Episode 7 (Aurora Season 1)

Chance: "You have five minutes before I deicde you're worth wasting a bullet on."

Striding up to her, Chance glowers down with the full force of his ire.

Far from withering under it, Skylar just twists to the side so that she can eye me over instead.

Skylar: "Wait... don't tell me YOU'RE ??"

Skylar: "I wasn't expecting a little dress-up doll."

Skylar bares her teeth in a grin, looking wolfish ang hungry.

Skylar: "You look sweet, though."

Skylar: "Like you'd pair well with dessert."

Steel sings as Yoshimitsu grabs his sword from where he had left it resting on the table.

Yoshimitsu: "It's getting close to five minutes."

Skylar's dark eyebrows shoot up as she glances from one enraged face to the other.

Skylar: "You guys are pretty high strung."

Skylar: "I can see why daddy dearest wasn't too sad to see you go."

She shoots a wink in our direction

making eye contact with Aurora.

Skylar: "Guess that's why he likes me better, huh?"

Skylar: "I'm not stopping with him, though."

Skylar: "I'll take everything from you, Aurora."

Skylar: "And I'm going to enjoy watching you squirm."

Stepping forward, Ash grabs Skylar roughly by her upper arm,

escorting her outside while the rest of us seethe in anger.

(I've never wanted to slap anyone so hard in my entire life.)

Aurora is still standing next to me, trembling from head to toe.

Letting out a huge sigh, Chance covers his face with one hand and points at Yoshiimtsu with the other.

Chance: "You're not allowed to answer the door ever again."

Yoshimitsu: "Me?"

Yoshimitsu: "This is Dad's f--"

Aurora snaps.

Aurora: "Shush, Jason."

Aurora: "We know it's Franco's fault."

(...Jason?)

I look to Yoshimitsu curiously, but he doesn't protest.

Irving: "Well... At least Franco hasn't banned  from the Ruby Heart?"

Snarling, Aurora crosses her arms and nearly spits out her words.

Aurora: "Because he thinks we're a joke!"

Aurora: "He took one look at her and decided she wasn't a threat."

Aurora: "That WE'RE not a threat."

Her fists clench, unclench.

Aurora: "I swear to god, that'll be the last mistake he'll ever make."

She clenches her fists again,

but this time keeps them balled up so tight her nails dig into the skin of her palm.

MC: "Rory..."

I place a palm on her forearm, looking up at her imploringly.

Her muscles feel tense as living steel, rigid to the touch.

Unable to look me in the eye, Aurora stalks out.

I follow quickly,

feeling more and more like my lamb nickname was born from something other than my hair.

Aurora doesn't drink any more, to my relief.

She heads over to her bar, but pulls a bottle of water from the mini fridge instead.

Aurora: "Here."

She tosses one to me.

I gulp it down quickly, not sure how I had gotten so thirsty without realizing.

Aurora: "That Skylar kid is a real piece of work, huh?"

A. Let's kill her.

B. Are you okay?

C. I'll win the Ruby Heart.

---

C. I'll win the Ruby Heart.

MC: "Aurora."

I speak with confidence, more surety than I had ever felt before.

MC: "I'm going to beat her."

MC: "I don't care how good she thinks she is."

MC: "I'm winning the Ruby Heart."

Aurora studies me, dark eyes unreadable.

Then she shrugs.

Aurora: "She'll make it hard for you."

MC: "Yeah..."

---

MC: "What would have happened if Yoyo sliced her up for real, though?"

Aurora: "A big messy gang war that nobody wants."

I reach into my puse, pulling out a deck of cards and pushing it into Aurora's hand.

MC: "Well, then we'll win through class."

Aurora: "Meaning?"

MC: "I'll beat her ass so hard at poker she'll never show her face here again."

Aurora's eyebrows flicker up.

She's pleased, I can tell, but still distacted.

So I insist on cheering he up.

MC: "Play another game with me, Rory."

MC: "I want to keep practicing."

She gives me one of her easy, lazy smiles.

But it's washed away in an instant, replaced by a tight frown.

I take both her hands in mine, clutching them and tugging her over to the table.

Aurora: "There's that confidence again."

Aurora: "I love seeing you get all fired up."

Aurora: "But today we need to put you to the final test..."

Confusion makes me pause, stepping closer to her with our hands still linked togethe.

MC: "Beating Chance wasn't good enough?"

Aurora: "No, because it's not a matter of moeney anymore."

Aurora: "Now it's our pride on the line, and I need to know you can handle representing us."

My heart sinks.

MC: "Are you telling me to drop out?"

She breaks my hold on her just to cradle my face in her palm.

