Atton Rand is good at running and drinking. (crackingwise) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-08-15 23:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, atton rand, oyama yuriko (lady deathstrike) |
Who: Atton and Yuriko.
What: Poker.
When: Wednesday afternoon.
Where: The Commerce Casino.
Rating: PG.
Status: Complete!
The Commerce Casino was the biggest casino in Los Angeles, and always had a game going, regardless of the hour. Since she’d been feeling better the past few days, Yuriko had decided to go and play a bit of poker. She’d had fun learning, and she was getting rusty with all this non-use.
Right now, she was at a table with four men, all white and looking at least a bit older than her. She’d been playing very conservatively, so they would think she was untalented. When she got the right cards, then she would pounce.
Atton was one of those men, and he was keeping an eye on the Asian girl. She was better than she let on; she was trying too purposefully to look confused, like a novice. So he gave her a very lecherous smile, playing the part of the creepy old guy.
Yuriko saw the smile and returned it, albeit with the faintly curled lip of distaste. She wasn’t certain if it was because she was Asian, but men at the poker table did tend to look at her like that.
Now, however, she would make them pay. Two aces in her hand meant it was prime time to make a move. She bet just as conservatively as she had been, figuring that the others would assume she had nothing.
Atton folded immediately. He covered up that he knew what she was doing by making a gross comment about having to drop kids off at the pool, moving toward the restroom. She deserved that win.
The other three bit. She’d take it. Yuriko bet a little less conservatively in the next round, and by the time they had an idea what she was doing, she’d bet everything. It led to her sweetly scooping in almost fourteen thousand dollars, and two of the three men cursing at her as they left. One of them told her “nice hand” before he left, at least. The fourth man’s chip stack was still there.
Atton returned, having gone to get a bite to eat. He was still drinking a soda when he ambled back to the table. “How was your take? You’re good.”
Yuriko looked up, surprised. “Oh! Um. Fourteen. Thank you.” She wasn’t used to her opponents being polite. “You apparently have the observational skill to know when I only look innocent.”
“It’s my job to.” He smiled, wiping his hands off on a napkin before offering her a hand to shake. “I’m Atton Rand, I do the pro circuit. It’s nice to meet someone who should be doing my job.”
“Thank you.” Yuriko smiled shyly, shaking his hand and bobbing her head on reflex. “My name is Yuriko. Yuriko Oyama. I learned how to play some years ago, but my family frowned upon me doing much with it. I am from Japan, and women do not make a career of it there.”
“Maybe that’s why I could read you. I dated a girl who was first-gen in high school, so I knew when her mother was sort of wanting to tell me I was a stupid white boy but holding back.” He grinned, but this time it was his standard smile - warm and self-depreciating.
Yuriko had to laugh. “I am sorry. Japanese people can be racist at times. Old national habits die hard. I am marrying an American - well, technically he is French - but there are times I am pleased that my parents are both deceased.” They wouldn’t have stopped her, but they would have tried.
“Oh, I can hear your mother yelling now. I mean, not your mother, but I’m sure it would’ve sounded similar.” Atton smiled, liking that he’d made her laugh.
“It would.” Yuriko smiled a little. “Mother was less opinionated, but she still would have gently steered me toward every unattached Japanese man she could find. And Father would have been the one to yell.” The dealer excused herself for her break, and Yuriko started to count up her chips. “Do you play here very often? I do not remember you, but I see many people.”
“I don’t play here too often, no. Here, are you thirsty? I’d like to buy you a congratulations drink. Don’t worry, I’m not flirting, I’m engaged to be married myself.” He fished out his iPhone, showing the woman the wallpaper. It was a photo he’d snapped of Isabela when she hadn’t been aware he’d been snapping it; she’d been napping on the sofa with Churchill and Frankie, the dog and cat snoozing next to and upon her. Atton smiled huge whenever he saw it.
Yuriko laughed delightedly, going to pick up her own phone. “She’s lovely, and I hope she was not cross with you for taking the picture! That is an enormous cat, as well.” Picking up her own phone, she unlocked it and showed this Atton the picture of her and Turin. “This is Turin, my fiance. And now that we have shown proof of platonic friendship, I accept the drink. Thank you.”
“No, she was, but only for a little while.” He smiled and couldn’t help but smile wider at the photo of her and the man looking happy. “You guys are cute together. You look happy.” He offered her his arm, if only to keep people away from her at the bar.
She took it for the same reason, putting her phone away and dropping off her chips to be cashed. “What is your lady’s name? She is very pretty.”
“Her name is Isabela. What’s your beau’s name?” Atton smiled, glad he hadn’t lost too much money at all. He kept the chips he’d walked away with, figuring he’d play again soon.
“Turin Turambar. Though he is French, as I said, which you would not guess from the name.” Yuriko smiled. “He is a writer of mystery novels. They are available in English and French.”
“Are you going to take his name?” Atton wondered if Isabela would be all right with being Isabela Rand. He didn’t mind too much either way.
“Not professionally. Legally, yes.” It sounded silly to most American ears, so she didn’t articulate, but she was kind of excited to have a new name. “Professionally it is probably a better idea to retain my Japanese surname. I am opening a club, and its theme is primarily Asian, so it makes more sense.”
“That does.” He pulled out a chair for her and smiled. “But I’m sure you’re excited for your wedding. I can’t wait to start planning mine, actually. I didn’t think she wanted to, so I hadn’t thought of asking her. Then she asked me.”
