<font color=goldenrod>came out swinging</font>

She was happy to see him, but of course she'd never let onto it. That little connection to the past was something special - it felt good to know that not everything had changed. They hadn't been friends really, sure, but she was thankful for how receptive he was - he had a good memory, at least. She imagined she would have been easily forgotten by a regular wolf but, well, Pan had proven a long time ago that he wasn't quite the standard variety. There was one thing about him though that she was somewhat familiar with - arrogance. She'd practically been raised by the King of Arrogance himself but even then, Pan brought a certain strangeness to it - it was... subtle, just below the surface of his words. She found her brows raising in silent appreciation and curiosity as he corrected her and she snorted inwardly; she flicked her tail, her eyes narrowed slightly and the corner of her lip folded up in a half smirk.

"Maybe you don't get out much but it is more than possible for a cluster of rocks to have a corner."

She raised a brow once more in silent challenge though a playful one at that. Honestly though she doubted the boy left Glorall too often but that was just her being... snotty. After all, she liked to imagine herself as quite an explorer and found immeasurable joy in discovering brand new areas. All her personal hiding holes, one's she kept even from the other Assassins - maybe if Pan played his cards right, she'd take him to some of the more peculiar sites. He'd have to prove himself though even if he did not know it - she came to make friends but... she is not so good at it. She is secretive for the most part; she believed her secrets to be worth knowing and she expected that others would work to know them. Maybe she was wrong, she does not consider it though... she simply watched him with a half cocked head as he laughed at his own jokes. Another thing she was not so adept at - she forced a light chuckle, hardly audible over his own but there at least. Yes, she would have to work on her humor if she were to ever make a joke that did not merit a snarl or look of shock. Malina had been described as crude on a few occasions but never funny.

She frowned inwardly at the sudden realisation that maybe she had come seeking friendship a little too early - she probably should have asked Heyel to do it, at least. Luckily though, he brought up their next discussion, moving onto a large spiel that captured her attention with a flutter of her ears. He pointed out the apparent flaws in her chosen method of (hypothetical) attack and she once more crumpled her brows together in a dark frown. Correct.... he was correct but she did not want to give him that over her. No, she was supposed to be adept in all fighting styles but over the years, she had to begrudgingly accept that she lacked the certain brawny gene Ava had. The mention of his mother alerted her though, her ears suddenly perking up and gaze meeting his with a flash of curiosity. Well - there was a story she had not had the pleasure of knowing! Who had been Pan's mother? Obviously she had lost (something she was silently thankful for but nonetheless)... how had Heyel fared though? She mulled over it for a moment, her features finally breaking into a small smile as she put her words together. It was hard to bite her tongue and not let her mouth run a mile unsupervised - she was still working on it.

"Sic, we are trained to fight in all situations and to conquer many disadvantages; for example, there are particulars that can be put into motion to render the other's strength useless. As you can imagine, such a field of study was forced upon me a little more than others due to my lack of muscle mass. I am capable of converting my weaknesses to strengths - have you much education in the field of fighting... Pan?"

It was strange to use his own name rather than the one given to him by her but... it felt right. It felt friendly rather than formal and she was lead to believe that that was the way to do things.

"Sadly I do not know much of said battle but I would love to be enlightened."

Nodding courtly, she drifted off into thought for a brief moment - she tried to imagine Heyel in such a situation. Had he employed all of his training or had he stooped to a level more... primitive? Surely it was no fun to win all the time - a little challenge here and there would be good. Then again, she could not imagine Heyel risking anything in relation to his own family and glory. No, no, he must have wiped Pan's mother into oblivion within moments of engaging her. Hm, perhaps she would have to ask him about some of his previous exploits. He'd come to power and, well, she'd like to know how to do that one day before he got too old and lost his mind even more. She moved to ask Pan more, her mouth opening and shutting in a silent stutter as he interrupted her - so, the experiment was a go. Well, it could be interesting to see the boy's strengths... valuable, even. In the field, she didn't have much margin for error or for education; one wrong move and she could find herself dead or even worst, crippled. Here though? A safe learning environment! She grinned wide at the prospect, a grin truer than any other she had displayed as she shifted her weight and stretched out her limbs.

She leapt and in that moment, he dropped, a shrill yelp of surprise echoing over the landscape - had she the time, she would have giggled loud and long but no, he had other plans. So sure that she was to land her target (now his throat), she began to prepare herself for landing but no sooner than she had, his legs erupted up from his lowered position. She felt his weight beneath her as he kicked up and with a low hiss-like growl, she was deflected away from him - she bounced off to the side, body twisting slightly to prevent a fall to her side or back. It took effort but she landed on her paws (albeit a little awkwardly) and by reflex, her rear end bounced away from him so that she stood at a forty five degree angle away from him - in that same moment, her skull thrust out towards his throat. If he had been too slow or she had been slower than she would have liked to imagine (time moved much faster when your body was raging with adrenaline, apparently), she would reach out and nudge roughly at his throat - a gesture that would solidify her victory. Of course, if she had not been so lucky... she'd play it cool; she'd remain in place with her head lowered slightly and a light laughter thrumming in her chest as the boy rolled to his side. It was not... usual to fight in such a manner - who in their right mind would lower to their back!? It left not only your stomach open for attack but your throat, too. Oh well... she should not have been so foolish as to consider it impossible and for that, she snapped her jaws in frustration.

"Where did you learn that?" she asked pointedly, head tilted as she moved backwards a few steps to open up some space, "It is... strange. I have not seen another utilize his... paws in such a manner. By your calculations, could one of my size perform a similar maneuver? And are... there any more experiments you'd like to partake in? I'd like to, uh, learn some more... if you didn't mind."

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