The response was reflexive and immediate. Gallus twisted to parry Ri'vashi's sword with his shield. Ri'vashi's reach was such that Gallus' retaliation was limited to stepping forward and swinging his hammer upwards towards Ri'vashi's forearm. At least he could claim that he was taking her advice. If the blow landed, hopefully Ri'vashi would be left open for a moment to land another strike.

[hr]
Looking away again, Tzirret worried his brow and sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Well...I..." He paused for a moment, but he sounded more confident with his response. "No, this one does think he is close to her. He feels like he can just...be himself with her. It's..." Tzirret hissed quietly as he trailed off. "It feels right. This one does not have all the words to say, but...he feels sure about being close to her. And he feels that Ma'tanza is the same." His face relaxed for a moment. "He loves her, okay?"

Trying to move on from that aspect, Tzirret looked to Peiter again. "Does Peiter think that Tzirret and Ma'tanza should talk about it first?"