While the other man considered his move, Tristan nudged, "So, are you going to tell me?"
"Ugh, Jesus. If I do, will you let it go?"
"Yes," he promised.
"Twenty-nine," Cade answered as he shifted one of his chips.
"Oh, cool. I'm twenty-five."
Cade only grunted.
Emboldened now that the other man had revealed two tidbits of personal information, Tristan persisted, "So, how long have you been doing this job?"
"You ask a lot of questions," Cade commented as he glared at him.
"So I've been told," he responded cheekily. "I'm trying to get to know you, that's all."
"Why?"
Uncomfortable having the tables turned, Tristan squirmed a little. "I don't know. We're stuck here with no one else to talk to."
"Whatever. Are you going to move or not?"
Tristan huffed and quickly took his turn. Cade was getting annoyed, but Tristan had never been good at knowing when to quit. As Cade silently rolled his dice and considered his options on the board, he prompted, "Well?"
"Well, what?" Cade snapped.
"Are you going to tell me how long you've been doing this job?"
"Oh, my god. Twelve years, okay?"
Gasping, Tristan asked incredulously, "Since you were seventeen??"
"Yeah. That's how math works."
"Seriously? You just said 'some math shit' earlier like it was voodoo, and now you're a math guru?"
"That was real math. This is like, addition."
"Technically subtraction."
The dangerous look Cade leveled at him had Tristan backtracking slightly. He cleared his throat and commented, "Anyway, seventeen is young to be an assassin."
"I guess."
"How did you even get started doing this?"
Cade looked up, clearly having passed annoyed into angry territory. "Do you ever stop talking? I can't hear myself think."
"Fine," Tristan relented, still painfully curious how a seventeen-year-old had been recruited as an assassin. But knowing he'd already pushed far enough, he let it go. They played without conversation for a while, then Tristan, who loathed awkward silences, spoke again.
"What's Annabeth like?"
"I dunno. Brilliant," Cade answered without taking his eyes from the board.
A minute passed quietly as they focused on the game, then Tristan spoke again. "What else?"
"I don't know. She's funny. Nice."
