Take A Deep Breath

[+Sorana]

"Sure." Ophelia replied, without really thinking about the question. She felt uncomfortable, drew her shawl tighter around her shoulders. She stood out, and the way people looked her way made her wish she knew how to blend in. She was herself, and she knew that she looked the way, but somehow she looked wrong. Her dress, while worn for several days was of a better quality and while she loved the soft fabric, the way if felt on her skin - her mother had bought it for her birthday a year ago, she suddenly wished, that she had something else to wear as well. Something that didn't make her stand out that much.

Only then his words registered and she gave a small laugh to cover her embarressment. "I never gambled before. But I will try it out. It can't be that hard."

[The Awakened Salad]

"Can I do anything to help?" Ana asked. "I can gamble. A sailor taught me to." 

[I think I am here.]

3 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

"Can I do anything to help?" Ana asked. "I can gamble. A sailor taught me to." 

“Good, good,” Aoryen said, hoping he’d meet this sailor friend of hers. Another man to gamble against.

“Then I’ll be sure you’d know how to play Colour Cards, wouldn’t y’?”

He looked to Ophelia for a moment, wondered what she could do.

“You can play as well.”

Still stomping on the ground he heard a yell as three ragtag youths came out. “So, these would be the kids,” Aoryen said under his breath, smiling.

“Perfect. Three o’ us against three o’ you. Colour Card, whoever loses leaves this young lady’s property for good, does that work or ne’?” He asked. The three boys blinked. “What?”

Sighing he looked to Ana. “Mind translatin’?”

[+Sorana]

48 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

“Perfect. Three o’ us against three o’ you. Colour Card, whoever loses leaves this young lady’s property for good, does that work or ne’?” He asked. The three boys blinked. “What?”

Ophelia waved at the three boys. "Hello. I'm Ophelia." She told them and smiled. "I'm a gorgeous Colour Card player." She tried to impress them and made sure she was standing close to Aoryen. She had never played before, but it couldn't be that hard. Her mother hadn't liked her playing and next to all the work she hadn't had the time anyway. So she made sure she was smiling, and looking self-confident to leave a good first impression. The first impression was, what decided on how people treated you. And she wanted to be treated with respect.

[The Awakened Salad]

On 11/26/2019 at 0:23 AM, I think I am here. said:

Sighing he looked to Ana. “Mind translatin’?”

Ana walked deeper into the alley, and stood a bit behind Aoryen. The urchins began to advance when they saw her, but seemed to think better of it with Aoryen around. 

"Your friend don't scare us," said one of the urchins, with pale blonde hair. "Do you need remindin' of what happens if we see ya?" 

Ana took a deep breath* and said, "My friend wants to play Colour Cards. Us against you. And the loser..." she trailed away. Ana tried again, gathering strength. "The loser has to leave my house alone and never go there ever again." She said the last few words with a force that astounded her. 

The urchins turned around and began whispering to each other. One of them eyed Ophelia and smiled. After some time, they turned back around and one of them shrugged. "Sure. why not? Throw in the girlie there and it's a deal," he said, gesturing to Ophelia. 

 

Quote

*Aha! It's the title of the RP!

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Ookla the Silent

[I think I am here.]

On 26/11/2019 at 10:35 AM, Ookla the Silent said:

The urchins turned around and began whispering to each other. One of them eyed Ophelia and smiled. After some time, they turned back around and one of them shrugged. "Sure. why not? Throw in the girlie there and it's a deal," he said, gesturing to Ophelia. 

Aoryen eyed Ophelia. The stakes had just gotten higher. Turning around he looked to the two girls.

“What do y’ say? Aye or nay? On one hand, we’d be betting little missy here,” he gestured to Ophelia. “And on the other hand, I rather like our odds of winning this, not to be braggin’ or the like. These misfits can’t even hide their colours-cursed expressi9ns for the life of them, easier to read than a book!”

He looked to Ophelia.

“But I won’t be the one making the choice for you. Sailor’s honour.”

[+Sorana]

21 minutes ago, Ookla the Maybe-Existent said:

“But I won’t be the one making the choice for you. Sailor’s honour.”

Ophelia hesitated. It was nice, that he left the choice to her, but in the end, it wasn't like this was dangerous. Throw her in, hopefully they weren't talking about actual throwing around, because she had no idea how to climb, or to land on the ground without spraining her ankle.

