[But he can't win this in terms of money, of course he can't, and suddenly the situation is so utterly absurd. It's just another way of trying to make the whole thing easy, even though he knows nothing will, and he's really just a coward.

There are better ideas, and none of them should happen here. This is public, showy, done for his own sake and not for Feliks'. Selfish.

He sighs, fighting an urge to just leave, run, not deal with this stupid mess he's put himself in.]

I think we can safely say you win the betting. So if you excuse us... I will be borrowing the prize for a while. Feliks?