”Good morning,” the other responded, and had Rory been any less stressed by this unexpected visitor himself, he might've picked up on the sudden strain of anxiety in the other. Like knows like, after all, and when he was relaxed he could usually tell if someone tensed up. As things were now, though, Rory was wary and uncertain and a little, well, almost afraid, his mouth dry and heart pounding, so he was in no state to consider how Peter Launceleyn might be feeling.
The pause in the middle of his sentence didn't help either. You're, what? Here to arrest me? Here to look for Jigano? To tell me you've killed Jigano?
He fought the urge to shake the words from the other man.
They came in due time, though, and Rory found himself blinking in surprise. What? He followed the gesture towards the pasture, slowly stepping out onto the porch and shutting the door behind him. Test his abilities? But why? What abilities? How? What was going on? He wanted to ask, to refuse, but he learned one thing that morning: he did not dare to.
"Okay," he said, the confusion evident in his tone and face as he made a small motion to set off for the pasture, yet he waited for Peter's initiative and lead. "But I think you will find my abilities quite, ah, limited."
Better be upfront about it: Rory had no fighting experience, and he did not want Peter to learn this disappointing fact through a mock fight. Better he know it from the start.
(And what world did he now live in, that he had to feel ashamed and embarrassed and afraid he did not know how to fight?)
The pause in the middle of his sentence didn't help either. You're, what? Here to arrest me? Here to look for Jigano? To tell me you've killed Jigano?
He fought the urge to shake the words from the other man.
They came in due time, though, and Rory found himself blinking in surprise. What? He followed the gesture towards the pasture, slowly stepping out onto the porch and shutting the door behind him. Test his abilities? But why? What abilities? How? What was going on? He wanted to ask, to refuse, but he learned one thing that morning: he did not dare to.
"Okay," he said, the confusion evident in his tone and face as he made a small motion to set off for the pasture, yet he waited for Peter's initiative and lead. "But I think you will find my abilities quite, ah, limited."
Better be upfront about it: Rory had no fighting experience, and he did not want Peter to learn this disappointing fact through a mock fight. Better he know it from the start.
(And what world did he now live in, that he had to feel ashamed and embarrassed and afraid he did not know how to fight?)
