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"Never have I ever cheated at cards," Leonard stated, a smug look on his face as he looked at the rest of the Tarot Club members, given some of the occupations of those assembled there was no way he wouldn't get people this round.
Alger's eyes narrowed as he stared at Mr. Star, "Really, you've never cheated even once?" He found such a claim rather hard to believe, there was something about his fellow member's nature that just made him seem like the kind of person who would cheat at cards.
The Nighthawk shook his head in denial, "Of course not, I always play an honest game." Of course, there certainly had been times when he'd contemplated putting the other players to sleep and peaking at their cards, but he'd never actually done it.
"He's telling the truth," Mr. World assured them, as he took a sip from the glass of alcohol in front of him. None of the Tarot Club members were really sure where the drinks on the table had come from, though they assumed it had to be Mr. Fools doing, odd as it was to think of an ancient god summoning alcohol so his worshippers could have a celebration in his residence. "There's no way he would lose so much if he was cheating."
As Mr. Star made an offended noise, both Alger and Madame Hermit partook of their own drinks, briefly wondering when Mr. World and Mr. Star had played cards as they did so. As they placed their glasses back down, the attention of everyone in the room turned to Mr. Moon, whose turn it now was.
The vampire frowned, struggling to come up with something; this was not a game he had ever played before, but as a noble sanguine he refused to lose. “Never have I ever solo killed a demigod,” he finally stated. Emlyn could feel Mr. World’s gaze on him from the end of the table as the man took a drink, and couldn’t help but shiver slightly at it; he hadn’t been deliberately trying to target their scariest member, but that didn’t mean Gehrman Sparrow would see it that way. The man made no comment however, and so Emlyn heaved a sigh of relief before glancing at Sun to indicate it was his turn.
For Derrick, playing a game like this with friends was a rather new experience; back before his parents had died and he isolated himself, he'd had friends who he played with of course, but their games tended to lean more towards training. It was also his first experience with alcohol; not that he had been allowed to actually drink any; the Tarot Club members had unanimously declared him to be too young to drink, a concept he didn't really understand. In the City of Silver once you started going on patrols you were considered an adult, not to mention he was now one of the Elders of his people, he hardly considered himself to be too young for anything.
His logical protest had been ignored however, and rather than alcohol something called apple juice had been placed in front of him. The drink smelled delicious and sweet, but he'd yet to have tried any as none of the statements people had made had been things he'd ever done. "Uh…Never have I ever been to Backlund."
Every other member took a drink at that statement, over half of them were currently living in the city, and even those who didn’t hold residence there had visited at least once.
Derrick felt a little bad for making so many people take a drink, however Mr. Hanged Man gave him an approving nod before speaking. "Never have I ever stepped foot in a Church of Evernight." Though Alger had been forced to drink many times over the past few rounds they'd played, as an experienced sailor he was very good at holding his liquor, and so it was with total soberness that he watched Miss Justice, Magician and Judgement, as well as Mr. Star and Mr. World, all take a drink.
Audrey wasn't really sure if any of them could actually get drunk since they were currently in a spiritual form rather than their real bodies, not to mention the drinks might not even be real; still she wasn’t going to let that stop her from having fun. Glancing around the room at the other Tarot Club members, a smile played on her lips as she spoke. “Never have I ever been to sea.”
Alger, Cattleya and Klein were quick to all take a drink, while Fors hesitated a moment, trying to decide if her travels counted as being to sea. She soon decided that it didn’t count since she’d never actually sailed, but had merely traveled between lands via teleportation, and left her glass where it was.
It wasn't until the other members had almost finished drinking, that Derrick remembered he was currently at sea, finally there was a statement that applied to him! Picking up his glass, he gingerly took a sip, his eyes widening in delight at the sweet taste.
From across the table Audrey had to bite back a smile at Little Sun’s clear excitement, since the boy had grown up in the City of Silver it was obvious he had never gotten the chance to try a large variety of foods; she was glad he was now getting the chance. Someday, if they ever met up in real life, she'd be sure to treat him to a delicious meal.
It was Fors' turn next, she'd been thinking hard about what to say while the others took their turns, and so didn’t hesitate to speak. “Never have I ever worked as an official Beyonder.” It was quite a good statement in her opinion, despite them being a secret organization they had several official beyonders in their midst.
Just like she had expected, Xio, Mr. Star and Mr. Hanged Man took a drink from their cups, however she couldn't help but let out a small gasp as Mr. World also picked up his cup. Fors was no expert on reading body language like Miss Justice was, but she could tell the rest of the Tarot Club members were just as shocked as she was.
Well most of them were, Sun seemed uncertain, as if he could tell the others were surprised but wasn't sure why; given anyone could become a Beyonder in the City of Silver though, it made sense that he wouldn't understand the strangeness of Gerhman Sparrow apparently having at one point been the Beyonder equivalent of police.
