The Turning of the Poker Tables

Chapter 1 - Gambling Problems

*One week before*

“Kris!” Tao had been whining all day, trying to get the elder’s attention to him. He did love it when he managed to turn Kris’s head. “Yah, gege!” Now he was being persistent, tugging Kris’s arm as he sat on the couch, mindlessly watching the TV. He flipped through the channels, completely ignoring Tao which formed a subtle pout on the panda’s face. Zitao huffed, stood and stormed off, slamming the door shut to the bedroom.

Flopping himself onto the bed, he curled up and hugged the pillow, sighing in despair that his charm might not be what it was. Soon, the door was opened and Tao turned his back on the tall, blonde man, not wanting to see him or hear anything he had to say.

“Tao,” Kris shook his shoulders lightly, sitting on the edge of the bed, “I have a present for you.” Tao looked over his shoulder and his face changed into a beaming ray of happiness. Kris was holding a soft toy - a dragon. He handed it to him and smiled as Tao hugged it to his chest, acting like a complete child. “I love you.” Kris kissed his forehead before ruffling his hair a bit, standing and offering his hand. Tao accepted and stood up, being lead back to the living room with the soft toy still firmly in his other hand.

“I have to go out tonight. Don’t wait up for me, okay?” Kris sat back on the couch and pulled Tao by his side, seeing his brows furrow in disapproval. “Come on, it won’t be for long. There’s just something I need to do. I promise I’ll be back before you know it.” Running his soft fingers across Tao’s cheek, the younger reluctantly accepted and nodded, looking down as sadness took over. Kris pulled him into a hug and sat him on his lap, wrapping his arms around Tao securely as he held him.

Why does he always go out late at night and never come back till the morning?

-----

Night fell and Tao was snuggling up into the covers on the bed, hugging the toy as he lay alone and thinking of Kris. He couldn’t sleep; it was bugging him too much that Kris wasn’t by his side. He sighed, playing with the toy in his fingers. If he slept anyway, he’d probably only dream of Kris too. And he didn’t think that was what he needed right now.

The bed was cold and lonely. Kris did this often, maybe once every week or two. He just disappeared into the night and was in bed in the morning when Tao woke up, but not this time. This time Tao was going to stay up, wait for Kris even if he’d told him not to. Then he’d see what was really happening every time he vanished.

He curled up into a small ball on the bed, keeping his eyes open and blinking quicker than normal to keep himself awake. This time he’d really see.

----

Kris gazed around him, looking at what he could waste his money on. Slot machines, roulette wheels, poker tables. He’d come here before – this was where he came almost every week.

Kris sat by the casino bar, staring at a poker table surrounded by men who were gambling away their lives. However, these didn’t look like the usual customers he’d seen, he’d been there enough to know who the regulars were and he was considered one of them.

He watched aimlessly, taking occasional swigs from a bottle of beer – he’d always washed the smell off before slinking into the bed next to Tao. He’d rather Tao didn’t know about his secret life, he preferred to leave his darker side hidden from the sweet innocence of his lover. That was one of the things he’d best loved about Tao, he was so pure compared to how tainted he was.

After he’d been thinking for so long, he shook it off with another swig until he’d finished the drink and ordered another. A sharp whistle brought his attention back to the table where one of the men was gesturing for him to come over.

He must have seen me looking

Kris silently cursed and stumbled over tipsily after he’d been handed the open beer. He’d never been that good at poker so if they expected him to play, he knew he’d lose – they looked like professionals, people that made a living just off their riches in the gambling industry.

He quietly sat in the free seat as the man leaned in to him, speaking in a gruff voice, “have you played before?” Kris nodded but couldn’t think of an answer, he didn’t want to look like a rookie in front of these guys, it would show him up. Maybe he could fool them into thinking he was just having a rough day and normally his skills were better than what they were tonight.

The man smiled but it was full of danger, he could sense something was off but it was too late to question it or back down. He’d got himself into a game of poker.

Kris looked at the money he had left and it wasn’t much, he’d spent it mostly on drink. But what he did have, he used to turn into poker chips. The men played the game around the table and continuing to drink, Kris becoming more and more intoxicated as the night went on. This was the longest he’d ever stayed out, yet it didn’t once cross his mind. All he could think about was the gambling and the booze.

Eventually, the game had come to a serious point. The men had stopped gambling money but objects and that’s when Kris had made the worst drunken decision of his life.