Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was another busy night in the Sky Casino. People were enjoying themselves and Sigma made sure to take note of all of them. He begins to walk around, the click of his high heels against the floor was barely heard over all the noise. He smiles and gives the occasional wave to his customers, making sure to keep up his appearance as general manager of the Sky Casino. His eyes wandered over all the tables and games, his eyes looking for someone in particular. You. You came into the Sky Casino quite frequently, always making sure to chat with him. He liked— no— loved— no— he wasn’t sure how he felt about you but he enjoyed your presence and seeing your face. His eyes kept darting around, eventually landing on you watching a game of poker. He made his way towards you, taking in a deep breath to prepare talking to you. He noticed a man, who seriously had a gambling addiction, had his arm wrapped around you and his other holding his cards. He noticed your uncomfortable expression and immediately didn’t like what was happening. He cleared his throat, catching the attention of the table.

“Enjoying yourselves?” He asked, looking at every individual at the table before his eyes landed on you, his eyebrow raising with a silent question, “ Are you okay? ”

He noticed everybody’s beat down expressions besides the man with his arm around you, his smile indicating he was the lucky winner at this table. Only him and another man were still playing, but he could tell that he was on the verge of losing. You looked to Sigma with an embarrassed expression, not even sure yourself how you managed to get in such a predicament.

“Oh, yeah,” The man with his arm around you smiled, the corner of his lips turning up in a smirk. “We’re doing just fine.”

Sigma knew this man came in nearly everyday, he was one of the highest contributors to the casino. He watched him beat his opponent with a full house.

“ I’m gonna go get a drink. ” the man who just lost mumbled, stepping away from the table and to the bar. Sigma moved out of his way, noting that the man drinks after a loss.

“You know,” The man let go of you to take a drink from his glass. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you play a game of poker,” He placed his glass down, a smile still present on his lips as he looked to Sigma. “Play against me, won’t you, Sigma?” His cockiness was evident in his voice. He’s full of himself, probably from his winning streak and the alcohol, Sigma figured as much.

“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t have any money on me for that—“

“Oh, money isn’t the main concern here.” The man chuckled, cutting Sigma off.

“Ah, my mistake,” His voice trailed off with slight confusion. The man who was the highest contributor not playing for just the money? His eyebrows knitted together as he said, “So, what exactly are you playing for?”

“For the lovely sight that’s sitting next to me, of course,” The man gestured to you, making you want to hide your face from Sigma. “The money is nice too.” The man laughed.

Sigma looked shocked before regaining his professional composure.

“I see,” he looked to you, not sure how he felt about you being the prize to be won at this table. He wanted to tell this guy off, tell him that this was unacceptable behavior at his casino, but he kept calm.

“And you wish to play against me?” He kept his eyes on you while talking to the man.

“I love a good challenge, I know you won’t disappoint.” The man said, his hands back on you.

Sigma pursed his lips, unsure of what to do. He could win and get you free from this man or lose and completely embarrass himself in front of you. He could picture the disappointed look on your face now, he couldn’t let that happen. He got an idea. He knew that telling this man off would do no good, he knew a character like his would continue his actions. So, he gave this man a chance to make a deal with him.

“I’ll play,” he paused, seriously thinking about his words and what he was doing. “but on one condition.”

“Name it.” The man said, leaning back in his chair, satisfied he got his way.

You on the other hand were completely shocked Sigma agreed to play to win, well, you. Your mouth was slightly agape, hoping the heat in your face wasn’t evident.

“If I win, you must never gamble with the hopes of winning someone again,” his words were sharp and firm, making sure to get it through this guys arrogant head. “If you win, you can continue gambling with what it is you please,” he tilted his head slightly, his tone shifting as he said, “do we have a deal?”

The man grins.

“It’s a deal.” He says, his eyes glancing towards you.

Sigma nods, taking the seat the man who left to go to the bar sat at.

Sigma takes the cards, shuffling them before distributing two cards face down to the both of them before placing the three community cards facing up on the table. He was somewhat confident in his playing abilities, but knowing you were watching caused him internal distress. He could feel your eyes on him as he took a look at his two cards. He had a nine of hearts and jack of clubs. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. The man looked at his cards as well before tossing a heavy stack of poker chips saying, “Fifty to open.” He looked to Sigma, curious to know what he was going to say.

He decided to play it safe, so he decided on not raising. He instead said, “Call.” Before placing the same amount of poker chips.

