[SRP] Fisticuff Principles (Destati x Ari)

[Epine de Rose]

The meeting had been adjourned and each individual had been given additional instructions. For the most part their missions remained largely the same and as a consequence he didn't need to touch upon them overly much. He was fortunate in this respect, it ensured that Ari remained unaware of all the details that surrounded this particular venture. As far as he was concerned he had given her all she needed to know and the rest was for him to toy with. While she was full of good intentions it would only be a matter of time before she got herself in to trouble by trying to be helpful.

Now was a perfect example of one of those times when she had made a mistake, though to her credit she was attempting to correct it. It was only when the last of his collective had left that he finally turned round to address the rabbit again, only to find she had transformed into her usual self and settled comfortably. She was exactly as he remembered, there wasn't a shred of harm in her body that he could see... He would have been very surprised to find out that she could be rather firm when she needed to.

"All right," he said finally with a heavy sigh and took a seat. Dragging a paw through his already tussled mane, he regarded her with a patience he reserved for her alone. "What have you done that requires that you fight to regain your honour?" he asked at last and raised a brow. "More importantly why is it that your son can't do this for you? They do have that system in place as far as I can recall," he pointed out.

He hadn't learnt everything to do with the Vikings, but he had picked up one or two things while he had been passing by.

Words: 312

 

[Epine de Rose]

Arimathras's eyes became round and innocent, it wasn't that she was stupid, but there were times when Destati's term of phrase caught her off guard. He could be so blunt sometimes and the accusatory tone certainly didn't help. However it wasn't that which had bothered her, it had been the moment that he had sat down and looked so tired. He hadn't looked like that before, he might have been one of the older males in existence but he hadn't looked like this. She had taken a few moments to count back, attempting to determine how long it had been since she'd seen him.

Suffice it to say that in the last several months he had aged considerably, whatever these things truly were, they were taking their toll. The fact that he had been so vague on the information regarding them had been a source of frustration to her as well. It seemed that they had the ability to simply drain the life from those who fought them, whether it be Destati or her own son... The goddess couldn't say she was happy about this.

While a part of her wanted to park her intentions to support Tethys so that she could tend to this particular male, she knew better than to be presumptuous. He had never liked to be coddled and often chastised her for being too soft. On this occasion she knew that it would be better for them both, and probably more appreciated, if she simply answered his questions and allowed him to offer his advice.

"He accidentally challenged him to a duel after watching all the others do it," she replied at last. "I thought that was just how things were done but I came across too..." she paused and furrowed her brow. "Playful, maybe?" she hazarded.

"Apparently I was supposed to take it seriously, especially when he was around his fri - warband..." she added and tilted her head to the side. "I don't really know how to fight but even if I tried I don't want to hurt him either, he's my son," she pointed out.

Words: 351

 

[Epine de Rose]

Destati's gratitude was obvious; the tension in his expression relaxed and as she answered his questions and provided her explanation it became clear to him that Tethys battling by proxy was not an option. His son couldn't fight himself to secure his mother's honour and nor could he concede defeat by default, the very concept was absurd (even to an outsider). That being said it certainly didn't surprise him that Arimathras had gotten herself into this muddle, if anything it made him smile just a little.

...It was very like her to try and embrace the interests of her children, even if it was to her detriment.

"He can take a bigger beating than you give him credit for," he said gently, she wasn't likely to get much reassurance from it but it did need to be said. "But the only way you can truly correct what you've done is to hit him," he stressed and strode towards her slowly. It was in a rare moment of 'madness' that he provided her with a reassuring nudge.

"I can teach you how to do it, that isn't the problem," he continued. "But you will need to resign yourself to the fact that only you can land the hit," he pointed out gently.

...If all else fail, Destati had a plan. He always had a plan.

Words: 224
Total Words (Destati): 536

 

[Epine de Rose]

"He's still my son!" she pointed out, only to realise that it had only been a few months ago that Tethys had been beaten by his own father in a challenge. Tethys hadn't been overconfident in that battle either, but Destati had put him in his place and had left her youngest son's blood rushing. If his own sire could do it then surely she could muster the courage to do it as well? She didn't have to kill anything, she just had to do more than just pat someone on the back during a play fight.

...Right?

She seemed doubtful and yet as he gave her a gentle nudge of reassurance she gazed up at him. He seemed confident that he could teach her; he wasn't the sort to lie, if he had considered her incapable of it then he would simply have said so. But what happened, if in the end, she did lack the capacity to follow through with the challenge and give them the spectacle that she had promised? Would that also bring Tethys in to disrepute... It didn't matter, she would just have to give this a good go and see what came of it.

She'd do her best, to be honest, she had confidence that if she did that then no one would look down on her regardless of what her son's warband might say. She did know her own family after all, it wasn't the winning or losing, they tended to recognise effort above all else.

"Well," she said finally and took a deep breath.

"Where do we start?" she asked.

It was then that Destati responded with a phrase that most of those who had trained under him would have recognised immediately.

"We start by eating, I'm starving..." he muttered as he strode away; that was certainly one way to start off a boot camp.

Words: 313
Total Words (Ari): 664