Your support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)
Hapto
Super-Earth
- Joined
- May 12, 2011
Zigg stared down at her cards, considering her options. Her pile of plastic poker chips was small, nearly the smallest of her four housemates seated around the poker table. But if Zigg could just wait for her turn....
Across the table June was taking her dear sweet time, counting her considerable stack of chips with two slender hands, holding her cards in two more hands, her crown of five black eyes examining all her cards at once, as if daring them to make a move. Suddenly the arachne's four hands moved, discarding half her cards and drawing replacements in the same movement, before returning to her five-eyed stare, her bob of black hair framing her intently focused face.
Zigg smiled behind her own cards. If the spider had picked up cards of any value she'd have played them instantly, impulsive as always. Zigg looked to the next player, Ana, who nodded her brass coloured head to pass, her darker brown hood folding a little around her shoulders as she did. Her scaled face looked calm, her gold, slitted eyes coolly regarding the cards she held in one scaled hand. But as always the lamia's obvious tell gave her away - no-one had told the serpent how she flicked her forked-tongue when she was nervous. The sight of pink flashing across brown lips was all the sign Zigg needed to know that Ana's hand was a dud. She was going to wait for someone else to make a mistake first. Speaking of which.
"Full Harem," Mel announced happily, her white paws proudly laying down all five of her cards at once, her furry ears excitedly perked up from her long white hair. The nekomata took the dice in one pawed hand, her white tail swishing behind her as the feline leaned forward, shook the die, then tossed, her slitted green eyes watching intently as the die rolled to a stop on an eight.
"Damnit!" Mel yelled, her sharp canines flashing with the curse. Wrinkling her white face around her black nose, Mel defiantly sat back in her chair, using her bushy tail to push the last of her chips back into the centre of the table.
"Well what did you think was going to happen?" Zigg asked, "You have to role at least a ten to not get caught with a Full Harem. You should have used a gag-card last round, or a hypno-card, or a silencing-charm-card. Anything!"
Mel just stuck out her tongue at Zigg, the juvenile expression of defiance made entirely adorable by the feline curl of Mel's lips. Zigg tried not to giggle, turning her gaze to the last player at the table - the table itself. In the empty space between Mel and Zigg, a small pile of chips lay, behind which the varnished wooden surface bulged up into the shape of two wooden hands. One hand held five cards, the other rhythmically tapped its fingers on the table. It continued to tap for some time.
"Come on Cim?" Mel complained at the hands, which stopped their tapping, the free hand turning palm up, its fingers curled slightly, forming the kind of gesture one makes when they're on the verge of speaking, holding the moment out just a little longer. Zigg realized she was holding her breath - last round Cim had played two edging-cards, which Cim would only have done if they were about to go for something big.
As if on cue, the wooden hands placed their cards down on the table. 'Royal Blush', the hands signed. Zigg leaned forward in disbelief. Sure enough the cards had the whole set: a Demon Lord, Vampyre, Dragon, Lizhard and yes, a Dark Matter. But still, a Royal Blush would still need a twelve to... the wooden hands were already shaking the dice, letting them fly to land perfectly in the centre of the table, showing two sixes.
The rest of the table exploded, "What!" "No way!" and "You cheated!", all slowly receding to the steady sound of two wooden hands clapping themselves.
'I'd like to thank the Director, the cast,' the hands started signing.
"Oh shut up Cim," Zigg thrust her chips at the hands, as did the rest of the table, reluctantly covering the wooden hands in their winnings, which immediately proceeded to start happily diving in and out of the pile. Zigg smiled, it had been a good game of Hide the Human. She'd never understood why the game was illegal in some states. She could guess that it was to do with 'negative stereotypes' and 'sending the right message' and all that. Okay, the game was about trying to hide a human and milk them for all their worth without being caught. But still, it was traditional! Part of their heritage. So what if that kind of thing was illegal now?
Zigg licked her lips thirstily. All this talk of humans. "Jade," she called, only to find Jade already at her side. The light from the window behind Jade shone a deep green through the edges of her milky white body, showing the golemn to be the hollow carved doll of the stone she was named for. Her face was a literal mask, one without a mouth and with only the suggestion of a nose between the recesses of two, attentively watching carved eyes.
"Another Y please Jade," Zigg commanded, passing the golemn the empty blue bottle of the last Y she'd drunk, wrinkling her small nose at the memory. The drink really was disgusting - fizzy and bitter, too salty and nowhere near sweat enough. Real human semen tasted nothing like that! Zigg should know - she'd tried it often enough, at least when she could scrape together the money and courage to go buy a mil or two from the Ghoul a few blocks over. Zigg swore that wretched undead was overcharging - it couldn't REALLY be that expensive. Sure, harvesting humans was highly illegal, punishable by death since the new Demon Lord had taken the throne and decided monsters and humans were chummy-ol-pals now. But still.
Zigg pouted, the look making her lips look almost large in her wide, large eyed face. Her burnt red hair shifted as the tips of her long ears lowered slightly, her whiteless hazel eyes looking at the closed front door. The Dwarf wondered - maybe, just maybe their luck was all about to change. She'd been talking to someone who said they were a human for weeks now, chatting online, becoming the bestest of best friends. They'd even gotten to the point where the human had actually agreed to visit, coming all the way here to a monster-only apartment in a monster-only suburb to meet their new found monster friends. Surely no-one could be that naive.
