Cards and Claws

"What Brings Ya Dis Far North?"

"So," Wolf began as she dealt more cards, "you're Cajun?"

"Dat's right," LeBeau said with a smile. His oddly-colored eyes reflected the light from the bulb above the table. They seemed to glow. "I'm a good ole N'awlins boy. Born dere, raised dere." He let out a chuckle, then picked up his cards. "What brings ya dis far north, chere?"

"Business."

"What sort o' business?"

"None of yours, Mister LeBeau. Shut up and ante up."

A playful and charming smile curled on the Cajun's lips as he anted up. "Ya play poker a lot?"

Wolf dealt out two new cards to one man at the table, then traded one of hers in for another. "What gave it away? You think that all this..." She pointed to her spoils, "was just beginner's luck?"

"No, 'course not, mon ami. Jus' tryin' ta make conversation."

"I'm not one to talk much while I play."

Wolf bit the inside of her cheek. Her hand was awful. She could fold, play it safe, or she could bluff. She looked around the table. The other men, excluding LeBeau, seemed to be upset about their cards. The Cajun, however, smirked proudly and gave Wolf a wink. She wrinkled her nose. What was he playing at?

"It's your move, mon ami," LeBeau said, motioning to Wolf. "Call, raise, or fold?"

She scowled and raised his bet. The other players put their cards down and shifted their gazes between Wolf and LeBeau. One man murmured, "This ought to be good."

LeBeau smirked at Wolf's bet, then held up a one-hundred dollar American bill. "Make things a bit more interstin', non?" He laid the bill on top of the pile.

Fold, fold, fold, Wolf's mind screamed. She knew she should. If she wanted to keep most of her money, she needed to fold. But she was in it too deep now. She couldn't back out. With shaking hands, she laid down one hundred dollars. "I call," she said.

Still smirking smugly, LeBeau laid down his cards. He had been bluffing the whole time. He held nothing but an ace-high hand.

Which was still better than what Wolf had.

"What...?" she asked as she dropped her cards. "You... you beat me."

LeBeau took his winnings. "Don't worry 'bout it, mon ami. I've been playin' poker since before ya were born."

The other poker players got up and left. They took what little money they had left and skedaddled. That left LeBeau and Wolf alone.

His smirk softening, LeBeau slid some money across the table to Wolf.

Wolf glared at the cash. "I don't need your charity."

"Dis ain't charity. Dis is for information."

Stunned, Wolf dropped her glare and stared into LeBeau's strange eyes. "What?"

"I don't think ya ever told me your name, chere. What is it?"

Grudgingly, Wolf took the money. "My name is Wolf."

"Interestin' name. What're ya doin' so far north?"

"How do you know I'm not from here?"

He chuckled. "I been around dese Canadians long enough ta know one when I see one. Ya don't look like one. So I'll ask ya again: what're ya doin' so far north?"

"Like I said earlier, for business, and it still isn't any of yours, LeBeau."

"Ya can call me Remy, ya know." He sighed. "If ya won't tell me what you're doin' in Canada, will ya at least tell me why you're hustlin' drunk men over games o' poker?"

"Girl's gotta eat, right?"

"You're doin' all dis just ta buy food?"

"It's not gonna jump in my lap, if that's what you think. Bars like this are easy targets. Men think that just 'cause I'm a girl, I can't play poker. Well, I pretend I can't, let them believe I don't know what I'm doing, and before they can back out, I hustle them out of their money. Except I just got hustled by you."

LeBeau glanced at his hands, then tried to give Wolf some more cash. "Take dis."

Flustered by his insistence, Wolf slammed her fist against the table, scattering coins to the floor. "I don't need your charity, LeBeau! I'll be fine on my own."

"I ain't gonna stop insistin' 'til ya tell me why you're here."

"Why do you care so much?"

"You're different. I just know it. Somethin' about ya ain't like de rest of dese people."

She quirked a bemused eyebrow. "Like you're normal?"

He chuckled. "I suppose ya got me, mon ami. I ain't like de rest, either. You're like me, non? A... mutant, as dese humans call us?"

"How do you..."

"We all got noses for our own, chere. Surely, ya smelled somethin' different 'bout me when I showed up."

He was right; Wolf had felt something that something wasn't right with him. She hadn't been able to put her finger on it. Not until he pointed it out.

"So, where ya from, mon ami?" LeBeau asked after silence had fallen.

"New York," Wolf sighed. "I'm from New York. I came up north because I need answers."

"Answers? 'Bout what?"

Wolf gave him a measured gaze, her sapphire eyes locking onto his ruby ones. "About who I am."