It was a lot easier said than done. But unfortunately I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I had agreed to stay.
"We've been here doing basically nothing for the past few hours, so you can imagine how bored we are. You want to join us in a few rounds of poker? Texas Hold 'em?" Deidara asked cheekily.
I bit my lip and scratched my head, "Um...I don't exactly know how to play..." I admitted.
"That's fine!" Deidara seemed extra excited now, "We'll teach you as we go! Don't worry, we're only betting chips" he assured me as he jerked his thumb at the bags of potato chips on the counter.
I nodded slowly, "Sure...I guess".
It was a way to while away the time, right?
They set up the table quickly and there were four seats with a pile of chips for each of them.
"Take a seat, Elvira, don't be shy" Deidara put a hand on my back to usher me into a seat.
I was a bit nervous about the contact but was able to shrug it off quickly.
"So! Poker is actually really easy. Trust me, you'll get it in no time. Even our little Sasuke got it within the first five rounds" Deidara assured me.
I smirked, "I'll go for the first three" I said cockily.
"Oh, ho, ho! An over-achiever, aren't we?" Deidara chuckled, "Don't push yourself too hard, Sasuke's special, he gets things fast. He can watch it once and be able to do it perfectly. You don't get those a lot" he said, as if comforting me.
I shrugged, "We'll see".
He smiled at me, "I'll be here to help you, don't worry. I won't let those two take advantage of you".
Deidara started to explain the general rules of poker as Hidan shuffled and dealt.
"You get it?" he asked, a bit out of breath.
I pursed my lips, "Somewhat".
"Alright, let's start then" Sasori urged.
I put my hands over the two cards that were dealt to me. I peeled up the two corners and peeked at it. An ace of spades and a three of clubs. I glared at my cards, hating it and loving it.
Deidara clucked his tongue, "Elvira" he said with a reprimanding tone, "Remember, poker face. Those two will annihilate you if you let them see through your emotions" he half-whispered to me.
Sasori smirked at me, in a way that made me want to avert my gaze. And so, I did, to Hidan. He had a confident, smug look on his face and at the moment, he was also looking at me, I guessed that they were both judging my facial expression for hints on what kind of a hand I had.
I waited as everyone either called or folded. I called. Deidara was the only one who had folded. I didn't want to back out quite yet.
"Good girl" Deidara praised, "Hana just kept folding from the beginning" he snickered.
I bit my lip and stayed silent. I watched as Hidan, who was also the dealer, put out three cards, the flop as they called it. There was a jack of spades, a two of hearts and a six of hearts. I bit my lip, trying hard to remember all of the possible winning combinations and which seemed the most likely right now.
"Call" Sasori said without a moment's hesitation.
Hidan raised. It was the moment of truth for me now. Deidara siddled closer.
"It's fine" he said, "Just go with your guts. It's not very likely to be able to get it right from the beginning".
I hesitantly called. Sasori folded. Then came the time to flip the turn. A four of diamonds. I judged my situation. At this rate, it was quite possible that I would be able to get a straight. Hidan watched me as I made my decision. His scrutinizing gaze made me fidget in my seat.
Two hands rested on my shoulders, making me tense, "Hey, relax. He's looking at you. Stop giving away so many hints" Deidara said in a hushed voice.
"Hey, Deidara, aren't you being a little unfair?" Sasori chided, "It's two against one".
Deidara stuck his tongue out at him, "I'm evening out the chances. It's her first time, after all" he reasoned.
Sasori shrugged, "She looks like she's smart enough to handle it on her own" he said, staring straight at me as he leaned his head on the arm he had propped up on the table.
I tore my gaze away from him and looked down at my cards, thinking hard.
"R-raise" I said timidly and increased the amount of chips.
Hidan had an amused expression on his face. It seemed that he was slightly surprised too.
"Didn't think you had it in ya" he chuckled as he called, then proceeded to turn the last card, the river.
I crossed my fingers, hoping, praying, that it would be a five or an ace. Unfortunately, it was not.
"Raise" Hidan called right away.
I hardly had anytime to process the fact that the card was a three of spades. I froze. What now? I had been too dependent on my hope of the river turning out to be a five. I sighed. It was quite obvious that this was not my kind of game.
"Call" I agreed to the amount and we flipped our cards at the same time.
I had a pair at the least, maybe it would save me? Hidan smirked. Nope, not in the least. He had a jack of diamonds and a nine of clubs.
His pair was a lot bigger than mine.
"Good try" Deidara said, patting my head affectionately.
I bit my lip, "Maybe it would be better if I sat this game out..." I said, "It seems that my gambling skills aren't quite developed yet".
Deidara jumped up, "Sure! Let's do something else, I was beginning to get bored anyways!" he chimed in happily, "It's not as fun when Itachi is not here" he chuckled.
I cocked my head, "Why is that?".
Deidara snickered, "It's 'cause he can always beat those two" he laughed, looking at a sour-faced Hidan and Sasori, "He has x-ray eyes or something. He always knows how to predict your cards".
