event } you can jive

[seeingyou]

WHO: Open to all passengers!
WHAT: A visit to New Ecrillion, and all the music your ears can handle. Plus, bonus new partners!
WHERE: Anywhere in the city of New Ecrillion, or Navi.
WHEN: June 19 through July 10
WARNINGS: Add these to your comment subject lines as needed! And if you end up partying literally to death, please record it on the death page.

Hello, passengers! Hope you're all ready for an announcement, 'cause Navi's voice is getting beamed into your head right about ... now:

Attention, passengers.
We'll be docking soon at the city of New Ecrillion, on the planet Zegnolia, where we will remain for approximately three weeks, local time.
Please stand by.

From the announcement until landing, to help everyone adjust to the new environment, Navi will gift all passengers with a a faint hummed melody.

Upon docking and disembarking, passengers will find a bank counter just past the terminal, where your new windfall of Navigems can be exchanged for credits (the universal currency). Try not to spend it all in one place!

Now, go get your groove on! Just remember to take breaks to hydrate.

Comments

[misterbrekker]

After replacing the card in the deck, Kaz let his gaze drop to study the cards again, hand dropping to rest on his cane once more. As always, his eyes sought out the moment of deception, the crack in the illusion, memorizing the man's movements so he could mentally go through it again later. Idly, he did admire Gen's skill with the cards, noting that he definitely wasn't an amateur.

Kaz was certain that Gen was someone who potentially possessed a number of skills that could prove useful in the right situations, if he could ferret them out.

It wasn't until the deck was set to the side that he finally lifted his gaze once more, that piercing stare once again fixating on Gen's face.

"I prefer to make my own fortune," he finally replied, fingers tapping idly against the back of the opposite hand. There was another brief pause, his expression thoughtful, then he finally answered, "Red."

[fun_thementalist]

Kaz's eyes were cool, his expression much like the bird on the cane's head - piercing, sharp, not missing a single thing. But also, much like a bird - largely unreadable to most people. Gen was good at watching other people's tells, but he already knew this stranger was not someone he'd get into a game of poker with on a whim.

Though he might appreciate the challenge.

"I can respect that, my friend," Gen smiled and picked up the first cards he lay down - before turning over the first one, setting it face-up on the table. "Five of Hearts! Red, exactly like your card. Hmmm ... was your card odd or even? Keep in mind, if your card was a face card - Aces are as odd as I am, Queens are even, Jacks and Kings are odd."

He looked prepared to lay down the second card, awaiting his answer.

[misterbrekker]

Perhaps the most notable observation was that, even under Kaz's unrelenting scrutiny, Gen didn't flinch or falter. It was clear he was a talented magician, and as far as Kaz was concerned, a good magician was a good con man. Though he kept his expression guarded and impassive, the wheels in his mind were turning, trying to work out what possible angles and motivations Gen might be harboring behind that smile of his.

As for Kaz's tells, he certainly had a few, but most people never thought to look past the obvious setback of him being a cripple to find them. Usually, it was the subtle changes in his eyes that could give him away, but currently there was nothing to be found there but that cool, calculating stare.

His fingers continued to idly tap against the back of his hand for another moment, before coming to rest still against his cane. All the while, his eyes kept trained on Gen's features, then finally glanced down at the spread on the table. "Even."

[fun_thementalist]

Someone crippled wasn't someone Gen would look over so easily. Perhaps that's a bit due to his wide and varied experiences, between the stone world and his voyage on the voidtrecker. Though, being who Gen was, he wasn't even certain if it was an cane Kaz actually needed, or simply playing the role of wounded prey.

He set down the Four of Diamonds. "Ah, this card is also even. Now, this could be a lovely little coincidence, my dear - but I'm inclined to believe from my experience that I just can't escape my abilities to forecast the future."

Gen winked at Kaz. He knew this man realized this was a trick, a performance - but that didn't mean that he would cease to give him a magician's performance. Why fail to give another professional anything but his best?

"Two more cards to go. Hm. So - was your card a spot or a face card?"

[misterbrekker]

As Gen rightly suspects, Kaz Brekker is a seasoned confidence man despite his young age. Depending on what he was trying to achieve at any given moment, he had no qualms about donning costumes or sliding into different characters. It was a series of games that Gen was likely familiar with, and as such, he was right to be dubious.

The irony here is that the man standing before him now is simply Kaz Brekker, a fellow passenger and street magician who now finds himself mutually sizing up the man across the table from him. Though he wasn't the most responsive or expressive audience, he was certainly a very attentive one, taking in all sorts of minor details from the way Gen handled the cards and sleights of hand required to the way Gen tried to engage him.

Indeed, performance or not, Kaz was content to simply let it play out. His curiosity had considered the possibility of trying to interfere with the game, wondering how Gen would react and adapt if Kaz were to lie or attempt to switch the cards out, or if Gen would be keen enough to see the deception if he had attempted it. He didn't indulge these curiosities though, and merely respectfully watched and stayed honest, though he was thinking all the while.

"Spot."

[fun_thementalist]

"Seven of Clubs!" Gen lay down the third card, eyes wide with false amazement. "That certainly seals it. Surely, then, when I lay down the final card - it will point out where the card you selected is, my dear friend. I'm certainly excited to find out which card you picked."

While due to the circumstances of Gen's life, and the tragedy which befell his world, he was nearly four thousand years old - he'd only been aware for twenty-two years of that, so that would be a more accurate age for him. But his lies, his performance, his slightly flirty and playful smile - they're all with experience most don't gain until their thirties. Much like Kaz, Gen had gotten a head start by learning many of his skills at an early age.

And having a natural talent for deception.

With a flourish, he lay down the last card he was holding - the card that he ostensibly set down before Kaz even selected his cards.

It was the Eight of Hearts.

Gen spread his hands with a flourish, letting his sleeves ride back a bit with the tension in his elbows, to show both his hands and wrists were completely bare. "Is this your card, my friend?" he asked.