What do you think when the word casino pops into your mind?

To those who didn't know very well, it was a place where people went to play games and win money. To those who did know a bit about it, it was a place where adults gamble and tried to win money. And for those who knew it best, it was a place where cheats and crooks where all around where the game is rigged and your money is always on the line.

For King Dice however, this was his place of work. Years and years he worked at the casino, keeping an eye on the games, making sure everything was in line, assisting customers, breaking up fights before they got out of hand, taking care of the drunks, and, his personal favorite, finding souls for the boss to take. The usual things he could take care of in a snap.

So when the Tipsy Troop happened to get in a certain trouble that he could not comprehend, the first thing that came to mind was—

"What. In. The Boss's kingdom. Did you three do?"

Not his typical response but it seemed more appropriate at the moment as… well, he wasn't too sure what to make of this. Sure the Tipsy Troop had a bad… habit of being nearly drunk all the time, and that led to a lot of strange if not a little awkward situations. There were plenty of times, more than what he could count, where things turned for the worst when he just got a glance at what they had done.

But this?

This he wasn't too sure of.

Rum, the shortest of the troop, had that dumb look of a complete drunk who looked both proud and confused of themselves. "I-I don't *Hic!* I don't know w-what ya mean *Hic!* mean boss."

"I mean." He pointed to the problem. "This."

The problem which he greatly hated about the Tipsy Troop, was that no matter how many times he knew leaving them be, no matter how many times he told them to behave, no matter how many times he half expected to find some mess when one of the workers informed him that they did something wrong, he was always always surprised to see what they got into trouble with this time.

Only this time, it was a pair of small children.

Small.

Children.

How in the world had these three manage to get a pair of children in a casino? Much more or less how they got them in the first place?!

Rum turned his uneven gaze down to the pair, looking confused more than ever. "Where d-did you *Hic!* you two come f-f-f-from? *Hic!*"

"Don't go forgettin' you dummy! Where did ya'll get these br-boys from?" It felt weird trying hard not to curse around a pair of kids, but if they managed to find their parents, it was most likely that kids would repeat his words to their parents and that wouldn't be good for business.

"I'd danno! *Hic!* I… *Hic!* I…" At this point Rum just started mumbling incontinence words, most of which didn't make even a lick of sense. Sighing, he turned to the main problem of the day.

A pair of small boys, both with cups for heads. They looked practically the same, aside that the one on the left had a wider head, a small red nose, big wide eyes that were so close to each other they were actually touching side to side and on the rim side of his head, and a red sippy cap on top. The one on the right had a thinner taller head, with a large blue nose, smaller eyes, and his sippy cap was blue like his nose.

Almost instantly, he immediately thought that they were twins. They were almost so identical, even down to their dirty ragged looking clothes. They even held each other's hand in a tight grip.

Just more questions he'll have to figure out later when he had the time. "Alright boys." He got down on one knee, trying to look less intimidating as he could clearly see the fear and mistrust in the faces. "How's about you tell ol' King Dice where your parents are n' get this mess sorted out eh? I'm sure you want to be back with your mama."

The two looked at each other a moment, gazing at one another for a while, before looking back at him, silent. He quirked a brow at this. It was… a bit unnerving. Usually the kids he had met were loud, bratty, nosy, messy, running all over the place, and well, downright annoying. He didn't like kids too much, not one bit.

But these kids were oddly silent. Too silent.

"They don't *Hic!* don't talk too much. *Hic!*" Whiskey, the tallest of the troop, pointed out.

"Have they even said a word?" He looked at them, highly doubting that any of them could possibly recall anything about these kids.

"No." Martini replied. "I-in fact, *Hic!* they haven't e-even ma-made *Hic!* made a peep!"

He looked down at the two boys again. They still silently stared up at him. The blue one was looking at him with caution, eyes that knew something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint what the problem was and seemed in the dark about what was going on around him. But the red one…

The red one had his eyes narrowed, almost looking like a glare. A glare that knew there was danger surrounding them, like they expected something to come out and pounce on them. His eyes clearly told that he didn't trust anyone, as evident as he kept the blue one close to him.

