[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/center][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NxE57rH.jpeg[/img][/center][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/center]
[indent][indent][indent][color=#86a8ad]"So, you’re one of his." [/color][color=#808080]River’s words were low, more statement than question.[/color][color=#86a8ad]"Did he send you here to observe me, or do you study everyone with his scrutiny in mind?"[/color]

[color=#808080]Opposite him, Maylisse remained an island of calm. Her eyes, a cool and unflinching hazel, held his own without concession. [/color][color=#a9c9eb]“Sent is… a generous word.” [/color][color=#808080]Her voice was smooth, almost melodic, yet it carried the cadence of a rehearsed truth. [/color][color=#a9c9eb]“My father—” [/color][color=#808080]a pause, brief and deliberate,[/color][color=#a9c9eb] “—[/color][color=#a9c9eb][i]our [/i][/color][color=#a9c9eb]father doesn’t tend to waste breath on instructions when outcomes speak for themselves. As you may already know.”[/color]

[color=#808080]There was a faint smile then. Polite. Controlled. Not warm. Then, Maylisse tilted her head, a slight motion that nonetheless carried an air of casual assessment. [/color]

[color=#a9c9eb]“You’re not wrong about my purpose here,” [/color][color=#808080]she continued.[/color][color=#a9c9eb]“I believe it may be more accurate to say that I observe because it is effective. It provides clarity unclouded by… sentiment.”[/color]

[color=#808080]River drew a deep breath in turn and dragged his hands back through his hair, leaving it in artless disarray (which wasn’t to say it hadn’t already been in such a state, considering all his previous nervous gestures). Whatever gripes festered in his thoughts, though, he chose not to share, slowly extending his right hand toward her in forced civility. [/color]

[color=#86a8ad]"Knowing our father," [/color][color=#808080]he said, the title bitter on his tongue,[/color][color=#86a8ad] "I’m sure you know everything about me already. But do I, at least, get to know who you are?"[/color]

[color=#808080]Maylisse's eyes flickered down to his outstretched hand, then back up to his face, assessing. For a long moment, she simply regarded him, unblinking and inscrutable. Then, slowly, she extended her own hand to meet his grasp, her grip cool and firm. [/color]

[color=#a9c9eb]"Maylisse," [/color][color=#808080]she offered, the single word hanging in the air as if it were a complete dossier in itself. She released his hand first, the action final and unambiguous, neither offering a surname nor asking for his in return. Instead, without another word or a glance seeking permission, she turned and occupied the space on the bench beside him, placing her folded coat as a demilitarized zone between them before settling her hands in her lap. [/color]

[color=#808080]The determined silence that followed was not to be mistaken for an absence of conversation on Maylisse’s part. Rather, it was, in her mind, the very substance of her point: she was here to watch, to learn from the unguarded moments River might now, in his self-consciousness, struggle to have. The observation had entered a new phase. [/color]

[color=#808080]One that was, unfortunately, interrupted.[/color]

[color=#808080]Movement at the periphery of her vision drew Maylisse’s attention, and for the briefest, absurd instant, her mind supplied a phantasm. [/color]

[color=#a9c9eb][i]A child, [/i][/color][color=#808080]she thought. [/color]

[color=#808080]The figure was slight, wrapped in an aura of soft gold—pale hair that seemed spun from apology itself with a shape entirely too small for the arena’s residual brutality. It was like a misplaced illustration from a nursery rhyme, a vignette of innocence that had wandered out of its book and into this grim clearing disguised as an arena. [/color]

[i][color=#a9c9eb]Goldilocks, [/color][/i][color=#808080]her intellect supplied with dry disdain. [/color][i][color=#a9c9eb]Earnest. Lost. Severely out of place.[/color][/i]

[color=#4a766e]"River, I just wanted to thank you for staying.  You didn't have to do that," [/color][color=#808080]Goldilocks began, her voice adding to the gentle intrusion.[/color]

