"Call."
I pushed ten red wooden chips into the center of the table.
Across from me, Bao stared at the cards on the table before slowly matching my bet.
The dealer burned a card.
Then came the turn.
Eight of Spades.
A few people in the crowd murmured, eyeing my hand.
My eyes briefly flicked toward the deck, and my fingers tapped against the table twice.
"You're awfully confident for checking that fast."
Bao muttered, to which I simply hummed.
"I have my reasons."
I leaned back in my chair and watched with a relaxed posture as the dealer prepared to reveal the river.
Around us, the crowd had grown unusually quiet for the third time.
Everyone watched as the dealer slowly flipped the card.
Queen of Diamonds.
Bao stared at the river for a few seconds.
Then his fingers tapped against the table.
"Twenty."
He pushed another twenty red wooden chips into the center.
I looked down at my cards.
Ace of Spades.
Seven of Spades.
On the table sat:
King of Diamonds.
Seven of Clubs.
Two of Spades.
Eight of Spades.
Queen of Diamonds.
A pair of sevens. Nothing particularly impressive.
I looked back at Bao.
He was watching me carefully.
"Call."
I pushed twenty chips forward.
A few murmurs immediately spread through the crowd.
Bao raised an eyebrow.
"You're calling that?"
I shrugged.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You've got what? A pair?"
"Something like that."
Bao smiled.
"Then you're about to lose another twenty."
He pushed another twenty chips into the pot.
I stared at him.
And smiled gently.
"Raise."
I pushed forty chips forward.
The smile on Bao's face disappeared.
The crowd immediately grew louder behind me as he stared at the additional chips before looking back at me.
"...Forty?"
I shrugged.
"You seemed confident."
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.
Bao then took a deep breath.
"Fine."
He matched the raise.
The dealer looked between us.
"Showdown."
Bao was the first to reveal his cards.
Jack of Clubs.
Ten of Clubs.
The crowd murmured in confusion.
"High card?"
Someone whispered.
Bao grimaced.
He had nothing.
I slowly placed my cards face-up on the table.
Ace of Spades.
Seven of Spades.
"A pair of sevens," the dealer announced.
The chips were pushed toward me.
I calmly pulled them closer.
Bao stared at me.
"... You raised me with a pair of sevens?"
I kept my silence as I pulled the chips toward my side of the table.
Nice! More chips for me.
I leaned back in my chair, doing my best to suppress the satisfied grin threatening to spread across my face as the dealer began dealing the next hand.
Thank the Spirits for Zero's skill at Hold'em.
Without him, I'd have absolutely no idea what I was doing.
The dealer shuffled the remaining cards in his hands before beginning the next deal.
I glanced around the table.
Bao was still staring at me. Han and Mei, meanwhile, had already picked up their cards.
The dealer dealt two cards to each player.
I looked down.
King of Hearts.
King of Clubs.
My eyebrows rose slightly, though the straw hat and shades concealed the shift in my expression.
"Call."
Han pushed ten chips forward.
Mei followed.
Bao glanced at his cards before matching the bet.
I added ten chips to the pot.
The dealer gathered the bets before placing three cards onto the table.
King of Spades.
Nine of Diamonds.
Four of Clubs.
I stared at the cards.
Three kings.
I flopped a set.
Very good. Very, very good.
Han checked.
Mei followed.
Bao tapped the table.
"Check."
The dealer burned another card.
The turn was revealed.
Nine of Clubs.
Now I had a full house, kings over nines.
I had to fight the urge to smile like a kid with a mouthful of candy.
Han pushed fifteen chips forward.
"Fifteen."
Mei folded.
Bao studied the board before matching the bet.
I waited a moment, letting the silence add to the psychological pressure, before pushing fifteen chips forward.
"Call."
Han glanced at me.
The dealer burned another card.
Then came the river.
Two of Hearts.
Nothing changed. I still had a full house.
Han checked.
Bao checked.
I tapped my fingers against the table.
"Check."
The dealer looked around the table.
"Showdown."
Han revealed his cards first.
Ace of Diamonds.
Nine of Hearts.
He had three nines.
Bao revealed his cards.
Queen of Spades.
Jack of Spades.
Nothing.
Finally, I turned over my cards.
King of Hearts.
King of Clubs.
The dealer stared at my cards before looking at the board.
"Full house. Kings over nines."
The crowd erupted.
Han stared at the table.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Guess I got lucky."
I laughed as I gathered the chips towards myself.
Bao's eyes narrowed.
"Again?"
A few more hands and I'm walking out of this ten times richer.
============================================
In the end, I won the whole tournament.
It was anticlimactic, to be honest. I didn't lose much whenever I folded, and whenever I had a winning hand, I made sure to win big.
I honestly thought they'd start something, too, especially that Bao fellow. He looked like he was about to blow a fuse every time I called his bullshit.
Tapping the now-stuffed sack of silver and gold coins hidden deep within my clothes, I hummed happily as I strolled through the Lower Ring, looking for something to do. The tournament had only just ended, and I still had two hours to kill before sundown.
One hundred and forty silver and twenty-six gold.
That was more than enough to keep us going for a few months.
Strolling through the "modest" end of the Lower Ring, I soon found myself rather parched.
Maybe winning a small fortune had gone to my head, because I was starting to feel rather pompous just from using the word parched!
"Pao Family Tea House," I muttered as I passed the tea shop.
I'd heard of this place, actually. From the comments I'd overheard from passersby, it supposedly had the best tea in all of Ba Sing Se.
Well, since I was already in the area... might as well give it a try.
Gently opening the door to the shop, I was about to step inside when my eyes caught an unfamiliarlyfamiliarface.
More specifically, the scar on the left side of the person's face.
Our eyes met for a split second before I took a step back out of the shop.
I briefly glanced at the shop's sign, then looked around at my surroundings.
Yeah. I was definitely still in Ba Sing Se.
I walked back into the shop.
So why were Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation and General Iroh, Dragon of the West, standing behind the counter, wearing aprons?
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A/N: Sorry for the wait! I'm terribly sick right now, have been since Wednesday.
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