The lack of any sort of distinctive pained or angry sounds was a fairly good hint that Isabel had missed her target. Not that she had exactly expected to hit the guy. She'd never really been able to do so before, but that didn't stop her from trying or hoping that she'd get lucky this time. The quiet was just as bad as his blank stares.

A soft whump just outside her barrier made her jump as she strained to hear anything. It wasn't the sound a body made when it fell, but she wasn't sure what it could have been instead. She wasn't about to peek out of her hiding spot to investigate. It wasn't like she was going to be able to see anything anyway. However, she didn't have to wait very long before she was given a clue.

A thrill of panic shot up her spine when she caught the smell of smoke, which almost immediately began to choke her as it seeped through the seams between her barrier and the walls. She clapped a hand over her moth and nose to try and lessen the amount of smoke she was breathing in and her eyes began to water. That bastard was trying to smoke her out.

Unfortunately for her it was working. She couldn't stay behind her construct for more than a few minutes or else she'd suffocate. And if she moved and created another, she knew he'd just do the same thing again. Confining herself a second time didn't sound so appealing yet anyhow. She needed more air than that until she caught her breath.

She waited as long as she could stand it before she had to give in and allow the wall to dissolve and stumbled her way further back into her room to try and escape the flames that had been started, coughing and wheezing as she went. Her feet wound up tripping over her own spines and she tumbled to the floor for a second time since Zephyr had showed up, still coughing and swearing intermittently as she went. "You asshole!" she expelled, spines sprouting across her body once again as she remained on the floor still unable to see much of anything between her irritated eyes and the irregular lighting. "Now I know you're completely insane!"

Still safely hidden from the soubrettes notice, Zephyr had taken to lounging in the brunettes oversized bathtub, his feet resting atop the faucet and arms crossed behind his head as he followed Duskmoors progress.

The hessian had hoped that the girl would clear a path through her room the moment she tried to make her escape from the smoke. Such a move would have left her vulnerable for a few short moments and would have been more than sufficient to bring her down and then relocate her, which had in fact been his original intention.

As always though, the buxom bonemancer excelled in being… difficult, and while it had been fascinating to see the majority of her spines merely warp and twist themselves to let her pass, he couldn’t help but give a low sigh of disappointment when she seemingly tripped over her own two feet and somehow managed to retain the presence of mind to avoid impaling herself as she sprawled across the floor where she then began cursing him as best she could amidst her constant coughs.

“You asshole! Now I know you're completely insane!"

Carried on a thin stream of wind the hessians response whispered itself into the soubrettes ear as though he were right beside her. “Not quite as fun when you’re on the receiving end is it?”

It was little more than a parlor trick in all honesty, a reversal of a cantrip he used to eavesdrop on conversations and which was typically mistaken for ventriloquism on the rare occasion it was caught. Still, as his words caused the gamine to visibly jump, there was no denying it was useful trick, and one he rather needed right now.

This entire episode had gotten rather out of hand. He’d intended to simply show up, give the girl a brief dose of intimidation and then drag her off to a more suitable location once she backed down. Except she hadn’t.

He needed to put a stop to this before Duskmoor did something stupid, such as seeing how long she could hold her breath in the middle of a fire, tripping over her own feet or pinning herself in place when-

Scratch that. He just needed to stop her.

It took barely any effort as he continued to project his voice, injecting a healthy dose of disdain into his words as he did so. “And just think Duskmoor, I’ve hardly done anything yet. Do you really want to keep going? You’re not going to win, just go back to you corner and why I’m doing this. If you get it right I might even forgive you.”

Isabel hated it when he spoke in her ear like that. It always startled her and in a situation like her current bind it was extremely unnerving. She didn't think that he could have managed to fit into the space beside her with so many spikes surrounding her, but not being able to see him made such beliefs somewhat shaky. The brambles closed in a little tighter around her as she shifted into a kneel, a need for their security driving their movement.

"Shut up," she spat, thoroughly sick of his little tricks and his taunting words. Her fingers rubbed at one of her eyes in an attempt to clear her already limited vision and hopefully help them to stop watering. There wasn't much she could do for her sore throat at the moment. She'd have to wait until she could get away from her smokey room for a while.

She bristled as she started speaking again, still mocking, ordering her around. "Haven't done- You set my room on fire!" she shot back indignantly. Hopefully he wouldn't be setting flame to anything else, but once was still too much. She knew that he was scolding her for what she'd done to get away from him, but he was having a little too much fun with it in her opinion.

