Paige was a lot calmer by the time she found her way to the waterfall she'd noticed from a distance earlier that day. She was still angry, but not to the point she was afraid she was going to say something that went too far. She'd already done that a few times, and hated it when she did.

The waterfall wasn't some massive beauty of nature, but it was still the largest she'd ever seen in person. She had mentioned it to Levi and he'd just commented that it was cool, and then kept moving. She'd hoped her hint would be enough to spur him into offering to walk to see it, but that had been a flop. He could be oblivious, and was generally unromantic most of the time.

'Most of the time,' she thought, grasping where the flower he'd carved rested between her breasts.

It was painted, or rather stained with color, now. And part of her knew he'd only been staining wood to learn a new skill, and wanted to say it had just been part of him trying to reset his debuff. That's what he'd told her when he'd shrugged it off. But the other part of her knew truth and saw through him. He'd waited until he had the skill before he had worked on the trinket he'd carved her. He'd wanted to make sure it would be perfect.

And it was. It was perfectly stained with gold and orange and green and brought the flower to life.

But that was only half of Levi.

Other times, he couldn't see past whatever it was he was focused on, including her. Even when it involved her. Like this Tai Chi shit. She'd started meditating with Levi because Mr. Stowe had said it could be good for controlling her rage. Then she'd started doing Tai Chi as an extension of that. Then Levi had just taken over.

He wanted her to learn everything exactly like he had. He wanted her to gain the same Skills, the same way he had.

And even after she'd changed things up and incorporated what she knew of Taekwondo and only then gained the skill... He still wanted to control everything she did. He didn't get it, even after she'd proven it.

Then once he got to lecturing... Her grip tightened around the pendant. She suddenly wanted to punch him again. If he could just shut up long enough for her to show him...

Most of her knew he only meant well, but she was damned tired of waiting for him to figure out that he only drove a wedge between them when he did that. It made her feel small and childish.

The age gap had never bothered her until he started making her feel that way. And it wasn't because she ever felt like she wasn't his equal, but only because it made her feel like he didn't see her as his equal.

She loved him. Paige didn't want to lose Levi over this. She knew he really wasn't even trying to be an asshole, even when he could be the most polite asshole she'd ever known. He was just Levi. He was weird about some things. Especially when it came to seeing anything beyond whatever he'd put his focus on. So, whether he was right or wrong, it was up to her.

She had to make him see it. She had to make him pull his head out of his ass and listen to her. That was all she could do, unless she just wanted to walk away. Because if she didn't make him open his eyes, it wouldn't be long before she would have enough of his bullshit, lose her temper, and burn down any future they might have.

As she stood up, Paige realized she never actually did take the time to appreciate the waterfall, but it was already too late. Her mind was made up. She lowered her body and took her stance, starting the slow sets her way.

Her base stance was much lower to the ground than Levi's. Where he'd turn and whip his arm, she'd often go lower and raise a leg in a kick, though striking the same target area. Where Levi would extend a strike with a palm, Paige would slice with claw.

And she had gained her own skill from it: Paige's Perfect Form - Feral Dance. It wasn't unique, though she'd created it. Paige thought that probably meant she could teach it to others, theoretically.

Still, it hadn't been enough for Levi. He'd congratulated her. But he'd dismissed the progress as due to her class rather than her effort.

She had to show him. She had to make him see beyond his own blinders. She had to shake him from his fixation on doing things his way. Because if that didn't work, and he couldn't start showing her respect as an equal, she was pretty sure she would eventually have no choice but to walk away.

She took her own inspiration from Levi's methods as she activated her Skills and Abilities. She was going to create her own flow Skill, and even if she could barely stand up by the time she was done. Levi would have to acknowledge she knew what she was doing.

It was either that, or she was definitely going to punch him.

She began by activating Formed by Friendship, calling on her wolf form she'd gained from befriending Sombo as she sank low. Wolves couldn't climb. It were the best form she had in her arsenal for opening the set. As she began the initial rise of her own slow sets, she imagined herself a wolf, surrounded and trapped by enemies on every side. In her mind, she was in a slow rising lunge, her raised paws pushing away the enemy assault as she closed in for the attack.

When her paws reached the peak of their ascent, she shifted Formed by Friendship to her grizzly form. The bear was still a new addition to her friend list, but the Ability responded just as easily. She also shifted her Share Traits Skill slots to Bear Paws and Protective Rage, before her paws began their slow descent.

She felt her body change and gain weight with the change. She was conscious of the itch of hair, but despite her complaints about Levi's control issues, he had done a good job teaching her to maintain her focus.

She envisioned bringing both of her paws down together, palms out, and striking the opponent in front of her, catching their skin with her claws, and folding them up even as she pushed them away in a tumble.