Zigg saw a new blue bottle of Y enter her field of vision, Jade having silently returned. Zigg took the drink in one short arm, clawed fingers tapping the blue glass thoughtfully, hesitating before taking the first sip, still staring at the door.
Across the table June was taking her dear sweet time, counting her considerable stack of chips with two slender hands, holding her cards in two more hands, her crown of five black eyes examining all her cards at once, as if daring them to make a move. Suddenly the arachne's four hands moved, discarding half her cards and drawing replacements in the same movement, before returning to her five-eyed stare, her bob of black hair framing her intently focused face.
Zigg smiled behind her own cards. If the spider had picked up cards of any value she'd have played them instantly, impulsive as always. Zigg looked to the next player, Ana, who nodded her brass coloured head to pass, her darker brown hood folding a little around her shoulders as she did. Her scaled face looked calm, her gold, slitted eyes coolly regarding the cards she held in one scaled hand. But as always the lamia's obvious tell gave her away - no-one had told the serpent how she flicked her forked-tongue when she was nervous. The sight of pink flashing across brown lips was all the sign Zigg needed to know that Ana's hand was a dud. She was going to wait for someone else to make a mistake first. Speaking of which.
"Full Harem," Mel announced happily, her white paws proudly laying down all five of her cards at once, her furry ears excitedly perked up from her long white hair. The nekomata took the dice in one pawed hand, her white tail swishing behind her as the feline leaned forward, shook the die, then tossed, her slitted green eyes watching intently as the die rolled to a stop on an eight.
"Damnit!" Mel yelled, her sharp canines flashing with the curse. Wrinkling her white face around her black nose, Mel defiantly sat back in her chair, using her bushy tail to push the last of her chips back into the centre of the table.
"Well what did you think was going to happen?" Zigg asked, "You have to role at least a ten to not get caught with a Full Harem. You should have used a gag-card last round, or a hypno-card, or a silencing-charm-card. Anything!"
Mel just stuck out her tongue at Zigg, the juvenile expression of defiance made entirely adorable by the feline curl of Mel's lips. Zigg tried not to giggle, turning her gaze to the last player at the table - the table itself. In the empty space between Mel and Zigg, a small pile of chips lay, behind which the varnished wooden surface bulged up into the shape of two wooden hands. One hand held five cards, the other rhythmically tapped its fingers on the table. It continued to tap for some time.
"Come on Cim?" Mel complained at the hands, which stopped their tapping, the free hand turning palm up, its fingers curled slightly, forming the kind of gesture one makes when they're on the verge of speaking, holding the moment out just a little longer. Zigg realized she was holding her breath - last round Cim had played two edging-cards, which Cim would only have done if they were about to go for something big.
As if on cue, the wooden hands placed their cards down on the table. 'Royal Blush', the hands signed. Zigg leaned forward in disbelief. Sure enough the cards had the whole set: a Demon Lord, Vampyre, Dragon, Lizhard and yes, a Dark Matter. But still, a Royal Blush would still need a twelve to... the wooden hands were already shaking the dice, letting them fly to land perfectly in the centre of the table, showing two sixes.
The rest of the table exploded, "What!" "No way!" and "You cheated!", all slowly receding to the steady sound of two wooden hands clapping themselves.
'I'd like to thank the Director, the cast,' the hands started signing.
"Oh shut up Cim," Zigg thrust her chips at the hands, as did the rest of the table, reluctantly covering the wooden hands in their winnings, which immediately proceeded to start happily diving in and out of the pile. Zigg smiled, it had been a good game of Hide the Human. She'd never understood why the game was illegal in some states. She could guess that it was to do with 'negative stereotypes' and 'sending the right message' and all that. Okay, the game was about trying to hide a human and milk them for all their worth without being caught. But still, it was traditional! Part of their heritage. So what if that kind of thing was illegal now?
Zigg licked her lips thirstily. All this talk of humans. "Jade," she called, only to find Jade already at her side. The light from the window behind Jade shone a deep green through the edges of her milky white body, showing the golemn to be the hollow carved doll of the stone she was named for. Her face was a literal mask, one without a mouth and with only the suggestion of a nose between the recesses of two, attentively watching carved eyes.
"Another Y please Jade," Zigg commanded, passing the golemn the empty blue bottle of the last Y she'd drunk, wrinkling her small nose at the memory. The drink really was disgusting - fizzy and bitter, too salty and nowhere near sweat enough. Real human semen tasted nothing like that! Zigg should know - she'd tried it often enough, at least when she could scrape together the money and courage to go buy a mil or two from the Ghoul a few blocks over. Zigg swore that wretched undead was overcharging - it couldn't REALLY be that expensive. Sure, harvesting humans was highly illegal, punishable by death since the new Demon Lord had taken the throne and decided monsters and humans were chummy-ol-pals now. But still.
Zigg pouted, the look making her lips look almost large in her wide, large eyed face. Her burnt red hair shifted as the tips of her long ears lowered slightly, her whiteless hazel eyes looking at the closed front door. The Dwarf wondered - maybe, just maybe their luck was all about to change. She'd been talking to someone who said they were a human for weeks now, chatting online, becoming the bestest of best friends. They'd even gotten to the point where the human had actually agreed to visit, coming all the way here to a monster-only apartment in a monster-only suburb to meet their new found monster friends. Surely no-one could be that naive.
Zigg saw a new blue bottle of Y enter her field of vision, Jade having silently returned. Zigg took the drink in one short arm, clawed fingers tapping the blue glass thoughtfully, hesitating before taking the first sip, still staring at the door.
