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Who: IT'S A GAME MINGLE GET IN THE VAN
Broadcast: If you want!
Action: All of it!
When: Second half of the month.

[hey everyone! how's it been going? how's medieval-fun-time-world treating you? anyone pillaged and burned anything yet? got kicked out of the castle? been planning expeditions? registered for jousting? busy angsting for the last two weeks on your ship?

this is a mingle for everybody, whether they're hiding in the volcano, out and about in the city, or up on one of those random random stations where you can get quirky souvenirs.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Whoa--

[ riku has to counter this one and he finds it a little difficult--but he does manage to have a firm ground and blocks it with two hands. he brings his rod in a slow arc towards hiro, and then past him, to use that energy he's pressing down on riku against him. the force should send hiro on his ass, but hiro's smart--maybe he centered himself well enough that he'll just skid back. ]

This isn't the Little League.

[he does skid, but he also kind of... wobbles, and falls forward. he catches himself on one knee, and looks up, a little... surprised at himself.]

... S-sorry. New to this.

[But he hops right back up.]

Let me... [He trails off, but he's bringing his weapon back up. He's out of range of Riku, and just kind of getting a feel for how the swing should go.]

I know you are.

[ he gives him a nod, and raises his hand as if to tell him to stop. ]

That was to show you what a parry and counter was... and to see how well you work under pressure.

[ which... well, they've got work to do. hiro wouldn't have asked to be trained if he knew everything, after all. ]

Need a second to get your bearings?

[he lowers the rod, studying him while he talks, and then... he just takes a deep breath, hands tightening around the rod.]

No, I'm ready.

[this is just like with ino's training, or cass's. he can't panic.]

[ there's a moment of hesitation, and riku's stance softens. ]

... do they have yin and yang where you're from?

... [he makes a face that says "yes" and also "i'm an idiot aren't i"]

[ a snort. ]

Calm down, I'm not testing you this time.

[ he sobers. ]

Part of my power comes with being able to feel how people are--to sense them. [ it's his turn to study hiro. ] It's not like I can read your mind or anything... but--you've been though a lot, haven't you?

[ he hesitates before he goes back into a stance. ] Anything that happened to you--good or bad, you can use it as your armor. Don't be afraid to use the bad things with the good, alright? Yin yang--you can't have a darkness without a light.

[that, though. that breaks down hiro's upbeat, excitable exterior in seconds. what's left in front of him is a kid who looks... maybe a little older than he should. this is the face of someone who's lost. the face of a survivor of tragedy. a mourner. and then...

[he takes a deep, slow breath, and then gets back into stance again. when his shoulders fall from the breath and his eyes open, there's a determination that riku will probably recognize. hiro isn't just someone who survived. he flourished. and just because those wounds have been reopened recently doesn't mean he can't continue to do so.]

... Alright. I'm ready.

[ yeah.

he could tell. riku looks at him with a kind expression--not pitying, not sorry, but like a friend. riku won't make any grandoise lies about knowing exactly what hiro went through--because he doesn't. he won't press him to tell him, either. yet, he can feel the grief, the loneliness. it'd be remiss if, when working with spells that deal with emotion, he didn't remind him to use that emotion.

thankfully, hiro'll be safe when he uses it. he doesn't have to worry too much. ]

Okay. Come at me--show me how you think on your feet.

[he reminds himself before he moves that this isn't about whether or not he gets hurt. riku gets it, somehow. he's not going to hurt him, anyway. so he takes those couple of steps forward, lifting the rod higher this time and making his strike a lot more exact. but this is different--he's not striking to strike, he's looking at what riku is doing. he's waiting for his reaction so that he can react to that instead.]

Edited 2015-03-24 01:15 (UTC)

[ the change is palpable--riku parries the strike to his left. his right is left open. ]

Nice energy.

[ just like hiro's being exacting, so is riku. he knows his right side is open, and he hopes that hiro knows how to adapt to that. this is meant to be a learning experience for him, so riku knows he has to tone it down. ]

[hiro curbs the flow of that deflected blow into an exaggerated movement to bring it around to try to get to that opening, because he does see it. unfortunately, since he's focusing on that, he's left himself open in several places.]