Then she was sinking into the next movement, again, she used Formed By Friendship, shifting to a form influenced by Mama-cat. It was always a more complete shift than any other, for whatever reason, and she felt her muscles condense and tighten, even as her form shrank. Paige was pure, lithe power, as her stance sank lower and she began to turn. She also shifted her Shared Traits to Cat-like Reflexes and Cat Claws, as she began the next move.

Here, Levi had taught her the movement of stepping and turning, while extending her left hand in a backhand motion. But Paige had deviated from that.

She sank even lower than Levi had taught her, but her hand remained at the same height as she flowed into the turn. Yet, rather than use the back of the wrist, Paige twisted her wrist clockwise so that her movement presented her palm toward the target, with her claws poised and ready to slash or grab.

As she pivoted into the next stance, this only put her even farther from what Levi had taught her. In a movement that could only ever work with the forms she gained from Formed by Friendship, her clawed hand continued in its motion to the ground. Levi would have been slowly shifting to a strike with his right hand at that point in the slow set. Instead, Paige's left hand met the ground as her right foot came up in a sweep, followed by her left, delivering two kicks to the opponent in her mind.

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She was already shifting Formed by Friendship into her wolf form and shifting one Shared Trait from Cat Claws to Strike of the Viper. The stance she took was the reflection of where Levi's slow set would have placed him. She faced the same direction, but the placement of her feet and hands were opposite, in a more southpaw stance, and her feet and hands were spread somewhat wider to fit how her stance was always lower than the one Levi had taught her.

She shifted back defensively as the slow set called for, but when shifting forward, she again shifted her Ability to use the form of a mustang she'd befriended a couple of weeks ago. She shifted one of her Shared Traits from Cat-like Reflexes to Weasel's flexibility.

Twisting her body with an unnatural fluidity, she turned and delivered an upward kick. The motion was slow but it was as wiley as a weasel's escape, as precise and elegant as a viper's strike, and as powerful as a mustang's kick.

But she wasn't done. Paige continued with the slow sets--her own slow sets--until she'd got what she'd been waiting for.

----

Paige laid on her back, panting through her grin. She'd done it.

Then awareness slowly crept back in. It started when she realized all she could hear was ringing in her ears. Her initial thought was that she'd done something stupid like Levi and screwed up her hearing, but even as Paige focused on it, her hearing returned and the sound of the waterfall flooded in.

Paige guessed she had just been so focused on what she was attempting that she'd tuned everything else out. She laughed as she sat up, proud of herself. Then a thought occurred to her. She knew Levi. Being so focused that all the sound around you was drowned out by ringing in your ear...that was basically how he existed. He couldn't help but become so focused that he accidentally tuned everything else out. Even her. He had to fight against it constantly. They'd talked about it.

Then, Paige almost felt guilty about what she had planned when she got back.

Still, almost wasn't enough to change her mind. Levi definitely had his struggles, but he had to learn to respect her.

Then Paige's stomach churned at the thought. What if she just lost him instead? What if all it did was finally drive them apart?

For a while, that thought left her paralyzed in her own thoughts. As much as Paige hated herself for it, she was afraid to lose Levi. She hadn't told him, but she loved him. She loved him a lot. It scared her, actually.

And he hadn't really told her either, but she saw the things he did. He really did put her first so many times. And more importantly, he talked in his sleep. Three times, at least that she'd been awake to hear, Levi told her that he loved her in his sleep. Paige had remembered every time and treasured each of them. She wanted him to tell her while he was awake so she could tell him that she loved him, too.

But Levi also said some really weird shit in his sleep sometimes, like; "Don't let that squirrel steal the pistachios;" "Let it take my arm. It only wants my arm;" "Death to compost;" and "Make me Asian." So Paige couldn't be absolutely certain that Levi had really meant it when he had said he loved her in his sleep.

But she still didn't want to lose him. Sure, she needed him to respect her, but... What if she lost him?

A flutter of wings brought Paige out of her thoughts, as Grumpy landed on a jagged rock nearby.

'Then it would be a heartbreak to be sure, miss. But you'll find others flapping their wings to get your attention left and right, and he'll be stuck eating the hard seeds, he will.' Grumpy's voice was harsher than usual as it flowed into her mind. He adjusted his perch and then cocked an eye at her. 'But you better either deal with the situation or stop sending out distress signals every time your feelings get hurt. I can barely do my job with all the noise.'

"Well..." Paige began. "I... you know, you don't have to be an asshole, too. And it is more than just hurt feelings."