Though bristle and seethe as she might she couldn't make herself ignore what he'd told her to do. She had to get back into the corner and explain herself. She didn't know why she felt that it was so necessary to do so, just that it had to be done and there was no arguing against it in the end. She wasn't shy about muttering a few choice curses as she stood and felt her way back to where she'd been, though.

Frowning, she pressed her back against the wall once more, careful to avoid the smoldering pile of blankets as best she could after hitting the hot material with her foot once. And while she didn't try to completely wall herself up again she refused to stand there without some kind of protection. As she moved she had the mess of spines move with her, the spindles curling and criss-crossing in front of where she stood.

"You're mad because I punched you in your stupid face," she began bitterly as she crossed her arms and leaned her weight against the wall. If she had to offer an explanation she would, even if he didn't like the way it came out. "You told me to behave and I didn't. You wanted me to stay away from all the fun and I refused. I got the better of you and you don't like it."

Life it seemed, was full of surprises, and though the elemental tended to dislike them in general, for once he found he couldn’t argue against this unexpected turn of events. Days when the gamine even pretended to listen were rare enough and one’s where she actually did were even more so. As Duskmoor stomped into her corner though the elemental couldn’t remember a time before now when the girl had actually done as she told without having to drag her (literally in most cases) every step of the way.

No wait, there had been one other time, when they’d come back from Chicag-

"You're mad because I punched you in your stupid face… I got the better of you and you don't like it."

Whatever train of thought the elemental might have had was abruptly derailed as his features twisted into a scowl as the soubrettes words hit far closer than he would have liked. “You did not-” He began angrily, only to fall silent a moment later as he forced himself to calm down and ignore Duskmoor’s words.

When he’d managed to collect himself the hessian released a silent breath and opened his eyes, staring into the pitch black as he again assembled his thoughts before speaking in a far colder tone.

“That will do Duskmoor. Now retract your spikes and be quiet.”

A smirk slid across her face at the outburst that Zephyr cut short. It sounded as if she'd struck a nerve. Apparently he had a big enough ego of his own and she'd bruised it. Good. See how he liked it. 'Not quite as fun when you're on the receiving end' indeed. She almost said as much, but she was cut off before she'd even opened her mouth.

Stand down and shut up. Her body stiffened for a moment as the demand sunk in. All that effort put into defending her room for nothing. She knew she had to do as she was told, just as she knew she'd had to go to the corner before, but still not exactly why. There was just some feeling of necessity to it and almost a kind of urgency. She'd have to follow orders eventually before those feelings became overwhelming, though it wasn't likely that he'd be willing to wait and see how long it would be until it reached that point.

Heaving a sigh she settled back into a scowl as the small forest of bone slowly retracted and disappeared back into her body. She refused to stand up straight, instead remaining leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. If she was going to be forced into letting go of her protection, she'd take it in the opposite direction and face any threat head-on. He wasn't going to intimidate her. She'd already knocked him out once before, so there was no reason why she couldn't do it again. She wasn't going to let him think he scared her. And as soon as she no longer felt like she had to keep quiet she'd tell him to go straight to hell.

As the mass of spines surrounding Isabel gradually receded into the gamine’s skin, a grim smile slowly spread across Zephyr’s features as he rose to his feet. Things were finally coming together it seemed, and not a moment too soon; he’d handled this far too carelessly and there was more than one loose end that needed to be dealt with.

Stalking back into the soubrettes room the elemental moved through the darkness without a sound, his sixth sense allowing him to easily avoid the mess of liquor bottles, discarded clothes and other detritus the ingénue had scattered about the floor as he closed in on the brunette, his words once more whispering themselves in her ear.

“You know Isabel, before last week I was starting to think you were making real progress. You’d gone months without a public rampage and you were learning new skills.”

Just as she’d been told, Duskmoor had returned to her corner. The smoldering pile of blankets which had originally smoked her out had been shoved only a few feet away as she slouched against the two walls with her arms crossed beneath her generous chest and what the hessian thought was a scowl on her lips, though he couldn’t be certain. Facial expressions were always difficult to read with his other sense.

“I’m not going to ask you why you did it, that’s a conversation for another time. I will remind you of a few ground rules.“

Coming to a stop in the opposite corner Zephyr regarded the soubrette quietly for a few moments as he considered his next words. The problem with commands such as the one he was about to give was that they couldn’t be too vague or it else it might stop the girl from functioning, yet nor could it be too specific or he’d run the chance that she or someone else would find a loophole to exploit.

