"What?" Neil said.
"Nothing," Randy said immediately, sitting forward and picking up his cup again. "So. What are you planning to do next?"
Neil considered how much to share.
"A trip," he said. "A challenging one."
Randy looked at him and understood from the way he said it that no further detail was coming, and accepted this with the ease of someone who had learned when to probe and when not to.
"Right," he said.
He was quiet for a moment, and Neil could see the calculation behind his eyes, the particular look Randy got when his mind was working on angles.
"I wonder," Randy said slowly, "if there is a way to run another event before you go. Get some of the settlement's lords together, put up some interesting odds..."
"You're thinking about betting on me again," Neil said flatly.
"I'm thinking about providing entertainment to the settlement community," Randy replied, without any visible shame. "And also possibly about betting on you again, yes."
Neil shook his head.