“That is charming.” Yuriko laughed as she sat next to him at the bar. “I had something bad happen to me, and I thought Turin would be repulsed. But I was honest with him and told him the truth - and instead of fleeing in terror, he asked me to marry him.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You don’t have to tell me about it, but that’s truly a good sign.” Motioning to the waiter, he smiled. He was going to order a soda for himself.
Yuriko had a glass of wine, since she would only be having the one. “I agree - I was completely ready for him to tell me that he could not cope with my problems, but instead he said that I ought to rid him of his sorrows, and marry him.” She smiled, closing her eyes. “It was quite romantic!”
Atton raised his eyebrows. “Hell, I’d have said yes to that too.”
“Would you? I am glad I was only human.” Yuriko chuckled. “How did your lady ask you, if I may know?”
“She texted me. We were both off to help out in the encounter in Las Vegas, and she basically said that if we lived through it, we should get married. Of course, I agreed. I’d have agreed either way, but I’ve been in love with her since I saw her.” Atton grinned sheepishly.
“That is also very romantic, really.” Yuriko got her wine, nodding a thank you to the waiter. “Is she that sort normally?” Some people were the sort who did that constantly, and others were moved by the situation.
“She’s not, not really.” Atton smiled. “She’s practical and sassy and funny, but not usually romantic.” It had made the moment even that much more so.
“Oh, that’s very nice! That makes it better.” Yuriko grinned. “I am pleased for you, Atton-san. It seems you have a very good lady.”
“I’m happy for you too, you know. May I call you chan already?” He knew the honorific system well enough.
It was maybe a little too soon, but she didn’t have anything to lose by granting permission. “Yes, or simply Yuriko. I do not stand on ceremony.” At least when not with Japanese people. “How long have you been playing poker professionally?”
“I just wanted to check. Still, Yuriko-san is easy enough if you’re not ready.” He liked that she was honest. “Um, about six, seven years now. I like it. It lets me be lazy.”
“Either is fine, honestly.” Yuri smiled. “And I wondered; you have a very relaxed way about you at the table. In truth, I thought you were less able than you apparently are.” Still, he hadn’t fallen for her carefully laid trap. “I should not play for such high stakes, though; I am in the middle of making a real estate deal. I need my capital!”
“Oh? What sort of real estate. Doesn’t sound like a house.” If people were going to buy a house, they just said so.
“A club. Well, it will be a club.” Yuriko smiled a little wider. “I had an idea for a good concept. Hopefully I can get it off the ground.”
“I hope so too, I’d love to see it. Anything I can do to help?” He already considered her a friend.
“Oh, no, I thank you.” Yuriko laughed, bobbing her head. “You can come to its opening! We are planning on likely December of this year. It will be called Okugata - which means ‘noblewomen’ in Japanese.”
“Like a hostess club?” Atton had heard of them from geekier animes that he liked.
“Yes, though a true hostess club would not work here.” Yuriko was amused that he knew what one was. “I envision more like a strip club, but with a big mingling party after the routines.”
“I always thought that would be nice - mostly because strip clubs are so awkward. They’re mostly men wanting company for a while, just to talk to a woman without judgement - but oh, boobs. They kind of get distracting then I get embarrassed.” He loved nudity, always had, and was unashamed about it, but strip clubs cast the nudity in a seedy light he thought wasn’t fair to the girls.
Yuriko laughed. “I think women have a right to be as sexy as they wish, without judgment or repercussion. If one prefers to cover themselves totally, that is their right, or one can be as nude as the law allows, and that is their right as well. Women will rule my club, and I appreciate men like you as clientele - wanting an equal exchange, so to speak, instead of take, take, take.”
“I agree. Just - strip clubs work on the pretense that they’re taboo somehow.” Atton shook his head. “Every woman is hot. Every woman is sexy. And every woman should get to figure out how she wants to use that or embody that or be that.” He chuckled. “Strippers always end up ignoring me or playing with my hair. They can tell I’m not going to have big tips coming.”
Yuriko laughed. “Aw. Why do you think that is?” He came off as lovable. He might enjoy talking to a woman just to talk. She would have paid attention to him, had they both been single.
“Because I’m not the sort to fall in love with them, I’m not the sort to spend an hour a day for weeks. I’ll tip well, but I don’t go often.” Atton shrugged. “I”m not a good investment.”
“What made you fall in love with your lady? If I may ask?” Yuriko was genuinely curious. This was clearly a man who knew himself decently well, and she appreciated that ability.
“She’s very strong.” Atton smiled, looking down at his hands. “She’s smart and she knows herself, and she doesn’t need anyone. She’s funny, and ... everything about her makes me like her. I don’t know, there’s nothing that didn’t make me fall in love with her.” He put a premium on every trait she embodied.
“If only I could find all ladies with those traits.” Yuriko laughed, but she patted his hand. “You sound very in love, and that is something to be proud of.”
“I’m proud of her. I don’t understand how anyone could not be in love with her.” Atton chuckled a little to himself. “That makes me a sap, huh.”
“Yes, but all potential husbands should be, at least a bit.” She polished off her wine. “Thank you for the drink, Atton-san. I should likely be off; they have no doubt counted my chips by now. But you should come to the club when it opens!”
“I will be more than happy to. So will the wife.” He hoped that he’d be married to Isabela by then. “Here, have my card.” He handed one to her that his agency insisted that he have. “So you can get a hold of me.”
Yuriko took it, bobbing her head in thanks. “I regret I have not one to give you. But I will contact you at grand opening! It was a pleasure to meet you, and with respect - stay out of my way at the table.” She winked.
He chuckled. “I’m a gentleman, always.” He’d liked enjoying her, and liked even more that she was fun. He wondered if Isabela would like her, and figured he’d have to have Yuriko and her fiance over sometime.