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 Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 7:21 pm
There weren't a lot of them, it seemed, that used daggers -- and those who did, tended to prefer two. It took some digging for Ever to get past Taym's name and to another, and longer still to get the guy's number. Maybe someone savvy could have done it in less than two months, but this was Ever. Phones weren't his friends. Ian would know the second he read the message, too. kuroopu Ian: Sorry to be a bother, but I hear you use a dagger. Would you mind giving some pointers? --Ever [Life] He sighed as he sent it: aware that it rang awkward, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do about that now. After a moment, he texted again. kuroopu Ian: I can move my schedule around whenever you have free time. Just tell me when and where. --Ever [Life]
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 7:26 pm
Ian, who was neither in his own room that he shared with Shiloh, nor in Jack's room (which he was still maintaining, in spite of his earlier argument with the other), but in fact, in the stretch of hallway between the two rooms, got the message a few moments after it had been sent. He had been in a state of deep thought, and had not heard it ding until the phone gave a second, insistent vibration that startled Ian out of his inner musings, most of which had to do with the two aforementioned people (though were entirely unconnected).
Ian pulled out his phone, expecting a silly, romantic message from his boyfriend, or maybe an apology from Jack (the thought was laughable and vaguely idiotic to even consider). But the name on the screen was unfamiliar, and Ian squinted at it for a few moments, trying to figure out if it was a wrong number or not.
But no, there it was, his name at the front, and the rest of the message, though awkward and mildly confusing, made sense enough at least that Ian understood it to be for him. He thought for a moment, then tapped out a reply:and be blue Text to Ever: hey! sure, I wouldn't mind helping a bit. I've got a free afternoon today, if you wanna meet up?
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:33 pm
kuroopu Ian: Two thirty at the training grounds? -- Ever It was pretty much devoid of personality, as so many of his texts were -- or, at least, spoke of someone stodgier than who Ian would run into as he approached the training grounds. Ever typed older and more serious than he spoke or looked, waiting in battered clothes with his hair tousled and a cigarette burning down slowly between two fingers. His hunting for a prospective teacher hadn't turned up a picture, so he wouldn't recognize the approaching figure, but he would look. A hand shielding his face, he'd still squint across the field, and once it was clear the man was heading in his direction, he'd stand: swatting grass from his knees and butt and taking one last drag on the cigarette before ditching it.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 2:30 pm
Ian had zero idea of who this Ever person was, or what he even looked like, but he made his way down to the training grounds a few minutes before two-thirty anyway. It was a good distraction; he wanted to blow off some steam, and if he could help someone out by doing that, all the better.
His dagger was already summoned; Naomi had grown marginally longer since advancing to Intermediate, and her blade was more curved and the hilt less ornate, but he liked her better this way. She was easier to maneuver, easier to manipulate - and, it seemed lately, easier to get along with, which Ian took to mean progress.
He slowed his steps as he drew closer to the field, glancing around. There were a few straggling hunters this way and that, some training, some stabbing practice dummies, a few others just sitting around talking. One off to the side was crouched down, a cigarette in one hand, and Ian frowned slightly, casting a look around again.
"Uh..." he called out. "Ever?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:22 pm
He shot up immediately, hand raised into the air -- cigarette still trailing smoke as he did -- and a bright flash of a smile shooting across his face. Ever looked neither stodgy nor old, aside from the near-white mess of his hair, and certainly didn't look together enough to have sent those texts, but he seemed confident enough now. He ditched the cigarette as he started down toward Ian, closing the ground between them easily. He held out his hand as he got near arm's reach, tall and gawky but cheerful, and raised both eyebrows in question. "Ian? Hi, sorry, I'm terrible at the texting thing." At least Ever knew.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:28 pm
The response was both immediate and unexpected; Ian had rather thought one of the older appearing hunters near the left test dummy was more likely to be Ever than the tall, messy haired guy that stood up abruptly to his right. Where this young man was somewhat garbled in appearance, Ian was wearing a pair of artfully ripped jeans and a short-sleeved black teeshirt emblazoned with some miscellaneous, neon pink logo across the front.
He pivoted where he stood, flashing a smile and reaching out to accept the hand offered.
"Hey, man, no worries," Ian said, and then, somewhat unnecessarily, "I'm Ian, though that's pretty obvious. Ever's a pretty cool name, you been at Deus very long?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:38 pm
"Three months? Four? What day is it again?" He grinned as he said it, though, so maybe it was a joke: hopefully Ever knew the date, and hadn't actually lost track of the slow march of time. Who knew, though, on the island. He shook and he shook well, hand curling around Ian's before he let go. All at once, dark eyes dropped to the dagger in the other man's hand, and he smiled again: too-wide, sharp, brief. He shrugged at Ian. "I'm just not very good at the fighting bits, I admit. Not terrible at it, but..." He shook his head, ditching the last of his cigarette to dig out the slim silver case, instead. He turned it briefly in hand before it dissipated into his own weapon: a slightly-longer, wickedly-sharp black stiletto. There was nothing modern about it. Instead, it looked old. Positively medieval. "Where do you even learn to use something like this?" Aside, of course, from the weapon itself.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:53 pm
Ian waved his hand once he'd let go. "I forget what day it is half of the time here; it's a relevant thing here on Deus, I've learned."
