3. Kyan
Chapter 3
Kyan
The sun was high in the sky and there was barely a cloud to be seen for miles around. It was a little on the chilly side though, and Kyan was glad when he arrived at his destination, ready to warm up and have some fun with his best friends.
The Bubble Palace was as full of life, laughter, and fun as ever. As Kyan stepped inside its doors, he couldn’t help but pause for a moment to take in the sights and sounds around him…
‘It’s so busy today,’ Kyan said to himself as he watched a gaggle of Littles in brightly colored rompers charge across the playroom floor and make their way into the deep ball pit for some fun. ‘Just perfect .’
With its colorful décor, multiple playrooms, café area, and naptime room, the Bubble Palace was worth every dollar of Kyan’s monthly membership. The owners did everything they could to keep the price as low as possible so that the club was as inclusive as it could be for every Little in the city, and it was worth every penny as far as Kyan was concerned.
The Little community in the city was small, but there was a very positive vibe where everyone looked out for one another. Being inclusive and making sure that everyone felt welcome and safe was a big part of things. In fact, it was kind of a non-negotiable. Kyan might have played risky, stressful poker for a living but when it came to his Little community, it was all about low-risk, high-fun, and having the most blissful times possible.
‘Hey, Kyan! Over here!’ came the call from the play area across on the other side of the room. ‘Look! This way!’
Kyan took a moment to find where the voice was coming from. And it wasn’t long before Kyan was making his way over toward Benjamin and Reece, the pair of them having evidently arrived just ahead of him.
‘Hurry up and get changed,’ Benjamin said, his emerald-green eyes full of delight. ‘We’re going to play a game of make believe space explorers. It’s called the Romper-nauts.’
‘You know, like astronauts,’ Reece clarified. ‘But… we wear rompers instead of space suits!’
‘I get it,’ Kyan giggled, noting that both Benjamin and Reece were ahead of him on the journey to Little Space – in more ways than one! ‘Just let me get changed and I’ll be right over. I’ve always wanted to try out a new galaxy. And so does Gambit too!’
‘Yay!’ Reece and Benjamin hollered in unison, their voice full of joy and innocent fun as they got back to the business of having fun.
And it wasn’t long before Kyan had changed into his apple-green romper and was bounding over toward his friends. There was something extra special about spending this kind of Little time with Benjamin and Reece. Kyan loved that he had the kind of close bond with his buddies that brought the three of them together and made being a Little so much fun.
Of course, that didn’t mean that the three of them didn’t want a Daddy too…
‘ Swoon . Look at that Daddy over there,’ Kyan said, sitting down next to his friends as the three of them opened their snack boxes for a little energy boosting flapjack each. ‘He’s picking his Little up and carrying him into the nap room.’
‘He’s yawning and his Daddy is patting his butt!’ Benjamin said, rolling onto his back and kicking his legs in the air. ‘He’s soooo lucky! I’m jealous!’
‘Me too,’ Reece said. ‘I bet he has the best snuggle-nap in the whole world with his Daddy holding him close.’
‘He might do,’ Kyan continued. ‘But… he doesn’t have his two besties with him, does he? And with his Daddy being here, it means he can’t be mischievous like we can!’
‘Yeah, totally,’ Benjamin said, a big smile on his face. ‘I can eat five flapjacks if I want. And no grumpy Daddy can stop me.’
‘I can shake my butt and drink a million juice boxes if I want,’ Reece said, grinning from ear to ear. ‘And I can do it without worrying about having my bottom spanked!’
‘Hey, I thought we were talking about the advantages of being single, not the downsides?’ Kyan giggled, blushing slightly as he thought back to his shower time fantasies earlier that morning.
The three Little friends all burst out into laughter.
While it was true that Kyan and his two BFFs would have loved a Daddy in their lives, they also realized just how lucky they were to have one another. The three of them had been there for one another through good times and bad, and there was no sign of that ever changing. Even when the inevitable came and Benjamin and Reece found their Forever Daddies, Kyan felt sure that the three of them would stay close.
‘Come on, let’s have some juice,’ Kyan said, opening up his backpack and taking out three tropical juice boxes, each one coming with its own stripey straw. ‘Race?’
‘Race!’ Benjamin and Reece replied together.
And after a countdown from three to one, the Littles began to suck down their tropical juice with gusto.
Kyan was having a fantastic morning with his friends. And after his sexy fun in the shower that morning, it was shaping up to be a great day all round. However Kyan knew that when the fun and games at Bubble Palace came to an end there would be rather more serious matters to attend to in the shape of a high-stakes online poker game.
But the card game was later.
In the safety of the Bubble Palace, all that was left for Kyan and his Little friends to do was to keep the good times rolling!
After his wonderful playdate with Benjamin and Reece, Kyan made his way back home and after fixing himself a snack he was ready to sit down at his desk and begin the poker tournament.
