{{Delerium}}

[Deon]

Renee slammed her drink down, clenched tightly in her fist. The glass she held between her fingers hard enough to whiten her knuckles under her lightly tanned skin was empty.

"Awww, dammit," she muttered, her words slurring together already. It was 15 o'clock. She coughed, the smoky atmosphere of the tavern finally starting to get to her lungs. It had reached her bloodshot eyes a while ago. They were slightly watery from the burning cigarettes. She was sitting at a table, wearing an outfit that shouldn't be defined as clothing for how much skin it covered. She sat slumped in the chair, her thin shoulders hunched over a pair of cards she held in her hand, staring at them with scrutiny. There was an obvious distaste in her eyes while she frowned at the two cards, as if staring at them enough would change the way they looked.

Her Doppelgaenger rolled its eyes, sitting invisibly behind the men, staring easily at their cards with a bored expression on its face. It had just rolled its eyes at Renee and made a motion of slitting its neck with its finger to tell her to fold. She had no chance. Renee wasn't too happy. The Doppelgaenger chuckled mischievously, as if at some inside joke only it could hear.

The guy across from you is planning on raping you, it told her sarcastically through their shared stream of consciousness. It had a smug look on its face, identical to that of Renee's, though unnervingly different at the same time. Infinite knowledge and cynicism did that to a... being. Perhaps that's what her double could be described as. Double... clone... shadow... Doppelgaenger. There were many different names for the smart-ass beast that seemed to project from herself and hers alone. Such knowledge... such knowledge... And it wouldn't even tell Renee how she would die. Or anything else she wanted to know, for that matter. Hmph. Unless it dealt with conning someone else in some way to amuse it, or otherwise making general mischief in the world, it was never very happy. Then again, the thing never seemed to be happy. It was so god-damn cryptic anyway, half of the things it said could be interpreted in fifty nine different ways.

Whatever. As long as I get his money. Hell, I'd get my name in the newspapers if I was raped. Then maybe I could start some kind of campaign for women's equality or something... Maybe about female genital mutation... The Doppelgaenger made a snide remark that Renee scrunched her face up at, but didn't reply to. One of the men across the table thought she had been stuck with a pin.

She threw her cards to the center of the table.

[Delerium]

Ugh.
Honestly, who would actually want to waste away their precious lives in a dank pit like this on a beautiful sunny afternoon? Humans were such disgusting, pitiful creatures. The slugs were all around her as soon as Rachel stepped inside, their noses in beer, vomit, undercooked chicken wings or ashtrays. The myriad of pungent scents had melded into one monstrosity of a stench, assaulting her sensitive nose with enough power to trigger her gag reflex.
After dry heaving for a moment in the front foyer, Rachel steeled herself to do this and get the hell out. Once she'd composes herself enough, the laguz pushed her way inside, past a drunk already groping for her and making a pass so slurred she couldn't make out a single word. Which was fine with her.

She raked the large room with a distasteful sneer, wondering where to start. The laguz loathed the very thought of sitting beside some random booze-hound and start asking questions, wishing now that she'd looked into a titanium bra before starting this farce of a search.
Well, she had told her tribe that he was willing to do anything for their betterment... But who would had thought she'd have to swallow her laguz pride so forcefully?

Just get in there and get it over with, you dumb pup!

Her dark gaze fell on a pair playing a card game - poker, wasn't it? Texas Hold'Em, if she was up to date on human games... It seemed like as good a place as any to start.
Approaching the table with her spine straight and shoulders back, Rachel might as well have posted a neon sign over head saying, 'Don't F**K with me'. Stopping in front of the table with her arms crossed over her chest and her weight resting on one leg, Rachel let a twenty dangle from her fingers beneath her elbow and politely said, "Room for one more, I hope?"

[Deon]

((XD I just realized I never titled this thread))

Renee laughed lightly and grabbed the money before any of the other men even moved. They were too busy staring at the newcomer.

Well. She was at least as beautiful, if not more. Idiots.

She smiled serenely at Rachel, a hint of a strange intention in her eyes that no one could quite place. She pocketed the money and scooted on her barstool so that there was room for her to pull up another chair. Her hand was in her pocket, securing the extra money in the meantime, shaking her curly blonde head.

"So, what the hell brings you to this dump, eh? You know, generally people like us don't have to bribe our way into poker games. Usually you save it for the actual betting." She stared at her curiously, trying to figure out exactly what she wanted. She enjoyed predictions. It made her feel as though she had power over the person's future actions, especially when she was correct. Her Doppelgaenger was silent in her head and offered no explanation. Oh, god. Silence was golden. For once.

Renee tapped her chin lightly. "You know, I've always toyed with the idea of assassinating someone, but if that's what you want, it'll take a bit more than just a twenty. I could prostitute myself for at least 500." She leaned back in her stool, rocking onto two legs and back again, palms pressed against the grimy table. She looked at it with disgust. The two other men weren't talking; one was dealing out another hand of cards, the other was still preoccupied with the new woman's breasts. Hell, the tail iw what she'd be looking at. In fact, it was what she was looking at. Her eyes were fixated on that thing. God. Tails. What a freak of spinal cord nature.

[Delerium]

(OOC: That is pretty funny XD)

Rachel resisted the urge to point out how stupid the talkative woman was; who was bribing anyone? She was merely showing that he had more than enough money to join in on their little game.
Well, whatever. Let her believe what she wanted to - humans usually did anyway.
Instead, she merely said, "Thank you" when the woman moved aside for her, and perched on a stool of her own.
"I'm just here for a little rest after a hard day," Rachel replied, politely pretending she had not heard the woman's idiotic insinuation.

"You know, I've always toyed with the idea of assassinating someone, but if that's what you want, it'll take a bit more than just a twenty. I could prostitute myself for at least 500."

Good Goddess, didn't the woman know when to give it a rest? Rachel had heard the term verbal dihorrea, but this was nothing short of a verbal shit storm. It took all her willpower not to counter with a stinging retort, and resigned herself to an irritated flick of her tail - which the woman also happened to stare at with dumb -but thankfully muted- frequencly.
The men were staring at her breasts and hips, but that was no surprise, and Rachel was actually grateful for the normalcy. If they had been spouting ridiculous phrases too, the laguz would not have been able to contain her temper and would have summarily flipped the table and goodness knew what else. She'd never had a shred of tolerance for stupidity.

"I see," was all Rachel said in reply. "Well, I don't know about you, but I would assassinate someone long before I whored myself out. I do have my dignity to consider." It was the closest to a tongue-lashing she was going to get. "And there's never any shortage of swine just begging to be slaughtered..." She smiled innocently.
The wolf picked up her cards and bit back a snort of annoyance. Queen seven; one of the worst hands you could possibly have in Hold 'Em. One of her ears flicked, but she gave no other indication to how crappy her hand was.