Chapter 23: Carpe Diem
"Oh man, you were just awesome dude!" one of the contest coordinators ran up to congratulate Loki following his stellar performance. Several security men were working to keep the throngs of women from rushing them.
"Indeed," Loki replied with a smirk. "Did I win the contest?"
"Man, you rocked it!" the man handed him an envelop. "Here ya go, $100 to the winner for this round. Are you coming back for the finals tomorrow night?"
"Perhaps, it simply will depend on… ah… things," Loki replied.
"I hear ya. My old lady keeps a short leash on me. Well, hope you make it." The man turned and left them standing there.
Loki opened the envelop and extracted five crisp twenty dollar bills. He handed them to Walter. "Here, now you must show us this gambling."
"Well, um, you might want to change before I do. Else we'll have a gaggle of women following us," Walter replied, pointing out the women sighing dreamily over Elvis/Loki.
"Right, let us leave this area and find some place a bit less crowded for that," Loki walked out of the ballroom into the hallways. He found a secluded corner and quickly changed back to his normal self. "Better?"
Thranduil nodded. "Indeed, much better."
"Jealous of those ladies are we?" Loki quipped.
"Me? Hardly," Thranduil sniffed. "Now, let us find some real food and see about this gambling. Lead on, Walter."
Walter gaped at Loki. "I ain't never gonna get used to that. Still don't get how you do it, but damn, that's a great magic trick. I'd make a mint if I could do that."
"A mint? Why would one want a plant?" Thranduil asked, clearly perplexed.
Walter blinked. "No, not a plant… a mint, like where they print this stuff." He held up the twenties.
Thranduil shrugged. "Strange customs you have here."
Walter shook his head. "This way, boys." He led them back into the main casino. He stopped and pointed out the different stations. "See, over there, they got table games, like blackjack and poker. There is the craps table. I ain't gonna waste my … I mean our money on craps."
"Crabs?" Heimdall asked.
"No, not crabs, craps."
"Isn't a crap what is sometimes referred to as what one does in a bathroom?" Loki asked. "Thus you are saying there is a table where people just crap on it?"
Walter threw back his head and laughed. "I like that! Great way to put it, but no, we don't go to the bathroom on the table. You bet on how the dice are gonna roll. Scary game to me. I prefer something a little more stable."
"So, what are those obnoxious boxes?" Thranduil pointed to a row of slots.
"Ah," Walter grinned. "Slot machines. See there, you hope you get a winning combination – certain symbols. Then you win. See that batch over there?" He pointed towards an island of ten machines under a huge sign that kept flashing numbers. The numbers kept going up. "If you hit the jackpot, you win whatever amount is on that screen!"
Loki watched the flashing numbers for a few seconds. "So, if you won, you would get $2.7 million? How does one win that one?"
"Yep! At least $2.7 mil… that's what it's at right now. It keeps going up till someone hits it." Walter walked closer to the machines, peering at the chart on one of them. "You gotta get five of these red sevens to win."
They watched a few minutes as people strolled up to the machines and laughingly put a large coin into one. "Maybe this will be the one, what do ya think babe?" one man asked his companion.
She shrugged. "Only takes one!"
He pulled the lever and they both stared as the wheels flashed, finally stopping on a mix of various symbols. "Damn! I thought that was the one. Well, I'm done for the day, that was my last five bucks. Let's go get dinner." He glanced at Walter and his group. "Good luck, boys. Maybe you'll win."
"What would you do if you won?" Loki asked Walter.
Walter closed his eyes and sighed. "I'd buy me a place on the bayou, get my buddies to join me and we'd fish all day. Maybe set up one of them swamp tours to make a few bucks, you know… take it easy, but I'd take care of my friends, that's for sure."
Loki raised one eyebrow. "Indeed. Well, why don't you try it?"
"Can't hurt. Only takes one turn to win," Walter walked over to a cashier and gave them one of the twenties. Armed with four large coins, he handed one to each of his companions. "Here, we can each try."
Heimdall inspected the coin.
"Go ahead, put it in the machine then pull that lever," Walter instructed.
Heimdall did as he was told. They all watched as the wheels spun, finally stopping on a combination of various colored 7's.
"Damn! You just won twenty bucks!" Four of the large coins dropped down into a reservoir at the bottom of the machine. Heimdall picked them up and handed them to Walter.
Loki was the next to try. He watched as the wheels spun, landing on two jokers and three sevens.
"Nada for that, sorry," Walter sighed, disappointed that he hadn't at least won something. He looked at Thranduil. "Your turn."
Thranduil looked disdainfully at the coin for several seconds before finally inserting it into the slot machine. With elegant fingers, he pulled the lever. Looking more bored than interested, he vaguely watched the spinning wheels. The wheels finally stopped giving him a mixture of fruit and 7's.
"Nope. Nothing for that," Walter commented.
Thranduil simply rolled his eyes in response. "What would I do with this 2.7 mil anyway?"
"It's up to 2.8 now," Loki pointed out. "We could buy an island… or Stark Tower," he added with a laugh.
"Speaking of Stark, is that not him over there?" Thranduil pointed out a man who appeared to be searching the casino.
Loki followed his direction, sighting the man. "Yes, it is. He appears to be looking for us."
Stark's eyes landed on Loki as he finished speaking. He waved from across the casino and started wending his way through the crowds.
"Walter, I do believe it is your turn," Thranduil prompted.
"There you guys are!" Stark shouted as he neared them. "I thought I told you to stay in the suite?"
"You did, but we were hungry," Loki replied.
"Hungry?" Stark asked, then noticed the coin Walter was about to put in the slot machine. "Hey, where'd you get that? You been using my credit card again?"
"I won them," Loki grinned.
"Won them? How?" Stark asked.
Thranduil pointed towards one of the Elvis convention posters. "There. I thought at first it was an Elvish convention. We encountered some ladies who explained what it was. Loki performed and won."
Tony stared at Loki. "You do not look at all like Elvis, and you don't sound like him either, so how did you manage that?"
Loki smirked, then suddenly transformed into an exact likeness of Tony Stark. "Like this… and my, you do look quite ravishing in that dress."
Tony's jaw dropped open as he stared at himself, or rather, not himself but Loki looking like him. "Ravishing?" He glanced down to discover he was wearing a slinky black dress… just like one of Pepper's favorites dresses. "What? How the hell?"
"Tony?" Pepper picked that moment to join them, walking directly up to Loki. "What's going on?"
"Pepper, that's not me!" Tony shouted.
Pepper whirled to see herself standing there. "Who are you? And why do you have my dress on?"
"I'm Tony! That's Loki," Tony pointed to Loki. "And ask him why I have your dress on. Loki, you'd better change us back…"
"Or else what? You'll send me to my room? We've already left there… and if you don't watch out, we might disappear completely," Loki changed back into his form, and flicked a hand towards Tony, changing him back. "Walter, I do believe it is your turn to play."
Walter nodded, dropping his coin in the machine. He pulled the lever and watched. The first wheel stopped on a red 7. "Come on, baby… come on… just need four more."
The second wheel slammed to a stop – also on a red 7. Walter closed his eyes. "I can't look!"
"Walter, I do believe you might want to see this," Thranduil spoke as the third wheel stopped on a red 7, followed almost at once by the fourth wheel hitting a red 7.
By now, a crowd of people had started to gather, seeing the four red 7's on the machine. The last wheel was still spinning merrily.
Tony glanced at Loki, seeing his right hand snap quickly. As it did, a collective gasp went up from the crowd.
"OH MY GOD!" Walter screamed.
"Loki?" Stark glared at the god.
"What?" Loki looked back at him innocently.