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Stars erupted in across her vision as his fist connected, and this time her head did hit the ground, bouncing with the force of the blow. The taste of blood was thick on her lips, her tongue, and she could feel the source in the sharp sting at near the corner of her mouth.

"You mother fuc-" fingers closed around her throat, squeezing, cutting off the snarled insult along with her air. Not the first time someone had tried to strangle her in earnest, but experience didn't really make it less panic inducing.

She hit him again, as the edges of her vision started to bleed to grey. Sharp little knuckles angled up in a wild hook at his cheek, then the left. Then the wild buck of that small body as she tried to throw him off her, and all the while, Warrick raged through her mind.

<Destroy him, Peyton!>

She didn't need the demon's goading. Her throat ached with the lingering feel of his hands squeezing, and once again she coughed, trying to clear it. There would be bruises, and with ill placed bruises came unwelcome questions.

"Son of a b***h," she wheezed, hissing between clenched teeth, but if she'd meant to say more, it'd have to wait. Melvin recovered quick. Either that, or sheer rage was lending him strength enough to lunge at her again,and only a very undignified backward crab scramble kept him from catching more than her legs.

An ugly laugh erupted from her mouth at the insult, and she sneered at him, grabbing for that pale hair, and using whatever leverage she could gain to direct his face down against one of her knees.

As Melvin rolled away to clutch at his face Peyton bounced back up to her feet, one hand lifted to rub at her neck again. She winced, lips drawing back as she gave a furious snarl.

"Are you ******** done?" It was a chance to end it now, and walk away, but if he refused, she would be more than happy to make him stand down.

"No thank you," she hissed back at him, sneering. "I don't want to catch your crazy."

"Shouldn't pick fights if you don't want to get dirty." It was dry, barbed. Her hackles still raised, despite the fight having fizzled out. Just because he'd stopped, that didn't mean he wasn't erratic enough to start back up again. The last thing Peyton was going to do was drop her guard and make it easy on him.

There was a beat, a flickering look of annoyance over delicate features, and then the Sun smiled. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"More meat on my bones than you probably prefer." Which was ironic, given Peyton's over all dainty size, though unlike some, every inch of her tiny packaging was muscled. Not overly so, but enough that it was obvious she took her training seriously.

What followed was unexpected, and she frowned at him, confused, before he was looking around the ground around him. When it clicked that he couldn't see her that well she sighed, glanced around as well, and then went to grab the googles that had been knocked off in the scuffle.