L'Abbee starts work on his other job

Considering they were doing a kind of "soft opening," the small staff of Pilla's new casino didn't have patrons to scam. But because they had such a great work ethic, the three employees successfully had the casino tables set up by midday, and found themselves standing around idly waiting for something to do.

Sindy was lounging on top of a three dragon ante table, kicking her legs in the air in abject boredom. "I'm startin' ta think the boss man may not have needed three blokes fer the opening."

Zed, leaning against a doorframe and trying to look like he wasn't snooping, replied, "Enjoy it while it lasts, this place'll be packed soon enough."

Sindy groaned. "So ya says." She rolled over and hopped to her feet. "This bleedin' shit heap town ain't got nuthin' that wets me whistle." She gestured to her crotch in case the euphemism wasn't clear enough. "The devil dog droppings that act like they're living it up in this stink shaft have nuthin' going their way. And here I thought the material plane was supposed to be a ripper."

L'Abbee, who was holding a broom and pretending to clean the middle of the room, piped up. "Isn't that what this is for? To liven the place up?"

"Demons ain't known for their patience, ya drongo." Sindy climbed off the table to the floor, letting her legs dangle in their air a bit before dropping. "I shoulda known this would go wrong when I saw those ratfolk I'd heard about; rodents of unusual size my arse."

While the imp continued to rant to her coworkers, L'Abbee turned to see the casino's owner donning his hat and coat. He strode into the room, trying his best to draw attention to himself with loud footsteps and a lot of flourishes with his hands. "Well, I'm taking my lunch. You kids take good care of the place while I'm gone."

"Wait, you're just leaving us to handle things on our own?" Zed asked, his voice betraying a bit of eager curiosity.

"You three have proven yourselves trustworthy so far, and we're not exactly getting customers yet, so certainly." He pulled out from his coat pocket a small key. "Use this to contact me if there's trouble, though. Just put it in any door and I'll come right through it to help."

That's something I wish I'd had before all this. L'Abbee kept his thoughts to himself as the boss stepped out, the door jingling behind him as it closed. He turned to Zed, who was already dashing towards the boss's office with renewed vigor.

"Okay, time for some recon." The young man grinned as he pulled out a small wire and started to pick the lock on the office door.

"Right now?" L'Abbee asked, flustered. "What about... you know..." he nodded towards Sindy as if he thought that was subtle.

"It's fine, she doesn't care about this."

"Too right, I don't." Sindy yelled, already waddling down the hall. "Now where's the whiskey in this place? Bloody cunt's gotta have some swill worth guzzling."

"See?" Zed replied to L'Abbee. "Now come on, let's have a look inside." A small click came from the lock and the door slowly slid open. Both men peered inside, hoping they didn't have to search very long for something useful.