The three entered the Strip, stopping right outside the gate to marvel at the populated, lively surroundings. David found it rather hard to look away from the skimpily dressed prostitutes, while Ramona's eyes stared hard at the top of the Lucky 38.
"Any ideas where we should start looking?" She asked, tearing her gaze away to look at her friends.
"Why not there?" Sandra pointed to a sign the read The Tops, "It'd make sense, yeah? Like he's going straight to the top! Geddit?"
Ramona laid a hand on her friend's shoulder, giving it a good squeeze. "Let's hope your genius streak continues," she began to walk to their new destination, "What's the worst that could go wrong?"
Inside, the frontman confiscated all their weapons (to Sandra's disliking) and wished them a happy evening in the tops. Ramona handed over the last of her weapons, leaning over the desk to whisper to the chairman, "Hey, I think there's something you may want to know about a certain person staying up here. Got a real weird way of talking, checkered suit?"
The deskmen rolled his eyes, shuffling through some paper, "Benny? Look, if you got something to say about the boss man, don't you think you should tell it to his face?"
"Give me a moment," she whispered to her friends, giving them a free moment to roam the casino. She turned her back to him, leaning her back against the desk. She shrugged, "I just don't think anyone's going to like it. Seems he's been making his own games."
"Wait- Excuse me?"
She tried to hide a smirk. "You see your 'boss man', Benny, tried to have me killed and stole a package I was meant to deliver."
She could almost feel the horror wash over the man, "Why- Why would he pull a stunt like that? It doesn't make sense..."
"Oh, that's just the gist, you see. He tried to make it look like an accident and everything! Trynna make it look like a poor, random traveller killed and robbed in the Wastes."
"Crazy bastard... Anything else to share?"
"Hm... Nope, that's it." She turned her head back to the man, flashing him an innocent look. "What do you think I should do?"
"Let me tell you what," he slid towards her a small key, "I hand you this, you go on up to his suite while he's out partying, and we pretend we never had this conversation. Ya dig?"
She snatched the key up, turning to walk away, "Right as rain, pal."
She turned to her friends, meeting up with them at the center of the casino. She didn't have the slightest interest in gambling and such, knowing too well of what effects being addicted has. David shared this disinterest with her, though the layout of the building did have some appeal to him.
Sandra gave her a sharp nudge in the side, pointing to a guy in the far corner in the back. It seemed he had yet to spot them, "Maybe he knows where the guy is?"
Ramona narrowed her eyes, before widening in surprise. "Actually, I think that is him," she took a single step, nodding in confirmation, "Yep, that's him. I know a checkered suit when I see one." Her face contorted to one of anger, beginning to storm off until Sandra catching her by the arm, "Wait, wait, wait- You can't just cause a scene all willy-nilly! Ramona, friend, buddy, amigo- Let moi handle this."
"What are you planning?" She inquired, narrowing her eyes some.
"Watch and learn," she waved a finger, handing toward the man, "Just try and look inconspicuous, alright?"
Ramona rolled her eyes, looking to David, "Please tell me you have an idea on what she's about to do..."
He sighed, "We'll just have to wait and see."
Sandra strolled up to the man, turning him around, "Heard what you did to the Courier. Practically every girl on the Strip's been wanting a piece of you, daddy."
Benny made a face, "Are you making a pass at me? Because it looks like I'm out of your league."
She slipped a hand through one of his belt loops, pulling him closer, "Is it wrong to want a man who knows his way around a gun?"
He smirked, "You're one of the naughty little pussycats, aren't ya?"
"I've been looking for someone to give me a proper punishment... What can I say? I'm just awful."
"I should really be going..." He began to take a few steps past her, but she managed to catch his arm.
"No! I've just always wondered..." She leaned in closer, her warm breath against his ear, "How good your clothes would look on the ground. Whattya say?"
"What do I say? I say I'd be out of my mind to pass up on you, pussycat. I'll meet you in my suite. Thirteenth floor. Five minutes. Don't keep me waiting."
"As long as you don't keep me," she winked, heading back to her friends. She sat down at one of the slots, smirking, "Looks like Benny's got a date with our old, dear pal Destiny tonight."
"So... You're going to sleep with him? That's, ah, not gross at all..." Ramona shook her head, making a face. "
Says you," Sandra leaned forward, sticking out her tongue.
"Guys, guys," David weaved himself between the two girls, laying a hand on each girl, "We need to focus on what's important: Getting the chip back and seeing Benny dead. Sandra, I guess you'll be the one to out Benny. Ramona... I guess it'll be you and me tonight."
"That's just fine with me," Sandra hopped off the stool, sticking her nose I'm the air, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to do some dirty work."
