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Nicholas looked with interest at the game. He knew exactly what it was, however didn't know what the trick was to it. He knew that one existed though, they always did in games like this. He was going to ask what needed to be done to win when the man began talking about the rules. So there was a grand prize? He was going to ask about it when Ayume beat him to it. So she really was interested? He would have to play a round with her. If the grand prize was something she wanted, he would have to get it for her, or at least keep her playing till she gets it herself.

When the game master showed them a fluffy dragon, he heard Ayume speak in a barely audible voice. Ah...those are cute. those words made him remove his arm from around the girl. Though he payed little attention to it, he noticed the lost of warmth when pulling away. His hand reached into the pockets of his pants, pulling out his wallet which he took out of his other pants when changing. Walking up to the game master, Nick offered a sheepish smile after pulling out a bit of kan , the currency amongst souls. As the heir to the Azurian, Nicholas was entitled to a more than fair some of money. A small amount for a few games wouldn't dent his wallet at all. "Me and her would like to play. Be prepared to lose at least one of those fluffy dragons, bud." He spoke, holding out the ryo towards the man. "Is this enough?" He asked, offering the usual amount for two people. A game was usually five kan, however he pulled out ten for each of them just in case. Along with that, five kan took the shape of a coin and he hated carrying around change, or rather he hated the sound of coins clinking and jingling in his pocket.

While awaiting the game master, he looked around to see a few people staring and whispering. Through his unnatural connection to reishi, he tuned in to the spiritons in the air, listening to what they were saying. Mainly just questions about whether or not the heir to the Azurian and the Kuchiki were together, or if they were actually about to play a normal festival game. The conversations varied on topics, but they were all related to Ayume and Nicholas. He knew they were a famous couple. The Azurian were a powerful, wealthy family, and their heir had been wanted by many, not just for his looks, but because of the family he would eventually be the head of. The Kuchiki were few, however they were still rich and very well known/respected. Especially because two of their members were captains of very important divisions. One which was the head healing division and the other was the main police force. The fact that members of both families were getting married to each other, captains no less, made them probably the most well known couple, especially because the marriage was in a few months. Merely giving a wave to a few of the people, he seemed to snap them out of their staring, watching as they got embarrassed and turned away from him.

He gave a little laugh, then turned to the white haired gil he was with before. He walked up to her, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish look. "I hope you don't mind me paying for your game. I just want you to have that dragon. Umm, are you okay with that, Ayume-san."

Nick flicked his rings, watching impressed at his finances work. "Ha, good job, sweetheart." He spoke with a small smirk, just playing with the rings in his hands. He held one in between his pointer finger and thumb before flicking his wrist, the ring flying through the air and landing on one bottle which already had a ring on it. Next came three more consecutively, the clinking of rings swirling around bottles ringing throughout the air. "Four and I haven't even missed yet? Haha, I'm not that bad at this game." Of course he wasn't bad. With the type of shinkai he had, accuracy was key. An off throw of his zanpakutou could lead to his death. One of the effects of his shikai were dangerous. After throwing his blade, he could instantly teleport to the location of wherever it landed. A miss could lead to his death.

He took a step back, testing his luck, throwing another two rings. They reached the same row of bottles, landing side by side, swirling around each one. "There goes six. How many did I need again?" He asked, looking at the gamemaster with a devious little smirk. "Eh, I forgot. Guess I'll just have to make them all then." He gave a wink, throwing another two, purposely putting one on top of the other so that when one looped around the bottle, the other would hit the neck before falling to the floor. A purposeful miss. "Oops."

He looked over and saw a bit of hope in the man's face. Listening around, he still heard doubts on whether him and Ayume would honor the arranged marriage. This should clear the air on the matter. he looked over to his fiance and gave a sweet smile, his eyes setting on hers. "Hey, I just need this last one right? You mind helping me out, hun?" If she said Yes, he would hand her the ring before standing behind her and placing his hand over hers, guiding her throw. It was a common thing that couples did.

Even if they had somehow missed, he still had an extra ring just in case.

Nicholas gave small smile as he guided her hand. He felt her tense up, and knew that she would probably crack down on him for this later, however for now he just wanted to win her that dragon, shut the game master up, and stop any false rumors from spreading around the crowd. Although it embarrassed him to think about it, this was the girl who would be his wife, his fiance, the one who he would eventually fall in love with, if things went well. Thinking of this, coupled with the fact of how close he was to her, it honestly made him blush. Some inner defensive mechanisms threatened to rise, however he shut them down immediately. He always had a hard time with trust, as well as getting too close to people. Everyone in his squad knew that, however Ayume was a special case. He would have to reject any wants to distance himself from her. After all, he could never really get her trust if he didn't open up.

Guiding her hand, they threw the ring together, and he watched as it swirled around a close bottle. That was all. They could get their prize now. He could easily hear the game master swear under his breath, however his attention was currently on Ayume, who turned to look at him, and whispered a thank you in his ear. He found himself happy, that he had made her genuinely smile, though it was more like a devious grin, something he found strangely adorable on the girl he had pictured so far as shy.. Such a thing made him smile back sweetly and sincerely. He noticed the pink blush on her cheeks and found himself forgetting the real reason he held her in the first place, enjoying the small moment they had.

He found himself pulling away from the girl, looking to the game master now. "So, can you give my fiance the dragon she won?" He spoke, handing the last ring in his hand to the man. It wasn't needed. He already reached the amount. While he could be a jerk and just toss it in the farthest back row, he decided against it, figuring that the game master learned his lesson on underestimating captain of the gotei thirteen. On that thought, he really was impressed with Ayume. She pretty much instantly found out the trick of the game, and capitalized on it as soon as she found out. Along with that, her accuracy and throwing form was nice as well. He would have to compliment her on that later, when he had the chance.

