((back))
Taking notice of her current beverage, Gavin nodded with a smile, waving over a waiter. "One pina colada for the fine young lady here." he ordered, holding out his money.

Smiling up at Kiwi, the girl waved back. Then, noticing he seemed to repeat the gesture, she realized, he must be teaching her! She loved to learn, and nodded to show she liked that. "Hi?" Noticing the wave accompanied the word, she waved as she spoke. "Hi!"

Deckle shuffled the cards a bit more for lack of nothing better to do. She used a new technique every time she picked them up to shuffle them.

Kiwi nodded. He wanted to see if he couldn't find a visual dictionary somewhere that she could use...it would help her. He shifted a bit and moved so he could sit on the windowsill, dangling his feet over the edge slightly.

((dangit! brb again ))

((Kay. *kicks failure laptop for having connection issues*))

With a bright smile, the strange little mermaid swam up to him, feeling delighted to see him again so soon. "Kiwi!" she pointed to him, showing she remembered his name. Reaching up a hand, the female poked his ankle playfully, a soft trill of delight being heard.

As the drink was delivered, Gavin took it and held the beverage to the exceptional gambler. "For you, M'lady." he announced, smiling at her as he watched the woman's every move.

Kiwi reached down and patted her head in a friendly way. At the moment, he was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to get over the language barrier, here.

The only thing he could think of was finding a visual dictionary online--he had his laptop with him for the trip, but rarely used it--that could also speak the words to her and help her pronounce them. But, he was well aware that his laptop was not waterproof.

He chewed his lip thoughtfully and wondered if she could survive out of water, and if so for how long. He pointed at her, then the water, and then made a little jumping motion with his hand, trying to convey a jump to dry land. He then pointed to his watch, asking for a time. Mainly, how long. He hoped she would understand.

Deckle hummed as she took the drink. "Well, how charming," she mused, enjoying herself.

Gavin smiled at Deckle, sipping a coctail of his own, a grasshopper. The man Decided to organize his chips while Deckle shuffled.

Blinking in wonder at the man, the mermaid was surprised when he seemed to inquire about her and the water. Did he want her to come up with him? She'd only come completely out of water once before. Descision made, she nodded, gesturing for him to move away from the window.

Deckle finally seemed satisfied with the cards, and she set them down. Confidently, she pocketed half of the money she'd won off her cohorts and put the other half on the line.

Kiwi pulled himself back inside his room to give her room. He held both his hands out of the window so he could help her pull herself up.

"This should be fun, I hope you're ready for a challenge?" Gavin asked, grinning at the woman and laying down some money of his own.

The girl backed up then swam back towards the ship, jumping out like a dolphin or whale might, grabbing the windowsill.

Deckle grinned at him. "Hun, I'm always ready for a challenge," she chuckled, easily beginning the game.

Kiwi helped her the rest of the way up, pulling her inside because with her tail, the windowsill would be very unsteady for her. He gingerly set her on the carpet, scuttling to his bathroom to grab a towel for her. Couldn't have the carpet getting too wet, now. He returned with a towel and draped it around her politely.

"Excellent...." Gavin's grin grew wider.

The mermaid smiled, looking around at her surroundings before returning her attention to Kiwi. "Kii!" she trilled, holding the towel around her. As she dried, her scales seemed to fade, blending to become skin, like they melted away, leving only slight areas of rougher or marked skin. As her hips and legs started to appear, she held her arms out to look, thereby holding the flaps of the towel away from her nude form, completely oblivious to how this would be akward.

Deckle played the game with ease. She had a very mysterious poker face, and the only sort of hint she gave away was a small twitching of the corners of her mouth when she had some sort of trick up her sleeve.

Kiwi coughed a bit, immediately feeling awkward, and averted his eyes. Gladly, he turned his attention to his dresser, digging in it. He pulled out a plain shirt and a pair of old sweatpants, feeling this would suffice.

He pointed at both of them. "Clothing." He held the articles of clothing out to her one at a time. "Shirt. Pants." He said this while motioning to them separately.

With a smile, she held the two items together. "Clothing." Holding the shirt out, away from the pants, she repeated the new word. "Shirt." Pulling the shirt back and then holding the pants out away from the first item, she repeated again. "Pants."
Then, she pointed to the young man in front of her. "Kiwi."

