Luck Be a Lady (Open)

[Scoop]

::Cecilia St.George was on the prowl. Her nose smelled a story, and a nose like hers was almost never wrong. A couple of sources had told her that there was quite a bit of corruption at this little casino called the First Council, and the mousy Brit was determined to dig it up and bring it to light.

Cecilia had gotten in easily enough, and luckily nobody had checked her bag for a camera. Now all she had to do was pick her poison. The reporter chose a craps table that looked to be pretty warm, and slid into place, exchanging a hundred dollars for chips. That money would soon multiply.

After a few rolls, Cecilia was up, and in a big way. Of course, she had done her homework. The crooked roller would 'rope' her in, and then exchange the dice for loaded ones when she made a large bet or stood to lose more than she had won. The big roll came. Three thousand dollars on the 'on' number. Cecilia needed a nine, and the man running the table had already replaced the dice with the ones loaded for sevens. He handed them to her, and she rolled them.

At the end of their rolls, the dice stood on end unnaturally, ending up very close to each other. They bumped together and then fell, one landing on six, and the other on three. She collected her winnings, as did the other patrons. Cecilia left a chip for the table manager and moved on to a black-jack table. It was going to be difficult to dig up a scoop with luck like hers, but she could stand to win a little bit more.::

[Puck]

Robin Goodfellow was out again.

Like last time, he was out to drink the pain away. Unlike last time, however, he had left Evelyn a note, and had promised himself he would only get buzzed. He couldn't afford to be flat-out drunk in such a public place. He couldn't let any information about himself slip. Not because he was worried about himself, no. He didn't care too much about what happened to him.

Puck wanted to make sure Evelyn stayed safe, and out of harm's way. Even if he had done plenty wrong in his life, she certianly hadn't, and he didn't want to punish her for his mistakes. Well, not any more than he already did, of course.

He was currently in his human form, a dark-haired male in his late twenties/early thirties. In his left hand he held a glass of red wine, his posion of choice, while he scanned the tables. Despite his lack of limitless magic, Puck still had enough to "play" with these dealers, especially the crooked ones. They were the most fun to play with.

Their surprised faces brought just a spark of joy in his otherwise bleak heart.

Like always, a human caught the Puck's eye. She was a lovely little thing, blonde and petite, with a hint of curiosity that caught his attention. She might just be fun to play with, if he could keep sober enough to do so.

Robin made his way over towards the girl, "You know this place is known for cheating little girls such as yourself out of every penny they own, right?" He asked, giving a small chuckle as he drew the glass of wine to his lips.

[Scoop]

::Cecelia sipped her tonic-water and swept her hair behind her ear with one dainty motion. She smiled shyly at the man who had approached her.::

"Oh, I would never admit to being a little girl sir...I'd say I'm quite safe."

::She spoke in a prim British accent. Cecelia was not used to being approached like this, but since she was between tables and this man was speaking to her story, she chose to entertain him.::

"However, I would like to hear a tad more about the cheating that goes on here."

[Puck]

Puck grinned, surprised yet pleased at the accent he heard clipping the young woman's words. He had a feeling the girl was something more than she appeared, which was find because so was he. The faerie decided to humor her with all he knew, and so he nodded, "I can tell, or show ya, whatcha need to know."

He glanced around for an empty table and, when he couldn't find one, made one appear when the woman wasn't looking. Then he "spotted" it, and motioned for Cecilia to follow him over, "The name's Robin Goodfellow, by the way. Who might you be?"

[Scoop]

::Cecilia cocked her head at the name, but extended a hand to shake as she sat down at the table.::

"I'm Cecilia St.Georges, a pleasure to meet you, Robin."

::Placing her glass on the table, she smoothed a wrinkle out of he pants and crossed her legs, all of her attention focused on Robin and getting the story. If he had any dirt, she wanted to see it first hand. She looked around to see if anyone was listening and then leaned forward.::

"I'd like to see what you could show me...everything that you know, I want to know."

[Puck]

Puck's eyes glittered playfully, and he leaned back, matching the amount she leaned in. He brought his glass up to his lips and sipped, letting the smooth liquid slide down his throat. "Well, Ms. Cecilia, I can offer you a brief glimpse into the crooked ways of this casino, but... you would have to promise good ole Robin one thing."[/color]

He glanced around the area, making sure no one was listening, and then looked back at her. His face was completely serious now, "My name nor picture you may ever print, and you can tell no one how you got this information, or I will be forced to snatch it all away from you. It's not for my safety I say this, but yours."[/color]

He placed his glass of wine down on the table, "Is that acceptable?"[/b]

[Scoop]

::Cecilia cocked an eyebrow and cracked a slight smile, but nodded. To give up a source, for whatever reason, was unthinkable to her. It went against the basic principles of Journalism.::

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Robin."

