The Salle, Monday Morning

[bitchprince]

Fighting Ben still in SP last night had been somewhat cathartic. It hadn't been cathartic enough not to send Arthur back down to the salle with a sword and a mission to use it. So there he was, slicing clean but sure along the lines of a dummy with said practice sword.

There were few times in the week he felt anywhere near at ease. This was probably the most reliable.

[[ and open. wew, last of my spam ]]

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[withoutverona]

Eventually, Romeo quit reading about moisturizers and snickering over anyone being TURNED INTO A MOUSE and took what had become his normal Monday morning break for training with Arthur. He had the sudden, stabbing thought as he came into the Salle that there was less than a month left of this, which meant trying not to suck was that much more important.

"Good morrow," he said, sitting on the match to stretch out and watch Arthur for a moment.

[bitchprince]

Which was good, because it gave Arthur time to finish up his drill before he turned around. "Morning, Romeo," he returned. "I see you've somehow made it through the week."

He hoped not as well as Zack had, though. Because that was just plain frustrating.

[withoutverona]

"The same to you, and should I not have?" Romeo asked, a little amused. "Nothing was attacking except our hormones, from what I hear."

[bitchprince]

"It's Fandom," Arthur replied, idly, approaching him, "It's usually a good idea to check if no one's gotten swallowed by whatever plagued us last."

[[ and I afk a while for school. back in a bit! ]]

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah gave Romeo a semi-sheepish look when she was taking a break. "We never talk." Then grinned.

[withoutverona]

"Ah, but every conversation we have burns its place in my memory," Romeo told her, mock-gallantly. "You still have beautiful eyes, by the way, even though I should apologize if I was overly forward."

He didn't think he'd actually said anything that bad; the apology was mostly a formality.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah laughed, a little pink, and said, "You were fine! Really. And thanks. I feel like I was the one over-sharing there, although you do have good hair and conversational skills." She grinned. "You were so lucky you have a girlfriend, though. You didn't end up kissing Turtle that evening."

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

Fiona was there, at around the same time as last week. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't look nervous either. Just... content for the moment.

"Arthur," she addressed him with a nod of her head.

[bitchprince]

"Fiona," he returned, with a half-nod that wasn't quite equal to it, but at least it was recognition. "Take a sword."

Let's see if her luck from last week held up.

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

She went over to the practice swords and found hers, which she'd marked with a permanent marker for ease of rediscovery. She returned with her sword down, a small smile curling on her lips. It wasn't smugness or even satisfaction, but a little like greeting a friend.

"Done," she said.

[bitchprince]

"Then what are you waiting for?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow. "Begin."

As long as she was going to be cooperating, she would get no more than the usual, necessary level of snark. That much he had, at least.

[puppy_fair]

Well, of course Zack was there. He had a large sword and pent-up frustrations to get out.

Happily. Because when was Zack ever not happy?

Honestly.

[Posted with the disclaimer that I'll be fleeing to work shortly, and so SP is the name of the game, here.]

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

This might be a bad idea, here-and-now, but it's either here or in class, so...

"Zack? Do you want to meet up at the Perk, after classes? Or Chilly Boulder?" Dinah just barely managed not to twist her hands together worriedly. "I'm still buying."

[puppy_fair]

"Either's good," Zack said, placing his sword to his back again. It wouldn't be a wise idea to swing a giant blade around and carry on a conversation at the same time, after all. "I'm not really picky. I mean, especially not if you're going to buy, and all."

He had his hands on his hips, now. Which served to keep him from wringing them together, himself.

[bitchprince]

Arthur nodded at Zack. And at his large sword.

Not that he was settling for the non-verbals today, for once. "Zack. Good morning," he said, "You look lively."

[puppy_fair]

"You figure?" Zack offered Arthur a wry smile. "I can use the exercise today, I think. And any excuse to whip out my sword after a weird weekend, I'll take."

He rocked on his heels a little, and then shrugged. "How are you doing, Arthur?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla came in to practice her drills with her knife. Her knifework was still slightly clumsy, though improving. It was the grace with which she moved that showed she likely wasn't going to be a complete loss.

[bitchprince]

Knives were really more Leto's area, but Arthur snuck a look at her work none the less. He did recognize her from class, after all.

Well, she wasn't exactly what you called good at it. He shrugged lightly.

[glacial_queen]

Karla noticed Arthur watching and stepped it up a bit. She was not about to be dismissed by a male.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah was incredibly relieved to have one part of her day that still made sense to look forward to. Not unlike Arthur, really.

"Morning," she greeted him. "Sword or staff first? Since we, um. Missed Friday's practice." Since she canceled it in the interest of not starting an apocalypse.

[bitchprince]

"Take a sword," Arthur ordered, as she arrived.

Dinah and sword practice. Half a year ago, that would probably not have been the more reliable, less insane part of his life, no, but he wasn't going to look into that right now.

"How was the week?"

Pause.

"No details."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah shuddered a bit, and glanced at Zack, her face momentarily worried and wistful, then her expression smoothed out, attention back on Arthur. "Overall, just embarrassing. Nothing horrible I can't come back from. If people can forgive some extra exuberance." She rolled her shoulders, realizing that for the second time in two weeks, Arthur had asked something like a personal question about how she was doing. "You're okay too, right? There's no girls I have to slap to defend your honor?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla smiled at Dinah, though was still focused on her own exercises. "Morning," was she said, spinning to complete a drill.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Dinah said, pleased. "The drills Leto taught you?" Karla appeared to be doing well at them, too.

[golden-rising.livejournal.com]

A person might be surprised at the things Serena had learned over the years. A progrssion of stepfathers and the best private school meant her sports weren't exactly the same as most people's. She had suited up and found a practice blade, finding a corner to go through some intermediate forms.

It felt good, actually, to be active. Maybe she'd have to see about a field hockey team, too.