Despina - How Lelouch Joined the Mob
Characters: Lelouch from Code Geass
Now, honestly, he’d only been out to get a little more spending money for the month. He really hadn’t been looking for trouble.
But trouble always found him.
Which meant that Lelouch was now surrounded on all sides by the biggest, bulkiest men he’d ever seen, all wearing identical expressions of threatening anger. Their suits were custom made, of moderate quality, the fabric barely managing to wrap all the way around their biceps and thighs, which was probably supposed to be intimidating, except that the poor taste in fashion only managed to be an eyesore. Lelouch faced them with a mask of cool indifference. It was all he could do to keep from making any comments about how they needed a better seamstress, or managing coordinator, or both.
“Lelouch Lamperouge?” The man directly in front of him asked. Except it wasn’t really a question; more like an accusation.
“Yes?” And so Lelouch mocked him with another faux question.
The nameless security personnel shifted, shouting through his body language that he knew he was being played with and didn’t like it, “You’ll be coming with us.”
That only made Lelouch smirk, “Might I ask why?”
“For cheating.”
The smirk was gone. Lelouch played games, yes, but he also maintained a certain, strict level of pride and it did not allow for something so mundane and… easy as cheating. “I have done no such thing!”
“Doesn’t matter what you say to me,” The man tilted his head toward the back of the casino floor, then turned and motioned for Lelouch to follow, “It’s the boss who’s gonna sort all this out.”
They didn’t even wait to see if Lelouch would follow, instead closing in around him on all sides. The meatiest, most barbarian hands Lelouch had ever had the displeasure of knowing locked around his arms like a vice-grip made of sausage and he shuddered at the nasty feeling of being pawed at by hotdogs. They forced him through the crowd, across the floor to back rooms nobody would notice unless they’d been looking for them. Lelouch had, in fact, looked for them when he had first picked this casino to work. He had also hoped never to be dragged into them like this.
There was a card table near the door, well-worn but stylish, made of a beautiful wood and carved to perfection. They walked around it to a desk in the back, just as exquisitely made, polished to a shine. The carpeting was lush, the colors of the walls and ceiling warm and almost inviting. Collectibles lined the walls, giving the place a very home-like feeling. Playing cards here, for the highest of stakes, would have been wonderful.
It was impossible that the same man who put this office together had also chosen the security staff’s uniform. Impossible.
The man behind the desk removed the reading glasses he’d been wearing to examine forms and set them to the side, turning in his chair to look Lelouch over from head to whatever-he-could-see-over-the-desk and back again. He was older, but had a strong body. It would be believable if he claimed the gray hair cut short on his head was dyed, and not naturally so silver. But hair color didn’t matter nearly as much to Lelouch as the dice nestled in a cup at the edge of the desk, or the pack of cards sitting up in the shallow drawer left open just under the lip of the wood, or, especially, the silver coin, large and prominent but worn to a dull silver with use, too many touches from uncovered fingers without being cleaned again, that lay, leaning against the stand for a ridiculously extravagant pen. It was probably true that it took a gambler at heart to run a good gambling establishment, but some were more addicted than others.
“You’ve been stealing from me.” The Boss said, tone leaving no room for argument, but easy and relaxed, as if the argument was over what time it was, not the casino’s potential revenue loss.
Lelouch carefully schooled his voice to match, “I have not.”
“That’s what cheating is.”
“Hmph!” Hands on his hips, Lelouch stood a little straighter, body confident and pride rolling off of him in waves. His eyes were cold, but they held a challenge, daring the casino owner to accuse him of being anything less than he knew himself to be, “I would never allow myself to degrade into the kind of simpleton who required something as base as cheating to win.”
“Oh?” The boss, who was being rather unfair, in Lelouch’s opinion, by not giving his name, seemed entirely unruffled by Lelouch’s boldness. He seemed interested, and that’s exactly what Lelouch wanted him to be, “Why should I believe you’re anything more than a card counting crook?”
He couldn’t have phrased that any better. Lelouch felt this exchange lay itself neatly into place, taking the shape of a plan, and now all he had to do was play out the end of it.
“I’ll just have to prove it to you,” Lelouch smirked, walking over to the desk and placing one carefully elegant hand against it and leaning in, “Let’s play a game where I can’t possibly cheat, Chess. Your security can even watch me to make sure I don’t do anything out of line.”
Lelouch removed his hand from the desk and dug into the cup at the edge for two six-sided dice, “And you’re a gambling man, aren’t you? So let’s put a wager on the game. If you win, I’ll forfeit all of my winnings from the day, walk out of this establishment, and never return. However, if I win, I’ll not only keep my winnings, but I’ll own a share in the company.”
He tipped his hand, letting the dice roll out of his grip and onto the table, tumbling a short distance before they settled. Of course. A seven.
“That’s fair, isn’t it?”
Although he hadn’t quite known it, then…
That was how Lelouch Lamperouge joined the mob.