::She continued to lean forward, her elbows on the table and her hands cupping her glass. Cecilia never wrote anything down unless she needed a direct quote, as she found that method to be more discreet. However, her camera was in her bag, and more than ready to capture evidence for a story.::

[Puck]

Robin nodded then, "Excellent, so,"[/color] he clapped his hands together, an odd sort of light appearing his eyes, "let's go uncover some corruption, shall we?"[/color]

His voice changed during the last part of that sentence, along with his features as well. At first it was a rather subtle change, such as his eyes going from dark brown to bright blue. But then his hair began to grow, going stark white from the roots downward. His clothing shifted and changed as well, into a style that seemed to fit something from an old fairy tale. On his arm, he bore a mark that, well... He just really liked.

Puck grinned over at the girl, and then looked around the casino. None of the humans could see either of them, thanks to a little bit of cloaking magic, which was going to make things a whole lot easier.

"So, where should we start?"[/b]

[Scoop]

::Cecilia opened her eyes wide and leaned back from the transforming man. She grasped the edge of the table nervously, like a driver braking sharply, to stop her hands from shaking. Her mouth opened as though she was going to speak, but she couldn't. She was shocked. After a few moments of looking around, Cecilia rediscovered her verbal ability.::

"I...well...bloody hell. I knew I recognized your name."

::The mousy reporter grasped her bag, thinking of escaping for a fraction of a second before her uncontrolable curiosity got the better of her. Before she could get up she planted herself firmly, smirking impishly at the fairy.::

"Let's start at the very beginning, Robin...or should I call you Puck?"

[Puck]

True to his very nature as a faerie - and as the Puck - Robin clapped his hands delightfully at the mention of his one true name. His eyes sparkled impishly, matching her smile, and his entire form lifted, so he was hovering in midair.

"The lady with hair of gold remembers the stories she was once told!" He chuckled, then reached down to grab his drink. "I'm glad I don't have to reintroduce myself. It's always very disappointing when a mortal has forgotten the mischevious Puck, wouldn't you agree?"'[/b]

He gave her a wink, "Now, for the information... Ah yes, we were going to travel into the back! There should be some interesting things to see back there. Come, follow the Puck!"[/color] He floated over towards a wall, then beckoned her over.

[Scoop]

::Scoop grinned from ear to ear, which she rarely did. She gathered her things, leaving her drink where it was, and followed the Fairy quickly. As they came to the wall she guessed at what was behind it, pulling her camera from her bag and waiting to follow his lead.::

"I get the feeling that there's more than just crooked gambling going on here. Might I be correct?"

::Cecilia took a moment to appreciate the fact that she was following a figure of legend as he floated through a casino in New York. This was the opportunity of a lifetime.::

[Puck]

Puck nodded his head, allowing a few pieces of his hair to float in front of his face for a moment. His blue eyes were sparkling mischieviously, as if he knew what he was doing was going to get him in trouble. Well, it would have, had Oberon even cared about his middle child anymore.

"So much more, little Cecilia," he agreed, motioning towards the wall with his hand. "The owner of this little establishment has just so happened to give a portion of the casino to a group of mutants called the Union. Let's go get your story."

Puck floated through the wall and waited for her to join him on the other side. For the next couple of minutes to an hour, she would be able to do whatever he allowed her to. Such as walking through walls, and remaining cloaked to human eyes.

[Scoop]

::Cecilia held her hand out, getting excited chills as it passed through the wall. She smiled and walked through. It was just her luck that she would come here to expose crooks and end up investigating a criminal syndicate.::

"What, no Fairy dust? If you weren't giving me the best story I've had in a while I would be disappointed."

::She spoke in a whisper, looking around and gaining her bearing in her new surroundings. Glancing at Puck, she realized that he was not being very discreet.::

"We're invisible aren't we?"

[Puck]

"Of course. The puck has done many things in his long life, but he has never willingly put a human at risk."[/b] Puck gave the young woman a smile, then waved his hand to motion to the people that were running around.

Among them were waiters and waitresses, dealers and bartenders. They were the normal, the ones people expected to see back here. However, among these people were a few men in suits, who slipped dice and extra packs of cards to the dealers as they left to start their shifts.

"This place has never been one for fair card games, but as of late it's truly gotten worse,"[/color] he motioned to a table where three people sat. Two of them were suits, but one was just a young girl; she sat between them, and was happily typing away on a computer. "They've managed to install cameras to peak at the player's hands, so the dealers will know exactly what cards to pick."[/color]

He frowned deeply, as if the thought displeased him, "Mischief and trickery is different than cheating, and the Puck despises cheating."[/color]

[Scoop]

::Cecilia relaxed a bit with the knowledge that she could not be seen. She removed the lens cap from her camera and began taking pictures liberally, capturing as much as she could, including a few of the exchanges between the men and suits and the table managers. Within a few moments she had gotten pictures from just about every angle, including the young girl.::

"Then I suppose that the Puck and I have that in common. Just curious...how did you find out about all of this, just wanton exploration?"

::She snapped one final picture of the computer station where the young girl was monitoring the table before turning back to Puck.::