Dorrin nodded his agreement as he stepped in beside her. “Exertion is one thing. Faking joy in the face of adversity, however, is quite another. And it requires quite a few lesser muscles of the face to do so.”
Ziana chuckled. “You know, we have a saying about this kind of thing back on Earth.”
“Oh? How odd.”
“Yeah, I suppose. But they say it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile.”
Dorrin cocked his head a tiny bit, musing over her words. “That’s actually a rather clever observation.”
“See? We humans aren’t as pathetic as you like to make us out to be.”
“I do not think you are pathetic. Merely grossly underprepared for the games.”
“Yeah, you’ve said.Repeatedly.”
“I am sorry you do not like my words, but that does not change the truth of the matter. You have, however, proven yourself more resilient than I initially believed.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I mean no false flattery. It is just an observation. You are performing better than expected. And you possess a drive I could not have anticipated. Other teams have dropped out, you know.”
“I noticed.”
“They could not hack the sustained effort required of the games. And yet you, a newcomer, have somehow exceeded some who have trained and prepared for years.”
Ziana turned under the water’s flow, wincing as the last stubborn remnants of charred skin washed away. “After the crap they sprung on us tonight I’m not surprised.”
“The fire often tests people in a manner they do not expect.”
“And the elites?”
“Oh, the logs were still aflame, but they undoubtedly ran the agility course later when they are nearly burned out.”
“How fair.”
“Fair has nothing to do with it, as I know you are quite aware of by now.”
She nodded, gingerly rubbing her skin despite the pain. Dorrin’s eyes ran over her body, assessing the degree of hurt she had endured in a flash.
“Come closer and let me do that.”
“I can handle it.”
“No, you cannot,” he replied, adjusting the water to uncomfortably cold.
“Hey!”
He grabbed her shoulders and held her in the painfully cold stream. “It is unpleasant now, but it will help numb the pain. Trust me, and stand still.”
Given his grip she didn’t have much choice.
Dorrin took a small scrubbing cloth and began carefully dabbing at the bits of burned skin and debris still stuck to her, not gentle but not rough either.
“Fuck!”
He clearly registered her complaint but didn’t stop.
“This is going to hurt no matter what I do. Better to be thorough and quick about it. I will not make this last any longer than necessary.”
