Janius was already gritting his teeth trying to push through the pain of Kaleeth choking him. While the hit he landed on her side seemed effective, the answer he suffered in trying to throw her off was too much. He began slapping his left hand against the floor to signal his submission.

"Argh! Enough! I'm done!" Janius croaked. He sucked in a breath, scrunched his eyes shut, and looked to one side while the pain subsided. The small crowd -- or at least the portion that had bet on Kaleeth -- sounded a cheer. The losers walked off with disappointed mutterings that accused Janius of letting Kaleeth win.

Janius ignored it all. After a moment, he lifted his arm to place it on Kaleeth's shoulder. "You're always tougher than I remember, dear," he said, apparently not losing his humour even after their bout. "I daresay I underestimated you."

[hr]
Sabine blinked, but otherwise didn't react to Peiter's kiss, not even looking at him. "It is not that," she said. Her cheeks began to redden as she tried to put the words together.

"Peiter, we have not..." She turned to face him, but had a hard time keeping eye contact in her embarrassment. It was not the act itself, but the fear that she would hurt Peiter. She ended up almost blurting it out, though she kept her voice soft. "Why do you not want to mate anymore, Peiter?"