[YOTB] Mochi Borrowing - Angora

     Well, Boss really meant it, he wasn’t willing to help anymore due to not wanting to sign up to possibly drinking things again but Shibani understood. He has heard that Angora is a tough lady to deal with— but Shibani was determined to ask her for help with the fetch quest. He gives Dan a check in and sees he’s still going to work making mochis, the kitchen perfumed with the smell of fresh strawberries. Smiling, he tells Dan that he’ll be back later with matcha hopefully to which the hard at work bun grunts appreciatively in response.

     Going back to the Wonderland Casino, it sounds a little more bustling today. The sounds of slot machines going off and the loud sighs of folks not having an easy time winning, to the chatters of the various patrons there just gave Shibani an excited feel, like he was feeding off the energy of others. It was then he was getting closer to where he suspected Angora may be, it sounded like there was a bit of commotion happening. A raspy voiced, lanky man was cackling and sneering all about the casino floor— and at Angora no less. She looked absolutely aggravated by this hooligan but she hadn’t called the guards to kick him out, so Shibani wandered over to see what all the hubbub was.

     “C’mon ‘Gora baby, let’s give a game one more shot, yeah??” The spiky and noisy man was spewing smoke every time he spoke and it would be going in Angora’s direction— her annoyingly swatting it all away with a unfolded fan she had with her. She scowls at him and looked him up and down like he’s offended her all over again. “AUGH!! Enough of this, Hellion! It’s not even a game if you’re intentionally losing just so you can strip your clothes off!!!! Gods, can’t anyone entertain me with a challenge today?” It was then that she noticed Shibani, sheepishly waving at her waiting to be given permission to speak. “Come here Shibani, talking to you right now would be leagues better than…” Angora side eyes the tall delinquent, “Hellion. Have you met him? Maybe you two can have a conversation. I need to step away to have some fresh air.” Shibani tried to yelp out a ‘wait!’ at her but she stepped away immediately as Hellion made his way over.

     Hellion was… Well rather tall and ominous as he stared down Shibani. His sharp teeth glistened as he grinned widely at the smaller lad and offered him his hand to shake. “Pleased to meet ya. Boy, ain’t ‘Gora just a bundle of roses?” Shibani let out a wheeze and shook his hand, “Y-yeah she sure is… I actually need to really get to her though. So if you’ll excuse me—“ he scurried away but of course, Hellion follows because he wants to chat with her more too. Shibani catches up to Angora and she gasps seeing him come up to her. “What is it, Shibani? You know my time is very precious and not to be wasted.” He bows a bit in apology but explains the much needed matcha powder for Dan’s mochis. Angora pursed her lips as she gave his request much thought. She new he couldn’t afford it, and while beneficial to her— it wouldn’t be fun to just tell him to go gamble for the money to afford it. It was then that she decided she would take this as an opportunity.

     “Let’s make a deal, if you a game with me— I will give you the matcha. But if you lose, you’ll have to stop what you’re doing to work for me and get things finished for Mochi Moon. You can choose the game, I’m pretty flexible.” Shibani looked nervous but as he tried to accept the terms, Hellion spoke up. He had been eavesdropping and Angora wasn’t happy with it. “How ‘bout we both deal ya? Surely the two of us against the one of you should be fun ta win right?” Shibani didn’t understand why this man was so intent on playing games with Angora but if it meant upping his odds in winning the matcha, we was going to take it. Angora on the other hand, didn’t look too pleased with Hellion meddling with her deals. However… Winning over the both of them, against all odds— sounded like a gamble she’s willing to play with.

     With a wave of her hand and a slight bow of her head she relents. “Fine, I accept. Hurry up and pick a game before I just kick you both out.” Shibani nodded his head hastily and looked over Hellion. He was just grinning at Angora but noticed that he was staring. “Well, what type of games do you like to play?” Hellion didn’t hesitate with answering crudely, “Likes me some games we get naked in. But she won’t play that one with me, so maybe not that…” the pale Succubun shook his head and thought about this. What is he good at? Rock, Paper, Scissors is too simple. And the normal casino games confuses Shibani so that’s off the table. “Oh!” He finally thought up something that he enjoyed playing in his own time! He turns to Angora and exclaims, “We’ll play a Ghost Leg!”

     Angora looked unimpressed. “A Ghost Leg challenge? Really? That would be too easy to win, for all of us—“ she looked at Hellion as he blew heart shaped cloud rings in her direction, “…Too easy for you and me, Shibani. How would we even regulate that?” “Well, instead of Hellion being on my team, he can make the lines on paper and then we pick the ones to go down. Whoever hits WIN, wins and LOSE, loses!” She scoffs at the explanation and crosses her arms. “Fine but I’ll have you know, no one has been able to cheat on my watch.” As the terms were agreed upon, Hellion grabbed a napkin and unfolded it out to have more space to work with. The lines are drawn and Hellion thinks harder than he ever has to make things branch into the proper ends. After that he presented the napkin but opens his mouth and uses his billowing cloud breath to cover where the branches are made, so neither can tell where the lines will end up. Angora actually offers a raised brow at his handy work. “Not bad, it makes it more of a gamble not knowing where we’ll land. But my luck is impeccable.”

     After gloating she brought her hand above the napkin and picked a line in the middle. Hellion made three paths it seems. Once she chose hers, she turned to Shibani with a ‘your move’ type of look. Shibani was a little nervous that he might lose this but he was determined… So that determination will make this work! He hoped at least. He ended up picking the first one after having a back and forth between that one and the last path. It was settled, the last one would be left to Hellion— and with that, he sucks up the smoke back into his mouth. Angora and Shibani move in closer and closer to see where their paths run to. “YES!!” Shibani shouted in joy to see that his path landed him in WIN. Angora huffs annoyedly as her eyes finally affix to her result, “Wha? Win?!” Hers did indeed say WIN, in fact all of them said win. Hellion jeered at Angora, feeling triumphant for tricking the savvy casino woman. Shibani was shocked but amused in a way, he didn’t know what this meant for their deal at all but he remained quiet.

     “I figured if I make ‘em all WIN, it’d work itself out heheheh…” Angora looked extremely pissed, but she thought of how quickly Shibani claimed the win. How excited he was to win. She sighed and shook her head, “Very cheeky, Hellion. While this would be a draw, I will admit defeat. After all, Shibani called his win first.” He looked bewildered by Angora’s willingness to resign. “So does that mean…?” He goes quiet as Angora walks away to the Rabbit Hole, returning with a pretty sizable bag of matcha. “Go on, take it. Before I change my mind.” She smiles at him as Shibani grasps it and cheers loudly! Hellion even joins in, which reminds Angora to quickly dash away before he starts pestering her again.

     Once the hype of winning dies down for the both of them, Shibani offers to introduce Hellion to Dan and thanked him for his speedy thinking. Despite this firestorm of a man’s crazy demeanor, he was happy that he can meet new buns everyday on his quest to help Dan!