Well, he was nearly ready…
‘ Yikes , I need my warm milk,’ Kyan said, swiftly jumping up from his chair and running back into the kitchen to pick up his mug of warm oat milk. ‘I can’t play online without this goodness in my tummy…’
Kyan smiled to himself as he walked back toward his desk and took his place once more. Kyan wasn’t exactly the most superstitious person in the world in his day to day life. Some people would never walk under a ladder or get fearful when a black cat walked past them – but stuff like this simply didn’t bother Kyan in the slightest. As far as Kyan was concerned, life was life and whatever was going to happen, was going to happen no matter what.
However when it came to online poker, it was a whole other story.
Gradually over time, Kyan had built up a set of rituals and lucky charms that he simply had to have in place before he played. From his mug of warm milk to his tomato and cheese sandwich (cut diagonally), to Gambit being positioned to the left of the laptop screen… the list was endless.
Kyan knew that it was all a bit silly, but at the same time he felt like he had no choice but to stick to the methods that had taken him this far. Not many people were able to make a living from online poker. The truth was that for every individual who could make it their full time job, there was probably another million people who struggled to win a single game.
Kyan knew how lucky he was to be able to play professionally, and with this in mind he decided that for as long as his pre-game rituals worked, he would continue sticking to them without fail…
‘Okay, now it’s time to tip-tap for luck…’ Kyan said, smiling as he tapped Gambit on his fluffy ears, tapped his own ears, and then triple-tapped the laptop keyboard. ‘There. I’m all set.’
After playing a few warmup games against an automated bot, Kyan felt ready to let rip and join the tournament game. He had timed everything perfectly and only had to wait for a couple of minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.
Okay, let’s do this.
One big win today and my rent will be covered.
Play it cool. But play hard too. Kyan Coole style…
Kyan had been taught how to play cards by his grandparents. Growing up, much of Kyan’s childhood had been spent on their ranch, where they were more than happy to look after Kyan as his parents’ long and arduous work hours meant that they were often away from home for extended periods of time. Of course, Kyan missed his parents when he couldn’t see them – but it wasn’t a bad replacement to have such a loving and fun pair of grandparents.
Grandpoppy as he was affectionally known was the real card master. And it was thanks to him that Kyan had rapidly picked up a taste for making the big plays and reaping the rewards. As far as Grandpoppy was concerned, life was all about enjoying the ride – and if this meant taking a few risks here and there, then that was all the better.
That wasn’t to say that Grandpoppy didn’t try to curb some of Kyan’s wilder gambles from time to time, but the truth of the matter was that he knew that Kyan was always going to go his own way. Kyan was a natural when it came to poker, and even at the youthful age of twenty-two, he felt like he was beginning to truly become a master of the art.
Still, rather than believe in his own hype too much, Kyan knew that he had to focus on the game at hand…
‘Okay… I’m up, but I need to keep pushing,’ Kyan said to himself in between hands as he sipped his warm oat milk. ‘I can take this tournament. And if I do… that’s the rent done and dusted and my life in the city secure for another year.’
As the rival players started to fall by the wayside, Kyan could sense that the competition was there for the taking. All he needed to do was keep doing what he was doing, and barring a terrible run of cards, he was in all likelihood going to be walking away as the winner.
But just as a fresh hand was about to be dealt, a message popped up on his laptop screen…
USER3140: Kyan, it’s time you walked away from this game. We know enough about you to make things real difficult. Step away from the game now, and nothing bad will happen. This is not a fucking joke. This is very real.
Kyan couldn’t quite believe what he was reading. Part of him wondered whether it was some kind of online scam or some hacker trying to put him off his game. But there was something menacing about the tone of the message – and more than that, Kyan just sensed from the pit of his stomach that this threat was very real indeed.
Still, the idea that he was simply going to walk away from a life changing amount of money was crazy. Kyan knew that he had to at least put up a little bit of a fight. And after all, this was poker… his online threat might have been bluffing…
COOLE99: Yeah? Think I’m gonna fall for that? Not likely, dork. If I’m too good a card player for you, maybe you should go back to card school.
Kyan’s heart was thumping as he hit send on the message. As much as he wanted to stay strong and hold his ground, his instincts were telling him that this was far more than some online asshole trying to throw him off his game.
With the short break between games about to end, Kyan looked nervously at his screen and waited for a response. Was it possible that he had indeed successfully called the anonymous troll’s bluff?
‘ Urgh . No. He’s replied…’ Kyan said, seeing the message box pop up again.
USER3140: We know where you live. We know all about you. And your family too. Now if you know what’s good for you, Kyan… log the hell off and quit before things get dangerous.
A cold sweat came over Kyan and he instinctively exited the card game without giving it a single second thought.
Suddenly, this was all very real.
Far, far too real and scary for Kyan’s liking.
The card game was gone, and so were the winnings.
But suddenly Kyan’s entire life felt like it was at risk of going bust…