When the Devil had first laid eyes on Dice, he had known that there was something different about him. Before the man had even started working there, Dice had walked around the casino like he owned the place. It was part of the reason why the Devil had found himself drawn to Dice in the first place. The man was confident, but he knew his place, and that was a surprisingly rare combination that the Devil had always been fond of.

The Devil had known that he was intrigued by Dice, and that fascination had only become more intense and focused the better the Devil had gotten to know him. The Devil still didn't know everything about Dice, which was why they had gone through a bit of a rough patch after Dice had realized that he could manipulate his soul. It could be frustrating sometimes to have to deal with Dice's unreasonable mortal sensitivities, but it wasn't enough to detour the Devil from getting to know his manager better.

The Devil thought he knew a fair amount about Dice, but he was still learning new things, and each time he did he found himself being more and more drawn in.

Take the Devil's latest observation for example. Dice wasn't the first person that the Devil had screwed around with. There was a reason, after all, why mortals had a tendency to view adultery, or even just sex in general, as a taboo subject that drew the Devil in. The Devil was an expert in sins and vices, and while he personally didn't see sex as one of the most damning ones, it was certainly one of his personal favorites.

The Devil didn't screw around with all of his employees, but he had definitely done it with a fair few. They all reacted in different ways after the fact. Some of them got embarrassed and felt ashamed of what they had done, which the Devil had always found humorous. He had always found it funny whenever mortals did something that they enjoyed, and then just felt guilty about it later. For some reason, he found it even funnier when it was about sex.

Some of the Devil's employees gained more confidence after spending the night with the Devil, though they refused to talk about what had happened with anybody else. A surprising amount of them just did their best to pretend that nothing had happened, or at the very least that it hadn't meant anything at all.

By far though, the Devil thought that Dice's reaction had to be his favorite.

In the days that followed their little fling, the Devil had begun to spend more time out on the casino floor, and he was amused to see that Dice had started to do the same. The Devil had noticed how cautious Dice had been about the casino in general, and now he was acting like he had never been scared of the place at all.

No, that wasn't it. The Devil could tell that Dice could still feel the connection between the casino and Hell, but instead of shying away from it, it almost seemed like Dice had started to embrace it.

Dice had always acted like he owned the casino. Even before Dice had admitted that he was the manager of the casino, he had done the managerial work. Now, not only did he do the work, but Dice had started to act and talk like the manager as well. Like he knew how everything in the casino should go, and if things didn't happen his way, than it wasn't being done right.

If Dice was anybody else, the Devil would have nipped this behavior in the bud before it had gotten this far. The casino was his, and his employees should recognize that. The thing was, the Devil knew that Dice did recognize him as the boss. Dice didn't try to give orders to undermine the Devil's influence, but to empower it. When Dice gave orders to the casino employees, he was merely speaking for the Devil without consulting him beforehand.

And it was a pretty incredible sight to see.

Dice leaned against a wall in the casino and smirked. He took a drag of his cigar and drew the smoke into his lungs. He watched in satisfaction as Dice worked. The man had never struggled with unruly gamblers, but it was especially entertaining to see him handle them now.

"You lose again, friend." Dice said as he gathered the cards up after the latest round of blackjack. He smoothly began to shuffle the deck of cards while most of the gamblers around him either collected their winnings or groaned in disappointment at their loss. Only one gambler actually seemed to be angry with his loss, and he was the one that Dice had addressed. "Better luck next time."

"Luck." The gambler scoffed unhappily. "Luck's got nothing to do with this game when the damn dealer don't know how to count his cards right."

The Devil snorted. He didn't think this gambler was complaining about Dice using card counting to lean the game in his favor. It sounded to the Devil that the gambler actually thought that Dice was lying about what the actual card numbers added up to, which was just a ridiculous accusation. By the end of the game all of the cards were face up on the table for everybody to see. If Dice was getting his math wrong, then somebody else would have caught it. The Devil really doubted that Dice had miscounted, because it was really simple to add numbers up to 21.

Dice seemed to be just as amused by the gambler's complaint.

"Believe me, if I had wanted to cheat, I would have done so by stacking the cards, not by adding an extra number to your score." Dice raised an eyebrow and lifted his head so he was looking down on the gambler. "You might have better luck next time, but if you're not interested in playing, then I suggest you leave." Dice kept his voice cold and even as he spoke, even as the gambler grew more and more frustrated.

"I guess you've never heard that the customer is always right?" Both Dice and the Devil rolled their eyes at the gambler's words. This was a very common, and very stupid, argument that disappointed gamblers made when they wanted somebody to blame for their losses beyond just bad luck and their own recklessness.

