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‘Oh, you mean like you’ve BEEN doing? I’ve been feeling a lot of hostility, y’know.’

‘My apologies,’ said Hector dryly. ‘I don’t know what came over me. I’m sure it would’ve been a boring story, anyway.’

‘Oh shit. Really? You’re doing this, now?’

‘Doing what? It’s just--now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not even sure why I decided to bet for it in the first place. I mean, if you had anything interesting to say about your past, you probably would’ve told it to me a long time ago.’

‘This isn’t gonna work, Hector.’

‘What isn’t?’

‘First of all, I know that YOU know that I have tons of interesting stories left to tell. I’m three thousand years old. You can’t possibly believe I’m out of material, already.’

‘Whatever you say, Garovel.’

The reaper snorted a laugh. ‘You sack of a crap! Stop trying to piss me off!’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Fuckin’ liar.’

‘It’s alright, Garovel. You don’t need to be ashamed of your boring history. I understand. ’

‘Wow.’

Hector laughed but decided to change tactics. With how stubborn the reaper was being, he was getting the impression that they were wading into sensitive territory here. ‘Do you really not want to tell me, though? I mean, you know, it actually IS okay, if you don’t want to. Seriously.’

The reaper made no response.

‘...Garovel?’

‘Um. Well. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you anything at all about my past. Because--and I’m being serious here--there’s plenty to tell. Obviously, I could pick a story from almost any point in my life, and you’d probably be fine with it. But... I’ve been thinking for a while now that there is... one story in particular that I’d like to tell you, even though it’s not one I like to tell.’

‘...So that’s why you’ve seemed so reluctant about this.’

‘I planned on telling it to you, sooner or later. It’s just easier to put these sorts of things off.’

‘Why don’t you like telling it?’

‘There are a few reasons. It’s quite personal, for one. And for another, it could be bad if other people found out about it. There’s sensitive information in it. But mostly... I think... the main reason I don’t like telling it is simply because... it doesn’t paint me in a very flattering light.’

‘Oh...’

‘While it did happen a very, VERY long time ago, I won’t blame you if you think less of me after I tell it to you.’

Suddenly, Hector wasn’t so sure he wanted to hear it anymore. ‘Uh... shit, Garovel. It’s really that bad?’

‘I would say yes. But then again, I don’t really know. I’m not sure what you’ll think.’

‘O-okay. Um.’ He tried to prepare himself. ‘I’ll try to keep an open mind, then.’