[Judged] WARDOGS

[Marisol]

THE ARCHIATER.

Marisol does not miss the way he pauses before ducking the needle-sharp head of her spear. Nor does she understand it: even as she slows to watch, eyes widening in what is almost fear, she tries, in her head, to rationalize his lack of response. Does he want to die?  Does he not think her aim is tong and true? Does he trust her enough not to kill him, even given the perfect chance? Oh, she hopes it is not that; how wrong he would be; the violent desire to win is engraved her bones as deeply as anything else, and much deeper than her desire to be liked - 

But he moves, and despite herself Mari huffs out a breath of relief. Her step slows, and she lets the spear embed itself in the dirt with no more than a watchful eye, carefully attentive to the way it shivers like a plucked string. When Asterion looks at her with that surprised stare, she meets his gaze easily: you will learn to duck faster, says the Commander, utterly matter-of-fact, the more I do that. Finally she comes to a full stop in front of him.

A thin sheen of sweat has broken over her skin. Her heart pounds overly-loud in her chest, and her blood rushes too quickly. But stronger than that is the overwhelming satisfaction of knowing she has held her own, and unintentionally she flashes him a breathless grin, body tingling with exhilaration. The sun has left its hole in the horizon; now it hovers over them and streams down easy, warm light, finally leaching the cold that has lingered  in Marisol’s bones since her trip here hours earlier.

A noble offer, she says, and pretends to think about it for a long moment. I accept.

Still almost-grinning, she curls her wing in a brief, joking bow, then turns back toward the edge of the steppe, waiting for Asterion to follow.

@asterion

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Summary: Closer <3
Attack Used: 2
Attack(s) Left: 0
Block Used: 1
Block(s) Left: 0
Item(s) Used: n/a

Response Deadline: none 
Tags: @asterion, @Sid, @inkbone, @Sparrow, @nestle, @aimless