[no one said they couldn't knock the entire tower to pieces in a joint effort. no winner. no loser. but it's more fun to make someone lose. whoever built the cards up spent so much time making sure it was perfectly balanced. what an idiot. deliberately building something for the purpose of seeing it get demolished. guess that's part of the game's allure. and the questions.

a peal of laughter displays elongated fangs, reflected in a weird deformed warp in his helm. reminds him of a hyena.]

What do you know? [a dismissive flick sends the card to the "used" pile.] I could've been born this way.

[dropping his elbow to the table, he props one metal-lined jaw on the palm, fingers lazily drumming at his mask.]

Easy there, cutie. Wasn't asking for a full psyche bio. [truth? lie? neither matters. he could be making every word up and there's no way to tell. too much work to bother trusting. but he spills out some interesting drivel regardless.

impossible to tell if his eyes are moving while watching, his helmeted head stone still as xue yang's hand mirrors in its curve. precise with his motions while display neither struggle nor tension. he's used to doing meticulous work. nary a tremble as his card slips free. a single shit of his knee could brought the entire thing down...]

Someone might call it betrayal. I like to call it looking out for me.

[can't betray someone you were never on the side of in the first place. hell whether they think the same. he reaches for the tower again, going for the topmost card like normal. not a very risky player. that or he likes asking questions more. and sliding it off... flick.]

"What keeps you up at night?"