Shady

"I--" Derik scoffed. They'd argue about nicknames later, if this plan worked. He took a deep breath, getting into the right headspace, then shouted as loud as he could. "GET ...

"It's gotta be a scuffle," Derik murmured, thinking out loud. "No one's gonna believe we went from zero to a knockout right away. Gotta make noise, rough each other up ...

Derik snorted but grinned. "I'm ready whenever you are, Sleeping Beauty."

Derik laughed despite himself. Good. So he didn't hurt him. Kazimir seemed like the type who wasn't easily hurt, but the humor eased some of Derik's guilt at having to ...

Derik watched, then grunted. "Not bad."

Whelp. Derik took a deep breath hit him on the side of the jaw. Not as hard as he could, but not light either, and he followed through with his ...

"Right." Derik hesitated. It seemed so wrong to do what he was about to do. Mean. "I do have to hit you pretty hard for it to be believable, you ...

Somehow, his enthusiasm made Derik even warier. Derik had been in his fair share of fights, but generally made sure he wasn't the one that picked them. Seemed like Kazimir ...

"I mean, you're the one getting hit..." If experience had anything to say, they both were getting hit. Kazimir would underestimate Derik. Derik's blow would piss him off. Then they'd ...

"Like... now?" Derik asked. "Or when they come?"

Only question is if you're gonna kill me once I do. "Yeah, I can handle that," Derik muttered. "Can you fall convincingly? If they're watching, you gotta go down-down."

"Yeah," Derik agreed reluctantly, realizing he wasn't going to get out of this without getting roughed up anyway. "There needs to be a scuffle... maybe we could fight until they ...

That was a pleasant surprise. And here Derik was, thinking he was going to be the one getting decked. He liked this plan much more. He nodded slowly. "I could ...

"Yeah," Derik agreed flatly, far less excited about the prospects. "Maybe if one of us pretended to get knocked out... it would make them lower their guard? Think there was ...

"So that's not gonna help us with the guards," Derik sighed. "Knocked me silly in under a minute. I was hoping..." He was silent for a moment. Things weren't in ...