"I wouldn't mind cutting their hair?" She said looking at her feet. Somehow she felt as if this wasn't about cutting hair, but she wasn't good at anything else. Probably they had seen her hairstyle and realized, that she was a hairdresser. Confidence seeped into her voice when she came to the conclusion that this had to be it. "I'm a bad cook, and I doubt they are interested in Make-Up?"

[I think I am here.]

13 minutes ago, Ookla the Dreamer said:

“I wouldn't mind cutting their hair?" She said looking at her feet. Somehow she felt as if this wasn't about cutting hair, but she wasn't good at anything else. Probably they had seen her hairstyle and realized, that she was a hairdresser. Confidence seeped into her voice when she came to the conclusion that this had to be it. "I'm a bad cook, and I doubt they are interested in Make-Up?"

“I... don’t think they meant it like that,” Aoryen said, didn’t quite know how to explain it.

Hesitating he looked to Ana pleadingly.

[The Awakened Salad]

8 hours ago, Ookla the Maybe-Existent said:

“I... don’t think they meant it like that,” Aoryen said, didn’t quite know how to explain it.

Hesitating he looked to Ana pleadingly.

"Uhh..." Ana looked up at Aoryen. "What do you mean?"

Then a slow realisation crept over her. They couldn't mean...

Oh. 

Ana eyes widened and her face turned hot. She covered her reddening face with one hand and grabbed Ophelia with the other, pulling her further out of the alley.

"Umm..." she began, when they were far enough away. Her fingers danced along her skirt. She barely knew anything about this sort of stuff, and she was expected to explain it? "Well, my father always tells me to not go out at night. I'm young, but that won't stop some people." She cringed. "But you're... older. And you stand out. People like you don't usually come here." This was a horrible explanation. What did that even mean? Ana shook her head, trying to banish all thoughts of this. She looked Ophelia in the eyes. "Don't do it," she said. "There's no need. Please don't risk yourself, especially not for something like this."

Edited November 27, 2019 by Ookla the Silent

[+Sorana]

7 hours ago, Ookla the Silent said:

"Umm..." she began, when they were far enough away. Her fingers danced along her skirt. She barely knew anything about this sort of stuff, and she was expected to explain it? "Well, my father always tells me to not go out at night. I'm young, but that won't stop some people." She cringed. "But you're... older. And you stand out. People like you don't usually come here." This was a horrible explanation. What did that even mean? Ana shook her head, trying to banish all thoughts of this. She looked Ophelia in the eyes. "Don't do it," she said. "There's no need. Please don't risk yourself, especially not for something like this."

"People like me?" Ophelia asked and then looked at her dress, felt a pang of sadness at the dark spots covering its surface. And yet, it was a nice dress. Better than Ana's. "I see." She said quietly. "I don't have a job. I don't have money and I don't have a place to sleep." She summed her situation up and forced a smile on her face. "But I still think, that you can try to look nice. That's everything."

She lowered her eyes, followed Ana's thoughts. Not to go out at night. Blushing deeply when she understood what they wanted she burried her face in her hands. "That was so obvious. And I didn't understand, I, I'm wrong here. I can serve tea and cut hair and keep a house clean - but here, I have no idea what I'm doing."

Swallowing she tried to banish all these thoughts, took a few steps back to Aoryen, so that he could hear her next question. Well, if he had listened he maybe had heard her anyway.  "Okay. I won't do it. But what do we do, if I don't?"

[I think I am here.]

7 hours ago, Ookla the Dreamer said:

“Okay. I won't do it. But what do we do, if I don't?"

“Good question,” Aoryen said. “I guess this would be the only way, then.”

“Deal!” He exclaimed to the boys, who snickered and nodded. Quickly they got out their own set of Colour Cards, shuffled them and handed some to the group. “I hope you’re ready to lose,” they sneered.

Quote

I have an idea

(Also, I don’t know what Color Card is. I guess we could say it’s the Nalthian equivalent of gambling with UNO?  

 

[+Sorana]

2 hours ago, Ookla the Maybe-Existent said:

(Also, I don’t know what Color Card is. I guess we could say it’s the Nalthian equivalent of gambling with UNO?  

