SNEEZE! Are you ill yet? (Jeyna)

[hrsegrl]

"I don't know about that. I never really got into stones myself. I watched other people play at the Harper Hall but spent most of my free time playing the guitar. I had the most awful time learning it and to stay at the Harper Hall I had to be better than the other apprentices. That left little time for games." Not to mention she'd rather practice guitar than play a silly game like that.

There was an idea. "I've never played dragon poker. Could you teach me?" Amneris knew it would benefit her in the end to learn. A lot of riders played and she could turn out to be lucky. Not many people were capable of playing poker well.

She laughed, "No, we wouldn't want you making me more broke than I already am. Labeth would be most aggrieved, we've been saving to decorate our weyr when we get one." It was true, she had been saving, even if she wasn't one to think too far ahead, she had thought about that. Living with other Weyrlings in the barracks keeps one reminded about the day when one would have her own living quarters away from others.

[kayla]

Jeyna chuckled, "No worries. I do remember what it was like. Technically, you don't need a lot of marks, but that doesn't mean that you don't want to have any." She smiled warmly as she moved to get her cards out, though that had meant reluctantly letting go of the younger woman. "Decorating your own weyr huh? Have you given any thought to what kind of things you want in it?"

Jeyna did have an alterior motive in asking. There might be something that Amneris would want that she could get her. In fact, as she thought about it, she thought that might make a nice graduation present when Amneris and her clutchmates graduated.

"I'm going to let Pixie out of her little pen area, so we should probably play at the table." Which is how people usually play dragon poker anyway. She set the cards down and then went to "open" the pen so that Pixie could have run of the weyr. "Which means we need to clear off the table so we can play."

Jeyna was a good host. She would not leave Amneris to clean off the table but would begin to clean up from their meal as soon as she let Pixie out - who was running about the weyr excitedly, glad to have "freedom."

[hrsegrl]

"Labeth likes to make comments on most of the decisions when it comes to the decorating. So we have decided I need a good bed and not one of those cheap ones in the Barracks. I'd like a dark wood table, preferrably. Ohhh and we decided that Labeth needs her portrait done so that people can see her even when she isn't there..." All of which was sounding expensive. "Other than that we are still disagreeing.

The weyrling smiled. "Well so long as I get to play after. I don't mind doing a little work." She walked over to the table, feeling strangely okay with everything that had happened up to that point. Without the bluerider holding her, Amneris felt a bit chilly. The shiver that went up her spine quickly set her to moving to clear off the table.

In her lifetime, Neris had done her share of dishes. This would be a piece of pie. She began to scrub dishes as she brought them from the table, hoping she was doing things the way Jeyna wanted them done. Some people were particular about their things.

[kayla]

Jeyna didn't care as long as they were clean. She didn't have much in the way of dishes because she tended to eat in the Hall. Of course, that was not an option at the moment, so it was a good thing she had had a few pieces. "You didn't have to wash them, 'Neris. I could do that later. I just meant we needed a clear space."

However, since 'Neris was washing, Jeyna would grab a towel once everything was brought over and began to dry. She could not have 'Neris doing work by herself in her weyr!

"Hmm... a comfortable bed is definitely a must have. I know you don't sleep a lot, but sleeping on a good bed will make a huge difference throughout the day. It really will." She grinned and put the dishes up as she dried them. "And don't worry. I doubt your Labeth is too much more vain than any other Green. Or really, any other dragon. They all tend to be rather full of themselves."

As they washed, Pixie played around almost under their feet, wanting to be involved in whatever it was that was going on!

[hrsegrl]

"Come now Jeyna. Your recovering from an illness. I couldn't leave this mess for you. Also my mother always had us do dishes directly after eating. She didn't like dishes lying around." Amneris wondered if her mother was still doing things the same. No doubt Kendara had come home again and made a mess of things.

She never hated anyone so much as her sister. For all that she was two turns older than Amneris, Kendara was no where near as mature. The last thing Neris had heard was that Kendara had become a holdless. Probably the right place for her, though Neris wouldn't mind if she died of the illness at all.

"I sleep more when I'm comfortable. Besides I wake easily. If your used to having less sleep its not as much of a loss. " Neris finished with the pile of dishes, hoping Jeyna didn't really care that they had to do the dishes right away. This way, later she could go to bed when she was tired and not worry about doing any work.

