Détente

The knife came a millimeter off her skin, leaving behind a paper-thin line of blood. Breath leapt out of her- she hadn't realized she'd been holding it. The Riddick was staring and she knew exactly how he saw her face, saw her eyes, because she was seeing him that way now too.

"How the fuck did you do that." He exploded. She wasn't expecting him to be angry. She blinked in confusion and her blue lenses dropped back, making her eyes and her vision normal again.

Min spoke in a language she hadn't spoken to another being but her Ferrin in over a decade.

"What the fuck was that?" The Riddick put the tip of the knife to the point just under her chin. Min sucked in a breath and hissed at him in low tones.

"I said, 'I'm Furian, you colossal prick.'" Then to prove it she broke his hold on her in a power move that would not have worked had he not already been surprised. She stepped out of his grip and backed away into an en-gaurde stance, then brought her blue lenses back up. If she was going to have to fight this fucker she wasn't doing in blind.

A half beat later the Riddick was moving on her again, but she caught the twitch in his neck muscles and knew it was only a testing feint. She countered it minimally, not wanting to show where her weaknesses lie. She couldn't match his strength but maybe in speed, if he kept telegraphing his moves.

"Where'd a simpleton learn to move like that?" She thought his voice was almost cheery. Lovely, she thought grimly, he thinks this is fun.

"My Ferrin taught me." She still kept her voice pitched low. Maybe there weren't cameras or voice pick-ups… maybe.

The muscle in his jaw twitched again. Damn, he knew he was telegraphing that, she thought, as he feinted again. She had to step into him, so she threw a hip as if to try a throw and rolled across his back instead. Then she tried to leap away, hoping to outdistance his reach before he pivoted.

Damn. Damn. Damn. He's faster than he looks, she thought, as he caught her in a grapple that put the knife back under her chin.

"I told you I couldn't kill you." She hissed. "But if this room's bugged you've killed me."

"How'd you do that with your eyes?" He asked calmly, she thought amusedly.

"All Furians have the blue lenses."

"The Purifier didn't."

"Yes, he did. But he hadn't used them in years."

"Why?"

"The cleansing. It ruined half his mind. The only way he could think for himself was in our language. Like he could side step the cleansing. But it was tearing his mind apart." Tears leaped into her eyes as she thought about the anguish her Ferrin suffered, and struggled against, in her behalf. She closed her eyes instead. She couldn't cry for him yet. He would be disappointed if she didn't survive this moment. She looked back up at him. "Get that knife off my throat?"

Those words startled him in some way. He blinked and his throat tightened for a moment: Something else to dig for later. But he didn't release her and didn't remove the knife right away. Then he seemed to come to some decision. "Show me." He demanded and spun her loose.

She didn't fall or even stumble. She planted one foot and turned back towards him in a defensive stance again. She looked at him calmly while he hid the knife on his person again.

"Show you what?"

"Show me how you change your eyes."

Min frowned. "You've never…?"