its okay to bet people's lives... [eva]

...As long as you don't bet your own.

It had been a long night for Darren Hadditch. He had spent a good two hours at the Bloody Muggle getting his drink on, another hour sobering up, and then at least forty five playing poker in the basement of a building he never remembered seeing before. He had been to a few of these backroom games in the past few weeks and the system was always the same. The game was never in the same building or location twice. Some nights, when the hosts were feeling especially paranoid, the building would change coordinates in the middle of the game. There were all kinds of spells and wards protecting it from unwanted eyes and you had to know exactly what to do and say in order to be allowed inside. Apparently wizard criminals took their poker games as seriously as cowboys back in the Wild West. Only Darren got the feeling that if someone was found cheating it wouldn't be just a few fingers he'd be losing. He hadn't planned on drinking before the game but he had shown up to the Bloody Muggle way to early, not having anything else to do, he had a few. Normally Darren was very smart about games of chance. He didn't like to leave anything up to chance, especially when he was betting his own money.

As it turned out though Darren didn't need to have all of his brain cells tonight, instead luck was on his side. And boy was he about the win the game of a life time. In the dark, dungeon like basement Darren sat with three other men. The one on his right was older, nearly busting out of his tweed pants, and had a scar across his cheek. He smelt like peanuts and for some reason he had been sweating since the game began. Darren dreaded every time that man's turn to deal came up. On his left was a guy at least ten years older than him and could be described as attractive, not that Darren thought of him that way. What was more important was the girl he had brought with him. Darren knew that guy must of had something very impressive to offer to have a girl like that on his arm. It took about twelve long hands before the came came to its closing round. In some what of a blur the sweaty man had folded, the cocky middle aged man had upped the anty, and Darren had called. It took the former Slytherin a few moments to fully understand what he had just agreed to, for some reason the other man had decided not only to put all of his chips into the middle but to throw in a kiss from the Goddess he had on his arm too.

Judging by the smile on his face Darren knew that the man thought he had the game in the bag. Little did he know that Darren had a better hand. With a smirk crossing his own lips Darren agreed to the stakes and threw in the antique pocket watch his mother's father had passed down to him, Darren knew it had some monetary value if one could find a proper collector. Standing up at the same time as his competitor the two of them laid down their cards and Darren's smile grew twice as big. "I win." he said coldly and then looked at the woman that was across the table, "So about that kiss?". To Darren a bet was a bet and you couldn't take it back but apparently the other man hadn't learned the 'no backsies' rule when he was in grade school because all of a sudden he was shouting that he refused to allow her to kiss that man. Darren didn't know the girl but he knew if he ever said something like that to Jane she would do whatever he forbade just on principal. Silently Darren was hoping the girl in front of him had that kind of moxy. He gave the man a look that simply stated 'I'm better than you' and then held his arm out toward the door leading up stairs. "How bout' we head outside for a little... privacy?" Sure Darren knew it was just a kiss but the girl was better looking than any girl he'd ever been with so he was going to enjoy his little moment.

Not to mention the fact that he was sure it would piss off the losing man even more.

He led her up the stairs and out into the back alley. It was dark now, nearly one o'clock in the morning. There was steam coming up from a grate near a dumpster only a few feet from where he was standing. He could hear rustling behind him, maybe it was a rat or some other kind of infestation. He could smell the grease from the diner that shared the alley way and it was distgusting. Sure it wasn't the best place for a kiss but seeing as Darren only got this one chance he wasn't picky. "What's your name?" He asked, he didn't care if she knew his or not because he had already faced the fact that he would probably never see her again, but he needed to her name. He put his hands into the pockets of his faded black jeans and thought about having a cigarette. Maybe if he did that it would make her hang out for a little bit longer... or maybe it would make her leave so he decided not to. Instead he pushed up the sleeves of the thin green zip up sweater he had on and spoke again, "So how do you wanna' do this anyway? What kind of kiss we talkin' about?". The smile on his face turned into a devilish smirk as he winked at her playfully, he hoped she would find him charming.

