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"You're smart, Dallol," Buddingtonite said in regards to her suggesting that the White Moon Court could be planning something big, and it was certainly something that had crossed his own mind. He had seen little of their Court thus far, but from what others had told him, it was safe to assume that they were the threat they believed them to be, and who was Buddingtonite to question them? Little did he know just how unorganized they were, and if he did, he might have had more fodder for baiting Dallol in. But, alas, he knew nor suspected of such a thing. In regards to curing her affliction, he nodded. "General Benitoite will see to it that you're freed from their grip, and soon. Until I get the chance to introduce you to him, I will see about talking to my own officers and make sure none of them try to harm you by mistake. I do hope none of them have already done so?"

He knew nothing of her interactions and he knew he couldn't exactly control who she ran into when he wasn't there, but he'd figure he'd at least try to focus on damage control. Not that he met any agents of his own that immediately attacked senshi or knights- bar perhaps Painite, but he was, admittedly, unconscious when the other senshi arrived and he was only left to assume that she would have attacked without haste given the opportunity. 'Note to self... keep her away from Painite. Or, at least inform Painite not to harm her... talk about a waste of -my- hard work!'

His attention shot back to her when she offered a spar, and without even thinking, Buddingtonite accepted the invitation. He placed his pinwheel in the groove of his cap, before stretching his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. Not very gentleman of him to do that, but there were times where he didn't mind dropping the facade. After all, what self-respecting woman would take a man seriously if he appeared too concerned for his appearance? There were times when a man had to get his hands dirty, and the notion of a true man never striking a lady when down the drain, especially when it was she who not only struck at him first, but offered the chance. He'd have to be crazy to turn it down!

"How can I refuse such an offer? Any rules? Are the face and other sensitive areas off limits, or are they free game?" By 'sensitive areas' he meant below the belt, but he was certain that Dallol knew exactly what he meant. When it came to which one he'd rather get hit, he'd allow nut shots over blows to the face. After all, he had to go to work in the morning and no one wanted to buy candy from a man that looked like he was in the losing end of a bar fight. He had a business to consider! Nevertheless, he was eager for a little spar- give him more to add to his report on their potential recruit. "Ladies first."

Buddingtonite openly winced at the notion of their encounter being negative, and be immediately sought to reconcile that before it gave her a chance to change her mind. "And I apologize for that- you see, it's just how I am when it comes to those whose beauty I admire. I did not know if would offend you so, but I will do my best to make sure I do not do it again in your presence."

Didn't mean he couldn't think such thoughts to himself, at least. Admire her from a distance and ponder what she could look when she donned her new uniform for the Negaverse. It was a thought that made him smile, but it was short lived as the notion for the spar took top priority in his mind. He was relieved to know that his family jewels would be safe, at least, as he believed her to be trustworthy. In that case, he'd endeavor to be just as truthworthy and made a mental not to himself not to go for ripping her clothes if at all possible.

Not only did she accept his offer to go first, but she was pretty damn quick, and Buddingtonite was startled by her speed and immediately tried for a dodge. He knew it was just a friendly spar, but that didn't mean he wanted to get hurt, and he figured it would be best to avoid attacks rather than try to intercept them head on or counter. He was a decent fencer, but there were no wibbly-wobbly swords in their hands, and the best he could do was lean out of her reach. He avoided the blow to his chest but wasn't quick enough to avoid the fist hitting his arm, and he couldn't hold back the pained hiss as he tried to do a quick retaliation. Truth be told, this was his first fight as Negaverse lieutenant, and it likely showed in just how much weight he put behind his retaliatory blow. If he hit, then it'd definitely leave a mark, but if he missed, he'd go face forward into the ground.

It was worth a shot.

Yes, he definitely put too much behind that blow, as it was enough to send him toppling over. If she had kicked him, he wouldn't have blamed her for the affront- after all, this was war, and he wasn't expecting his enemy to take it lightly on him. In fact, he was expecting to be killed on sight, even when he wolfwhistled Dallol at the beginning, but he was pleasantly surprised, and grateful, that the page didn't add insult to injury as he went tumbling down, chest first and knocking the wind right out of him,

It took him far longer than he would have liked to recover, and only when he had caught his breath again did he stand. He took a moment to beat the dust off of his uniform and straighten his hat, before addressing the young lady's little quip. "Yes, it was a nice trip, wasn't it. Very good. Your reflexes are stellar and despite your little remark there, you show a remarkable sense of honor. You could have kicked me while I was down but you chose not to... I commend you for that!"

He knew he was coming off as a bit wordy, but that was Buddingtonite's greatest weapon, he felt. He wasn't much of a fighter but a charmer, but he already saw how little that seemed to do when it came to this Page of Uranus. The thought of the word made him chuckle for a moment, before growing serious once more. "Alright, let's go. This time come at me and try to get a hit in."

By this time, the stinging in his arm from her hit as well as the blow to his chest had subsided, and he was gearing up to dodge or even trip her, if worse came to worse. It might have been a dirty tactic, but he had to prepare her for anything. Not all Senshi fought clean, he was told...