“You can’t kill me Duskmoor, we both know that, but it’s a nuisance every time you try. So from now you are forbidden from raising a hand against me, literally or figuratively unless I tell you otherwise. Nod if you understand.”

The girl did and the elemental released a silent breath, it wasn’t a perfect commend he knew, but hopefully it would do for the time being until he had the time to come up with something better.

“Secondly, you’re contribution to the riots has all but undone you’re good behavior over the last few months. I don’t care what you do in private Duskmoor, but unless your life depends on it you are forbidden from going on public rampages. If I never see you in the news again it will be too soon. Nod if you understand.”

When the buxom brunette nodded once more the overhead lights finally flickered back to life, throwing the scene into harsh relief as the two mutants regarded each other from their respective corners. And as his azure eyes trailed from her bare feet to the emerald tattoo across her naked hips, up past her scarcely covered bust to her scowling face, the elemental noticed for the first time just how little the shapely soubrette was wearing.

The realization caused him to hesitate for just a split second, uncertain whether he should continue with what he’d had planned but after a moment he dismissed the thought. He’d seen her in less than this before and besides he was only going to return a favour, nothing more.

Mind set Zephyr pushed himself away from the wall, striding straight towards Isabel until he was less than a foot away, his eyes never leaving hers as she continued to scowl up at him, her face showing nothing but anger and frustration.

Right until he kissed her.

Whoever said turnabout wasn’t fair play?

And just like that it was back to no fun allowed. No going out and playing with New York's population as the mood struck her. The boys in blue would be thrilled she was sure, and all that security that would come with time would make them sitting ducks. And duck season was now permanently closed. No punching Zephyr in his stupid face anymore. He looked so much better with a black eye and a split lip, but apparently now she'd be forever doomed to look at his tragically unmarred features. She might as well continue to hole up in her room and die of boredom.

Isabel resisted heaving a sigh as the rules were set and she was told to nod, obediently giving the visual cue even though it was pitch black in her room. Knowing what a huge cheat he was, she figured he had some way of knowing when she complied since he didn't continue speaking until she had. He was methodically ruining her life and she had to just sit and nod like a good little girl.

She blinked heavily as the lights snapped back on. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the harsh change before she realized where Zephyr had situated himself, her scowl returning once she had. He'd told her not to hit him, but she still didn't have to act amicably toward him.

She remained silent as stone as she crossed the room to her corner. She was done shying away from him and his assaults for one day. She was a tough girl and she refused to let him think he intimidated her at the present time. She couldn't strike him, but she was going to hope that looks could suddenly kill and he'd burst into flame at any second. At least, that's what she'd planned to do until she realized that his movement hadn't ceased even as the distance between them all but closed.

Her entire body went stiff as a board the second their lips met, her scowl replaced by a look of complete shock and confusion as a small squeak escaped. She wanted to hit him more than anything, but she couldn't. Her defensive reactions fought for control but nothing could break the surface of her skin to protect her as desired. Her arms had dropped and her body pressed into the corner as far as it could go.

Wrestling her mind out of the sudden shock, her hands found his chest and she pushed just hard enough to force him to back away to arm's length as her face turned down and to one side. She couldn't hurt him, but she could move him. The desire to say something, anything welled up and with the realization that she'd been told to be quiet, but not for how long untied her tongue.

"I hate you."

He’d honestly it would be a little more satisfying, as it turned out though kissing Isabel was like kissing warm ice. The gamine had given a single gratifying squeak of surprise the moment she’d realized what was happening, but the moment he’d caught her lips she’d simply shut down, practically freezing in place with her mouth still parted in shock.

By the time she finally gathered her wits to push him away the hessian didn’t fight her, merely accepting the motion as he stood back and stared at the girl as she seemed to shrink in on herself.

When she’d caught him off guard at the beginning of the riots the elemental had thought she’d somehow managed to work past her phobia of intimacy, even if her kiss had been more of a bite if anything. Looking at her now though it was clear that wasn’t the case.

“I hate you.”

A simple statement, absent of any true anger or passion. There were any number of things he could have said in response, that she shouldn’t start games she didn’t want to continue was a recurring theme, yet as he looked at her Zephyr found himself shaking his head.