Gavin had a nuetral pokerface, only a slight raise of an eyebrow indicated anything on his mind. He smirked behind his cards at one point, hoping the woman he was watching didn't notice. Gavin..was a bit of a cheater at times. He wouldn't do it deliberately to be unfair, he just loved winning.

Kiwi nodded, smiling. He motioned to the clothing and then to her, asking if she knew how to put both of them on correctly or if she needed assistance at all.

Deckle could usually tell when people were cheating. Usually, she didn't mind people cheating to win--every man for himself. Her family was filthy rich, something she rarely attested to in public, so she didn't mind losing money, either.

Gavin nearly gave himself away by having the impulse to grin mischeviously.

The unnamed maiden blinked, and decided to try. The shirt looked difficult, so she began with pants. Examining them, she first tried to put her arms through the legs, only to look over at Kiwi and notice they went on ones lower half. Bringing them down, the redhead concentrated and got one leg through. Unfortunately, the other leghole was empty, making her pout I'd frustration. How did they both go on at the same time?

Deckle seemed to notice, anyway. She was close to grinning, herself. If he gave it away obviously, she would laugh. Good-naturedly, of course.

Kiwi leaned down and helped her ease both of her legs into the appropriate leg holes on the pants. He then took ahold of the shirt and slipped it over her head, easing her head and arms into the proper holes, as well.

Gavin bit his lip, managing to conceal his snickers and keep his composure for the time being. Carefully counting and evaluating the other players, Gavin won a fair amount from the others.

Smiling at Kiwi, the now human girl tried to help by moving as he nudged her to and shifting so he could reach. Once dressed, the woman hugged his hand. "Kii! Kiwi!"

Deckle was already winning around just as much from the other players, at well. It seemed she was also fond of counting cards, as well as intimidating other players by glancing at them with a rather devilish glint in her eyes. She had barely lost anything, yet.

Kiwi chuckled, amused, and then gently pulled his hand out of her grip. He went over and dug in the duffel bag he had hidden under his bed, unearthing a plain white Mac laptop. He plopped down on the bed, opened it, and motioned for her to approach as he booted it up.

Gavin chatted and smiled, playing as well as he could and being sneaky when he couldn't. The young man avoided giving Deckle so many looks that she'd become annoyed or uncomfortable. He was careful to make sure he flashed her enough smiles and looks to know he was interested, but not so many that he'd seem creepy and desperate.

"Kii?" the girl scuttled over on her hands and knees, still not quite used to her legs yet. Curiousity in her eyes, the girl from the sea watched intently. Reaching out, she lightly, gently touched the white piece of technology.

Deckle noticed idly and flashed him a grin of his own. She loved to be flirted with. It was a secret little vice of hers, along with junkfood and...a slight urge to steal things.

She straightened a bit, the tell-tale sign of a great hand revealing itself as the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.

Kiwi helped her up onto the bed and let her poke at the laptop as he located what he wanted--a visual dictionary that would help teach her basic English.

He clicked on the lesson for her and gently sat it in her lap, motioning for her to watch and repeat the words when it asked her to.

Gavin grinned even more, mentally pumping the air in victory. Looking at his hand, he had to restrain himself. This was just too good of a hand.

"Kii?" Looking at the display on the monitor as he instructed, the maiden was at first too facinated by the screen to pay attention, but eventually grew curious what each word was and began repeating them. Greetings. How to address different people. State(s) of being. She absorbed it like a sponge.

Deckle eyed her hand carefully before lowering it. "Four of a kind."

Kiwi watched her and decided he would give her a little test when she finished with the lesson. It was only basic English, and he would have to help her with other things, but it should suffice for now.

With a whistle, Gavin lay down his hand. "Straight flush. 9-king." he grinned in delight, thanking his good luck.

After a few more minutes, the first lesson was over, and the girl looked over at Kiwi as if to say. 'now what?'

Deckle seemed amused, and pushed his winnings over to him, grinning. "Well-played. Is this enough to satisfy you now that you've won?"

Kiwi retrieved the laptop and skimmed over the contents of the lesson. He mulled it over and nodded to himself, glancing at her. "How are you?"

"Almost.....almost....There is one thing though that could make me even more happy." he said casually, trying not to grin mischeviously.

Blinking and thinking over the lesson, she paused before answering. "I'm...Happy. I'm well." she nodded, those seemed to be what she felt now.