The two of them looked at the community cards which were a queen of hearts, eight of hearts, and a ten of spades. His eyes flickered back to his cards, realizing he was one card away from a straight. Since two of the community cards were hearts, he possibly could pull a couple more to get something better.

“Seventy five more.” The man said, placing more poker chips.

Sigma matched the amount, keeping his face blank to not give anything away. He placed down the turn card, which was a king of diamonds.

The table now read: queen of hearts, ten of spades, eight of hearts, and now king of diamonds.

The king brought Sigma closer to a straight. If the ace dropped next, he could use his nine and jack which would give him a straight from nine to king. He noticed the man still kept his smirk present on his face. Sigma looked to you, not sure what to make of your expression.

“Bet a hundred.” The man said, his eyes piercing through Sigma’s.

Sigma thought for a moment before making his decision. The other people at the table looked intently at the two, enjoying the game since they weren’t the one playing it. Sigma pushed in all of his chips before saying,

“ All in. ”

The table had an audible reaction, as did you. He was going all in for this? You didn’t know whether to be concerned or flattered. The man chuckled, pushing in all of his chips as well.

“You’re on.” He grinned.

Sigma placed the final community card down, the river, which was an ace of hearts. The board was now: eight of hearts, ten of spades, queen of hearts, king of diamonds, and now ace of hearts. Sigma looked at his cards and the community cards. He could use the nine, ten, jack, queen, and king for a five-card straight, but there was something else. Three of the cards were hearts, and he had a nine of hearts which made four hearts. His eyes flickered and his face contorted, checking again.

Eight of hearts, ten of spades, queen of hearts, ace of hearts..

He added his nine of hearts, which made four. He realized he was missing one card, which was the jack of hearts to get a straight flush. His lips pursed, looking up to see the man was laying down his hand.

“I think this is where it ends, casino manager. ” He said in an arrogant tone, his hand having a jack of diamonds and nine of clubs.

The table collectively gasped, seeing as the man had a nine, ten, jack, queen, and king. A straight.

“Looks like lady luck is in favor of me and only me tonight.” The man said in a proud tone, his arm wrapping back around you. You were immediately saddened by this, you were really hoping Sigma would win and take you away from this. You sighed, at least he tried.

Sigma’s eyes were on you, seeing your sad face made him sad. He laid down his cards, the nine of hearts and the jack of clubs. Silence followed after he did this, but a voice at the table cut through the silence, saying the words before he could,

“ Sigma wins! It’s a straight flush! ”

The man’s mouth went agape, his face changing to confusion and anger as he shouted,

“ I had the straight! He had the same damn cards!”

“You did have a straight. I have a straight flush, five cards in sequence, all the same suit. Nine through king, all hearts.” Sigma explained, collecting the chips, before standing up and offering an arm to you, who was also in shock by his win. You took his arm, linking with him as you stood up. The man was still furious from his loss, his eyes twitching.

Before leaving, Sigma looked to the man, saying, “Good game,” he smiled, before saying “remember our deal.” His tone had an underlying warning.

You smiled at him and he smiled at you before beginning to walk to away from the table and outside the casino. He took you out to see the view, but also enjoying having you close.

“That was amazing.” You said to him, happier than ever that he won.

“Thank you.” He said, feeling a bit flushed.

He took a look at his watch, saying, “Shouldn’t you get going now? You’re here later than usual.” He looked to you, his pinkish eyes squinted in a concerned way.

Your smile grew wider, you liked how much he cared about the people who visited the casino.

“I think I can make an exception.” You said, putting your other hand on his arm before looking at the night sky, the stars twinkling above the two of you.

He felt his face grow a bit hotter from your words and touch, not used to this kind of attention.

“I—I didn’t win that game because I thought you were a prize to be won, I did it so that man wouldn’t continue gambling like that—“

“I know.” You looked back to him, kissing his cheek.

He didn’t expect that.

His face changed to many different shades of pink, his words stumbling before he managed to say, “I was just making sure you knew.” He said, only in a voice you could hear.

He was much too shy to actually kiss you now, no matter how much he wanted to. You wanted to laugh at his starstruck expression but kept it to yourself before leaning on his shoulder, looking at the starry sky once more with him. You wanted this to happen every night and so did he. But for now, you silently enjoyed the view and so did he. The difference between the two of you was that you were looking into the night’s view, he only looked at you.
The best view of the night.