What Rules? (Aurelia, Open)

[Danica Krizova]

Dani was scrunching her nose at her cards, his explanation taking her mind off her worries for him. If he said he was fine, she believed him.

She looked up when he mentioned stepping out of the hand. "I think I should do a holding," she decided. "My fives won't beat your kings." Unless she got something really good in the new cards, she didn't think she had any chance at beating him this hand. "But there's only two of us, and I'm not supposed to know your cards, so I'll keep my fives, but I don't want the Ace... so..."

She trailed off, sliding three cards towards him. "Do we bet again?"

[Kieran Michael Dawn]

Kieran was more than happy to concentrate on the game and not talk about himself. He didn’t mind answering Danica’s questions, but he had never been very good about opening up to people. The two people he had been most open with were now dead.

“Right… you wouldn’t know what I have, so you have to take a chance. I would probably keep the two fives and see what happens. You never know, you could get another five and I could be stuck with just the two kings… and then you’d win. You put in your bet now, and if you wanted to bluff, you could bet a really high amount and try to scare me into folding, so that you could win. But you have to be very careful to keep a straight face, don’t let your expression give you away.”

He took out all but his two kings and set them on the table, face down. “I’ll take three cards.”

[Danica Krizova]

Danica had not forgotten the question she asked him about school, and she wasn't ignoring him when he asked her why. She was just taking time to mull over his answer and formulate a response of her own.

"I will take three cards too, please," she told him, keeping her fives and nothing else.

While she waited for him to deal new cards, she fidgeted in her seat, a sure sign that she was uncomfortable.

"I don't really spend that much time studying, Kieran. And I'm never really quiet... You can ask any of my teachers. But I don't think I have very many friends, either."

[Kieran Michael Dawn]

Kieran gave her a soft smile. “That’s because the other kids are jealous,” he told her. “They know they’re not as pretty or as sweet as you are. It’s their loss. And for what it’s worth, I’m sure things will get better for you.”

Only a person with a truly black heart could resist Danica for long, Kieran was sure of that. After all, she made him smile, and these days, it took a lot for that to happen.

He reached into his pile of candy and took out five galleons. “I’m going to bet five galleons. Now, you can either choose to match my bet, or you can raise it. If you were going to bluff, that’s what you would do, to see if you can scare me into folding.”

[Rita Dawn]

Rita pushed the door open a moment later, just in time to see Dani explaining that she didn't want to bet five galleons because she was pretty sure she would lose.

She sighed. "Kieran, she's eleven years old." But she couldn't really tell either of them to stop. Her son didn't exactly look happy, but ihe looked better than usually, and Dani was just... well, she adored Kieran, that was plain to see. "If Aurelia finds out, I'm blaming you and you can deal with it. How's it going back here?"

[Kieran Michael Dawn]

Kieran jumped at the sound of his mother's voice, then turned around with a guilty look on his face. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry, it's just..."

He didn't finish his thought, because it had to do with Chelsea. He never talked about her, or his father, or even Ivy around his mother. They were always on his mind, but he was always afraid to bring them up. Not only was he worried about how she would react, but he was also worried that if he started to talk about them, he would break down. What he didn't realize was that he needed to break down.

"We won't get caught," he finished, his voice taking on a weary tone. "And everything is going OK back here. We're trying to stay out of the way."

[Danica Krizova]

Dani nodded. "Yeah, that's what mum says. Some of the older kids are nice, so..." she shrugged, trailing off as Rita joined them.

"Don't tell Mum, okay? I won't tell her either, and then she won't be mad at anyone. She wouldn't be mad anyway, trust me." But just to be safe, it was probably better that they didn't tell her. Still, it was just game, and Dani knew that if she taught anyone at school, she couldn't teach them to bet, so it would be fine.

"We're doing fine. It's quiet tonight."

[Rita Dawn]

"I'm not going to tell Aurelia," Rita said, shaking her head at the both of them. She couldn't say no to either of them, afterall.

"You picked a good place to be out of the way," she said, nodding. "And it's not so quiet out front, so be glad you're back here, Dani."