[kayla]

Jeyna didn't mind that they were doing the dishes, she just felt bad that 'Neris was working in her weyr. She was a guest, and Jeyna still had a few - very few - Runner Sensibilities. "Well, I suppose that's not a bad philosophy. I don't actually use my dishes very often, so I tend to just wash them when they pile up or have been sitting long enough I start to worry about things growing on them." She wasn't horribly messy, she just was not a neat freak at all.

"You might have a hard time adjusting to a good bed then. Find that you spend a lot more time in it than you're used to. Though its definitely worth it." And a comfy bed was helpful in other areas of life as well.

She put up the last dish, "Well, thank you again, 'Neris. I have to admit, its not so bad when there's someone doing it with you." She grinned and handed the towel to her so she could dry her hands, "All right, let's see... I have some poker chips we can use so that you can learn the betting part as well as the card part. Actually, its the betting that makes it fun. Bluffing or trying to figure out if your opponent is bluffing. The cards themselves are mostly just luck."

She found her chips and moved over to the table. "Shall we?"

[hrsegrl]

Amneris sat back down at the now cleared off table. "Yes its easier when you have a bunch of people. My brothers and sisters were mostly helpful." Not Kendara though. Kendara tended to make her life miserable at every opportunity. All this illness stuff seemed to be getting her thinking about her not so great relationship with Kendara.

"Well the money would make it more thrilling. After all who doesn't want more money?" Amneris wouldn't mind more but she didn't really want for anything at the Weyr. People were well taken care of here. The Harper Hall was good to her to in that respect. Her family had seen more hard times in the Turns she had lived there than anytime she had lived in the Hall or Weyr. Her parents didn't even know she was at the Weyr. Unlike herself, they couldn't read so sending a message was pointless.

"Hopefully I'll have beginner's luck." Amneris said with a smile. Wondering how difficult this was going to be. She hoped not too difficult. She never had been good at paying attention to things for long amounts of time.

[kayla]

Jeyna tilted her head a moment as Amneris looked like she was talking to Labeth. Ragoth, is Labeth asleep?

Yes.

Thanks, love. For now she wouldn't say anything, but she wondered what the other girl was thinking about.

Jeyna began by explaining the various cards to Amneris. "The numbers are easy, though the dragon cards aren't that difficult. They're higher than the numbers, which go 2 through 9 and ordered according to color: Green, Blue, Brown, Bronze, and Gold. There are four groups, with one of each value in them." She explained the basics of the cards.

After that she began to explain the different kinds of hands one could get, and then the rules themselves. "Its pretty easy, though there are several variations. Five card draw is the easiest with the hardest part being just remembering what beats what. You get five cards, bet against each other on them, and then can ask to trade in up to three of them - four if you have a Gold. Then that's your hand. You are betting on whether yours beats your opponent or opponents' hands. If you have nothing, then you want to make them think you have something great, so they'll drop out and you'll get the pot. Its really more about reading people then anything else."

"Also, when someone deals, they get to call wild-cards. Those cards can be anything you want them to be. For example, 2s are often wilds, or the one eyed blues. Any questions?"

[hrsegrl]

"Well I understand the cards but the hands are somewhat confusing. How do you know what sort of hand to go for?" She was trying to understand the game but she thought it was a bit complicated. Jeyna was explaining very well though. Neris just needed time to process everything. "Maybe if we do some practice rounds..." Amneris liked the idea of practicing before playing a real game.

Reading people wasn't so hard most of the time. There were people that were hard to tell. Especially men for some reason. They tended to keep what they were feeling to themselves. Not wanting anyone else to know what they were thinking or feeling. Amneris wasn't like that at all.

Dragon poker was going to be a hard game for her. All the numbers and the different variations. She was probably going to lose miserably most of the time. Unless she actually had a great hand...in which case, beginner's luck was on her side.

[kayla]

"It really depends what you have in your hand. I tell you what, before we even just do some practice rounds, why don't we do a couple of sample hands? And we're just playing for these valueless pieces of wood, so don't worry if it takes a while to catch on. I would not take any Marks from you." She knew she already said that, but she didn't want the addition of chips to make Amneris think she'd changed her mind. Yes, they could be used to represent marks, but they could be used just to make it interesting too.

As she'd been speaking, she'd shuffled the cards - complete with bridging them together. She then dealt out five face up on the table. "See, we've got two 4s, a 7, a 9, and Blue. Because there's already a two-of-a-kind, the best bet would be to keep the 4s and ask for three cards. No wilds were called, so it doesn't matter that this Blue is one of the one-eyed Blues. It only matters if that's called as a wild card before the cards are dealt. So first you'd bet on what you have and then after the round of betting you'd ask for three cards." She took away the non-4s and then dealt three cards from the top. Another 4, a 2, and 6. "So now you have three-of-a-kind, which, when there are no wild cards is pretty good!"

