Catch the Stars ||Keith Kogane||

75

Trip's body ached, her sword gripped in one hand while the other held up her forearm to block Haylie's incoming foot from colliding with her head. The force sent her feet skidding back a few inches, but she held her ground.

Haylie's flurry of kicks has Trip on defense, blocking her ribs and her head from being hit, her most vulnerable areas. She couldn't hide the fact that she was getting tired, this had been going on for a while. And she was still recovering from being out of the game for two weeks. She couldn't ignore the burn in her chest.

But she also wasn't going to let Haylie win.

"Untect ru je zatea, derin," (this has to stop, sister) Haylie pants as her feet return to the ground, her shoulders heaving as she lifts her sword in front of her. Trip watched her take a few steps back, giving herself room and time to breathe. They were both exhausted.

Trip chuckles, tilting her head gently to the side as she lifts her sword with both hands, "Kane cli hui op kane rum," (I'm not giving up my rum).

Haylie slowly nods her head, as if knowing that would be the answer they got. The reason their fights always took so long was that neither one of them knew how to give up. And nobody ever felt like stepping between them to call a draw. At least this fight had done its job, Trip couldn't let her mind stray for long enough to remember why they had started in the first place.

"Qwon kane cli ashuin sian vane," (And I'm not drinking that shit) Hayle defends. She twists her small sword in her grip, and Trip watches as her right foot slightly pivots out. She would fake a left swing and then go right.

But their movements are stopped as the lights in the room dim down, and then brighten to the point that both girls squint their eyes and look away. Both lower their weapons, taken off guard by the interruption. When they look up, they're suddenly aware that they have an audience.

The paladins had returned, all seemingly unharmed on the surface, Coran, Harron, and Esmerelda were all on the sidelines in varying order. Harron had a hand on the manual light switch, giving them an annoyed look.

"I'm not standing here all day," he gripes and lowers the lights to normal brightness.

"I wanted to see who was gonna win!" Lance whines, crossing his arms like an offended toddler. He was looking between Trip and Haylie like he could see into the future and determine who was the winner if he looked hard enough.

"Nobody would win," Harron clarifies, "their record is three hours. Call a damn truce, I'm starving."

Despite Trip's best efforts, her eyes are immediately on Keith when she gets her bearings. Her eyes go up and down, assessing any shallow injuries he might be ignoring. When she sees no blood on his jacket or jeans, she can feel a knot coming unloose in her chest. She may be angry with him, but she didn't wish him any form of the word "hurt." As if he sensed her eyes, he glances over. A millisecond of eye contact is all it takes for him to look away, actively avoiding her gaze from then on.

She bites the inside of her cheek, dragging her eyes away. He had no reason to be the angry one. The knot that had just come loose was tightening back up, though it centered around annoyance now. Trip reaches up, pulling the loose strands of her braid off of her neck, and turns her attention back to the people who were actually on speaking terms with her.

"You two look exhausted," Allura says earnestly, "perhaps some time to unwind before we eat will benefit everyone."

Trip glances at the Olympians on board, "These three should be heading back soon, actually."

Harron shakes his head, "leaving now would put us there in the middle of the night. Ella will already be asleep."

Haylie tenses beside Trip, making the commander glance her way. That decision clearly hadn't been spoken about between them. She could already hear a quarrel between the two beginning as she recalls this being Haylie's first full night away from Ella since she had been born. And she wasn't about to step between them and mediate it. That wasn't an argument she should be part of.