So she hugged him, because how could she not hug him right now? Even as she did it, she felt him stiffen and she readied herself for the protests and the pushing her away, but then, to her surprise and delight, he hugged her back, even harder if that was possible, squeezing her tightly. She squeezed him, too, as though they were having a squeezing contest. She picked him up, her legs strong and capable, and then he picked her up too. They alternated like that for a while, adding spins and little hops and then—

They separated, beaming at each other. “Hit me,” Gruff said.

“Alright,” Perfidy said, because it sounded like such a great idea at this particular moment that she couldn’t even consider refusing. So she stepped forward and punched him hard in the shoulder.

The impact was so sudden and violent that she was picked up off her feet and thrown back, her shoulder feeling like it had been cracked with a hammer. She landed a distance away, bouncing and skidding over sharp stones and devilish tree roots that seemed to gain pleasure in battering her along the way.

When she finally came to rest, she stood up, grinning, the pain in her shoulder and the rest of her body already receding. “Should we do it agin?” she asked.

“Why not?” Gruff said. “Except harder this time!”

Laughing, she charged him, winding up, aiming for his chin this time, though it was well-hidden beneath his thick beard.

She was rocked upwards, doing several flips before crashing back down in a bone-jarring collision far more violent than any of her training had been thus far. “Fun!” she declared, jumping back to her feet in a single, seamless motion. “Watch this!”

Pushing off from her back foot, she charged at a nearby tree, leaping up to grab a branch that should’ve been slightly out of reach for her, swinging such that her momentum carried her atop it, then grabbed a knothole in the trunk and clambered up several more branches until her best friend the dwarf looked even smaller than he actually was. “Here I come!” she announced, and then jumped, spreading her arms and legs to either side.

Gruff was laughing and dancing his jig again, arms open wide as if to catch her. Of course, if she’d landed on him, she would’ve flattened him instead, but she never made it that far. Because as soon as she willed it to be so, she stopped, her body frozen in midair just above his outstretched arms. Which came together in a series of claps. “Bravo!” he cheered, still clapping like a little boy watching a puppet show. “Now try to catch me!”