fandomhighdorms | Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

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Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

"Okay, guys," Zack said, stepping to the forefront of the Reserves meeting and grinning, his hands on his hips. "Today we're going to follow the lead of the Magic Reserves, and start focusing on sharing the more specific talents of the people in this group. But with a twist! While plenty of the stuff that they have over in the Magic corps is specific to just the person giving the demonstrations, the benefit to working physically is that plenty of the skills that each of us have can be taught to one another! Maybe you've got proficiency in a weapon that nobody else here seems to know, or else you've got awesome tracking skills and think that we could stand to learn how to use them, too! Or you might have something as simple as a training exercise that you've seen put to use back home that you think we could benefit from, here. If you have something to share with the group, I'm sure we'd all be thankful that you offered up the time to teach us!"

Zack, for example, would teach the group the fine art of smuggling cookies into serious meetings of an almost militaristic nature. The trick, of course, was to leave them in his pockets and give them to people who asked nicely.

And Arthur would be onto him eventually. He was just keeping an eye out. "So if you are prepared to share, step up to us this week. You may bring your own tale to the front this week, give us a demonstration, and please come up to have a word with us if you would like to demonstrate some time in the coming weeks, or would be willing to offer your services in training, or leading the reserves through a training exercise. We are here to learn from each other as best we can, and so each other is the best resource we've got."

He gave a nod to those gathered, then took a step back. Only to take a step back later to give his own round-up.

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

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"Well, yeah," she said slowly, "oh, um, I kinda skipped that in my last ramble 'bout what I can do bit?" Or maybe he just forgot, it was totally possible either way.

"That's, uh, another of my team's specialty--we're sabotage, infiltration and assassination specialists--even if we're pretty wee and new to be called specialists compared to the older ninja at home, that's our niche area."

"It's a pretty handy niche!"

Zack hadn't really forgotten, per se. It was just that it sounded new and shiny the second time, too! And he was Zack. It was not difficult to pique his interest, here.

"How do you suppose you'd go about teaching something like that to this crew?"

She considered that.

"Maybe have small scale models made so they can learn the basics of how to go 'bout destroying one as I explain--oooh, do you think we could take over the Danger Shop? I could ask Centurion if we need a teacher's permission."

"I'm pretty sure we need permission, yeah," Zack agreed, nodding a little. "I got Professor Skywalker to let me run a few exercises in there, one time."

And they had been awesome.

"But if we explained that it was for purposes of preparing in case of future invasions, I bet they'd be cool with it."

"I can't see why they'd refuse us in that case," she admitted. "I mean, seems a bit like they'd be pulling for our side to lose in that case."

She contemplated that.

"Then we'd need to decide on targets to practice that, like, make sense in terms of protecting the island, right? Hmm."

"Well, what sorts of invasions has the island had, before? I mean, I was here for the alligators, but you can't really sabotage the sewers, right?" He sort of swayed on his heels for a moment, and then grimaced and gave his head a shake. "And I don't want to make anyone have to re-live what happened in the alternate Fandom. Some of it was just way too heavy, I think. Though I guess some of the same principles might apply. People were in the perfect position to pose as the enemy, so long as they could keep their heads on straight."

"I didn't go to the other world," she said, making a face. "So I don't know much beyond the basics, really?"

Ino tucked her hair behind one ear. "You can easy sabotage the sewers if you were going for something permanent--but temporary sabotage is a lot harder. Uh, I don't think the angels would've been much to do against them. They were these freaky statues that were evil and non-destroyable. There's still the circle of them 'round here, actually..."

"I've seen them," Zack replied, wrinkling his nose. "They're freaky."

They kinda gave him the shivers. And he'd thought that he liked angels until he'd seen those things.

"What was up with those, anyhow?"

"Uh," she chewed her lip. "They, like, just showed up one day? And people started disappearing. So when people started putting it together, we went after them thinking--oh, you know, we'll be all smashy smashy on them and they'll go away and give us back everyone else? But you couldn't smash 'em, nothing really hurt them and they wouldn't move at all when you looked at them but if you even blinked they'd be right up in your face."

