[Chance] Chance is sat on a picnic table, right in the middle of it cross legged, he is shuffling a deck of cards and looking around, an olf back pack is off to one side and a rain coat is layed out over the table, both so there's a dry patch in front of him where he can lay the cards, though at present they're all in his hands, and also so he's sat where it's dry despite it havng rained earlier and being nice and soggy. he isn't payying much attnention to the cards, just shuffling them absently whilst he looks around. The shuffling flicks between one style and the next fluidly and some of the styles are pretty showy. And still there's something about him that catches your eye.
Chance has a weathered look to him, both his clothes and him as a whole, he is tanned with that tan of someone who spends most of their time outside. His clothes are weathered and worn as is the backpack he has on or with him. He has brown hair that's unkept and a beard that's beginning to show but still a little way off being a full on beard. His eyes are brown to match his hair and he has an easy smile and a few creases to his face from the weathering rather than age, being probably in his mid twenties, maybe a little older.
[Jarod Nightingale] People who knew Jarod Nightingale in the professional world might be surprised to discover how he often spent his time. The wealthy fashion model rarely let on just how attuned he really was to the natural world, and frankly... he preferred to keep it that way. Most usually assumed that he was a Cultist, anyway.
Tonight he was walking through the park alone, wearing a black suit from Armani and a knee-length matching coat. His hands were in the pockets, and he moved with a slow, graceful stride down the path. Lost in thought, perhaps.
Eventually he moved past the picnic table where Chance sat, and Jarod paused, swinging indigo eyes towards the stranger's face, then the cards on the table. There was something curiously familiar about it. Ritualistic.
"Playing cards alone?" he asked, almost as much to himself as the stranger.
[Chance] he looks over Jarod "No, I'm not playing anything, though I can, why you looking for a game? you a gambling man?" he smirks it's said good humouredly "Then again even people who say they don't gamble are lying, so I suppose, cards or not you're a gambling man really aren't you?" he motions to the bench in front of him in an invitation the cards still held in his hands and shuffled as he speaks to Jarod, he doesn't look at them and he doesn't drop or miss shuffle so it's quite obvious he spends alot've time with cards in his hands.
[Jarod Nightingale] Jarod Nightingale... a gambling man? He laughed, and the sound was soft and pleasant. Practically a purr. As had been previously noted about him on many occasions... the Verbena was sometimes more cat than man. An ordinary person might think he was simply unusually pretty, or graceful, or sensual... but those with opened eyes saw differently. He slid in to sit at the table, but not before giving the thing a brief once-over with his eyes, as if to check for bits of dirt. Having found it suitably not-dirty, he made himself comfortable, leaning one arm on the table in front of him.
"Gambling? No, I... think not. I prefer games that I have some control over." Which meant that he preferred manipulation to luck. Indigo eyes regarded the man for a long moment. Curious, perhaps. Cats could be that way, after all.
[Per+Awareness]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 5, 7 (Failure at target 6)
[Chance] "Very few games are all luck. and she plays a plays a part in all games, including the biggest one of all." he says looking down from where he's sat ontop've the table "But how about a game of skill then. No ante, so it's not really even gambling is it?" he grins he puts mos of the cards away in a pocket taking three out having looked through. he puts them face up on the table, two of clubs, two of spades, queen of dimonds. "All you have to do, is find the lady." he says flipping them down and starting to move them around quickly, though he still looks across to jarod rather than down at his hands.
[Jarod Nightingale] Jarod's attention was not always easy to hold. He tended to prefer his interactions to have some purpose, and usually that meant something that furthered his own agenda. But there was something to be said for strange men with cards in the park. Perhaps there was something worthy of discovery here, and perhaps there wasn't. Either way, he might at least be amused for a short time.
So after a quiet moment of contemplation, he rolled his shoulders in a light shrug and nodded for the man to continue with his game. Looking down, he watched the cards move, attempting to keep his eyes on the target.
[Per+Alert]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)
[Chance] He grins "Into the silent stage already, you're someone who takes life a bit too seriously then hu?" he asks as he shifts the cards around and then stops setting them down neatly.
