Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

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Yaksha
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Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Wed Nov 15, 2017 6:41 pm

Yaksha, The Anthropophagus

Yaksha

"Sir! Come quickly. There's someone at the dice table who's-"

"Is it a wolf girl."

"No...sir...? It's a woman, yes. But there's nothing wolfish that I can see."

Yaksha could be seen leaning behind his desk, hands laced behind his head; he'd been deep in meditation for the last hour or two, drifting back to the surface only slightly, like a fish dipping out of the water for a scant moment to snatch an appetizing-looking insect hovering above the surface. There was a sort of lazy slowness about his movements as he lowered his feet to the ground, rising up and stretching with no small amount of excited groans. He was still hobbling moreso than walking; the wounds Mirja gave him were still lingering here and there, or perhaps he had simply chosen to keep them as a reminder of why it was he had finally decided to wash his hands of her. Gigai or no gigai, there was simply no way he could let her continue to tighten the leash around his throat.

He moved without any real sense of rush, adjusting his sleeves and his tie alike, brushing a few wrinkles out of the fabric, and then gesturing for the guard to walk with him. He gave the very real impression as he walked of someone who had been in a bad accident recently; his limbs didn't move so much as flail, hitting the floor in front of him more by coincidence than intent, and propelling himself forward only slightly. He had truly gone deep this time; even just trying to make his muscles react was taking a great exertion of will.

"Tell me about this girl, then. Did she come alone? With anyone else? Is she wearing the sort of outfit that one would expect from a person trying to blend in? I -do- hope you didn't let her keep on a pair of sunglasses, or a scarf. If you can't at least describe her physical appearance, then we can't guarantee this is her first time, or that she doesn't plan to return."

"I assumed that you were going to make sure she couldn't return, sir."

Yaksha paused for a second, brows furrowing, and his hands tightening into fists.

"Have I -ever- given you the impression I was a violent man? Do you fear for your well-being, in my employ? Have I not treated you well? There is to be no breaking of bones, no shedding of blood. We'll just have a nice, simple chat in my office. I'm certain I can persuade this woman the merits of playing by the rules."

There was a smile on Yaksha's face that couldn't quite be called human, or sane. Something in that manic cheer gave the very strong impression that he not only thought he was telling the truth, he was excited to prove it.

"It's the duty of every man to rise above his baser urges, you know. And what better place to do that than Vegas?"

"Is...that a joke, Sir?"

"Ha. Ha. My, yes. Possibly my best one to date. Have a nice day. Leave the rest to me."

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Mirja Eeola
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:31 pm

The Reborn Wolf

Ulv Auber

Dice. An interesting form of gambling. While the rest were stupid and leaving absolutely everything to chance, as if they actually liked losing because of something totally out of their control, Dice gave a beautiful sense of of control. If you could throw the dice just right, then you'll win. Which was better than 'you will lose if the gods of random chance decide to shove a pitchfork up your ass and give it a twist'. So Ulv held the dice for a few moments, felt their weight, and then flicked her wrist, controlling their falling patterns so that when they tumbled, it rolled perfectly.

After a short while of building up these nice painted bits of plastic, she was picked up by two puny weaklings to take her elsewhere in the casino. Most would get dressed up fancily for such a place, but Ulv didn't have anything except the overalls that she had stolen from the lab, so she stuck out rather dramatically. Plus, there was the pitch-black eyes and shocking red crop of hair, along with the well-toned muscles that were easily visible through her overalls. The whole thing was surprisingly Overt, as if she was around to draw attention from a person who slipped in with more subtlety. Right now, Ulv was as subtle as a brick to the face.

