Archive of Our Own ^beta

Drake stared over the tops of his cards and wondered how he’d gotten himself into this situation.

Well, there was the loan, of course. And then the whole thing with Wano. And then the invitation. And then-

He shook his head, shaking those thoughts loose so he could concentrate on the here and now. Around the room, doing other things but still paying attention to their little game, were a number of his comrades - Smoker, Hina, Doll. And across the table-

“Well?” Tashigi said, face carved from stone. “Your move. Are you gonna give up? Or are you going to chance it?”

Drake gulped and that thought came back.

How had he gotten himself into this mess?

The beginning had been the loan. Businesspeople and rich folks took out loans all the time, but they weren’t the only people who needed a little help. And when Drake had been tasked with infiltrating Kaido’s group, he’d needed a little more help to get started than the Marines had given him - money to tempt good, lower-level pirates to help him gain enough notoriety to catch the warlord’s eye in the first place and convince him not to just wipe Drake out when their paths crossed.

The underworld, as so often happened, was more than happy to oblige.

He’d made payments from the money his team took from other ships at first. But once he’d gone to Wano, he wasn’t exactly at liberty to nip off to a rendezvous with the underworld’s representatives to turn over the next share.

So the interest had built up. And they’d gotten impatient. And his… loan officers, let’s say, were probably just about at the point where they’d be turning to a collection group to get back what was theirs. He could probably take care of them if he had to, but he’d feel better if he could just get them off his back the traditional way.

Still, the salary of a Marine, even a Marine of some rank, just wasn’t that great. So when Smoker had invited him to join them for a Saturday night poker game, he’d agreed. The chance to turn his paltry spare cash into potentially more money had sounded like a good idea.

It had not been a good idea.

First of all, he wasn’t really all that familiar with poker. And while it was a game of luck, it was also a game of skill and bluffing - and it was hard to bluff or employ skill when you didn’t really know all the rules.

Also, as he forgot way too often, his luck was terrible.

Drake looked down at the cards for what felt like the hundredth time, taking them in. Ten and nine of spades. That played well with the Jack and three of spades already on the table, alongside a six of clubs. He was already just one card away from a flush. That should feel good. He should feel in control.

But across the table from him, Tashigi didn’t look away from him. She stared him down with the intensity of a swordsman about to execute a criminal.

“Raise,” she said, the word a dare.

He’d arrived at the game earlier that night in casual clothes, and found that most of the others had done the same, with the exception of Smoker, who he wasn’t sure had any other clothes, and Koby, who he wasn’t sure would ever wear anything else. At least the kid had left his jacket at home.

Hina was actually the most casual of the lot, pairing comfortable pants with a plain yellow t-shirt. She raised a beer bottle as he entered and hollered, “Drake! Have you come to lose your paycheck to Hina?”

“I don’t intend to lose,” he said with more bravado than he felt. Hina laughed and handed him a drink.

“Let’s see how well you do then.”

Doll almost looked more professional in street clothes - but Drake supposed the same could be said about him. She was leaning against the wall like some delinquent smoking out in the alley. He got just a nod of greeting from her.

Koby waved him over to the table, where Smoker and Tashigi were already sitting, talking animatedly about something one of their crew members had done on a recent mission. Drake took the spot next to Koby and said, “I didn’t take you for a gambler.”

“I’m not,” he said sheepishly. “But it’s nice to spend some time with everyone.”

“Don’t let him fool you,” Doll called from where she was standing. Drake turned to see her smirk as she added, “He took most of the hands last time.”

Drake looked back at Koby, incredulous.

Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea.

Drake looked down at his pile of winnings. Even if he were to fold here, he could still get out of here with more money than before. But it wasn’t much more. It wasn’t enough to pay off the debt, but it might be enough to buy him a little more time.

But still… a straight was just one card away.

Also, there was his remaining opponent to consider. He respected Tashigi immensely, but he could feel that she was trying to intimidate him. And if there was one thing he’d learned so far in this game, it was that letting yourself get intimidated would kill your chances of winning.

So he met her gaze as evenly as he could and said, “Call.”

Despite everything, Drake had not done too badly at first.

Koby himself had been the first one out of the game after a string of betting big on what turned out to be terrible hands. It was actually surprising enough that Drake started to feel like maybe the tales they told of Koby’s first night in their poker game really were just beginner’s luck. Even Drake could see some of those hands were garbage.

Koby immediately took over dealer duties and the game continued.

Smoker and Hina had been the next two out of the game, on consecutive rounds. Smoker had sighed as his final hand was revealed to be a single pair - not enough to beat Doll’s three of a kind. “I really don’t know why I let you talk me into joining these things.”

“Because you need socialization that does not involve kneecapping pirates,” Hina said.

“I’d watch your own money there, Hina,” Doll noted, nodding to the nearly depleted cash in front of the rear admiral.

She was prescient. On the next hand, Hina went all in on two pair, only to be beaten by a straight.

And then there were three.

Koby turned the next card in Drake and Tashigi’s final showdown. Jack of hearts. A pair on the table, but no actual help for him.

Both Tashigi and Koby looked over at him, waiting to see what he would do. He honestly wasn’t sure. He was one card away from a flush - or nothing at all. And there was no way to tell which one would happen. The perils of gambling, he supposed.

He glanced up again. His opponent’s expression had somehow gotten even more intense.

“Tashigi, you’re not still mad about the thing you asked me about, are you?” he asked.

The pleasant smile she put on at that had a thread of malice through it. “Me? Why would I be upset? You don’t owe me anything. It’s totally okay to say no when someone asks you a favor.”

