Passive Aggressive

Cordayl and Esquimo are walking through a vast, brightly lit city with tall buildings and busy pedestrians ready for the night.

Esquimo hails a cab and motions for Cordayl to get in. As the two drive off, Cordayl asks them where they are going.

"Well, since we are starting to run low on funds, I figured we could go to the one place where we can turn nothing into something," Esquimo answers.

"The gas station?" Cordayl guesses.

"No, lad," Esquimo replies. The scene flips, and they are standing outside of a massive and attractive building. "The casino!" Esquimo yells in glee.

Cordayl shakes his head. Looking up, he sees a van being loaded with two crates. A colossal man walks out of the casino, smoking a cigar. His eyes are naturally drawn to Cordayl, but he cannot make out his identity due to the hood. He takes one final puff and hops into the truck parked in front of the van.

"So you plan on gambling? Great idea, old…-er man," Cordayl quickly corrects himself, seeing Esquimo put his hand on his sword.

Esquimo relaxes, "It's only gambling if your chances are 50/50. I know I'm going to win. And when I do, ooooh, we will eat like kings." Esquimo smiles big as he walks with Cordayl into the casino.

Fifteen minutes later, Esquimo is crying at the gambling table as more of his money is taken away from him by the table master.

A young lady with a blonde wig and a lot of pearl jewelry is smiling big as the earnings are pushed toward her. "Lucky, lucky me, " she gloats as she pulls in all her winnings. "I like you, newbie. You might be my charm." The lady winks at the casino master.

The young lady looks around the area and sees that a couple of guards have noticed her in the building. Quickly scooping her winnings into her bag, she walks past a crying Esquimo and flees the area.

The thought of a quick escape is short, though, as she soon finds herself face-to-face with two big-ass security guards. She gasps, but as they move in to grab her, she evades their massive hands and re-starts her escape.

Ducking and dodging every guard who tries to catch her, the girl is almost at the exit. Looking back at the slow guards, she can't help but gloat, "Lucky, lucky me."

Then she runs dead smack into the back of Cordayl, falling over him. He catches her, but her eyes slightly grow when she notices his handsome face. The shock is short-lived, though, as she suddenly starts to cuss Cordayl out for standing where he is.

Cordayl, already upset someone tried to run him over, gets into an argument with the girl. The guards finally catch up to them and yell for both of them to stay where they are.

Cordayl looks at the group of guards, standing tall across from them. The young lady looks up at the bold and handsome Cordayl, staring in awe as he plans to protect her.

Then her eyes turn to disgust as she watches him take off running.

The guards are caught off guard at the speed of the fleeing man and decide to resume their chase of the girl. She quickly speeds off to catch up to Cordayl, who is already at the exit.

As the girl reaches Cordayl's side, she yells for him to go away,

"You're following me!" Cordayl shouts as they spring through the streets.

They jump through and around bodegas and random kiosks to evade the buff casino guards, who continue to chase them for some odd reason.

"I thought they worked for the casino. Why are they still chasing us?! " Cordayl asks. Then, suddenly, the guards start to open fire at them, scaring the pedestrians on the street.

Continuing to run and dodge the gunfire, the lady responds, "To answer your question, they aren't casino guards."

As they continue to run, the young lady takes an unlucky tumble due to the scattering crowd.

Seeing the lady fall, Cordayl looks back in fear as he realizes she is now vulnerable to the guard's gunfire.

The gunmen stop to aim and let their guns rip on the young lady. She balls up in fear, hoping that her small stature will afford her minimal bullet holes.

The young lady doesn't feel any pain, and when she opens her eyes, she sees Cordayl squatting in front of her, protecting her.

Cordayl's eyes grow, and the girl releases a small gasp, thinking that he is the bravest man to have died for her.

"It didn't even hurt," Cordayl says, a little bit surprised himself. The girl rolls her eyes, but as the gunfire continues, Cordayl scoops her up in his arms and continues running.

Taking multiple shots in the back doesn't slow Cordayl down at all, as he somehow manages to hide from the gunmen by standing on the wooden lid of a well.

With his hand over her mouth, Cordayl quietly watches as the gunmen search the area. Cordayl is so focused on the guards that he doesn't hear the wood creaking under his weight.

The girl tries to tell him, but he tells her to keep quiet for a bit longer.

She keeps trying to warn him, but he grips her mouth tighter. So, to get free, she starts to lick his hand.

Grossed out, Cordayl releases his hold on the girl's mouth and says, "Ewww. WHAT!"

"The lid is about to bre-" The girl tries to tell him as the wooden door to the well collapses and sends them plummeting down milliseconds before their hiding spot is riddled with bullets.

The two fall far, screaming the whole way down. Their screams echo, indicating no hint that they have met the bottom yet.

