Nich placed the card on the table and leaned back with a lazy grin, propping his feet up on the table. The man stared at him, clearly aiming for apathy, but Nich could easily tell that he was flustered.
"So," Nich said lightly, "I think that's another win for me." The man (what was his name? Holden? That seemed right.) only frowned again.
"I think you're full of shit," Holden growled, standing up quickly, "There's no way you won that round. You must've been cheating."
Nich gave a very offended (and very fake) gasp.
"Listen, Holden-"
"Hudson!" Oh. So that was his name.
"Hudson. I know you're jealous, but to accuse me of cheating, well, that's very unsportsmanlike of you. I won fair and square, and you can deny that all you like, but-" Hudson cut him off with a swift punch to the jaw, sending him reeling.
"What the hell was that for?" Nich said, and Hudson stepped forward again.
"That was for cheating, Fox," he said self-righteously, and Nich scoffed.
"You drink before the game? Because you're clearly not thinking straight. I won the final game because I played the final ace card," Nich said. Well, 'final' was a bit of a strong word, he kept several in his pocket at any given time just in case the opportunity to switch a deck around presented itself. Which it had.
"You didn't have the final ace card because I had it, unless there are five aces in a deck."
Damn it, he thought, right before Hudson's fist swung out again. It caught him in the nose this time and he swore loudly.
"Hudson, I figured you already knew my strategy," Nich said, one hand wiping the blood pouring down his mouth, "I've always got an ace up my sleeve-"
He saw Joan get up and step behind Hudson.
"And one in the back," he finished triumphantly. Joan slammed the butt of her knife into the back of Hudson's head, and he dropped like a ton of rocks.
"You absolute idiot," Joan said, "You're lucky he didn't kill you."
"Love you too, cuz," Nich replied offhandedly, rummaging through Hudson's pockets for some cash. He found a wad of it and tossed it to Joan, and then undid Hudson's watch.
"I like this one," he said, and Joan sighed.
"You're incorrigible."
"I know. It's one of my charms."
"It really isn't."