“Right…” he said, looking back at his cards. He didn't want to fold. He could check and put the ball in her court. But what was he even doing here if he wasn’t going to go big?

“Let’s keep this going,” he said, pushing half of what remained in front of him into the pile of money in the center.

Her expression didn’t change. “Call.”

Drake had begun to wonder at some point if it was two on one.

Tashigi seemed to have the general better luck tonight. She was winning roughly half of the hands among their smaller group, with Doll and Drake splitting the rest. Drake was pulling in slightly more than Doll, but not enough to feel remotely safe.

But he’d noticed several times that the two ladies exchanged looks, usually before one or the other of them folded.

It wasn’t enough to accuse anyone of cheating, but he was beginning to feel a little bit set up.

Shortly after that, however, Doll started going on a significant losing streak, and pretty soon she folded her last hand and stood up from the table.

“Good luck, you two,” she murmured, waving to them as she headed over to where Hina and Smoker were spectating.

Koby stared down at the deck as though something more vital than a friendly game was riding on the outcome. Then he reached out and with an abrupt motion, flipped the final card.

The four of spades.

Drake forced his eyes back to his cards. A flush. Not a particularly good one, but the jack wasn’t the worst high card on a regular flush. There were some possible hands she could have that beat that, but not many. He… might have a chance here.

“All in.”

Every eye in the room turned toward Tashigi. She stared at Drake as she shoved all her winnings into the middle.

Drake froze. Some of his crew had explained the game, but hadn’t mentioned this. Did… did he have to match her bet?”

“I don’t have that kind of money,” Drake protested. “Be reasonable.”

“I am,” she said flatly. “You can put something else in instead of money, if you want.”

“Jewelry!” Hina suggested from where she was drinking near the window with Smoker.

“Your ship,” Doll added.

“Or promise to do her that favor,” Smoker said.

Tashigi just kept looking at him.

The favor. He had already told her no, but she still wanted his help? It wasn’t that it was bad, necessarily. However, he didn’t feel like he was the right person for it. There had to be other, better options. Someone like him shouldn’t be-

“Well?” Tashigi said. “Your move. Are you gonna give up? Or are you going to chance it?”

Drake swallowed. This was it.

“Fine,” he said, shoving the few remaining berris into the pot. “You’ve got it. If I lose, I’ll do you that favor.”

Koby looked anxiously between the two, then said in his most official voice, “all right, let’s see your cards!”

“Did you know what I had?” Drake asked.

It was a week after their game. A week after Drake’s loss.

A week after he’d agreed to Tashigi’s request.

“I had a pretty good idea,” she said. “Full house can beat most things, and there weren’t enough face cards for anything like a royal flush.”

When Drake had turned over his cards, he’d felt cautiously optimistic, and for a moment after Tashigi showed hers, that feeling had remained. The “3”s on her cards were so small, so he hadn’t thought of what they meant until Koby had said, “Tashigi’s the winner!” A full house. She’d managed a full house.

He’d expected her to gather up the winnings, like he was used to seeing in popular media. But instead she’d just smiled at him, the tense version of herself gone in an instant, and said, “So, when can we schedule time for that favor?”

Which led him here.

“You weren’t cheating, were you?” he asked.

She considered that question, one finger tapping thoughtfully on her chin. “Not exactly,” she said. “But I did have some help.”

“How did you have help that’s not cheating?”

“I think everyone else knew what I wanted to ask you to do, so they weren’t trying as hard.” She chuckled. “Koby was almost too obvious. I’ve never seen anyone go through their money so fast.”

Ah. Yeah, that wasn’t really cheating, even if it did feel a little underhanded. He couldn’t blame any of them either, though he wished he could.

“But hey, why did you need all that money anyway?” she added.

He debated coming fully clean, but that felt like his mess to solve. So he just said, “Had some debts I wanted to pay off.”

Tashigi made a thoughtful noise, then handed over an envelope. He could tell without opening it that there was money inside.

“What’s this?” he asked suspiciously.

“Performance fee,” she said simply.

“Performance… Tashigi, this is supposed to be a favor.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t pay you,” she said. “Come on. This way we both win.”

He hesitated. From the feel of it, this was a lot of money. Enough to more or less take care of his problem.

With a sigh, he pocketed it, then said, “I’m still not sure about this, for the record.”

“What’s not to be sure of?” she asked, seeming genuinely confused.

“They’re just kids,” he said. “And I’m a lot of things, but most of them aren’t things you want kids around. A pirate. A traitor. A-”

“Dinosaur,” she said with finality.

“Yes, but-”

“You are a dinosaur, Drake,” she said, stepping a little too close for comfort in her eagerness to get her point across. “A dinosaur! A huge one! The kids are going to be so excited.”

“Or terrified.”

“Excited,” she repeated. “Now come on.”

Tashigi, as it turned out, was right. The kids were skeptical when “just some guy” came into their playroom, feeling awkward as anything. Once Tashigi gave him an encouraging nod, he transformed.

For a second, the crowd of children from Punk Hazard stared at him.

Then they burst out in excited cheers.

The next three hours saw Drake be a combination performing animal and jungle gym. The kids kept asking him to roar, or swing his tail, or do little dances, and generally ran around like this was the best day ever. He ended up taking turns lifting them in his dino arms or on his tail and even let a couple of the sturdier ones sit on top of his head, with Tashigi at the ready in case they tumbled free.

It wasn’t too bad.

All in all, he thought, maybe he should try poker night again.