[@Bozo][@MyCatGinger][@Delta44][@KoL]

It seemed the game (and the alcohol) had taken its toll on Ryoki, and it seemed that Ryoki was taking a toll on Shou. Somehow, the woman had become a temporal paradox, displaying the mature wiles of a femme fatale, maternal tenderness towards the new waitress, and childish giddiness as she raised her dejected face from the table and hung on the professor's arm. It was a pretty typical sight that Yutaro had seen countless times: girl gets tipsy, flaunts her stuff for the stranger next to her, and the two usually ended up leaving the casino together to do God knew what to each other. It was something he was used to seeing, and something that he expected to see at least a thousand more times while he worked here. So, why did it bother him? This was the point where he usually egged the couple on, challenged the man's pride to get him to play a few more hands, but now he remained silent.

"Do you two need a moment?" Oliver said. "Head off to the bathroom to do a little hanky-panky?" Yea, that definitely didn't help the feeling. [i]Shit, am I getting jealous?[/i] Yutaro thought, realizing what was going on before he made a fool of himself. It wasn't like one coffee shop conversation granted him exclusive rights to her affection, but still, the fact that she had asked for his number and then sat down at [i]his[/i] table out of all the ones available the same day made him think that just maybe she was legitimately into him. Maybe his confirmation bias had caused him to misread the situation... or maybe Ryoki was just drunk and there was an admittedly attractive guy sitting next to her. [i]Right, play it cool Yutaro. It's not a big deal. You've known her for what, two hours?[/i]

Perhaps if Shou had a better game plan -- or any game at all for that matter -- Yutaro might have felt a bit nervous about losing to him. He would have felt bad for how inarticulate the professor had become had it not been for the envy, and that pathetic pleading look he was giving him was as adorable as it was infuriating. Was he asking Yutaro to be his wingman? Why, when his old friend was right there cheering him on? Or maybe he wanted something else. An out? Sure, since he was asking for one, Yutaro could give him an out. 

Yutaro gave his watch a casual glance. Good, it was just about time. "Miss Mochizukki," he said, hoping that she still had her basic reasoning faculties even if the alcohol had reduced her social inhibitions down to zero. "It's just about time for this shift to go on break. Once the new girl comes back, I can take both of you to the boss so you can ask about work. The new girl seems nice, but it might help if someone could give you a more articulate introduction." He gave her a friendly smile, but didn't hint at any ulterior motives, which he totally didn't have. He was simply fulfilling the requests of two of his patrons.