Some buns never learn

This wasn’t the first time that Nixie had overestimated their luck at the Wonderland Casino and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, however it seems that this time Angora had other plans for repayment this round. Angora had always been a business woman and wasn’t one to pass up on a good gamble and this summer was no exception. She had been looking into investing in some interesting business ventures and with the sun and fun she came up with the perfect business model of selling shells. Not any type of shells of course, but only the most pristine and beautiful deep sea shells that money could buy, and she was ready to sell. Of course she wasn’t going to have Nixie do all of the heavy lifting, having had a few other buns in her back pocket for such favors in retrieving them, but she certainly did not pass up the opportunity to have Nixie with such a fitting coat, man the front for her. 

Some would say that the timing was impeccable for Angora, some say it could have been rigged but regardless, Nixie was once again in debt to the Casino owner and needed to pay it off. The sky was bright and the air was hot on their fur as they sat out with the glittering shells in front of them on display. With a fatigued groan and stretch they watched as a few patrons passed by, some taking a look and a sigh at the high carat prices, some trying to haggle, and a few jumping at the chance for such rare shells. The day felt long and Nixie wasn’t allowed to leave until everything was sold…

“You won’t be selling very many if you look like that.” Said a light and sweet voice from behind. 

The sound almost startled them as they quickly sat up to turn at the bun behind them and there stood Mercy, in quite a cute bathing suit, seemingly ready for the beach. Nixie gave a small lick of their lips as their eyes scanned the smiling nun before sitting up to pay attention to their words. “Things are selling just fine.” They replied as they leaned forward to gesture to the remaining stock. Mercy raised her brow as she walked over to take a better look at the remaining shells, leaning forward and smiling as she looked at the iridescent items.

 “Well it seems you have some pretty jewelry.. You should have someone model it for you. I wouldn’t mind doing it.” Nixie raised their brow, they were listening.

 “For a cut.” Ah, there it was, the catch.

 “What kind of cut?” 

“20%”

Nixie frowned. “No deal, I didn’t make the prices.” 

“No no, we just raise the price we sell them for and I keep the extra off the top~” Mercy insisted with a sweet smile. 

Nixie looked doubtful but leaned back with arms crossed. “Let's see it then.” 

Mercy’s smile widened before she quickly took a few items from the display to adorn herself and began to parade around the strip of the beach, speaking loudly and happily to any that she could come across and sure enough, a handful of potential customers began to approach. Nixie gave a whistle of impressment as they got into making a few sales. 

Mercy was a true hustler at heart, her heart always in it for the carats and by the time the crystals from the sky began to dim, they had sold all except the items that Mercy had been wearing for the day. As she looked down at the lovely pieces she approached the now empty stand with Nixie counting up the carats for the day. “Good work, you should really do this for a living.” They said with a smile as they held out their cut of carats for a hard day’s work. Mercy smiled and shook her head. “I think I’ll just keep what I’m wearing, and that should even out for Angora.” Nixie raised their brows. “How’d you know this was Angora’s?” Mercy laughed as she twirled a necklace around with her finger. “Has Angora written all over it, besides, you looked miserable out here, I figured you wouldn’t be doing this willingly.” The two laughed together before she waved goodbye. “Tell Angora hi for me!” Mercy yelled back as she began to head toward the beach, at the very least she could enjoy the sunset. In the end Nixie counted up all of the earnings for the day excluding the items that Mercy took for herself and found he had an extra couple of carats, how… surprisingly charitable of Mercy, they knew she was someone who knew where every Carat had come and gone. 

Nixie was tired but at least the load to bring back to the Casino was light with no stock.
“Ah, welcome back Nixie, how was the day? “ Angora greeted them at the door as they walked in, preventing trailing sand behind them to get further into her establishment. Nixie gave her a smile as they handed over the large satchel. “Done and Done.” Her expression was that of surprise as she felt the weight of the carats in hand. “Wait- you sold it all?” She asked, stunned. “Yes ma’am, which means we’re square.” Nixie said with a smile. “And I've got just enough in tips to clean you out tonight.”