"Big bro, you back there?" Hearing Gray, I clicked my tongue and shifted the position of the woman beneath me. "Yeah, just give me a minute." With time no longer on my side, I quickly finished inside the woman before standing up and donning my clothes. Glancing down at the twitching and mentally broken woman, I fix her clothes before giving her a thumbs up. "Thanks, you were great." "Y-You'll b-break me."
Ignoring her mindless muttering, I stood up and walked out from behind the boulder that was hiding us, prompting Gray to glance at me before smirking. "So, how was she?" Rolling my eyes, I didn't respond and just pushed his head aside, causing him to snicker. "Anyway, what did you want? You made me finish earlier than I wanted." "We were heading to the Casino, and it only made sense for the wealthiest of us all to attend."
"You better not be thinking of using my money for gambling." Shooting a glare at Gray, he dismissively waved his hands, causing me to snort as I looked away. "Nah, well, I'm not at least, I've got some money saved." "Good, I would've had an awkward time explaining to Erza why you were unconscious." Gray dryly laughed at my very real prophecy of the future if he'd asked for money.
Leaving the beach behind, we entered the resort and headed to our room, where everyone had already changed into formal attire, causing me to whistle. "Never imagined you could look professional, Happy." Happy proudly raised his head at my compliment, while I shifted my gaze to the others, though when I saw Natsu, I could feel my eye twitch; his attire was the same, except he also wore a tie.
"Alright, I'm ready!" Shaking my head, I ignored Natsu and looked at the three women, who were all wearing dresses. "So, what do you think, big bro?" Faintly smirking, Cana flicked her hair and posed, prompting Erza and Lucy to do the same as they stood on either side of her.
"You all will look beautiful no matter what you wear." My words were nothing but the truth, and it seemed to satisfy Lucy as she lightly chuckled while thanking me, though Erza and Cana weren't so easily satisfied. "Okay, between Erza and me, who's more beautiful, big bro?" Instantly, there was a shift in the room's atmosphere, and as I looked at the two women, I subtly glanced at Gray, who raised his arms while quickly backing away, causing me to growl.
'Tsk, coward!' "Does it matter? You're both gorgeous." "Mu, of course it matters!" "Yes, it's a matter of womanly pride, big bro." Sighing, I lightly rubbed my face before pointing at Cana, who laughed in joy. "Haha, beat you, Erza!" While Cana enjoyed her win over Erza, I headed for the entrance before they could trap me again. "C'mon, let's go to the casino."
Leading everyone, including a sulking Erza, out of the room, we headed to the casino, which was bustling with activity. "Alright, go have fun, just don't come crying to me when you lose money." Yawning softly, I leaned against a wall near the door, prompting Gray, Cana, Natsu, and Happy to disperse throughout the massive Casino.
"You're not coming, big bro?" "He doesn't do casinos." "Why not?" "Because he beat up the owner of a casino when he lost." Snorting at how one-dimensional Erza's story was, I folded my arms and added some much-needed context. "The bastards were cheating. I was winning too much in the beginning, so they started cheating. I responded by beating the living shit out of them until they gave me the money I earned."
Before they could continue to pester me, I gently pushed them away, causing the two to disappear into the crowd of wealthy people, though not without Loke manifesting himself beside me. "So, a perfect place for a challenge, no?" "I thought you had gotten scared." Flashing Loke a smirk, I pushed myself off the wall, preparing for the game of courting women.
After a brief discussion, we settled on a few rules: Rule one: We would have five chances to court a woman. Rule two: We would be given ten minutes; if we failed to court the woman by then, we would lose. Lastly, rule three: we would pick each other's target.
"Alright, as the self-proclaimed king of courtship, you're going first." Loke didn't try to argue and merely smirked, causing me to groan as I eyed the numerous women, only to spot an uncomfortable and nervous woman in the corner by herself.
"Oi, there, she's your target." "At least pick someone challenging… I'll be done in five minutes." Fixing his tie, Loke winked at me before approaching the woman I'd pointed at while I watched him. I had hoped the woman would be nervous about responding to Loke's flirting; however, I was gravely mistaken. She was happily laughing within three minutes, and by the tenth minute, Loke's hands were intimately resting on her body.
As Loke approached me, confidently smiling, I saw him holding a slip of paper, causing me to click my tongue. "You know what this-" "It's her room number, right? C'mon, just pick my target already." Chuckling, Loke stored the slip away and observed for a minute before pointing at the older lady, late thirties, possibly early forties, though she was amazing for her age.
"Her, just don't embarrass yourself." Rolling my eyes, I approached the older lady, and when I got close, I started to realize why he had picked her. 'She's clearly used to being in charge. Heh, Loke must think our similar personalities will clash.' The older lady was clearly the dominant type, the kind that would have her husband raising their children and cleaning dishes; unfortunately for Loke, he failed to realize there were levels to this.
I wasn't as smooth as Loke, nor as skilled, but I was better looking, more powerful, and blunt; I wouldn't beat around the bush like him, I'd tell the woman exactly what I wanted.
"Hit me." Folding her arms, the older lady's intense gaze caused the attendant to nervously nod as he handed her another card while several others watched, but their focus was interrupted as I suddenly pushed the older lady against the table.
"Damn! Bastard, watch where you're going!" In a fit of anger, the older lady turned around, though her eyes ended up widening when she stared into my own. Caging her between my body, arms, and the table, I grabbed her thigh and lifted it parallel with my hips while firmly holding her chin, causing her to gasp.
"I want you." As I pushed those three words out through a growl, they didn't mean much to strangers, but when it came from a very handsome man whose whole being exuded the aura of a wild and overbearing beast, it did wonders to women, and the older lady, who had wrapped a leg around my waist, was no exception.
"T-Take me." With eyes glossed over with lust and desire, her dominant personality had entirely vanished, snuffed out by my much stronger and potent aura, turning her submissive. "Tonight. Room number." Growling into her ear, I gripped her thigh harder, causing her to rapidly nod as she scrambled to find something to write on before handing it to me.
Grabbing the slip of paper, I released the blushing woman, flashed her a smirk, and slapped her butt before walking away, returning to Loke, who had watched everything. "Did you think a woman whose dominance came from barking orders could compete with me, who earned it from risking my life and killing powerful enemies?" "Tsk, I do admit that was a misjudgment on my part."
For the next hour, we continued our challenge; I would pick a domineering woman for Loke, who skillfully succeeded, and then he'd pick a submissive woman for me, who had practically been waiting for a dominant man to enter her life. By the time we were ready to pick our fifth target, we each had four slips of paper on our person, though neither of us cared about that; the atmosphere was tense between us as we sought an opponent that would cause the other to surely fail.
"Heh, I admit, big bro, I've been underestimating your god given gifts. There probably isn't a woman you couldn't get." "Tch, then admit your defeat." Loke just laughed, causing me to growl in annoyance as we continued to search, though our tense challenge was suddenly brought to a halt as gunfire filled the casino, scaring everyone.
While everyone rushed to the exits, Loke and I exchanged a glance before nodding; dashing through the crowd, we headed to the sound of gunfire. This challenge of ours could wait; for now, we needed to deal with whoever was attacking us, as we knew the gunfire was directed at us. Natsu was with us; nothing more needed to be said.