“No, you don’t.” He told her with unusual lenity in his voice as he took a short step closer. “Because as soon as I finish talking you’re going to fall asleep and forget I was ever here.”

He caught her as she fell and made sure to let down gently amongst the scattered beer bottles and burnt blankets. Given the evidence around her he rather doubted the soubrette would question the state of her room when she woke up, but just to play on the safe side he took one of the candles from her bathroom, lighting it briefly and spilling some of the wax around the blankets before blowing it out and tossing amidst the mass of burnt cloth.

He left Isabel’s room a few moments later; waiting to be sure the corridor was clear before stepping out and shutting the door quietly behind him. He’d give her another day or two of rest before calling on her again, now that compulsion was directly influencing the girl’s actions he needed some time to think very carefully about how he was going to handle her.

[Scene 4]

A change in wardrobe generally wasn't something that Isabel was thrilled about, particularly if it was Zephyr's idea. This time, however, it really wasn't too bad. There wasn't any malicious intent nor want for humiliation in the choice this time around. Instead the intent was to make her less noticeable. None the less she heaved a sigh once she'd wriggled into the cargo pants, a hoodie hanging in her hand to be put on before she left the building. It was a little impractical in the gradually rising heat as spring moved toward summer, but she would tolerate it in exchange for being able to leave the confines of the Sanctuary for a little while.

Once outside she wasn't even so sure why Zephyr had made her change. Most of the the cars for rent in the Sanctuary garage had tinted windows, so she'd have been difficult to see anyway. But she had to humor him and so she'd done as she was told. She'd opted for a tank top rather than a button up to wear under the hoodie to avoid overheating and had rolled up the sleeves of the sweatshirt to her elbows. She did her best to ignore how naked her arms felt in such a top outside of her room and instead focused on how strange it felt not having her signature ribbon tied into her hair. She missed it already.

She wasn't too pleased to find that his destination seemed to be an old warehouse district. She couldn't possibly see what could be so interesting in such a place, but Zephyr had promised that it wouldn't be a waste of time. She'd tried to behave since she'd decked him, not exactly wanting to raise his ire after he seemed to have either forgotten about the incident or decided that scolding her wasn't worth his time and effort. She'd been good enough, so he'd offered her a chance to let off some steam and get rid of any excess pent up energy.

"Why warehouses? Warehouses are no fun," she whined, her forehead pressed against the glass of the passenger side window as she took in the surroundings as they passed. "If this is another business trip and I have to wait around to scare your clients then I'm gonna walk back home, I swear."

Ignoring Isabel’s juvenile whining for fourth time in as many minutes Zephyr kept his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead as he eased the vehicles clutch and urged the worn pickup truck back into life as the lights above changed from crimson to green.

“Nothing of the sort.” He replied blandly as he guided the truck down yet another back street. “You’re an incredibly active individual Isabel, it simply isn’t in your nature to remain quiet or quiescent for any length of time and asking you to do is foolish, so I thought we’d try something else.”

At last pulling the car to a stop the hessian none to gently forced his door open and stepped out onto the cracked paving of the road which surrounded the building in front of him. Standing at a little over three stories in height and taking up what would be most of a city block the ancient brick building had clearly seen better days.

Rather expecting some form puerile tirade about the structures appearance Zephyr preemptively raised a finger to silence the girl without looking at her. “Appearances are often deceiving Isabel, I know it looks like a decrepit shed, but that’s too our benefit, and if you’d bothered you’ll notice that it’s done better than most other buildings.”

Indeed, the storehouse had fared far better during the riots than its neighbors, most of which had collapsed into ungainly heaps of corrugated metal and singed shingles, having been blown down and then burnt by unnaturally strong winds which fanned flames from the adjacent industrial district.

Not that the elemental would know anything about that of course. It was just a happy coincidence that he’d happened to be one of the few willing to purchase the entirety of the surrounding area for a mere tenth of its original value after in the wake of the riots unseemly destruction.

Signaling the soubrette to follow him Zephyr approached the crippled chain link fence which guarded the perimeter, easily walking over a section which had been bent almost to the ground and then unlocking one of the side doors built into the brick structure, ushering Isabel inside before letting the door slam shut.

There was utter darkness for a brief second until the hessian questing hand the necessary switch and rows of halogen lights flickered into life along the ceiling revealing a wide expanse of space obstructed only by the occasional pillar and scattered collection of shipping crates.

