Work Text:
Now, Dice was a man of composure; he smiled at the harlots, waved to the drunks, and could entertain children (long enough until they leave)
But the one thing that everyone knew was off-limits was his show. His show was his life, it was the one thing he adored.
Now, it was gone. Now, his status was gone. His boss took his joy, crushed his pride. And it destroyed him.
So, King Dice, was a man of composure. He drowned out the noise, he ignored the glares, and allowed pressure to build up.
He would get his joy back. He would rebuild his pride. So he would work tonight. He wouldn't deal his cards, and cheat for his boss, he wouldn't convince those attracted to bet all they have, he wouldn't be a number one.
He would do everything a king wouldn't. Dice knew that the only way to become a king was to catch the attention of the Lord, and by God he would.
So, Dice served the bar at rush hour, he cleaned the unused tables, he didn't have help. He would clean the floors again and again, he would ignore his peers. He helped pirouletta prepare for her game, and he didn't listen to her concerns. He listened to Mr. Wheezy's orders, and blocked out the "are you okay? " 's.
He didn't care. Why would he? He didnt know anything. He didn't know. He didn't need to know. He wanted what wasn't needed. He gets that. He's overreacting. The boss obviously isn't going to give him his show back. He won't. He can't.
" Mr. Dice?" a voice belonging to pirouletta spoke up, seemingly snapping the dice man out of his trance,
" ah! Miss Pirouetta, how may I be of service?" he would work. He will perfect. Boss will be given no other choice then to recognise him.
"goodness, please, I've heard you haven't taken a break this whole time!" Her thick Russian accent adopted a motherly tone, making Dice almost feel guilty for causing it. "Well yeah, not every shift needs a break!" Dice replied cheerily, he was practically the opposite inside, eating himself up, his thoughts resting in his gut like a parasite, "you have a weekend shift. You haven't had a break for 27 of your 48 hours." Dice hated this. He thought it was obvious that he didn't need a break. He needed his show he needed his title, for fuck sake he was even starting to miss the boss, "yes well, I need to. I've disappointed the boss after all. He's been more fair then usual, letting me earn my titles back." dice was starting to get frustrated, it being evident in his southern accent.
Pirouletta frowned at this, "Why don't I talk to sir? Hes always softer when it comes to you overworkin-"
"No!" Dice cut her off; Boss wasn't softer, hes always been a hardened husk! At this point dice was getting mad at everyone, Pirouletta, Boss, even himself- especially himself.
"Alright.. Please stay safe though, at the very least promise me that"
She sighed with disappointment, but dice was just happy she would settle for his empty words,
" Pirou, I swear on my life that I'll remain safe" Dice concluded with a content smile. She let a calm grin at this, dusting herself off then walking over to customers, not before giving dice a polite wave.
As she left, Dice felt a small pang in his chest. Was she telling the truth about the boss? Did he ruin it? What was wrong with him?
So, even with his previous promise, he worked even harder. he escorted out violent customers, leaving him with a bloody nose ( which he made sure was cleared up before heading back out, in order to avoid piroulettas disappointment again,) he convinced customers to go to chips bettigan, which ended up in only 4 out of 7 soul;Dice could of gotten all 7. He knew he could of! Couldn't boss understand that?
Dice ran, then walked, he smiled, then laughed, he looked up, then down. Then nothing. Nothing mattered. He was doomed to hell. Why was it he cared about a stupid show? He was promised immortality by a man who can't stand him. He's a small, no good, sleazy, no-longer- manager who everyone in inkwell either hated, attacked, or feared. He was nothing. He couldn't catch a single child. He failed. He was the problem.
And as these thoughts corrupted the block headed man, he began to break a sweat, he began an irregular breathing pattern, he began to feel lightheaded.
Eventually, his panting was obvious, and the second pirouletta walked past, he practically fell into her arms.
-------------------------------------------------------------Time skip
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Dice woke up in a bed, he could recognise it was one of the casinos own, via the smell, and the first aid kit he had to use on the drunks who got in bar fights. He could also recognise the large, cat- like, man in the corner.
As dice woke up, an involuntary whine left his throat, making the taller aware he was awake.
The two had eye contact for a few good seconds, until Finally the silence was broken, "what the HELL were you thinking?" Dice frowned at this, didn't he work hard enough? "S-Sorry boss ill get back to work straight away!"
The already angry devil glared harder at this, "That's the issue! Don't you know your own limit?" what?
" i do but I wanted to earn my self back, like you said.."
" why would I expect that to happen overnight?!"
Dices headache came back, the stress of his boss hating him came back full force, "I dunno.. Look boss! I'm sorry!" Devil saw the frustration seep into the words, no matter how hard dice tried to hide it, so devil shut up, and then he came closer to dice, "your going on break now, it ends next Sunday" Dice didn't have it in him to respond, the idea of a break is OK, as long as sirs alright with it.
As Dice registered this information, devil creeped closer to him, dragging him closer to his body. "S-Sir??"
" Well, how else am I going to watch over your break?" the taller says, as if stating the obvious, while he put the smaller against his chest.
"you're getting your show back the day you return. And your having space between the show and the casino."
dice was mindlessly petting the other, resulting in purring, "that doesn't seem so bad I suppose