Truth Or Dare
“So. Who starts?”
Clint’s hand shot up.
“ME!”
Natasha rolled her eyes. Clint reached over and spun the bottle. It kept spinning for a few seconds before it landed on Natasha. She shrugged and said calmly:
“Truth.”
Clint whined.
“But I already know everything about you!”
Natasha just smirked. Clint was thinking deeply. He knew almost everything about Natasha. What could he… Oh! A grin spread across his face.
“Why did you kiss Tony?”
But Natasha’s calm was not rubbed even an inch.
“I like him.”
Then she reached to the table and got the bottle spinning again. It landed on Tony. He smiled.
“Should I be scared?”
She just tilted her head.
“Truth then.”
“How old were you when you figured out about your powers?”
He thought for a few seconds.
“I was almost two. Not so long before I met Winter the first time.”
She nodded and he spun the bottle. Remy almost groaned when it landed on him.
“Merde!”
Tony’s grin was almost scary.
“What do you chose Cajun?”
Remy seemed to seriously think it through. Whatever he chose he knew that Tony would not go easy on him. They knew each other too well.
“Dare.”
Tony’s laugh was almost evil.
“Sing your favorite song.”
This time he groaned.
“Damn you Stark.”
He knew which song Tony meant. And he knew that he had a nice voice when he was singing. Victor had… No. He was not going there. He stood up and pulled a deck of cards out.
“You want the special effects too?”
Tony nodded. He wanted to make Remy serenade Wanda but then figured out that it would most probably just scare both the Cajun and the girl off.
“Friday. Play song number one on Remy’s personal playlist. Just the music.”
The melody started immediately. Remy took a deep breath and started to sing.
“On a warm summer’s eve
On a train bound for nowhere
I met up with a gambler
We were both too tired to sleep
So we took turns a-starin’
Out the window at the darkness
The boredom overtook us,
And he began to speak.”
Everyone, except for Tony and Vision who had heard him before, were stunned. His voice was beautiful. Smooth and pleasant. His cajun accent made the song sound like some exotic lullaby. He started to slowly shuffle the cards.
“He said, ‘Son, I’ve made a life
Out of readin’ people’s faces
Knowin’ what the cards were
By the way they held their eyes
So if you don’t mind me sayin’
I can see you’re out of aces
For a taste of your whiskey
I’ll give you some advice’.”
Clint tilted his head a bit. He was wondering if that was something the man was relating to. If he had gained his knowledge about cards from someone. Natasha was a bit confused. She had seen both Tony’s and Wanda’s eyes change color while they were using their power. But Remy’s eyes were still brown even though the cards he was now flipping around were very clearly defying the laws of gravity in every way possible.
“So I handed him my bottle
And he drank down my last swallow
Then he bummed a cigarette
And asked me for a light
And the night got deathly quiet
And his face lost all expression
He said, ‘If you’re gonna play the game, boy
You gotta learn to play it right.”
Tony smiled. He knew fully well that Remy had learned to play the game right. He was the best one around. Both as a gamer and as a thief. And adding his mutation on it as well as his upbringing on the streets made him a dangerous opponent.
“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done.”
The cards were now skipping from one of his hands to the other. Some of them were making a few flips in the air before they landed in his hand. Many of the Avengers were almost hypnotized. Tony felt a bit worried about that but decided to not say anything. He knew how Remy was struggling every second to keep that part of his mutation in check. Now, when no one could get hurt, Tony decided to let the man release the hold he had on his power. Remy’s eyes had closed and his hands were flipping the cards almost automatically.
“Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away
And knowin’ what to keep
‘Cause every hand’s a winner
And every hand’s a loser
And the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”
Remy was feeling good. He felt his shields slowly let the power sip out and he almost panicked. His eyes snapped open. He could not let it happen. He quickly pulled the power back and put the shields up. That made him almost miss four of the flying cards but he collected himself before anyone noticed. But Tony had noticed. He knew the exact moment the power was drawn back. The others were still looking at Remy but not in the same hypnotized way. None of them seemed to realize what had just happened.
