How has it been three years since I updated this thing? I honestly thought it had been more recent than that. Sorry! Anyways, here we are. DISCLAIMER: Anything you may recognize belongs solely to Kristen Britain. I claim none of it.

Prompt(s): "Don't look down." "You busted my lip." Weapons training.

"Don't look down," Fastion's voice advised from the other end of the beam.

Karigan sighed rubbing her shin from where he had whacked her with his staff. "A little late for that now," she grumbled. She pushed herself up from the mate and looked up at where the Weapon was standing perfectly balanced about six feet over her head. They were training on one of Drent's favorite methods of torture, a balance beam set six feet in the air. It was only slightly wider than a footspan and it was high enough to hurt if you fell off, but not high enough to cause any lasting damage.

"Are you coming back up here or not?" Fastion called down to her with a hint of a smile forming at the corners of his eyes.

"Yes, I'm getting there. You could try not to seem so cheerful about all of this." As she predicted that got a full smile out of the Weapon. Karigan picked up her training staff and climbed up the ladder to her end of the beam. She carefully stepped out on it placing her feet in the correct fighting stance.

Fastion watched her from the other end, relaxed and leaning on his staff in a casual manner. As with most of the male fighter population of the castle he had shed his shirt within the first couple of training bouts. They were both barefoot as it allowed for better grip and maneuvering on the beam. Karigan took a moment to catch her breath and used the opportunity to admire his form.

There was no doubt that Fastion was a warrior. It was written in every fiber of his body. His stance and movements were graceful, but efficient and precise. His body was all lean muscles and sinew speaking to hours and days and years spent out in the training yard and on the battlefield. His eyes were constantly sweeping the environment for any threats to the king or himself. Unless they were concentrated on something such as now when he cocked an eyebrow at Karigan interrupting her musings and making her realize she had been staring.

"Enjoying the view are we?" he teased.

Karigan looked up at him cursing the blush that was crawling up her neck at the moment. If she was honest with herself she was enjoying the view. Not that she was going to tell him that. Instead she took up a fighting stance. "Are we just going to stand around and chat all day or are we going to do some training?" He gave her a wicked grin as he stepped up and launched his attack.

They danced back and forth along the beam, their staffs clacking together and the sounds echoing across the training yard. She pushed him back to his end of the training beam before he pushed her right back. She went for his legs and he gracefully jumped over it before swinging his own staff toward the side of her head. Karigan ducked and jabbed upward at his unprotected stomach.

Fastion grunted as her staff connected with his body. He teetered for a moment, but regained his balance. Karigan danced backwards as he came at her with a quick succession of blows. She reached the end of the beam and her right foot brushed thin air. She hovered there for a moment before she managed to swing that foot back onto the beam.

"Very nice," Fastion commented.

"Thank you," Karigan replied before neatly sweeping his feet out from under him. She caught a brief glimpse of his surprised face before he went sailing off the beam. She planted her staff onto the beam and leaned over to look down at him where he was sprawled on the mat.

"That was unexpected."

Karigan grinned. "That's kind of the point. Are you coming back up here?"

He gave her an obscene gesture before pushing himself to his feet. A minute later he climbed back onto the beam.

"Stop looking so pleased with yourself," he grumbled.

That just made Karigan smile even harder. "What are you going to do about it?" Goading a Weapon may not be the best decision ever, but it was fun living dangerously. Until he came at her, staff swinging.

She brought her staff up and the resulting shock made her arm muscles tingle and her shoulders bent further back than they were originally designed to.

"That's what I'm going to do about it," he growled with a wicked gleam in his eye that sent a thrill of adrenaline coursing through her system. She pushed him off and counter attacked, locking their staffs together.

"Well two can play at that game."

He arched an eyebrow at her, "Can they now?"

Something in his tone of voice made her pause. It was long enough for him to step back and perfectly place his staff between her knees and flip her off the beam. He hadn't gotten far enough away though that he was out of her reach. Right before she completely lost her balance she managed to hook one of his feet out from under him. In his fit of mirth at her expense he couldn't manage to regain his balance in time. He went toppling off the beam after her. They both hit the mat with an emphatic "oomph."

Karigan groaned and looked to her left where Fastion had landed next to her. He was close enough she could feel the heat radiating off of him. He was breathing just as heavily as she was. He looked over at her and pushed himself up on one elbow so that he was looking down at her.

"Well played indeed. I'll probably have some bruises from that one," he said once he had caught his breath. Karigan grinned. There weren't many people who could lay claim to have bruised a Weapon. She stretched her arms over her head and felt her shoulders pop.

"We'll probably have matching sets."

"Drent will be pleased," he commented.

Karigan snorted. "Not that he'll ever admit that." She noted the Weapon's gaze shift lower on her face.

"I think you busted your lip, you have blood on the corner of your mouth," he told her.

Karigan sat up and faced him. "It wouldn't be the first time." Before she could reach up to wipe it away Fastion beat her to it. He reached toward her and rubbed the corner of her mouth with the pad of his thumb. Karigan stilled at his touch and the world narrowed to just the two of them on the training mat.

His thumb lingered there at the corner of her mouth, tracing the same line. Karigan was pretty sure she had stopped breathing. He swallowed and looked as if he was about to say something.

"Fastion!" They both started as someone called his name from across the training yard effectively breaking whatever spell they had been under.

Karigan inhaled sharply and shook herself as Fastion dropped his hand. They looked up to see Willis and Donal over by the sword rings. Fastion got to his feet and offered her a hand up. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. He held her hand for a moment longer than necessary before letting it go. Karigan shifted on her feet and cleared her throat searching for something to say.

"Same time tomorrow if we're not busy?" She asked.

Fastion nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Karigan nodded and fled. Fastion watched her leave before he grabbed his boots and tunic and wandered over to where his fellow Weapons were warming up.

"So, how'd the training go?" Willis inquired as he moved through a stretching routine.

Fastion sat on a nearby bench and pulled his boots on. "It went well. She manages to knock me off the beam nearly as much as I knock her off."

"It looked like it ended well." This was from Donal.

Fastion said something in reply, but it was muffled as he pulled his tunic over his head.

"What was that?" Donal called.

Fastion finished pulling his tunic on and leveled a cool gaze as his brother-in-arms. "Meaning?"

"Meaning when are you going to tell Karigan that you have more than just friendly feelings for her?"

Fastion stood. "I don't know. When are you going to tell Mara?" He walked away to the sounds of Willis's bellowing laughter.

A/N: As always let me know what you think. ~Naomi