“So what, you spend the rest of your life running?” Didn’t sound like much of a life, constantly looking over your shoulder, constantly nervous and paranoid. “Sometimes, you have to turn and face the music. You can’t run for forever.”
there was a shrug. could he run forever? possibly, but he would eventually make his stand. not today, not tomorrow, but eventually he would it just would take time. “i can sure try.” rather, he could try and fail – either way? he didn’t think it mattered too much. not really at least.
“Yeah… yeah, that definitely sounds a little worse than anything I was imagining.” About ten thousand times worse. “So then, learn to cheat, if you’re going to play cards, and can’t afford to lose.”
“cheating only goes so far. knowing who you’re playing against is one thing, but beating them is another.” when the other had all the cards, how exactly was he supposed to beat someone like that? not when you only had half the picture of the situation. “they can see everything… you can just assume. if it’s wrong? well, you go bust.”
“If you win, then you win for good,” she corrected, raising a brow slightly. She didn’t fully understand everything he was explaining, but she got the general idea. “Either you spend your life looking over your shoulder, or you pick this battle and end it. What’s the worst that can happen?”
looking over his shoulder was something that was akin to second nature. he may have made a name for himself by killing monsters who were ten times his size and more powerful. not to mention what deals he had made. all the same, he doubted he would ever win for good. it just wasn’t reality, “ten thousand years in chains,” he said bluntly. “that is if i loseby not placing my cards right.”
On the one hand, she understood what he meant – pick your battles and all that – but sometimes, you had to take a risk. “Okay, but why not stack the cards in your favor? Cheat or whatever it takes. It doesn’t matter how you win, so long as you do win.”
“well, if i win, i win, but not everything can be cheated.” he had tried for years to out-wit his father, but always seemed to fall short. well, either that, or he was being watched most of the time. so, failing at times was the per-usual, but he did have backup pans, and only some of the time did those fail, “so, if i win? well, i win.”
“If there’s one thing i’ve learned so far? It’s don’t pick fights you can’t come away with a slim chance of winning.” Or, in his case, don’t pick fights with his own father unless you have a plan for after the fact, but that was besides the point. “If you don’t? Well, it’s just not worth the risk.”
Hellfirebound 