"And I wouldn't be holding playing it safe against you if you hadn't put a hole in my own battleship, I say." But Jason can tell that this argument has gone as far as it's going to, and so he settles in, smoking a bit more and relaxing against the couch opposite Nick.

"So. How do you feel?" Jason uses the end of his cigarette to gesture to Nick. "Aside from the hangover."

There's an unusual sensitivity to the way Jason asks that, something not necessarily kind but considerate, something he learned from dealing with Victors for years and years. It's the dovetailing of mutual interests, where his and Nick's come together and braid at the end. Jason isn't incapable of tact so much as he usually finds no use for it, but there's a reason he's good at buttering up Sponsors and that he can manage along with traumatized Mentors, take care of them when they scream at night and wet the bed, shield them from bidders.