fandomhighdorms | The Salle, Tuesday Afternoon

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The Salle, Tuesday Afternoon

After retrieving her sword from the weapon's locker, Maladicta was going to at least pretend to practice with it.

This somehow meant prodding the practice dummy with the dulled tip* with a half-hearted sort of interest. It was a start, at least. Somewhere, she was sure Blouse was despairing in her.

[[Open!]]

*There was very little need for a sharp blade when you could muster enough force to put it through a wall. If one were so inclined.

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Feeling the need to kill some time before his class later that afternoon and feeling fairly antsy besides, Alexander considered how badly he had been neglecting his swordwork. At this rate, he'd return home and Rosella would best him without breaking a sweat, and he'd never hear the end of her gloating!

So there he was, heading down to the salle and about to consider the practice swords when he noticed someone already there.

"Oh. Maladicta." He nodded his head in greeting, offering a faint smile to go along with it. "It's been a while; how have you been?"

"Alexander," she replied brightly, sheathing the sword before continuing. "It's been far too hot out for me, I dare say."

"It has been a bit warm, yes," said Alexander, and he chuckled a little. "I daresay I first thought it was rather hot when I got here, but my wardrobe choices have improved to that effect since then."

Marginally...

"Getting in a bit of practice? I didn't know you trained."

"Briefly," Maladicta replied. The practice dummy was granted one truly unimpressed look. "I was in the army back home."

"You were?" Alexander sounded as impressed as he was surprised. Of course, Daventry didn't have a formal army; neither did any of the other lands he had traversed to over the years, but it was hard not to be a little fascinated by such a structure. And how, after such a thing, one would end up in a high school. "Have you fought many battles?"

Which might have put up one up on Borgravia, to be perfectly honest.

"Battles?" She paused to consider it. "I suppose they could be considered battles. Though, I believe the papers called them 'skirmishes'."

Which was like a battle, but when people had to get home for supper.

"Oh." Alexander was terrible at hiding his disappointment, though he did hope it didn't show as much as he felt it. "Well, that's probably...good, in the long run, I suppose. You must have been good, to have survived, anyway."

As probably the other guys did, too, especially if it was taco night.

"The Ins and Outs," Maladicta replied with a sharp grin. "My unit. We did well enough, I'd say."

"That's a rather interesting name," Alexander commented. "Surely a reference to your swiftness and alacrity?"

Or the turn over rate for the soldiers. From civilian to fertilizer. It was amazing, really. "That's as good as any."

"So you must be pretty deft with a blade," Alexander reasoned, nodding toward the weapon in Maladicta's hand. "I haven't one of my own, but, if you'd be willing to switch to a practice one, I'd love to see how you handle it first hand."

Maladicta blinked at that. "A spar?"

Alexander smiled a little. "You know, cross swords a bit. Better to work with a live opponent than one made of wood and straw."

"I suppose we could," Maladicta allowed slowly. "Would you be so kind as to bring me one of those practice swords?"

"Certainly," said Alexander, nodding his head. "Do you have a preference? Do you prefer a long sword, or perhaps something shorter and more manageable? I myself like something light and flexible, though there are some thicker, heavier ones..."

Maladicta blinked once again. "I've always been fond of something light and flexible as well," she replied, looking him up and down. "A well matched pair, don't you think?"

Unintentional sexual innuendo was always fun.

Especially when the other person was completely oblivious to it, though, for some reason, he suddenly felt a heat rise to his cheeks and entertained the need to clear his throat.

"Er, yes," he said, picking out a sword for Maladicta and tossing it lightly her way. "Quite."

Snatching it out of the air with one hand, Maladicta's grin only became larger. "I'll confess to not having too much experience with a friendly fight."

Or, you know, swords.

"I promise I'll go easy on you," said Alexander, grinning back to cover his own inexperience with fighting in a situation that didn't leave his life on the line. "You may even find it quite fun."

"You promise?"

Don't innuendo with a vampire, Alexander. It will only get worse.

But he didn't even know he was doing it! Must be a natural...

Ahem.

Alexander swept into a dramatic bow before stating, "On my honor as a prince, my lady."

"And I would never impugn your honor," Maladicta replied far too sincerely to be true.

She bowed back, low and nothing at all like what a lady would.

"Perish the thought," said Alexander, shaking his head a moment and then hefting his sword.

"Ready, then?" he asked and, being the rogue he was, gave Maladicta only that brief second of warning before going in for a swing toward her right side.

Oh, however would she manage to stay safe from harm? If only there were someone--

Wait, wait. Vampire. Ah, all was right with the world again.

She leaned back, not even thinking of bringing up the useless bit of wood for the moment. "You're not much of a gentleman," Maladicta chided, giving a weak swing at his head to keep things interesting.

The weak swing did wonders for Alexander's ability to block and think he was better at this than he probably was. "I promised you fun, didn't I?"

He stepped back quickly, only to then lunge forward with a stab.

"Oh, you did at that," Maladicta replied, twisting to the side and pressing into his guard to tap his chest with the flat side of her 'blade'.

Quinn had finished her workout and classes, and was roaming campus trying to find something that wasn't going to bore her to tears, terrify her, or both.

She watched Maladicta for a moment, then offered, "That'd probably work better if you stabbed the dummy harder."

She'd never fenced in her life, but that didn't stop the urge to give advice.

"I think they would demand payment for the damages," Maladicta replied, giving the girl a look. "Quinn, correct?"

"Correct," Quinn said, her posture unconsciously straightening. Something about the girl had that effect on her. "And you're Maladicta, right?"

Horrible name, in Quinn's opinion, though not as bad as Delirium.

"How much does one of those even cost?"

Oh sure, as the person to whom a dollar was extravagant.

"More than I'm honestly willing to pay."

"Oh."

Quinn came further into the salle. "I thought stabbing people was kind of the point of this."

"Oh, it is. But I prefer to use mine for protection."

"Protection," Quinn echoed. "Hobby? Or are you from one of those creepy worlds where you have to fight all the time?"

"Creepy?" Well, that was a new description of it. "We've just concluded a war, if that's what you mean."

"Y'know, like the places we got sucked to a couple weeks back. Dead things and monsters and water you can't drink," Quinn explained, making a face. "I met a girl who said her home is like that, except with zombies."

"...a lot of zombies?"

"I don't know," Quinn said, frowning. "Is there really a good number of zombies?"

"The occasional one is fine," Maladicta replied. "Annoying, though."

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The Salle, Tuesday Afternoon

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