Jack Sharpe was a regular at the bar that Eva currently worked in. The guy came in enough that he’d started to know what times she worked, and recently he’d been arranging his visits to suit those times. Eva hadn’t minded. He seemed like an interesting wizard. A ministry employee who spent a lot of time overseas as an ambassador. He’d alluded to wanting her to go home with him after a few of her shifts and had outright asked her out more than once. Jack was a good-looking guy, too. Only about 5’11, so a little short for her liking, but with sharp facial features and a nice body and stunning blue eyes that reminded her of Evan, her last real boyfriend. Tonight she’d finally agreed to go somewhere with him. Underground poker, he’d said. It sounded illegal and exciting, so naturally Eva hadn’t said no. She found it amusing that he’d found a way to turn her no into a yes.

Jack was handsome and confident, which she liked, but he seemed a little possessive for her liking. Especially since they weren’t even going on a date. And once she’d gotten there, it hadn’t taken long for her to get bored of it. The girl had tended to shy away from the whole gambling thing since she’d been out of school. It reminded her of her family and their stupid casino, and she spent a lot of time pushing those kinds of memories out of her head. When she’d been down or bored and looking for and escape, the usual ones had been conveniently within reach. Alcohol. Drugs. Sex. Gambling had never been her poison of choice, but Jack had made it sound exciting. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t all he’d made it out to be. Eva had already lost interest halfway through the first hand. They weren’t betting enough money or anything else of importance for it to feel dangerous, even if it was technically illegal.

She couldn’t exactly leave without the guy who’d brought her here, so she was stuck silently watching a boring poker game for ages. The girl was unimpressed enough that Jack was definitely not getting anywhere with her tonight, or any other night as a matter of fact. Eva almost jumped when he asked her if he could throw a kiss of hers in the pot. The girl almost suggested that he throw a night with her in there, because the heightened risk factor was… alluring… but just agreed with him instead. Her attention was suddenly back on the game. Things were interesting. Eva’s focus was drawn to the boy that her friend was playing against. He was attractive, but young-looking. He couldn’t have been far out of school, could he? The girl didn’t go for younger guys, but she could kiss this one if he won. She supposed. When he stood she saw that he was taller than her. That was always a plus. 

He won.

Jack was angry straight away, just like Eva had known he would be. He was possessive. She’d been right. For some reason, the fact that he seemed so worked up about it just made everything a little more exciting. She’d been up for grabs and now she owed this stranger a kiss. The young woman gave her “friend” an unimpressed and rather dismissive glance and turned her attention over to the other guy. Her cool blue eyes met his and she gave him a quick once-over, sizing him up. A smirk played across her lips at his words. Cocky little thing, wasn’t he? “Privacy sounds perfect,” she replied silkily, shooting a pointed glance at the man she’d come here with. He looked furious. Uh-oh. The girl ran a hand through her multi-coloured hair and followed him up and out. She couldn’t say the whole situation didn’t thrill her. Alone in a dark alleyway with a strange man after midnight… It was exciting and she could already feel her pulse quicken just a touch. Adrenaline.

They came out in a dingy little alleyway. “How romantic,” she offered with a smirk, glancing around at their environment. Was that a rat? How charming. Still, Eva was sure she’d made out with people in dirtier places than this. He asked for her name. “Eva,” she told him smoothly with a small smile, “Yours?” Eva sized him up again and wondered if she should just walk over and kiss him. He seemed a little fidgety, but not exactly on edge. After thinking about it, though, the Bulgarian decided that she should wait. It was his kiss, after all. She was his prize. The idea brought another little soft shock, but she shouldn’t be surprised. What had she gotten into here? Her cool smirk didn’t slip one bit. She took a tiny step towards him. “Oh you know,” she mocked gently, tilting her head to the side in curiosity; “Keep it above the belt if you can?” The girl gave him a moment to answer, matching his cheekiness in her expression, before moving back and leaning up casually against one of the grimy walls. She pulled a packet of cigarettes out of her pocket. “Sorry, do you mind?” she asked, patting her pockets for a lighter, “We were in there forever. Do you have a light? Want a smoke?”

