A watch and a strange glow

You look around the table and notice a few interesting things. First of all, Collins’ watch, which was facing you and on his right wrist, was about five minutes ahead of the current time. You had compared the time on the analog watch to the time on the tablet. And you also noticed that Don has something slightly glowing in his jacket.

“Sooo… Speaking of bootleggers, what do you all think of that hulked out Harry Potter?” You asked as you placed your bet. You rapidly blink in surprise as your cards changed again in the time you looked away to grab your bet. You now have a Three and Four of Diamonds.

“I was impressed at how fast it went through those angels,” Hoofer made a gesture, mimicking tearing something in half. “It was some impressive mod work to get a Harry Potter like that. It gave some of my scientists ideas.”

“Why do you bring it up?” Don asked as he shifted in his seat.

“One of my neighbors and friends, Antonio, was the target. I was eating dinner when the alert went out,” you continued. “I didn’t even realize anything was happening until I turned on the news. I didn’t realize the soundproofing on my place was that good.”

“That could’ve been bad, you should get an alarm or threat detection system,” your dad said, giving you a pointed look as he folded. Only you, Collins, and Don remained.

“I’ll see what I can get with my winnings,” you smirked, which didn’t reflect the fact that your cards once again changed. It was at this time that Auntie Bowsette came back with the margherita pizza.

“Here you go kiddo, one hot margherita pizza,” she says as she carefully sets it down on an empty space on your side of the table.

“Thank you Au–Bowsette,” you say, reaching for a slice. “Oow!” You snapped your hand back in pain, you burned your hand on the extremely hot metal pan.

“Careful, it's hot,” Auntie Bowsette teased as she took your hand and kissed it much to your embarrassment. “There, no more boo boo.” She laughed as she left the room. The other players were laughing behind their cards as you grabbed your cards again. You raised an eyebrow on seeing your original cards in your hands.

You look around the room with suspicion, in particular to the strange glow in Don’s pocket. For some reason, it kept drawing your eye. And it definitely caught someone else’s eye as Collins asked about it.

“Oh, this?” Don asks as he pulls out a glowing rock in his pocket. “It’s a gem Maxine found on her job site, she says it reminded her of me. Not sure why it's glowing though.” The glowing rock looked vaguely, if you squinted, like Don.

Your dad reached over and tapped it, which Don allowed him. It changed colors to a dark purple. Glancing at your cards, you could see that the cards are once again changed. Not sure of the connection to the rock since it had not changed colors before you reach for a slice again while looking at the cards. You hissed a bit as you burned your mouth due to the hot cheese. Once again, you blinked and your cards returned to your original hand.

Seeing movement out of the corner of your eye, you turn your head and see Diana pointing at Ino. Looking at Ino, as soon as she noticed your gaze, she moved her hands apart quickly.

“How do we reveal someone’s cheat method?” You ask, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Did I forget to tell you?” Your dad asked offhandedly. “Well, you reveal how he’s doing it and we have the accused say admit or deny.”

“Mhm, well then I say that Don is having his Ino use genjutsu to make us see different cards in our hands,” you say proudly. “I figured a genjutsu was used when I burned my hand on the pizza and my cards returned to normal. And then I noticed Ino having her hands in a hand sign.”

“I admit to it,” Don growled as he slammed his drink down on the table.

“Really Don, genjutsu again? You need to get a little more creative next time,” Hoofer scolded Don. “At least this time it was one of your character bets and not a ninja hiding as a plant. It was so obvious, I thought something else was happening.”

“Well by poker night law, the Ino is now James’ and Don is forfeiting the pot,” Collins proclaims as a Toad comes down and moved Ino into your cramped pen.

“Can we have someone expand the pen?” Your dad calls out, and a few maids come in and use some extra pen pieces from a closet. Your girls were now much more comfortable with more space for each one. The round soon ended with Collins beating your Two Pair will a straight hand.