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Okay, that was better!

Matt stopped the fires, throwing his arms in front of his eyes before the sand could blind him. Okay, now he was starting to get irritated. All that talk about an actual attack wasn't making him any more partial to her methods either. But if he caved in, it'd be just like losing, wouldn't it? The sand barrage continued... but who said you needed to see in order to do this?

Now that was an idea!

He kept his arms up as if helpless to do anything about the sand... but Emma would notice the fire starting up again. He was almost there, dammit! Just a bit more and this'd be over, and he wouldn't have to do anything to hurt her! Not like it wasn't a bad thing... but resorting to that would kinda be beside the point.

He'd gotten the gist of this test by now... they were trying to make his fire spin out of control by pissing him off.

Nope, not losing here!

Um... okay then...

Matt had to duck out of the way as the wicked weapon nearly took his head off. Brain switched to survival mode again, fire went out, and he took a few steps back. "Hey, I'm sure we can settle this some other way, right? Like, some way that doesn't involve me getting cut into little pieces?"

He wasn't nearly good enough to dodge forever. Unarmed, so that wouldn't work. Probably had to find a coconut or something and throw it sooner or later. And he couldn't kick up sand, she had range on him.

A lot of it.

This... was not good. But that vase was almost done.

"...Know what, hell with it." He sported a crazy grin as he charged right for her! "You only live once!"

There was only one reason she'd... yup, there it was.

Matt slid right under that kick, feet first, and reached his right hand out toward the vase. The fire flared up again, but now came the challenge... could he fight and focus on finishing that at the same time? It'd be a completely defensive battle, but that was the point. He couldn't hit her, he couldn't counter, he couldn't do anything but focus on keeping his head, limbs, and just about anything else intact... and finish that vase.

After all, he'd already lit her on fire once. Didn't feel bad for it, because she'd walked right into it. But doing it on purpose would be missing the point of the test. Besides, he'd waste his energy on something other than his arts and crafts project.

Matt stood after lighting the fire again, his eyes narrowed with focus as he tried to complete his task before he got tagged with something he'd feel in the morning.

Matt grinned. "Even if that was the plan, it's a sound strategy, right?" He moved his hand out of the way, the fire temporarily winking out... but his hand remained intact. "All I have to do is keep this up until the vase gets finished!" Besides, he didn't want to hurt her any. At least, no more than she hurt herself.

He stood and took a brief peek at the thing, taking note that it still needed work. "I don't suppose you'll think of a better distraction than... well, this?" He looked at Emma again. "It's almost done anyway."

Matt pointed his left index finger toward the vase... and the fire started again as the project inched closer to completion. "The big question is... how long is it gonna take before that... happens to you?"

He'd give himself bonus points for this one if he could manage to go through this entire fight without landing a single hit on her... and still keep himself alive. But the vase was the goal.

No real reason but having fun?

Matt blinked for a moment... So all that was for nothing? Just some kinda whim? All just one big joke with him as the target?

He could barely hold it any more, so he... laughed. Matt threw his head back, eyes squeezed shut, and laughed! "All... All for fun, huh? That's rich! You did all that just because you wanted to!"

The laughter died down eventually, but his half-crazy grin did not. "I like that, y'know. You're not half bad!" Okay, calm down. Vase had to be finished. But he could do that without looking, right? "I'm lucky you weren't serious, otherwise I'd have really died there!"

Okay, not something to joke about... right?

Matt shrugged, the grin fading to a smile. "Well I'm glad you think so highly of me. Anyways..." He looked toward the vase. "Oh, it's done." He waved the fire off and peered at the thing. "Not too bad... I guess." Then he yawned. "Man, this actually took a bit out of me. Hey, did I pass?"

Matt picked up the vase and tossed it in his right hand for a bit. "Hmm... I had fun with this. Maybe I'll do another test when the time comes, huh?" He looked over his right shoulder at Emma. "Thanks for the fun! See you around!"

Matt stopped and turned to face her. "Y'know, you could always come with me. I just got a new level, and that does call for some kinda reward. I was gonna go to the bar or something, get a drink. You wanna come?"

At least he was trying, right?