Persiflage n. frivolous bantering talk : light raillery
Leona smacked her opponent's sword away with her buckler, leaping forward in its wake. She flew into the other nine year old with all the force of her thin body. They rolled and landed in a heap of gangly limbs.
Leona rose, laughing, and offered Molik a hand. He grasped it with a grin and she hauled him to his feet.
"Again?"
He nodded.
To Leona, these spars were the Rakkor version of small talk. The opening salute was the greeting, the setting of stance the "how are you."
When blades finally met, steel against steel: that was when she could see the character of a person. Were they brave or timid? Were they a careful planner, or did they rush into things headlong? Did they actually enjoy your company, or would they rather be elsewhere?
Molik, for example. As evidenced by his mechanical movements, he practiced out of habit rather than passion. Fear, too, motivated him. He feared the laughter of his classmates, but that fear made him timid, and more likely to lose.
Just now, for example, he passed up an unintentional opening, one she should have been punished for. She knew he had seen it. But he hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then it was too late and she had recovered from her stumble.
Leona only partially participated in these conversations, opting to listen more and speak less. When she exerted herself, her voiced tended to dominate the conversation, and what good came from practicing a monologue?
Finally, seeing an inexcusable opening, Leona lunged forward, ramming Molik in the chest with her shield.
Just because she focused on listening didn't mean she'd let him get away with saying something dumb.
She helped him up just as Pantheon walked over. Molik thanked her and ran to talk to Varina, leaving Leona alone with her friend.
"Care for a match?"
He nodded with a grin half hidden by his oversized helmet.
As they settled into their stances across from each other, Leona couldn't help but think how glad she was to have him. At least here she could speak her mind.