I shivered, I didn't know how comfortable I was with the idea of x-ray eyes if they existed. Sasori and Hidan finished putting everything away.
"So...what now?" I asked, feeling a little bad that I might've been the reason as to why they had stopped playing a game that they seemingly enjoyed often.
Deidara was silent, weird.
"Um...senpai?" I addressed.
"Huh? Oh! What?" Deidara snapped his attention back to me.
I looked at him expectantly. Hidan stretched his arms and yawned at that moment.
"Well, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to go take a nap. You guys can knock yourselves out" he said and disappeared into the living room, most likely to find a couch to crash on.
"Do you guys have a plan?" Sasori asked.
Deidara nodded, "I could get her to help me with my project!" he looked at me, "I heard from Sasuke you're good at art, right? Wanna come take a look at what we're doing in university?" he offered.
"Um..." I looked at Sasori, "I guess...and you senpai?".
He shrugged, "I'm not into the stuff Deidara does, so I'll opt out on this one" then his expression seemed to soften a bit, "You don't have to call us senpai or anything. Just call us by our names, we're not strangers anymore, right?" he let a small smile alight on his lips.
I wringed my hands in embarrassment, "Y-yeah, I guess...".
I never acted as naturally as I usually did when around older people like Deidara, Sasori and Hidan. It was a little intimidating.
"Alright then!" Deidara piped up and grabbed my hand, "Let's go set up!".
I was dragged along by Deidara to grab his backpack and into the kitchen to start setting up on the dinner table. He pulled out a wooden board first before placing a lump of white clay on it.
"You sculpt?" I asked.
He nodded eagerly, "I love art! Especially sculpting, I've been sculpting since I was three in the mud!" he laughed.
I joined in his laughter as he worked the clay, warming it up to be a little more flexible.
"What about you? You like art?" he asked, "I've definitely heard good things about you from our little brother" he chuckled.
I nodded, "Yeah, but I work more with a pencil and paper than with clay. I've never really worked with it actually..." I confessed.
He nodded, understanding, "That's fine, you'll get a chance to today" he smiled, "You can help give me ideas for my piece".
I nodded and secretly glanced at the time as he turned his focus back to the clay. How was it possible that only twenty minutes had passed?!
"Getting impatient?" Deidara asked.
I jumped, "What? Oh, no! I...was just...curious" my words failed me.
He ignored it and beckoned me closer, "Here, go ahead. Try it" he gestured to the prepared clay.
I hesitantly put my hands on the clay and began to mold it.
"What are you planning on making?" he asked as he watched me work.
I noticed his proximity and it made me a bit more nervous.
"I-I...I'm not sure yet..." I said as I worked, taking out clay and adding it back in.
He watched so intently, that I wasn't sure if he realized that he was leaning closer and closer to me. At this point I could already feel his breath on my neck.
"I think I have an idea of what you want" he said and surprised me as he reached around me, as if to hug me.
He put his hands over mine and began to guide my hands in the process of molding the clay. I knew that my face was red and I could only be grateful that I was facing away from him. He shouldn't be able to see the emotions on my face. I swallowed as quietly as I could but it hurt my throat, my heart seemed as if it were trying to beat its way out of my chest. But I knew that it was guilt that was welling up in my chest, stopping me from breathing properly.
"There" he sounded proud as our hands left the clay.
Now, there was a proper clay model of a lion.
"Hmm..." I reached for some more clay and added to the lion.
Deidara watched curiously as I molded. Once I finished, I took my hands away with a smile.
"Now it's done" I said contentedly.
Deidara chuckled. I had added wings to the lion to mimic the one that I had at home.
"Interesting imagination you have" he mused, "But you really are pretty good at this" he smirked, "What do you plan to do when you grow up?" he asked.
I puckered up my lips, "Um...I don't know actually...I haven't really thought about it much..." I admitted truthfully.
"Go into art, you're a natural!" he suggested brightly.
I turned to look at him, to see if he was serious. His face was suddenly just inches from mine, leaning towards me with a suspicious glint in his eye.
"U-uh...um" I swallowed uncomfortably as I tried to back away, unfortunately, there was little I could do with one of his arms caging me in.
"I'd totally be able to show you the ropes, you know...we'd get along really well" he said with a cool smirk.
"I, um, really don't know yet..." I said as I pushed against his arm.
His hand came up to fall on my shoulder, gently, but it made me shiver, "I really do think you're a cool girl...if our little Sasuke isn't meeting your standards...you know, there's always more fish in the sea..." he said suggestively.
His head tilted and his head came ever closer. I breathed in sharply and stood up so abruptly, I stumbled backwards a few steps before I managed to balance myself. There was no point in hiding my red face anymore, I'd need a thick, cloth bag to be able to do it properly.
"I-I really appreciate your...offer. But I'm, uh...not thinking about that...um...not right now. Thanks" I said choppily and hurriedly left the room, escaping for the living room, leaving Deidara leaning heavily over nothing.
As I left, I heard him chuckle, "She's a real bang, this one".
I was scared about how to interpret it so I just pretended that I didn't hear it.