((For Jelani))

[1stmacleod]

After his last time in the Nexus, Connor's looking a little worse for wear again. After a brief respite, he's back to sleeping badly. Sometimes he dreams he can see a himself in happy family gatherings, but he's always standing outside the window, in the cold or worse. He usually wakes himself beating his fists against dream-glass.

He really doesn't have anywhere else to go, though, except here and back to his own world. So he lurks. He's found one of the edge places, where Nexus dissolves into a patch of wilderness. So he sits, and gives the crowds a brooding stare, watching from the outside yet again.

Comments

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"...I don't know. It's... I wouldn't mind giving you more lessons, if you wanted that regularly?" Because he was enjoying that. He's not the most patient teacher, but she's a quick student, so it works.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

"I'd hardly mind that." She smiles brightly. She had been looking for a sparring partner, after all. And a teacher definitely trumps a sparring partner any day of the week. "Shall we continue, of d'ya wanna call it quits fer today?"

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I think I can go one more round, if you want to put things into practice. Sorry I'm out of shape." He's been fighting pretty regularly, up until he found the Nexus, he just hasn't been eating or sleeping much so his stamina was down.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

She just waves away that apology as she gets up. No need for it, really.

She stretches a bit, and then smoothly slides back into the stance Connor taught her. "Hey Connor?" For a moment she looks almost shy. "...thanks. Fer this. It does mean a lot." And then it's time to get serious again.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He gets up a little stiffly, and rolls his neck and shoulders with a few quiet popping noises. Her stretching gives him time to do the same, and he is getting just a little tired. He rolls into the stance again, though, ready and waiting.
"...You're welcome. It's important to find teachers..." It's been a long time since he had one, but they kept coming to ugly ends, and that was discouraging.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

She circles him, her movements calm and with a small smile playing on her lips. For a moment it seems like she's about to make an attack, but it never comes. This time she's waiting for him to make the first strike.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He shifts, moving forward and back but playing defense, and when he does attack it's sudden and swift. The katana swings high in an arc, although he's still using the back of the blade, but as it moves in for the stroke his foot darts out in a kick at her ankle.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Thank heavens for cat-like reflexes. She was about to block that strike, but instead threw herself to the side and forward to evade both strike and kick. She rolls over her shoulder and comes up in a crouch and as she does she slashes out, hoping to hit Connor low on his back. This leaves her a bit open, but she's ready for another evade, one that would get some more distance between them.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

There's a flash of approval in his expression, and he whirls, her slash just brushing his back and side, then he's trying to throw her blade wide and press in again for another swing. His reflexes are slower than they used to be, but he's still very fast.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

It's backwards she throws herself this time, and again she rolls over her shoulder. She comes up on her feet and immediately she darts in with a another strike. She hasn't put much of her strength into things so far, and has in fact been pulling her punches, so to speak. But this time she strikes far harder than before in a diagonal arch, with a small hope on getting Connor off balance and maybe even knocking his sword aside for real. Knocking it out off his hands is a dream scenario, and she's not counting on that.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He grunts as the blow lands, but then he seems to just melt under it and slither away, robbing her strike of impact. His grip on his sword is good, but he backs off a little, and pauses just a moment to re-analyze things.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

She takes that pause to think, as well. Wondering just how much abuse the shinai can take before it breaks. Just how hard can she hit? Well then, let's find out.

She attacks again, with fast sweeps and strikes, each a bit harder than the last even as she tries her very best not to give Connor any openings. She does, of course. One can't expect her to be

that

good at her first lesson, even if she has previous fighting experience.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

If she's not going to hold back, neither will he, but he's out of shape and tired, so despite his best dodging and whirling, some of her blows do land. He does his best to ignore them, and every time he blocks the shinai it makes loud rattling sounds. He may get in a few bruising strikes of his own with the back of the katana blade, but he's mostly busy laying defense, until a parry sends splintering shards off the shinai and, because of the way his blade slides up it, some of those shards go at his face. Ow.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Getting bruises is not something she's going to care at all about. They won't stay for more than a few seconds, anyway. But she does get a bit ticked off each time he lands a hit. Because a hit is a hit, and would have hurt a hell of a lot more if he'd had teh sword turned right.

But at least she's getting in hits of her own.

Then the shinai splinters with a loud crack, and she immediately draws back. "...y'alright?" She asks, worried that she might have made him angry now. She's not very worried about his health, with him being immortal and all, but pain is pain.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He backs off quickly, still a little wary because he's not sure if it's time to let his guard down or not. There's a few splinters in his hand and his face. "Ow." He grimaces, and plucks them out carefully, by feel. "I'm okay, but you're going to need a new shinai... Or maybe we'd better get you a blunt sword or something instead. It's not made to stand up to metal."

[jelani.livejournal.com]

She quickly takes the few strides needed up to Connor. "Lemme see." Not waiting for permission she places a firm hand on his jaw and starts taking out the remaining splinters. "Hold still." She's fairly relieved to see that the cuts left from the splinters heal as quickly on him as they would on her. "Yeah... Either two shinais, or a blunt sword. No need ta try ta take yer eyes out like this. ...sorry that I got carried away."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Aw, I'm fine." He grumbles, but bends down a little and holds still to let her pick out splinters, just because it's hard to get them by feel. As soon as each one is out, he heals almost instantly. Connor is far more annoyed at himself than he is at her. "They're really not made for that. I should have insisted you get two. Bad teacher." He sighs.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

"Like hell," she mutters, taking out the last splinter she finds and proceeds to wipe off her fingers on her jeans. There were a few drops of blood that escaped, but she hardly seems squeamish about that. "This wasn't a planned session, was it? An' how was you ta know what I'd went and gotten."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor notices the gesture, but his own solution is to wipe his face with his sleeve. Men. Like that coat needed any more bloodstains. "Well next time either we both use shinai, or we both use blunt metal swords. Which is it?"

[jelani.livejournal.com]

"I dunno how similar th' weight an' balance is on a shinai to an actual sword. But I think I'd prefer metal ta bamboo." Which means more shopping for the halfbreed. Yay!

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor nods, because he's not afraid of her swinging a metal sword at him. "A training sword might not have as good a balance, but you hit hard." He grins just a little. "I'd rather not lose limbs."

[jelani.livejournal.com]

"Hey, neither would I. I don't think I could regrow 'em like my dad can. Ain't too keen on findin' out if I can help it. So... I'll just do some shoppin' before next time."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I don't think I can, either." This isn't something that gets tested much. Usually if an immortal loses a limb, they lose their head right after.
"You should try to get two, if you can. I should practice with an unfamiliar blade, anyway." He'll try to pay her back for that eventually, too. He's making her spend an awful lot on weapons, after all. Not that she seems to mind...

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Back when he was younger, she actually considered chopping off a toe just to see if the Czarnian blood in her is strong enough to regrow lost limbs. She reconsidered, though.

"I'll see what I can find." Now, if Connor knew just how much she used to spend in weapons, and about the arsenal she has at home, he'd probably realize just how little she minds spending money on a couple of practice swords. And sharp swords for that matter. The two she bought today will not be the last.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Losing a toe would impair her balance, anyway.

Connor used to have a decent collection, but the best of his belongings were lost forever when his home blew up. Now the katana is all he's got left, because he had it on him at the time, as he almost always does. He checks over the back of the blade now, showing more care for it than he did for his face. "You go looking for weapons, and we can practice again soon. Even tomorrow, if you want." He'd be happy to train every day, because he's used to that with his other students.