Ramona's face turned a bright pink as she walked away, picking up an empty whiskey bottle that previously sat idle next to a slot. David caught her before she had the cance to throw it at Sandra's head, snatching it away, "No, no, no- Make peace!"
She huffed, her face now matching the dark pink striped shirt that she wore under her vest, "Fine, fine. One day, I swear to God I will rip that little..."
David slammed his palms on her shoulders once more, "Calm. You won't see her for the rest of the night hopefully."
She felt the beginning of a terrible pain shoot her temples, rubbing it to ease the pain. She sighed, "Gah, I need to drink away this headache..."
He smirked at this, "Just so you can make it worse tomorrow?" They laughed, David leading the way to the courtyard, since they hadn't managed to find a bar in the casino.
They had spent all of the afternoon and a good part of the early evening dipping their feet in the pool, David getting a good chance to show Ramona small games and different positions you can use with your hands. He gave her the spare time alone to vent her frustration of Sandra, which he could understand.
"I know she's your sister and all," she sighed, sitting back against the hard cement below them, "But just some things she does and says, just- Ugh, it's like she doesn't have a brain."
"I know, but you can't entirely blame her," David gave a shrug, "I know it's hard to get an actual education in the Wastes, but where we're from they at least give you some knowledge of basic things like reading, writing, and such. Sandra, well, she never had that chance."
Ramona's face fell, "Oh?"
He nodded, twisting his mouth to the side. "Our father was a doctor and scientist, which made things kind of easy in one aspect. She was born premature and sickly- She was close to death on a few occasions. But, our girl's tough."
Ramona turned her entire body towards him, tilting her head in a quizzical fashion. "Where are you guys from anyhow?"
"We grew up in a Vault, actually. That place was my home, emotionally and literally. Sandra... Well, she was happy to leave. The Wasteland, this twisted land, this is almost like a haven to her; maybe not the people, but in other aspects it helped her. Now, the only problem she has is with her joints. They tend to lock up or hurts to move, but a good dose of Med-X seems to patch that up.
Now, we left when I was about eighteen. I didn't exactly want to leave, but I knew I couldn't leave my little sister in the Wastes. I didn't know what was out there! Lucky for both of us, I took after our father's genius and was gifted in the fields of medicine and science. Basically, Sandra grew to be the brawn of our duo and I am the brains. Every group has those two dynamics, am I right?" He chuckled to himself.
She nodded, smiling in return. "Sounds like you two have been through a lot. But tell me, what about you? What was so special about little David?"
"I was always a bit of the class clown, actually. I always managed to, oh..." He felt his stomach tighten as her hand brushed through his hair. His eyes instantly fell to the glossy water of the pool, specifically staring at her reflection.
"Sorry," she snatched her hand away, "Your hair's just bugging me is all. I'll never know why you'd let someone grease your hair like that. I preferred your hair the way it was, personally."
He shook his head, smiling, "It's alright, I didn't mind it at all." He gazed into her bright blue eyes, occasionally glancing to her rosy pink lips. She must've caught onto his pattern, looking away to the other side of the courtyard.
"So," he cleared his throat, scooting closer, "You never told me where you're from."
She turned back to him, arching a brow, "Are you sure that's a story you want to here?"
"Of course," he eagerly nodded, though in truth he just wanted to look at her some more.
"Well, let's see..." She pondered some, keeping a nonchalant tone the whole time, "My mother was a drunk, father ran off... Started prostituting myself at fifteen because I wanted to get the Hell away from her... Got hooked on Jet for a while... Did that for about a decade until this magical man just walked into my life and gave me the opportunity to be whisked away from all that. I wouldn't be here without him and let me tell you, this is a lot better than get fucked every other night by strangers."
She let out a humorless chuckle, smiling sadly at David, "How do you feel?"
"I still think you're beautiful," he shrugged, struggling to keep such a casual tone as she did. In truth, he felt his ears burn and was thankful that his brunette hair was long enough to cover them.
Ramona only giggled at this, placing a hand on his cheek, "I know I said some rude things earlier about your sister, but she is lucky to have a sweet brother like you. You're a good friend, David."
She got up, shaking off her feet to dry them. David felt his face instinctively fell, but didn't want her to see. He simply forced his feet back into the slightly smaller shoes, pushing himself up.
"Let's go find somewhere we can room in for the night, yeah?" She suggested, wondering what time it was.
"And miss out on the chance to gamble your earnings? Are you crazy?" He joked, tossing an arm around her.
They walked into the Tops, managing to persuade a different guy at the reception desk into giving them a room to share. David slept on the couch and let Ramona have the only bed to herself in the suite, more out of courtesy than force. It was the least he could do for her.