Still, the men were polite, and kept their hands to themselves, so when they got to the room, Ulv had no thoughts that she had done wrong. In fact, the man she saw just made her think they had brought her to the owner so he could congratulate her on doing such a good job. Or invite her into a secret game of super-professional Dice Throwers. She liked the idea of playing with people that were as good as she was.
"Hello sir! I am Ulv Auber! How do you do?" she asked, a broad grin not detracting at all from the ominous void that was here eyes. As much as her vibrant personality tried.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Yaksha
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:14 pm

Yaksha, The Anthropophagus

Yaksha

Yaksha stared at Ulv, his hands folded in his lap, his expression one of absolute delight as she walked in. Nothing could've detracted from the moment; not her own oddly colored eyes, not the sense of concern clear on his employee's faces, not even the faint lingering smell of dog that seemed to be itching at the back of his throat and nostrils. This was a fresh start. This one was an opportunity to prove himself in a way he never could've otherwise.

"Good evening, Miss. I'm delighted to see you're enjoying my soft opening. And I'm even happy to see you've started winning. But I feel like I have to explain something very basic to you, so we don't have to worry about this continuing. The point of gambling is that you're not -entirely- certain each time that you'll win. It is, in my experience, the base state of the universe. We all struggle to turn uncertainty into certainty, but you can never be 100% certain."

Yaksha rose slowly, adjusting his tie once more as he turned towards a table behind him, dragging it forward with an expression of single-minded certainty that made it impossible to confuse him as anything but a humble owner of a high-class establishment; the sweat breaking out on his face, the way he panted as he pulled on it, even having to wave off his employees a few times as they approached to help. All of it was a perfectly practiced routine, something he'd worked at for weeks now; he could blend in as one of the rubes with remarkable skill.

"I applaud you for finding your foolproof tactics with which to secure your victory, but I feel I would be remiss in my duties as a casino owner if I didn't remind you that eliminating the chance of defeat is defeating the purpose of gambling. To this end...I would very much appreciate it if you'd entertain me for the night, with games of chance. There will, naturally, be some aspect of skill involved. It's simply absurd to play a game you have -no- control over, after all."

He reached into one pocket, withdrawing a pack of cards and beginning to shuffle them slowly, with a deftness of hand that was, while flashy and impressive to behold, certainly nothing that difficult. It was a trick that had been done at blackjack tables across the world for years.

"Poker? Texas Hold 'em? Jin Rummy? Backgammon? Find the Queen? There's an aspect of skill to each. The slots machines, the roulette tables, all of those things...they're fine and dandy for the hardcore addicts. The ones who get off on the lows as much as the highs. For the high rollers, I always find a nice marinade of anxiety and hope to be far more delightful. You should always be blaming yourself for your shortcomings, not the fickle whims of fate. That said...there's a lot of fun to be had, in getting thrashed. Some of the best moments of my life came from some of the most one-sided of games. It really gives you a sense of scope when you're sitting across from a true master of their craft."

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Mirja Eeola
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:36 am

The Reborn Wolf

Ulv Auber

Ulv stood in front of Yaksha, and looked thoroughly confused at the entire concept. People can here to lose? The luck based games, people were putting their fortunes in the fickle hands of fate and hoping for victory. Maybe that was there thing, and Ulv never stood on the toes of people who had things. But, to want to lose in a game where how well you could play relied on how well you could throw the dice was utter madness. Ulv just gave him a very perplexed stare. She honestly could not comprehend such a thing as she moved to sit down.

"So, if they want to just lose with the chance to win sometimes, why don't they just throw money at someone who decides when to give them some of the money back? Why go through all the pomp and ceremony just to feel the losing? I could give them a lot of feelings of losing, without them having to get all dressed up and come to this building and have to get stared at by everyone else that was also well dressed up and who sneer behind their hands like they think the person is totally deaf" she sat.

"Or is that just me?"