Quote

Sure. I think most of us should know that game, and apart from the fact that everybody plays it slightly different, the core rules usually stay the same.

"But, I..." Ophelia tried to protest. He had said it would be her choice and she had decided against. That he ignored his own words - she considered to speak up, to tell the boys that she didn't want to, that she wasn't okay with that, but instead she ducked her head and took her cards. She had played before, but only as a child. Looking her seven cards over she sorted them according to their color and then put the cards with the special effects up front. She had mostly usual numbers, but a red one that would let the person after her draw two cards. Suppressing a sigh she quietly hoped that Aoryen and Ana had better cards than she did.

[AonEne]

Quote

I’m going to witness an UNO game in a roleplay. This is amazing, I love it. 

Also, I don’t know how active I’ll be in here from here on out, sorry bout that! But since I’m hanging out with Invo anyway, I’ll just wait for when he’s ready. 

 

[The Awakened Salad]

Ana looked on, shocked that Aoryen would continue the deal even though Ophelia said no. She should say something, speak up. Was she being selfish? But Ophelia wasn’t doing anything either, so was it okay?

She shuffled the cards in her hand. She had a red skip card and a yellow reverse card, but the rest of them were just number cards. The deck was probably rigged. No doubt the urchins had given all of the good cards to themselves. 

[I think I am here.]

Aoryen sat, ignoring the looks of protest from the two girls. They of all would know this was the only way. Even if it looked like there was a risk to Ophelia. But either way, Aoryen had a plan. That old sailor’s wit, he called it. A positively bad idea, or maybe a good one, you could never tell.

But what was bad, was his cards. All numbers.

As the game begun Aoryen placed down his card straight before an urchin placed down a card, that instructed for Ophelia to pick up four cards. The urchin snickered.

[+Sorana]

"Green." He said and Ophelia grimaced. If he had said red, she could have forced the urchin after her to draw 6 cards, but as she had no green draw two card there was nothing she could do. She picked up four additional ones and her heart sank when she looked at them. A one, a nine, a three and a blue reverse card. More cards, that wouldn't really help to win this thing.

She placed down a green zero and then looked over to the next urchin. He grinned at her, his eyes not on her face, but a hand below her chin and she grimaced when he used a reverse card. His eyes never left her chest and she moved a little, sank down so that her cloths obscured more of her figure. Quickly she played her blue reverse card, and thankfully this time the urchin simply played a blue seven. It was Ana's turn now.

@Ookla the Silent

Edited December 8, 2019 by Ookla the Dreamer

[The Awakened Salad]

He better know what he's doing, Ana thought as she played a blue nine card. Though maybe it's what I deserve for asking some random sailor to help. Of course he'd want to gamble. 

The urchin next to her snickered as he placed a blue draw two card on the pile and waited for Aoryen's move. 

@Ookla the Maybe-Existent

[I think I am here.]

On 09/12/2019 at 11:14 AM, Ookla the Silent said:

The urchin next to her snickered as he placed a blue draw two card on the pile and waited for Aoryen's move. 

“Argh, colours-cursed cards,” Aoryen mumbled as he begrudgingly picked up two cards. With a grin he realised one of them was a special blue card and he placed it down, skipping the urchin after him, directly going to Ophelia.

The boy he skipped cursed some words at him, and Aoryen watched as another urchin subtly slipped him a card — exchanging cards was cheating. But Aoryen said nothing.

@Ookla the Dreamer

Edited December 10, 2019 by Ookla the Maybe-Existent

[+Sorana]

Ophelia took her chance and placed her draw two card on the stack. With a little luck the next urchin would have draw - she paled when he laughed and placed another draw two card on top of hers.

Apologetically she looked over to Ana, feeling cold. It was going badly, really really bad for them. And if they lost, then she would have to - looking down she stared at her useless cards, wished she had something else.

@Ookla the Silent

Edited December 10, 2019 by Ookla the Dreamer

[The Awakened Salad]

Ana picked up the four cards, bringing her total to ten. She looked at Aoryen and tried to read his face, but his thoughts were safely tucked inside his head. Her pulse thrummed through her fingers as she shuffled her cards absentmindedly. She looked down at the ones she had picked up, and dismayed when she was met with only numbers. Gods help us, she thought. She sniffed, and felt tears well up. I'm going to lose my home. 

