Straight Flush [D0 Afternoon]

[Cal Arcton]

It was a slow day at Twelve Parsecs. Which was fairly routine. Slow days meant for more lively nights. And while there were always a few of the sort that would have a drink or two with lunch, Cal didn't really want to attract the sort of clientele that would have more than that.

What all that meant was that the regular bar staff could handle that while Cal and his pals had a little fun.

And so, Cal sat down at one of the dark wooden tables, round and flat for just this purpose. He had a glass of bourbon; one of the better local varieties. Sippin' bourbon, as his dad had used to call it. And, he had a sabaac deck.

With the ease of someone who'd done it a hundred times or more, Cal shuffled the deck, giving a casual smile around to his friends. "Alright, then. Let's do it." He said. "Who's in?"

[Korvalus Dunbri]

Kor had come downstairs as Cal asked his question. The big man was clad in some sturdy dark pants and a white tank top, a slight sheen of sweat was on his brow as he looked to the bar owner. Kor shrugged as he spoke "Sure, I'm always down for a friendly game." his deep voice rumbled out as he moved behind the bar, grabbing a glass and looking at the bottles behind the bar. Kor wasn't much of a gambler, he tended to be bad at reading others, but he didn't hate hanging out with the others at the bar and a few of them he actually liked.

Kor spotted a bottle of middle tier bourbon and pulled it off the shelf before turning back to Cal and raising the bottle as he also raised a questioning eyebrow. Even though Kor had worked at the bar for a few months now he still asked before taking any of the stock.

[Cal Arcton]

Seeing that gesture, Cal gave a good-natured chuckle. "Go right ahead. I haven't made it a habit of measuring the liquid in the bottles, and I'm not likely to start now." He shrugged casually. "Besides, I haven't tried that one in a while. You'll have to let me know how it is." Well, he knew it was pretty good, anyway.

Cal shifted a little, easing his seat to the side, making sure there was plenty of room for the much larger man at the table.

[Korvalus Dunbri]

Kor nodded "appreciated." he said simply as he poured a few fingers into the glass and sat down at the table, the wooden chair groaning slightly under his bulk. Kor was never much of a talker, Cal certainly knew that by now, but he wasn't an unpleasant man. Kor was content to sit and slowly sip on his drink while he waited for others to join. He leaned back and threw his left arm over the back of the chair he was in while his right held the glass containing the amber liquid, his posture relaxed but his eyes ever vigilant, scanning every detail of the room.

he took a long sip of the drink, his eyes closed and one could see the muscles in his jaw working as he moved the drink around in his mouth. Finally he swallowed and opened his eyes "Not bad."

[Quinn Largo]

Quinn, being a teenager, was often out doing her own things in the city and staying well away from any sort of responsibility or adult supervision. Not always, though. Today she's mostly been lounging around the place like a fat house cat overseeing its territory. Certainly she wasn't absent much either, when there was *opportunity* to be had. Sometimes she seemed to have a sixth sense for that sort of thing. Although realistically speaking, this wasn't much of an opportunity right here. Fleecing these guys wasn't in her best interests after all, and she was pretty sure they weren't going to put up much in the way of credits anyhow. Still, didn't hurt to ask.

"We playing for creds or what?"

She'd come over to the table, dragging her feet most of the way there.

"Go easy on me then, yeah?"

Fat chance of that. While she hadn't given them *too* much to work with since coming here, they ought to know by now she knew a thing or two about both cards and bluffing.

[Soren Lom]

An attractive young Devaronian woman sat at the bar chatting with an older man who was stopping by for his last drink before heading out on a job. The Devaronian woman smiled and teased the man who sat there gruffly smiling as the two of them shared a final drink. The woman went by Six. She frequented the bar now and then, always seemingly on the arm of some trader or smuggler.

As their conversation seemed to reach its end she leaned in and kissed the grizzled old trader on the cheek and whispered some elusive and unkeepable promise into his ear softly. The man returned her kiss with one of his own on her lips and then brought a hand to her face. As he stood the hand slipped gently from her cheek and he turned to leave the bar without looking back.

Six smiled ruefully at the man until he had passed out of the doors and onto the street beyond. She chuckled to herself as she downed the last bit of her drink and looked over to the game that was starting up.

She smoothly walked over and leaned on the back of Cal's chair for a moment, "Mind if I watch?"

[Cal Arcton]

he took a long sip of the drink, his eyes closed and one could see the muscles in his jaw working as he moved the drink around in his mouth. Finally he swallowed and opened his eyes "Not bad."

"Glad to hear it." Cal said, his tone affable. "Are you a fellow bourbon man? I had the opportunity to try just about everything that could be made into alcohol when I was in the law business. I always came back to bourbon, though."

"Go easy on me then, yeah?"

Cal smirked. "Oh, sure. We'll play for a few credits. I guess it's more fun than just setting you up with a weekly allowance, huh?" Another few shuffles of the cards, and he passed them to her to cut.

She smoothly walked over and leaned on the back of Cal's chair for a moment, "Mind if I watch?"

The lean caught Cal's attention, and he looked up, his friendly smile growing just a little. "I don't mind a bit." He said. "In fact-" he waved casually to the table. "I think there's plenty of room for one more if you'd like to do more than just watch." After all, Six really was part of the group. In a way.

[Runi Vizsla]

Runi finally found a moment to pass what she was doing to the other bartender before sidling over to the table and slipping into the seat next to Cal. "You know I can't say no to a quick game," she joked. "Yeah, I'm in. Not for much, though. Tips have been a little shy this week."