She shrugged a bit sheepishly. "One got me--I got sent to the past--1899, Paris, if that makes sense to you--and spent seven months my-time there but it was only a week of here-time."

The place meant nothing to Zack. He wouldn't know Paris from New York from Medicine Hat if the three of them joined forces and decided to kick his butt together. But the date, he could figure out. Over a century ago?

"So... that's all they did?" He looked kind of confused at that, yes. "They moved around and then they sent people places?"

... That didn't sound so bad, really. It sounded like an adventure.

"Well," Ino said, "no one knew they were sending people places. Just that they were disappearing them, so..."

"What was Paris like?"

Leave it to Zack to totally miss the point, huh? But he was kinda jealous. He wanted to go on an adventure like that! And Ino was back and in one piece, so it was fine!

No faaaaair!

Her lips twitched, but hey, it was a looong time ago anyway.

"It was--different," she said, shrugging. "I didn't know the language, and I didn't have any money that they accepted so I uh, resorted to ninja-ing to subsist."

Soul of a thief sometimes, really.

"Dirty but kinda--gorgeous anyway? Like? There was something amazing 'bout it even with all the things they hadn't invented yet."

"Sounds like a neat experience," Zack settled on, giving his shoulder a shrug. "I mean, maybe not someplace you'd want to be stuck for the rest of your life, not if you don't know the language and all, but totally a learning experience, right?"

Zack could find the bright side of just about anything. Don't mind him.

"Absolutely," she deadpanned. "I utterly adored being on my own for seven months with no idea if I'd ever see anyone I cared about ever again."

Oh. Right. And now he grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Okay, maybe not so much, then. I mean. If you did know? But that'd be a pretty big if, huh?"

Oopsie.

Ino relented and smiled at him.

"Honestly? If I did know? Then it would've been pretty awesome. Totally a sink or swim sort of adventure in learning another culture, I could easily be down with that."

And the smile that Zack returned spoke volumes about how thankful he was that the conversation was back on some kind of happy medium, then.

"Just like that," he agreed, nodding a little. "I mean, it's one thing if you don't know if you'll ever get back. I know that, too." He'd been a vampire at the time. "But if you knew there was a time limit? Heck, I'd go on runs like that just for the sake of it, if I could."

Ino paused.

"I... would too, definitely," she decided. "I mean, they're awesome training exercises, even if you're not fighting."

Zack's little smile shifted into a little grin. Zack apparently wasn't Zack unless he grinned at least now and then.

"Field trips would be kinda neat, huh? To places that are just totally out there. Like, I don't know. I guess Midgar would be a pretty big deal to anyone who hasn't ever seen a huge city like it before. Stuff like that."

"I totally need to see Midgar," she said, grinning at him. "I mean, my village is pretty big for my world but people 'round here have way bigger populations and stuff."

She laughed.

"People visiting my world? Would be totally funny." A beat. "And worrisome. It'd be like 'okay, seriously, don't wander off and ask weird questions--you're strangers, ANBU will take you and interrogate you if you make a pain of yourselves'."

"Sounds like the Turks," Zack noted. "At least, what I've heard about the Turks, anyhow. I haven't really worked with them, before."

This too will change, grasshopper.

Ino laughed. "Picture a village where, like, half the population has some tie to the Turks? That's what you get, kinda."

"Oooooooh." Zack blinked, mulling that one over. "Huh. That would make for one heck of a security grid, wouldn't it? Remind me to never look suspicious in your village, okay?"

Because, even if he could hold his own, for the most part, he didn't exactly want to rush out and piss off the ninjas either.

Ino laughed.

"Honest, you barely notice it if you're native--they know you're native too, right? But since you wouldn't be and, well, you'd kinda stick out as not being? Yeah, they'd be watching."

Creep him out more, Ino.

She shrugged. "They're not unreasonable, but yeah. Don't do suspicious stuff and seriously, if you visit, no sneaking about. That'd be bad."

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