luck be a lady [calla]

[MAX TAYLOR MORELLI]

Poker weekends at the casino were the best. Since Max was a local, he didn't have to shell out a bunch of extra money to stay in one of the fancy rooms, and he lived close enough to the casino anyway. He'd chosen an apartment that was within walking distance, just in case he had too much to drink some nights and had to stumble his way home. Really, it was just a few blocks, so stumbling home wasn't a major issue. Also, even when he was at his most intoxicated, he wouldn't be lazy enough to call a cab for a six block jaunt up the street. Tonight, he was taking it slow – it was the first night of the big tournament that the casino always hosted at the beginning of the year, and since spring was rapidly approaching, Max was hoping to be able to win enough money to make his way into summer (which was still a few months away) with some new kicks and a few other articles of clothing that could be part of a brand new, summer ready wardrobe. The warlock didn't put too much emphasis on fashion, because his style was more vintage anyway, but ever since he'd been getting more comfortable with his body, he was starting to pay more attention to how clothes fit and looked on him. It had been almost six years since his top surgery, but only within the last two did he feel comfortable enough to take his shirt off in public and not worry about anyone seeing the almost completely invisible scars.

Usually, Max didn't have any trouble passing as a man, because that's what he was. Okay, maybe he wasn't one-hundred percent finished with his transition, but that was partially by choice. The warlock still took his hormones and made sure to keep his body in excellent shape, so when his fathers surprised him by saying that they'd been looking into gender-reassignment surgeries by skilled surgeons that could do an excellent job giving him the last bit of reconstruction he needed to be 'complete,' Max surprised them both by politely declining. He'd gone to support groups for transgender individuals, and many of them decided to keep their downstairs bits intact because surgery could be really risky, and at the end of the day, if they found someone to see them as their correct gender without it, that was just bonus points and icing on top of a really big cake. Max, however, was just afraid to go under the knife like that, but he was lucky enough to have magic on his side. If Penny was brilliant enough to be researching things like cures for the werewolf gene and vampirism virus, he couldn't certainly find a magical fix to his problem, couldn't he? Much better than surgery, and cheaper, too. So, he was willing to wait.

Tonight, however, he didn't want to think about things like surgeries and misplaced body parts. Max wanted to think about poker, and about winning lots of money. The warlock was escorted to his table where he was seated with four other players, and the dealer greeted them all before handing them chips for the $300 buy-in, and slid their cards across the table. Max leaned back in his chair a little and looked at his cards. Pair of twos, an Ace, a nine and a six. Fail. Well, he could always drop the six and the nine. After playing a few more rounds, where Max had managed to pull a straight and a Full House, he was sitting pretty with about $700 in winnings, but he wanted the rest of the pot. New players shuffled in, people were folding left and right, and one guy even called him a 'young punk,' but that was probably because Max had called his bluff and slid about $200 worth of chips toward his side away from the table and away from the grumpy gentleman.

After the new hand was dealt, Max wanted to use one of his favorite bluffing skills, even though he had a really good hand. Aces were high, and he had three of them. Max looked over his shoulder, and caught sight of a really pretty brunette. She was a little rough around the edges, a little punk rock, and looked like a hell of a lot of fun. Also, she was attractive. So, Max called out to her. ”Hey, beautiful. Could use a bit of help over here, wanna be my lucky charm?” Okay, so it was a little cheesy, and maybe it wouldn't work. Maybe she'd tease him about it later, but if she came over, the other players would likely think that he had a shitty hand for one, and for two, he'd have a beautiful woman to talk to. Just like that. Max tacked on a brilliant smile, showcasing the dimples in both of his cheeks and tilted his head toward the table, a last attempt to get her to join him. If she didn't, he'd probably win the hand anyway, but he sure would like the extra company.

OUTFIT:

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[CALLA ADELPHIA ELLIS]

