I can get by on a little bad luck

Her words rang true, but he wasn't looking for a lesson on positive thinking so they mostly went unheard. He hadn't been looking for another chance. Then again, maybe it would turn out to be foolish to pass this one up. His feelings remained mixed as he offered little in response to the first statement.

"Perhaps I already did," he said, though his tone said he hadn't, or at least that his mind was not impossible to change. "But no. Fear does not know my name. What is yours though? I'd hate to have to come up with a nickname for you should your band rise and I for some reason showed up," it was already clear he was considering it, if begrudgingly.