Chapter Text
Elliot yawned as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand. He was sitting at a bar near his group of intoxicated co-workers playing at the slots. He pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly checked the time.
12:02 AM
Great... It had been a little less than an hour since Elliot should've been at home after closing up Builder Brothers Pizzeria for the night. But no! To celebrate their great accomplishments of all the hard work they'd done, they had decided a random Wednesday night after work would've been an amazing time to go the the casino in Robloxia's town square. Elliot hadn't minded all that much at first, but now most of Elliot's co-workers were already drunk and on the verge of passing out. They continued mindlessly putting more money into the machines as if there wasn't a chance they could lose everything they had worked so hard for. That's when it had lost the fun.
Elliot had never seen the appeal of gambling. Sure, he could understand the thrill of actually getting your money multiplied, but then again... Was the reward really worth all the risk? Elliot didn't think so. To each their own, though.
For the time being, there wasn't much Elliot could do but wait for the rest of his co-workers to decide when it was a good time to head home...
Or when he had to drag them out of the casino by force.
"Heheh, undefeated~!" Chance sang happily, watching as the rest of their opponents reluctantly slid their chips towards Chance, many grumbling complaints as they did.
"That was an impressive round, kid," one of the casino-goers muttered. "You sure you ain't cheatin'?"
Chance shrugged. "I have no reason to. Lady Luck helps me out just fine."
Another one of his opponents scoffed. "She helps you until she doesn't. Stay humble." With that, most of the opponents turned from the poker table and left to go wandering once again. Chance watched as a few of them wandered towards the slot machines or left to find a different poker table where Chance was not sitting. He sighed heavily and stood as well, collecting all of the chips they had gained. He should probably go cash out soon, but first, Chance decided to stop by the bar.
Chance took his spot at a stool, watching as the bartender took notice of him and turned to take his order with a smile.
"Good evening, Mr. Rischall," she greeted.
"Good evening, Noob," Chance greeted in return.
"How has your night been so far?" Noob asked.
"Had a pretty good win just now, but that's nothin' new." Chance shrugged, taking a moment to glance around the lower floor of his casino. It was packed as it always was, despite it being past midnight. Bright neon lights were around every corner, and it was never not bright. The music playing over the speakers was fairly loud, accompanied by the sounds of the slot machines in the background.
"That's good to hear!" Noob said, still smiling. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"Could ya make me a Shirley?" Chance requested.
Noob nodded and grabbed one of their clean glasses. "Coming right up!"
Chance watched Noob begin pouring the ingredients into the mixer and mixing up their drink with impressive speed. Chance had always preferred Noob over the bartender they had hired for the V.I.P floor upstairs, even when they were first looking for new hires. She had been really nervous, but she handled her interview very professionally and Chance was happy to invite her to the team. Not only that, but Noob was much less egotistical than the bartender upstairs. The V.I.P bartender constantly demanded raises because he was dealing with the 'important' customers. Sure, that was true, but Noob was doing the same amount of work, if not more, and never complained at all. Maybe Chance should consider offering them a raise... They'd think on that more later.
As Chance absent-mindedly looked around the area near the bar, something caught his eye. There was a large group, around five people, gathered around one slot machine, chatting excitedly as they watched it spin. They all wore similar outfits: a red button down, black pants of some sort, and a red visor with black trims. The group looked as if they had just left their work place and ran immediately to the casino. There was one outlier, though. Sitting about two meters away from the group by the bar, also in uniform, sat someone who looked bored out of his mind. He also looked on the verge of passing out, which made Chance feel a bit bad for him.
Poor guy, Chance thought.
Noob slid Chance his drink across the counter, still smiling. "Here you are."
"Thank ya." Chance brought the cup to his mouth and took a sip. The mix of the carbonated ginger ale mixing with the fruity grenadine was a nice flavor combo. With the addition of the cherry adding extra fruitiness into the mix, it was safe to say the Shirley was above satisfactory. Most of the drinks Noob made were. As good as the drink was, Chance was oddly intrigued by the outlier sitting at the bar.
