Work Text:
This is how you play the game.
Get up every morning screaming.
Drink until you can't see straight.
Try eating.
Throw up.
Drink to wash out the taste.
Take two more children to their deaths.
Try to save them, pander shamelessly.
Fail.
Go home, drink again.
Sleep.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
This is how you play the game.
Awake every morning.
Primp and polish, new hair, new clothes.
Forget about the bill for now.
Eat a sumptuous meal.
Pick two more children who might go on to finer things.
Hope they win, desperately.
Fail.
Go home, disappointed.
Sleep.
Lather, rinse, repeat.