technically, niko's not a grunt because noodles put n/a in his mini-profile. don't look at his app, though.

"it depends on the game we're playing, but for blackjack..."

before the round begins, he slides a few chips of his own in, then reaches over to do the same for rowan.

"you put an opening bet in, then after the cards are given, you can raise the bet or whatever."

two cards are distributed to them each. one of the dealer's own is faced up, showing a six.

"goal of the game is to get as close to twenty-one as you can get. jacks, queens, and kings count as ten, and aces can be counted as one or eleven."

Rowan Wrynn
mission

☉

"aw..."

her goochy-goo voice is incredibly cute, but his admiration soon passes.

"only if you want to be rewarded better."

a smirk, as if to further be a pain.

he peers down at the basket of berries, holding it up to her.

"think we have enough? or are you up for one more con?"

nina larson

☉

"you've never played blackjack?"

the words are spoken for the sole purpose of being a dick. it shows in the way he grins, coughing out a laugh as they make their way towards the blackjack table. the casinos are often divided into sections, each with their own dedicated game.

sighing, he brings a heavy arm around rowan, resting it on his shoulder.

"don't worry, bud, i'll teach ya'. just don't go losing all our money."

it's not even their money. it's rocket's.

niko gives the dealer a small nod of his head before sitting. he pays whatever the buy-in is for the both of them.

"take it easy on my friend here. he's still new to all of this."

Rowan Wrynn
mission

☉

"well, work a bit harder, and i'll reward you for it."

though he doesn't comment on it, the sight of her rolling her shoulders like his ditto is really amusing. he stifles a chuckle as she reaches for her togepi, and in turn, he brings an arm down low for ditto to slide up and along to take togepi's place on his shoulder.

"i dunno about that. she kept trying to steal my berries."

a lie, mostly.

"great job, by the way."

nina larson

☉

'hElLo!' is what the ditto would say if it could speak. alas, it can't, so all it does is offer nina a bobbly wave as its body moves like the ocean.

eventually, niko steps out into the open, approaching with her togekiss still on his shoulder.

"do you need to be paid more, nina? why aren't you feeding her enough?"

nina larson

☉

as the whistling dies down, it's in turn replaced with idle small talk with the togepi to help pass the time as he continues to pick more berries.

"does she feed you well?"

regardless of its response, he bites into a berry, then offers it up to the small togepi on his shoulder.

his phone buzzes in his pocket, and after reading it, he chomps down on the berry, holding it in his mouth while he types a response.

look behind u

coincidentally enough, behind her is his ditto, who slides along the ground towards her.

nina larson

☉

"damn."

she's good.

that's all he can say, really, as she puts on an act and sells it perfectly. for a moment, even he believes her, though it quickly passes as she sprints past them, bringing the couple along with her.

with the basket of berries now dropped and ripe for the picking, all niko has to do is stroll up.

he meets little togepi's gaze, smiles, then bends down to pick it up, propping it on his shoulder.

"come on, little one."

and so, whistling, he heads on over to pick up the basket, then heads off a little bit deeper into the berry farm.

nina larson

☉