Damon reached up and swiped his hands back through his hair after closing the hatch and sealing it. Standing up, he took a step back and inspected the plate carefully. It had been carefully built to conceal its existence and the cargo contained within, but a quick glance ensured that it fit into place the way it was intended and that a casual search would turn up nothing to get them pinched.
Satisfied, Damon turned and climbed up the ramp that led from the Albatross's cargo hold its living areas. He passed through the hall containing the general living quarters and ducked through the bulkhead at the end of the corridor.
He hopped down from the bulkhead into the captain's quarters of the Albatross and pulled the hatch shut behind him, twisting the wheel to seal it. Damon spun around and grinned. "Well, she's all safe until we make our delivery tomorrow. RC and Thane already went Terra, but that's not surprising. Those two have been itchy to get dirt under their boots since they found out we were making berth on Eros."
Tavi smirked slightly as she lounged on the bed. "Not surprising," she said with a little purr to her voice. Her overall appearance was that of a satisfied feline. Had she a tail, it would surely be flicking back and forth. "Figured I'd wait for you to see if you wanted to take anything before we left."
Damon walked across the room and came to stand next to the bed. He grinned wide as he looked her over. "I can think of a few things I want before we head off-ship," he said, reaching out and running his fingertips along her side, over her hips and across the length of her thigh. He chuckled softly and ran his fingers back through his hair. "Actually, I was thinking, we're going to be on Eros for at least a week," Damon told her, circling around and dropping down into a chair near the small round table bolted in the center of their quarters.
He leaned back in the chair and kicked his booted feet up onto the top of the table. Damon held up his hand, which had produced a deck of playing cards from somewhere on his person. "So I was thinking we could play a game for the time we'll be here."
Tavi quirked a brow "A game that lasts a week?"
"I suppose you could look at it that way," Damon said with a nod, casually splitting the cards and fanning them back together. "I say we play a game, and the winner gets the loser as their slave for whatever time we've got here on Eros when we're not conducting business." He smirked and shuffled the cards again, "What do you think?"
Tavi smirked "What game?"
"Oh, nothing that you're unfamiliar with," Damon said. "A friendly game of poker, with a few changes. First, the loser of each hand removes a piece of clothing. If the person is naked they will perform the instructions of the winner for a short period of time. Each time a winner has face cards in their hand, they keep them. The game ends when all the face cards are collected, and the winner for the week is the one with the most face cards."
Tavi chuckled. "Sounds fun," she said. "Deal me in, but don't cheat."
"Oh, I wouldn't think of it," Damon told her innocently, then smirked crookedly, "Not with you anyway." Leaning back in his seat, Damon pushed another chair out from the small table with his boot and shuffled the cards in his hand again.
Tavi stood up and walked over to the chair. Kicking it around she sat on it backwards like she usually did and smirked at him. "Better not," she said. "I know where you sleep."
"Much to my pleasure," Damon said with a grin, "and exactly why I wouldn't dream of cheating on you." He flipped through the cards one more time, then dealt them out, flopping a card down on the table in front of each of them, one at a time, until they each had five.
Damon picked up his cards and peaked at them. He didn't hold a spectacular hand, but the pair of Jacks he held might have been enough. Keeping his face neutral, Damon looked up at Tavi across the table.
Tavi put down all of her cards with a frown at Damon and motioned that she wanted them all replaced.
Damon slid her cards to the center of the table and flipped out five more cards from the deck onto the table in front of Tavi. Damon laid down three of his own cards and drew three more to replace them.
Tavi frowned again but held onto her hand (as she had to), "What do you have?"
Damon laid his cards down on the table, though his expression was neutral still, as his hand could be easily beaten. He had a pair of Jacks, Spades and Clubs, as well as the Ace of Hearts, and two useless number cards. "How about you?"
Tavi put her cards down and practically glared at Damon "I think you cheated."
Damon laughed lightly and shook his head. "You just don't like losing. You're welcome to search me if you want," he told her with a wink, brushing his hair from his face. "Otherwise choose an item to strip. Pairs of whatever count as one item."
Tavi rolled her eyes "Fine" she said and removed her vest.
Damon smiled smugly and gathered up the cards, though he pulled the face cards he'd won with to the side in a small stack nearby. He shuffled twice and dealt out the second hand of their game.
Tavi shook her head and snorted. "Think I better start dealing" she said and sat all her cards down again.
"Oh, you've seen all my tricks. You'd know them if you say them," Damon said with a chuckle, dealing her out five more cards. Damon set down four of his own and pulled new ones from the top of the deck. He took a moment to look at his hand and arrange his cards, then he set it down. "Two pair, he announced, eights and nines, with a jack for company. What do you got?"
Tavi put down her cards and wrinkled her nose a bit "You still have more face cards" she pointed out.
"It's the second hand, I'm sure you'll catch up," Damon said, chuckling again, leaning back a little further and kicking off his boots. "Besides, it makes us a little more even. I wear less in the way of clothing than you, if I had to estimate."
Tavi smiled sweetly "Makes it more fun to undress me" she pointed out as she waited for her next hand.
Damon grinned, "That's the spirit, and I will be at that." He shuffled the cards again, avoiding any kind of fancy tricks so she wouldn't try to call him on anything, then flipped out their five cards each.
Finally she got a face card! Trying not to grin, but having a horrible poker face, she put her 2 down.
Damon raised an eyebrow. "It's a good thing we're not actually playing with chips, you look like the cat that ate the canary," he told her as he slid a card across to replace the one she'd discarded. Damon discarded three of his own and replaced them from the deck. He laid down a pair of Kings in his hand and chuckled. "Alright, what do you have?"
Tavi glared hatefully at the 3 and put her cards down "Nothin" she pouted, "But at least I got a face card!" She had been hoping for a Queen or a 7. Pushing some of her hair out of her face she removed her boots after setting aside the jack.
Damon gathered up the cards and then looked from the Jack to Tavi. "Ah, you only get to keep the face cards from winning hands, Love," he pointed out to her, idly shuffling the deck.
"Urf .. must've missed that part" she said and grumpily handed the Jack back.
Damon added it back into the deck and gave it one more good shuffle before dealing out the next round. He looked at his cards for a moment, then looked at Tavi. "What'd'ya want?"