SHE COULD BE A JOAN OF ARC

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calla was a woman who rarely hit the casinos, mainly because it cost money to have fun, which she didn't need to pay money for because she was more than enough fun for no money at all, and apart from that, she lacked the formal attire and you were being scammed. Enough reasons for her to only go and seek the "thrill" of gambling only every once in a while, when she was extremely bored or felt incredibly lucky. It had turned out that Calla was pretty good in "being lucky", so good that even the casino owners had questioned her, but Calla wasn't the one to cheat on a game. What was the fun in that after all, if you knew you were going to win beforehand? no with calla it was merely the attitude, the way she presented herself that got them all fooled, and with some lucky hands made her win, time on time on time again. she was a champ, only did she not like exploiting it, because really, gambling didn't seem fun enough for her. just playing some cards, winning some cash, well calla didn't need it. she wasn't materialistic, which took away the use of gambling because she couldn't care less about money and earned enough to get by with her various plays, selling her art and playing gigs, because miss ellis here was a jill of all trades. many guys (and girls) couldn't handle that what was calla ellis, not even when it came to partying and going out. she was an artist, she was just that little extra of quirky and borderline dangerously adventurous, and she was that girl who could make a game with a stick and two pieces of rope. no especially not here, where people were always bluffing, and calla loved calling their bluff. men with bruised egos, they were what entertained the firetamer the most, especially if those egos were bigger than the entire milky way.

but that wasn't why she was here, not tonight. no, tonight calla had a bachelorette party, and since the bride-to-be did not like male strippers and shit tons of booze, the casino had been the second best option. a bit lame for a bachelorette party in calla's opinion, but hey who was she to judge about it? it wasn't her party. this friend of hers was that typical 'all american girl', marrying her high school sweetheart, with who she has gone through the same college degree, doing the same jobs, having a lovely home and a dog and are planning on having a family, and the girl is only 25. the whole idea of that made calla shudder, the unpleasant shivers rolling over her spine as if to torment her. why would one settle down so easily and while being so young? there was so much yet to be seen, so much to explore and so much time left to just spend existing, before settling down and leading the boring life your parents want you to have. which in calla's case would mean that she'd have to marry a nice, wealthy firetamer from a big family, to tie their families together and be a good, humble slave-wife for the rest of her life. well, the people knowing calla would burst out in laughter picturing a life like that for her. calla was never one to swim with the mainstream, to just fit in like that, especially not if things weren't the way she wanted them to go. she was stubborn and articulate, and had no qualms telling people exactly what she thought of them and their plans. often referred to as a rough diamond, the girl sure had her own talents and qualities, but she was too busy living to fully exploit them.

every bachelorette party had this one friend who was too wild and could not be tamed and dreaded settling down. watch every movie with people getting married, she'll be there, trust me. in this group, that girl was calla. as much as she was happy that her friend seemed to be happy, the entire ordeal of marriage just seemed like a ball-and-chain to her. She couldn't imagine why people would willingly tie themselves to one person, especially not if so many marriages didn't even last or ended up being loveless, phony marriages that only seemed happy on the outside. in her opinion it rarely came out the right way, so why risk it, when you could be happy enough not doing it? she was the skeptical one, who just laughed along but every once in a while gave her own 2 cents about what exactly she thought of marriages, making fun of the groom as she did so, because calla was clearly not a fan of the guy. but granted, her friend was happy, so calla could only be happy for her. it didn't stop her from downing quite an impressive series of shots to keep her party buzz going, as she wandered off with her friends through the casino, her only sort of semi-classy outfit turning heads of people, some with scorn, some with admiration, but calla couldn't care less, honestly. not wearing a beanie or any other sort of thing for on your head and no ripped hosiery was already classy enough for her, so they'd just have to deal with it. calla had her poker face on, following her friends around and laying a bet here and there, winning, of course. calla never liked games if she couldn't win, and she was the girl who easily ensnared people in her games, but only if they applied to her own rules and went according to her wishes. she liked taunting the danger and showing it that after all, she was the one in control over herself, that she could do whatever she wanted and nobody would stop her. and granted, nobody ever did.

the girl was also someone who easily walked past, gazing into people's cards, like she did right now as she walked along this card game. her friends had gone off to the bar to have a more decent amount of alcohol indulgence, while calla knew it was smart to knock off with that for a while now, before she'd be the one her friends had to carry home, and this party wasn't about calla ellis. it was about the bride-to-be. the firetamer could be selfless, occasionally. her eyes met the purple ones of a guy across the table, before making her eyes swoop along the cards of his opponents on the other side, just walking a circle. she could watch, after all, she was only audience to their game. but then the guy addressed her in the most cheeky, cliche way, that would make any other girl feel like some sort of audrey hepburn. only calla was not the girl to feel that way. "because you ask so nicely, sir." the brunette said, making her way over to him to stand besides his chair, gazing down on his cards and let out a tiny snort, as if she had been the one betting on the wrong horse with the lousy cards. calla had some understanding when it came to card games, as well as when it came to guys. she knew that by asking her over, the guy would seem as if his cards were lousy, even though she -with her sneaky inside information- knew he was going to win anyways. "not that you really need a lucky charm." she bent forward to whisper that phrase into his ear, before standing up again, her eyes on the board, flitting back to the guy for a moment, giving him a swift bodycheck while she was at it, shameless as she was. he was handsome and attractive, she had to give him that, and didn't have the whole fancy 'tuxedo' thing, or the 'rich texas cowboy' look like most of the rather unoriginal individuals here, so she had to give him props for that. "my name is calla, by the way. calla ellis."

