James
"Gah!"

*The uzhi visibly flinches at her neck being poked at. Serena did not like being poked. At all. It made fun of her stature, her biology, as if comparing her to a piece of jello. Sure, she enjoyed jello, but she wasn't that simple.*

*The arm that was gripped before is pulled towards the slime, and Serena's legs come up and wrap around Mercy's head, with a single arm in between them. Now in a triangle choke, the Uzhi would land on the ground with Mercy in her grasp, holding her head down so she couldn't escape. Though, she wouldn't tighten the hold.*

"*Huff* You know, it's rude to poke people like that. It tickles."

*The uzhi lets out a small scoff.*

"Say you're sorry. Come on."
William
**Mercy quickly realized that Serena wasn't experiencing the same type of amusement that she was. With absolutely no time to react to her arm being yanked and the processing of any semblance of how to defend her self too late, Mercy is subsequently defeated and rendered unable to move, in perhaps the most uncomfortable hold she's ever been in... She promptly struggled, thrashed about and growled with a seething ire.**

"Hey!! Ahgh!! Wh-What are you doing?!" **She choked out in a pained exclamation, making several futile attempts to break out, which included a series of violent bodily jerks. The attempts swiftly wore her out, and in no time was Mercy exhausted and out of breath; which caused her to panic.**

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!! D-Don't kill me I was only playing—I swear I was only playing, don't hurt meeeeee!!" **The teen begged, ceasing all movements, only defeated pleading would escape her lips...**
James
"Alright. Don't do that again, alright? The neck... I'm a bit overly protective of that. I don't like things close to there."

*Serena loosens her leg lock around Mercy, letting the girl go and giving her a hand up.*

"Really sorry about that. It's just instincts kicking in. Hard to break habits after 10 years."

*Serena begins chomping on another cooked fish, the last one already.*

"Just a question. You know how to fight without the rapier?"
William
"Gah..." **Mercy detected Serena's softening demeanor, and fact that she acted out of Instinct rather than the intent to harm her. This realization caused Mercy to feel... Simply stupid.** "You mean I just overreacted for nothing?...Oh I'm... I just..." **With a fleeting sigh, the macen's expression eased into a calmer sulk, as she took the Uzhi's hand. Once on her feet she quickly dusted herself off and crossed her arms, staying to herself near her spot at the tree.**

"You should be sorry, I was only playing... You know? L-Like a... Child would, with another child. I thought that's were it was going, Serena I was a bit excited to have fun. Didn't have too much of that growing up you know..." **Mercy explained, ending with a painfully dejected exhale.**

"...No." **She added in response.** "I just use my knife, that's it. Why?...Do you want to teach me how to do *That?* What you just did? Whatever oriate fancy stuff that was."
James
"Well, I would say I did."

*Mercy can see Serena's cerulean skin turn a shade of pink near her cheeks. It seems like the she wasn't lying when she said that uzhi still have many of the same functions that macen do; the girl was seeing the slime blush.*

"Yeah, I understand."

*The uzhi hops back up to her feet, visibly embarrassed and rubbing her neck. For what reason, she wasn't sure.*

"Nah, just wondering. It takes years to learn what I learned, unless you're willing to put in that investment. Oriate? What oriate fancy stuff? Do kitsune do martial arts? I learned this from a Treton. I can't really punch, since, you know. No bones, means that my punches don't hurt."

*Serena points towards her knuckles, which are as soft as the rest of her body.*