Leona rolled her eyes, though a smile graced her lips. “Slap Jack?” Her brow furrowed slightly. “Is that like war?” She laughed a little at her own naivety. Daniel had always warned her against playing card games against Ramses, especially those where betting was involved. Her smile faded slightly at his question. It was one she had begun hating to answer. “I’m fine.” Leona mused, refusing to look up from the stack of cards in front of her.

                     “ it’s a straight forward game, so don’t worry. ” ramses reassured as he shuffled his stack idlely, “ you don’t look at your cards, take the top one, flip it over, and if you see a jack then you  slap  it. first one who slaps the jack gets the deck. ” a small hum escaped his lips, making note of the fade of her smile, but pretending not to care at the same time. “ so shall we play ? promise i won’t take any of your money, that’s what i have daniel for. ”

Leona sighed. “I always lose to you.” Her eyes rolled slightly not matching the small smile gracing her face. “We could play war or some shit. Go Fish? Crazy eights?” Her smile grew as the list continued, knowing full well how childish she sounded.

                           “ what can i say ?  when i’m good at something, i’m  very  good. ” his eyes narrow slightly, interested in the look in the other’s eyes, but only for a moment before he grins widely again, “ alright --- how about a game of slap jack ? guess i should at least give you a  fighting  chance. ” splitting the deck, ramses placed one half in front of her. “ so, do you mind if i ask how you’re doing ? ”

Alana had a huge break before her next final and has spotted the well known Lion hanging out, playing cards. She wasn’t affiliated with any of the gangs but she grew up with the Panthers so by default, she had a heavy dislike towards the opposing gang. However, she knew she had to play nice. For Santiago’s sake at least. “I’m playing.”She pulled a chair and sat across from him. “I feel like I’ve seen you in. Bio, right?”

                   HUH, FRESH PREY.  he enjoys the challenge of figuring out how another brain works and by the looks of it --- she’s a hustler . he’s seen her around the panther crowd after all. “ that you have. ” ramses grinned sharply, “ you always sit towards the front right. window seat ? ” he liked keeping tabs on people, especially with so much potential for an all out street war breaking out. “ you worried about the final ? ” he asked as he dealt the cards, “ seems like a challenge this year. ”

“Were you the genius behind that Go Fund Me page? I bet we really pissed them off. I wish they’d leave. Things were fine without them.” 

                     " --- figured they needed a little  pity  change to get them through the day. but, don’t you worry, nicky. i’m  sure  we won’t be dealing with them too much longer. ”

“I get bored. You know that.” She grinned and pressed a soft kiss against his cheek. “That’s impossible. You want me to pry? We’re in the cafeteria, Ram. What kind of girl do you take me for?”

                 “ HM --- i’m well aware of that. ” ramses mused at the thought. it was part of the reason he was drawn to  her  out of all the lions. they were creatures cut from the same cloth. “ hey, you  started  it. ”

“Well, I have my eyes on of them. IF we’re going to do that, a girl can have some fun, right?” She then moved to straddle her friend. “Besides, you haven’t provided that kind of fun in a long time. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

                   " picking up a new  toy , hm ? i hope they won’t be more entertaining then me. ” ramses smirked, reaching over to move a lock of her hair behind her shoulder, “ c’mon harmony, i haven’t lost my spark. i have schemes, and thoughts. you probably need to pry harder then that. “

     “Being antsy is only gonna get us into trouble, Ramses.” His tone authoritative as he spoke the other’s name. “I have a plan or two, but we need to wait. They can’t make us look bad on our turf. They’re in our house. Right where we want them. Waiting for the perfect time to strike is key.”

                  HE’S GOT TO BIDE HIS TIME --- bryce is the leader and acting out now wouldn’t serve ramses any good. so he backed down. “ you’re right. ” he nodded meekly in agreement. not a time for  EGO  to get the best of him. “ and i suppose you’re gonna keep this plan to yourself for the time being ? not to pry. ”

“No. But I’d like to be smart about it. Which also isn’t foreign to us. What do you suggest?”

                 “ it’s  SIMPLE  --- we get them to  our  work for us. we might not be able to do anything ourselves because of the treaties and such. but there’s nothing about  in-fighting  that couldn’t get us in trouble. ”

     Bryce chuckled, hearing the other lion’s question. “If only it was that simple. Trouble isn’t an issue. We know how to deal with trouble.” 

             “ oh c’mon then, o’  fearless  leader. there’s gonna be some plan cookin’ up there in the brilliant head of yours. these  alley  cats are bound to do something to make us look bad. i’d rather them not being able to be in a position to do that. ”

“And how do you plan on doing that, babe? You do know there are rules in place now? Equal turfs and peace treaties. Gag me.”

                   “ harmony --- have rules ever stopped us before ? ” ramses grinned widely, “ all it would take it a little  lying  and a bit of  deceit. but that’s not  foreign  to us, hm ? ”

“Ramses, baby. They’re not worth getting wrinkles on that cute face of yours. Now we wait. You know they’ll start first.”

               “ --- worried ? i’m not actually worried about some stray  street   cats at our school. but really harmony, wouldn’t it be better to  RID  of them  sooner  rather than  later ? ”