Brenda came up to them, smiling at Rita and thanking her for a table the woman had given her (although, honestly, Rita just didn't want the particular group at the bar she was working), and put a plate of macaroni in front of Kieran, and a small dish of ice cream in front of Danica. She gave the little girl a look, since Aurelia had mentioned taking her for ice cream later, but she wouldn't say anything. She smiled instead.

"Just stay out of trouble. I'm glad to see you're eating, Kieran."

[Kieran Michael Dawn]

What was it with moms and eating, anyway? It seemed a universal thing for mothers to be worried about their sons' eating habits. It also seemed to be less common with daughters. Of course, in Kieran's case, his mother was right to be concerned. He honestly wasn't sure if he'd eaten anything at all today. He might have had a donut for breakfast in the break room at work, or maybe that was yesterday. The days kind of all blurred together for him.

He politely thanked Brenda, then gave his mother a look. "I'm a big boy, mum, you don't have to worry about me," he said.

As if attempting to further prove to her that he was fine, he took a few bites of the macaroni. "We promise we'll keep out of trouble."

He wished he didn't feel so self-conscious when his mother was looking at him. He felt like she could see right through him, and that was the last thing he wanted. He certainly didn't want her to know that he'd just slipped off to the bathroom for a drink.

[Rita Dawn]

"You're my only son, Kieran. I'm going to worry about you when you're 98. A parent never stops worrying about their children."

It was hard for her not to say that Kieran was her only child. She was torn between aching constantly at the loss of two of the most important people in her life, and trying to take all the advice about ways to move on, even if it was too soon to move on.

She watched him for a moment longer, saying nothing, and sighed. Merlin, she wished he'd talk to her. She knew he wasn't okay.

"If you're going to teach her how to bet, at least make sure you teach her how to win."

[Kieran Michael Dawn]

Kieran actually wanted to go to her and throw his arms around her and let her help him. It would have been so easy. But he thought it would be weak to do so; that she was in enough pain already. It felt selfish to add his own burden to hers. But it was really too heavy for him to carry it alone. It was slowly crushing him. He could pretend for an hour or two, but when he got home, he'd allow himself to fall apart all over again.

He didn't look at her as she reminded him that she was his only son. In his mind he replaced it with you're my only child, my only family. They were all each other had left. He knew that, and was conscious of it every second. He couldn't help but wish that he had been the one to die, and Chelsea the one to live. She should have lived. He should have saved her...

His eye was starting to twitch, and he stopped everything to rub his head for a minute. No, he couldn't have another drink. Not now. Now was the time to fake it.

He took a couple of breaths, then ate another bite of macaroni and cheese. "I'm working on it," he said at last, managing a slight smile. He only hoped it didn't look as fake as it felt.

[Danica Krizova]

Dani believed it, however fake it may have looked. Rita's eyes said differently, but she wasn't going to say anything in front of Dani. Someone had to remain innocent in all of this.

"I'll win," she said quickly, in defense of both herself and Kieran. "He's the best teacher. He'll make sure I can win. And I promise I won't tell Mom."

She had no clue anything was really wrong with Kieran... she just knew he seemed so sad since Chelsea left for good, and she always tried to make him happier. Sometimes, it seemed like he was, and these moments made her day. "Mum says you're really good at apparating too. Can you teach me that, too? When I'm old enough, I mean."

[Kieran Michael Dawn]

One of the things about Danica that really unnerved Kieran was the way she seemed to think he could do just about anything. It made him very nervous, because he felt certain that sooner or later, he was going to let her down. In fact, there were things about him that, if she knew about them, he felt certain that she would want nothing to do with him.

As if it wasn't bad enough that he couldn't make it through a day without drinking, there was also the "fact" that he was responsible for Chelsea's death. Or at least, he thought he was. Really, it hadn't been his fault, and he couldn't have helped her, but he still refused to believe that. Surely he had done something wrong or had missed something or just not been fast enough... he should have been able to save her...

He needed another drink, but with Dani and his mother watching, he couldn't slip away again. He stuffed a mouthful of macaroni in his mouth to delay answering the question for a moment.

"Yeah.. of course, I can try," he said when he was done. "Um, OK... where were we?" he looked at the cards for a moment, trying to get his head back in the game. "Oh... right. Um, for argument's sake, let's say you decided to match my bet." He dealt them each three cards. Now look at your cards, but don't show them to me yet."