that.

Her biggest and worst distraction was, quite happily, playing cushion to her legs. At some point he had been drumming his fingers against them as if they were a table (sometimes even squirming beneath them), so when it got too much she had been forced to pull her knees up until they were propped against his chest. By extension, the rest of her had followed, curled up to his side like a cat.

There were, of course, downsides to this.

“Stop tryin’a peek,” she smirked up at Huck, holding those cards a little closer to her chest. Lightly she elbowed his side for good measure. “Or I’ll be forced to leave you for better accommodations.” Pointedly she glanced to the side, where Deus sat (and was almost definitely biding his time), and looked back to Huck with a raised brow and a teasing grin. “Though y’ know, I’ll understand if you do. You did lose pretty badly last time, I recall...”

Glancing down again, dark brows furrowed for a moment, the tip of her tongue briefly running against her upper lip. A second later, she plucked out a card and added it to the pile, her jacket following soon after. Lazily, wickedly, she grinned. “Next~”