hey hurry up, lately it's been hard enough

[attitude]

Swindling people wasn't always about the money. Of course, the money was a good touch, and the reason why Faye took to it so much back home, racking up woolong until she could take herself on long, regular shopping sprees. More often than not, though, it was the thrill of being a cheat, with the risk of being caught on her shoulders at every turn. Trying to move that magnetic anklet on her leg just right, trying for nonchalant, so people wouldn't notice the soft thud of dice against the table as they came down in her favor. Not everything she did was cheating, of course. She knew full well that the best swindling happened when it was only an occasional thing, racking up enough truth to make people just slightly too wary to start pointing fingers. She was skilled in these sorts of games, had learned about probability long ago, to the point where even in an honest game of poker, she swept the table more often than not.

So even though all they had to gamble for on the island were mangoes and bananas, she still desperately wanted to cheat some people out of their hard-earned efforts, just to see how they'd react, and if the people on the island were half as naive as they proclaimed to be.

When a man stepped into the room, tall and handsome, a shade of a smile in his eye, Faye laid out a spread of cards that she'd managed to find in the rec room, looking at him invitingly.

"Wanna play?"

Comments

[attitude]

At this point, Faye is growing increasingly baffled by the jukebox than anything else. She's been around bad music before. She's been around a complete lack of music, more difficult than most people would think to deal with. But this goes beyond that, goes to truly trying to understand what might have possessed anyone to pour away the money that clearly went into recording such a single. If anything, she feels sorry for the poor girl who's been thrown into the project, probably no one bright enough to turn down those lyrics, too blinded by the thought of fame.

Then again, infamy has its own draw.

She purses her lips, tilts her head. "Maybe it's one of those made-for-TV singles to help kids learn their days of the week," she suggests with a shrug. "Or rich parents trying to appease a starstruck kid."

[dreambigger]

"I'd hope the former, if anything," Eames says with a shrug, finding himself increasingly amused by the song as it plays on, wretched though it is. One leg crossing over the other, ankle resting on opposite knee, he lets his foot bounce slightly in time to it, a gesture that he would only describe as ironic. There's nothing about this that merits it, though he's beginning to suspect that he'll wind up humming it for the rest of the day, which would just be bloody fantastic. "Might be forgivable that way. Otherwise, it has nothing going for it."

[attitude]

Faye's grin widens, a bit more wicked, enjoying the man's wry humor. Maybe it's obvious that there are layers to him, that what she's seeing on the surface can't be all that there is to this man. Almost all intelligent people have layers. One for sense. One for emotion. One for the deeper skeins of thought that wrap around one another like a spider's web. She doesn't have to hide herself around him, because she knows that he can hold his own, and to Faye that's nothing but a comfort.

"Aw, don't you think that it's cute? Parents going all out for their kids. Think of it as a sign of devotion. Just lacking in sense," she grins, before leaning back. "We could always run off to the Winchester. Get a drink."

[dreambigger]

"Oh, it would be precious, if we didn't all have to suffer through the result," Eames says, smiling in return as he does. Truly, it isn't quite so awful as he makes it out to be, but once the point has been made, he doesn't want to relent on it, either, continuing only for its sake. Of course, what she says after, that is a much more interesting turn of conversation. "A drink, though, sounds wonderful, if you care to head out now."

[attitude]

"I guess that means you don't have kids of your own. Seems to be the very definition of being a parent, making everyone else suffer through the result. You get those who praise their kids to no end, then you get the ones who bitch and think it's supposed to be as easy as a Do-It-Yourself kit," Faye grins, picking herself up and gathering the cards, slipping the deck into her back pocket, stretching her arms out.

"Let's head out, then. Where the magic of the island can't grate on our nerves."

[dreambigger]

"Even if I'd wanted them, I couldn't have had them," Eames explains as he stands, wry for the very idea of him as a parent. Some people are meant for it; he isn't. "Too much traveling for work. Besides, I'm sure you've guessed by now that I'm not the settling down type." It's more credit than he usually gives someone so quickly, but then, that's been the nature of this whole exchange. Gesturing back at the jukebox as he heads towards the door, he shrugs. "If this is the result, I can't say I mind, either."

[attitude]

Couldn't have had them is a phrase that means something else to Faye. A physical impossibility. The way that Earth's population continues to climb, after all, is proof enough to Faye that people have children even in the most impossible of situations, even if it leaves the parents stranded and strapped for cash. But some people can't actually conceive. There are times when Faye wonders if she's in their number. She brushes away the thought.

Right now, even if it's true, it'd be convenient more than anything else.

"Well, I'm not the settling type either," she says at last, nothing more than the slight pause being out of the ordinary as she smiles. "And I still think you're a flatterer, but sometimes I can deal with that. Come on. Let's get shots."

[dreambigger]

"Well, it's like I said, darling," Eames replies, head tilting to the side. While he makes note of the pause, he doesn't think much of it; there are any number of things it could mean, including nothing, and that's what he's inclined to think of it at the moment. Even if they've both been playing, in a sense, that isn't the point here, and from the sound of things, he'll have plenty of time to study her further, find out what makes her tick. "That's just something you'll have to get used to. Shots sounds perfect."