...The former, judging by his reaction. He pitifully calls for "time out", and by not following him, she seems to be heeding the request. Her expression remains stony, but she stays standing and unmoving from where they clashed. She's the one who struck, then performed the throw out of a silly need to emphasize that this is a real fight, not one where she's merely making feints, not one where either of them should be second guessing each other. Yet she undeniably is, even as she surveys his injured state now. She hasn't done anything fatal, but both his offence and defense have crumbled, he can easily be picked off if this was a unforgiving duel to the death.
(Did she overestimate him, after having taken a glimpse of the power he CAN command? Of course she'd miscalculate, she had no existing data to base anything off of to begin with. Does she regret it? Having obviously hit him hard enough to more than just wind him a little, when she was mostly trying to get a message across? Her face doesn't look it. This isn't the first time she's tossed aside a black-haired boy man who wasn't eager to fight her. The second time should be easier, right? Practice, makes...)
What is done is done. Neither of them could take back the hand they've shown. She established herself as someone with superhuman combat capabilities who did not hesitate in trashing her opponents, who could back up her warningsthreats with more than just hot air and shallow whip cuts across the cheek. He displayed mastery over a power that was absolutely capable of hurting her, she could tell from the ease he summoned it and the look on his face at that time that he's used it before. He didn't approach her with fear or hesitation, even after joking around and acting lackadaisical earlier. He truly froze at the very last moment, almost as if instinct or reflex, almost, as if...
...Ironic, no doubt, that she's thinking just as hard about the cause of his hesitation than he may be.
...Tch.]
Don't step onto a battlefield if you can't bring yourself to fight properly.
[He doesn't know her. She doesn't know him. She doesn't know if he stopped because of trauma, or some misplaced fear of hurting others. (It definitely had nothing to do with her personally; they're strangers.) But he's utterly disqualified himself with that blunder, and a different opponent could've very well made him pay for this worse.]
Stay there and don't strain yourself any further. Take some time to think about what you can do.
[It doesn't happen on a conscious level, repeating to him similar things a hooded woman once told a delirious man in a dimly lit cave smelling of stale sweat and despair. "Don't strain yourself." "What I (do) am doesn't matter. Focus on (what you can do) who you are." Does she sound patronizing, is she lecturing him? She's not sure herself, exactly what she's hoping for in telling him these things.
But he's down against the wall, in pain and catching his breath, and isn't in anyone's way anymore. Taking a step back while keeping her eyes on him, she seems intent on leaving him without pursuing further action. This is enough.]
no subject
...The former, judging by his reaction. He pitifully calls for "time out", and by not following him, she seems to be heeding the request. Her expression remains stony, but she stays standing and unmoving from where they clashed. She's the one who struck, then performed the throw out of a
sillyneed to emphasize that this is a real fight, not one where she's merely making feints, not one where either of them should be second guessing each other. Yet she undeniably is, even as she surveys his injured state now. She hasn't done anything fatal, but both his offence and defense have crumbled, he can easily be picked off if this was a unforgiving duel to the death.(Did she overestimate him, after having taken a glimpse of the power he CAN command? Of course she'd miscalculate, she had no existing data to base anything off of to begin with. Does she regret it? Having obviously hit him hard enough to more than just wind him a little, when she was mostly trying to get a message across? Her face doesn't look it. This isn't the first time she's tossed aside a black-haired
boyman who wasn't eager to fight her. The second time should be easier, right? Practice, makes...)What is done is done. Neither of them could take back the hand they've shown. She established herself as someone with superhuman combat capabilities who did not hesitate in trashing her opponents, who could back up her
warningsthreats with more than just hot air and shallow whip cuts across the cheek. He displayed mastery over a power that was absolutely capable of hurting her, she could tell from the ease he summoned it and the look on his face at that time that he's used it before. He didn't approach her with fear or hesitation, even after joking around and acting lackadaisical earlier. He truly froze at the very last moment, almost as if instinct or reflex, almost, as if......Ironic, no doubt, that she's thinking just as hard about the cause of his hesitation than he may be.
...Tch.]
Don't step onto a battlefield if you can't bring yourself to fight properly.
[He doesn't know her. She doesn't know him. She doesn't know if he stopped because of trauma, or some misplaced fear of hurting others. (It definitely had nothing to do with her personally; they're strangers.) But he's utterly disqualified himself with that blunder, and a different opponent could've very well made him pay for this worse.]
Stay there and don't strain yourself any further. Take some time to think about what you can do.
[It doesn't happen on a conscious level, repeating to him similar things a hooded woman once told a delirious man in a dimly lit cave smelling of stale sweat and despair. "Don't strain yourself." "What I (do) am doesn't matter. Focus on (what you can do) who you are." Does she sound patronizing, is she lecturing him? She's not sure herself, exactly what she's hoping for in telling him these things.
But he's down against the wall, in pain and catching his breath, and isn't in anyone's way anymore. Taking a step back while keeping her eyes on him, she seems intent on leaving him without pursuing further action. This is enough.]