Thinking about giving her a fake name Darren paused for a moment when she asked for his name. Then he remembered he didn't think he would ever see her again so he gave her a real one. "Darren." He replied honestly and then moved onto the question of the limits of the kiss. He had assumed she was going to give it strict lines, no hands, no tongue, things like that so he was surprised with her answer. The corners of his smile pulled a little with excitement. Not only was she gorgeous she might just be crazy too. Darren had learned some things in his travels (although he'd never been outside of Great Britain) and one of those things was that crazy girls were the most fun. They weren't the kind of girls you wanted to see the next morning, but Darren rarely saw a girl the next morning anyway. Watching her move to lean up against the wall Darren followed her. If she wanted to do this against a nasty wall he wasn't opposed, as long as it was her back against it. Instead of taking this moment to claim the kiss he had won Darren paused as she reached into her pockets for something. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been hexed by a crazy girl, that was for sure. His own hand went down to where he kept his wand, ready if she decided she was going to renege on the deal.

When she pulled out her cigarettes he relaxed a bit and realized he really needed to have a smoke. Normally he was so much calmer than this. "Not at all." He replied, reaching for his own pack and popping open the paper lid on it. Placing the stick between his lips he nodded and replied with the half of his mouth that wasn't hanging on to the cigarette, "Yeah one sec." Pulling out a chrome and green zippo lighter he lit it with a well practiced flick of his wrist and held it toward her. After hers was lit he lit is own and then returned the lighter to where he had gotten it from. Moving to stand a bit away from the wall and more in front of her he took a long drag and then exhaled. "So do you make it a habit to let men bet you?" Although he didn't mean for the question to sound offensive it probably had. "I mean what if that old guy had still been playing? You could of been standing out here with him.... then what?" Darren often took risks but not ones like she had taken. He would of never bet himself on that game, sure he probably would of bet his brother Alvin, but he didn't really like him anyway. Never himself though.

He was trying to decide what that meant about her. She was unlike anyone he'd met before. Usually the girls with colorful hair that he met were bouncing all over the place on drugs but she seemed to be quite composed. He took another hit of his cigarette while he pondered what kind of person she was. Had they not decided to smoke first than he would of made his move by now and the events of the night would probably be coming to an end. Instead Darren was forced to make small talk. He didn't want to sound like he was lecturing her, after all he didn't even know her. She could do whatever she wanted and frankly he was glad that she had made the decision to allow herself to be added to the pot. Darren wondered how far she would of let it go though. Part of him wondered if he couldn't of sweetened the deal. With his free hand he pushed some of the hair that had fallen into his face back. His dark eyes watched her closely. "What if I was a bad guy?" He said with another evil grin. "What if I wanted more than just the promised kiss?" He stepped closer to her as he spoke. He was nearly finished with his cigarette, he had smoken it entirely too fast and was feeling the head rush begin.

"I don't think your date would come to rescue you." He spoke slowly and finished it with a shrug of his shoulders. Of course Darren wouldn't simply take what he wanted from her, he really wasn't that kind of guy, but she didn't know that. She didn't know a thing about him. He wanted to know how that made her feel. It was exciting to him, he was in a dark alley with a total stranger who owed him a kiss. Scaring people was something Darren had always been good at. It was something he enjoyed doing, and he was enjoying himself now. Sure she might not be scared of him, but that didn't stop him from trying. Of course Darren knew this could completely ruin his shot of actually kissing her. After all, threatening her well being was exactly great pillow talk, but he had a feeling she might just enjoy the rush. What kind of girl lets her date bet her in an underground poker game? Just because they agreed on a kiss doesn't mean everyone would keep their word. She had to of thought of that when she agreed to it. Darren might not be some creepy old guy, but he was still a complete stranger to her. He stepped a little closer and waited for her reaction. He wasn't close enough to kiss her, but he was close enough to reach out and touch her if he wanted.

She watched his lips quirk up at the corners when she told him to keep it above the belt. He seemed pleased. Eva watched him with a mysterious little smile on her face and wondered what he was thinking. Did he think she’d pull out? This was supposed to be exciting for him, and she didn’t mind playing along. Wasn’t that the point? The situation was new enough that she was completely amenable to simply playing along. She offered him a cigarette, but he had a pack of his own. Cool. The girl leant forward a bit as he lit her cigarette, and after taking a long, luxurious drag, the girl plucked the smoke from her lips with two fingers and exhaled slowly. She dipped her chin slightly to blow the smoke away from them both.

