Because now it was simple. Now it was real. And now… it could lose.
The thing in front of me steadied itself, but the shift was obvious. That relaxed posture from before was gone. It was replaced by something tighter and more focused, like it had finally realized this was no longer going its way.
Its smile returned, but it did not sit right anymore. Even without anything dramatic changing, I could tell that whatever control it had earlier was slipping little by little.
"You changed," it said. The amusement in its voice was thinner now.
"Yeah," I replied while rolling my shoulder like I was just getting warmed up instead of barely keeping myself together. "Turns out that happens when I am about to win… shocking, I know."
