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 Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 5:42 pm
Having her punches caught like this almost felt like a strange game of softball, where her fist was the ball being thrown at high velocity and his hands the mit of a member of the opposing team. An action that had previously given her a reason to worry was no falling into a sort of rhythm, which was fortunate for her because she... Wasn't exactly paying attention to where she was aiming anyway. Heck, she probably could have thrown a punch up to his head and she wouldn't have noticed that she'd decided to do so. Also, what was it with her and closing her eyes while she punched? She didn't know why, but she felt like that habit wasn't going to bode well for her.
Unfortunately, she was right. As soon as Athalia had decided to stop catching her punches and rolled to the side, Virginiaterese swung harshly to the right and ended up stumbling forward. She didn't fall, but the foot she'd hopped to balance herself was pretty embarrassing. She'd completely missed how he'd evaded her, but had enough sense to turn and face the right direction.
Part of her wanted to puff her cheeks out a bit and complain, but his challenge was more than enough of a distraction. There would be no comments or questions about this now! She swung forward and continued to aim her assault against him.Epine de Rose I've participated in two of Gaia's coloring contests, too, but they were both flat entries. rofl I could try to do something similar to these? I should really learn how to shade, LOL. Coloring contest #1, Coloring contest #2
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:03 pm
He hadn't anticipated she'd go stumbling quite so far, but as he watched her form he came to realise that perhaps the 'squint' he thought she'd adopted was actually... Oh, oh dear.
Was she closing her eyes?
He would have laughed in a different set of circumstances. However for the time being it was better to let her practice, get a feel for some of it, and then he would fix one or two elements of her form that would probably prove disastrous in any real battle. Nevertheless that still didn't prevent him from finding her behaviour amusing, and the prospect of a 'slap battle' between younger senshi and lieutenants was funny...If there wasn't a risk of people dying he would probably sit down and marvel at it to be honest, much like he often did in the dojo when the four year olds were beginning to learn that you needed to do more than helicopter your arms to actually hit your opponent.
Alas, now that he did know she was closing her eyes he did punish her a little harder, dodging rather than catching her assaults, in at least a half-hearted attempt to persuade her to keep them open more often. Even if she blinked them open now and then to check where he was then he'd count it as a win.
So far she was in luck, but he was going to give it another minute or to before he taught her why it was important to keep her eyes open where possible.
Yep, in a minute or two he'd give her a gentle smack and see whether she was ready for it! For now though, his continued to observe, all being well if she did start opening those eyes of her's, she might be able to get out of his way when he did go for her!Bouquet of Diamonds Flat colours never hurt! I don't see a harm in it! (And those are good) 8D
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:30 pm
Okay, seriously, what was she doing? She couldn't keep closing her eyes every time she swung like this! It was almost like she thought making impact with his chest was going to cause her to go blind or something! Come on, stumbling around had to make her look stupid! That alone should be enough of a deterrent! She grimaced at herself and forced her eyes to stay open.
... Now she was just trading one strange expression for another. Yeah, she could see, but now she also looked like an angry owl. Was there any way she could win this war with herself? Probably not.
Still, she continued to follow his movements, only failing to keep her eyes open once or twice, and tried to focus on landing another hit. That was the point of this new dance, right? If she hit him, he'd move on and teach her something new? What was next on the list, though? Hitting a target coming down from above? Kicking? She couldn't help but be curious. Epine de Rose Maybe I'll give it an attempt next time I feel the itch to color! 8D (and thank you! The second one is my favorite. I was thinking of pumpkins/squash while I colored her in)
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:40 pm
Well it was an improvement, credit had to be given where it was due. He wasn't sure how to respond to the expressions that were being pulled but at the very least her eyes were open much more frequently and now that she could see she was getting more accurate. Just as well really as if she'd kept her eyes closed she wouldn't have stood a chance of avoiding what came next.
Well no, she probably would have just in terms of probabilities and 'flukes', but the probability would have been significantly lower.
Satisfied she was now keeping her eyes on the target for the most part, he flicked the back of his hand towards her. Not hard by any means, but enough to cause a bit of a shock if it hit. He hadn't given much of a thought to where he was aiming beyond the torso and as a result her own movements would very much dictate where it happened to hit if it even hit.