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WORDS 1345 TAGGED MAX OUTFIT HERE
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TEMPLATE BY WE WERE INFINITE ! OF CAUTIO 2.0

[MAX TAYLOR MORELLI]

Fewer things in life gave Max a bigger rush than women and poker. Ever since he was a kid, Max had been something of an adventure seeker, playing in the dirt with his cousin Frankie, jumping off of tall things and scraping his knees, trying to ride his bike on one wheel instead of two – Max loved adventures, but it was only when he reached adulthood did he discover adventures that varied, all the time. Of course, there was always a way for the thrill to run short, to dissipate with time, but since people – women, in particular – were all so different and poker always varied because it was weighted heavily on luck, those were the warlock's favorite indulgences. But, with his love of poker and women also came respect. Max was the youngest of three children, and his two older siblings were women. His two cousins, Penny (older cousin) and Frankie (his same age) were also girls, although Frankie was convinced that she was basically doomed to always be seen as 'one of the guys.' One of the first relationships he'd ever had – Thessily was her name – ended up shaping and defining so much of his sexuality and his development into a man beyond what hormones and surgery could do, so even though he was the son of two men, Max was proud to say that his life had been mostly shaped by women.

Poker was another thing that Max held a great amount of respect for, because even though he had never lacked for money – the Morelli family was pretty well loaded – he definitely knew that you could win and lose, all with the flip of a single card or a small mistake. Being too confident could cost you everything, so he tried to relate some of his 'poker persona' into his real life, try to accept things as they were without getting too ahead of himself and being overly confident. The warlock felt that this attitude was part of why he was so even-keel, so easy-going, even though it bothered the hell out of more high strung individuals. Some people just didn't understand how somebody could be so mellow all the time, and so relaxed about all the curveballs life could throw. Max had learned how to roll with the punches from a very early age, since he was born into a girl's body even though his brain had been screaming in his head that he was really a boy for as long as he could remember.

Sometimes, it baffled him about how much really went into the development of a person, and even with complete strangers, Max usually took an interest in knowing their stories. He liked to hear about people's experiences, and try to walk a mile in the shoes of others – see what got them to their current point of existence, and how far they had traveled to get there. This part of his nature had contributed to why he was so good at reading the bluffs of others within the game – even the really solid bluffs were easier to see through because, even though he wasn't a telepath or anything – he had natural instincts about people. One might even call Max a 'people person.' And while most people wouldn't consider spending entire afternoons in a crowded, cramped casino with drunk, broke, desperate, and lonely people wandering the floors a good time, Max loved the atmosphere that the Casino Deor provided. He met the most interesting people there, and when he managed to look away from his table for a minute, taking his eyes off the game – which was something that usually never happened, but he was confident about his hand – he saw a really, really beautiful woman that he just had to get to know.

She was standing alone, but didn't look lonely, which intrigued him from the first second he laid eyes on her, and her manner of dressing was a little unusual, but quirky in an adorable way that made him smile. So, he made a lame maneuver and tried to get her over to his table, making an attempt at offering her a position as his 'lucky charm.' Max's sharp eyes noticed her looking at the other people's cards before she made her way to the table, but figured that she wasn't obvious enough about it that the other players would catch on and consider it cheating. Max would never ask her to tell him what she saw, anyway – he never cheated, even when he had the opportunities to do so. An honest win was the only kind of win he could enjoy, which probably seemed out of place for someone who liked to gamble, but Max didn't care.

”I try to be a gentleman when it's possible, but it's not always possible...” Max said, his voice a little lower and more husky than usual when his eyes raked over the woman's figure. She was gorgeous – long legs, subtle curves, beautiful hair, gorgeous eyes... yeah, he definitely loved women. No question about it. It had taken him a long time to become comfortable enough as a sexual being to get out there and openly flirt with women, but now he was pretty comfortable, and still was honest about the fact that he was still transitioning if it became a pertinent topic, but wouldn't bring it up right away. From his experience, Max had gone through hormones and surgeries for long enough that he was more than convincing as a male, and nobody questioned him. It was a comfort, and the way that the brunette was looking at him made him feel like perhaps there was a mutual attraction developing, and that only excited him more.