“Welcome to your new home from home.” He announced, stepping back to the gamines side as she blinked and tried to restore her vision. “You’ll be spending a good deal of time here working off all you’re pent up energy and frustration. In fact you won’t be leaving until I tell you too. Now…”

The elementals voice abruptly dropped several degrees as he took on an unmistakable threatening tone as he leaned towards Isabel’s ear and whispered. “Start running.”

Isabel's eyes rolled several times between the car and the building's interior. She still didn't see how some broken down old warehouse could offer her any kind of entertainment, no what kind of words Zephyr chose to describe it. At the very least there most likely wouldn't be any interruptions during whatever it was he had planned. No sane person would wander through such a decrepit place looking for something interesting to do.

The interior wasn't quite as bad as she'd imagined once the lights flickered on, a few crates being the only things occupying the space. Still, better than imagined wasn't much. Unless those crates had something extremely interesting inside, she couldn't imagine what they were supposed to be doing here. She didn't exactly like his promise of spending extended periods of time there, though.

She glanced at him briefly from the corner of his eye as he stepped away from the door and toward her side. "I'd rather just have one home," she muttered as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg. At least the Sanctuary had a television and inhabitants that weren't rats. Mostly.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as his voice suddenly hissed in her ear, her thoughts having become absorbed in how much her day was surely going to suck. The tone startled her more than the voice itself. She knew he'd be mad after she'd punched him and she'd let herself fall into a false sense of security anyway. This had to be be payback.

With the slight shock and a dose of dread came a rush of adrenaline and she wasted little time bursting into a sprint. Normally she didn't run from an altercation, but something told her that this time it was a good idea. She had to run this time. Except there really wasn't anywhere to go and she couldn't stop. She'd have to sprint in circles around the edge of the interior and hope that in doing so she wasn't going to be headed straight back into him and therefore into a heap of trouble.

A look of immense satisfaction overtook Zephyr’s features as he watched understanding dawn over Isabel. A smirk tugging at his lips when she jumped at his last words and barely suppress a chuckle rocking his shoulders when her back stiffened as his words hit home then, in the moment between one second and the next, she was gone; sprinting far faster than the elemental had expected as she dashed for cover behind a stack of crates by one of the warehouse walls, a hundred meters away.

“One, two, three…”

Zephyr spent the next few moments simply watching, silently keeping count as he took in the brunettes figure, feet slamming heel to toe against the linoleum, back bent forward and head down as her arms pumped against the air.

“…Nine, ten. Not good enough”

The moment the thought formed he was gone, the stale air in the warehouse coalescing under his feet, lifting him a scant few inches over the floor just before he streaked after the sprinting soubrette, covering the distance between one breath and the next as he appeared at Isabel side just before she reached the shipping containers and began to slow.

“Did I say you could stop?” He growled still gliding after the panting gamine as his leg snapped out and his foot connected with her backside, earning a startled yelp as the girl stumbled back into a sprint.

“That’s right, run as fast you can Isabel.” His words chased after her, following on their own current of air as the elemental hovered in place with his arms crossed. “Otherwise I’ll deal with you… personally.

She had been right. Her day was going to suck so hard. Fortunately for her, after several laps around the building's interior it was getting harder to concentrate on how much she hated everything and wanted to punch Zephyr some more and instead Isabel found herself thinking about what a bad choice it had been to wear boots and how awful it was not to have her hair ribbon so she couldn't tie her hair up and keep it out of her face and mostly off her neck.

And of course just as she was starting to tire and slow down the bastard seemed to appear out of thin air and effortlessly match and maintain her pace. She bit back a few choice words when a sharp pain struck her backside and had no choice but to pick up the pace again, her shortened breath preventing her from muttering curses as she sprinted.

The hoodie had definitely been unnecessary. If he'd included it to be sure she'd sweat during her exercise, then he'd succeeded. After a few more laps she had to peel it off, the rolled up sleeves no longer being sufficient in keeping her cool. Her pace only faltered slightly as the material was pulled up over her face and she lost sight of the course for a moment. She made sure she let go of the garment just as she was passing Zephyr for the umpteenth time, though giving him a slightly wider berth than she previously had been.

Another couple of laps and her muscles were beginning to ache with the effort and her chest feeling constricted as her breathing became gradually more labored. Her pace was also starting to wind down despite her efforts to maintain the speed she'd started with. Her fatigue wouldn't let her keep it up for too much longer, though she knew he'd keep pushing her until he was satisfied anyway.

