[La Petite Morte d'Michelle] Roving Gambler [Private; Self-Mod]

[Juliette de Chesne]

First Cycle of Cryxatum
7th Candlemark in the Darkening of Solaria
The Summer of Era II of the Celestine Mandate
Era XIV Post Fractum
Paradigm: Reopening of Olympia
───«»───

Juliette had two needs that were very important to her continued functioning, and one of them had already been met. The very expensive, yet very tasty, bottle of Pleur d'Déesse was quickly on its way to being emptied, and the Jaedaxian was pleased with her achievement of becoming intoxicated. There had been a few moments of doubt, but through sheer perserverence she had achieved that perfect state of inebriation - and it was a wondrous thing.

Gazing out through the hazy window of intoxication was easier on the eyes she had discovered over the months, especially when confronted with less than comely faces. It was just one such face that sat directly across from her at the table this darkening, a dark scowl upon his craggy features. She wasn't entirely sure if the scowl was directed at her or not, however. The man had had the unfortunate luck to be born with a lazy eye, and so while his left eye was dead on, the right seemed to stray somewhere over towards the general vicinity of the entryway. It was disturbing to say the least.

"A game of dice zhen to zettle zhe disagreement?" She asked, pulling out her money pouch and waving it in the air as though to taunt him.

"How much do you plan to wager?" He asked, somehow managing to stare at her with speculation with one eye while simulataneously glaring at the bartender far to the right of their table.

She bit back a smile, forcing herself to look at something other than his lazy eye. He was already close to frothing at the mouth, and certainly didn't need her goading him to violence. He had taken one look at her and had unfortunately recognized her for the woman who had swindled him out of his crowns, and he had every intention of reclaiming his lost funds. What was even more unfortunate was that the man had a very large, very sharp war axe, and she had taken quite the fancy to where her head currently was. So it was that she was at least giving him the chance to win back what had been stolen from him; not that she was actually admitting to the crime or anything.

"Let's zay sixty crowns?"

"Precisely the amount that was stolen from me. How very fitting."

"I did not know zhat, monsieur. Zhat is indeed strange."

"Whatever. Just roll the damned dice."

"Oui."

[Juliette de Chesne]

"Before I do roll zee dice, iz there a specific game you 'ave in mind?" She asked, flashing him a very large, very charming smile. "It would be a waste of my turn to roll zee dice without knowing what we are playing, oui?"

The large man that sat across from her grunted, his right hand almost lovingly stroking the handle of his war axe. Juliette swallowed nervously, her own emerald eyes glancing down to where her rapier hung within its scabbard on her sword-belt, draped over the back of her chair. Perhaps not the wisest spot to place her only weapon, but then again the Jaedaxian had never claimed to be overly wise; just very clever.

"Very well. How bouts a game of Farkle?"

"Farkle will do splendidly, monsieur! First person to reach a score of zen-zhousand wins."

Juliette gathered up the six ivory dice the man had thrown onto the table for her to use, and then shook them vigorously within her cupped hands. She had always been an excellent player of Farkle, but she had also always been excellent at swiping the original dice with her own loaded dice.

It was doubtful this game would go any different from all the others, she mused.

[Juliette de Chesne]

Thirty minutes into the game and both players were fairly evenly matched with their scores. There had been several busts, and on one rare occasion a full straight in one roll. That of course had thrown the man ahead of Juliette by several points, but that didn't matter to her. She intended to win no matter what.

Her face was set with grim determination at this point, her emerald eyes shining with a fierce light. She would be damned if this ogre of a man, lazy eye and all, defeated her at Farkle. She'd be forced to hang herself if she lost to him of all people!

This was the very man she had managed to swindle out of his crowns by selling him colorful rocks, and telling him they were priceless jewels. What kind of an idiot fell for a trick like that? Juliette took one look at the man, and nearly heaved a great sigh. He may have been a dumb brute, but he was a dumb brute that knew how to use his great axe.