He'd be surprised if he missed, but then again, she'd already surprised him once this evening so a second wasn't out of the question!Bouquet of Diamonds Green is a colour I'm very partial to so I might be a little biased to that one. xD;
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:08 pm
Oh, Athalia definitely didn't miss. Virginiaterese had successfully distracted herself enough mentally that she hadn't processed that she'd swung herself into a prime position to get smacked straight in the face by his oncoming hand. Much like a dog realizing that it was about to hit a fence at full force without time to stop itself, she had enough time to react, but not enough time to stop. If this were a televised event, this would have been a slow-motion replay.
The back of his hand, while not a strong hit, was enough to elicit a surprised squeak and send her hands right to her nose. Ow? ...Ow??? ... Alright, no, it didn't really hurt that bad. The reaction was based more on who was hitting her, not the hit itself. Like, she was instituting an "all hits from Athalia must hurt really bad because he's strong, therefore I must be in terrible pain right now" rule to this fight. Consciously, she understood that he'd held back enough not to cause her to hurt that badly, but it was hard for her to break that kind of thinking at this point.
She supposed breaking stereotypes could be a part of learning, too. Yay for unexpected lessons from unrelated avenues!
"... I take it you didn't mean for that to happen?" She asked, slowly removing her hands from her face and, only slightly, pretending to be miffed with him.Epine de Rose I'm partial to green too. > w> -Gently pats Virginiaterese and Beethoven- Also, Athalia, I know you tried for the torso... But she's flailing so much, this was bound to happen.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:12 am
"Not today, no," Athalia confirmed wryly. He could beg grateful that he hadn't been quite so forceful on this occasion, although in this particular instance he might have lived down smacking a breast more than slapping the senshi's face! At least then there would be opportunity for inappropriate jokes as opposed to any awkward conversations the next morning regarding black eyes or swollen cheeks!
He'd already withdrawn his hand, sliding both thumbs into the sash at the sides of his waists. At least she seemed to be all right, she even seemed to be in reasonably good humour if he was reading her correctly. Granted he barely knew her and there was every possibility he was about to have a boot to the groin, but her response was decidedly measured for someone who may or may not be plotting to cause lasting damage.
"I'll just put that down to erratic movements," he added and shook his head. Really, it was a learning experience for him too. She was the first senshi to actually attack him in a flurry, they'd all been non-committal until now. The fact that he had misjudged his blow was simply an indication that he also needed to practice and while he might have to teach her a thing or two, there might well be something there that she would unintentionally teach him too!
"But it would be worth noting that while I don't want to ruin your pretty features, I'm not so sure our friends will feel the same," he admitted and pursed his lips. "So perhaps we'll work on that at some stage so that you can mitigate that," he added.
"...And I'll have to work on my aim," he mused. "You're the first one that I've missed my mark on," he explained. "Although you're also the first one who has actually thrown everything at it instead of trying to hit me like they have a dead arm."
"We've got things to work on and I think one of the big ones will be keeping your eyes open and learning how to aim," he raised both his brows. "With the second, ironically, being something I'm also going to have to work on when it comes to facing someone quite like you."
There was a part of him, deep inside, that realised that he may need to let her be a little less 'perfect' in form if he were to keep her safe. That unpredictability could be incredibly useful, while good form could sometimes be a curse if someone became too familiar with who and what you were.
"Is your cheek all right?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 5:39 pm
Not today, eh? Virginiaterese could have knocked him for that one, but she'd rest on the side of better judgement for now. After all, that slap hadn't actually hurt that bad. It only shocked her enough to stop trying to attack him... If only for a moment. She wasn't above trying for a sneak attack while he was busy talking.
"No, no," She chastised, her hands landing firmly on her hips. Seriously, she was the one stumbling around like buffoon and closing her eyes, not him. She was an accident waiting to happen, this was far from his fault. "You shouldn't be so quick to say that. Your aim was fine, my form was horrible. I mean, I barely have any idea of what I'm doing. I'm literally just swinging my arms around like I'm someone out of a kid's cartoon."
She huffed, more at herself than anything else, and touched her cheek idly. ... Pretty features? Was she really pretty like this? She squinted in thought and couldn't help but look to Athalia. ... Well, if she was pretty, he was a walking piece of art! ... Wait, no, washboard abs be damned, he was her mentor and fellow senshi! She couldn't let her mind dwell any further than that!
