Kiss of the Night I

Ren looked around uncertainly, then sat down in front of the waiting steak across from Michelangelo. He already had one, and another sat further down the table for Zevi. A fork and knife rested beside the plate. She picked them up and began to trim the fat off the meat. She could feel Michelangelo's and Keeran's eyes on her, but she stared determinedly down at her plate. She neatly cut the meat into bite-size pieces, carefully aligning them around the edge. She finally took the first bite and realized how hungry she was. And the steak was good. Perfectly seasoned and cooked just long enough. She scarfed the rest down, and when she glanced up she saw Michelangelo and Keeran both laughing at her. Dracen didn't seem to be paying attention.
"Hmmm..." Keeran said, looking around.
"What?" Michelangelo said, shuffling once more.
"Zevi didn't get the potatoes like I told him to."
Alvar walked in, with Zevi behind, and they both sat beside Ren. Michelangelo gave the deck to Ren wordlessly as Keeran took her plate. She separated the deck into rough halves, putting one beside the other, then put the bottom half on top of the top half, pushing the deck back to Michelangelo.
"Zevi, you in?" Michelangelo asked.
"Yeah, might as well be." Michelangelo nodded and motioned to Keeran, who went to a cabinet and extracted a silver briefcase. He brought it to the table, opening it. Inside were rows of poker chips. He silently separated them into equal stacks and passed them out to the four players. Michelangelo began dealing as Alvar spoke.
"One," he said, placing the tip of his index finger on top of the white stack in front of him, "five," - red stack - "ten," - blue - "twenty." His hand brushed the black and rested on the table by his other. "Ante's one."
She nodded and threw a white chip in the middle a the others did the same. They each pulled their cards toward them, each looking differently at them. Michelangelo glanced at his. Zevi looked at his for a time, then slid them back across the table to Michelangelo. Michelangelo caught them and picked them up. After a quick glance, he snorted and set them off to the side. Alvar, meanwhile, picked up his cards and fanned them out, as much as two cards could be. He stared at them. Ren just watched them each in turn.
Alvar threw a red chip into the pot, then they all turned to her. She glanced at her cards, and saw a pair of aces. She met Alvar's bet, then went back to watching the others. Michelangelo expressionlessly matched the others, burnt a card, then dealt the flop. Ren glanced at the cards uninterestedly, and saw two fours and a seven. Alvar chuckled and threw two black chips and one blue one into the center.
"Fifty?" Zevi said incredulously. He leaned over to see Alvar's cards, but Alvar hit him in the back of his head and angled his hand down. Zevi straightened, rubbing the area Alvar struck. Ren and Michelangelo both silently matched, and Zevi's eyes grew bigger. Michelangelo burnt the next card, then dealt the turn. Now the cards Ren seemed uninterested in made her smile to herself. It was another four. She had a full house.
Alvar gave five black chips, laughing. Zevi looked at his cards, then raised an eyebrow in question. Ren silently matched, then Michelangelo followed suit. he burnt a final card, then laid down the river. Ren gave it only a passing glance; a six did nothing for her, and besides, she had what she needed.
"All in," Alvar said with a smirk. He put his cards down triuphantly.
"Holy shit, you idiot!" Zevi yelled the moment after Alvar finished. Ren's eyebrows raised slightly as she nudged her pile toward the center.
Michelangelo mimicked Ren, saying quietly, "Roll 'em over." Alvar flipped his cards, and showed an ace of diamonds and a two of hearts.
"You went all in on nothing but an ace high?" Ren asked, eyebrows raised. "Jesus Christ..."
Zevi began in then. "Should have stayed in," he muttered again and again. Michelangelo revealed two spade cards to go with the three others from the flop and the river. "Should've..." Zevi paused to calculate. "Stayed in..." He began his chant again. Ren flipped her cards and showed them mildly triumphantly.
"Pocket aces..." Keeran said from the corner he was leaning in. Ren looked around briefly, but he was hidden in shadows.
"Full house," Michelangelo said at the same time. He was quiet for a moment, then pushed back from the table, snorting loudly.
Meanwhile, Zevi's chant faltered again. "Should've stayed in...Should've stayed...out. Thank God I stayed out."
"Thanks. boys," Ren said with a smile. Then she looked to Zevi. "You wanna kee playin', or would you rather quit while you've still got something?"
"I, um, I think I'll quit..." He looked at the others, and they both nodded in a way that said 'Good choice.'
Ren laughed, then grew serious. She looked toward Dracen, who had watched all this with mild amusement, and said, "So, you said I can't ever leave, right? Like, ever?"
"Right," he said, sounding slightly suspicious. "Why?"
"Well, you do know, don't you, that I was running away from 'home,' anyway? And that I would never return to that household, even if my life and everything I loved depended on it?"
"Just the same, it's a safetu precaution we can't overlook. Menefer, though, no doubt, would have let you go...I need to speak with him when he returns." It was silent as they all drifted along their own thought trains.
"Who broght me here?" Ren asked abruptly.
"What?" Michelangelo asked, seeming to break out of a trance.
"Who brought me here?"
"Mmmm...I think Seath brought you back, actually," Dracen offered.
"Seath did? Why didn't he leave me to die?"
"That we'll never know. Nibal had to tell someone to bandage you. Seath refused. I think it was Aldan..." Dracen paused to think about it. "Yes...it was Aldan. You should be meeting him, soon."
"If Seath stabbed me, then brought me here, what happened to my knife?"
"I think Aldan took it. He collects anything with a clade, and he was interested in its hilt. It'll be in his room, most likely. Do you want it back?"
"Yes, I rather would like it back. And what about my other things?"
"Seath said your pack fell off when he, ummm..."
"I know what you mean. So my clothes are at Ole Lady Johnson's house?"
"Probably. You can borrow mine, until we get you some of your own."
"Not if they're got the Beatles on them I'm not wearing Elvis, either. Or Cher. Or Heart. Or - "
"I get the point. Just the music on your iPod."