Arla’s brows rose at Rayth’s explanation of the hoard. “Someone must have put in a good word for them with Lady Luck!” she interjected as he shook his head.
	“Vegas,” she reminded him. “Casinos might be off-limits, but I’ve picked up a trick or two for poker. Used to play rounds every now and again with my best friend and her ex.”
	It had always been for candy or whatever other type of snack they had on hand, but it had always been in good fun. She’d never been particularly talented at it, but she hadn’t been bad, either. At least, her wins-to-losses about evened out. Most of the time.
	“Uh huh,” she drawled to Rayth’s reassurance he wasn’t the slob. “Sure you aren’t.”
	Though a part of her wanted to recoil when he reached for her, she held firm when he tapped her this time, then followed after him. She kept closer to him than necessary, hoping to give the impression of still needing to be near to make him out well enough amidst the dark. 
	She suppressed a shudder at the thought of him being capable of hearing her heartbeat. Seemed to be a trend among the supernatural; the spindly monster that had chased her had demonstrated its use quite effectively. As quietly as she could, she took a deep breath, shoving the thought aside. It and Rayth weren't the same. It didn't take a genius to figure that much out by now.
	The prospect of [i]anyone[/i] being capable of enhancing their hearing caught her attention, giving her a concept to help toss aside the memory of her recent misadventure.
	“Sign me up for [i]that[/i] class, professor!” Arla grinned. “Could come in handy. As long as I don’t start smelling mice.” She scrunched her nose at the thought as they neared the end of the car. “That’s [i]got[/i] to be annoying. Do you have any kind of control over it, besides selective… well, smell, I guess, in that case. Or do you have to use nose- and earplugs?”