The Salle, Monday Morning Through Afternoon

[nottrivial]

Slashing the training dummies to ribbons could start to feel a little repetitive at times, sure, but that didn't stop Alec from spending at least an hour at it every day. Even as stuffing started to emerge from the many wounds Alec was inflicting on his targets, he kept at it, cutting and slicing away until well past the point when a normal human's arms would have gotten tired.

Even preoccupied, Alec was always very attentive to outside stimuli, which was why his head snapped up and he dropped his sword into a nonthreatening position when he heard a strange voice.

"...can we fight it by remembering?"

The voice was too clear and loud to have come from outside, but there was nobody in the doorway, or anywhere else in the salle.

"Hello?" Alec said uncertainly as he looked at his Sensor. But it didn't detect anything.

[[open!]]

Comments

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"...Hello," Chuck filled in, striding into the salle with an impeccable sort of timing. At which point he'd pass right past Alec to pick up some sticks. "Morning."

[nottrivial]

The voice Alec had heard wasn't Australian, though. Or male. His brow furrowed.

"Did you just hear...?" he began, then stopped, shaking his head. "Probably people being loud in the hallways again."

Or not. "Morning."

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Chuck gave the long Bo staff he'd found a twirl. "Don't get paranoid on me now."

[nottrivial]

"Nice staff," Alec said, eyeing it approvingly. Sometimes there was good equipment to be found in the salle after all. "Do you know bōjutsu?"

Because he was fairly sure that Chuck hadn't chosen it simply to avoid slicing his fingers off with something sharper. This guy seemed rather more competent than that.

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Yep," Chuck said, giving the bo another thoughtful twirl. "It's part of Jaeger bushido training. One of the more important elements, actually."

Since it was used to figure out Drift Compatibility...

[nottrivial]

"Huh." Alec tilted his head curiously. "I would have thought piloting a mechanical robot would focus more on firearms and maybe hand-to-hand than anything."

That was a sentence he'd never thought he'd have a reason to say!

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Every Jaeger is piloted by two Rangers," he said, slipping into a practice stance. "In order to do so properly, they must be perfectly compatible. Bōjutsu helps you-- synchronize. If you are perfectly matched in a battle with the staff, it usually translates to being Drift Compatible."

[nottrivial]

"That makes sense," Alec said thoughtfully. To be honest, he was a little impressed with Chuck's world's system for determining compatibility. "I haven't studied bōjutsu myself, but I know it's fast-paced. You'd want to be able to anticipate your partner's movements and so on."

He bent down for his water bottle, thinking.

"Where I'm from, some of us choose a parabatai when we're small," he offered. "Sort of a-- partner one makes an oath to protect. Only most of the time, it's about... filling in the gaps in the other person's fighting style, instead of matching it exactly."

Well, that's what it was for him, anyway.

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Chuck went through a couple of moves as Alec spoke, then took a step back. "With Drift compatible pairs, we usually default to relatives," he shared. "You've got to have strong emotional ties-- or at least that's what the eggheads tell me. I'm apparently compatible with my old man, for one."

Which, you know, whatever.

[nottrivial]

Alec followed Chuck's example and resumed his practicing as Chuck spoke, slicing away at the poor training dummy. When he responded, he didn't bother to pause. "Same with us," he replied a little breathlessly. "My parabatai's my adopted brother. It would be stupid to choose someone you didn't know for sure you'd want in your life until one of you died."

He put down his sword, exhaling slowly. "But you choose when you're a kid, so you have to be sure."

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"What if your partner dies?" Chuck asked.

Because getting stuck with that kind of thing didn't seem like a very feasible combat strategy.

[notvenom.livejournal.com]

Anya had not forgotten their little talk about swords and classes. She might have decided that it was ultimately imposing a bit, so she had been conducting her training by herself. It wasn't going so good though, but she had the time and the will to persevere.

Plus she was bored enough.

She heard Alec, but Anya was still too far to make her the target of the greeting, so she just walked towards him with an inquisitive stare. "That hello wasn't for, me was it?"

[nottrivial]

Alec returned his Sensor to his pocket after giving it an odd look; it seemed to be picking up something, but nothing strong enough to be a Downworlder or a demon. "Excuse me?"