This was certainly not normal behavior for young boys to display. Even more was that they weren't displaying anything that screamed normal about them. No screaming, no yelling, no running around, no messes, no noise what so ever. They just stood their staring at him, waiting for… he didn't know. Anything? It was… kinda creeping him out a bit.

"Alright then." He stood back up, straitening his tux. "Guess we'll jus' have to ask 'round. Maybe someone will know who brought these boys in." He shot a glare at the Tipsy Troop. "N' you three, we'll have a talk once yer sober enough ta remember." He looked back down at the boys. "Come on you two. Let's see if yer folks are still here, eh?"

)i(

It should have been easy. There should have been someone who bared a resemblance to these two boys. But no matter where he turned, or where he looked, not one single customer or patron looked even a smidgen close to being related to these two. Demons, skeletons, lost souls, none of them looked to being the boys parents.

Asking around didn't help either. Any bystander he came around to asking had no clue who brought those kids in, nor did they see any who might lead him to finding them. And even a few of them found these kids cute, though the boys kept a good distance away from them.

It didn't make any sense. How did a pair of kids manage to get in this casino without anyone noticing them before? And who brought them here? There was no way they got past security to get in here. And how and why did the Tipsy Troop manage to get a hold of them?

It was just one big mess after another.

"This is a mess." King Dice huffed, rubbing his head after another failed attempt to finding the boys parents. "Are you two messin' with me? Is that why yer here?" He gazed down at the two, who stayed close to each other, never letting the other go. They stayed silent, staring up at him without a word leaving their mouths.

"Of course you stay silent." King Dice sighed, rubbing his face as an oncoming headache started to come on. "Alright. Guess you bra-boys aren't goin' to help me find yer folks. Probably would be better if someone were to come to us lookin' for ya." That made him pause. If their folks were looking for them, how come no one reported to him about someone missing a pair of children? He looked down at them.

The blue one wasn't looking at him anymore. Instead, he was gazing around his surroundings, taking in the sounds and sights that only a casino could hold. His eyes were wide with silent wonder, sparkling like they've just seen snow for the first time. The red one was still glaring at him, though there was a tint of worry in his eyes as he kept taking quick glances to the sides.

Caution and curious. What a strange pair these kids were. Almost as if they were very aware of their new surroundings yet tried to keep close as possible to each other. How strange.

"Dice?"

King Dice jumped. Spinning around, he came face to face with Pirouletta. She took a step back in surprise, clearly not meaning to startle him.

"Oh, miss Pirouletta." King Dice cleared his throat, trying to play off that small display. "I didn't see ya there. What are you doing out of your shift?"

"I'm on break." King Dice glanced at the clock that hung on the far wall over the bar area. Ah. 12:47. Her usual time for her break on weekends. "Who are these boys?" He blinked, finding Pirouletta peering over his shoulder, no doubt having spotted his main problem of the day.

"Jus' a pair of lost kids the Tipsy Troop got a hold of." He stepped to the side, showing the boys to Pirouletta so she could have a better look at them. "I've been tryin' to find their folks but no luck so far. You wouldn't happen to recall seeing someone who could possibly be related to them, could you?"

Pirouletta hummed, looking at the boys carefully. "No. I don't recall anyone that would possibly be their parents."

"Oh. That… that's too bad." King Dice sighed.

"Why would anyone bring small children into casino?" Pirouletta asked, extending a hand out to the small pair who were eyeing her wearily.

"I don't know. N' I would like to know so I can send them back. The casino ain't a playground n' we ain't babysitters."

Pirouletta glanced at him. "You don't think that…" Her voice trailed off, glancing at the boys. "… I'm sure parents are looking for them. They need to be with them."

"Yes." King Dice agreed, looking down at the pair of two small boys. "They should."