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 6, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Jarod Nightingale] "Seriously? Perhaps." He seemed to give this matter some consideration, as if he hadn't ever contemplated before whether or not he might be an overly serious person. He could be capable of both wit and humor, but... usually these things were accompanied by either a wry flirtation or some underhanded sarcasm... so perhaps the gambler was getting the better end of the deal, ultimately. "Maybe I just don't like to put all my cards on the table too quickly." A metaphor that a card-player could get behind.
Jarod looked up at Chance with one eyebrow slightly raised, and the barest hint of a playful smile teased at the corner of his too-perfect lips. It was easy to see why he did what he did. The verbena was, quite simply, beautiful to look at.
Then, without breaking the stranger's gaze, Jarod put his finger down atop the card he thought might be the queen.
[Chance] The gaze doesn't seem to have much of an effect on chance, and what's more if he knows what Jarod does he is either not intimidated or hides it very well. Or he just doesn't know. Whatever the case he seems perfectly at ease. He takes the card and flips it up.
"Showing all your cards is to leave yourself open, not showing any makes you cagey. The balance is somewhere in the middle. If you play poker and never show a hand you don't have to people think you're a pain. If you show some, well, you can build a much greater game over the game. You just have to be careful with what you show. But that's got nothing to do with how seriously or not you take the game of life." he says, flicking the queen up so it's visible "You've got a good eye. You think you can pull it off again?" he asks challengingly and grinning.
[Jarod Nightingale] If Jarod felt any particular amount of pride in having chosen the correct card, he didn't display it. Maybe Chance was right, and he was, as stated... cagey. Then again, when the man attempted to dare him into a second try, Jarod chuckled again, and a little hint of humor touched his coldly beautiful eyes. Winter. That must have been the season the verbena was most attuned to. He seemed as if he might be rather at home perched on a snow-covered mountain somewhere and watching the world pass by beneath him.
"If you insist."
[Chance] He flips the cards down and doesn't give a moment to set himself waiting. he starts flipping them from their spots between and to the next and then down and carries on trying to loose Jarod in the malestrom of movement.
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Jarod Nightingale] [Per+Alert - Spending WP this time cause he's a bitch like that]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]
[Jarod Nightingale] Last time around, Jarod had been able to keep his eyes on the card, but this time, the man's movements proved too quick and he lost it somewhere near the end. After Chance set them down again, the Verbena spent a long moment simply staring at the three cards laid out on the table, as if he could see through to what was on the other side if only he focused hard enough. He couldn't, of course. That was a skill for someone with different abilities.
Jarod could tear apart a man's blood vessels, or grow a set of claws. But he couldn't see the future, and he couldn't manipulate inanimate objects.
Finally, the barest hint of irritation crossed his expression, showing as a thin crease between his eyebrows, and he pointed at the center card by way of a wild guess.
[Chance]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 7 (Failure at target 8)
[Chance] He flips it up and shrugs "Better luck next time." he grins "I'd say the best out've three, but really, it doesn't matter, sometimes it's best to leave it a draw." he smiles knowingly "So you didn't come out here or over here to find my lady." he flips the card on the left up to reveal the queen. "What brings you out this way?"
[Jarod Nightingale] Jarod didn't like to lose. That was probably why he so rarely played any game that wasn't stacked to his advantage. For awhile there, he actually looked a little disgruntled at the fact that he hadn't picked the correct card the second time around. Like a cat who couldn't get a tiny piece of his fur to lay the way he wanted it to. One got the impression that he was something of a perfectionist. Almost to the point of neurosis.
His expression smoothed, however. Rarely did he let his emotions get control over him for any prolonged length of time. Standing up, he stepped over the bench that he'd been sitting on and smoothed out the fabric of his coat. "I live nearby," was all the explanation that the stranger was going to get, but it was both true and a perfectly reasonable excuse. Lots of people walked through Grant Park every day to stave off the claustrophobic grip of the city.
Then he winked at Chance enigmatically before turning around. "Thanks for the game." And with that, he resumed walking down the path.
[Chance] ((entropy 2 rote, coincidental, - 1 for rote, - 1 resonance diff 3))
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 4)
[Chance] He shakes his head it's an amused gesture though, and perhaps slightly mocking as well. "You're welcome." he says and he puts the rest of the cards back into his hand and starts shuffling them. and then he stopped, cut them and picked out a card, there's a bit of a smirk, auidble "Yeap, no shock there." it's said to himself though as Jarod walks away. He places it back on the bottom of the deck and begins shuffling again.
