Giriko knows he's in trouble from the way Azusa takes a breath, like she's gearing up for some grand reveal.
"Fuck," he says aloud even before she's reached for the letters. "You're gonna win."
The crossbow pauses, fingers still hovering over her tiles, and looks up so the light reflects off her glasses and obscures her eyes. "You haven't seen my word yet, you can't possibly know that."
"I can see you," Giriko fires back. "You've got that look."
"What on earth do you mean?"
"The look where your face goes perfectly calm cause you're trying real hard not to gloat." Giriko kicks his legs out sideways so he can sprawl across the floor; Azusa's got hers folded under her, like she has since they started this most recent round. Her legs have got to be asleep but she looks utterly calm and composed; she wouldn't be out-of-place in the Death Room, the way she looks right now.
"I don't gloat," Azusa says, but she's starting to lay her tiles out and Giriko is half-distracted by watching the word she's putting into place on the board.
"You do too," he says absently. "You'd be a hell of a lot less fun if you...oh for fuck's sake that is not a fucking word."
Thin eyebrows raise behind shining glass. "I think you'll find that 'calcitrant' is indeed a word, if perhaps not one in your vocabulary."
"See," Giriko groans. "You do gloat. Though right now that ain't much fucking comfort." It makes it worse that he gave her 'ant' to work from. She wouldn't have had enough damn letters otherwise. "My vocabulary ain't that bad, anyway. I beat you at this sometimes."
"Rarely," Azusa offers calmly.
Giriko glares at her rather than admit that her description is far more accurate than his own. "Fuck you, four-eyes. I should never have agreed to play Scrabble with you. At least I kick your ass in poker."
"Why did you agree?" Azusa asks, fishing another hand of tiles out of the bag near her hand.
"You know," Giriko growls. "I'm not sure right now." He pulls two tiles off his own tray and reaches out over the board. "Though I think it might be coming back to me." He places the R and the E just in front of Azusa's last play and looks up in time to see the crossbow's eyebrows fold down in irritation over her eyes. The shine is gone off her lenses now.
"Ah, yeah, there is it," he purrs, rolling back away from the board. "That's why I agreed. It's fucking satisfying to beat you at your own game."
"Fuck you," Azusa says, carefully enunciating the word so it sounds as precise as her speech usually does instead dripping with the visceral satisfaction it picks up in Giriko's mouth. The chainsaw grates a laugh and rolls over onto his back properly, shutting his eyes to bask in a moment of victory.
Azusa takes a breath, and there is the click of tiles touching down on the board. "Of course, we seem to have different definitions of beating."
Giriko's eyes snap open. Shit. That was her gloating tone again. "What." He pushes himself up just as Azusa is leaning back from the LY she's added to the end of the word. "Oh you fucking bitch. I thought you didn't play with 'cheap tricks'?"
Azusa shrugs one shoulder under a perfectly crisp shirt. "I do prefer to win without them, certainly. But I really prefer to win."
Giriko narrows his eyes at her. "I thought Death Weapons were supposed to have morals."
Azusa stares at him for a moment. There's a pull of a smile at the corner of her mouth and Giriko gets the distinct impression she's fighting back a laugh. "How many Death Weapons have you met, exactly?" She leans back, unfolds her legs. At least she flinches as she straightens her knees. "If you wanted morals you should have played with Marie. Or Justin, maybe."
"Eh." Giriko drops back to the floor, sighs. "You're more fun to play against than they are."
"You're taking this well," Azusa observes from the other side of the table. "Usually you throw a fit when you lose."
Giriko lifts one hand, catches the edge of the Scrabble board, and tips it up so all the tiles slide off to scatter over the crossbow's lap. "There. Happy?"
There is a brief pause. When Azusa speaks, Giriko can hear the laugh under her voice. "Yes, thank you."
He grins without opening his eyes. "Welcome."
