“What? The pretty lady?” I asked. “No, but I’d like to.” I gave him my best “We’re all boys in this together” conspiratorial grin. “Thought maybe I’d catch up to her and … introduce myself.” I could instantly see that I’d made a terrible mistake and my heart sank. I’d been hoping to move things along with an appeal to an implied guy code, but now that he thought that I had another more pressing reason to get through the gate, he became more determined to keep me waiting. The thought of ruining a potential romance clearly appealed to him. I almost regretted my decision not to let Buster smack him. “ah, well, in that case” the Jackal-Guard paused for what he probably thought was emphasis or tension, but I already knew what was coming next. “Yer too late,” he continued, his already toothy mouth split even wider by a most unpleasant sneer, “Gate’s closed, see?” I couldn’t help glancing towards the gate which clearly wasn’t closed. I tried one last gambit; fairly sure it wouldn’t work. “look, I’ll just nip through and be out of your way. I’ll let you close up and then you can scoot off home.” Often, the trick is to implement the result you want quickly before your opponent has a chance to process what you’ve just said. With that in mind, I moved to slide past the guard, but sadly it wasn’t to be. Sometimes, I hate it when I’m right. I was pulled up short by an armoured hand/paw slapping into my chest. If not for my leather, the extended claws would surely have drawn blood.