"How honorable of you, Dallol... you are a true lady." Buddingtonite gave a nervous chuckle, though he hoped to disguise most of it through good humor. To be fair, he wasn't that much more experienced in this war business than Dallol was, but he seemed to have the advantage in being predisposed to this war BEFORE joining it than being pulled into it completely randomly. "Yes, well... nothing wrong with a little luck. When one lacks skill, they could always rely on luck to get them through."

He saw her coming at him and he did the first thing he tried to do was dodge the blow. He wasn't sure where that fist was going, but he wasn't going to stay still long enough to see, and he immediately dodged to his right, leaving his foot extended in hopes of tripping her up. It'd return the favor, and not to mention get him a good shot of that end of hers.

She may have been a lady, one that could have smacked him unconscious with that ladle of hers, but old habits simply died hard. Nothing wrong with looking, he thought... a harmless little peek! That's all!

"Quite true, Dallol, quite-" He never got to finish his sentence before she went colliding into him, and honestly he hadn't quite expected that kind of a tactic. Was it even a tactic, or clumsiness? Perhaps it was a well timed attack disguised in the form of a mistake, after all, was there not a type of fighting style that was based on this? Drunken fist? That was a strategy that Buddingtonite would have likely found to be useful, except there'd be no pretending in the matter.

For Dallol's case, however, it didn't matter if it was intentional or accidental, as it did its job perfectly. He went falling backwards and not only did his hat go flying but his pinwheel as well. He swore he saw stars swimming among Dallol's cerulean hair, and it took him a moment to collect himself, keeping his mouth shut so that he wouldn't risk chewing the page out.

Finally, when he could see straight and the first words out of his mouth wouldn't make a sailor blush, he addressed Dallol in a sugar sweet tone, hoping that she'd be too caught up in his admittance of defeat to see the way his smile twitched at the corners, wanting to turn into a grimace but resisting with all his might. "You swept me off my feet. Literally. In fact I dare say you knocked my boots off... though maybe that was just my hat."

He rose his hands in defeat, and he felt little shame in admitting it. "You're good- your form could use a little work, but given how new to this gig you are, I'd say you'll do wonderfully! All you need is a push in the right direction..."

Buddingtonite accepted the help up with little prompting- after waiting as patiently as possible for Dallol to remove herself (as he was doing his best to keep himself from touching her, knowing that one false move would land him with a massive, ladle-shaped welt on his head), he would suffer the damage to his pride to accept her help. After all, what was there to be ashamed of? As far as he was concerned, she was a friend, an ally trapped on the otherside, but not for long, if he had his way. "Thank you," he said softly, before dusting himself off.

It was amusing to see how apologetic she was, and Buddingtonite was quick to blow them off, just the same way he was dusting his uniform off. "It's no problem at all, Dallol. No broken bones, though perhaps a bruised pride, but no one else was here to see our little collision, so we can easily keep it between ourselves, if you'd like."

In truth, he was perfectly content to keep it that way himself, regardless if she wanted to or not. Not that it was a crippling blow, but he'd rather save himself the embarrassment from others imagining such a sight, and to those that knew him, how much self-restraint he possessed not to try to make something more of that brief moment that she was pinning him. He forced the wicked thoughts aside, more for his own safety than anything else, and he cleared his throat before addressing her. "Yes, you passed, with flying colors, might I add! Don't be afraid to use whatever method you can to win... I heard these White Mooners won't think twice about playing dirty, if you're not careful. I wouldn't want that to ever happen to you."

And he meant it. Truly. "What's next? I think we've have enough sparring for one night- we wouldn't want to exhaust ourselves and be easy pickings for our enemy. I will seek out General Benitoite and see about arranging a meeting between the three of us. I'll put in a strong recommendation for you, one that I'm sure he cannot think to ignore."

He looked to her again, unable to disguise the hopeful expression he might have been wearing for her to see. "Does that sound acceptable to you?"

"Now, I wouldn't be so hard on yourself- you may just have a natural gift," Buddingtonite said, forcing himself NOT TO WINK in fear of her getting the wrong signal and taking another swing at him. No, he was done with that business- Dallol was beautiful, but she wasn't the type to fall for his charm and would react violently, and besides, he seemed to gain her respect elsewhere for now, and he didn't want to ruin that. Also, he didn't want to tell her just how new he was to this Negaverse business himself, even if he thought it would have helped. "There are so few flukes in war, I find. But don't worry... we're both going to get better at this."

Her so much so, since he felt that he definitely had this one in the bag. Or would, if he could find the general anytime soon. "You can usually find me in the business district, or perhaps the park. I tend to meander all throughout the city, but I would definitely recommend the business district."

He wanted to tell her exactly where, but for the sake of keeping his secret identity intact, he kept that part out. He jumped back to his feet and dusted himself off, and with a friendly and maybe a little overly extravagant manner, tipped his hat to her and made his exit. "Until the next time we meet, Dallol. Please, do keep yourself save until then."

He wouldn't want to lose a potential investment...