The warlock kept his face neutral, even when she let out a tiny snort from seeing his cards. It was all a maneuver to bluff, but mostly he wanted to get her over to where he was before someone else got her attention. The scent of whatever she was wearing – or maybe it was just naturally her that smelled good – hit him when she leaned in close enough to whisper, and the sound of her voice, soft and hushed in his ear, made the hair on the back of his neck stand up in a pleasant way. ”Mostly I just wanted to get your attention, but you could still be my lucky charm, if you wanted. A man could always use some extra luck in poker.”

She stood up and Max saw her eyes wandering over his body, but probably would have felt the look, since it was kind of lusty and really, really sexy. The warlock grinned, showing off his dimples, and knew that a poker table wasn't always the best place to make introductions, especially in the middle of the game, but he just didn't care. Calla Ellis. He'd heard of the Ellis family – his family was a giant, well-known family of witches and warlocks that had always been in Manuka, so he was surprised that their paths hadn't crossed before. Maybe it was because his family tended to lean more light where hers were more 'anti-humans.' Not that he cared about any of that... politics were messy, and he liked to take people on a case by case basis before making judgments. Right before it was his turn, he extended his hand, taking Calla's for a proper introduction. ”Max Morelli, it's nice to meet you.” It was his turn next, and Max ended up laying his cards down with a smirk and winning the hand, then motioned to the seat next to him when everyone was making reassessments and deciding whether or not they'd want to play again. ”You can stick around for the next one, if you wanna. Up to you, gorgeous.” Then, he signaled for the dealer to put him in for the next round, and slid chips toward the middle.

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[CALLA ADELPHIA ELLIS]

SHE COULD BE A JOAN OF ARC

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calla was that girl who happened to be good in everything she wanted to be good at. a typical jill of all trades, as much as it frustrated a lot of people, she knew they were only jealous because they had been practicing and training for so long while she managed to master things within days or weeks. it all came natural to her, firetaming, martial arts, the various forms of the arts that she practiced, calla was a centipede when it came to life and she fully exploited it. and though poker was more a game of luck rather than other things, there were still the tactics and the way you could manipulate people that could help you, even if you had a shitty hand, and besides many things, calla happened to be a very good actress, which had helped her on the few occasions that she went and played the card game. black jack was more her thing, she preferred it over poker, but sometimes she could enjoy a little game if it came across. she wouldn't say she never lost, since in all honesty, everybody lost every once in a while, but she could truly admit that the times she had been beaten were few, even among the few times she played the game. and let's admit it, miss ellis was all about games, so in that thing she could not go wrong. she liked to play, to twist around and lure people in the way she wanted to go, only to close the trap later, meaning she had won. it was the way she played her games and the way she preferred them, when she was in total control of them. and though with poker it seemed that the cards were the ones who ruled the game, few people realized how much your own personal behavior could reflect on your opponents and how fascinating that actually was. the brunette studied, observed, when she had to and fairly easily knew how to make people do exactly what she wanted them to do.

likewise she did that in the more 'romantic' sense, as romantic as things with calla ever got. she praised herself with a fairly good eye on who she could flirt with and have hookups with, without that person getting attached to her. calla had that quirky, that one-of-a-kind personality that could be quite alluring to guys and she often and easily got them on their knees for her, and when they were hooked, it was too late and she was gone. the whole experience of that scared her, commitments and all of that were not her thing, had never been, honestly. it limited her artistic freedom and people tried to change you, and calla was not to be changed, except if it was on her own accord. guys couldn't handle her strong persona, the daring girl that she was and keep her grounded while still being fun, and girls were much too controlling for their own good. what calla needed was something in the middle, it was something she would never get, and she did not want it. calla did not feel lonely, even if she was all by herself in a room, or standing alone in a busy casino. she knew people would end up addressing her, and it would be her call whether to reply or not, depending on the person, or she would address someone and the game would be the other way around. she loved how people's eyes glided over her, trying to figure her out, but failing miserably. calla was her very own person, something you did not stumble across a lot, or so she liked to think, and though people sometimes labeled her as arrogant, not that she cared about what anybody else thought, the brunette herself just saw it as knowing what you were good at. knowing your strengths and weaknesses is ever so important and when analyzing other people, she often also ended up analyzing their reaction to her and ultimately herself.

