"I was this close to being name Dweezle," Cloud said, spreading his fingers out by half an inch. His parents were a little odd that thought themselves as born-again hippies, and outside of some of the odder lifestyle choices he lived with while he was a kid (the crystal therapy sessions came to mind), they weren't bad people. They just were different.

"What are you buying me when you lose?" After all, if they were going to make this a contest of any sort, maybe there should be some kind of reward at the end of it, right?