Author's Note: It's time again to put out another BPLH contest fic. Things have been really hectic and I had maybe an hour and a half to do this but I did it. Here's hoping that it's not half bad.

Disclaimer: Luca is an original character created by me for the Battery Park Lodging House; Rogue belongs to Rogue, while Olivia is Morning Glory's character. They don't know that I used them and this but, I'm sure, they won't mind ;)

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Swindled

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There was a loud pounding sound. Bam bam bam… Luca looked up from the morning edition of the World that he had neglected to sell and quirked his eyebrow. It sounded as if a herd of elephants had broke loose and were rampaging up the lodging house steps.

Which, knowing the lodgers that stayed at the Battery Park Lodging House, meant that someone had some kind of news.

It did not bother him though; he just turned his attention back towards the article he was reading. That is, until the elephants – or, better yet, a petite girl with a mischievous grin – came tearing into the bunkroom: Olivia.

"Luca," she said, panting slightly as she hurried into the room. She stopped beside Indigo and Fox's bunk, using the beam of the bunk to support her. "I've been looking for you. Where have you been, you goof?"

He set the newspaper down beside him, confused. "What's the deal, Liv? You alright?"

"I'm better than alright." She reached into her pocket and removed four dice: two standard and two loaded. She separated the two sets of dice and help them up so he could see them. "I found a sap."

Before she had even finished her sentence, Luca had climbed out of his bunk. Running an ink-stained hand through his long, dark hair, he regarded her seriously. "Who'd you get?"

She waited until he had crossed the bunkroom and joined her by the doorway to explain, "Rogue Cooper. She was sitting in the library, reading some big book. I asked her if she was game to play a few rounds with us. She was a little hesitant at first but I wore her down. We'll do a few quick rolls and get a few pennies off of her."

Luca was already out of the bunkroom while Olivia continued to explain. "Hurry up, Liv. I ain't waitin' for you."

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They met up with Rogue in the lobby. She was idly pulling at a frizzy brown curl but, when she saw both Olivia and Luca coming down the steps, she let her fingers dropped. "Olivia? I thought it was just me and you playing your little game?"

Olivia shrugged. "I thought it would be more fun if we could have another player. I checked the bunkrooms and the only one I could find was Luca." Faking a curious look, she turned to Luca. "Have you played before?"

"Huh-what? I mean… yeah. I've played." The boy nodded, looking confused. He was a little slow on the uptake and, for a second, had no idea where Olivia was going with that. That's when he realized exactly what she was doing – he tried to cover his slip but he wasn't too sure if Rogue bought it. If anything, he could feel Olivia's warning gaze boring holes into the back of his head.

Hurriedly, he added, "Two pennies in the pot to start?" before taking a penny out of his pocket and tossing it right below the bottom stair. He waited while Rogue and Olivia did the same before letting out a loud breath of relief.

Now, if Rogue wasn't a bit suspicious already, that little exchange set off warning bells. It seemed a little too convenient for her but, not wanting to accuse them of anything she couldn't prove, she shrugged. "So, who goes first? And it's first to doubles, right?"

"Yeah. First to doubles gets the pot." Olivia held out her left hand and offered two die to Rogue. "And you can go."

"Thanks." Rogue accepted the dice and, with an uncertain shake, she threw them onto the floor of the lobby. They landed on a three and a four. "Darn."

Olivia picked up the dice and gave them a toss. Her roll was just as bad: a two and a six. She muttered a curse under her breath and jerked her head. "Luca, your turn."

He picked up the dice and, aware that Olivia still had the loaded dice hidden in her right hand, he didn't expect much. And he was right: a five and a three. He picked the dice up and handed them back to Rogue.

However, before she could toss the dice again, Olivia – who was squatting on the step behind Rogue – tapped her on the shoulder. "I have an idea. Let's add another two cents to the pot."