She grinned, "Want to see another example, or practice some?"

[hrsegrl]

There was the complicated part. It all depended on what she was dealt. If she ever played as a rider she was going to have to bring Jeyna for moral support. This was a lot of information for a game. Well it was interesting anyway. "So if the Blue were wild it would be better to keep that with the fours and ask for two cards?"

Amneris, although she might seem confused, was actually grasping the concepts fine. Even in class she asked a lot of questions. It was natural for her to be curious. Though in class she asked the questions because no one else wanted to ask.

"I find I learn better by doing. So lets practice..." Amneris figured she wasn't really going to embarrass herself either way. The bluerider already knew more about her than anyone else at the Weyr and this certainly couldn't be more embarrassing than coming to her with woman problems.

[kayla]

"Exactly, because you'd have three 4s. Just a warning. The more wilds there are, the better a hand you usually need to win. Sometimes, guys like to be all 'macho' and not call any wilds. Its silly really. Lot of times the winner is just the one with the highest card or a pair." She shrugged.

"Though you don't want too many wilds or everyone winds up with a Flight Flush - that's when you have a Flight Straight - Green, Blue, Brown, Bronze, and Gold - with all of them being in the same group or Five of a Kind."

"All right, lets start simple. No wilds." She dealt five cards to both of them. "Its considered etiquette to not look at your cards until the dealer picks up theirs." She picked up her cards. "In most cames, you have to ante before the cards are dealt each round. The ante is usually just an eighth. Then bidding either starts with the player to the dealer's left or whoever has a pair of Blues, but only if that's called at the beginning. So you'd bet first. However, let's skip betting for now, how many cards do you want?"

[hrsegrl]

Neris watched as the cards were dealt. Interesting that they even had niceties in poker. Well no one wants to put the dealer at a disadvantage. She picked her cards up after Jeyna did. The hand wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either.

She looked at her cards a three and a four of the same kind and then a seven, green and blue. Great, just peachy. She'd better ask for three and get rid of some of them. "I'll take three." She put the seven, green and blue back. After all they were of no use to her at that moment.

It would be just her luck if she were dealt cards that went with the ones that she had given back. She'd wager it wasn't a good sign when one put back three cards. "Is there a strategy you use to pick which ones to keep? Or is it all just hoping that you'll be dealt somehting workable with your hand?"

[kayla]

"There is some strategy, though even that is based entirely on luck. In a game with no wilds, sometimes the winner is just the person with the highest valued card. So if you have five cards that are all different, its best to keep the two highest."

She waved her hand slightly as she looked at her cards. "However, winning hands can also be flushes - when all the cards are the same group regardless of their values, or a straight, five numbers in a row. So it really depends on what you have. I'll look at them after the hand and we'll talk about the options you had."

She looked at hers again, a 2 - no wilds so that's not helpful - a Bronze, a 9, 3 and a Green. Both the 2 and the Green were of the fire group. She decided to get rid of the 2, 3, and 9 and set them to the side.

Jeyna dealt the three to Amneris and then three to herself saying, "Dealer takes three."

"So, no we'd bet until people folded - dropping out of the hand, or everyone calls - meaning they don't raise the bet anymore. To stay in, you have to at least meet the current bet, but you can raise it. Meeting it is called 'calling.' And raising it is... well, 'raising'." She chuckled, "Not creative, but that's it. Since we're not betting this time, just show your cards."

[hrsegrl]

The younger woman pouted for a second. She had given up her highest cards... but maybe the way she did it would be fine this time. Maybe. The cards in her hand were not that close and she felt that winning or losing depended on the next three cards. The next three cards were enough to make her slightly annoyed. A five, a two and a seven, none the same color. She should have kept that five earlier.

"Its a good thing we aren't betting." She set down her hand, a two then a three and four of the same suit, followed by a five and a seven. "I get the feeling there is no beginner's luck for me at this game. I'm just going to have to do better strategically or get better at bluffing."

It would be easier for Amneris to learn a better strategy than learn to bluff. Her emotions showed very easily on her face and she had not schooled herself not to. The opposite was true, anyone could tell her mood by looking at her and that had always seemed like a good trait to have. Her mother had encouraged it. "I bet you did a lot better than me..."