Aurora: "I'm saying now you have to win another game."

Aurora: "Against ME, this time."

Blood thrums in my ears, thundering in anticipation.

MC: "Then you have to bet something else!"

She blinks a few times, clearly not expecting that.

Aurora: "What?"

MC: "This isn't just your pride at stake, Rory."

MC: "I want to win the Ruby Heart for ME."

MC: "Me and my parents."

The tension between us morphs into something else.

Not antagonistic.

Not sexual either, but just as electric.

Aurora: "Raising the stakes, huh?"

Aurora: "What if I call your bluff?"

MC: "Then I leave."

MC: "And you'll never know if I was your only chance to win the tournament."

She squints at me, not angry, but calculating.

Aurora: "...You have no idea how hot that was, do you?"

A. Play along.

B. Get serious.

---

B. Get serious.

MC: "No distracting me, Rory."

MC: "You have to meet my raise... or bet something more."

I get red in the face again, but I don't back down.

---

Aurora: "All right,. How about this..."

Aurora: "If I lose... I'll break the rules for you."

She doesn't take the time to clarify what she meant,

but with the way her hands feel on me when she ISN'T breaking the rules...

MC: "Was that a real bet or are you trying to get me flustered again?"

Aurora: "Depends. Is it working?"

Aurora could have refused.

(It's not like I have any real leverage here.)

(In the end, I'm her captive, and she's...)

Licking her thumb, she pulls a thin wallet from her back pocket,

and starts counting out dozens of hunded dollar bills.

Aurora: "Let's see if you can take my money."

A. That's a lot of money...!

B. Just like my parents?

C. You're on.

---

C. You're on.

I slam a first on the table, too excited to rein it in.

MC: "I'm ready!"

Aurora: "Easy, girl. It's poker, not an arm-wrestling match."

<p style="text-align:center;">---

Seeing Aurora like this is different from watching her play with the gang, or out in public.

Every so often she accidentally brushes her hand against mine,

taking the time to run her thumb over the back of my palm or linking our fingers together intimately.

Auora: "Now that I'm sobering up, I wonder if I shouldn't just throw the match."

The raw hunger in her voice sends a fresh batch of gooseflesh down my arms.

MC: "If you do, I'll never forgive you."

I know she's trying to distract me, but I can't let her know how well it works.

Especially when she doesn't keep her eyes off me either.

It shifts, alternating between gazing at me as a rival and a potential lover.

Finally, I look down at my hand.

At the stack of bills on my side of the table.

At Aurora's fists, clenched tightly.

MC: "...You've lost."

Aurora tenses up.

Then she throws her hand on the table.

I had called it correctly; her hand is not as good as mine, and she's all out of money.

Aurora: "That was impressive."

(I won?)

I expected fanfare, something dramatic.

MC: "This isn't a trick, is it?"

I'm too stunned to say anything else,

and even incorrigible Aurora doesn't use it as an opportunity to try and turn me on again.

Aurora: "Nope. You won fair and square."

Her expression is torn, pride mingling with the obvious darkening of anger.

Aurora: "Augh..."

She rubs the hell of her palm into her eyes.

Aurora: "What is this? I'm glad you won. I needed you to win."

She chrews on her thumb nail, glancing at me expectantly under a curtain of her thick brown hai.

Aurora: "...So some claim your prize, huh?"

She moves around the table to stand next to me and I jump,

startled as she takes the back of my neck again.

Aurora: "Don't you want to?"

Bright red, I find I can't look into her eyes, staring resolutely at the floor.

She kisses my cheek again, lingering to whisper in my ear.

Aurora: "Oh. I see."

Aurora: "Your loss, then."

I feel torn when she pulls away, headed towards the doorway and taking all that radiant heat with her.

MC: "Aurora..."

She doesn't hear or doesn't listen, pushing past the curtain over her door.

(Ugh, Rory, don't make me chase you...!)

I skid to a halt just at the doorway to her room to see Aurora is standing there waiting for me,

her back to the door.

MC: "Rory?"

Aurora: "Fooled you."

Without another word, she pounces on me.

My back is pressed up to the wall, her hands linked with mine.

Aurora: "You're so cute, following me wherever I go."

Bending down, she kisses my cheek,

sliding her tongue over my jawling to nip at my earlobe, making me squirm.

MC: "If you call me a little lamb again, I'm going to scream."

Aurora: "I'm sure there's all sorts of ways to get you to scream."

I struggle against her hands, insistently shoving and pushing until she lets me go and I can hold her,

running my palms up her waist.

She presses her mouth to mine, claiming it in a hungry kiss.