A Devilish Gamble

Adult Adjustments

The glare of sunlight shone through the curtains. Dice pulled the bow-tie from his neck and undone a few of the top buttons. Exposing some of his darker skinned chest. Tiredness pulled at his consciousness and he grew sleepier and sleepier with each passing second.

He let out a sigh and walked to his couch. Immediately flopping down chest first. His arms folded under his head as a cushion and he closed his eyes. Sleep sung it's soft song into the air and lulled him to sleep. Allowing his body to get the rest it needed.

The next couple of nights remained the same. He'd get dressed, go out, meet with Nicky and go rack in the wealth. Which was never much. He wasn't a millionaire or even someone really well off. Nicky always got most of the share. Not like Dice cared, as long as he was doing alright with food and the place he lived he would be fine. That was the cycle. It was a vicious continuous loop but Dice was rather used to it by now.

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Dice stood at nicky's side. His green gaze scanned the bar room for the glimmer of gold or shine of silver. He was looking for the next sucker to gamble with.

"Nicky what about that man over there?" Dice asked in a sort of whisper to keep the conversation secret.

Much to his surprise Dice didn't get an answer. He looked to the shorter boy and observed as Nicky stayed focused on something. With a small scowl Dice followed his companions hazel gaze. Much to Dice's shock- Nicky was staring at two girls, considerably younger then him and Nicky both. With slight disgust he hit the back of nicky's ginger haired head with his hand.

"Pay attention Nicky, remember what we're here for" he sighed with a roll of his eyes.

Nicky flinched and stared up at Dice, his eyes looking cold and dark.
"Fuck off Dice," he snapped before stalking off towards the bar, most likely going to get a drink.

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For the next few nights Dice noticed Nicky continuously focus on girls. He even talked to them more. His focus was slowly starting to slip away. Which wasn't much of a problem for Dice, he still got all the stuff he wanted. The problem was Nicky still expecting half the share when he didn't do shit to help get it. Why should Dice have to share his winnings when Nicky hadn't done anything? Each night Dice watched Nicky's focus slink away. His attention was slowly being drawn to the pretty girls at the bar. With makeup plastering their faces, in the attempt to make them prettier for the boys who couldn't see natural beauty. Their hair sprayed to stick down and look visually appeasing. Dice could see that they were wearing slim fit dresses most likely corsets under neath to give themselves that extra curve to pull a man's eyes in. Dice however had no such interests in girls or their curves. He didn't find his mind wandering to sinful subjects of lust and neither did he have a craze for it. Rather the opposite actually. He wanted to avoid it. He'd rather stay focused on his gambling deceitful tricks. He didn't need anyone pulling at his arm; begging for his love and attention. He needed to keep his focus, he needed to keep his thoughts. He couldn't care. He couldn't get attached. He didn't want to get attached and didn't want to know what it was like having a girl. He just wanted to live his life as it was. That's why he rather avoided Nicky on the night when he was chasing after girls with swaying hips. It wasn't his thing. He didn't need Nicky trying to draw in girls to his side.

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28th September. The day had arrived so quickly.

Dice's birthday. The night was busy. Nicky was insistent to get Dice drunk. Trying to persuade Dice to keep getting beer after beer. That night that was a small dent in the cycle. A one off. A night were he didn't have to worry about getting what he needed- Money. The fellow men in the bar were more focused on helping him celebrate becoming an adult. It was rather fun. A night of partying. Dice shared some genuine happy laughs for the first time in a while and actually found himself smiling. He was surrounded by positive energy. It was enjoyable. They partied until the sun came up. Which was when Nicky decided he should probably get Dice home.

The newly 18 year old leaned against the smaller mans shoulder. Nicky had his arm around Dice and held him up with a rather playful smirk as he helped Dice stumble home.

"You know Nicky, tonight was fun. How comes we don't do that more often?" Dice slurred, a drunken hiccup escaping his throat as his mind was slugged with the effect of alcohol.

"It wasn't legal before Dice" Nicky laughed as they kept walking. They were getting strange looks from people passing down the street.

"Aaaaannnnnnd? We gambled anywaaaaayyyy. Plenty of people do illegal stuff niiiiickkkyyyyyyy. Someone shot me in an alley!" Dice exclaimed, his drunk mind forgetting he wasn't suppose to let Nicky know.

"You did? Why didn't you tell me?" Nicky asked, feeling a sense of betrayal with sparked slight anger within him. Dice had lied. Why had he done that? Nicky couldn't understand it. All he could think was maybe Dice was going behind his back to gain more money. Which Nicky's greedy heart found revoltingly horrid.

"Hey Nicky, why is there three streetlights?" Dice laughed giddily, his mind unable to stay focused easily.

To which Nicky just sighed. "Let's just get you home so you can sleep this off".

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The next night Dice had a killer hangover. He still went out though. Nicky seemed grumpier at him. To which Dice didn't know why. Nicky just seemed to get irritated with him easier. Dice tried to ignore it for the night. Just thinking something must of happened to Nicky during the day when Dice was sleeping.

He found it harder to concentrate that night. He had lost a couple bets and Nicky was not happy about that. Constantly growling or yelling things at Dice whenever he lost. He'd say things like:
"fucking pay attention" ,
"come on you bastard you're letting wealth slip through your fingers!" ,
"how useless are you getting Dice?" , "maybe I should get someone else if you're getting so shit Dice"

The snarls got to Dice, making a boiling anger start to bubble in his blood. He snatched up his earnings and stormed out of the bar. He stalked down the night alley of fun and laughter. Over it all he could hear a conversation in a side alley. He could hear it ever so slightly.

"Yeah man, he's got a huuuge casino down in Las Vegas, he's really worked his way up. Some people even say he's the Devil himself"

"Man you gotta be crazy if you believe that! Ain't no living man gonna be the Devil. And ain't no Devil gonna be a living creature on earth. You really think Demons or The Devil would come to earth?"

"I'm telling ya man, he's big, scary and charming. He wins every game! The people of Vegas absolutely love 'im! They say if ya win a game against him you'll be given the entire place!"

Dice started to walk slower as the conversation got interesting. He wondered who they were talking about. He could imagine this person, presumably tall, muscular in size, with a smirk that could kill a man but the smooth voice of a jazz singer. Dice could picture the casino. Big, grand, full of people having a good time gambling away. He could almost smell the alcohol in the air and tobacco of the casino floor. He could see the bouncers, standing tall and sturdy as they watched the place- ready to stop any riff raff.

"Yeah, yeah, what if ya lose?"

"Rumours say that he'll take your soul"

"Pfft, you insane if ya believe that man, ain't no way you can do that"