<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>The Bet</strong></span></div><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/eRBwTzu.png)</div><strong>NAME:</strong>Albion<br/><strong>DAY:</strong>June 12th, 2021, Mid Afternoon<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong>SOPHE, Training Grounds<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong>Nerissa<br/><strong>EXTRA:</strong>Oof, this doesn't look good.<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong>As pictured<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Something about the tone she adopted told him to be very, very concerned, especially after she looked as if she was beginning to wipe her eyes. He thought the only regret he would be feeling was that he almost dragged her into things she shouldn't have needed to deal with, but... That was quickly beginning to take a backseat to the regret of his once-again poor choice of words and lack of clarification. No doubt when she said he liked playing with other people's feelings, he could realize she thought he intentionally did it as part of the game... While it couldn't be further from the truth, there was no time to explain it, much less try to get her to understand it.<br/><br/>The tone was icy and cold, almost as cold as the weapon she ever so rarely drew, even to defend herself with. His only prior account of the weapon was when she wielded it in his defense against the thugs that sought to make him miserable for dating the wrong woman... Now, he found that very same weapon aimed at him, and this time there wasn't going to be an easy way out. "... Ah, so... This is how it's going to be?"<br/><br/>It was a little extreme, even for her... But the fault lay with him for once again dredging up bad memories. He should have realized after her last relationship that he shouldn't have even thought to try and tease her like that. False hope, it was a hurtful thing, and now he deserved every ounce of malice he had coming to him. The only saving grace was when he watched Neri reverse the weapon... There wouldn't be any lacerations, but she firmly intended to beat the understanding into him. He could manifest a Knife for self defense if he needed to hold off her sword, but the cushioned gear would probably serve to help him too. He didn't want to have to resort to using his own weapons if he could avoid it.<br/><br/><em>'You brought this on yourself, Remington.'</em>He chided himself in his thoughts, as Nerissa made the first move, summoning what appeared to be a flock of illusory, demonic birds. It was jarring enough just from the first look, but the following stinging sensation of a direct hit not to his cushioned forearm but the joint in between helped him to realize exactly how Nerissa was going to end this decisively. The next series of attacks were not aimed so high, instead clapping him against the back of his thighs and ankles.<br/><br/>"Heh... For a moment you had me thinking you were going to use that sword seriously. Not that this isn't serious..." He winced, reaching down to rub his leg. It was beginning to aggravate his earlier bruises, and it showed the moment he winced and fell to a knee. "D-damn it..." He hissed. Another flapping bird, and the whizzing of the blade approached from his back-left, moving to strike at his other leg to truly hamper his movement. With a wince, he thrust himself with a reverse-shoulder charge, homing to collide with the foxgirl as she approached. "I might be a punching bag, but... Can't just stand around for you...!"