black books [open]

and on to the glory at my right hand

It's a cozy little bar on a cozy little night that just so happens to last for an entire week, and Ronin is kicking back and relaxing. This is a novelty in itself, given the events of the past seasons and the ever-mounting war, and he's not unaware of that fact. So he sinks into the comfort and quiet music tinkling from a piano nearby, swirling the liquor in his glass and glancing over the gilded surface of his table.

He's playing solitaire, of all things, but given that there's no one around to gamble with currently, he might as well try his luck against the cards. Flipping over a few and mulling his choices while sipping his drink, the Huntsman plays his next move and then slouches back in his seat again, as if giving the deck time to decide what it would show him next. Out in the streets through the window he can spy the dazzle of coloured lanterns mingling with the falling snow - and if anything could be peaceful, Ronin believes this would be it.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

Stevie

Solitaire, solitary, salutations! In the form of a wrecking ball of a woman who trips over the back of her own heel while passing by Ronin’s table and goes slamming sideways into it, emitting a sound like a rubber chicken stepped on too fast as the side of the wood goes right into her stomach and drops her like a sack of rice to the ground.

“Ow,” she wheezes at the ceiling, cards fluttering down around her. Darwin honk-laughs at her, waddling over on his bright feet, and Stevie swats at him with a floppy hand that misses by a mile. Used to this happening multiple times a day, she rolls over and gets back to her feet easily enough, plucking cards up and aiming a frazzled smile at the man whose game she ruined. “Uh, how good is your memory? Think we can put ‘em back?”

everyday can be a better day despite the challenge
All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it

and on to the glory at my right hand

It happens so fast that even Ronin isn't able to catch it - or the woman, or the cards for that matter. Indeed, he's left holding the single card he's about to place down and little else, blinking as he watches the rest of his deck flutter down around her. "Are you alright?" he blurts, the words a little muffled where he's biting his cheek so he doesn't laugh, a matter made all the more difficult by the appearance of her companion.

"Oh, well... the point was that I didn't know most of the cards. That's how the game works," he says, rubbing at the back of his head and allowing himself a smile. Scooting his chair back and leaning down to help gather up the cards, Ronin places them piecemeal onto the table. "It doesn't matter, though. I can always start again."

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)