Page 50 of Alexis

But it never felt like this.

With trembling fingers, she wrapped the scarf carefully around his head. But she couldn’t keep her hands from grazing his horns.

He sucked in a breath when she did, and it was all she could do not to press herself into his arms and kiss him.

But balance was important. Physically, and mentally too. She was excited to have some way to help him, in spite of how different their sports were.

“There we go,” she murmured, lowering herself and backing up a pace. “You know where I am, right?”

“Right in front of me,” he said.

“Exactly,” she told him. “And you can’t see me?”

“Not even a little bit,” he confirmed.

“Okay, so I want you to spin in place,” she told him. “Just one time, but all the way around and end up looking right at me.”

“Now?” he asked.

“Now,” she said with a smile.

He pushed off and spun, ending up facing her just like before, as she had known he would.

“Perfect,” she said, placing her hands on his shoulders.

He lifted the makeshift blindfold to look at her.

“How did you do that?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I could just feel it.”

“That’s right,” she told him. “With a single turn you can trust your instincts. Let’s do it again, to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.”

He nodded and lowered the scarf over his eyes again.

She watched as he tried it a couple of times, stopping in just the right spot each time.

“Okay, now let’s have you throw the kick,” she said, taking a few steps away. “I’m going to back up so I don’t get hit, okay?”

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She thought about the power in that kick, and took one more step back.

“Yes,” she told him.

He performed the kick perfectly, landing facing her, even though she was half the stage away.

“Now follow my voice and face me,” she told him, moving upstage to be sure he wasn’t using the lights visible through the scarf to focus.

He followed and then executed the kick perfectly half a dozen more times.

As they worked, she realized they weren’t on a stage anymore. The floor had become bouncier, and the auditorium was gone.

While she watched, barriers rose, and suddenly, they were standing in a fighting ring.

“Impressive, Oberon,” she murmured.

“What’s up?” Tiago asked.

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