She extended her feet and burrowed them underneath his legs, her expression similar to that of someone who had just been asked if water was wet. Any trouble? She knew he was being genuine and wasn't just trying to goad her, but damn if his delivery had all the nuance of a sledgehammer. That was nothing new. Still, she could not for the life of her understand how he could make it all sound so... celebratory. Like she'd done something amazing, something impressive. But then, she reminded herself, he hadn't been there and couldn't have known, but that didn't exactly make her feel much better.
The additional mention of her being the subject of cirque gossip made her visibly uncomfortable. She supposed that was one of the pitfalls of living in a small, tight community; everyone had their nose in other people's business. "A force," she echoed, and in her mind she could almost see the terrified face of a man as her teeth closed around his throat and pulled. Could almost remember liking it.
The 'new lioness' had put on quite a show, she was sure.
She turned her eyes to stare down into her coffee, her fingers restlessly picking at a chip in the painted mug. "It hurt a lot," she confessed. "More than usual, anyway. I... don't really remember much. It wasn't exactly on purpose." She tilted her head and glanced back up at him from under her lashes. "Stop grinning at me like that." She gave him a small nudge with her foot to emphasize this. "What else did you hear?"