"Hey," Chance started, getting Noob's attention. "Do y'know anything about that person over there?" Chance gestured towards the patron sitting across the bar, hoping that they weren't drawing too much attention to themself.
"Oh, him?" Noob asked. "I'm... I'm pretty sure he works at Builder Brothers Pizzeria, that pizza place down in the west neighborhood. I've seen him working the cash register." Noob shrugged slightly, grabbing a glass and beginning to clean it using her spare rag. "He's pretty nice. He ordered a drink earlier, and even though I could tell he was tired, he was still really nice. He actually ordered a Shirley Temple, too," they explained, nodding their head towards the half-full glass in front of Chance.
"Oh," Chance muttered. "Guess we have similar taste, huh?"
"Apparently," Noob said, still cleaning the glass as they spoke. Chance hummed quietly and took a sip of his Shirley Temple again. Noob had got them intrigued, and now they really did want to talk to him.
"I think I'll go talk to him," Chance said. Noob nodded a bit, turning her head to look at Chance.
"Go for it!" they said happily.
Chance smiled and finished off the rest of his Shirley, then slid the glass back towards Noob. "I'll let ya know how it goes."
Elliot was still silently watching his co-workers attempt to succeed in gaining any money as they threw more and more at the machines. The only other sober people Elliot could see were Cloudy and Jasmine. At least he wasn't alone on chauffeur duty. Since there were five intoxicated workers, someone could take one and the others could take two. Elliot wanted to be the one to only take one of his drunk co-workers, but he decided he'd leave that duty for someone else to make their job a bit easier. It was just one more responsibility Elliot had to add on. It wasn't that bad.
As Elliot mentally planned out what they'd do when the time to leave came, someone approached him.
"Heya." The Robloxian greeted Elliot with a smile. They sat down on the stool in front of Elliot and mimicked his stance, resting their head on their hand.
"Oh, hello," Elliot greeted in return. "Do you need anything from me?" he asked.
Elliot took a quick second to observe the Robloxian in front of him. They had dark skin and had curly, gray hair. Their hair was actually colored with three different shades of gray: a light gray, a dark gray, and a neutral gray that gave their hair a pepper-salt look to it. They were wearing a black vest over a white dress-shirt and a black blazer with red trims over top as well as simple black pants. For accessories, they wore a black fedora with a white strap, dark sunglasses, black headphones, and black gloves with silver rings on a few of their fingers. The Robloxian appeared to be very rich. Their income alone was probably more than what his immediate family had gotten from Builder Brothers. Most of the income from the pizza place went to Elliot's uncle, after all.
The Robloxian shrugged. "You look like you're about to pass out. I decided I'd save you from that fate and entertain you for a bit," they said.
"Oh." Elliot chuckled sheepishly and looked off to the side. "Is it that obvious?" he asked.
The Robloxian hummed quietly. "Yeah, it kind of is."
"Nonetheless, thanks for stopping by." Elliot sat up a bit straighter, attempting to stare past the sunglasses the Robloxian wore. How did they see in those...?
"Of course!" they exclaimed. "Soo, what's your name?"
"My name's Elliot. You?"
"Chance. It's nice to meet ya, Elliot." Chance offered Elliot a hand to shake, which he accepted. Elliot grabbed Chance's hand and shook it once, then let his hand drop back to his side. "So, what's brought you to the casino tonight? You don't look like someone who'd necessarily enjoy this place."
"Yeah, I'm not," Elliot admitted. "My co-workers at Builder Brothers dragged me along on a work-party. Most of them are intoxicated, so..." Elliot shot Chance a sarcastic thumbs up. "Looks like I'm chauffeuring!"
"Yeesh, sorry about that," Chance said. "Dealing with more than one drunk Robloxian in the same metal box is... not great."
Elliot shrugged. "It's unfortunate, but I'm used to it by now." He paused, thinking of where to take the conversation. "How about you? What are you up to tonight?"
"I come down to the main level to play poker a lot. Just got a pretty good win," Chance said with a confident grin.
"Oh, congrats!" Elliot smiled as he turned his stool to prop his back up on the counter. "And... I noticed you said 'main level'. Are you a V.I.P or something?" he asked.