"You're not a 'customer', you're a gambler." Dice reminded him irritably. "A frequent gambler, if I'm right, and as such you should already know that the house always wins. By coming here, you're agreeing to play our games, follow our rules, and consider yourself lucky if you so happen to win. If this arrangement is not good enough for you, then I'd be glad to have someone show you the door."

The Devil snorted. Dice was really giving that guy a telling off. Usually the Devil prefered his employees to refrain from telling the gamblers that luck wasn't on their side, but the gambler's stunned expression made it all worthwhile.

The gambler's face went red with embarrassment and frustration. The man shouted loudly and knocked Dice's deck out of his hands in a fit of anger. Everybody around the table froze. The Devil's tail twitched, but other than that he stayed perfectly still. He could deal with this immature gambler easily, but he wouldn't interfere. He wanted to see how Dice handled the situation.

Dice looked calmly at his deck of cards that was now on the floor. He was still for a moment before he took a deep breath. Dice made a simple gesture with his hands and used his magic to influence the cards to come to life and clean themselves up. Dice had gotten really good at using his magic to manipulate his playing cards. They all knew that he wasn't using his magic because he had to. Dice was just taking this opportunity to show that he not only had magic, but that he wasn't afraid to use it. It was a power play.

"If you're going to be this sore of a loser," Dice bent down and lowered his hand so his deck of cards could walk right up his sleeves. He then calmly stood up and straightened his sleeves and tie. "Then maybe it's best if you just leave." At this final word Dice's eyes flashed green. The Devil smirked and leaned forward. He wanted to see where this would go.

Dice held out his hands toward the rude gambler and began to open a portal right under his feet. The gambler scarcely had time to let out a cry of alarm and fear before he sank down into the portal, which then disappeared so suddenly it was as though it had never been there in the first place. Dice had made it look completely effortless, but the Devil could feel how taxing this show of magic had been. Dice had only ever teleported himself or inanimate objects before. This ability to teleport somebody who had a will to fight was something brand new.

The Devil chuckled and slowly clapped to show his amusement and approval. He approached the table and threw an arm over Dice's shoulder. "Not bad, Dice," The Devil said in a low voice. "Not bad at all."

Dice shrugged the Devil's arm off of him and took the cigar out of his mouth. "I don't like it when people run their mouths and gum up the works." Dice put the Devil's cigar in his own mouth and drew in a slow drag. The Devil chuckled again and wrapped his tail around Dice's waist. He was pleased that the man didn't bother to get out of his grip.

The Devil looked towards the remaining gamblers, who were watching them with cautious curiosity. "Does anybody else have a problem with how my manager does his job?" The Devil raised his voice slightly to make sure that the people at the surrounding tables heard and understood him as well. Nobody said a word. "I didn't think so."

"I ain't some damsel in distress, boss." Dice sounded vaguely annoyed. "I can defend my own honor."

"Don't I know it." The Devil tightened his grip around Dice's waist, though not in a painful way. "You strut around the casino like you're king of the place. I just thought you might want a little help with the unruly gamblers. If you think you can handle it, I'll leave you to it."

The Devil used his tail to bring Dice closer and he whispered to him. "Why don't you stop by my office after work and we can talk about how well you can take care of yourself, King Dice." The Devil chuckled when he saw the subtle blush come over Dice's face. It was likely that nobody else noticed, but he did, and he loved it.

"Get lost, Boss." Dice grumbled. The Devil chuckled and released Dice. He walked away from the table, but he didn't go back to his office. Instead, the Devil returned to the wall he had been leaning against earlier and he resumed his previous position. He was having far too much fun watching Dice work. He didn't want to walk away yet, not when he had just gotten Dice all flustered.

Dice resumed his work dealing cards and running the game. He acted like he didn't know the Devil was watching his every move, but they both knew that he was all too aware of his presence. Dice only acted like he wasn't because he wanted the gamblers he was dealing for to know just how professional and in control he was. If Dice couldn't be thrown off by the Devil, then he couldn't be thrown off by anybody.

Dice was a real professional. The Devil made a mental note to come out on the casino floor more often to watch his king at work...hm, King Dice. That name actually had a nice ring to it.


A/N: I'm sorry about the shorter chapter. I didn't want to force myself to write more than I had planned, just because this chapter was 1000 words or so shorter than the other chapters.

The next chapter will probably be a shorter one as well, and I'm sorry to say, it will probably be the last chapter. I only planned so much for this story, and I've reached the point that I don't have anything else planned except the ending.