[Quinn Largo]

"Wait, I get to have an allowance?"

Quinn followed that jab up with a well-performed display of feigned shock.

[Korvalus Dunbri]

Kor's eyes followed all those that joined the table he nodded to Cal "I'm a man that enjoys a good drink, never cared too much what kind it was but I guess if I have a choice I tend to end up with a bourbon or scotch."

Kor sat back and smiled softly at the exchange between Quinn and Cal, Quinn was a spirited one and smart besides. Kor knew there was no way he'd walk away with anything so long as she was at the table. Then he heard Runi as she approached and gave a small chuckle, the sound rumbling out of his throat "Trust me we all know the tips haven't been great lately, least you and the other bartenders tend to come out a little ahead. People rarely tip the door guy." he said with a smile as he took another long sip.

[Farkas Lowca]

Entering the bar and finding a place to sit, Farkas pulled out his datapad and started reading while he waited. He'd been in here before but he didn't make it a habit to be a regular anywhere. His visits anywhere in town tended to be sparse and unexpected. Not an unfamiliar face, but certainly not the most frequent visitor.

[Cal Arcton]

Cal's lips quirked, but he decided to pass on the straight line Runi provided. Instead, he smirked at Quinn. "You can start earning it by seeing if that gentleman over there needs anything else." He nodded towards the older man reading a datapad. "After that, you can come clean the rest of us out for your allowance."

Glancing around the table one more time, Cal started dealing out the cards, tossing them expertly with a bit of a flourish. "I guess I've noticed that things have been a little slow lately. I'd guess that if even Runi's tips dry up, we'll know we're in trouble." He flashed her a quick wink. "But, you know, sabaac aside, we're all in this together. Speak up if there's anything you need."

[Quinn Largo]

She looked over for a moment, then back at Cal to make a face.

"I'm not a waitress... but fine. Deal him in, I'll get him to join. And *don't* look at my cards while I'm gone."

Quinn got up at that point, and headed over to the bar, next to Farkas. Good thing this wasn't the kind of place where a girl heading up to an older gentlemen was part of the business model, or she'd have felt quite different about doing this.

"Hey," she said, giving him an upnod. "You play cards? We got a game about to start if you want to make some creds while you drink."

[Farkas Lowca]

Looking up to the young lady, he gives her a soft smile. "Not much of a card player really, but I'll join," he replies with a nod.

"I was just the studying mathematics behind probabilistic neural networks, so why not have some fun with practical statistical analyses instead?" He sets his datapad on the table and stands up, then picks it back up and tucks it away. Indeed, there seemed to be complex mathematics on it if she took a look. "Lead on."

[Quinn Largo]

"Oh uh..."

She blinked at the science babble.

"...right."

Quinn walked back to her seat and plopped back down into it, looking down at her cards for a moment before picking them up and glancing at the others. They had better not looked at her cards.

[Cal Arcton]

With a shrug, Cal dealt in the new guy. "Good afternoon." He said affably. "Cal Arcton. Welcome to Twelve Parsecs from Nowhere. I-"

He was cut off as one of the nearby lights flickered, dimming ominously. A moment later, and a holo of a young twi'lek woman appeared, dressed in a dancer's outfit. She would have been gorgeous, but a slight blurring and her blood red color definitely pushed things into the unsettling.



"I can see you..." The voice had an echoing, almost ethereal quality. A moment later, the image vanished, although ghostly laughter lingered a moment longer.

Call cleared his throat. "And that's Demona. Don't mind her."

Anyway, it was time to start. "Right. I dealt. I'll draw." He took another card. As he leaned back, he leaned a little closer to Runi. "By the way, Quinn's got a pair of fives." He stage-whispered to her.

[Farkas Lowca]

"Farkas Lowca," Farkas nodded to the others and introduced himself as he took a seat.

Looking at the holo twi'lek, he smirks. "The blurring doesn't move the way it would if the problem were in the projectors. That's a code issue. Interesting."

He took up his cards and one could tell immediately that he wasn't playing the table. He was playing the numbers. His brain started running odds, statistics and probabilities. He was familiar with most card games and tended not to play them because winning relied on reading people. He didn't expect to win. But he would keep careful watch of how people bet and the cards that ended up being shown to build a statistical model in his head. Just because that's what he found fun.

[Quinn Largo]

"Hey! That's cheating!"

Quinn's accusatory glare seemed totally legit...

...despite the fact she was not holding a pair of fives.

[Soren Lom]

Six smiled charmingly and pulled up a seat a couple feet away from the table between Cal and Runi taking up a spot which kept her out of the game but still a participant in the conversation.

[Dartris Ribmatt]

It was as it always was. Some people went into the establishment for a few minutes to get a read on the area, give it a look around, and then sat down at the bar casually, looking around for him to ensure his safety. It wouldn't be that subtle at first, two humans in duster coats sitting in two seperate booths, looking at a menu for something to eat in the establishment. But a quick sleight of hand on their comm to push a button would give the signal he needed to enter into the establishment.

His eyes glanced around the room as he entered, staring at those in the bar, giving his gaze to a the sabbac game being played before him, but ultimately making his way to the bar. Giving the two men a nod as he looked around, they seemed to relax as the the man himself plopped himself in front of the bar and grabbed a menu, gazing on at the establishment with a amused look.