"If this is about me punching you in your dumb face, I'm sorry," she gasped between breaths, willing to offer an almost but not quite sincere apology if it meant she would be allowed to at least slow down. "This sucks and I'm getting really tired." And sticky and sweaty and increasingly upset about it. "I wanna stop. Please."

After his rather ill handled attempt to deal with Duskmoor a few days ago Zephyr had spent some time pondering the issue and come to the conclusion that a hands off punishment would likely serve as a better deterrent to the gamine’s poor behavior. The girl disliked him enough already and physical beatings, while likely effective, would only garner further animosity, all of it aimed squarely on his head.

In looking for alternative he’d come across a number of military training manuals, all of which had been designed to tackle the issue of how one could keep a number of lethal individuals in check. The recurring theme had been surprisingly simple, namely, run them into the ground until they couldn't think straight.

Still as he watched Isabel complete her eighth lap of building, slowing only to remove her hoodie hurl it at his head, the hessian decided that there had to be a faster way to work the ingénue down. After all, she’d practically been under house arrest for the past two months, and he knew that she’d spent almost all of it confined to her room. She should have collapsed after the first fifteen minutes yet she was still going half an hour later.

"If this is about me punching you in your dumb face, I'm sorry.”

Zephyr leaned back against a pillar, a breath satisfaction leaving him as he caught the note of fatigue in the brunettes tone. It wouldn’t be long now. “Less talking, more running” he told her, a slight singsong rhythm to his words, as invisible swat was delivered to her backside, prompting the buxom brunette to speed up again for a few short seconds, causing no small amount of bouncing beneath her tank top, lifting it with every other step and flashing the emerald green tattoo which adorned her hips.

“She really hasn't worn the proper attire for this”, he thought to himself, conveniently ignoring that he’d requested her current garments, instead watching her go by, azure eyes fixed on the appealing motions of her figure gave her. “Maybe I should have given her some forewarning?”

He watched her go by again, azure eyes passing over her tanktop and how it clung to her skin, highlighting the rather appealing motions her figure gave her. “Then again, this does teach her a valuable lesson.”

"This sucks and I'm getting really tired.”

“It’s called exercise Isabel. I thought you’d be familiar with concept.”

”I wanna stop.”

“And I want-”

”Please.”

Zephyr fell silent at that, his expression turning impassive as he watched the exhausted soubrette stagger through the rest of her lap, her gasps becoming louder and more frequent as she drew closer, her arms and legs struggled to rise. The hessian didn’t say a word until she finally managed to draw level with him.

“You can stop.” His words echoed lightly across the warehouse as he made his way over to the gamine, crouching down next to where she’d collapsed the moment she’d heard him.

“Now Isabel, what have we learned?”

Isabel had not been allowed to stop running quite as soon as she'd hoped, but permission was still given more quickly than she'd anticipated. 'Please' still felt wrong on her tongue whenever she said it, but with the exception of the episode on the Sanctuary's roof it had seemed to gain the desired effect each time she'd used it so far. This was something that she'd be using to her advantage, though she'd have to remember not to overuse it lest it stop working so well.

As soon as the word 'stop' was uttered she all but crashed to a halt, her tired legs buckling beneath her as she collapsed onto the hard floor. It was nearly agonizing to rearrange her limbs once she'd settled but she managed to stretch her legs out in front of her and lean her weight back on her arms as her hands planted themselves on the ground behind her. She could feel her muscles throbbing and her throat was starting to become sore with how hard she was breathing. She should have brought a bottle of water with her. And maybe some more comfortable shoes.

One hand raised and passed over her forehead before it slapped back to the ground, leaving a streak of dirt on her damp skin before she glanced up at Zephyr. Her face felt very hot and she was sure the effort of hard running had turned her cheeks red. Her heart was racing madly and she was sure that if she'd had to keep going it probably would have bruised her ribs with its rapid beating. The back of her shirt felt damp and she desperately wanted to have a cool shower so she could be comfortable again.

She eyed Zephyr has he crouched down next to her, irritated by how easily his body was supporting him while muscles she'd forgotten about ached and her legs felt like jello. "I learned that I hate running," she replied in between her attempts to slow her breathing and heart rate by taking long, deep breaths. It was difficult to hold a glare while doing so. "And maybe that your stupid face probably shouldn't be punched even if you're being totally unfair and ruining my life."