At her grand display of an eye roll, he couldn’t help but return it with a broadened grin. “How kind of you to be concerned for my ego.” Aresenn answered her back, glossing over her attempt to draw a rise out of him. Her effort to maintain a stoic expression only made him what to break her resolve even more so. It seemed that when it came to laughter at her expense, it was harder for her to maintain it. The reaction she did deliver was an entertaining one, and also kinda cute if he was being honest. But she was quick to gain composure and go in for more of an impact.
The Praetor boy couldn’t help but scoff as she mentioned that Sephiran had been the threat in that situation.“That whole thing was a misunderstanding- do you think the goal was to walk into Armadan territory and take on the lot of you just the two of us?” He asked, ignoring her wink as he tried to lead her to his own version of logic. In reality, he knew that Sephiran could be a bit unhinged at times. While they got on just fine, he certainly wouldn’t want to make an enemy of the Saxe boy … or become a target, for that matter. Aresenn did a lot of joking with him- ended up saying things that he thought Sephiran would admire him for. But when it boiled down to core values, Aresenn had to believe that if they had not been confronted by anyone, and things had been allowed to escalate that day in the marketplace, he wouldn’t have let Seph cause the girl any real harm. He certainly wouldn’t allow it going forward either- if he had anything to do with it.
Hotshot. Aresenn couldn’t help but roll his own eyes, but he wouldn’t press her on it with the mindset of withholding further ammunition. As to the suggestion of a fight, he couldn’t deny that he wasn’t in the best shape at the moment. - not that he was interested in fighting a girl anyways. Though, when it came to her last barb, he couldn’t let it pass by. “Outclassed?” Aresenn repeated the word just as she had said it to him. He intentionally made a display at offering a visible recoil in his expression. Initially acting out the reaction he thought she was looking for in the vein of surprise and frustration. In reality, he was certain that she was correct in that assessment. “I don’t know about very … maybe a little. But if it’s any consolation, you’re doing a pretty good job wounding me with your words.” He finished in a tone of mock exasperation. It was a poor attempt at a dumb joke.
At the accusation of having been too involved with fairytales, the Praetor boy merely shrugged, allowing himself a quick glance in her direction before looking back out in the surrounding territory.. “What can I say, I like a good story.” He answered, making his best effort to roll with the punch. Arguing with her wasn’t exactly the point of this interaction any longer. He’d do his best just to keep her talking. Much to his satisfaction, she’d answer his question as to what she was doing- though he wasn’t certain he believed her. But before he had the opportunity to call her out, she suddenly rounded on him. Causing him to come to an unexpected stop a little closer to her than he intended. Even still, he met her narrowed and unwavering pale gaze with levity. Though, he was almost certain he saw a crack of amusement in her own seriousness as well. Aresenn couldn’t contain the short- lower-toned chuckle as he answered her question with another question. “Ahh, but you’d agree I am a villain?” Though honestly, he didn’t see himself as someone who was inherently sinister. Self-serving? yes. Unreliable? Sometimes. He did have some semblance of a moral compass, albeit a bit skewed, but it was still there all the same- he suddenly realized he might have lingered close for a bit too long, he casually pulled away, offering her space back to her.
After a brief moment of hesitance, he continued on with his early question. “What are you hunting for? Must be pretty special, as I’d imagine the Armada would have specific wolves designated to do that kind of work.” Aresenn pointed out. To be fair, he didn’t really know first thing about the Armada- just what he had heard from the older pirates. But based on what he had been told, he got the impression that it was a huge empire that was militantly structured- a far cry from the chaos the Pirates ruled themselves with. Even still, he was curious as to what her response would be.
"Aresenn Praetor"
Juggernaut
Professor
