Trash Panda — Roleplayer Guild

Jun yawned as he loitered by the entrance of the restaurant. He wondered if Tiny Snowflake was as high-end as its decorations claimed it to be. It looked like such a fancy diner, but there wasn’t even a single host to greet customers at the door. In fact, the only employee he could see was one overworked waitress running between tables and helping all of the guests as if her life depended on it. He followed her with his eyes as she hurried about, marveling at the girl’s frantic energy and simultaneously wondering where her coworkers were—there had to be others somewhere, right?

After seating a pretty young lady in a kimono—she looked familiar, but Jun was too tired to place where he might have seen her before—the waitress finally noticed him standing in the front lobby and stepped over with a cheery smile and a friendly greeting: “Hello, and welcome to the Tiny Snowflake. Is it just you?”

“Mm, yes,” Jun mused airily. Now that he had a closer look at her, the blonde waitress was kind of cute. She had a bit of an exotic but refined appearance, highlighted fetchingly by the kimono she wore. Yup, I definitely should have dressed nicer, he thought as he followed the girl to an empty table where she went on to robotically ask for his choice of beverage. “Water is fine,” he answered, slightly disappointed in the lack of small talk. Unfortunately, though, the restaurant was too busy and the cute waitress too frazzled for there to be any casual banter between them.

But that wouldn’t stop him from trying.

“Don’t work yourself too hard, okay?” Jun said as the waitress hurriedly scribbled down his order. “I’ve heard that stress ages people, and I’m sure your patrons would much rather you keep your pretty face than bring their drinks out in five minutes.” He paused, feeling his cell phone buzz in his jean pocket. Odd; who would be sending him a text this late at night? He fished around in his pocket and pulled out the little device only to find a message from his boss:

Today 12:01AM

Good morning, Junichi!
Since it is officially Sunday, I thought I’d send you your schedule for this week
I don’t normally do this, so you can thank me later

[Attached picture message]
Sunday: 2:00AM-6:00AM…6:00PM-10:00PM – Roulette Table
Monday: 4:00PM-12:00AM – Roulette Table
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: 12:00AM-8:00AM – Blackjack Table
Thursday: 8:00AM-4:00PM – Blackjack Table
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 12:00AM-8:00AM – Roulette Table


Jun put his phone away and groaned inwardly. He had to go to work in two hours? And on top of that, it was a split shift! With the way the man thoughtlessly scheduled his employees, Jun sometimes wondered if his boss even understood the concept of sleep. He glanced back at the blonde waitress and spoke up again before she headed off to help her next guests, “Err, sorry but could you change that water to a latte with three shots of espresso? It looks like I’m gonna need the caffeine tonight...”

--

The rest of Jun’s dinner was mostly uneventful. He ordered a delicious dish of traditionally prepared sukiyaki to go with his coffee, and he finished the meal fairly quickly. The only interesting thing that happened was the discovery that the woman he thought he had recognized earlier was really the famous actress, Aoi Iwata. He was tempted to approach her, but decided against it when the poor young lady was practically assaulted by rabid fans. So instead, he contented himself with the knowledge that he had been dining in the same restaurant as an actress and exited Tiny Snowflake, leaving the blonde waitress a generous tip.

--

Time: 2:00AM
Players Casino

Jun adjusted the western bow tie around his neck as he stepped into the Players Casino, his green eyes sweeping over the crowd of men and women. It was something he never quite understood, gambling, but as long as the people of Shine City continued to do it, he would continue to make a living off of their draining wallets. Strange how the world works, he thought as he approached the roulette table to relieve the current dealer, Jackie Quinn. Once Jackie finished his last game, the two switched out and Jun took the position as dealer, grinning at the young men seated around him, “Alright, fellas, who’s ready to make some money?” The challenge was met by a short chorus of excitement from the gamblers and the game began.

The rounds were fairly clockwork. Unlucky men left the table to try their hands at other games, while victors stayed behind to raise the bar, and the most heated matches always happened when a pretty girl walked up to join them. Naturally, everyone took the opportunity to impress the young lady—including the infamously flirtatious dealer—until she moved on to another table. All in all, it was a regular night at the casino and, despite his lack of sleep, Jun enjoyed every minute of it.

His late shift was made even better when one of his favorite regulars, Shou Matsuoka, joined the roulette table.

“Evening, Jun,” the new arrival said. “Am I late?”

“Nice to see ya, Shou!” Jun said with a grin. “Actually, you’re right on time; we just wrapped up the last round.” He leaned slightly closer to the silver-haired teacher and lowered his voice, though the other men around the table were still within earshot, “I’d watch out tonight if I were you. Takashi is bleedin’ everyone dry.”

“Aw, don’t tell ‘im that, Jun,” one of the men complained through a proud smirk. “You’ll scare away my competition.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Jun lifted his hands in a shrug. “It’s just hard not to brag when I’m dealing a table of players this good, y’know? I want to let my good buddy here know what he’s up against.” He turned back to Shou with a sly grin. “But who knows? Tonight could be the night you strike gold, my friend. Have a seat and let’s find out!”
Trash Panda Member

Status

Recent Statuses

Bio

Most Recent Posts