Looking down at the cards that were given from his discription, she had no idea what she was doing. But from his speech, she was meant to lose, so maybe she should just throw all the games with whimsical moves. He was rather enthusiastic on the fact that she was meant to lose, which wouldn't be hard for her to do because, well, she had never played anything remotely like what he was suggesting. But she put a game face on, which looked something between a scowl and a tensed face trying not to fart.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Yaksha
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:23 pm

Yaksha examined the woman across from him, his own expression turning sympathetic, almost nakedly wounded as he sat down across from her, hands resting on the table as he began to flip the cards over, one at a time, as if showing her that there were no markings on them, nothing abnormal about the cards themselves. His movements had the feeling about them of ritual, as if his mind were entirely elsewhere as he flipped each card over, then shuffled them around nimbly, only to flip them back over. He finally spoke, after perhaps a full minute of silence broken only by the sound of paper scraping across felt.

"It's madness, plain and simple. Addiction. There's a switch in certain people's minds that flip, when they find themselves stuck in a life-or-death situation. People who, in the days of swords and knighthood, would've picked fights in a bar or tried to challenge a man to a duel simply to feel a rush of excitement. They've all found a way to channel those urges into something that won't get them all killed...immediately, at least. I imagine to certain sorts, the idea of losing house and home due to an opponent's superior skill at throwing dice isn't that different from the fear one feels when they're disarmed by a man of unknown means. Humans always feel most alive when they're in danger. I daresay they turn downright stupid when they realize that their lives are in the hands of another."

He looked back up at her, his fingers sliding across the felt slowly, with a look that could almost be called ecstasy on his face as he did. His eyelids fluttered, his mouth opening for just a second, as if he were trying to remember what he was trying to say, or waiting for a thought to pop into his head. He finally shook his head, and began to spread out the cards.

"All of life is about calculated risk. That's the truth everyone in Las Vegas knows. You can trust in your hands and your wrist up to the very end, but there are always a great many variables that could make you lose. Perhaps you didn't notice the faint slant of the table. Perhaps you were distracted at the very last moment by a gentleman sneezing. Perhaps you lost focus and yawned at the last second. You can have self-control to put a buddhist monk to shame, but in the end there's always risk. You're free to doubt me, of course. But the truth of the world is nothing so complicated. People can only find meaning in times of uncertainty. No one -wants- a world in which they all know the outcome from the beginning."

Mirja Eeola
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:48 pm

The Reborn Wolf

Ulv Auber

Ulv clearly had no idea what she was doing with the cards, and just grinned inanely as Yaksha spoke about the whole concept of risk. She never really got a feeling of risk in a fight, but then she had never really fought anyone that amounted more than children waving sticks around. Combat was literally her raison d'etre. Cards, less raison. But she humoured him and kept smiling and holding onto her cards and maybe it would turn out to be the right thing eventually. Maybe it would turn out that she should use the cards as projectiles and escape this wacky world.

"People only want risk in their, only want to be in danger because they have never been in danger before. I have a few situations I could drop them in where they would swear off any risk for the rest of their life. I don't understand why people would seek it out, and I was literally born to fight. I was made in a test tube to be a very muscular weapon for a group of scientists who decided they enjoyed the look of the wrong girl, and subsequently got crushed under her titanic heel. The people who inherited me didn't like the fact that I enjoyed walking around, and tried to force me back into my cell"

Unlike Yaksha's entertaining reaction to what he was walking about, Ulv was casual and measured, as if it was merely about how she wanted her tea.
"I was born yesterday, so maybe that is the reason, but I don't understand the need to find meaning. Life is what you make it, there is no deeper meaning, no magical train of thought that will suddenly enlighten you and make it all make sense. Sometimes you are born into power, sometimes you are born in a malfunctioning tank that likes the idea of suffocating you a little too much to be good for your health. There is plenty to do without finding meaning, and plenty of feelings to be had without putting yourself in such controlled danger. They are very confusing people, and I feel glad I am not directly related to their genome"

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Yaksha
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:26 pm

Yaksha, The Anthropophagus

Yaksha

"That is a remarkably short-sighted viewpoint, and one I simply can't endorse. I've been in danger, and I've seen many of the patrons of my fine establishment in danger. There exist many types of people, and those who thrive in times of stress and anxiety are far from a rare breed. Our world all but demands it, at this point; it is more likely that you simply don't feel stress or anxiety from fighting. I daresay Zaraki Kenpachi would have a few words to share with you on that topic."

