"It's fine, it's fine!" Connie laughs lightly, getting to her feet. "Honestly, I'm kinda glad that you went all-out. It's been a while since I've been so hard-pressed in a fight. Not since... stars, the Topazes? Hessonite? And that was years ago. Getting pushed to the limits of your abilities is the only way to improve, really; so I should be thanking you more than anything else!"

She touches the bruise, still smiling. Connie means every word that she said; while she may not have allowed herself to feel the sheer joy of combat back home because she was supposed to be a proper and noble knight, her time with the Rockets has broken some of the ideals Pearl drilled into her head during training. "You know, I could have Artemis heal this, but... I think I'll keep it for a little while. Remind me of what to watch out for next time, neh?" Somebody's picked up a few speech patterns from Carly.

"I have to ask, who trained you? They must've been really good."

You hear that? That's the click that a metaphorical mine makes when it's being stepped on.