//------------------------------//
// playing 
// Story: Mapping Manehattan 
// by The Red Parade 
//------------------------------//

Storms come and go in Manehattan. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows. Today it rains. Fiddle stares out the window, watching as drops pour from the sky and flood the streets.

Not much is different to her. They didn’t schedule weather in Appleloosa. Braeburn said it was because the Weather Factory didn’t like them. She enjoyed the rain. It calmed her, made her smile.

Lightning on the other hoof doesn’t like getting wet. That was why they are hiding in a small apartment, waiting out the storm. Fiddle turns away from the window and to the coffee table, where two playing cards sit in front of her, one face up and one face down.

In between them sits six bottle caps. That’s the stake of this round. 

The face up card is an ace. She picks up the face down card and sees it’s a four. Fifteen or five, since the ace can be a one or an eleven. Fiddle looks at Lightning, who has a deck of cards in her hooves. She nods, and Lightning deals her another card.

A three. Eighteen or eight. Fiddle rubs her chin. Close to the goal number of twenty-one, but she knows Lightning has a ten. She nods again and gets another card. 

A queen. All royals count for ten, so if she uses the ace as an eleven she’s over the count. Busted. But, if she keeps the ace as a one, she still has a chance. She gets another card, a three. Eighteen. 
Get another card or stay?

Fiddle taps the table twice, ending her turn. Lightning nods. She  flips her face down card and smirks. She deals herself another card and gets a three.

Lightning flicks her eyes upwards and sticks her tongue out as she does the math. Fiddle laughs at her. Lightning taps her hoof twice, deciding to stay.

Fiddle flips her card and announces her total of eighteen.

Lightning blinks, then smiles. Her card is a six, total of nineteen. She beat her out by one.

They share a laugh at that. Lightning sweeps the bottle caps over to her side of the table, adding them to her pile. 

Fiddle glances out the window again. The rain is easing off now. They could get going, but first, one more round.

They flash cocky grins and shove their entire piles to the center. All in. Lightning shuffles the cards and deals each of them two new ones.

This time, Fiddle gets a three and a six. She nods and gets a four. Still low. She goes for another card. A king. Bust.

She taps the table, indicating that she’s done. Lightning glances at her other card and rubs her chin. She shrugs and deals herself another card. She laughs and taps the table.

They flip their cards. Lightning has twenty-four. Lower card rule, so Fiddle wins. They laugh. Fiddle asks why Lightning would hit on twenty. Lightning shrugs and says why not. She likes living on the edge.