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Gale's arrival made for a wonderfully convenient excuse for Mimsy to get as far away from the conversation with Stormy as she possibly could, and that was exactly what she opted to do. She took careful steps through the mud in an effort to avoid losing her last pair of shoes (again), leaning down to drag her fingers through the drenched soil when she neared Robert.

"I meant what I said." She stopped in front of him and tilted her head down to give him a smile. "And I will prove it in time, if you have doubts. In the meantime, however...."

Though it was difficult to do in rainboots with slick soles, she bent down and tilted his head up to reach him better, rewarding him with a kiss that he had not appeared to earn. Not in the same way as the last one, at least.

Before she broke away, she slowly and deliberately pressed her muddy fingers against his cheek; the feigned expression that she wore said 'oops'.

Gale made the right decision. In his state, Robert would have definitely pulled him down into the mud - even if he wasn't in a bad mood, he would have done it. But Gale walked away smartly, and Robert was left sitting in the mud, refusing to get up out of it. His legs bent so he could rest his arms on his knees, and his head disappeared under the canopy of his arms. It was an impressive display of melancholy, but it was worse than showing his face, because he'd reached a breaking point once he was left alone in the mud, and everything that was going wrong welled up one giant despair ridden moment. He was crying, violently, and nobody needed to see that.

So the position, despite how emo it looked, was a better solution by far.

He heard Mimsy's voice, and it stung him, because he didn't want her to see him this way. If she thought he was crying because he lost a spar, it would be unforgivably embarrassing. So he shied away, digging himself deeper into the mud.

Her fingers refused him his peace, and when she pulled his face forward to kiss it, his eyes closed and forced the last of his tears down. He sighed sharply, the ache of despair fading around the edges in the wake of her cool lips against his. She numbed his pain. He took it by necessity, tilting his head in the direction her mud covered fingers pressed against.

"Sorry." He whispered blindly against her kiss.

His eyes opened at the sound of a question in her voice, and he looked at her for just a second, before his eyes turned to look away. "I didn't win. Don't like making you wrong. Sorry." He reached up, rubbing the mud she'd traced on his cheek away, but it did nothing more than smudge it across his face. Then he slowly stood, taking her with him.

His gaze caught the movement a ways off, of Gale and Stormy having their moment in the mud. Something haunted and unfamiliar danced in his expression, and he kept Mimsy in one arm, just watching them for a moment.

When it was over, he flickered his gaze back to Mimsy, and gave her a little smile. It looked out of place on a face streaked with tears and mud. "So that's it for me. Not too disappointed, are you?"

She felt more like a cloud ready to rain on the inside, but sunshine it was. "Nono, it's okay!" she said hastily, cheeks pink at the doting motion. "I should've realized you would 'cause of the adrenaline, yeah, and winning's good, a-and so's kissing, and you take what I say seriously because you're a serious person, yes--" Although only once it was enacted in public, umbrella screen or not, did she realize how nerve-wracking public displays of affection could be. Or maybe it was just her own growing anxieties coming to light.

Obviously now wasn't the time to mention those, though. If Gale wanted sunshine, she ought to clear the skies, especially with the way the weather was beginning to look.

"Leaving it up to me is very dangerous!" Stormy warned him with a grin, letting go of his hand so that she could shake out her umbrella and get it closed before the wind blew it in. "It could be as random as a feathered cap or as boring as apple pie." Though given her personal brand of eccentric thinking, the threat wasn't really valid. She considered Gale thoughtfully for a moment before leaning down, digging her fingers into the mud, and reaching up to paint two lines beneath both his eyes.

"A proper soon to be champion should look ready for war~"

All apparent evidence pointed towards this being tied to the feeling of 'making her wrong'. Of failing her. He was this upset because he didn't like it when she was wrong?

Mimsy's eyes lit up with a spark of recognition, as if a switch flipped from 'cold' to 'human', and she almost looked like she was so happy she could cry.

These were fantastic results, surpassing her highest of expectations. She watched him with wide eyes filled with awed pride, silently basking in the indications of success. This was going so well! At this point in the process, there were few doubts that remained, but any persistent skepticism dissolved in an instant. This was right. She had chosen correctly, and he was excelling.

She remained silent, mind abuzz with possibility, until he questioned her level of disappointment. Disappointment. It was so difficult not to laugh at the idea that she was disappointed that she had no time to prevent a wide smile and a single 'ha'.

"I am not disappointed in the slightest. My feelings at this moment are directly opposite - I could not possibly be more proud of you." Shifting against him, she stretched to take his hand, clutching it with confidence. "That aside, I said that you would be victorious. One single spar is not indicative of cumulative victory. One battle does not have to decide the outcome of the war. Don't you feel like you are winning something?"

Explaining why she felt like this was a victory was not the best of ideas, she decided, so she attempted to grasp at straws in case something resonated.

"You have made exceptional progress, against all odds. Your plants are growing. You survived Titan consumption. You made it this far. You have me. This is a victory, and you have earned it." She gave his hand a little squeeze. "And if it's my promise of that reward that you are dismayed about...I think that it is fair to say you have earned that too."

Her words faltered towards the end; it was a significant privilege to reward him with, and she had new doubts of her own capabilities, but it was a logical step after that great leap in progress.

Wasn't it?

SPECTATOR

Ami looked on the situation without an ounce of sympathy. Gale was victorious and she was glad but ...

All she could do was glare at Robert.

It was a glare that said, you have failed the life division how could you.