fortuitous odds

[12] friendly favours

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11 years ago

The wind wrestled with the leaves high up in the old oak, branches dancing to its breeze. Beneath the performance sat a group of deviant youth, all engaged in a game of spoons. The four stared sceptically at their opponents, tempting their bluff with a lie of their own. This deck is rigged... says the one with a three of a kind. Who taught you to shuffle? Says the other with their fourth up their sleeve. Just waiting for the moment when their cheat would go unnoticed.

Amongst those four was a ten year old boy with a silvery buzzcut, just beginning to regrow after months of recovery. He held a startling glint in his eye that unsettled the others, never daring to jest in his direction. The boy sat with a puppy in his lap, the gentle retriever in a dreamland of her own.

"It's your turn Swan," Spoke up one of the other boys of a similar age, his bright orange hair swept back onto a low ponytail.

"Who said I'm still in the game?" Muttered the Swan, a smirk playing at his lips. The other's looked toward him in confusion, his expression broadening to a boastful smirk as he slipped the silver spoon hidden just beneath his forearm out into the open. "Took it ages ago. Didn't know you're all that slow." With a chuckle he threw the utensil back into the centre, disrupting the incomplete triad of spoons that had been set up. "This game is boring, I keep winning." He huffed, chucking his set of sevens onto the table too. With a gentle sweep over the puppies ears he shuffled to his feet, the sleepy dog immediately jumping up to stay by his side.

"Why you gotta make these games so serious?" Huffed the girl who'd been dealing. "Nothing like a featherless swan to ruin the fun..." The Swan paused, glancing back with a startlingly calm expression, one that shielded a malicious rage. The expression brought his friend to his feet, hands reaching to calm the storm brewing.

"Tae, leave it." Jimin warned, sending a glare to the girl before snatching his friend's hand and beginning to settle the pensive feelings that had exploded within. "Shit thing to say, Hye." He scoffed towards her. "C'mon let's go."

"Spoons work as weapons too," Whispered Taehyung sharply, reluctantly letting Jimin drag him away from the group. "She should get stuck in another delusion."

"Hey, put the Swan away. I want my Tae." Jimin said with a pout, stopping by the steps to the community house. "She's just a sore loser. You're really good at card games yaknow, maybe we should play with my brothers one night."

"I don't get it. I played the game and I won. Why does that piss people off so much? That's literally the point of playing."

"Well, for most people, card games are less serious and more fun." Taehyung crossed his arms and turned away, nails picking at the skin beneath his sleeve.

"Why make a competitive game then get pissy when someone is actually competitive? Fucking sorry I wanted to play the game properly. Besides Hye was cheating! She had another card up her sleeve and was gonna play it in her next round. It's just a stupid game that gives everyone an excuse to be dicks!" When the heaviness of his emotions cleared, the pain seeped in like the blood that filled the crevices of his skin. Taehyung glanced down to see where the warmth was coming from, noticing how deep his nails had sunk into his bicep.

"Oh Swan, c'mere, let's get you cleaned up. Hoseok will have something for you and we can find a quiet space if you'd like?" He pulled away from the kindness shown by someone he'd known for barely a year, shoulders curling inward and head shaking in protest.