She was silent as she listened to his explanation detailing the finer points of the fae’s ability to see, how the vibrations needed to be clear and free of anything that could prevent interference, noting the inherent complications in trying to perceive sudden movements on a soggy ground turned battlefield. Ava shook her head, slowly, regretfully, and chewed her lip, steadying herself against his palm. His touch felt oddly safe, like a ballast tethering her to earth, prohibiting her from sloshing off of his lap in a clumsy move that was typical Ava. “I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have jumped you, I mean, I’m heavier’n I look.”
No matter how sincere, all the half-formed apologies in the world wouldn’t have prevented her from feeding him a faceful of slime. Nobody walked away from a mudfight clean and she still felt as though she were the losing party in this campaign. Jade hacked and sputtered, sending flecks of goo to tangle in the loose strands of her hair and dot her left cheek as she hastily turned away, a surprised laugh echoing through the tent.
“I started this, and I intend to finish it. Do the records show that?” She was in the process of pinning his arms to the ground, readying herself to scoop up a fresh mudball and dodge roll away in the knick of time, when a veritable stormcloud of damp earth rained over her head, snaking through her clothes and down her back, dying her blonde hair a slimy brown as it raced in an unnatural arc and fell in a concentrated burst above her. Well, she had probably deserved that.
She shivered as the slime trailed down her spine like a sudden chill. Pinching her eyes closed, she shook her head wildly from side to side, resembling a wet dog struggling to get dry after a surprise bath. With an exasperated smile, Ava lowered her face so that Jade’s eyes met hers, though what he would see she couldn’t say. She wasn’t sure she could look much worse than she already did, and for once she was grateful for the lack of readable vibrations present. At least he wouldn’t be forced to envision the muck monster up close and personal, unattractively dripping slime onto his chest.
“You better watch out or I’m gonna give you a big muddy kiss of death,” she warned, her breath ghosting across his face as she slowly blinked away the goop clinging to her long lashes. “And with you gone, who’d tend to all these plants?” Ava mussed his hair once more before straightening, prepared to escape his lap and help his soppy, horizontal form off the ground.