[color=#a9c9eb][i]And entirely too comfortable addressing authority, [/i][/color][color=#808080]Maylisse assessed inwardly, her cool hazel gaze taking in the girl’s unguarded posture and the overzealous warmth in her eyes.[/color]

[color=#4a766e]"I hope I can get better over time,” [/color][color=#808080]the petite girl continued, her words tumbling forth with unvarnished sincerity. [/color][color=#4a766e]“One of my biggest reasons for coming here was to train, the other being to meet others like me besides my adopted brother, Heath.  Anyway, sorry for interrupting you two.  I just wanted to thank River.  Both of you have a nice day."[/color]

[color=#808080]It was then that their eyes met. [/color]

[color=#808080]Maylisse’s lips pressed into a thin, inscrutable line, a silent verdict delivered in a glance. Yet, before she could deign to voice a single word of acknowledgment, whether it be a dismissal or a query, the blonde interloper simply nodded,  her business here apparently complete. Turning, she collected her outerwear and made her way toward the arena’s exit without looking back. [/color]

[color=#808080]Maylisse’s gaze lingered on the girl’s retreating form, her head tilting a precise degree as she catalogued the other woman’s gait—a light, unburdened step that seemed to belong more in a sun-dappled garden than the arena she was currently sitting in. [/color]

[color=#a9c9eb]“She’s much too genial.” [/color]

[color=#808080]It was a conclusion, coolly given, as one might note the weather. The girl had thanked authority as though it were born of benevolence rather than obligation and treated leadership as something to be soothed instead of challenged. Worse still, she had done so publicly, with a clear lack of understanding of how such warmth could be misread, misused, or remembered by the wrong observer.[/color]

[color=#808080]But geniality, most of all, invited expectations. It blurred lines, suggesting safety where none had been proven. [/color]

[color=#808080]Maylisse shifted then, turning her attention fully back to her brother, her expression settling into something cool and intent.[/color]

[color=#a9c9eb]“But what do [/color][i][color=#a9c9eb]you [/color][/i][color=#a9c9eb]gather?” [/color][color=#808080]she asked. [/color][color=#a9c9eb]“About everyone. So far?” [/color]

[color=#808080]Regardless of the query posed, Maylisse did not wait for River to answer. She rarely did when the point already had a conclusion.[/color]

[color=#a9c9eb]“I gather that they are grateful,” [/color][color=#808080]she stated evenly, answering for him.[/color][color=#a9c9eb] “For any thoughtfulness or leniency you show, like allowing a celebration the night before training, for instance.” [/color][color=#808080]A faint contemplative frown touched her mouth. [/color][color=#a9c9eb]“Which, frankly, love, tells me more than anything Father chose [/color][i][color=#a9c9eb]not[/color][/i][color=#a9c9eb] to say about you.”[/color]

[color=#808080]Her gaze, sharp and sweeping, traversed the remaining clusters of people in the open space, noting the little glances cast River’s way. [/color]

[color=#a9c9eb]“However...outcomes speak. Actions speak louder still. And what I observe is not the foundational softness in you that Father claims to disdain, but the cultivated conditions under which softness is already being rewarded.”[/color]

[color=#808080]She leaned back slightly here, her tone returning to its earlier calm.[/color]

[color=#a9c9eb]“Now, whether that goodwill becomes the bedrock of your authority,” [/color][color=#808080]Maylisse added, almost idly, [/color][color=#a9c9eb]“or the very substrate that erodes it remains to be seen. A fascinating test, truly, [i]and[/i] potentially fatal.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent]
[hr][sub][color=9b9b9b][b][i]Location: Arena 
Interactions: River, Iliana
Mentions: N/A[/i][/b][/color][/sub]

[right][sup][color=#a9c9eb][b]#a9c9eb[/b][/color][color=2e2c2c]...[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]...[/color][url=https://i.pinimg.com/1200x/9e/d6/ba/9ed6ba913739602155ea7b1ec41975d3.jpg][color=9b9b9b][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url][/sup][/right]