[Juliette de Chesne]

"Excusez-moi, monsieur," she said, standing from her seat. "Zee waitress has failed to make her rounds to our zable, and I zhink I would like zomezing hard to drink. Would you like me to order you anything?"

He icily glared at her with his one good eye for a moment, and she could almost see the cogs of his mind turning as he contemplated what she had just said. It was obvious he was attempting to discern if there was some trick behind her words, but nothing was readily showing itself as a clever ploy. The frustration he felt at not being able to find anything wrong with her offer shone upon his features before at last he acquiesced.

"Yeah," he grumbled, waving his hand. "Tell the wench to bring me a pitcher of ale."

"Oui, monsieur."

[Juliette de Chesne]

As much as Juliette would have liked to become offended at his suspicions, she couldn't. She couldn't because, well, it turned out his suspicions were well-founded. Oh, she would put in his drink order. She had been counting on him asking for a drink order. Had he not she would have simply offered to buy him one under the guise of making amends; yet again, not that she would have been actually admitting to the crime he had accused her of.

However, she would be refraining from drinking any more liquor, as much as that pained her. She had already managed to get herself quite intoxicated, and if she kept it up she would never be able to properly pull off her sleight of hand. Instead she would have the waitress bring her mug after mug of water, all the while watching the man across from her drink himself stupid. If that was even possible. He already wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer.

"Mademoiselle, may I get you to bring zhat gentleman over zhere a pitcher of ale, and for me just water. However, don't let him know it's water. Bring it in a pitcher and mug as you would zee ale."

The waitress gave her an odd look but nevertheless nodded her head in understanding before disappearing into the kitchen, no doubt to retrieve her customer's orders. Juliette was not below taking any and all help she could get when it came to winning at dice, as well as earning a few extra crowns on the side. If all went well and the man got so intoxicated he wouldn't ever even realize his dice looked a little different from her switching them with her own, then it'd be the second time she had managed to swindle him out of his crowns. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

[Juliette de Chesne]

Juliette wandered back over to the table and plopped down into her chair, flashing the scarred man a wide grin. In response, he simply rolled his eyes. The Jaedaxian, though, was not put off. Even though the man seemed impervious to her charm outwardly, she knew that on the inside he was surely experiencing warm and fuzzy feelings. After all, it was harder to kill someone you liked rather than hated. At least, she was hoping that would be the case with him if it ever came down to that.

"Well? Ready?" He asked gruffly, pointedly nodding at the dice on the table.

The Jaedaxian held up her hands in surrender, smile still in place. "Oui, oui. Give a lass a chance to sit and get comfortable."

"I don't have to give a lass anything. Especially one that stole me crowns from me!"

The man was working himself up into a terrible temper at this point, and Juliette silently thanked the gods that be when their drinks finally arrived. "Be easy, monsieur. Look! Our drinks are here. A toast, shall we?"

"I'll toast to your death," he muttered under his breath.

Juliette simply pretended as though she hadn't heard him. "A toast to Jaedaxia!" She proclaimed, leaning across the table and clinking her mug against the man's before downing the contents. For a moment she was outright horrified at what she found, but then she remembered her request for water throughout the night.

Juliette sighed. This was going to be a long night.

[Juliette de Chesne]

One candlemark later found Juliette having to use every ounce of her iron will to not squirm in discomfort in her chair. She had been forced to throw back her water as quickly as the man had his ale, and she was very nearly filled to the bursting point. Not to mention the acute stabbing pains she had developed in her bladder. Either she had to make water very, very badly, or her body was going into shock from lack of liquor.

On the bright side, however, the ruffian across from her was thoroughly soused at this point. His eyes were red and bleary, and every so often he would tightly squint them as though he were having a hard time focusing upon her. Juliette didn't doubt that for a moment as she watched his lazy eye trail after the waitress.