[ he's going for that opening, and riku sees several openings--he didn't explain deceptive maneuvers so he's not going to sweep his feet out from under him. but just as hiro's about to tap his side, riku's taps hiro's knee. ]

Good counter. I'll consider that a tie. [ he pivots away from hiro at this point. when he strikes, it's obvious to see and prepare for, and he wants to see if hiro will block or parry. ]

[hiro almost expected a pause in the fighting, but riku's words ring right as he moves, "show me how you think on your feet."

[he hasn't calculated how to parry quite yet, so he goes with the more comfortable option--blocking. he places his hands in the right position to hold himself and his weapon steady, and his stance is ready to brace for impact.]

[ good! a real smile breaks across riku's face.

hiro's showing some amazing potential. he could be a really good fighter... but, no. riku makes sure to keep his priorities straight--his job is to teach hiro how to sling spells. this meditation is just an extension of that. it'll show him some self-defense while he calms his mind and balances himself, so he can actually cast spells... so he'll still have some way to defend himself and others while they work on building up.

... maybe he should teach axel. he's... actually enjoying this.

the hit connects, but it's not harsh. riku presses. come on, hiro. he knows you can redirect--either it'll be to get the pressure off of him, or to throw riku off balance. ]

[riku will no-doubt notice the flicker in his eyes, as he's changing through responses at rapid speed. it's the brain of a genius, running on six major tracks at once instead of one or two. he's got riku's weight against him, but he knows it's not all of it. the rest has to be on one leg, not both, or he couldn't jump back as easily if necessary. the way he needs to press depends on which foot he's got his weight on.

[this takes half a second to go through in his mind. all riku will get is the flick of hiro's gaze down to his feet before he's not just shifting their flow, but adding in a little extra push to see if he can get riku on one leg.]

[ interesting.

riku hasn't battled many geniuses. the most he's battled is young master xehanort--and truth be told, he saw flickers of this, but not much. when he pushes back, riku can feel it going and he's impressed. hiro's four years his junior and he's caught up this quick...

ah, no less for a genius, he supposes.

what does surprise him is that he almost pitches over, because he didn't expect the extra push and riku is always movable and light on his feet.

... but he just flips over, using one hand when he almost falls backward to toss himself into the air and back on his feet a few feet away. ]

Huh--not bad at all.

[aaaand hiro's guard is 200% down because that was the most badass catch he's ever seen in person. what the fuck, riku, you're awesome.]

... You think so?

[right, words.]

[ ah... why is he staring?

he rubs the back of his neck, and then clears his throat to look at him dead-on. he doesn't make a lot of eye contact, but somehow, hiro makes it easy. ]

Yeah. [ that's earnest. ] You learn fast, and you pay attention. The more you practice, the more you'll get better at it, and it'll become muscle memory--you won't have to think as much about what you're doing, just when and where.

[ he gives a light hum. ]

Okay. Time to teach you the routine.

[he looks so proud of himself. the stuff he's learning here isn't stuff he ever thought he'd get to learn, so finding out that people he can only think of as experts think he's got potential in this entirely new field makes him so happy.

[he has the most earnest determination in his eyes now, when he smirks at him.]

Ready for it.

Five moves, three phases. Watch--I'll show you the whole thing now, and then the three phases. Don't try this right away.

[ he moves with each word. ]

Strike, block. Parry, strike. Counter. Strike, counter, block. Strike, parry. Strike, counter, strike, block. Strike.

So the first part--strike, block, parry, strike, counter.

[he's paying very close attention, repeating the pattern in his head over and over as he goes.

[then riku repeats the first part, and hiro's... not doing it yet because he was told not to, but he wants to. he's just kind of nodding, being attentive.]

Strike, block, parry, strike, counter.

[nod!]

[ good tiny genius, you can be taught.

when he repeats after him, he nods. ]

Show me.

Alright...

[he's conscious of his foot and grip placement as he prepares to move, taking an extra moment to get it right before starting. if he learned one thing from cass's training, it's that form comes first, speed comes later.

[then he does his best to make the moves flow together. he's way slower than how riku did it, a lot more careful, and a little sloppy (sometimes as a result).]

uvu ty ty

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i had this open and written for literally five days. what the fuck.