'No disrespect meant, Miss. I'm just being honest. I'm just tired of this nonsense distracting me from the duties you assigned me to in the first place.' The crow cocked his head to another angle, still keeping an eye on Paige, but less aggressively. 'For the record, I think you've got the right idea, and I don't think you'll lose him. Master Levi is an idiot, but he's the good kind. He's always trying not to be an idiot.' Grumpy ruffled his feathers and then cocked his head in an odd angle, deliberately looking away from Paige. 'Plus, he obviously sees you as the most important member of his flock.'

Paige sat in silence, staring at the awkwardly perched crow. For a long while, she just watched Grumpy, who refused to look in her direction. Finally she broke the silence with a sigh, and tilted her head back to look at the sky. "Fuck. Advice from a crow. Still, I think it is the right advice. I have to make him respect me and just hope he's the man I think he is. And if he isn't...then..."

"Then fuck him." Grumpy said out loud. His squawking crow voice still echoed on the mountainside, even with the sound of the waterfall dampening most of the other noise.

Paige grinned, but the weight of her decision still tugged at her eyes. "Yeah. Then fuck him." She stood and brushed herself off. "Give me the deets about what you saw while I walk. Find anything interesting?"

----

Levi had barely pulled the dino chicken from the spit when Paige stomped her way into the clearing. He was already on edge from when he was sure he'd heard an eerie voice call out, 'Then fuck him,' over the mountainside, but her face was set into a glower and she barely looked at Levi as she entered their camp. That made him nervous immediately.

She stormed past Levi and grabbed the communal skin of water they shared. She didn't turn back to face him as she took a long drink.

Levi tried to force himself to relax. 'Okay, she's still clearly pissed off.' He cleared his throat. "I made some food. The dino chicken you like. It's the last one we had. I hope you like it."

Paige finally turned to look at Levi, nodding. "Thanks."

Levi waited for her to say more, but she didn't, only drinking more water from their flask. "Well... I thought maybe you would want to eat..." Levi continued.

Something told Levi he'd misread the situation as Paige gave him a look he didn't quite recognize. It was close enough to anger that he sensed danger, but Paige's face was so unreadable that he couldn't even be sure of that.

Paige stared at him for several seconds, before her face softened. For a moment, Levi relaxed, finally letting himself take in a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. But, as Paige finally gave him more than a one word answer, that relief was completely swept aside

Paige's body relaxed and she shrugged. "Well, I actually wanted to spar."

"Maybe you should eat first," Levi answered, as every muscle in his body tightened. His mind scrambled for an excuse before continuing. "I kind of want to work on my slow sets and see if I can make some progress relearning some flow technique skills for my Go resource anyway. I feel like I'm pretty close. How about you go ahead and eat, and if you still want to, we can spar after."

Paige's eyes were soft as she gave him a gentle smile. She nodded and looked to the dino chicken he'd cooked. Pointing at the food and looking back to Levi, she asked. "Okay, but what about you? You hungry? You want me to make you a plate or something?"

The hair on the back of Levi's neck stood up at her words. Sure, she'd always done the dishes, but she didn't really ever make his plate. She'd definitely thrown something on a plate and handed it to him a time or two, when they were in a rush and on the move, but he'd done the same for her many times.

Levi gave a slow shake of his head, as he met Paige's eyes. "No. I'm not hungry. I'm just going to work on my slow sets and try to finally gain this skill. You go ahead and eat. Maybe we can spar after that, if you still want."

Paige answered with a deliberately cutesy smile and the slightest cock of her head. "Okay."

Levi's stomach roiled at her response. He already knew there was no way he'd actually be able to focus enough to gain a skill, but he was going to busy himself with his slow sets anyway. He was definitely going to wait until after Paige had eaten before he tried to talk to her.

Levi got up and moved a bit outside the camp to at least go through the motions.

----

'Well then. I guess you've committed yourself to this course of action.' Grumpy commented as Paige tore crispy skin from the dino chicken, and shoved it into her mouth.

'Yeah, well you did kind of tell me to shit or get off the pot earlier, now didn't you?' Paige answered as she shoved meat into her mouth with one hand and tore more skin free with the other.

The crow didn't answer for a long time. Paige continued eating. Thoughts and anger swirled through her head as she ate. She knew she was doing what she had to do. She hated doing it, and having to do it made her so angry. But the truth was that she couldn't do it without that anger. She needed it.

'But that makes you not like how you do it, huh?' Grumpy interjected, interrupting her thoughts.

Paige froze, staring at the picked apart dino chicken in front of her for a long time. "Yeah," she finally answered, pushing it away from her. She stared down into her lap for a long moment before continuing. "I guess I better get it over with, huh."

'I believe that's probably better than what you've been doing,' Grumpy answered.

After a long stretch of silence Paige finally let out a long sigh and stood. "Fine."