The Jaedaxian suppressed a shudder. If ever there was a man born to fit the saying 'a face only a mother could love', then it was certainly him. She turned her emerald gaze down towards the table as she blew on the dice for good luck, and then rolled them.

[Juliette de Chesne]

She stared in rapt attention as the dice bounced and rolled across the table before at last coming to a resting point, and immediately she scowled. She'd busted! She hadn't scored a single combination at all! Juliette heaved a weary sigh in disgust as she was forced to pass the dice over to the man, watching listlessly as he slowly yet surely pulled ahead of her in scoring.

If the game continued like this she'd surely lose. It was perhaps time to make the switch, though now she was forced to wait until he busted himself and passed the dice back to her. She drummed her fingers impatiently atop the table, though lucky for her she didn't have to wait long.

"Feth!" He exclaimed, pounding his fist on top of the table and practically throwing the dice at her.

A wide grin broke out over Juliette's features as she gathered up the dice, casually jostling them from hand to hand. Now was the time to make the switch, but the key was to keep him distracted while she did it. She had taken her time in making sure he was thoroughly intoxicated, and hopefully that would only help her in her endeavors.

"So what did you zay zee woman zhat robbed you looked like?" She inquired casually, lowering the dice ever so subtly as her right hand pulled out the loaded dice beneath the table.

"Oh, you think this is funny, do you? You know full well what she looked like! You've only to look in a blasted mirror, you harlot!"

Juliette's eyes widened in mock horror, her mouth opening and closing as though she were too scandalized to talk. All the while her fingers deftly transferred out the dice to the loaded pair. She'd win this game yet. If he didn't behead her first.

"Monsieur! I assure you I've never done any zuch zhing!"

She promptly rolled the dice atop the table in hopes of sidetracking his mounting fury. "Haha, a full zraight! I believe zhat pushes me two-hundred points over zee needed zen-zhousand."

"I don't believe this. A full straight is next to impossible to-- wait a minute."

A knot of dread immediately formed in the Jaedaxian's gut as she watched the man lean forward and critically eye the dice, a confused frown upon his features. She broke out into a cold sweat as he glanced from the dice to her, and then from her back to the dice. A look of dawning realization slowly fell over his features, and Juliette felt a lump in her throat as she nervously swallowed.

"Feth," she muttered.

[Juliette de Chesne]

"You filthy bitch!" The man roared, standing abruptly and heaving the table aside in the process, though not before Juliette reflexively snatched her loaded dice up and stuffed them into a pocket. "To Aeternia with you!"

Juliette held up her hands in surrender, but the man she had made a fool of, not only once but twice now, was beyond rational reasoning. His great-axe was pulled forth and arcing towards her neck within the blink of an eye, and it took every ounce of the bandit's reflexes to dodge the would-be fatal blow.

She grabbed her sword-belt and dove to the side, rolling beneath a table to the right. Her shoulder banged painfully into one of the legs as she scrambled out the other side and stood to her feet, making a mad dash for the door. She rather liked her suite at Morte d'Michelle, and didn't want to get thrown out on account of some idiot who wanted to cleave her head off.

From behind her she could hear chairs and people alike being tossed out of the man's path, and without sparing a glance over her shoulder she threw the door open and sprinted outside, wildly looking about as her emerald eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness.

She was dead if she didn't manage to give the man the slip, and now.

[Juliette de Chesne]

Juliette cursed as she lost precious seconds taking a moment to let her eyesight adjust to the night, the bear of a man not a step behind her. She could practically feel him breathing down her neck, and stumbling out into the street she fumbled with her sword-belt, desperately trying to get the thing buckled about her waist if worst came to worst.

Before she knew it the man was looming over her yet again, and instictively she ducked, feeling the breath of air as the axe missed her head by mere centimeters. In one fluid motion she kicked her leg out and swept it to the side, knocking the feet out from underneath the man. He landed with a heavy thud, the great-axe clattering out of his hand and skidding several feet out of his grasp.

