The Salle, Wednesday Morning

[crimson_sister]

Lucille had slept badly for the last few nights, torn between her body's needs and her emotional state. Frustrated, she went to the salle in the morning before class, because stabbing dummies, even with practice blades, was the best thing she could come up with. To be honest, she had thought of other options, but her intellect favoured this one.

Perhaps Jalian had been right to suggest that dresses wasn't the best choice of clothing for this kind of activity, as the skirts did hinder her movement, but the stabbing did offer some relief. Sadly, as Lucille would discover, it was only temporary.

[Open salle]

Comments

[crimson_sister]

Did Ringo have secrets? "Even you?" Lucille asked, shrugging lightly.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yeah." Duh. Ringo frowned over at Lucille. "Who doesn't have secrets? I mean, I assume you do, right?"

She turned distractedly back at the dummy, then shrugged and dropped back into a fighting stance. It wasn't what most people thought of as a fight stance, but wearing AirTrek meant that combat was totally different than what most people thought of, so Ringo was a couple of meters back, weight leaning well back from her target, and hands held loosely at her sides.

[crimson_sister]

"No, I'm an open book." Duh.

Lucille looked at Ringo and her approach, not sure what to make of it.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo giggled, shaking her head. "Open book, huh? Yeah, that sounds like you."

There was an almost-amused moment of silence, and then she surged forward. Her ATs whined as they accelerated her toward the dummy and into a spin at the same time. Her foot came up, mostly looking like a blur, and then everything seemed to stop as her heel crashed into the dummy's side.

Ringo held that pose, foot extended as she considered the kick. It hadn't been anything fancy, but had probably had enough power to break an arm if she'd hit a real person with it.

[crimson_sister]

That was... interesting. Lucille felt a little intimidated, as she was clearly a beginner, and compensated for that with some violent stabbing.

[Sleep for me.]

[soniaroadsqueen]

Well, as far as Ringo could tell, Lucille was an expert with a knife. If it didn't involve AirTrek, it turned out that Ringo wasn't all that great at judging it.

She slid back and then threw another series of kicks, the sound of her feet impacting with the dummy sounding loud in her ears despite the blood rushing to her head.

[Hope you slept well!]

[crimson_sister]

Lucille would be content to let Ringo go on thinking that. The AirTrek attacks were distracting however, for purely technical reasons, of course. And Ringo had really pretty hair, now that she thought about it.

[soniaroadsqueen]

They might have been more distracting, or at least more impressive, if Ringo weren't half-distracted herself. It wasn't like she hadn't noticed that Lucille was elegant and poised before, but there was something about her today that had Ringo pausing more than once to glance over and try not to get caught staring.

[crimson_sister]

When two people were glancing at each other, it wasn't strange to imagine either would notice. Lucille did, and as it made her feel odd, she resorted to her usual strategy.

"What are you staring at?" she snapped at Ringo.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo's usual strategy for getting caught staring kicked in, too, and her head snapped away. As if Lucille hadn't already caught her.

"Um." She could feel the tips of her ears flushing hot, which suggested that her cheeks were pretty bright red already. "Nothing?"

Real convincing there, Ringo.

[crimson_sister]

"Then I suggest you go back to doing that."

Even Lucille knew that was unnecessarily unkind, especially since Ringo hadn't been the only one looking, but perhaps that was the real reason for the comment.

[soniaroadsqueen]

She could do that. Should do that, really. Just, you know, get back to focusing on her footwork. But instead, she frowned, emotions in enough of a turmoil that she felt the need to push back.

"If you wanted the space to yourself, you should just say so," Ringo snapped, "I could have gone somewhere else."

[crimson_sister]

"I don't need this space to myself, I just need not to be stared at."

Now Lucille herself was staring firmly att the dummy she was stabbing.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"No one was staring at you!"

Except for Ringo. Ringo had been staring at you.

[crimson_sister]

Lucille snorted. Why was everyone arguing with her today?

"Are you sure?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo drew a breath to deny it again, then seemed to catch herself. She forced herself to hold that breath for a moment, and then slowly exhale.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. She fell back on formality, her hands coming together in front of her as she offered a bow. "It was rude of me."

[crimson_sister]

Oddly enough it was equally frustrating to get an apology.

"I accept you apology," Lucille replied with a nod.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Another deep breath as Ringo straightened.

"And I'm sorry for yelling at you."

[crimson_sister]

Normally Lucille would have admitted that she had been a little unnecessarily harsh, but this was not a day like that.

With another nod, she said: "I am pleased to hear that."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Now that she'd stopped working with the dummy, the adrenaline that had helped distract Ringo had faded away. Which meant the urge to stare look at Lucille again was growing.

"Um." Ringo sounded awkward. "I, er, I guess I'll find somewhere else to exercise?"

Don't stare, don't stare, don't stare.

[crimson_sister]

"That is probably for the best," Lucille agreed, finally. If nothing else it would be less distracting for her as well, and she would rather not be distracted by looking at Ringo of all people.

Sorry, Ringo.

[soniaroadsqueen]

It was okay. Ringo wouldn't be offended even if she knew that was what Lucille was thinking.

"Um. Right."

"See you later?"

[crimson_sister]

Good. Ringo shouldn't be offended. Or maybe she should. Lucille wouldn't know today, even if she could hear the narrative.

"Yes." The dummy got stabbed again."

[crimson_sister]

Lucille would be content to let Ringo go on thinking that. The AirTrek attacks were distracting however, for purely technical reasons, of course. And Ringo had really pretty hair, now that she thought about it.

[crimson_sister]

Lucille would be content to let Ringo go on thinking that. The AirTrek attacks were distracting however, for purely technical reasons, of course. And Ringo had really pretty hair, now that she thought about it.