steel blades clang together in between swift movements from one to the other / dust plumed beneath their feet with every jolted step. it was a bit unusual for the magistrate to agree to spar with anyone outside of changli, or even general jiyan back in the early days ( when there seemed to be not nearly as much paperwork that required her attention...! ) however, she'd grown quite close to @tempestforged over the many afternoons shared and within traded letters. rarely was she afforded such charming company on these magisterial endeavors, it felt less like an assignment and more like... quality time. something jinhsi so secretly desired with faer, but thought to be too selfish to act on⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ each had far too many responsibilities to prioritize, for the list of duties never ceases in roles as such as theirs⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ not to mention the tension that had been building as long as the day: hours spent under the sun without any such luck when it came to their current task, playful jests exchanged to keep each other's spirits high. what harm would a friendly duel bring, only break up the journey a bit? there was time to kill, after all.
𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚎’𝚜 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛, “ 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞? ” / ᵃᶜᶜᵉᵖᵗᶦⁿᵍ ⋆
...perhaps a bit too much! the heat bloomed from her core to her cheeks, features tinted rose. she could feel the scales start to itch as they appeared along her hairline and behind her ears, down the nape of her neck⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ but she wouldn't be caught! and pushed back her blade, the metal sung in perfect harmony as their swords separated. jinhsi took the opportunity to drop down and twist herself into position behind him, back to back. then she leaned against him, chin to her shoulder as she met his eyes: opal to amber.
“ ... i⎯ always enjoy our time together. besting you is an added bonus, however. ”
