Big City Living (Midpoint Mingle)

[midpointmods]

The town of Midpoint: called thus because it is at the exact center of the game arena, a busy little Western town full of strange people, many of whom don’t look remotely human, because this is where all the players gather and live. Midpoint Saloon: called thus because it is the only bar in Midpoint. It’s also the biggest building in town, four stories high, dotted with windows, painted a jaunty yellow and decorated with red and green flowers in all the window boxes.

This is where your veteran teammate points you. Or just stomps off to and hopes you follow.

Downstairs is a bar and tavern, Old West style, right down to the upright piano in one corner and a raucous crowd of locals - largely locals, but with a healthy smattering of unusual or downright alien faces that clearly indicate the presence of other Players - eating, drinking, gambling, and getting into trouble. There’s a broad, bearded man behind the bar, waving cheerfully at you as you enter.

The rest of the night and the next day is yours to do with what you see fit. Explore the town, take a long nap in your new room, try to get to know people... everyone is here for the next twenty-four hours before travel to the mission site, so it’s a good chance to scope out the competition, at the very least.

Comments

III

[givemyrightarm]

"No." And even if she did, she'd be incredibly rusty by now.

[worthallthis]

That would make an easy out. But they're trying to be social. Trying. It's hard, they're out pf practice with it.

So making an attempt: "Could show you, if you're bored. Or solitaire. Don't need two people for that."

[givemyrightarm]

She considers for a moment, then shrugs and sits down. It will pass the time, if nothing else.

[worthallthis]

Okay. Now what. After a beat of staring in... her general direction-- Soldat does not do eye contact unless startled into it, or it's for something important-- and trying to guess which of the two options she wanted, they shake themselves a little. "Right. Poker is for more than one person. There's betting. Solitaire is just for one. Solitary. It's easier. Have you used cards before at all?"

[givemyrightarm]

She already understands card games as a concept, thank you. But that's a thought she's just going to keep to herself. "Yes."

[worthallthis]

Hey, Soldat had a guy who called the cards animal names. Soldat themselves had to be reintroduced to the concepts, way back when. You never know around here. They nod, relieved at least that they don't have to explain the whole deck.

Since she doesn't seem exactly... friendly, they decide to at least start with the single-player game. "For Solitaire you lay cards out face down, like this." They set up a standard four-column game, and flip the top card over on each stack. "Goal is to make a full stack, in order, of each suite."

[givemyrightarm]

Irene watches them manipulate the cards. "What are the suits?"

[worthallthis]

"Hearts." They tap one of the cards out in the hearts suit, an eight, with a metal finger. "Spades." A tap on the ten of spades. "Diamonds... not any out yet, just a red diamond. And clubs." And they tap the queen of clubs. "It goes from King to Ace. King, queen, and jack are the face cards."

[givemyrightarm]

"And the... non-face cards? How many are there?"

[worthallthis]

"Ace through ten. It goes in order. Jack, queen, and king are basically eleven, twelve, and thirteen."

[givemyrightarm]

"I see." She mentally puts all this together. "So... shuffle the cards, lay them out like this, and...?"

[worthallthis]

"Look for streaks. Twos on top of threes, threes on top of fours, making a series, see?" They take the seven from one stack and set it on top of the eight. "If there aren't any cards you can move, take from the rest of the deck, here."

[givemyrightarm]

"I see," she repeats as she watches him move the cards. "Seems simple enough in concept." She'll just need to learn to shuffle the cards one-handed.

[worthallthis]

They can show her that, too, if she asks, since they worked that out one time in Beacon when the metal arm was on the fritz. It takes some practice and dexterity, but it's definitely possible. (Or one can just smoosh the cards around in a big old pile on the table and then stack them back up, but that looks so messy.)

"It's pretty simple. Not easy, it can get kinda frustrating sometimes, but simple. You can have my deck, if you want." It's not like they can't get another one easy. Or already have like three more in their room.

[givemyrightarm]

She reaches out to take the deck with her right hand. "Thank you."

[worthallthis]

"No problem." Handing over the rest of the deck is easy. "I've got three more upstairs."

They pause, tilt their head a little, and realize they did kind of skip some of the basics of conversation.

"What's your name?"