Unknown to Rogue, Olivia elbowed Luca in the knee. He caught on this time quicker than before. "Okay. Here," he agreed, digging back into his pocket again. "Here's my two cents."

Olivia grinned. "And mine."

"If you say so," Rogue added, more hesitant now than before. She had never sat down and played this sort of game with the others before and, while she wasn't sure if this was standard procedure, she couldn't think of anyway to state that. So, with another shrug, she took out two more hard-earned pennies.

Then, once the twelve cents sat temptingly on the floor, she took the dice again. Crossing the fingers on her left hand, she let the dice roll. "Darn," she repeated. Still no doubles.

Olivia reached over her and picked up the dice again. But, before she rolled them, she started to sneeze. There were three sneezes in a row before she was set to play again. "Excuse me," she muttered before dropping the dice. Surprisingly – or maybe not – she came up with a pair of ones. "Look at that, I win," she boasted, grinning. She leaned in and looked at Rogue. "You want to do another roll? We'll go back to two pennies," she added when Rogue started to shake her head.

Rogue sighed. "All right. One more." She took two more pennies out of her pocket – automatically deducting her loss, thinking that she only had twelve pennies left from the morning's selling – and started a new pile.

Again, Olivia and Luca followed suit and started a second ante. As soon as they were set, Olivia handed Luca a pair of dice. Whether or not she intended on giving him the loaded dice – or, perhaps, the odds were actually on his side and the dice were straight – but, when he dropped them, they both fell with fours facing.

Luca was surprised. He coughed. "Well, that was quick."

There was a moment of curt silence that all three of them felt. Olivia cleared her throat and quickly shoved something in her pocket before reaching out a free hand. Then, in one swift motion, she scooped up the most first pile of winnings.

Without even counting the coins, she shoved them all into her pocket as well. She looked over her shoulder at Luca. She must have made a face or something – Luca just raised his eyebrows – and then she turned to look at Rogue. "Yeah, well, it was a pleasure playing with you all but I… uh… I have to go meet… meet with some of the boys over at the Brick. Luca, I'll catch up with you later." And she was gone.

"You know it, Liv." There was a bit of a smirk in his voice. There was definitely something more to this than met the eye.

Rogue looked at him, indignantly, before glancing over her shoulder. She could see Olivia's back as the girl made her way out of the lodging house. She turned back to look at the boy; Luca was leisurely folding the dice into a dust-covered rag, a hint of a smile playing out across his lips. It clicked just then and, her pointer finger extended accusingly, she said, "You two cheated me, didn't you?"

Placing one corner of the rag over the pair of dice carefully and then the next corner, Luca did not even bother looking up. "No, we didn't." He did not sound convincing at all – almost as if he wasn't even trying to hide that.

"Yes, you did," Rogue argued, a bit taken aback. She was not one for confrontation and she had assumed, if she called Luca out on it, he would deny it and that would be the end of it. But here he was, not doing what she expected; the humor that was inherent to her personality failed her for the moment. "You cheated me out of my lodging fare."

Once he had wrapped the dice up – he would be damned if he lost his and Liv's meal ticket – he clasped the package loosely in his hand and stood up. He bowed his head but Rogue had gotten a glimpse of his face; his hazel eyes were twinkling in amusement. "Come on now, Rogue. Don't get your knickers in a knot," he said, lifting his head up and sticking his free hand in his pocket. "Nothing is solved and it just makes you walk funny."

She just blinked. Not only was she not used to Luca actually being (somewhat) honest with her, but to actually have a smart retort? Was the world ending? She shook her head. "I'm sorry – what?"

Luca didn't even have an answer. Leaving her on the bottom-most stair, he patted her on her shoulder. "Let me know when you're ready for another round." And then, without another word, he hurried up the steps – taking two steps at a time.

Leaving Rogue sitting on her own, six cents poorer – and a tad bit smarter – than she had been ten minutes ago. She shook her head. "I do believe I have been swindled."