The Salle, Monday Morning (before classes)

[bitchprince]

Not a lot of actual practice for Arthur today: the visible bruise on his neck was only a small nod towards the damage he and Reno did to each other last night. He'd be back in full fighting order by tomorrow.

As it was, he merely waited for his students to arrive. At least he could make them work for it - he'd be doing something useful one way or another.

He was trying not to think about the flagrant flaunting of his father's law he'd embarked on last night and then some. Beyond necessity or duty into friendship - was that a good idea? Being Arthur, he was failing spectacularly at the exercise.

[[ open salle, open post! ]]

Comments

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah got there on time, moving very carefully, since last night's match with Daisy had been a real work-out-- not like last week's match with Liir. Other things on her mind made a sword practice a really good idea. Thinking bad.

"Morning," she said simply to Arthur, heading straight for the practice swords.

[bitchprince]

"Dinah," Arthur returned. He was still rather without a weapon of his own. Wouldn't need one for training. "I'll be pitting you against Alice today. You can get started on your forms while we wait."

Inside the salle, he was in control.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Of course he was. Dinah shot him a mild 'duh' look, then couldn't help but smile. Sparring, finally, yay! And at least last night's talk with Alice meant this wouldn't be really awkward or give her a reason to fear being run through. And thank god Arthur never listened to the Radio when he wasn't on it.

"Right," she said, looking for her usual practice sword on the rack, wincing a little, then heading over to the mat, sword in hand. It'd be great if he'd ever say anything else to her. But not so much her problem today.

First position. Second position. Third. Trying to keep her mind on the exercises, anyway.

[bitchprince]

Arthur watched her try for a bit until he got tired of it. He took a practice sword himself, unobtrusively, and stalked up towards the girl. He didn't say anything.

Just blocked one of her movements, suddenly, as fast as his current state could bring him to. Wince.

Sometimes you didn't need words to make a point.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah jumped, startled, then chagrined. Evaluated her stance. Turned pink. "Wrist?" she asked, re-adjusting.

Coach was in the house, apparently.

[bitchprince]

"You can start by paying attention," he said, "Do you think any supernatural horror is going to sit by and wait while you finish thinking about your hair?" He lowered the sword accordingly.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

That got him a glare. "I am! I mean, am not!" Ponytail, for crying out loud. And... yeah, not paying attention. Dinah grimaced, gritted her teeth, and didn't meet his eyes. "Okay. Attention being paid. Here and now."

Because hi, there's a great thought: Arthur also made out with Leto. More than made out with Leto. The ewww of that was making hari-kari a good option if she didn't begin to think straight now.

[bitchprince]

Arthur was seriously reconsidering notions of chivalry in full just so he could thwock Dinah straight in the head, but he reigned in the urge. "Or I could just leave you to it," he said, "And watch Alice slaughter you later. It'll be fun."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Do not stab your coach with a practice sword.

"Paying. Attention." Moderating her voice a little and hoping the blush would just go away, Dinah said, "Here to learn. Head in the game. Got it."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice was still particularly thoughtful this morning as she joined the other two at the salle. Her thoughts went around, and around, and around not really landing any specifiic spot. She hoped it wouldn't mae her a poor fighter.

[bitchprince]

"Lady Alice," Arthur greeted, respectful nod and all. "Glad you could make it. We'll be facing the two of you off against one another this time."

Unless he was going to have to spend an hour snapping another one out of it. Women.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Your Highness," she said, dropping him a curtsy. It was too strange to think of him as Prince Arthur, but he resisted being greeted as King; it seemed a happy compromise. "What weapons shall we be using, or will this be a hand-to-hand sort of spar?"

[bitchprince]

"You'll be taking up practice swords, of course," he said, nodding towards the weapons in question. "The both of you need some hands-on practice to value the strength of a proper defense with the sword."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I'm not very skilled with defense," Alice admitted. "I always assumed if I could dispose of my opponent quickly enough, I'd have no need of it."

[bitchprince]

"Offense makes for a good defense," Arthur agreed, breezily. "But sometimes you wind up in a situation where it's vital to make sure the other guy doesn't chop your head off before you do anything else." Charming, Arthur. "One of you strikes, the other blocks, and vice-versa. We'll see how dead the both of you wind up."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Usually, removing one of his arms assists in that cause," Alice said easily. "But thankfully, there shall be no decapitation or limb-removal today. Is there a word for limb-removal, the way head-removal gets 'decapitation'? Or is it forced to live with the shame of its hyphen?"

[bitchprince]

"Dismembering," Arthur granted her, with roughly that same level of tact. "A bold strategy, but you can't always opt for that, especially not with a skilled opponent. They'll keep your arms busy."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"And so, you shall teach us other methods, ones which don't require dismemberment," Alice said cheerfully. "Or decapitation, or other forms of dramatic incapacitation. Those are rather useful when one can manage them, I must say."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Alice. Sparring today!" After talking with Arthur, Dinah's mood had improved a good bit. Her difficulties with Leto were going to be, well, something to deal with later. Hopefully she'd know how, then.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Indeed," Alice said brightly. "I've warned Arthur, I'm quite terrible at defense. Which makes it convenient once more that we have practice blades and not real ones."

Maiming someone during practice would not be conducive to further practice.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Well, he said sloooow today, so more knowing how to counter the moves than anything else," Dinah said, taking her place on the mat.

The sudden hilarious thought occurred to her: all three of them had made out with Leto. Facepalm. Aaaand get back into position, trying to stifle a smile as she brought the sword up.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice smiled back, not knowing the reason for Dinah's momentary discomfort. Though she would have sympathized, had she known. It had taken a great deal of willpower not to blurt out something horrifying to Arthur along similar lines, after she'd first spent the night in his room.

"Are there formal counters, then?" Alice asked. "I usually throw the sword around until it hits the other person's."

Alice was very bad with proper training.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah grinned. Alice was more ruthless, true, but she wasn't any more experienced at this format. "High, middle, low?" She ran through her first drill carefully. "Then mixing it up from there? Left side, right side... You can have the first blow, if that's familiar for you?"

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I do seem better at offense than defense," Alice noted. "Very well. Though I must say, it seems a bit ridiculous to announce the move before I perform it. Anyone can anticipate a move that's been scripted."

With that, she slashed high, as Dinah had said they should start there.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah automatically moved to block it, then countered it with another high slash back at Alice. "Just to start, 'til you get the rhythm of it." She grinned. "Think of it like a dance. One two three, one two three--"