Tzirret opened his eyes when Ma'tanza began to respond. Her answer was not something he could have anticipated, not because it was outright rejection, but because it implied that Tzirret had attempted this at the wrong time.

In immediate response, Tzirret let his fingers slip free of Ma'tanza's and took a step back. He was about to run, just like he had with La'khay. Back with La'khay, however, Tzirret was anticipating rejection because he knew the outcome already. This here was a shock. He had already decided that he would not break down crying, but somewhere along the process, he decided not to run. He would be okay after this, he knew because he had been there before. Unfortunately, that left him in front of a likely equally shocked Ma'tanza with little to nothing he could think to say.

"Um..." Tzirret's eyes went to the ground, giving Ma'tanza the occasional sideways glance. He began to think out loud, though it was filtered from his roiling worries and sadness. "Tzirret understands," he said flatly. That was a good start. "Perhaps he could try...just...like? Instead of love? For a while?" He brought one hand up to rub his forehead, that was a bit odd. "W-what he wants to say is, he is sorry. This one did not read properly how Ma'tanza felt and...he has made a mistake." Tzirret began to turn away, "He understands if Ma'tanza does not want to be his friend anymore."

[hr]
It was quite the contrast for Sabine to go from the overwhelming thought that she might surpass Meesei as a mage to suddenly needing to bring up a ward. She of course could not hold the ward for more than two seconds, and it broke easily under Meesei spell, but that made it a motivator to keep listening.

Sabine was a little rusty on how to absorb spells into a ward, though she attempted it all the same. "I...do not think I could sustain a ward without end under spell fire," she commented.