Nicholas heard her laugh and smiled brightly, enjoying the chiming sound. If that was how she sounded when she'd laugh, he'd try and make her delighted to the point so much more. It was adorable. Blue eyes would then wander to a nearby girl. He had seen her around the Rukongai before. At first, he thought she was alone, so he had offered the girl a home, however his heart clenched to find out that she already had a family and place to live. Although it sounded odd, he almost wished the girl was an orphan. If she was, he could have taken her into his home, into his family. However, she had a father, and no father would toss away so much pride that he'd live in another man's home, under another man's name and taking another man's money. He didn't blame the father one bit, but still, it was sad.

Watching his fiance, Nicholas was seeing the girl in another light. To do something so nice for Aya...It was definitely good to know that Ayume was a generous, kind sort. Seeing some of her different sides in only a matter of seconds, ranging from serious to sweet, it made him find her so much more appealing. She had definitely scored some points with the Azurian heir with her actions just then, though she probably wouldn't know it. Seeing Aya leave with her father, he made a mental note, reminding him to check up again later on Aya and see how she was doing. Maybe bring along a bento for the family to eat with him. If Ayume wanted to, he'd probably have her join as well, since the Rukon girl obviously took a liking to the healing divisions captain.

His white haired date turned to him then and walked towards him, with only two dragons in her arms. He couldn't help but give a small smile. "What you just did..." He tried to find the words, the girl before him different now. He no longer thought of her as the shy girl he would end up marrying. He now saw her as a girl who was generous, sweet, and stronger than she looked, who was rather easy on the eyes as well. Along with that, her shy side also hinted at a mystery he would have to figure out. The snow haired girl before him was definitely interesting. "It was kind, and generous. Not so many people are that nice with Aya-chan, so I'm glad you showed her kindness. Thanks." He spoke, words grateful. This lasted for only a moment though, before he would walk off, gesturing for her to follow him. While it was easier to lead her around by holding her, he understood that the contact would not always be necessary.

Something would catch his attention from the corner of his eye, a golden shine. He looked over to see a necklace with a familiar symbol on it. A Fleur de Lis. Stopping his stride, he would see that it was inside a glass case, along with other prizes that really contained no meaning to him. Though one couldn't guess it instantly most likely, Nicholas had a deep interest in the human world and their religions, traditions, and other things. The Fluer de Lis was something which interested him because he saw it everywhere in plenty of different areas from Florence to Quebec. Unfortunately, he knew nearly nothing about it, which was unfortunate, however it made him that much more interested to learn. "Hey, Ayume-san, it looks like there is something over here." He would speak, the slightest bit of excitemement creeping into his tone as he approached the stall. Question marks littered the area, and it was obvious that the topic would be either riddles or questions. The captain set his eyes on the game master, a man with glasses and red hair, as well as a simple white shirt with a black vest thrown over it. The man's green eyes opened to see the Azurian.. "Are you here for a game? This is a test of the mind, a challenge of riddles, something which involves real skills, unlike these other foolish games you can find around here." The man obviously had some distaste for the other games, maybe because his stall had few amounts of people, the contestants looking at cards with friends and dates, stressing over most likely questions that they did not have the answer to. "Umm, Ayume-chan, are you going to join." Nicholas would ask, looking back to his fiance.

Nicholas was listening, watching this madam Babushka explain, however he couldn't help but pay attention when a certain white haired girl pulled on his shirt. Looking at Ayume, he saw her nod, and felt delighted that she'd play it with him. Mind games were always tricky when trying them all alone. Babushkas arms waving about caught his attention, so the Azurian heir listened to her. She spoke of the way that there was no price, and spoke basic rules with not so subtle hints of a want for a donation.

Constantly seeing her eyes flicker from him to her little donation box, he pulled out a fair amount of kan from his wallet, before setting it into the box. He shot her a look which read "Happy?" before listening to her continue speaking. She would speak out the riddle, then oddly look cross eyed towards her nose. Just deeming the woman as probably off her rocker, he thought on what She said.

Thinking about it, the answer could have been multiple things. He was sure that there were multiple machines in the world of the living which worked in that way, however he assumed the answer would have been something without too much mechanics and moving parts, as they were souls, and the soul society had no such things, aside from maybe the items inside the R&D Squad. He doubted that the black haired woman knew of such things though. Not thinking hard enough at the moment, he turned to his date.

"Ayume-chan, you have any ideas?" He asked with a sheepish smile, a little embarrassed over asking her, since he was the one who wanted to play the game in the first place. Nicholas noticed something in the way he called her, a slight change in the honorific. He was surprised that he didn't even know he said it. He supposed...he was just getting comfortable with her. Though he knew that he should learn more about the Kuchiki girl he was arranged to be married to.

Nicholas pondered for awhile what his answer could be, and as his date continued to speak, the closer he got to the answer. When she turned towards him, blushing as usual, he listened to her speak more. He noticed how much she was smiling, and felt happy that she was doing such a thing. He had taken her out of her shell a bit. "I think...that you may just be on to something." He spoke, shooting her a grin before crossing his arms.

He doubted it was the earth. The answer would be too obvious. Riddles tend to make you think of the least expected thing. Her assumption of the hourglass...well, it seemed perfect. "You may have called it not as pertinent, but the hourglass may just be the precise thing we're looking for. It's not so easily guessed, and completes the motions as well. Two bodies put together than move faster when stilled." He seemed really absorbed into the whole thing, riddles and mind games being something he loved. The fact that she helped him out with the riddle made her even more great in his eyes. Ayume really was something...

Clearing his head of those thoughts, a light shade of pink on his cheeks, Nicholas would turn towards the gypsy and grin. "So, tell us, are we on the money? Is it an hourglass?" He'd ask her, hoping they were correct.