Now, honestly, he’d only been out to get a little more spending money for the month. He really hadn’t been looking for trouble.
But trouble always found him.
Which meant that Lelouch was now surrounded on all sides by the biggest, bulkiest men he’d ever seen, all wearing identical expressions of threatening anger. Their suits were custom made, of moderate quality, the fabric barely managing to wrap all the way around their biceps and thighs, which was probably supposed to be intimidating, except that the poor taste in fashion only managed to be an eyesore. Lelouch faced them with a mask of cool indifference. It was all he could do to keep from making any comments about how they needed a better seamstress, or managing coordinator, or both.
“Lelouch Lamperouge?” The man directly in front of him asked. Except it wasn’t really a question; more like an accusation.
“Yes?” And so Lelouch mocked him with another faux question.
The nameless security personnel shifted, shouting through his body language that he knew he was being played with and didn’t like it, “You’ll be coming with us.”
That only made Lelouch smirk, “Might I ask why?”
“For cheating.”
The smirk was gone. Lelouch played games, yes, but he also maintained a certain, strict level of pride and it did not allow for something so mundane and… easy as cheating. “I have done no such thing!”
“Doesn’t matter what you say to me,” The man tilted his head toward the back of the casino floor, then turned and motioned for Lelouch to follow, “It’s the boss who’s gonna sort all this out.”
They didn’t even wait to see if Lelouch would follow, instead closing in around him on all sides. The meatiest, most barbarian hands Lelouch had ever had the displeasure of knowing locked around his arms like a vice-grip made of sausage and he shuddered at the nasty feeling of being pawed at by hotdogs. They forced him through the crowd, across the floor to back rooms nobody would notice unless they’d been looking for them. Lelouch had, in fact, looked for them when he had first picked this casino to work. He had also hoped never to be dragged into them like this.
There was a card table near the door, well-worn but stylish, made of a beautiful wood and carved to perfection. They walked around it to a desk in the back, just as exquisitely made, polished to a shine. The carpeting was lush, the colors of the walls and ceiling warm and almost inviting. Collectibles lined the walls, giving the place a very home-like feeling. Playing cards here, for the highest of stakes, would have been wonderful.
It was impossible that the same man who put this office together had also chosen the security staff’s uniform. Impossible.
The man behind the desk removed the reading glasses he’d been wearing to examine forms and set them to the side, turning in his chair to look Lelouch over from head to whatever-he-could-see-over-the-desk and back again. He was older, but had a strong body. It would be believable if he claimed the gray hair cut short on his head was dyed, and not naturally so silver. But hair color didn’t matter nearly as much to Lelouch as the dice nestled in a cup at the edge of the desk, or the pack of cards sitting up in the shallow drawer left open just under the lip of the wood, or, especially, the silver coin, large and prominent but worn to a dull silver with use, too many touches from uncovered fingers without being cleaned again, that lay, leaning against the stand for a ridiculously extravagant pen. It was probably true that it took a gambler at heart to run a good gambling establishment, but some were more addicted than others.
“You’ve been stealing from me.” The Boss said, tone leaving no room for argument, but easy and relaxed, as if the argument was over what time it was, not the casino’s potential revenue loss.
Lelouch carefully schooled his voice to match, “I have not.”
“That’s what cheating is.”
“Hmph!” Hands on his hips, Lelouch stood a little straighter, body confident and pride rolling off of him in waves. His eyes were cold, but they held a challenge, daring the casino owner to accuse him of being anything less than he knew himself to be, “I would never allow myself to degrade into the kind of simpleton who required something as base as cheating to win.”
“Oh?” The boss, who was being rather unfair, in Lelouch’s opinion, by not giving his name, seemed entirely unruffled by Lelouch’s boldness. He seemed interested, and that’s exactly what Lelouch wanted him to be, “Why should I believe you’re anything more than a card counting crook?”
He couldn’t have phrased that any better. Lelouch felt this exchange lay itself neatly into place, taking the shape of a plan, and now all he had to do was play out the end of it.
“I’ll just have to prove it to you,” Lelouch smirked, walking over to the desk and placing one carefully elegant hand against it and leaning in, “Let’s play a game where I can’t possibly cheat, Chess. Your security can even watch me to make sure I don’t do anything out of line.”
Lelouch removed his hand from the desk and dug into the cup at the edge for two six-sided dice, “And you’re a gambling man, aren’t you? So let’s put a wager on the game. If you win, I’ll forfeit all of my winnings from the day, walk out of this establishment, and never return. However, if I win, I’ll not only keep my winnings, but I’ll own a share in the company.”
He tipped his hand, letting the dice roll out of his grip and onto the table, tumbling a short distance before they settled. Of course. A seven.
“That’s fair, isn’t it?”
Although he hadn’t quite known it, then…
That was how Lelouch Lamperouge joined the mob.