The guards circle the well, trying to see the bottom. As they all peek inside, one of the guards pushes another, trying to get him to jump in and continue the chase.

The guard quickly jumps away from the well and pushes the guard who nudged him. Then they all just open fire down the well's opening.

With one last bullet, the guards, satisfied, walk away to return to the casino.

Cordayl, with the girl in his arms, descends the deep well. Cordayl lands hard on his back. Upon impact, the money that the girl won at the casino comes spilling out as if she were Sonic after getting poked by a spike.

The girl quickly rolls out of Cordayl's arms, leaving the wig behind, to collect the money, coin by coin.

Cordayl sits up, rubbing the back of his head. Tossing the wig aside, he notices her emerald green hair. He watches the girl frantically collect the coins, counting the money as she does.

"It's just money," Cordayl states. "You won it at a casino, just do it again."

"It's not just money!" the girl shouts back at him, her response catching Cordayl off guard.

"My bad," Cordayl responds, shocked at her clap back.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you. It's just that this money is the only way I will be able to get them back," the girl tells him.

Cordayl stops his stretching, "Get who back."

The girl doesn't stop collecting the money, but she answers him. "My parents. They were taken from me."

"Why?" Cordayl ask.

"I come from a race of leprechauns, the luckiest beings on this earth. When we arrived in this city, this thug noticed us and kidnapped them, thinking they would be his good luck charms in all his doings.

"I confronted him, but he told me I would have to pay 2 million coins to buy them back. So, I have been saving up every coin I could to one day free them. On top of an extra 250 coins a week to keep mine. Then he sends those goons to steal from me, to pile on interest when I miss a payment," the girl sighs in frustration.

"Damn, that sucks. You do know that this gangster never intends to give your parents back, right?" Cordayl says, continuing to watch the girl crawl around and pick up coins.

"Half of me knows that. But the other half wants to believe we can be a family again. It's the only thing driving me," the girl sadly expresses.

"That's very admirable," Cordayl tells her, holding up the last coin she seeks. She stands to her feet and accepts it with a smile,

"Tell you what, I'll help you if you help me," Cordayl tells her.

"You will!" The girl's eyes light up. "Wait, how? I saw you back there, and all you did was run and get shot. What are you going to do about it?"

"It's obvious you don't watch much TV. That's good. But believe me, I just need the right motivation to get me in the fighting mood."

"Hmm. Lucky for you, I'm pretty desperate, so depending on how I can help you, you might have a deal, " the girl tells him.

"Well, I just need your help securing some coins. I'm traveling, and I need as much money as I can get right now. If my ears work right, I'll say you just dropped and recollected 321 coins, right?"

"How did you-" the girl says in amazement

"That's plenty of money for me and my friend to get a couple of towns over and enjoy a good meal or two on the way," Cordayl tells her. "So what do you say? Do what you've been doing, and I'll recover your parents in exchange?"

"Are you for real?" The girl says, wanting to believe him.

"As serious as this well is dry," Cordayl says with a small smile.

The girl looks at Cordayl's handsome face and decides to trust him. "Funny how you can hear coins dropping but not an old wooden door breaking, but deal!"

Cordayl and the girl make it within view of the casino when the girl suddenly dashes off for some reason.

A moment later, Cordayl gets a tap on his shoulder from a short lady with dark brown hair and heels. "Hey, can I help you?"

"It's me!" the girl says, shocking Cordayl with how quickly and nicely her disguise is applied.

"Very good." Cordayl compliments. "I think you look good with this hair color." He says, touching the hair of the wig, making the girl blush.

"Okay, we know the plan. You go get the money, and I'll go get the parents," Cordayl says, holding up the directions she crudely drew on a piece of paper for him.

"Right. By the time you return, I'll have this whole casino dry." The girl beams.

"Just try not to get chased again. I doubt you're lucky enough to run into my clone in there." Cordayl jokes, winking at her. Before he gets too far away, the girl stops him.

"Wait!" Fishing in her bra, she pulls out a shiny gold coin and hands it to him.

"Payment comes after the job is done," Cordayl says.

"This isn't money. This is a good luck charm. In my culture, the women give it to the men they love so that they have good luck with them at all times." The girl explains.

Cordayl humbly accepts the coin. "So, does this mean you love me?"

The comment makes the girl blush and turn away from him. "Just be safe." She says, running away to get into the casino.

Cordayl sprints to catch up to her, "Wait up. I just realized I haven't even asked you your name."

The girl finally realizes they never introduced themselves. Happily holding out her hand and with a big smile, she says, "I'm Lucille."

"Nice to meet you, Lucille, I'm Cordayl." Cordayl shakes her hand to conclude the meeting.

"Aight, Lucille, I'll see you soon," Cordayl says, smiling and disappearing into the crowd.