Hermes - I’ve Been Bamboozled!

It was an overcast day on the festival grounds, and Hermes was enjoying the festivities just like everyone else. The clouds covered the sun in a gray veil, but the energy of the day wasn’t dampened by the weather. If anything, it seemed to be quite busy today. Reos and their trainers alike were eager to beat the heat in any way.

The games themselves were full of party-goers, all gambling and playing and merrymaking as much as they could to get tokens, or even more tokens for those who had been grinding since day one. Even though Hermes joined the festival fairly late, as he had to trek through the harsh thedale deserts to find his way to the festival grounds, he was glad to be able to revel in the cheap games and cheap food. And revel he did; the atmosphere was abuzz with the thrill of bets, the yells of winners, and the cries of losers.

Hermes, particularly, wasn’t fond of the idea of being part of the latter group. He came to win, and win he would. But this particular game, run by the sly Gyes,  seemed to stump him no matter what he did. At first, it seemed like a no-brainer to participate— Gyes was a well-known traveler, fond of both coin and easy company, and Hermes was eager to converse with a reos who spoke his sort of language. Everything seemed on the up-and-up, especially after he pulled a laugh from Gyes before the older reos launched this current set of rounds.  As Hermes looked around the booth, he could see nothing but frustrated maws trying to keep track of flashing cards. 

He turned his own gaze back to the card game, and scowled. What the hell was he missing? Why did he keep losing so many rounds? He could feel his pockets empty by the minute… 

Hermes took a moment to glance back up at the booth-master. Gyes, the well-known elder, shuffled his deck, chill as can be, before turning his handsome gaze onto his onlookers. Gyes chuckled at all the disgruntled looks pointed at him. “Now, friends. All of you know the rules of blackjack as well as I do. I can’t help if you’re not as good at the game as I am.” 

Hermes’ scowl deepened right alongside all the other players. In the dim light of the booth, there wasn’t much to focus on except for the bright faces of the cards, but Hermes squinted as he trained his eyes on Gyes’ nimble paws. It wasn’t obvious, but…

Ah, there it was. The sleight of hand. Despite the dawning realization of being swindled, Hermes had to hide a smirk. That sly dog.

Well now, if Gyes was willing to play dirty, Hermes figured he could do so too.

Hermes timed his move just as one of the other players started to shift around in agitation. Hermes was positioned right in front of one of the booth’s stabilizers for its umbrella-roof. He timed it with the periodic rumbling of running reos and children outside, and bumped his back foot into the stand. 

The flimsy tarp shuddered and capsized, but just like Hermes expected, Gyes was too focused on the cards and his cheating until it was too late to react. Gyes’ cards spilled from his paws, and the other reos in the tent rushed to help the booth master. 

It was in this chaos, that sly little Hermes snuck closer and helped Gyes push up one of the pegs, but also helped shuffle the cards back in place. But not before doing a bit of sleight of his own. All to be timed right before Hermes’ turn.

As Gyes and the others pulled back from the umbrella, Gyes sighed in relief. “Everyone alright? Good… Alright, Hermes was next, right?” 

Hermes nodded, and grinned. “Yes sir. Hit me on this next turn.”

Gyes, with all eyes on him, played the next card as normal. No need to arouse suspicion, after all. 

The next card was laid face up, and Hermes got exactly 21. The perfect score needed to win against the dealer. Gyes’ face fell. 

Hermes gave a shout of joy. “Hah, would you look at that! Looks like I won your pool, old man.”

Gyes frowned, before his face cleared with a chuckle. “Looks to me like you did.”

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