Diana is much the same, though perhaps more in part to a deep desire to prove herself to her people than anything else. Antiope always told her she had to be the best, the strongest, the fastest--before leaving the island, Diana thought it was simply because she hadn't been born knowing how to be an Amazon, the way her sisters had. But she was quick to learn that her general's pushing was because she knew that one day, Ares would come for Diana. She needed to be ready to kill a god when the time came.

She still thanks the gods for Antiope's harsh training. Without it, she'd have died the moment Ares decided to face her.

Her heart soars when he calls her friend; she has a feeling he has not said it often in his life. Diana would that everyone called her friend, though she knows that such a hope is childish. Still, it means more coming from Altaïr, she thinks.

His hand, calloused as hers are from the grip of a weapon, moves to her cheek, and she does not stop him. Truth be told, she's curious about him making the gesture, how it can be so casual and yet intimate at the same time, and she turns her face just so into his touch. Her own hand shifts from his shoulder, mirroring the touch on his face. "You are welcome." A response, and an invitation, if he'll have it.