Bayani didn't see Sara as a little girl, since he'd only met her as the young woman she presented herself as now. She did have a quality of seeming young, though, even if they were nearly the same age. It was the same type of kindness and sweetness that he'd seen in others, and it unconsciously spoke to that overprotective quality of his. Bayani would always feel an urge to protect people he thought needed it, even if they were relative strangers. If fighting battles on behalf of others was a job, he would be a master at it.
She had such a warm smile. She reminded him a great deal of Ellie. Bayani took her hand and helped her up, careful with his strength, especially since she was small and light. Dark eyes looked down at her, and it was only then he started to get the undercurrent of attraction. It was the way she gazed at him and stepped back, and something clicked in his mind. Oh. But his way of responding to these things was not to react at all. He felt like it saved them dignity and awkwardness that way. She was a lovely fox, but he could already tell that her heart was owed better than his.
So instead he made a disgusted face at her and then smiled afterward, his eyes like warm chocolate. "Don't tell anyone I'm nice. I like the tough guy act, si? It'd ruin that." He shook his shaggy head at her. "I don't let people let me win. That's no competition at all." Bayani winked at her. "But I will take it as a head start." That was all the warning he gave before he took off, some quiet laughter left behind him, since he expected she'd catch up to him soon enough. He wasn't giving it his full speed. This was a game. And he liked knowing another player in the field.