The girl almost laughed at his question. She supposed that she should be offended, but she wasn’t. “Not usually, no,” she answered with an amused smirk. He elaborated a little. “Then I’d be bound by obligation to kiss him, I suppose.” Her voice was confident and silky smooth, with a flicker of flirtation added just for him. If the other guy had ended up out here… well, the eyepatch was kind of interesting, wasn’t it? She knew she’d have kissed him anyway. A deal was a deal. Eva brought her cigarette to her lips again and took another deep breath through it, keeping her blue eyes trained on his dark ones the whole time. She held the thing to the side nonchalantly, blowing a thin stream of smoke away again. Flicking the thing, she ashed on the ground. “Deal’s a deal… I’m just lucky that I got you.”

Eva’s new acquaintance was grinning that devilish grin and moving closer and she wondered if she should toss her cigarette away. He seemed pretty eager, and she figured that she might as well make it worthwhile for the guy. Her eyes narrowed in mock suspicion at his words and she felt her pulse increase in speed a little, but her smirk didn’t drop one bit. Maybe he was a “bad guy”, but Eva had always had trouble evaluating situations for risk. Danger was more of an abstract concept than an actual thing, and she had trouble distinguishing things that were actually dangerous and things that were just thrilling. There was a little adrenaline there now, but she wasn’t exactly in fight-or-flight mode just yet. His words were slow, and purposefully intimidating. It was kind of sexy. His youthful looks put her off a little, as she was instinctively drawn to older men, but he certainly wasn’t acting like a young boy. She was sure he couldn’t be much older than her, if he was older at all.

Darren moved closer and she watched him with interest, bringing her cigarette to her lips for another drag. “He’s not my date,” she replied, matching his slow, purposeful manner of speaking. Smoke drifted out of her lips as she spoke. “He’s more of… an acquaintance.” Yes. Acquaintance fitted Jack perfectly. He was handsome and seemed clever, but he was far too possessive and she was unimpressed. The only good thing about tonight was happening right now, and the older guy was nowhere in sight. She decided to play along with this too. “You’re right though,” the Bulgarian tilted her head to the side in curiosity. “I don’t think he would come. I think he’s probably too angry that he lost me in a game of cards to think about that right now.” She’d said that the man was an acquaintance, but it had been pretty obvious from the get-go that Jack had wanted more.

Reaching out with her free hand, Eva stroked a line lightly down his chest before letting it drop to her side again. “So are you a bad boy?” she asked coolly, mocking him gently. The Bulgarian finally glanced away from his face as she dropped her half-finished cigarette on the ground and put it out with the tip of her boot. "Do you live for dark thrills?" Her tone rested somewhere between amused and amorous. Her curious blue eyes returned to meet his for a moment before flicking down to his lips, and then back up. She was sending all of the signals. If he wanted to kiss her now, she was game. Of course, if he wanted to keep talking and playing and flirting, then that was fine too. She didn’t really mind handing over control of the situation right now. It was his prize, after all.

He wasn't sure if he believed her when she said she didn't make things like this a habit. And had no idea what to say when she admitted that if the one eyed man had one, then she would of kissed him. He understood a deal was a deal but... what did that say about her? Darren mentally shrugged off any bad thoughts he had and reminded himself that he had won and he was about to kiss this female. He'd never say it to her, but he was lucky he won too. He almost didn't, thankfully his poker face didn't let him down. As he moved in closer and began talking slower Darren couldn't help but excite himself as well. He liked danger and risk too, but he liked to be the one causing those things... not the one feeling them. When she told him that the man she came with was not his date Darren nodded, not really caring if he was or not. Darren had won a kiss and he intended to collect whether she was with someone else or not. If that older guy actually bet his girlfriend in a poker game AND lost then Darren had a feeling they wouldn't of been together much longer any way. "I see." he replied at the word 'acquaintance' and took a last drag of his cigarette before flicking into the corner of the alley, away from the two of them.