"I'm fine, and to prove it-" She said, jabbing one of her fingers straight onto his chest and flashing a bright mischievous grin up toward him. "I dare you to try and punch me, as hard as you can, so I can try and catch it right here, right now!"Epine de Rose  It's been raining all day and I wanted to art, so here they are in color! 8'D (Click for large size)
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:27 pm
His eyebrow did raise at that challenge.
Was it poor form for him to deny her request, would it come across as arrogant, or would he be forgiven for erring on the side of caution? It was a puzzle for him, but he had never been one to shy away from a challenge before and when it came to the dojo anyone could ask the same thing. Whether it was a child or an adult, male or female, if they asked to be truly tested then it was something they were supposed to be given.
But he had just met her and well...
It wasn't the prettiness that stopped him so much as the genuine concern that he might hurt her properly. He certainly didn't want to cause offence but given they'd had one opportunity to see what she could do, he didn't exactly want to put her out for the count already! Still, she was a senshi and generally speaking they were meant to be more durable; she also had those little birds to help her too, right?
"If you're sure," he murmured as he settled on giving her what she had asked for. If it was a mistake then he'd live with it, but he viewed a refusal as a bit of an insult in these circumstances.
At that point he simply thrust his arm outwards, palm flat to minimise damage in the event he did hit her properly. He didn't necessarily school himself in to any specific stance, but he had seen an opening and he took it! If he caught her off guard then it would probably still hurt, but it wouldn't leave her in any unfit state!Bouquet of Diamonds *Inaudible squeal!* Totally shared that in discord omg.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 3:43 pm
Oh God, what had she done? She hadn't expected him to actually take the dare. She'd expected him to insist that she wasn't ready, or at the very least insist she continue trying to hit him instead. Now she'd set herself up for a full force punch from a man who was very much equipped to knock the very breath out of her! She had to congratulate herself on her own audacity.
Still, instincts had their way of overriding anxiety when it really counted, and before she could process that she was even moving, Virginiaterese had successfully set up her stance and caught the punch. It honestly felt like a sweeping motion. Her entire body just ... Moved and intercepted it like she'd done it several times before. She let herself be stunned and the curl of a grin started to form on her face, before she found herself wincing. Oof, even if her stance had been natural, the position her wrist was in absolutely wasn't. She took her opposite hand and rubbed it gently.
"Guess I should find a way to strengthen this hand, huh?" She asked, laughing awkwardly. ... But she had caught the punch. Could she do it again? Probably not, but she had caught one! She could be proud of that!Epine de Rose I saw! emotion_kirakira I haven't colored in so long, the tip of my thumb is still sore from holding the pen LOL.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:32 pm
"Both hands, actually," he smiled warmly as he pulled his hand away from her palm. "It's normally a good idea to try and catch with both, or deflect when you can't do that."
That had looked somewhat painful if he was honest, that wasn't a normal bend, but he was grateful there had been no snaps or horrific twists that would have resulted in something slightly more substantial. All things considered he would have taken this as a win on two fronts, he'd found out she had even more hidden talents and well... so had she.
"Unless you intend to use your cute little pets for that," he pointed at her wrist. "I would suggest ice in the morning," he mused. It didn't look like it would swell too badly and given they were senshi, her accelerating healing should at least help to fix the most severe of the injury fairly quickly. Short of a break, she was probably going to look largely untouched if she walked passed any relatives in her every day life!
"Or rather, ice as soon as you get home," he corrected. "It will reduce any swelling and ah, avoid any awkward questions I suppose," he finished. He could be thankful he lived alone (excluding the cats) and could come and go as he pleased without causing suspicion. He wasn't quite sure how he'd explain some of his late night escapades in other circumstances as there were only so many times you could work a 'double shift'.
"I think that perhaps it might be time to call it a night, I don't have any wrist supports for your arms and I wouldn't let anyone continue practising while they needed to rest a limb," he added.
"But," he pursed his lips. "If it's not going to cause offence, might I offer you a ride home," he shook his head. "Or rather you an direct me to somewhere near by to drop you off and we can avoid letting you explore the otherwise questionable underbelly of evening society," he remarked.