Ever was a strange sort of guy, he thought. All sharp edges and gangling limbs and that mess of light colored hair (what was it with guys and white hair, Ian wondered, thinking of a certain other hunter). He seemed interested to learn more, though, and while Ian in no way considered himself an expert on the subject, he at least was capable of holding his own most of the time.
His eyes dropped to the dagger in Ever's hand, Ian raising an eyebrow. "Quite a weapon," he said with a small laugh. "That's a lot thinner than mine, but it's pretty cool looking. Looks like something you'd get out of Shakespeare's tomb or something."
Ian fiddled absently with the hilt of his own weapon and gave a half smile. "It's a stupid, annoying phrase, but practice," he said dryly. "It took me a while to get used to mine, and she and I had our...disagreements. But now we pretty much learned to get along, and I think that helped. Also when you're stuck in a shitty situation, you've gotta be able to defend yourself, so that's that too. Obviously we're not long distance fighters, so close defense and offense are key."
He nodded towards Ever's weapon. "Have you worked with it at all? Like, have you fought or anything? You said you've been here a few months, so I assume you've done some spars and s**t while here?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 6:49 pm
"I've done a lot." Ever was quiet for a moment, eyebrows pulling together, and he turned the dagger over in his hand in a testing way that wasn't terrible. It just wasn't great, either. It wasn't that he couldn't fight, just that he didn't know how to make the best use of it -- and this wasn't a subject well-covered by reading. "There was the tower, that was near right away. Some spars and efforts. A couple missions, one with this..." He hesitated, swiping with the stiletto as he did, in a slow and meandering way. "This walking tree thing, I don't know, it was freaky. And I've been in bar fights a few times." Dark eyes flashed back up to Ian's face. "I just want someone who can see what I'm doing horribly wrong. Or at least give me some idea. Okay?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:49 pm
The tone of Ever's voice certainly indicated he'd both seen and done more than Ian had given him credit for. A hand lifted, Ian absently running his fingers along the bandages that were currently wound around his neck; but then he dropped his hand a moment later, giving Ever a half smile.
"Yeah, I get you," he said, "there's a lot of s**t that goes on here that I don't even know most of the time, so it's one of those things that you've just gotta learn so you can be ready when s**t goes down. Some of it is instinct, granted, but the rest of it is just basic knowledge; a little goes a long way, after all."
Ian took a step back and gestured for Ever to get ready.
"I'll help you as much as I can, man," he said, and smiled. "So go ahead and come at me, lemme see what you've got just from first glance."
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and be blue rolled 1 20-sided dice:
6
Total: 6 (1-20)
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:00 pm
He hated this part the most, honestly: the part where he set his feet and rolled out his shoulders and watched his opponent, trying to figure out who would strike first. For Ever, this was the part where he was tense, nervous perhaps. Once the first blow came through, then the pain would blossom and he could relax into it again. The first hit hurt the most. After that, it was all familiar, was easier to ignore. That was why he was usually drunk when he dove head-first into fights in bars, with strangers. "Be easy on me, okay?" This was careful, somewhat reluctant, his head cocked. "But not too easy."
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kuropeco rolled 1 20-sided dice:
17
Total: 17 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:41 am
( just gonna put my post in the next post )
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kuropeco rolled 2 10-sided dice:
7, 8
Total: 15 (2-20)
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:45 am
Ian absently twirled the blade, fingers curling around the gilded hilt, and he gave Ever what he hoped was an encouraging smile. When he'd first come to Deus and learned that all he had was a small dagger to fight with, and not one of the much larger and more reassuring weapons, it had been rather a blow to his ego - but thankfully, after time had passed, and he had grown used to it, Ian found wielding Naomi to be much less stressful.
For the most part.
"When you're working with something as small and close-range as a dagger," Ian said, and lunged with a quick, hard swipe towards Ever's left arm. "It's best to try and aim for something that will make it more difficult for your opponent to retaliate. Go for the legs, or arms, because those are more important, and people rely on those to fight."
He'd maybe swung a little too hard, Ian hastily retracting his steps.
HP: 50 / 50
DMG: 9.....oops....
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and be blue rolled 2 8-sided dice:
2, 3
Total: 5 (2-16)
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 7:18 pm
He'd hit hard and, in reaction, maybe Ever over thought his own actions just a bit: held the dagger a hair too tight, was a bit too tense through the shoulders. He aimed for Ian's shoulders, but it was a small target, and he sliced a bit too wide, only catching the very edge of his shield. A ripple of annoyance went through Ever's face but, other than that, he settled back into a defensive position. "At least any hit is a hit, with the...you know, the juice that makes the weapons work." HP: 31/40 Charge: 0/3 DMG:
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