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.

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[bitchprince]

As long as he just stuck to Dojima, Romeo should be fine. Supposedly.

Arthur nearly looked like he swallowed something rotten on the whole mice bit, but managed to mostly repress the urge. "No plague I've heard of," he said, tactfully. "Although you might be giving the island ideas."

[withoutverona]

"Just my better salesclerk, then," Romeo said, attributing the slight swallowing-something-rotten to the whole magic aspect. (Also, MOUSE. As an ex-shrew, Romeo sympathized.) "I'll hope it stops with him."

He glanced over to the staffs. "Those or fists, today?"

[bitchprince]

"Think you can actually manage a staff this morning?" Arthur asked, more than happy to sidestep the whole matter of said salesclerk entirely.

Bloody squirrels probably had dashed any chances he had of keeping that quiet, which prompted another internal wince.

[withoutverona]

"I know I can try," Romeo said as he went over to the rack of such items. And now, since he'd brought up the idea, he felt a duty not to screw up overmuch. That knocked his brain off the salesclerk-mouse thing entirely.

[bitchprince]

For which Arthur, as it was, was incredibly grateful. "Well, that'll be interesting," he told Romeo, shooting his back an amused look as he went; then followed to get his own.

[withoutverona]

"Meaning you don't trust me to so much as muss your hair?" Romeo asked, and now his stupid pride was even more involved.

[bitchprince]

"I'll believe it when I see it."

He should probably not be getting as much enjoyment out of challenging Romeo, but it had been such a long week.

Taking a staff, Arthur gave it a little twirl to find its balance. "But if you insist on trying..."

[withoutverona]

Romeo thought something about pride coming before falls and failed to remember it applied to himself as well -- and more so, given Arthur's pride was rooted in something.

He twirled his own staff and found a spot on the mat a reasonable distance from Arthur. "I insist, then. Try to kill you again?"

[bitchprince]

"If you please," Arthur said, gracefully, and gave him a welcoming gesture with one hand before he gripped the staff in full.

[withoutverona]

"That looked rather filthy," said the boy gripping the large phallic object, and -- because he'd joked about it to start with -- swung out at the top of Arthur's head. It was an awkward angle, and probably none too hard to duck.

[bitchprince]

"That was last week, Romeo," Arthur returned, unphased. He did pal around with the knights back home all the time.

Gratefully, he ducked as well, smacking his own staff up at Romeo's side - the opposite side of where he'd ducked - while the opening was there.

[withoutverona]

"Should I" -- and that was where the staff hit Romeo's arm in his late attempt to block and he winced because, ow, sensitive bones -- "be glad or sorry I missed you last week?"

He swung forward toward Arthur's side as he spoke.

[bitchprince]

"While you should always be sorry you missed me," Arthur said, almost approaching idle as he swung his staff over to the other side to catch it, "Last week was inconvenient."

[withoutverona]

Romeo thrust his staff out to try to block Arthur's. "Inconvenient for some," he said. "Enjoyable for others."

That was still probably more information about Romeo's sex life than Arthur actually needed, but it was the best he could do given what seemed to be his mood today.

[bitchprince]

Please. It was practically comforting in its familiarity, and that got Romeo a cursory smirk as he took the block with grace, knocking the bottom of his staff down at Romeo's knees. "I would suppose so," he said, "Considering certain people living on the island."

After all this time, he still felt a little odd about Dojima, yes. Zombies would do that to you.

[withoutverona]

Someday, Romeo might learn that the word discretion meant more than making sure no one heard you sneaking out. But until that dubiously happy day ...

"Don't tell me you're in love," he said, trying to bounce the staff off of his knee by way of a block. (It hurt. Duh.) His staff was held at a loose angle to his body, guarding.

[bitchprince]

Dumb block, that. "Are you trying to destroy your kneecap?" Arthur asked, conversationally, swinging his staff once and falling back into stance. "Of course I'm not 'in love'."

There were just a number of feelings he had no interest in talking about. There was a difference.

[withoutverona]

"The knee's never done me so many favors," Romeo lied, swallowing his grimace as he shook the leg out behind him. A little luck, and he wouldn't limp away from the match.

"Of course not," he added, as he swung the staff at Arthur's shoulder, trying to get above his stance. "Silly of me to ask, really."

He thought it might help Arthur if he was, but that was more a general opinion Romeo held than an Arthur-specific one.

[bitchprince]

"I'm glad you recognise that," Arthur replied, happy enough to catch that blow again. Half the fun was the countering, really. "On both counts. But it's good to hear the week treated you well."

[withoutverona]

"Why is it so" -- and Romeo would try the other end of the staff on Arthur's other shoulder, here, just to see if the mirror went any better -- "impossible for you?"

He would have understood the answer tied to Arthur's position, if he'd thought about it for longer than it took to flex his knee again.

[bitchprince]

The long answer involved a great many factors, up to and including a girl who'd enchanted him, made him get up and tell his father he was going to elope, and who had then promptly attempted to drown him, but Arthur did not know enough details about that one to offer it up.

The second blow was less easily blocked. "It wouldn't please my father if I got married too quickly," he said, matter-of-factly, "Or forged similar connections. After all--" He struck horizontally, "--he might have to marry me off some day."

[withoutverona]

Romeo twisted, barely dodging the blow, and swung his staff low. "Ah. Mine gave up on that almost two years ago," he said, equally matter-of-fact.

Dojima was neither 13 years old nor melodramatic enough to attempt suicide; Ted Montague was so grateful for those two factors that he'd forgive the loss of Romeo as a bargaining chip, even if arranged marriages weren't more for daughters than for sons in Verona.

[bitchprince]

"Mmm. So you can imagine..." He took a step back to avoid getting his legs knocked out from under him, and swung at Romeo's shoulders again, "...I'm not particularly inclined to give my heart up to some Fandomite or another."

Which was technically cheating to say, Arthur.

[withoutverona]

"You're lucky to have a heart that obeys your wishes," Rome said, bringing up his own staff in a less-clumsy block that still left his side open.

[bitchprince]

"Not at all," he said, taking happy advantage of that opening by knocking the side of his staff at it, "I'm sure something'll lie in wait back home. At some point. There's just no point dwelling on future problems."

Optimistic, Arthur.