Chance shrugged. "You could say that."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Elliot asked, tilting his head to the side slightly
"Eh, I own the place."
What.
"Wait, like... like the casino??" Elliot asked, sitting up straighter.
"Yeah, what else?" Chance asked with a playful grin.
"Oh. Okay, damn," Elliot muttered. "And yet you're gambling...? Aren't you worried about losing everything?"
"Pfft- not a problem. Lady Luck's on my side, forever and always," Chance boasted confidently. "That and my parents only let me bet smaller amounts of money, so there isn't much we gotta worry about."
"Ah... I see." Elliot glanced down at the counter then looked up at Chance again. "Well... Uhm... What about me caught your eye? I know it's a silly question, but... You own the place and you're obviously rich, and I'm just your average Robloxian working at a pizza place."
"Mm, you're cuter than your average Robloxian. There's that," Chance said with a playful grin.
Oh.
Elliot attempted to suppress a smile as he looked down towards the floor, hoping his down turned gaze would be enough to hide the redness actively creeping up into his face. He was weak when it came to people flirting with him. One small comment and Elliot nearly shut down entirely, especially if it wasn't someone he knew well, such as Chance. He faintly heard Chance chuckle quietly. They opened their mouth to talk again, but one of Elliot's drunk co-workers had to make their way into the conversation.
Rye leaned heavily against the counter behind Elliot. He seemed to be taking a short break from the slot machines, but Elliot doubted he'd stay away for long. Rye was one of the newest hires at Builder Brothers since he had just recently moved from Brookhaven Island to Robloxia. He was a 22 year old stereotypical bacon hair: pale skin, the signature brown bacon-looking hair, and dark gray eyes. He was also obviously drunk.
"Heeeyy, Ells, who ya talkin' to?" he asked.
Elliot quickly turned on his stool to face Rye, praying his face wasn't too red. "Oh, uh... His name's Chance. He offered to talk to me while I waited for you guys."
"Huh..." Rye muttered to himself. He started giggling drunkenly as he glanced between the other two Robloxians. "And you guys are just talking, huh? Not abandoning us for some guy, are we, Elliot?" he asked, a smug grin on his face.
Elliot scoffed quietly, an exasperated smile gracing his features. He was about to speak when Nyla suddenly popped in. Nyla was the preppy girl who was actually kind despite her whole 'looks like she'd talk behind your back' ordeal. She had been working for a little longer than Rye had and she was 20. Nyla had brown hair, tan skin, and blue eyes, and she tended to wear pink heart-shaped sunglasses all the time. She gasped loudly as she popped up behind Rye from seemingly nowhere, also seemingly intoxicated. Who was still sober at this party...?
"Did Elliot finally get a boyfriend??" she exclaimed.
"What-? Guys! No, I-" Elliot started, stumbling over his words.
A loud sigh sounded from behind Elliot, and he turned around again. Jasmine had hopped into the conversation upon seeing Elliot's struggle with keeping the other co-workers at bay. She had been working at Builder Brothers for a good couple of years. Not as long as Elliot had, but still long enough to know how things worked. She had dark skin, straight black hair, glasses, and dark, black eyes.
"What are we up to over here?" she asked. The question was directed towards Rye and Nyla more than towards Elliot or Chance.
"We're talkin' about Elliot's 'friend'," Rye said, adding air quotes around 'friend'. That made the two intoxicated employees dissolve into giggles as if it was the funniest joke they've ever made.
"Right..." Jasmine muttered. She sighed again and looked down at Elliot. "I think I'll take these two home. It's clearly time for them to head out since they're causing problems."
Elliot nodded. "You're completely clean, right?"
"Yeah, I've only had some Bloxy Cola tonight. I'm good."
"Okay, good. Then feel free to head out. See you tomorrow, right?" Elliot asked.
"Yup," Jasmine shot Elliot a thumbs up, then grabbed the other two Builder Brothers employees by the shoulders and began guiding them to the doors.
Once the other three were gone, Elliot sighed slightly. He looked up at Chance with a slightly apologetic smile to find them grinning at him.