He hadn't missed that she'd come from a fair distance away and to be perfectly honest, at this time of night she was going to stand out. All things considered, he wasn't overly concerned if she did happen to find out who he was beyond Athalia. If it avoided any unnecessary risks, then he might as well leave the offer open at least...Bouquet of Diamonds Yes but it looks so good and I wanted to share the awesome. xD; *Loves it so much.* Vir's hair is so vivid and pretty!
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:02 pm
If she'd had more sass stored inside of her tiny frame, she might have had the nerve to mock his "both hands" comment. However, he was likely right. The whole point of her being here was to learn from someone with more experience. She had no idea why she felt like she could even talk back to him, much less challenge him like she had just a moment ago. Was this how her younger siblings felt when they had to listen to her? She blinked at herself and shook her head.
"Nah, I think I can handle this one myself." She replied, giving her wrist another rub and a once over. "Literally the only person I can think of that would question why I have a swollen wrist is my mother, and she'll believe almost anything. My worry is that if I ever get really beat up, I won't be able to go home without my father putting me on house arrest."
She prayed, quietly, that she'd be able to move out before something like that happened. Though, maybe praying that she'd never get beaten to a bloody pulp would be a better scenario to hope for? ... Yeah, that didn't feel realistic at this point.
"Hey, if you're offering a ride, I don't mind." She laughed, motioning toward where she'd come in before with her head. "I have no idea when the bus I took to get here will come back around again, or if there is a bus back to my neighborhood at all. I don't feel like I should stand around in the dark like this to find out, though, espescially if you consider this place to be part of the underbelly of evening society, so to speak."
She rolled her shoulders and rested her injured wrist in the palm of her opposite hand, before offering a smile to Athalia.
"Once this little mess heals, I hope I can contact you again sometime for more lessons!" She added. "... Unless you've seen enough of me flailing around being a hazard to myself and have decided to stop right here and now, in which case I fully understand."Epine de Rose I LOVE her hair. Part of me really wants to get one of her younger siblings as a civ/possible civ->powered eventually just so I can have another character with that hair. It's such a good shade of green. * w*
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 11:33 am
"You think we're done after one lesson?" he seemed amused as he peered at her. He could appreciate some enthusiasm and he returned the smile. This evening was about working what she could do without the threat of imminent destruction, the next steps would be avoiding unnecessary injury, learning how to dish out the damage in a controller manner and eventually when to take some damage.
It was with very little flourish that the man began to transform from his 'magical' self into much more casual attire. Whether it was sheer force of will that dimmed the magic, or simply that the sphere of Athalia preferred a little subtlety was entirely open to debate. However it wasn't long before the senshi was stood in front of her in no more than his usual jeans and shirt.
"You have quite a bit more to learn before I'd be comfortable unleashing you on chaos," he added as he nodded for her to follow. Rest assured that while he hadn't said it directly, she wouldn't have to ask for lessons, he would be tracking her down to give her that nudge. Well... maybe not immediately, but she probably shouldn't have been too surprised if she received some curious texts in regards to her well being.
"After you've crossed that bridge though, well then, I guess you can ask me for something more advanced," he teased and glanced over his shoulder.
"But for now we'll call it an evening and I can be quietly jealous of the good fortune you have of living in the neighbour, or near the neighbourhoods, that I think you might do," he finished with a wry smile. Bouquet of Diamonds It really is! Doesn't she have a little brother that just had a birthday? 8D It would be cute to have double trouble in some form! >D
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Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2020 5:02 pm
Oh thank goodness. It was a relief to hear that she hadn't destroyed any hope of getting further lessons with what she'd displayed today. However, hearing that he didn't think he could let her take on the forces of chaos yet made her a little miffed. Come on, didn't he remember how they met? Those big giant rats, how well she'd hit them...
... Okay, on second thought, maybe he was right. The memory of that terrible first attempt at fighting by herself wasn't exactly pleasant to relive.
"Oh! Uh..." She stammered as Athalia's attire changed before her. Wow, talk about trust. She glanced around and quickly waved her uninjured hand in a circle. Her once super fancy fuku faded to a simple mint top and denim shorts, while her hair pinned itself up in a hastily made ponytail. She tapped her sandals against the ground as though to check they were still there and cleared her throat. "I guess I should have figured out that I couldn't go back home looking like I stepped straight out of a fairy tale, huh?"
