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Practice dummies had long since ceased to be any kind of challenge, but sometimes it was soothing to have something to hit that didn't dodge or hit back. Jordan brought Ferros around in a long arc, his swing almost lazy; Ferros rumbled with satisfaction at the crack as the pole that supported the dummy splintered and the structure splintered, the dummy flying through the air and landing in a limp tumble of fake limbs a good six feet away.

Rep had said that Jordan had a right to be angry; but, Jordan mused, getting angry and letting himself lose control had mostly caused more problems. Their conversation had been awkward, but its results had been good; but, at the same time, couldn't he have managed somehow to bring the subject up without the whole thing being a fight?

And his irritation and jealousy had had collateral damage, as well. He'd yelled at Melvin and Jerry without much reason to yell other than that they'd been there and he'd let his temper snap. Being angry was one thing, but letting it out on others was counterproductive.

It's not good keeping it all in, Ferros suggested.

I can deal with it. Better than snapping on people.

The dragon hissed a sigh of uncertainty, projecting his worry. Jordan answered with a wordless reassurance, but the feeling was shakier than he would have liked it to be. He moved to the next dummy, took a half-step back, and brought Ferros back to wind up for the next swing.

The sensation of resistance made Jordan turn on his heel, adrenaline spiking as Ferros registered the taste of Fear - a weapon, or - no, it was just Ro and Sylvia, and Jordan made himself relax. He sighed and hefted Ferros to rest casually across his shoulder, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Sometimes I think they should just put a few treetrunks up. Maybe pin a photo or two on the front to give us something to aim at," he joked, but there was a slightly strained edge to his voice.

He shrugged his other shoulder. "We've had a stressful morning."

Ferros snorted in his mind.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Jordan agreed. He desummoned Ferros and caught the can offhandedly. Then he blinked at it. "Dude, I'm going to have to tap this thing hard so it doesn't explode."

He turned towards the path that led towards the cliffs. "Lead on, man. Smashing rocks sounds like good training. And good stress relief."

"The image of you skipping brightly down the path is priceless," Jordan said, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "Maybe with, like, a basket for Grandma or something."

True to his word, he tapped the top of the can hard with his fingernail several times before cracking it open, holding it away from his body until it was clear that it wasn't going to froth over, at which point he relaxed and drank from it. For a few moments, he didn't answer the question. Then he said, "Woke up at four this morning to a text from Rep asking us to come bail him and Melvin out of jail."

The startled reaction won a slightly sour smile out of Jordan. "They went off to Scotland to do a barcrawl, got themselves drunk, got in a fight, and smashed up a bunch of stuff. No people smashed," he added quickly, "other than in the metaphorical sense. But property damages and drunk and disorderly."

He took the fork of the path that led towards the rockier areas of the beaches. "Melvin called Jerry for help, and Jerry showed up and managed to get himself tossed in right along with them, apparently just for being Jerry. So Harrison and I get there and those three were having a yelling match in the cell, and we find out that getting them out of there is going to involve pretty much cleaning out our savings, and bear in mind here, four in the morning and I hadn't had coffee or a shower yet, and Rep was acting like he thought all that was really clever and generally being perky."

"I was kind of surprised at Melvin." Jordan sighed. "No, it was just a fistfight. He knows better, even drunk."

He shrugged back. "Not really. Back to saving. At least golems testing helps speed that up, and hunter pay's better than intermediate, so the occasional accidental destruction of furniture and stuff doesn't cause quite as much of a drain as it used to." He sipped the soda, grimacing a little at the syrupy sweetness. He'd had a three-can-a-day habit in high school, but he'd mostly stopped drinking soda at all since arriving on the island, and it tasted weird now. "I was in a rotten mood when we got home," he continued, "and I blew up at them, said a few unwise things. Jumped to a couple of conclusions that I regretted later." He shrugged. "I had a minor fight with Rep - which we resolved, so we're okay again - and apologized to Jerry later. So yeah, that's been my day, and I could stand to crush a few rocks into gravel."

"I'm curious as to why he doesn't seem to care about social niceties. Maybe one of these days he'll tell me." Jordan shook his head as Ro took his phone out. "Don't worry about it, dude, we're a pay grade higher than you are and there's three of us. And the weapons get date night and game time - I love golems testing, have I said that? Get paid for letting them out to play. But thank you for offering."

"Thanks," he said, managing a more genuine smile as he followed Ro off the path and moved to one side, summoning Ferros again and falling into a slow, dancelike set of motions, lifting the weapon through a series of poses like a martial arts kata and closing his eyes to settle into a deeper harmony with his weapon. Ferros emitted soft wisps of steam into the humid air as they moved.

The boundaries between human and weapon blurred in their mind, flesh and metal becoming extensions of one another until their motion was a smooth and natural flow of combined consciousness. They were more aware than ever now that this kind of thing could be dangerous, but it was part of how they worked, the effortless, edgeless meshing invisible from the outside but making their responses faster, their communication seamless and thought-quick. When Jordan finished the last arc of the exercise and opened his eyes again he felt calmer, more relaxed, some of the stress and irritation smoothed away by the rhythmic hiss of steam that nobody else could hear.

To his surprise, Ro was mimicking them, going through the exercise with Sylvia, though the routine was slightly altered by the different shape and heft of the other weapon. He watched Ro for a moment, then turned to the rock pile, swung Ferros smoothly back, then brought him up and over in a swift overhand drive. The impact was accompanied by a sharp crack along with the dull thud of metal hitting earth. When he lifted Ferros again, he was pleased to see that the largest of the rocks had been split into several fragments.