She seemed to be okay with everything that Darren was saying. Not only was she alright with it, she seemed to be playing along. Darren found that quite amusing and he watched her closely. She knew how attractive she was, she had to... no girl acted like this if they were completely confident in themselves. The Slytherin found her confidence very appealing. When she reached out to him he took in a quick breath and felt her finger trail down his chest. Was he a bad boy? His smirk grew a little bit more but he remained quiet as she put out her cigarette and spoke again. She was good at this. He leaned in closer to her, whispering softly. "I'm not a bad boy, I'm the baddest." And on that note Darren simply couldn't hold out any longer. With passion he let his lips crash onto hers. It took all of three seconds for the awkwardness of the fact that they were complete strangers to wear off and Darren was back to his old confident self. He had made out with strange women before, but this was entirely different some how.

One had resting on the wall behind her, to hold him up. The other rushing down to her waist and pulling her hips to his as he deepened the kiss. Darren knew they weren't about to hook up, that wasn't part of the deal, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to get his money worth. He'd kisses plenty of girls before and he was quite sure of his own skill. As abnormal as it was for the Hadditch he actually hoped that she was enjoying his kiss. He didn't want to stop though, as much as he needed to take a breath, he knew as soon as this kiss ended so did their meeting. The agreement was for one kiss so Darren had to make it count. He hoped if he impressed her enough she might just stick around for a bit more. He was oh so hopeful. The tall boy was used to towering over girls when he kissed them, but that wasn't the case with her. He had a few inches on her and she was leaning against the wall but she was taller then most girls he's known. He liked that, it was sexy. He closed all of the distance between the two of them and pushed her closer to the wall, deepening the kiss for the last time before his breath ran out.

He didn't have to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, or caress her hair, or any of those kinds of things to get to this kiss. Darren wasn't a romantic and most of the time he didn't really care about the girl he might of been snogging, but he was good at faking it to get what he wanted from a female. The fact that he didn't have to any of that excited him. She may of been one of the only girls he would ever kiss with out lying to her first. Reluctantly he pulled away but left his hand resting on her hip bone, not wanting to let go just yet. Taking in a breath and then smirking as he exhaled he watched her face to weigh her reaction. Suddenly small talk was entirely unavailable to him. All Darren wanted now was to kiss her until she begged him not to stop. He remained quiet and let his hand fall off of her waist and move to his pockets, reaching for another square.

 I’m the baddest.

It was electric, and if anyone appreciated the beauty of the spark, it was Eva. The whole situation was kind of amusing to her, but the danger element was immensely appealing. He wasn’t a bad looking boy, but his looks weren’t the most attractive thing about him. Right now, it was his confidence. His smirks. The way that he was so obviously attracted to her. Everyone wanted to be wanted, right? He wanted her. It wasn’t subtle. It was thrilling. Her bright blue eyes were trained on his dark ones as he moved closer. The fact that it was a one time only deal made it more exciting for the Bulgarian girl too. This wasn’t some random hook-up in a club. It wasn’t something that might turn into something else. He wasn’t her friend. It was just a kiss. The idea was simultaneously poetic and electrifying.

Her blue eyes shut as their lips met. One of his hands was suddenly against her body, pulling her closer. Demanding that the space between them was eliminated. Eva complied willingly; this was his win, after all. The idea that she was serving him out of obligation was interesting and spurred her to make it better for him, though it would be a lie if she said she wasn’t enjoying herself too. He was kissing her with ardour, and she met his demands with equal passion, melding her body up against his and running her hands playfully around the hem of his shirt. There was a noticeable lack of history here, and they were working under constraints. It was sexy. Eva decided in this moment that one kiss was all he was getting. It made things somehow more exciting.

The girl pressed her tongue against his parted lips as he deepened the kiss. Her back was pressed roughly against the grimy wall behind her. It wasn’t romantic by any means, but it was hot. One of her hands found the back of his neck and she knotted her fingers in his hair. Was she acting more involved in the kiss for him, or did she simply feel very involved? The girl didn’t know. She pulled him closer, grinding her hips against his. He was the first to pull back, but he didn’t pull back very far. Her eyes snapped open and she watched him, resisting the urge to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. Her lips settled into a satisfied little smirk as her hands fell away from his back and shoulders back to her sides. He was watching her too, and that just added another thrill. This was all very exciting, but deciding not to kiss him again had been a good idea.

