Snippet #2367269

"You're brighter than you look, kid." Fate had said, acknowledging the fact that his proposition involved the young woman Matthew was just chasing. "Which is why I can see us being partners in crime, so to say." Malcolm then elaborated. "As I'm sure you know by now, after my splendid performance, what that young woman is is the possible destroyer anything and everything. Or, as the Shikaku might label her: A 'liability'. You can understand what that means, I'm sure you can. So, how about you help me with something selfish, and I'll do the same?"

It was simple, really. Fate hadn't tried to butter his words up, so it would be obvious he reworded, "Hey, can I use you?" to even Matthew himself. But Malcolm wasn't worried about him getting upset or declining because of an obviously hidden ulterior motive for this partnership. In fact, it'd make things simpler if Matthew understood that. Fate was a selfish man and that wasn't something he bluffed about. It wasn't something people wouldn't know. You could tell just by how he acted and did things. That was part of who he was. So, why try to hide that when discussing a partnership? They each had something to gain out of it, and that's all that really mattered.