Gus is a gargoyle, but despite his fierce appearance he’s one of the friendliest beings I’ve ever met. He’s helped Aahz and me out on some of our more dubious assignments, so he’s less inclined to ask “How did you get yourself into this?” than most. Usually, he’s more interested in “How did you get out of it?”
“How did you get yourself into this one?” he said, shaking his head.
Well, nobody’s perfect… especially friends.
“I told you, Gus. One lousy card game where I expected to lose. If I had known it was going to backfire like this, so help me I would have folded every hand!”
“You see, there’s your problem,” the gargoyle said, flashing a grin toothier than normal. “Instead of sitting in and losing, you’d be better off not sitting in at all!”
I rewarded his sound advice by rolling my eyes.
“It’s all hypothetical anyway. What’s done is done. The question is, ‘What do I do now’?”
“Not so fast. Let’s stick with the card game for a minute. Why did you sit in if you were expecting to lose?”
“Look. Can we drop the card game? I was wrong. Okay? Is that what you want to hear?”
“No-o-o,” Gus said slowly. “I still want to hear why you went in the first place. Humor me.”
I stared at him for a moment, but he seemed perfectly serious.
I shrugged. “The Geek sent me an invitation. Frankly, it was quite flattering to get one. I just thought it would be sociable to …”
“Stop!” the gargoyle interrupted, raising his hand. “There’s your problem.”
“What is?”
“Trying to be sociable. What’s the matter? Aren’t your current round of friends good enough for you?”