This is my entry for the Sokkai Challenge RadiantBeam, Catalyst (known as fearlessgurl238 here), and myself have held between us. All three of us have been working hard on them for about two months and a week now, so we're more than excited to post them and read the fics. Hope you enjoy!

For the record, I have no idea where that title came from. I just liked it and wanted to use it. That is all.

I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender or any of its characters.

-ø-

"I dare you," she seethed, "to say that again."

He blinked once, twice, before nervously chuckling and positioning his eyes on the ground. The tall, dark girl stood in front of him, completely too close for comfort, dangerously positioning one of her deadly stilettos near the back of his neck.

"I said," she started again, "I dare you to say it again."

If it wasn't for her level, steady tone of voice or the serious glint in her pale gold eyes, he would have actually repeated his last words. However, those two elements stopped him in his tracks right away, causing him to rethink ever teasing her in the first place.

Mai was dangerous; he knew that quite well. All of the three ladies were lethal, but this one had something in her that set her apart from the other two. Maybe it was the way that she handled her stilettos or the fact that she even handled the miniature knives at all that required an innocent bystander to back away slowly. Or better yet, maybe it was the fact that she had a genuine air of nonchalance about her while she threw the pointy objects.

Yes, that was probably it.

Whatever the reason, he had taunted her relentlessly over the past few days. She had simply weathered it, seemingly not caring whether he mocked her or not. He had done everything in his power to get her to say something, anything, before doing something that was simply not acceptable.

He touched her stilettos. He did more than touch them; actually, he threw them as if they were playthings. And then he proceeded to call her out from the large tent she and the hyper acrobat in pink shared, in order to "demonstrate his wonderful skill and to tell her how boring she was".

The nerve.

He was a laughing mess until she had pinned him to a nearby tree with those same flying knives, her usual demeanor of casual apathy replaced with one of furious detachment- a difference, he soon learned, that was great. With her pink-clad friend looking on from a distance (and the Princess of Blue Fire, too, who seemed to stop her training in order to amuse herself with the little show in front of her), Mai sauntered over to the large oak tree, smirking dryly at his horrible-hidden terrified expression.

"Mmhmm…" she whispered, encircling the tree once before stopping in front of him. His breathing became a series of sporadic in- and exhales, truly frightened for what was to become of him. It wasn't as if she was honestly going to hurt him, but she played with knives. That made all of the difference and then some.

In one fluid motion, she had the sharp edge of one of the stilettos against a vein in his neck, her body pressed into his and her face close. He dared to look downward to her rosy lips, parted in a hazardous position near his own.

"I said," she started again, "I dare you to say it again."

He grinned mischievously. "Or what, my fair lady?"

She smacked his caramel face in fury before stomping off, leaving him against the tall tree's trunk as she dragged her ponytailed friend back into the tent.

He laughed good-naturedly.

"She digs me."

-ø-

Oh, that was fun to write! I had myself laughing at the end. This story was one of my "Pay-As-You-Go" fanfics, as in, I did not plan it in the least bit. I just wrote it as it came to me. I hope you liked it. Please review!

XOXO daydream11