she felt his eyes on her before she had even looked in that direction, before she had even noticed him, but once their eyes met, there was this flash of electricity that ran through her, which made her made up her mind about what to do when he addressed her, like she knew he would, the moment they shared that look. calla was an intelligent woman, something people often forgot, after which she gladly reminded them again, because she was that artist-person who was always rebelling and everything, but calla truly was smart. and if people doubted that, they'd soon discover just how wrong they were, since calla did not deal very well with prejudices. "a gentleman when appreciated, but not when it's not, that's a smart move, i'll admit it." the girl replied with a slight grin gracing her lips, merely suggesting the fact that she was smiling, without giving a true proof for it. she had focused on the players of the game, only to notice tiny facts about their behavior that other people would have missed, but not calla. those tiny little tics that people did when they had lousy cards, or when they were sure they were going to win. the girl just put it in the memory file in the back of her mind, before focusing back on the handsome man who seemed set on keeping her attention, and she'd let him. for now, at least. she liked the feeling to be close to him as she bent over to whisper in his ear, smelling his smell, which was a good one, whatever it was. they were the tiny little details that were noted in her head that made her make up her mind about whether she thought he could handle her or not, because calla did not like hurting her admirers, but they just made her feel trapped, like she had to flee. and there were always parts of the world that she hadn't seen yet.

"well, they say luck be a lady." the brunette said simply, quoting one of her favorite musicals, just because she couldn't help herself. everything about calla was theater, it was her biggest passion and especially musicals that combined both music and acting, was perfect for her. she loved the drama, the tragedy and the bombastic songs with slow starts and loud climaxes and yes. it was all that she was. she introduced herself mid-game, and honestly she didn't really care. if you got calla's name, you got it when she wanted to give it to you, and this guy had managed to get it out of her pretty quickly. ah, a morelli. she had heard of the powerful witch-family of the morellis, but her parents had always told her that they were not having the right mindset for her to hang out with. but then again, calla's best friend was a lightside merman, and he had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, and there was nothing her parents had been able to do to stop her. calla had never shared her parents' view and mainly preferred to stay out of all of it. and since she was the rebel daughter anyways, nobody expected anything else from her. "The pleasure is all mine, Max." the girl replied smoothly, since sometimes she could play the coy, bashful girl, for about two seconds before it made her grow bored and annoyed of herself. she watched the game as it ended, her eyes following his gesture to the seat next to it, when instead she sat down at the seat where the player next to him had just left. "i think i'd like to stick around for a while." the firetamer said, slipping some of the chips she had collected so far on the table towards the dealer, indicating she was in, before turning her eyes back to the boy besides her again. "after all, i love to play." her face had this challenging expression when she spoke those last, bold words, but she was calla. she was dubbed as 'the bold artist' in her family. the girl flashed max a slight grin, before her eyes focused on the dealer as he began to divide the cards. game on honey, and she was not about to lose.

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WORDS 1393 TAGGED MAX OUTFIT HERE
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TEMPLATE BY WE WERE INFINITE ! OF CAUTIO 2.0

[MAX TAYLOR MORELLI]

So far, luck seemed to definitely be on his side for the evening. Which was a good sign, considering that he was engaging in a rather high-stakes poker tournament. Granted, he had no shortage of money, and even though he probably should have felt guilty for gambling with his family's money – his trust fund money – he didn't. While he had suffered a few losses, both major and minor on the tables, usually he ended up doubling or even tripling his winnings. Max was just a lucky sort of guy, but he knew that luck wasn't everything. In poker, there was also an element of skill, and one had to practice to keep up on their game. Of course, the cards one was dealt by the dealer were always random, but if you knew a few bluffs, had a good poker face, or knew how to turn a terrible hand into one that was passable, you could make out all right without having to completely fold or lose a lot of money. The warlock liked to practice poker when he wasn't actually gambling, and even brought his sisters and his cousins in to a few hands on occasion, usually using things like cookies or other tokens (sometimes, they'd even gamble for who did chores, or certain other tasks that their fathers asked them to do, but mostly when they were younger) instead of money. Max was close with his sisters, and even though sometimes they didn't approve of the fact that their younger brother wanted to make a career out of a game that caused so many to go into gambling debt and other addiction, they were still supportive.

