[SE] when you think that I don't notice all those scars

Glitter in the sky, glitter in my eye, shining just the way I like

Seren leaned in, staring with focused attention at Harper's face. For someone so cheerful and occasionally exciteable, he was really good at controlling his facial expressions. They had been at this for a long while now, yet she was only just beginning to grasp the subtle shifts in his face that followed various statements. This one... she chewed her lip. Considered, and recalled everything she could remember about what he had said, how he had said it. Every minute shift or twitch.

"Lie," she determined eventually. "Your eyes flicked down to the right... You either lied, or left something out."

She had dragged them up onto the roof of the Tower for this training session. This high up the air was cool and clear, the sun a gentle touch soothed by ever stirring winds and free from the distracting buzz of voices. Umbra lay curled up in her lap, dozing and utterly bored; this game was very tedious in his mind, and he could not understand his bonded's growing obsession with getting it right.

Seren

HARPER

Blue eyes stare intently into one another, flickering as each bearer attempts to do opposing things - watch every minute expression unblinking, and craft a natural response for said gaze to find. Admittedly Harper had been rather brutally trained out of almost every tell a human could have when lying, but he had similarly been trained to spot them, and to act at a level high enough to convince even the most paranoid of targets of his sincerity. Recreating them was easy. The hard part was not laughing.

When she finally spots it and calls it out, Harper allows himself to break and grin, approving and proud. “You got it! I left something out - I was raised in a circus, but I didn’t have any siblings.” Hands leisurely braced on his knees and ankles laying in the crooks of his hipbone in easy display of a flexibility he has never let rust. “There are two angles to look for, and it has an easy rhyme - up for inspiration, down for desperation. It’s more natural for someone to flick their eyes upward if they’re considering something in a sincere manner - downward usually means a lie.”

some things take insane bravery
but after that, you'll be free

Glitter in the sky, glitter in my eye, shining just the way I like

"Yesss!" Her arms shot up over her head in a not so subtle victroy pose, satisfaction alive and well within her when she finally got something right. Umbra grunted in sleepy protest when she dared to shift her weight, and Seren placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. Her legs ached from having the large dragon sprawled across them, but it was a small price to pay for peace and quiet, and this chance to both spend time with her friend and do something useful.

"No siblings, huh. You don't have a lone child energy though," she mused, and rested her chin in a cupped palm as she regarded Harper. "You're far too considerate of others for that. Was the circus a good place?" If they had been one big family, the way she imagined a traveling group of individuals to be, it might explain this discrepancy.

She kept her eyes on his face still. In case he felt that this question too was part of the game - though Seren was really just curious to know more about him.

Seren

HARPER

Harper rocks backwards onto his tailbone with the force of his laughter at Seren's triumphant victory and ensuing enthusiasm. It's a breath of fresh air, admittedly. He has deeply missed having a pupil, and such a dedicated one at that. Rocking back to regard her, he mimics her pose, propping his chin in his hand and humming both thoughtfully and encouragingly at her deductions. It's a trait he wants to foster in her, one not of surveillance and suspicion, but attentiveness and empathy.

"It was a busy place. Very few children, aside from the ones in the crowd. But we lived in caravans, and were elbow to elbow most every day. Helping each other wasn't expected of us because of our job, it was simply something we did. Who we were." There's a warmth and wistfulness to his voice, a distance to his gaze as he recalls the golden memories. It will always hurt a little. The comfort of nostalgia and better times helps ease it.

"They taught me everything they knew. I may have been a trapeze artist with my parents, but I learned so much beyond that; throwing knives, contortion, sword swallowing, fire breathing." Shaking his head slightly to pull away from the reel of visions in his eyes, Harper laughs slightly. "Or, the appropriate level for an acrobat child of course." Nothing too dangerous, though many would consider the trapeze dangerous enough at that age - especially with no net during high stakes performances.

some things take insane bravery
but after that, you'll be free

Glitter in the sky, glitter in my eye, shining just the way I like

A soft smile lingered on the girl's lips as she listened to the description. The light that shimmered over Harper's face as he spoke was a welcome sight, much as the brightness of his laughter. So much of her thoughts had circled around anxious and dark topics lately that his cheerful nature stood out all the more in contrast. Even though she could tell that he missed his home and this sprawling family, it was the lingering love residual in the picture painted that crinkled her eyes and turned them warm in response.  

"They sound like wonderful people," she replied. "And a fun way to grow up! It's quite the leap from circus artist to vigilante, though. How did that happen?"

Shifting slightly where she sat, Seren madea gesture with a hand and reached into the nothingness of her pocket space. With an expression carefully schooled into neutrality, she withdrew a tin box and popped open the lid. The rich scent of baked muffins came wafting out, and with a faint grin she offered Harper a choice of one, if he should want one. They were slightly dark in color and were decidedly uneven in size - some very small while others had overflowed their wrappers - but for being her own baking, they were something of a miracle. Here and there, cheerfully yellow berries poked through - Seren tried very hard not to look at those muffins in particular.

Seren