“And when he finished speakin’
He turned back toward the window
Crushed out his cigarette
And faded off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness
The gambler he broke even
But in his final words
I found an ace that I could keep.”
Tony realized that he never asked Remy who had given him that ace. He remembered asking the cajun if he had really gotten help from anyone and the man had answered that he had gotten an ace. Wanda was watching Remy with a smile. He looked so calm while he was singing.
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done.”
Clint was the first one that started to applaud. Sharon, Wanda and Natasha followed his lead a second later. In the end everyone were applauding. Remy bowed a bit and went back to his seat. Sam smiled.
“You have a nice voice Cajun.”
Remy smiled back.
“Thank you. Victor always…”
He suddenly froze. He couldn’t go there. Not now. He quickly leaned towards the bottle and put his hand on it. He knew that Tony was staring at him. He knew that Tony knew that Creed’s name was Victor. But Tony didn’t know. Not about what Victor had done.
“Remy!”
He looked down onto the bottle and noticed that it was glowing purple. Quickly he dragged the energy back and spun the bottle.
“Remy’s sorry.”
The bottle landed on Sharon. He felt that maybe luck was on his side again.
“I’ll take a truth. But go easy on me.”
He smirked.
“Why would Remy do that? But fine. How old were you when you had your first kiss?”
Sharon frowned.
“Around twelve.”
She spun the bottle. It landed on Sam.
“Dare.”
Sharon’s smirk was almost as scary as Natashas.
“Steal something from Natasha.”
Chuckles were heard around the room. It was impossible to take anything from Natasha. Everyone knew that. She always noticed. Sam groaned but stood up and went over to an open space with Natasha. Sharon handed her a wallet and Natasha put it in the pocket of her hoodie. Then she put a phone in the back pocket of her jeans. Sharon gave out instructions.
“Okey. Natasha go stand behind the empty couch facing us. Act as if you are in a store and are looking at something. Sam you have to get the wallet and phone from her without her noticing. With you standing like that Nat we’ll be able to see you two from the front.”
Natasha put herself in place and Sam stood a bit from her. Then Sharon told them to go ahead and Sam started to sneak up on Natasha. Everyone noticed how Remy almost burst out laughing. Sam then reached out to take the phone that was sticking out of Natasha’s pocket. As soon as his fingers grazed the phone she turned around and got him in a headlock. Everyone laughed. Sam put his hands up in defeat and Natasha let him go. But before they went over to their places Tony said quickly:
“Wait.”
He then pointed at Remy. He understood immediately. He stood up and sighed.
“If you insist.”
He then went over to Sam and put an arm around his shoulders.
“Watch and learn.”
Sam went back to his place and Natasha turned to the others again. Remy tilted his head slowly and smiled. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he went over to Natasha and stopped next to her. When he spoke his voice was filled with charm.
“Bonjour mademoiselle. It’s a beautiful day right?”
Natasha snapped her head towards him and checked her pockets. The things were still there. She slowly put her hands down and smiled back at him.
“Yes it is. Can I help you with anything?”
He smiled with embarrassment.
“Actually yes. I’m a bit lost. How could I get to the theatre? I was supposed to meet my sister there but I am not from around here.”
Natasha, and everyone else, had to admit that he was very convincing and no one even noticed that he was making things up.
“Well then. You have to go straight down this road and then left when you see the shoe store.”
He bowed his head a bit.
“Merci mademoiselle.”
He went past her and returned to his seat. Natasha smirked.
“Not that good ri…”
She double checked her pockets again. The phone and wallet were gone. Everyone’s eyes widened.
“How…?”
Tony and Remy burst out laughing while Remy helt the two objects up. He placed them on the table and then turned to Sam.
“By the way. Is this yours?”
The thief held up Sam’s phone. He patted his pocket.
“When…?”
The answer was easy.
“When you weren’t expecting it.”