Yaksha's expression had turned into something less guarded, more straightforward; setting his cards down, he simply stared at the woman across from him, his eyes turning flat and hard, his expression one of absolute loathing as he slipped the cards back into the center of the table, and then rose. He turned away from her, hands folded behind his back, and let out a slow, tired sigh.

"You are in a town owned by literal demons. At any moment a creature that we'd normally speak of in terms we'd reserve for extinction level events could enter the room, and begin making demands of you. If that isn't danger in your universe, then you are insane. It's that simple. And if you have doubts as to why this system works, then you are very insane. I cannot help you to understand if you insist on sitting there and extrapolating from life in a test tube. I am loath to use force to remove you from the premises, primarily because I imagine anyone with skill in dice like you have, and anyone who gives away information as freely as you do, would have no qualms with killing hundreds of people just to continue playing a rigged game. So instead, I will allow this to be an opportunity to try out a trick I've been wanting to use. Should you wish to remain and play, then you'll automatically be assumed to consent to this experiment."

He tilted his head to the left, and then the right, even reaching up with one hand to push it a little further; there was a loud crack, not unlike ice holding up a remarkably heavy weight, slightly muffled, and then he rose to the tips of his toes, looking out at the tables; at the people leaning over them, mania and confusion and worry present in their faces. Except for the truly depraved; they simply had blank stares, as if they had entered some manner of absolute hypnosis, and were prepared to play until they died.

"Life has no simple answers. But in that same vein, there is no wrong way to seek answers to life. Each of us simply want to find something that makes us feel like something more than the sum of our parts. Begrudging them for their love of controlled risk-taking behavior is petty and pointless. There's no need to belabor the point further; you have in your own way resolved not to understand. There is no fixing that."

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Mirja Eeola
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:33 am

The Reborn Wolf

Ulv Auber

"If you're eyes are on the future, you'll be tripped up by the present. Short-sighted is not always a bad thing. You might get caught with a solid right hook from something you might have seen coming, but if your view is to broad, you will get caught with a solid right hook from something you might have seen coming, had you a more focused outlook. And the only way to tell your view is to broad, is to catch said right hook. And some people don't survive to get a second chance. So it is better to do what you know you can, and expand from there, than try to cram the entire pancake into your mouth at once, and choke on it" She saw that this was no longer a card game. Maybe the card game was just a pretext to lecture her on how she was stupid for having woken up yesterday.

"I think it is less that I don't feel stress and anxiety, more that I have yet to meet an opponent that can cause it. But if someone came in and started making demands, then I would hear them out, extinction level event or not. I myself could kill everyone in this building and then turn said building into rubble and draw pretty pictures with the blood of the people here. But I am not going to. If you waste your life worrying about what might happen, then you are going to walk into what does happen. And it is probably not going to be very happy for you not watching where you are going" she told him, putting down her cards and getting up to stand besides the man. She had a smile, and a jaunt to her step, so clearly she thought this was going a different way to how Yaksha did.

"I haven't really had time to develop a train of thought, or to know how I see things, but I know it is different to you. You seem to see the big picture, and want it all. You take it in as a whole, and you see the value it has. I prefer to admire the small part down in the corner where the painter has painted a painter painting a painting inside his painting. But neither of us are wrong, we are just different. Maybe looking out at such pointless risk-taking is petty. But I am still learning. In a few weeks, I might get over the mindset and admire people for who they are, not what they do. No mentality is immutable, after all"

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Yaksha
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Sat Nov 18, 2017 10:34 am

Yaksha, The Anthropophagus

Yaksha

"We call those fractals. Next to spirals, they're one of the most common patterns in nature."