Still, did they reintroduce themselves now? She'd never done this before. Man, today was another day full of firsts, wasn't it? She flicked her hand to move her ponytail to the other side of her head and followed him.
"Honestly..." She said, making a subtle face at his teasing. Oh, she'd be asking him for harder lessons when she was good and ready, thank you very much. She shook her head. "While my family and I live very well, I like to think of us as down to Earth, you know? I won't say that I don't know that I'm lucky, but I will say that I wish the same for everyone else. After all, my family is really awesome and I wouldn't trade them for the world. They're the reason I'm trying so hard to learn how to fight after all. My siblings are still young. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't know how to save them from danger when I'm basically a secret superhero."
She paused, her eyes drifting off to the side as she thought of Sparrow and Harlow back at home. She prayed she'd never ever have to rip them away from the clutches of the enemy, but she desperately wanted to be there to help if it ever tried. The idea filled her with such a deep sense of purpose and love, almost like it was beyond herself. Her eyes returned to him.
"Do you have someone you want to protect like that?" She asked.Epine de Rose Yes, Sparrow! He turned 17 this year and she's embarrassingly proud of him. Like, "Hey, everyone! Look at my baby brother, isn't he the best???" and he pretty much accepts this now. Their little sister Harlow's 14-15 (haven't pinned her birthday down) and she's like Sio, but much less naive and 100% more of a prankster. One day I'll get actual profiles for the family done. -Stares wistfully off into the distance- Also thank you for being patient with me! I was at a client's house last week and I haven't been feeling well for the last two days. I don't have anything lined up for the foreseeable future (knock on wood) so I should be more consistent with tags for the rest of the month!
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2020 4:47 pm
"I mean there's nothing to stop you walking home as a magical girl," Regula raised a brow as he glanced over his shoulder. She had of course chosen not to remain in her usual attire and had opted to shift into something a little more casual. He wouldn't have blamed her if she had stayed as she was either, in the grand scheme of things sometimes it was safer to keep an air of mystery, but knowing his own colleagues he was likely to get pulled over if he was in a costume in the driver's seat.
Especially when his licence looked nothing like him...
"You might get a few questions or whistles though," he pointed out as he rounded the corner and approached his car. It wasn't the cheapest model, but it wasn't exactly luxury either. Evidently the man in her present company tended to keep to his means but happened to have a some standards. A moment to fish for his keys and he was opening the passenger door.
"As for your question," he shook his head. "My family are a fairly far from here and I would assume much safer where they are," he admitted with a smile. His parents had emigrated back to the UK when they were satisfied he was old enough to tend to himself and they seemed more than happy to have returned to their old haunts. Evidently the tea and biscuits were much more satisfactory for them there!
"So for now we'll go with the cheesy trope of protecting the vulnerable; turns out that even as a magical boy I don't stray terribly far from my day job."Bouquet of Diamonds x3 For now NPC them like a champ so that we still get to see them! Profiles can wait so long as they're only around when Sio's there but it'd be nice to have the imp's stretch their legs at some stage and become independent toons!
(No problem on the tags by the way, I have a pretty busy job so I know how it can be.)
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 7:56 pm
He'd literally said that there was nothing to stop her from walking home as her powered up self and then gave her two very important reasons why she shouldn't. She'd let that slide, though, she didn't want to chance losing her free ride home. Instead, she paid him a laugh and followed him to his car.
"Really? I couldn't imagine being far away from my family." She said, heading toward the passenger side door as he opened it. She stopped just shy of getting in and tilted her head. "Are they across the state? Or are you talking across the world? Either way, I'd be pretty nervous about being alone if an emergency happened."
She pausing again at his next comment and rubbed the back of her head with an awkward laugh.
"Ha-ha, I guess it is... Kinda cheesy." She winced, looking to the side as she spoke. "Also, uh... It's probably not that much of a surprise given where I live, but I kinda... Don't have a job right now. Senshi stuff is as close to a job as I've ever had. I commend you for being able to balance your day-job with any of this, honestly."Epine de Rose I meant profiles more like family profiles for Sio's journal, but YE. They'll be fine as NPCs for now! I've got plenty to work on as it is. |D
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