6:5

[Jack]

It was Friday near five in the evening as Jack made his way into the back door of the North Star Casino to prepare for work. He always came dressed in his Casino suit and simply went into the changing room to put on his name tag and put his weapons and extra deck of cards in his locker.

Jack let out a small sigh as he closed his locker then looked around as he saw a number of his coworkers preparing to head out onto the floor to open for the night. A few of them greeted him in passing and he greeted back with a smile and a wave as he headed out onto the main floor.

He looked around the empty casino as he walked through it towards his black Black Jack table then began to set it up for the night. One of the waitresses that often tried to flirt with Jack brought him a pre-opening cocktail. Although he was never really interested in getting together with girls, due to his secret of really being a girl himself, he still accepted the drink with a smile. He downed it fairly quickly then handed the glass back to her with a thanks before turning back to his table.

There were eight decks of cards that Jack pulled out of the pocket under the table and lined up on top. He then pulled out a special sign saying that tonight they were doing the special 6:5 single deck play which was somehow a big hit at North Star especially with the more rich folk. He attached it to the side of the table next to the minimal betting amount at the black table of one hundred dollars.

Jack then turned towards the decks of cards again and picked them up one by one, shuffling them each in different and fantastic ways. He set them back down on their spots when he was done with them then stood up and stretched a bit. Friday nights were particularly the longest nights at the casino due to the extra hours allotted to this night only. It was also one of the two weekend nights where they had the 6:5 single deck play for Black Jack. Although this play was only better for the house and hindered the player, it seemed to be pretty popular among especially rich players.

The 6:5 single deck play was seen as a novelty version of Black Jack since it wasn't very common. Although many of the more serious gamblers refused to go by that play since they knew it was disadvantageous to them, many of the more frivolous players don't even know the difference.

Jack didn't particularly like gambling himself, but this was a job in which he had little choice to accept. Being the daughter son of a mob member doesn't leave him with very many options. Jack looked towards the main doors as they were finally opened and various regulars and newcomers began to slowly flood in one after another.

Having fairly good charisma around others despite feeling socially awkward much of the time due to his mixed perception of gender, Jack managed to bring out a smile on his face and greeted the people who passed by or joined his table graciously. Due to request, he was already starting off with the 6:5 single deck play. He picked up only one of the decks in front of him and shuffled it in a very extravagant manner, a smile on his face. This was really the main thing about his job he really enjoyed, shuffling the decks in artistic ways and mesmerizing his customers in this manner.

When he finished shuffling the deck, he asked his customers to place down at least the minimal bet of one hundred in their betting chips. Once all bets were made, Jack dealt two cards to every person at the table who made a bet and also two cards to himself. He then turned to every person one by one, asking them how they wished to play their hand. After going through everyone's turns, Jack then finished dealing his pair up until he reached a sum of seventeen or higher. When Jack had to stand because his sum of cards reached over seventeen, he then compared the sums between his own deck and those of the others around the table. He collected the bets from those who lost and paid the bet to those who won then began another round.

This was how his night went, minute after minute and hour after hour. This was how his life was, every night, in the North Star Casino.

[Hikaru]

Hikaru tries his best to be kind to everybody. If he sees an old guy drinking coffee alone in a cafe, he would ask if he can accompany the old man. If he spotted a lady with a crying baby in a supermarket, he'd try to do funny faces to the kid to make him laugh. If a friend asks him to deliver a box of chocolate to some guy named Jack at a black jack table, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Which is what he's currently doing, actually.

His friend even lent him her brother's suit for him to blend in the place. So there Hikaru is, walking in the casino with a sharp black tuxedo and the box of chocolate hidden in his jacket. He looked too young to even stand in such a place, but his getup made him seem like he's the son of a billionaire. His usually spiky hair was even smoothed down, combed neatly to fit the atmosphere. ...Too bad it's obvious to see by his gait of how lost he is.

He's quite confused why simply delivering a box of chocolate to a man would get his friend to be so panicky and jittery, so Hikaru volunteered to do that for her while she's watching from somewhere. 'What even is a black jack table...?' And having never stepped inside a casino, Hikaru's blown away by the many games they offer, none of them seems familiar to him.

'Is casino a place where old people play games...?' It seems classier than an amusement park or an arcade, but he thought the objective is the same. The only familiar game in his line of sight is the cards, although the only thing he ever played is solitaire. His lost stare then stopped when he sighted a particularly beautiful man shuffling a deck of cards like a magician.

Hikaru's eyes widens slightly, admiring how amazing this guy is able to shuffle the cards with such expertise. In fact, even the way he moves and smile attracts people to his game table. Unconsciously, Hikaru trudged closer as well, watching how he shuffled with wide starry eyes. When the man had finished shuffling and began to set the cards down, Hikaru voiced out a bit louder than he intended to, "Awesooomee...."

Once he realizes the people around turned to look at him did he slapped a gloved hand over his lips and lowered down his head, "Sorry, sorry..! Please continue..." A nervous laugh broke through his throat as he slowly backed away from the group and bumped onto a waiter carrying drinks behind him. Fortunately, the waiter didn't spill them and regained his balance.

"Sorry! U-um... Do you know, which is the black jack table..?" He asked meekly, only to be directed to the very table he was standing at before and returned back to the table. He stayed quiet for a while, watching how the game goes with fascination. Hikaru would always smile widely though when the man started to shuffle the cards again, almost wanting to clap his hands at how spellbinding it is. The guy himself being quite charismatic captivated the audience just as much.

He hung around there patiently until the customers lessened down to have a quick dinner break, probably. It was then that he caught the man's eyes did Hikaru lights up and waved at him a little too excitedly. He stepped nearer to the side of the table and light-heratedly asked, "Um, I'm sorry for bothering. Are you Jack...?"