The bruised bounty hunter acknowledged Raine’s response with a nod of his head as he walked back to his bedding. [i]I wouldn’t mind a few seconds to finish eating either,[/i] he thought, eating through the bread. He was used to stale, moldy, and rotton food by that point, however he heard a rumor that burning it after it spoiled ensured that you wouldn’t get sick. He could not care less about getting sick in prison, seeing as he would not remain within the bars for an extended stay. Still, even though the stale bread was not warm or partly burned, he was familiar with the taste, and was able to consume it in its entirety before the assassin managed to throw a cup at him.

The cup came as a surprise to Flake, seeing as he had only just swallowed his last bite and looked up at Raine. As it whizzed by, he felt a few droplets of water hit his cheek and neck. He wiped these droplets off, along with a small bit of dirt, and threw the innocent cup over to the pile of other dishes. Upon hearing Raine’s comment, Flake stood up and tilted his head to both shoulders, resulting in popping sounds in his neck. His bruises steadily became more apparent, both visually for others and painfully for Flake, as faint sunlight from the staircase gradually got stronger. He had nine bruises, mostly on his torso and arms, and could localize them all quite accurately in his mind.

He was not nearly as worried about his nose as an amateur would be. He never fought with head protection, so he was not worried about getting hit in the face. His issue, which he demonstrated by grimacing as he flexed a few muscles in his arms statically as a check, was that he would have to expend more energy in order to nullify the effects of pain completely. [i]That might be a bit much for a friendly skirmish,[/i] he thought, his grimace fading as he retorted, “in that case, I guess I’ll help you out.”

Before advancing to initiate combat, the bounty hunter clenched his fists tightly, resulting in more popping noises, and then adopted a stance next to his bedding. The room was larger than Flake’s shack, but that was barely saying anything. He doubted he would be able to get to kicking range after the fight started, so he decided to start off with a kick. [i]Just to be flashy,[/i] he thought, leaping towards Raine in two steps, [i]I’ll do this.[/i] 

Around five feet in front of Raine, Flake dropped to the floor and kicked high, aiming for Raine’s head as he slid. When he stopped moving, he placed both hands right above his shoulders and kicked straight up with his other leg, pressing down with the leg which was already out for momentum. This momentum allowed him to press off of his hands and launch himself backwards in a flip with a slight spinning motion, allowing him to land facing his target on his feet, albeit a bit disoriented. He quickly adopted his lazy forward stance after regaining his composure and brought his left arm in front of his chest.