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The Salle, Monday Morning

The lack of classes meant Arthur would be spending more time in the salle than usual (if that was even possible), and he hadn't wasted too much time getting there that morning. His arm was coming along nicely, and so he took a practice blade for his left.

Might as well get some simple drills in while he waited.

[[ and open, but mild sp warning ]]

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It was flashier and more aggressive than the other drills she'd been running; Dinah kind of hoped she'd get the chance to run it on Alice sometime soon. The footwork was trickier too, so Dinah concentrated on that when she ran it through the first time, at half-speed, keeping her sword moving as she did so. "We're still doing this even when we're at the cabins, right?"

"You're still early in your training," he said, following her steps closely, "Further to the left," he interjected, and then: "Leaving you too much time between drills would be irresponsible."

Translation from Arthur to Everyone Else: yes. "Cool." Another bounce, quickly stifled, and a second run-through, more careful with the footwork this time. A concern that had been bugging her surfaced as she did the slash upward, then across. "How are you going to know when I'm ready to do this in a fight?" Another small frown. "How will I know?" It wasn't the same as eskrima sticks. Way more complicated, and it didn't play to her strengths, so Dinah didn't feel like she could judge it yet.

"You'll know," he said, "When I tell you. When it comes naturally." Which might be a long time yet, if any. "Concentrating on acquainting yourself with your blade before you get ahead of yourself." Arthur passed a few more comments about shifting, places where she could stumble.

The first part got an eye-roll, the second, a more considering nod. That... was gonna take a while. Which wasn't to say Dinah was going to quit, but...

"Tahiri got me a fighting staff for my birthday," she mentioned. Casually. Sort of. "And Leto and Blysse got me knives." A hum. "I need to practice the staffwork again. It's been ages."

Wait for it... wait for it....

"You've been slacking on your staffwork?" Arthur asked her, on cue. Whether that had been what she was waiting for or not, it went with a teacher's disappointment.

"Only a little! Just the basic drills." And okay, not as much. Swords had been shiny and all. "There hasn't been anyone to practice it with, I keep forgetting to ask Tahiri." And she hadn't wanted to bug him about that before now. "So, you know. Not learning anything new there, really."

Oh, they were going to play that game. "If you've got something to ask," Arthur said, eying her, "Spit it out."

"Can you teach me some new staff drills and offense work?" Dinah asked, glad of the opening. "I know you're forming up the reserve, and I know you're already teaching me sword-work, but. Please? If you have time?"

She was just lucky Arthur was ~~vain~~ self-aware enough to know she'd definitely seek his help. "I'm sure I can find some time," he said, "But not on Monday mornings. I need your attention on that blade."

Arthur was chomping at the bit, yes.

"Okay! Thank you! Ha. You rock!" Yes! Dinah bounced and resumed her drill, concentrating on her footwork after chatting with Ben a little while on how to do it. It was all about the balance, really, if you could just realize what helped maintain that, you were set.

After a bit, she added, "Thanks for helping Tony last week, with the hand-to-hand stuff. I don't want him getting hurt either." Step, step, cross, step.

"He volunteered for the reserve," Arthur said, rather than acknowledging the actual thank you because that would be strange; he'd taken the responsibility on himself, after all. "He won't be much help if he doesn't know how to defend himself."

"He's good at magic, and he saved me during the zombie invasion," Dinah felt compelled to add. "He just doesn't have much fight experience." She bounced a little, then re-focused. "We're going to spar a bit, so he can get in more practice." Slice, across, upward, keep the elbow in, don't speed up until you've got it perfect.

"So he told me," Arthur said, a bit dryly, "Exploding trees, it seems." He hung back, watching her progress. "He'll get there." Or at least learn how to run away and hide properly. Either or.

"And I didn't get to watch?" Dinah said, dismayed. "Oh, I'm so poking him about that." New magic tricks had to be shown off! She would have vehemently defended Tony's bravery if Arthur had said any of that aloud, so maybe just as well he hadn't. She paused, realizing Arthur had referred to magic without any sign of upset, and returned to concentrating on her swordwork for a bit while she processed that.

Close to the end of the drill, she cautiously said, "So. Organizing all available resources?" She was just curious. To make sure she knew where he stood with that now, at least regarding other people.

"Someone has to," Arthur said, with a well-calculated, idle neutrality. "Keep your mind with your feet," he added, to dissuade her from the subject, "You're slipping yet again."

Attention back on the drill, Dinah turned that over in her head, starting to feel the burn in her muscles. Not tired yet, though. High block, low parry, middle thrust, low block, middle parry, high cut. Feet: first, second, side (Ben was right, you just had to think about it in order, then do it 'til you didn't have to think), forward, back, side, second, first. "Someone doesn't have to be you," Dinah dared, not looking at him.

"Well, no one else is," he said, matter-of-factly, could they please get off the subject? "Can you pay attention to what you're doing before you put an eye out?"

"Sure," Dinah chirped. And on and on with the drill.

Making Arthur uncomfortable about doing responsible, in-charge things might seem like a weird kind of teasing, but it worked for her.

Yes, because what Arthur needed was more of a reminder as to how he was never going to be the son his father wanted him to be (because he couldn't).

Glad for the relative silence, Arthur returned to his previous position, passing comment here and there and making adjustments to her form where needed.

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The Salle, Monday Morning

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