Max figured that the support likely stemmed from the fact that he had never been normal, and raising him had never been a simple thing. Even when he was young, he'd had high demands, high ambitions, and wanted things to go his way. Before his transition, he was still a sweet child, but more of a withdrawn, grumpy, moody sort because of the fear that came along with the unknown surrounding his desire to start working toward being put in the correct body. Lucky for Max, his parents had accepted this fact about him without so much as a minor hesitation, and his sisters and cousins easily moved from having a baby sister to a baby brother, and never let anyone pick on Max during the process. While neither one of them could do magic like the rest of the Morelli family, having two sisters that were other supernaturals – a firetamer and a faerie – kept things interesting. His fae sister was always able to sense Max's emotions, and was usually pretty introspective, wanting him to talk about his problems and feelings, open up to her so she could help him work through whatever was troubling him, and his other sister had a temper to match the fire in her blood. Whenever someone said something about Max, they'd end up with singed hair, or worse, and even though she was a gentle person, she was fierce about protecting her family.

So the warlock had lots of reasons to consider himself a lucky fella, even where poker was concerned. And his luck just kept increasing when his eyes found the figure of a beautiful woman, and just so happened to pay him attention in kind. After he had her attention, Max managed to get her over to his table, and was pleased to see that she was even more beautiful up close than from a distance. Okay, maybe she was a little out of place for a fancy casino, but appearances really didn't mean much to the warlock. He definitely preferred substance to style, although there was something to be said for someone having some idea of how to put a look together. His sisters usually helped him go shopping, just because they had their own opinions on what kind of clothes would look good on him and accentuate the right things, without causing him to look like too much of a 'jerk' or 'pompous.' Max definitely preferred a more vintage look, a classic '50s James Dean or Danny Zuko type edge to his appeal – he was a rebel, but still a gentleman, and it was an odd mix, but something told him that this woman wouldn't mind. She had a touch of rebellion written all over her, and Max found that to be incredibly attractive as well as alluring. ”I do try to give women what they want, and just hope that it ends up being me,” Max said, dropping his voice a little bit, because even though the testosterone hormones helped with the pitch of his voice a lot, he was able to lower it a little more on top of that, just for comfort's sake. ”But not all women prefer gentleman, and that's completely acceptable. I think more women should be so bold as to know exactly what they want. What do you think?”

Max really did respect women, and he was interested in the thoughts and feelings of others, so long as they were obnoxious and he actually cared to get to know them. There was a valuable insight to be had by being granted a look into the minds of others, and it was fascinating to him. The world consisted of a mash-up of different values, morals, opinions, beliefs, etc, and that was what made the world such a wonderful place, even if it usually ended up lending a hand to some conflicts here and there. Like the stupid war... Max was so afraid of it finally happening, even though his fathers had prepared him and his sisters for what they now considered to be an inevitability. As much as he wished that when it started, he could just pack Graciela and Lucy on a bus out of town along with Penny and Frankie, he knew that they'd have to stay, make a showing for the family name, show some initiative that the future of their bloodline was a force to be reckoned with. And Max hated that things had to happen that way. Part of him had considered doing it anyway, especially with Lucy and Graciela, since they didn't share the 'Morelli' name, and at least then he'd know they were safe. But if it went global...

Calla. The woman introduced herself as Calla, and he was sort of relieved that there was a little bit of recognition since he'd heard of the Ellis family. That was enough to shake him both into and out of thoughts of the war, but he focused a little harder, and more on the beautiful woman beside him as he won the last hand, and got himself out of the moody place that he always ended up within when his thoughts started getting darker. ”I believe that women are the perfect beings to be considered 'luck' or 'muse.' So it would appear that I've found my lucky charm for the evening.”

Although the tables turned when she not only said she'd stick around, but completely surprised him by saying that she wanted to play. Max raised an eyebrow, a little taken back, but not completely opposed to the idea. ”Why Miss Ellis, I thought we were friends! You can't very well go analyzing my poker strategy, agree to be my Lady Luck, and then become an opponent!” Max pretended to be shocked that she would stray so far from decorum and her 'proper' manners that had likely been instilled in her just as his had been drilled into him as a Morelli. ”Can't say I hate the idea of you tryin' to beat me, though. Alright, then. Pony up, and let's see what you got, beautiful.” Max wasn't cocky, just confident, and slid his chips across the table, then tapped it to signal that the game could start. He eyed Calla from across the table and shot her a playful little wink. Win or lose, he knew he was definitely going to have fun.

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