[No, he's not dodging this. He has to meet it head-on. He owes it to her, and himself.]
[Whipping Ahrah back, Dust grabs the hilt in both hands and with all the strength in his body, swings the blade in a descending vertical arc to meet hers--]
[--and he's still using Ahrah at an angle.]
[Instead of meeting the narrow edge of the Blade of Ahrah, which would have focused all of Dust's strength into one powerful, narrow line, she instead slams her sword into the flat. Now, ordinarily, this is actually the proper technique, because most swords aren't Ahrah and you don't actually want to block with the part that gets easily chipped and dulled, but it sure isn't Dust's technique, and he isn't prepared for just how it spreads out the force of the clash.]
[Her sword forces Ahrah backs such that the weapon smacks Dust straight in the face, although not hard enough to really hurt, because it also catches his hat. So now his hat is standing almost vertical, the brim covering down past his mouth as the flat of the blade presses it into his nose and chin.]
[...on the upside, he at least manages to eat enough of the momentum that Saber probably won't crash into him. So if nothing else he's preserved her dignity. DEFINITELY not his own.]
no subject
[That's brilliant.]
[No, he's not dodging this. He has to meet it head-on. He owes it to her, and himself.]
[Whipping Ahrah back, Dust grabs the hilt in both hands and with all the strength in his body, swings the blade in a descending vertical arc to meet hers--]
[--and he's still using Ahrah at an angle.]
[Instead of meeting the narrow edge of the Blade of Ahrah, which would have focused all of Dust's strength into one powerful, narrow line, she instead slams her sword into the flat. Now, ordinarily, this is actually the proper technique, because most swords aren't Ahrah and you don't actually want to block with the part that gets easily chipped and dulled, but it sure isn't Dust's technique, and he isn't prepared for just how it spreads out the force of the clash.]
[Her sword forces Ahrah backs such that the weapon smacks Dust straight in the face, although not hard enough to really hurt, because it also catches his hat. So now his hat is standing almost vertical, the brim covering down past his mouth as the flat of the blade presses it into his nose and chin.]
[...on the upside, he at least manages to eat enough of the momentum that Saber probably won't crash into him. So if nothing else he's preserved her dignity. DEFINITELY not his own.]