"And that's what you'd call a winning hand, gentlemen. Now let's see those coins again." At his grin, there was a chorus of groans and discontent mumblings of how they were sure that Khai was cheating somehow. Really, what's the probability that he could win five games of poker in a row? It didn't come as much of a surprise to him that after he was reluctantly tossed his prize, there was a sore scrape of chairs against the floor. Apparently good sports in Reajh were few and far between but that didn't dampen his spirits. The thing about testosterone was that it didn't exactly encourage rational thought. A man would rather bet away everything that they owned than turn down a challenge, Khai included, and that's how he knew just how to prey on that. The more money he could con out of these fine patrons, the more ale he could keep coming to his table. The more ale, the more time he got to chat up the pretty little barmaid that was on duty.
Sure, she tripped over her tongue every time she talked to him and she blushed more than women he usually dealt with, but by the end of the night, he was sure she'd come around. The naivety simply radiated off her, which could only mean one thing: she was a virgin. He supposed if he wasn't so downright "despicable", he'd be concerned that she'd certainly be taken advantage of in a place like this. However virgins were fun, if not quite as flexible as his more seasoned candidates. Unless of course, there was a reason for that virginity - having angry fiancés at his heels wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. Not that they should be all that surprised to begin with, given that he was better in any and every conceivable way.
("Ever so modest, aren't you?") Khai's thoughts were interrupted by dripping sarcasm. Even when she wasn't around, she still had to criticize. "I thought you were off doing whatever it is that dragons do when not actively being disappointed with their riders. Which must be nothing." It wasn't enough that Roxanna got to verbally (and occasionally physically) abuse him when she was present, but courtesy of their mindlink, any time was go time for her. He wouldn't lie, it became fairly awkward at times, being so closely connected although she did her best to him during such recreational activities as a whole. Something about too traumatizing or whatever her reasoning had been at the time. Khai had forgotten and was certainly not about to get engaged in that conversation again.
("It becomes extremely hard to ignore your jumble of ridiculous thoughts. You're disrupting my downtime, so keep them to yourself.") The concept of sharing his head with another person was bizarre and hard to get used to, especially the whole private and public thoughts thing and the mental barriers. Trying to take all of that into consideration before thinking wasn't exactly easy to remember. "Alright, alright, calm down." The near empty mug resulted in a frown and a gesture for a refill before the evening rush of people who'd just finished work for the day started and he had to wait to be served. No, that would not do at all.