A smirk had actually begun to creep across Yaksha's face now, his eyes lighting up ever so slightly, as he rocked back onto the balls of his feet for a few moments. His hands remained laced behind his back, but now there was a noticeable change in his demeanor. He seemed to have already grown more at ease, as if the simple concession that she had made was far more valuable than it seemed. He continued to look down at the floor, and sighed faintly.

"Just as you have never understood the mindset of one who leaps laughing into certain doom, just for the thrill of scraping by with the skin of their teeth, I've never understood the mindset of those who go to war as a matter of routine. I feel nausea every time I see another suffer, not unlike what one would feel if they saw a childhood doll burned before their sight, or a much-loved book torn to shreds. At the end of each fight, I find myself resolved to do everything in my power to avoid the next. However silly or ridiculous it is...I just don't seem to have the appropriate degree of apathy for my fellow man to really enjoy seeing bones broken, or faces contorted in pain."

Yaksha closed his eyes at this moment, as if he were actually being bombarded by past memories of others suffering. In his own head, he could hear a voice, faroff, mocking, but every bit as clear as the woman across from him. It was almost like having a cellphone implanted directly in his head.

What a nice sentiment! 'I love everyone, I don't want to fight anymore!' You know it's bullshit though, same as me.
You kill people -just like every other hollow ever to exist-! The only difference is you won't look them in the eyes while you do it, or feel the blood dripping down your own hands! You killed me when I had my back turned, before I could even feel it, and in your twisted fucking head that was -better- than challenging me for leadership out in the open, where everyone could see! Don't paint yourself as some saint.
You're not. You're nothing like that. You're just a pussy, trying to convince people that rolling over and dying in their sleep is better than fighting up to the last moment. You'll strangle the world, steal its resources, and kill them all like a tumor growing beneath the skin.
Better to do it my way, don't you think? Just give me all that delicious power you've been gathering up, but are too scared to use...and let me show you how to rule.

He inhaled slowly, brows now furrowed together, as he spoke between clenched teeth. There was something very much like pain in his voice now, as he rocked back onto his toes.

"The important thing is that one doesn't burn their bridges. There is always the possibility to understand, so long as one wishes for it. These games...test your understanding of the world around you, and the people you meet. Luck is merely there to represent the same factor endowment the universe itself gives us; a man who knows how to use his resources will always win in poker, even if his opponent has all the luck in the world, and squanders it. In a sense, many of these games represent the entire struggle of life, on a smaller and faster scale. It's not unreasonable to think that if you master poker, you'll be able to take that same expertise into the other facets of your life."

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Mirja Eeola
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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

Sat Nov 18, 2017 12:11 pm

The Reborn Wolf

Ulv Auber

Ulv was lost. Like, seriously and completely lost. How many times was he going to change the subject of discussion before he got one that he liked? She couldn't follow where he was going anymore, and she wanted to fall back on what she knew and punch him in the head. But that wouldn't solve anything, so she just looked at him. He seemed to change. One moment he was nice and polite and calm, then a good twenty seconds of silence, and he was talking weird with pain in his voice and rocking back on his heels. There was only one thing Ulv could think of.

"So, do you have a voice in your head? It is the only thing I can think of that would make you fall silent when you obviously had more to say, and then talk differently to when you talked before. I've got a voice in my head, but I can't hear it. It's sort of underwater, you know? I feel it wants to insult me because of something I did before I got out of the tube, but I can't be sure, because I can't hear it properly" She stared out of the window for a bit, and then looked back to him.

"Killing someone, and enjoying killing someone, is two different things. Some people don't have a choice as to jumping into fight after fight. It's kill or be captured-and-tortured-most-heinously-by-assholes. Sometimes you can't just avoid a fight without turning your entire life into a game of run away from them whenever you see them coming. Which has it's own problems, I am sure you can understand" She finished. "Now, you mentioned a trick, and I am interested. What could that be?"

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

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Re: Just Can't Win for Losing[Yaksha/Ulv]

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