Gym, Thursday afternoon

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

Yay shiny sharp pointy things!

Buffy beamed and picked up a practice sword, swinging it around.

Okay, it wasn't sharp nor pointy, but it was still kind of shiny, Buffy decided. In the way that shiny means good.

She was waiting for Peter to show up to show her the wonderful words of swords, and then give her ice cream. She idly wondered what she'd get from the other Stickbugs in return for not killing them, or making them cheer.


(ooc: open for all!)

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[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter hurried into the gym to find Buffy already there.

"Good afternoon!" he called with a bow as he threw his things down at the side. "How goes it?"

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

"Hi!" Buffy spun around, sword rised and beamed. "Good! We had fishing in Wilderness. No mud!"

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

"No mud is always good," Peter agreed. "Did you catch anything?" He started stretching quickly.

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

"Nah. The poor fishies!" Buffy pointed out. "Well, and I'm not sure eating anything caught in Fandom is really safe."

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter wrinkled his nose. "I hadn't thought of that. It'd probably give one scales or turn them into a newt." He nodded at the blade Buffy was holding. "Is that one balanced?"

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

Buffy looked at it. "Um. I don't know?"

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter jumped up, grabbed his personal favourite of the practice blades and offered to trade it for the one Buffy was holding. "Try this one and see if it feels more like a part of you when you swing it."

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

They traded swords.

Buffy took a step back and swung the new sword around. "Oooh, yes. This one is better. Is that lesson one?" she grinned.

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter put the offending sword back in the rack and found another he liked.

"Definitely. Don't use an unbalanced sword if you can possibly help it. It can cause you to train improperly then overreach or lose your own balance."

He grinned back at her. "If it feels strange, it probably is. Lesson two? Don't drop your sword." He checked out her grip and showed her how to adjust it slightly. "That might help with that part."

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

"Okay." She watched what he was doing carefully. She was taking it seriously, moving her hands like he showed her. "Holding on to the sword, good. Check."

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter nodded at her demeanor. "Looks good." He dropped into a basic guard position that was basically a modified unarmed stance he thought she'd be familiar with. "This is the basic guard position. Just like hand-to-hand, this is where you want to be fully balanced and ready to move in any direction. Not that I think you have any trouble finding your balance after watching you spar the other week."

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

Wriggling her ass, she moved into a position that reflected his. The sword was looking better in her hand now. "It's fun sparring with people who are as strong as I am. And, okay, better than I am," she admitted. "But that's how you learn, right?"

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

"That's what my teachers always told me," Peter agreed, totally not looking at Buffy's ass. "Usually right before they ran me around the training salle a few times."

He nodded at Buffy's stance. "That looks right. Ready to learn how to hit things?"

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

"Yes!" Buffy beamed. After all, who knew when she'd have to behead a couple of mummies next? And big sword was much better than little Xacto knife, even if she did like the Xacto knife a lot.

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

"Just focus on the strike now. Speed will come later, but now all that's important is the correct movement of the weapon and your body," Peter said as he demonstrated a downward diagonal strike.

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

Buffy echoed his move.

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter raised an eyebrow at the smoothness of the stroke and nodded. "Try that again and link it into a high parry like so." He demonstrated again, watching Buffy closely.

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

She did so, just as smoothly as before. "Can I do it faster now?"

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

"Absolutely," Peter said, standing back a bit to watch.

[1ordinarygirl.livejournal.com]

Buffy hummed, then she began dancing. She lowered and rised the sword like Peter had showed her, then threw in a couple of twists that seemed natural. She moved slowly in the beginning and in the end, her speed was obviously super-human. Alec would totally be faster though.

She was obviously enjoying herself. Her grasp on the sword was a little awkward in places though, especially when she changed positions.

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter grinned in appreciation. "You don't hold a sword like you've ever picked one up before, but you work well with it. Keep an eye on your grips though."

He took a guard position again and demonstrated the hand position changes that she was having difficulties with.

"I can't see much point in teaching you basic strikes. Try this instead?" He went through a basic form, slowly enough for her to watch the movements closely, but faster than he'd normally use for a beginner.