The girl rested her palms lazily on his chest and leant forward, tilting her chin up slightly as if she were about to kiss him. Instead, the rainbow-haired girl bit his lower lip gently and then released him as his hand dropped from her hip. She pressed gently on his chest, urging him to take a step back. Now if he actually was a creep and wouldn’t let her leave, she supposed she was in a terrible position to pull her wand out and defend herself. Eva had never been good at gaging how dangerous a situation actually was. Danger and thrills blurred together. “That was nice,” she mocked gently, as if they’d just gotten ice creams together or something. She gave him a playful smile before ducking out to the side and taking a few steps away. She didn’t know what else to say here, but she got the impression that he wanted her to stay.

It was better this way, she thought. One kiss only. Her lips were still tingling…. Much more exciting. “I’ll see you around, Darren,” she added in silky tones, raising her hand to add a little wave.

For a moment Darren wished he didn't have to breath. If he didn't have to breath he wouldn't of had to pull away from her. She was intoxicating and all Darren wanted was more. Unfortunately, he required breath and so had she so the Slytherin had pulled away from his prize. Breathing in deeply his heart was racing. He watched her form a smile and then mirror the smirk on his own face. When she leaned closer to him he grew excited again. She was going to kiss him again, he knew she wanted him, but he was wrong. Instead of continuing the kiss he felt the girl bite down on his lip. He let out a small chuckle as he felt the tingling pain surge through his bottom lip. That pain was both sad and exciting at the same time. When she pushed on him he stood still for a second and hoped that she would reconsider. He saw the look on her face and frowned a little as she ducked around him. He wanted her to stay, but he was pretty sure that that was a lost cause now. He had gotten what she owed to him and suddenly they were back to being strangers with no reason to remain close to one another. Darren didn't want a relationship with her, he didn't want to know all of her secrets, he just wanted to bang her. And it was becoming very clear that that was not going to happen tonight.

With a small sigh Darren grabbed the cigarettes out of his pocket and pulled one from the pack. Maybe she would stay for a smoke, maybe she wouldn't, Darren had decided to go back to not caring. He was having a cigarette because he needed one. "Nice?" he said and let out another laugh. He thought it was better than nice but he didn't reply anymore than he already had. She had to know his feelings on the situation by now. Why would she tease him with that bite if she didn't? He lit his cigarette and watched her moving away through the blanket of smoke in front of his face. She had something Darren wanted, and he hated not getting what he wanted. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that he couldn't have it that made her so desirable. Or the fact that she had made out with him in a dark alley with nothing more then a name and a wager. He didn't care much for small talk, and he was getting the feeling that she didn't either. He had time to take another hit of his cigarette before she finally announced that she was going to leave. He fought from frowning, not wanting her to remember him in a bad light. Darren was not the kind to beg. He never had been. If he couldn't get what he wanted through wit, charm, and violence then he usually stopped wanting it. He wasn't going to fight her on her decision to leave.


In his head he had already gone through a few different ways he could have tried to convince her to stay. Some of them might of even worked, if he could play them off right. Eva was mostly a mystery to the oldest Hadditch boy but he thought he was starting to figure out a few small details. She obviously liked danger and excitement. Darren felt pretty confident that he could bring more danger and excitement into her life if she had given him the time. However she had chosen not to and Darren wasn't going to grovel at her feet to change her mind. It was her loss if she didn't want to stick around, he was sure of that. "See ya later." He said and offered a half wave before he went back to smoking his cigarette. One hand in his pocket and the other holding his stick of cancer he stood in that alley for a few more minutes after she had gone. He replayed the kiss in his head, knowing it was one of the best he'd had in his life. After a minute or two had gone by and his cigarette was finished Darren went back down into the basement poker room. He had already won the jackpot, he wasn't sure the game would have much more to offer him, but he needed a distraction at the moment.


[[end of thread]]