The urchin next to her placed a draw-four card on the pile, and proudly exclaimed "Green!" to the group. 

@Ookla the Maybe-Existent

[I think I am here.]

4 hours ago, Ookla the Silent said:

The urchin next to her placed a draw-four card on the pile, and proudly exclaimed "Green!" to the group. 

Green. Calmly Aoryen picked up four cards from the deck in the centre of where they were playing. All number cards. As he picked them up he could hear the urchins snickering, looking down at their own cards. Hearing a sniff he turned his head, saw little tears in Ana’s face. Better end this game quickly.

Placing down a green six the urchin after him excitedly placed down a colour-change card. These urchins had far too many special cards than normal. Aoryen didn’t make a reaction.

“I keep it as green. Colour Card!” The urchin called, announced he only had one more card left. If he placed it down, he would have zero cards, and then it would all be over. The house would be lost, and Ophelia — quickly he looked over to the girl, a blank, focused expression on his face.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Ookla the Maybe-Existent

[+Sorana]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Maybe-Existent said:

“I keep it as green. Colour Card!” The urchin called, announced he only had one more card left. If he placed it down, he would have zero cards, and then it would all be over. The house would be lost, and Ophelia — quickly he looked over to the girl, a blank, focused expression on his face.

Ophelia paused when the urchin placed down his second to last card. They had only played three rounds, there was no way he could have gotten rid of all of - her eyes widened when she understood that they cheated, probably had been cheating all the time. "But - " She started to protest and silenced herself when she saw Aoryen's expression.

Lowering her glance she drew a card, sighed at the yellow four and then didn't even look up to see what the next urchin would do. He played another draw four, but it didn't matter anyway anymore.

[The Awakened Salad]

Ana blinked back her tears and drew four more cards. She couldn't contain them all, however, and one slipped out, tracing a warm line down her cheek. Her thumb absently rubbed  her forearm, the site of many bruises from long ago. And of course she had to drag Ophelia down with her. Ana kept her gaze down, ashamed to look at the older girl. An urchin played a card, but it was too late. It was over.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Ookla the Silent

[I think I am here.]

9 hours ago, Ookla the Silent said:

Ana blinked back her tears and drew four more cards. She couldn't contain them all, however, and one slipped out, tracing a warm line down her cheek. Her thumb absently rubbed  her forearm, the site of many bruises from long ago. And of course she had to drag Ophelia down with her. Ana kept her gaze down, ashamed to look at the older girl. An urchin played a card, but it was too late. It was over.

Aoryen played a card and the urchin after him played his last card, yet another special card, one that reversed the order of play, but it didn’t matter any more. “Done!” He exclaimed and the whole trio of them stood up, laid all of their cards down. From across the deck Aoryen could see they had no number cards, and slowly he found himself standing up too.

“We won,” one of the urchins said with a smug grin. He looked to Ana. “I guess that means we’re staying right where we always are.” Another one looked to Ophelia and made a gesture with his finger to come closer. “And that means you are ours.”

“Aye, good game,” Aoryen said seriously, eyes unfocused, subtly rested his hand by his side, on the hilt of his cutlass.

“I bet you lads are right happy about your gamble. Proper and done, wouldn’t ye’ say?”

[+Sorana]

Ophelia stared at Aoryen, eyes wide open. Lost, the had lost. "But I don't want to!" she exclaimed and the Urchins laughed at her.

"But you placed yourself as a bet." One of them replied and sauntered over, draped his arm over her shoulder. "I didn't!" she shook her head, tried to walk away from him, but instead he tried to pull her over to his friends.

"Leave me alone!" She screamed and grabbed her scissors, her hand holding them so tightly, that it hurt. "Let go of me, I don't want to come along." She stared at Aoryen, who had sold her, who had ignored her wishes and simply went along with this. She had thought that he had a plan, but instead he had used her, had pretended to listen to her, and then he had ignored her reply.

Tears ran down her face, when the urchin dragged her to the side and she tried to resist, but couldn't quite get away from his grip. "Just let go of me."

Quote

This is not reflecting my OOC view of the situation I'm perfectly relaxed.

 

Edited December 13, 2019 by Ookla the Dreamer