Blop

by Tanya Reed

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything Relic Hunter.

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"Tell me again why we decided to do this," Sydney whispered across the table to Nigel.

Her friend's face was scrunched up in concentration as his eyes flickered over the paper in front of him.

It was Claudia who answered, her little fingers fidgeting with the dobber in her hand. "It was your idea. You said it would be fun. You said it would help the children. I don't even like children."

Sydney was about to reply when the next number came up on the screen nearby. Quickly, she scanned her cards for B10.

"No B10, either," Nigel grumbled. "I can't even get two bloody numbers that go together."

She sighed. "I don't even like Bingo. Nigel, why didn't you tell me this was a bad idea?"

He looked up, a frown creasing his face. "Huh?"

"Claudia's bored."

"Did I say that?" There was an indignant squeak to her secretary's voice. She then kicked Sydney's ankle. "N49."

"N49?" Sydney looked down and her scowl matched Nigel's. "Not even close."

"Ha ha!" Nigel exclaimed in delight. "That's set me."

Claudia leaned over to peer at his cards. "You'll give me half, right?"

"Nobody said anything about sharing."

"Oh, Nigel, you're no fun."

"I can't see how you equate my being fun to my giving you money."

"It's easy. You give me money, and I have fun spending it."

Sydney tapped the bottom of her dobber on the table and ignored her friends. In irritation, she noticed that her numbers were scattered like paint splatters on a wall. They'd played at least six games already, and she'd never even been close.

Nigel's eyes slid from Claudia's face to check the next number on the screen. She pouted a moment at his inattention to her.

"Watch your cards, Claudia," Sydney told her. "Maybe you can win your own money."

Sydney sighed and her own eyes flicked downward for a moment. After checking her cards, she looked back at Nigel, who was concentrating so hard that his glasses had slid to the end of his nose. She glanced at Claudia just in time to see a sly smile flit over the other woman's face.

"Nigel," the blond said sweetly.

"Yes?" When he turned his head, Claudia's hand shot out to press her neon pink dobber against his forehead.

"Gotcha!"