Mr. Fortune

Liar, Liar

Fortune dealt out the cards, sliding them across the table to the patrons sat in front of him, listening to a certain patron seated to his right chuckle. Tapping the rest of the deck against the table to straighten it, he gently set it back down, returning his attention to the patrons.

"Take a second to scan your cards; No talking about what cards you have, No showing of cards when drawing, All cheating will result in your removal from the game and table." Fortune spoke in a level tone.

"Understand?" The patrons at the table all nodded in agreement, a few exasperated expressions from hearing this numerous time and a groan from the patron to his right; Fortune internally sighed, knowing the man could be some trouble.

He stood quiet on the inside of the circle table- only chiming in when needed for the game- watching their game carefully, observing their expressions, the tilt of their hands and all the subtle movements most would wave off. He knew it was time for another draw so he turned his gaze back down to the cards but a gentle sound stopped him.

Tap, tap, tap

Fortune immediately brought his gaze up and with a quick scan found the patron to his right gently tapping the behind lying arm, almost obscuring it from Fortune's view completely. The patron's eyes were casted at the younger man on the opposite side of the table; The younger looked nervous once he saw the tapping, looking at his cards and shuffling them before he tapped back.

Fortune cleared his throat- which he didn't have- and slided the deck in front of his out of the way before setting his hands in front of him, "Now before we continue I'd like to address that the rules set were clearly stated that all cheating will lead you to quit the game. Did everyone understand?"

A few patrons stared at his confused and a few with an annoyed expression, "It seems we have a cheater in our midst. Not one but two," he looked at the younger man and then the older, "I'm gonna have to ask both of you to leave."

Fortune watched as the younger looked down in disappointment and embarrassment but got up to leave, until the older slammed his hands down on the table and stared daggers at Fortune.

"Listen here kid," the stench of alcohol and cigarettes hit him quickly but the smell wasn't unusual for guests at the casino, "I came here to make money, not be accused of cheating by some brat who obviously doesn't know what he's doing!"

Fortune sighed, half lidded eye casted towards him, "Sir, I saw suspicious behavior from you and the other Patron seated opposite from you, so I have to ask you to leave-" The man cut him off by grabbing the white dress shirt collar around his absent neck, yanking him forward to where his hips were digging into the table and his body having to lean forward.

The table went quiet as they stared at the situation. Thankfully he heard a pair of gracefully stern footsteps making their way towards his table.

At this point Fortune knew there was no way this situation was going to be deescalated by him, so why not see if the man was truly cheating? He probably should've done this to begin with but he trusted his instincts enough and from observing the other employees games, tapping was a good way at subtle cheating.

"So, you're not cheating? That's what you're telling me?" His annoyed tone seemed to go over the man's head, as the man smirked- probably thinking his threat was making Fortune second guess, "That's right. I expect more courtesy out of employees ya' know." Fortune chuckled, his eye switching from its subtle purple grey to inky black, feeling wave after wave of soul aura hit him- the man sure was prideful.

LIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIAR-

The onslaught of "Liar" bounced around in his head, proving his point to no one but himself. The voices stopped and his eye returned back when he felt a gloved hand clasp his shoulder. The patron grabbing him seemed annoyed but looked up to see King Dice, quickly changing his demeanor.

"Is there a problem here?" He asked calmly. Fortune stayed quiet, knowing that saying anything in front of the man would anger him more.

"Yes there is. You're employee has decided to accuse me of cheating!"

"Well. Was he right?" Dice leaned over, nearly coming eye to eye with the much shorter man. Fortune looked to see Dice's eyes rimmed with lime green, knowing he was reading the other man's soul, similar to how he himself had just a moment ago.

The man sweat, looking slightly nervous but clearly trying to keep his facade up. Dice chuckled and straightened, taking his hand off Fortune's shoulder.

"Go take your break." Oh. He guessed Dice was taking care of this on his own. Nodding, he gladly left the sitatuion.

Fortune walked a bit away from the table before his shoulders dropped and he let himself show his exhaustion. He neared the doors to the back of the Casino where only employees could go, as to not disturb patrons but he was stopped by a gentle, high pitched voice.

"Everything alright?"

He turned his attention to the usually much shorter girl- Clawdia- but instead she was about to his shoulders, as she was crouched down on the stage, beside him, leaning out from the curtain, he legs folded beneath her and with her knees almost touching her chest, she looked uncomfortable- he doubted it though, knowing her to be extremely flexible due to her feline nature.

"Just peachy" He commented, a slight attitude in his voice, but his eye showed genuine thanks for the question of his well-being. She smiled and her ears twitched happily before she pulled herself back into the curtains.

With a happy huff and a roll of his eye he walked to the back to take some time to himself finally.