The lack of reaction from Mr. Star was what was really weird, it was like such a revelation wasn't news to him, had he already known?
Audrey had also noticed Mr. Star’s lack of surprise and mentally went over the information she knew; Mr Star was close enough friends with Mr. World to banter with him and know his real name, he was also a Nighthawk. Could the two of them once have been coworkers? The more Audrey thought of it the more it made sense; she quickly shut down that train of thought though, Mr. World and Mr. Star surely wouldn’t be happy with her trying to pry into their background.
None of the other members seemed to have the courage to ask any questions, so after a moment of awkward silence, Cattleya took her turn. It had been a long time since she’d played a game like this, Emperor Roselle had been the one to invent it though, and so Queen Mystic had taught it to her when she was a child.
“Never have I ever eaten one of Frank’s mushrooms.”
Mr. World grimaced before taking a drink, a feeling that Cattleya sympathized with; it was traumatizing enough to see Frank's experiments, eating them had to be worse.
"Are those the mushrooms that were given to the City of Silver?" Derrick asked, wanting clarification before he drank, and Cattleya gave an affirmative nod.
"That's right."
Having received confirmation that the statement applied to him, Derrick took a drink, silently deciding that once the City of Silver was settled in their new home, he was going to make sure everyone got to try apple juice.
Xio bit her lip as she realized it was her turn, she’d been trying to figure out what to say but hadn’t had any luck so far, well actually she’d thought of one thing but she really didn’t want to use it. She had no other ideas though, and it would affect everyone else at the table….
"Never have I ever been taller than five feet." She said with great reluctance, ignoring the stifled laugh she heard from Fors at the proclamation.
Looks of amusement were shared around the table as everyone took a drink; they hadn't expected Miss Judgement, who they knew was sensitive about her lack of height, to poke fun at it herself.
'It's a pity Miss Judgment's pathway isn't compatible with the Twilight Giant pathway, she could switch over and gain some height.' Derrick thought absently, as he savoured the sweet taste of the juice.
It was finally Mr. World's turn, and the Tarot Club members turned their gazes on him with anticipation. With the exception of Audrey and Leonard, who knew his true warm nature, they had been surprised at how willingly he joined them in playing.
Klein ignored the other members as he stared at his drink in thought, he was sure the rest of the group assumed that the alcohol had been created by Mr. Fool, but it had actually come from a couple bottles that Klein had previously sacrificed to himself. He hadn’t expected it to end up being used for a drinking game, it along with some food he’d sacrificed as well, were mostly incase there was ever another incident like being stuck in the Forsaken Land of the gods; still, he didn’t really mind.
“Never have I ever written poetry.” It was clear from Leonard’s glare as he took a drink, that he knew the words had been deliberately targeting him, and Klein couldn’t stop his lips from twitching slightly in amusement. His friend would probably get revenge on his next turn, but Klein wasn't too worried; Leonard didn't know any secrets that would be too detrimental for the Tarot Club to find out, like how he and Mr. Fool were the same person.
He was a bit surprised at first to see Fors drink as well, but then recalled that she was a writer, she'd probably written plenty of poetry. He wondered if it was as bad as Leonard's though.
Seeing how no one else was drinking, Leonard took his turn once again. "Never have I ever died and come back to life," he said, resisting the urge to childishly stick his tongue out at Klein. Perhaps it was a bit of a low blow, but it wasn't like the other members could use it to track down Mr. World’s true identity; even if they somehow found out what the incident that had cost Klein his life was, they wouldn’t be able to connect it to him, the Nighthawks never published the names of those lost in the line of duty.
All around the room Leonard could see the confused stares of the other members, no doubt they thought his statement was an odd one, who could die and then come back to life? That confusion turned to shock as they watched Mr. World glare at Leonard before taking a drink.
“What?!” Fors blurted out, before quickly covering her mouth. She hadn’t meant to speak out loud, but she’d been so surprised she couldn’t help it. She knew there were lots of strange beyonder powers out there that could do mysterious things, but coming back from the dead still seemed insane.
Audrey was as surprised as the rest of the Tarot Club, though it didn’t show on her face, she was far too experienced a spectator for that to happen. Her shock only lasted a moment before her instincts as a psychiatrist took over and she looked at Mr. World with concern. “Dying and coming back to life must have been hard,” she said sympathetically, and Mr. World inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement of her sympathy.
“You get used to it after a while,” he reassured her, and across the table Leonard just about choked.
“You had better not be implying you’ve died more than once,” the Nighthawk growled.
Klein froze, realizing he’d gotten too comfortable and slipped up. Adopting a blank expression, he tilted his head slightly to the side as if listening to something. “I believe Mr. Fool wishes us to convene,” he commented.
“Don’t you da…” Leonard’s protest was cut off as the Tarot Club members disappeared from Sefirah Castle.
Klein heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair. “That was close.”