Going through the dual doors, Rose and Harold made their way up to a counter at the end of the room.
No one was there, so Rose rang the bell on the counter.
It rang out throughout the room, but no one emerged from the back, so she rung it, again.
"Maybe they're on break?" Harold shrugs.
Stretching her neck out, Rose calls out for the owner of the inn, but they yet to come out, still.
So, in intervals she rung the bell and called out to anyone in the back.
She jumped backwards when she heard a screech, "Jasper, did you hide my ear things, again?!"
There's another voice shouting, "Check your damn bed side!"
The voices overlapped as there's shouting before a short woman with wild gray hair emerged from the back room.
She pushed herself up on her highchair before staring at Rose and Harold with her large eyes, instantly Harold spotted one being a glass eye.
"Well?" The short woman looked irritated.
Putting on a smile, Rose told her that she and Harold would like to two rooms for the night.
The short woman got the wrong idea and commented how Rose was a beautiful daughter and compliments Harold.
Harold was about to correct her when she offered a discount, and he went along with the ruse so they could get their rooms cheaper.
"We just washed the linen," the short woman's attitude changes to being more pleasant as she proceeded to shout at Jasper to help the two find their rooms.
An equally short man emerged from the back room and led the two up the stairs to their rooms.
"We have filtered water and there is a Nuka Cola machine in the lounge," the short man went through the amenities the inn offered.
Once he led them to their rooms, he handed them their respected keys before heading off.
"Sorry," Rose apologized for taking advantage of the mistake.
Shrugging, Harold complimented her for finding a way through a conversation, and no offense taken.
"Well, that's 40 caps, think we can afford dinner?" Rose asks.
Pondering, Harold muses, "Well, I doubt we'll get a father-daughter discount the second time."
They entered their respected rooms where they took long baths and when they rejoined with each other's side they headed down to eat dinner.
On the inn owner's recommendation, they went to a bar where they were immediately treated to a man being tossed out the window for cheating.
"And this was 'good eating'?" Harold whispers with clenched teeth.
As miffed as he was, Rose shrugs as she points out, "You said it yourself, sir, this is just how it is on the topside."
Acknowledging this with a nod, Harold followed her to an empty seat where they watched a bar fight get broken up by an enforcer punching both participants in the gut.
A server noticed them and came over.
"Sorry 'bout that, it gets hectic at night," the server apologies as he fixed his tuxedo bow.
Waving her hand, Rose proceeded to ask about the menu and was told the current menu down to the drinks.
"Oh, uh, can we have two Nuka Colas annnd I guess some of those barbecued squirrels on a stick?" Rose puts on a smile.
Writing their orders down, the server told them there would be a short wait before moving on.
Smelling the air, Harold winces as the stale cigarette air hits his nose as he instinctively covers it with the palm of his hand.
"You didn't ask how much it all costs," Harold realizes.
Sinking in her seat, Rose musters, "It can't be that much, can it?"
It's just two Nuka Colas and two squirrel bits on a stick!
They briefly stopped talking when they heard a poker tourney going on in the table over.
"Rose, whatever you're thinking, do not act on it!" Harold hastily whispers.
Nothing good ever happens going into poker games, especially when they're operated by men with more weapons than them, and more experience in using said weapons.
"We need caps, right?" Rose points out.
And even if they spent hours searching the Wasteland for loose caps it won't be worth the effort.
"If you're wrong, we won't have any caps left!" Harold warns her.
The two argued in hushed whispers until the server returned with their drinks and their meals.
"Oh, uh, how much do I owe you?" Rose put on a brave smile.
The server gruffly answers, "100 caps."
That included the tip as well.
After paying the server, the two glanced inside the sack and pitifully only forty caps remained.
"It's not enough, is it?" Rose grimaces.
Shaking his head, Harold sighed, "No, it isn't."
Seeing the cogs turning in her head, Harold tried convincing Rose not to go through with her ploy in entering the poker game, warning her that she risks a great deal by doing it.
"This isn't a fun card game from your vault, these are men whowillkill you if they think you're cheating and might even kill you if you'retoogood of a player!" Harold stresses.
Weighing her options and knowing Harold would refuse to play in the game, Rose ultimately decided to take a chance.
Harold could only watch as she leaves their table and goes over to the poker table.
Putting on a brave face, she garnered the attention from the poker players as she cleared her throat before asking if there was a spot for another player.
Immediately, she felt the eyes on her as the one running the poker game, a ghoul named Sal, cut her in.
"I only have 40 caps," Rose told the truth about how many caps she had.
The buy in was 50 caps, but Sal allowed her to play with 40 caps, deciding that the game was getting dull, so something like this could offer some twists.
"Okay, the pot is sizable tonight, if anyone can take it," Sal snorts through his exposed sinuses.
A grand total of ten thousand caps was up for the taking, but of course, in poker, the odds weren't always in the players' favors.
Given her cards, Rose watched the other players receive theirs, and Sal begin flipping over the cards he had.
Sitting back at the table, Harold timidly ate the squirrel bits on a stick as he nervously glanced over at the poker table.
The game was starting, and he couldn't see where he was, but he wasn't getting anywhere near the poker table.
With the world as it is, the players would be cutthroat enough that if they suspect he was trying to help Rose cheat, they'd kill him.
Not to say Rose's luck was any better.
Keeping his eyes to the table whenever there's people moving around, Harold exhales sharply.
This wasn't going to end well, he fretted to himself.
The overlapping voices made it difficult for him to hear the poker game and Rose, but there hadn't been a chair tossed, so things were still calm.
Though, in rough areas like this, there's always calm before the storm hits.
And it wasn't the storm anyone wanted to get caught in!
"Full house!" Rose cheerfully says as her voice broke through the overlapping voices.
It rouses Harold as he heard her voice as she talked to the other players at her table.
From what he could hear, Rose had turned the 40 caps into a hundred.
He hoped that if Rose had good sense, once she got to a certain number of caps, she would take a bow from the table, and that'd be the end of it.
Hoped.
Stretching out his neck, he can see her smiling.
This will be a long night!