crawling back to you

[Bohai Yong]

After flagging down the bartender for another drink for himself (his winnings would surely be back in the house's hands that night between his debts and their drinking, the Warlord Prince was certain), Bohai looked up from the cards and turned his full attention on Viviana as she spoke of her future. He couldn't keep the surprise from his features, the uptick of his brow slight but sharp, a sort of pout of approval curving already downturned lips as he let his eyes wander across the Black Widow's face. The years had left them both jaded, that much he knew. But for Viviana to be considered for such a high honor was…
      
Well, it was precisely what she deserved, which is exactly why Bohai assumed she would do more to deny herself the possibility. That she would discuss such a thing with him, of all people, was promising, wasn't it? They hadn't spoken of such personal affairs since…well, since. What's more, she sounded interested. Was this part of the reason she was so tired, or was there something else complicating matters for her?

Rather than asking questions so that they could be answered, Bohai stewed with this information for a long moment. He had no right to the pride he felt on behalf of his old lover, but it glimmered in his eyes all the same. The timbre of his voice changed as he lowered his gaze again, and flipped over his next card - a Five of Hearts. "You'll do a wonderful job, no matter what." The tone of his voice sounded unfamiliar, even to him, edges smoothed by the softness of love, and respect, and awe. He cleared his throat of it in short order, giving a gruff chuckle as Viviana moved on to discuss what kind of night he'd been having.
      
"Don't sound so confident, Lady. You aren't a Coven leader yet." A smirk slipped onto his lips as he tipped his glass against them. "Don't think my streak has ended, just yet."

[Viviana Mori]

Of all the reactions to her news, Viviana hadn't predicted this. She blinked at Bo, at the most genuine expression she'd seen on his face in centuries. Her own eyes went a little wide, and then misty, as he looked at her and then offered his assurance that she would be a good fit for the job. Such sincerity was rare between them, careful comments and barbed remarks were usually the norm, and Viviana couldn't help but feel as though she'd set them both off-balance somehow. For the time being she ignored the fresh drink that was settled next to her elbow, and focused on trying to pull back from her former lover once more.

"Bold words," she found herself saying, instead. "Hopefully it won't bruise your ego terribly when you lose to me."

Viviana drew her card without breaking eye contact with the Warlord Prince, and glanced down at the face card - a Prince of diamonds - while her finger still pinned it against the bar. "Explain to me again what this means? It's been a long time since I've played cards."

Was she just looking to hear him speak more? Possibly. Bohai was impossibly reticent outside of specific circumstances, many of which they hadn't found themselves in for such a long time. It was nice to slowly draw him out, luring him with nothing but her wit and her words; and possibly the brush of her knee, as she shifted forward on her chair to hear his explanation.

[Bohai Yong]

      "Oh, my ego could use a bruisin', I think. But that's neither here nor there." Bo drawled, eyes fixed on Viviana until she indicated to the card. He didn't miss the surprise cross her face, and in fairness, he'd surprised himself, too. It hadn't felt right to be anything like sincere or vulnerable in their previous encounters since the war. Nothing had changed, really, and Bohai wasn't the sort of man to explain things away with time. Time didn't do shit to change shit.
      
      So, he didn't have an explanation, other than the fact that he was on his third - fourth? - drink in the past couple minutes, and the high of winning coupled with the buzz of booze, all wrapped around being mere inches from Viviana, seemed to have something of an effect on him.
      
      Tearing his eyes away from Viviana's face, Bohai glanced down to the Prince in her hand, a soft ah, escaping him as he straightened again, adjusting his shoes on the rails of the stool. "Right. Prince means I've got to put down three cards, now. You can tap on the doubles of the face cards, too - and on an ABA pattern anywhere in the sequence, so long as it's the thing that's on top at the time. If I don't get a face card in those three cards, you add the entire pile to your deck, and we start again. If I get a face card, I stop puttin' cards down, and then you'll have a certain number of chances to try and do the same. Also -" He held up a cautionary finger, "If you tap, and you're wrong - with the exception bein' our deal about tappin' on Queens, for the wager - you reveal your next card, and put it on the bottom of the center pile. So."
      
      Figuring that was enough explanation, and that if it wasn't, the Black Widow would learn quickly enough from experience, Bohai drew and placed the first card of his three tries: Nine of Diamonds. "Nothin', so I keep goin'." He elaborated, then continued: Three of Spades. "Nothin." And one more: Queen of Spades.
      
As soon as he placed the card, and saw what it was, Bohai's fingers darted out - and collided with Viviana's own. It looked to him that she'd gotten there first, but he gave her a hard look, anyway, before withdrawing his hand. "Alright - that's one Queen for you. But this pile goes to me, unless your next card has a face."