runnin' late with half your makeup on

“I heard you did indeed, and you’ll beat him next time. You learn from your mistakes, and learn how to correct them. You’ll go far, Hazel” he said, almost absent-mindedly as he turned her head this way and that for a moment. Admiring her strange crystalline teeth. He’d never seen anything like it, and that was saying something. “Hmm.” he said at her explanation, surprised that Halo hadn’t said anything to him. Perhaps she had expected him to notice it before now. After all, the girl was living under his roof.

He released his grip on her so she could track, and turned his laugh into a cough at her comment on boys. He made a show of sniffing his armpits, and shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps I need to make a mandate that all boys bathe twice as often as the girls.” he teased her.

He trotted lightly behind her, giving her the lead on tracking. This was a lesson for her, and a chance to use some of her training in the real world. When she lost the trail, he kept a very close eye on the tree before them. Prepared for an ambush even as he kept the lesson going for the girl. “Hint: what stands out on the tree trunk?” he asked, his own eyes glancing at the grazing in the wood left by the jaguar's powerful claws.


"Sirius Fatalis"