Harold was never a drinker, hard to drink when everything kept him on edge, but the sight of Rose casually winning hands was enough for him to relent and drank watered down beer as he watched from afar.
Already, Rose was up 400 caps.
Showing no sign of slowing down, Rose intended on continuing to play well into the night, the adrenaline rush was addicting to her.
Still hesitantly going over to the table to pull her away from it, Harold grimaced at the thought of Rose getting to the point of reaching ten thousand caps.
Watching the other players' reactions, Harold could see the looks on their faces as this doe eyed girl was taking them for all the caps they had on their person.
He ended up finishing the squirrel bits and while the meat wasn't anything, somewhat chewy, it was better than nothing.
"Damn, girlie, who taught you how to play!" Rose was asked by one of the players as she won 50 caps.
Pulling the caps towards her side, Rose cheekily responds, "My cousins all taught me!"
From an early age, Rose was taught by kids she liked as cousins how to play poker, they used to play with whatever they could find, but it was all the same.
Rose got good enough that her cousins wouldn't play with her much unless she served strictly as the dealer.
"Ace high!" Sal gutturally says as he revealed the dealer's hand.
Checking their cards, two of the players folded.
The game continued and Harold switched from drinking watered down beer to filtered water.
When he left to use the bathroom, Rose was up six hundred caps.
Upon returning to the table, Harold saw a crowd surrounding the table.
Naturally, he assumed the worst happened and used the cover of the crowd to see what was going on.
To his relief, Rose was still alive, but she now amassed a thousand caps.
The spectators weren't helping his fears, adding to the pot with bets.
Rose remained calm as she played her hands, but Harold saw that she was deceitful in "losing" some caps to a bad hand.
Luring the players into thinking she was having a lucky bout, Rose took advantage of them, and obtained six hundred caps, pushing her over a thousand caps.
She offset some of the won caps by sending them over to Harold to help pay for the drinks and the food.
As the game continued, two of the players left as they lost too many caps, and one left due to obligations that took priority.
Down to Rose and two others, Sal the Ghoul remarks how it changed the dynamics.
He upped the ante and made the bets higher to compensate for the lack of players and to make things interesting.
"All in," says a player as he pushed his stack of caps into the center.
His tactic in getting players to fold didn't go over well as only one folded, but Rose didn't.
"All in!" Rose cheerfully says as she pushes her stack of caps forward.
Watching the player sweat bullets, Rose knew that he had a bad hand and hoped by goading her and the other player to fold, it would even his odds.
Sadly, for him, Rose learnt from the best during her youth in the Vault.
"Dealer has two pairs," Sal showed his hand as he eyes the adjacent player and Rose.
Begrudgingly, the player showed his hand, and revealed that he didn't have a good hand.
Rose shows hers and Sal laughs as he remarks, "Our girl's got moxie! Full house!"
Losing his entire sack of bottle caps to Rose, the losing player leaves the table grumbling, and now it was down to Rose and the last player.
With only two players, Sal further upped the betting requirements, and Rose sat at roughly two-thousand caps.
Things changed when Harold noticed another ghoul entering the bar clad in black and looked like Doc Holiday with exposed facial skin and no nose.
Sensing something off about him, Harold kept his head down as he subtly listened to the ghoul going through bar towards the counter.
They spoke with familiarity as the ghoul sat down.
"Vandal, how's the hunting?" the bartender asked as he went over to the counter.
The ghoul gruffly replies, "Caught the bastard trying to cross the state line."
Dragged his quarry back to the sheriff, kicking and screaming, and bought beer with the caps he got from the payment and then some.
"Surprised he didn't end up in a spider nest or a pot over an open flame," the bartender muses as he pours the ghoul a drink.
Pushing it towards him, the bartender hears the ghoul, "Hah, I made him choose what was worse."
Not surprisingly, the quarry chose to go back with the ghoul when given the choice between that and being eaten alive by ants.
"Why do they run? It isn't like there aren't things that want to kill you out there or something," the bartender remarks.
Shrugging, the ghoul responds, "Ah, it makes things interesting."
Sitting at the bar, the ghoul was content drinking, and Harold made sure his eyes didn't accidentally cross the ghoul's eyes.
He found the reflection in the Nuka Cola glass on the table allowed him to keep an eye on the ghoul without him catching on as he remained alert for trouble.
The ghoul was more interested in talking to the bartender than watching the poker game from afar, so Harold paid more attention to it than the ghoul.
"Okay kids, you don't have to leave, but you sure as hell can't stay here. I got commitments tomorrow and I'm a little crabby when I don't get my sleep," Sal saw the time and realized that the game was going longer than he anticipated.
Henceforth he made this the final round where the cards decide who got the pot.
Giving Rose and the other player their cards, Sal halts further betting from the crowd, and the final count for the pot was a staggering eighteen thousand caps.
It's anyone's game, now.
"May the best one win," Sal dramatically says as he shows the dealer's hand.
Swirling the straw in his cup, Harold flinches as he listened to Sal giving a dramatic speech about the final match in the poker game.
It can either be the destitute of Rose or a long night with her winning.
Instinctively, Harold glanced at the reflection in his bottle, and the ghoul sitting at the bar was gone.
He was nowhere in the bar.
Exhaling sharply, Harold shook his head as he mentioned to himself how the stress of surviving on the Wasteland proper had gotten to him.
"The little lady wins!" Sal raises his hoarse voice as he proclaims Rose the victor in the poker tourney.
The crowd erupts into a cheer as Rose received her winnings in a large bag.
Cheerfully, she thanked the crowd for their support, being a good sportsman with the other poker player, before the leaving the table with her winnings back to Harold.
"That was fun!" Rose smiles as she eagerly shows Harold the sack.
Gesturing with his hands, Harold reminds her to watch herself.
Seeing the time, Rose asks if Harold was ready to leave the bar, and he jumps off the stool with a, "I thought you'd never ask!"
Paying for the last of the drinks and the meals, Harold went with Rose out of the bar, and back to the inn.
Only when his door was locked and blocked with a chair did Harold breathe.
Rubbing his eyes Harold shook his head as he tried to unwind for the night.