[pshrynk]

Vera looked at her cards again. She had crap. Maybe if the Queen of spades came up, she'd have a straight. But the odds were pretty much against that. But the pilot was possibly bluffing. He was squinting slightly every time he looked at his hand. The guy with the airplane was twitching so much that she just wanted to reach out and slap him.

The pot was a fair size and she'd tossed in the ownership of the dog, mostly because she was getting tired of his whining. He seemed to be concerned about something that he didn't have the vocabulary for, yet. She just didn't have the time to give a language lesson at the moment.

Slick and Handsome were cleaning up at their table. But they had always been too hasty in skinning the rubes. She preferred to sit and let them stew a while, thinking they were going to win, rather than wondering why they no longer owned their own names.

"Is anyone going to listen? There's a thing under here that you need to pay attention to!"

"Shh!" she said to her dog. She was really hoping that the next card would not be the Queen of Spades. That way, she could have a clear conscience with letting the pilot have him. Of course, the pilot was rather handsome. Maybe she could develop some sort of visitation schedule...

Across the table from her the squid suckered up the next card and prepared to turn it. The sliminess from the dealer was another of the many things about this tournament that was beginning to bug her.