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 ]]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

Zack was probably lucky that he was from a time and place that didn't really condone putting people in the stocks.

Granted, people who might have gotten time in the stocks in another day and age usually just wound up going inexplicably missing, in Midgar. Funny that.

He wasn't even really in the mood to toss in his usual banter, pulling his sword back and then swinging it up and around yet again, this time aiming for Arthur's shoulder. When he wasn't concentrating on throwing in silly little comments, he was actually pretty decent with his sword. Weird.

[bitchprince]

Weird, yes, but only if you didn't take his usual utter lack of focus into account. Arthur brought his sword up to block again, then pressed forward, swinging at his midsection with that inexplicable smirk still firmly on his face.

He was kind of a predator, sometimes.

Just not about the stocks. The stocks were Merlin's territory.

[puppy_fair]

Zack was just fine with being the prey this morning. It meant that he was engaged in something that he was familiar with, and even when everything else didn't tend to make sense, fighting always had. He brought his sword downward to block, grinning at the force of the blades clashing against one another.

SOLDIER were made for this. Zack was made for this. This and being a puppy, of course, when his sword wasn't in his hands.

[bitchprince]

And that was a sentiment Arthur was in complete agreement with, even if he wasn't SOLDIER-- he was a knight of Camelot, they were tanks, they did battle, it was what he did.

And being a bitch, sometimes, but that was irrelevant right now.

He shoved forwards for an instant, then brought his sword up to break the stalemate. He was probably lucky Leto wasn't here to comment on any of this.

[puppy_fair]

They were just two manly men flaunting their swords about, really. What was there to comment on?

... Aside from the obvious?

Zack stepped backward to compensate for Arthur's shove, and then stepped back again in order to stay clear of his blade. It was short. He could totally do that if he put the rest of his body into that movement, too.

And then he was moving forward again, dipping his own sword so low that the tip of it scraped the floor before coming upward at Arthur's own knees.

[bitchprince]

Holy hell. He hadn't seen anyone do that before, and he felt a twinge of an urge to ask Zack about it before his own sword was swinging into place, only barely sparing his poor knees. His eyes widened for a moment, but he held.

[puppy_fair]

Well, in all fairness, it was far easier to cause damage to the floor when your sword was as bloody huge as Zack's was. Still, if Arthur did question him on it, Zack would be happy to give him lessons.

Or a longer sword.

"Nice," he decreed, which was about as far as the banter was going to go this time around. Up came his sword again for a quick downward slash aimed for the shoulder that was holding the brunt of the weight of Arthur's sword at the moment.