Unfortunately, he had landed directly atop her.

The air was knocked out of her lungs immediately, and she could do nothing but suck in air with a wheeze as first an elbow found her side, and then his beefy hands around her neck. This was it. She was going to die in the middle of the street, a nobody whose death would go unmourned.

Black dots swarmed before her vision as he continud to strangle her, literally wringing the life out of her. Even as she felt the world slowly slipping away and her eyesight begin to fade, deft fingers somehow managed to reach inside the man's vest and alleviate him of his money purse. She had done it off of pure instinct, but somewhere in the back of her mind she was proud of herself.

With one final attempt at saving her own life before unconsciousness claimed her completely, Juliette landed a solid blow to the man's groin with her knee. She heard a suck of air beside her ear as he groaned in pain, and the pressure around her neck immediately slackened. Now was her chance, and she did not waste it.

Squirming, punching, kicking, and biting, Juliette clawed her way towards salvation, wriggling out against all odds from beneath a good three-hundred pounds. The man made a feeble grab for her ankle as she scrambled to her feet, and in a flash of anger she whirled about and kicked him square in the face. A pitiful moan left his lips as he rolled over onto his side and passed out, leaving the bandit to slip away into the night.

It was just another day in the life for Juliette, and as she turned down a dark alleyway and leaned heavily against a wall, the man's money purse still clutched tightly within her hands, she laughed.

Life was good.

[Heartbreaker]

OOC: 1 point experince in pickpocket approved. AGM Pirate will be taking over this thread with a brief moderation to get you set up for your basic level up thread. Once he gives you the instructions, make a new thread tagged [Basic Pickpocket] and he will get you going on that!

=-)

[Pirate]

Juliette's laughter was interrupted quite rudely by a voice coming from the shadows deeper in the alley. "That was very clumsy, you know," the voice drawled, almost sleepily. "You're very lucky you're not dead."

A form emerged from the shadows, clad in a black cloak and black shirt, leather pants, and a dark hat drawn low over his eyes. "If you'd been a bit quicker with switching the dice -- not to mention smarter than to get a loaded set that produces a straight -- you might have pulled it off without having to enanger the future of that poor man's children." A sardonic smile twisted the man's mouth.

"Now, it's fairly clear to me that you are at least idly interested in the art of manual deception -- or, as some would prefer to call it, sleight of hand. I can teach you to do things like switch dice or pull a rose out of your sleeve without being noticed at it, if you like. I cannot teach you how to avoid making dumb decisions like buying loaded dice that throw a straight, of course, but after tonight I think that is a lesson you've learned, n'est pas? At any rate, if you wish, I am willing to teach you. What say you?"

[Juliette de Chesne]

Juliette whirled around in the direction the voice had come from, a startled expression upon her fair features. She had been certain she was alone in the alleyway, and even more certain that she had made a clean get-a-way from the bear of a man she had just finished kicking in the face. It would seem, however, that she had been sorely mistaken.

The Jaedaxian looked the figure up and down, taking in every minute aspect about him. It was quite obvious he was not a member of the Protectorat du Paix, and for that she heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment there she had been certain she was about to meet her maker, and that was enough to very nearly give her a heart attack.

"I would zay it had nozhing to do with luck," she replied, a grin spreading across her lips. "I'm not as clumsy as you might zhink. Neverzheless, if you are being so gracious as to offer me help in furthering my skills, zhen I gladly accept. Zhere is always room for improvement, oui?"

[Pirate]

A sardonic grin spread across the man's features. "Excellent," he said. "Come with me." Beckoning for Juliette to follow, he led her deeper into the shadowed alley towards a doorway a few dozen yards in, which he opened and through which he indicated she should walk. "This way, my dear. Within, I can show you what you wish to know."

OOC: New thread will be put up and linked later tonight or tomorrow, unless you get impatient and do it first :P