"Boyfriend," Chance repeated smugly.
Elliot scoffed and playfully shoved Chance's shoulder, getting a chuckle out of Chance. "Shuttup." He turned his head towards the remaining four of his co-workers. Cloudy, the fluffy white-and-pastel-blue-haired employee, was desperately trying to pull Fae, their brown-and-blonde haired freckled elf, away from the slot machine. Fae was whining out complaints as Cloudy tried to pull her away, clinging to the slot machine as if it were a lifeline.
"I should probably go help her out. There's no way she can round all of them up on her own," Elliot said. He stood up from his stool and stretched his arms above his head.
"Hey, wait, before you go," Chance started. "Think I could get your phone number really quick?"
Elliot chuckled quietly. "I mean, I'm not against the idea." He pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping into his contacts.
"Great, thanks!" Chance said happily. The two Robloxians quickly exchanged numbers, and Elliot began rushing towards the rest of his co-workers with a small wave to Chance.
"Hey, Clouds!" Elliot said. "Strugglin' over here?"
Cloudy sighed as she reluctantly let go of her hold on Fae, apparently having given up on getting her away from the machine for the time being. "Yeah... she's being really stubborn. I'm trying to get her away from the machine so she doesn't waste all of her money."
Elliot nodded, glancing towards Fae. "Yeah, let me see... Maybe my employee of the month charm will be enough to get her to listen." Elliot walked up to Fae, looking over her shoulder at the screen she was staring very intently at. "Hey, Fae, how's it going?" he asked.
Fae glanced up at Elliot and shrugged. "I've almost got the jackpot... I know it!" she declared.
Elliot nodded slowly. "Well, think of it this way. Maybe if we step away for the night you'll have more energy to come back, right?" he asked.
Fae debated this for a few seconds. "...Maybe."
"Yeah, so... Cloudy can take you home for the night, you can go rest up, and then you'll be perfectly energized for tomorrow, yeah?"
"Mmhmm... Yeah, that... that makes sense." Fae stood up from the chair in front of the machine and walked up to Cloudy, reluctantly grumbling something to her. Cloudy nodded, then grabbed Fae's hand and started leading her out of the casino. She waved at Elliot gratefully as she left with a slight smile on her face. Now Elliot had to deal with the other two.
Thankfully, it seemed JJ and Aaron had both mellowed out a little bit. They didn't put up much of a fight when Elliot said it was time to go. The employees all exited the casino, chatting quietly about the night they'd had. Soon enough, Elliot finished dropping his co-workers off at their houses, making sure they made it inside before driving back to his house to go to sleep for the night.
Chance exhaled through his nose quietly as he watched Elliot exit the casino. He was smiling to himself. They were glad that they had managed to make a friend. Not only that, but Elliot seemed genuine. As soon as Chance had sat down next to him, his entire night had just gotten a lot... warmer. He shrugged slightly, turning towards the bar to see Noob staring at them.
"So," Noob said, drawing the word out. "How'd it go?" She approached Chance, leaning against the counter with a small smile.
"Got his number," Chance said with a grin.
"Oh, w-wow." Noob was obviously taken aback, having not expected the answer. "Forward, much...?" They chuckled to themself, fiddling with their black gloves under the sleeves of their blue jacket.
Chance shrugged. "Meh. Not like I demanded it or anythin'. I asked, and he said... how'd he word it... Somethin' along the lines of 'I'm not against the idea'," he explained.
"Well, as long as you didn't force the poor boy..." Noob smiled a bit, still leaning on the counter.
Chance scoffed. "I'm not that kinda guy, Noob, You know me better." He stood up from the stool, stretching slightly as Elliot had done a couple minutes prior. "I might head out soon. Or I'll play a few more games. It's to be determined," they said.
Noob nodded. "Sounds good! See you later...!" they said. Chance waved to Noob as they walked away from the bar. He opted to go see if anyone else was willing to play a few games of poker before he left. He felt like luck would be on his side.
He had scored the jackpot with Elliot, so why couldn't he with another game?