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((Double Monday -- Page 1 of 2))
‘Atreya isn’t the only place where people worship her, y’know,’ said Garovel. ‘She’s been popular all over Eloa for thousands of years, especially during the peak of the Mohssian Empire. In fact, I’d say that was one of the major reasons why the Rainlords never really got along with the rest of the Empire very much. They refused to let go of Lhutwë and accept Cocora into their hearts like everybody else was doing.’

‘Yeah, that sounds like the Rainlords alright.’

‘Hector, why are you so interested in gods all of a sudden?’

‘N-no reason.’

‘You hesitated. That means you’re lying.’

‘N-no, it doesn’t. I do that shit all the time. I can’t help it.’

‘Yeah, I don’t believe you,’ said Garovel. ‘And if you’re lying to me, then I’m guessing that it’s because you’re planning to do something that you know I won’t like.’

‘I... ah...’

‘Something to do with gods, obviously.’

‘Now who’s the detective? Sheesh.’

‘Just tell me what it is and save me the trouble of guessing.’

Hector considered it briefly. ‘I thought you liked guessing games.’

‘You’re gonna be like that, are you? Alright, fine, I’ll play.’

‘You get three guesses,’ said Hector.

‘Oh, you’re giving me a hard limit? Seems a bit unfair.’

‘Wouldn’t be much of a game if I didn’t. If I let you have all the guesses you want, then you can’t lose. There would be no stakes.’

‘Heh, stakes, huh? This is getting serious, now. What do I get if I win, then?’

‘Hmm. What do you want?’

Garovel fell silent as he mulled it over. ‘I want you to ask Lynn out on a date the next time you see her.’

Hector stopped walking for a second to look at Garovel. ‘Well, so much for that game, then. You’re right, Garovel. We should just concentrate on finding that keyhole.’

‘Okay, okay, just hold on,’ the reaper said in hurry. ‘That was too much. Fine. I don’t want you to ask her out on a date. Instead, I just want you to give her a compliment.’ After a beat, he added, ‘Intentionally, that is. Accidental compliments don’t count.’

Hector took some time to deliberate, frowning inside his helmet as he tried to imagine it. ‘How...? I... agh, so I’m supposed to just shoehorn a random compliment into a conversation with her out of nowhere?’

‘Doesn’t have to be out of nowhere,’ said Garovel. ‘I’m sure you could figure out a sneaky way to work up to it. I’ve got faith in you, buddy.’

Hector grumbled to himself, wanting to call the game off again but not seeing much justification for it this time.

‘C’mon,’ said Garovel. ‘If you can talk Ivan down from killing everyone, then I’m pretty sure you can at least pay Lynn a compliment.’

Hector scowled. ‘Only if you win. You’ve gotta guess right, first.’

‘Of course. And for my first guess--’

‘Hold on. What do I get if I win?’