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Ever since the night fight, Albite had felt jaded, not bitter! Just, totally completely absolutely robbed of what should have been a badass experience, but no, because apparently knights were also part chicken!?

He wanted one though - the experience - to touch on the swirling thing that lay on the other side of the looking glass that explained whatever the hell knights were.

He thought that maybe if he found another one? Or something knight like? Knight adjacent? Chin tilted up like he’d caught a scent, caught a taste of power and this one wasn’t Senshi, was different, not a knight, but…

Didn’t question it - just went off - moved, hunted, and sought ——- there.

"Sup knight-knight! How're you doing, enjoying a stroll, basking in the evening?" Slid in and circled the boy, sized him up, grinned with an inkling of how he wanted to spend the rest of his evening. All talk, oftentimes, but sometimes? Really? He just wanted to lay into someone for the fun of it. Trade blows, trade banter, trade silly little insults and walk away having learned something for it.

"I've got this thing..an itch...a uh, a question yanno? There's all you knights, and I wanna know the 'how' of it. With the magic or the weapons or whatever? Last guy I met, freaking gipped me outta answers. You though? You look like the kinda guy who knows how to have a conversation." laugh in his tone and focus in his gaze. Albite stopped pacing, held still and just, let himself be an open invitation. Loomed a little from a distance - just to see what the knight'd do.

Thought knights on rounds at tables and paging all pages, and how cool that they had different levels, all the little details as he took the other in.

Pleased little grin, and Albite drew himself up and preened, tossed his lengthy hair a little bit, because he was nothing if not a sucker for compliments. Easy for them even. Would never hate to get a nice little nod at his own form. Wouldn't get distracted by it - cute as this one was.

He was a little surprised though, with how fresh and easy this one seemed to be about having conversation with what amounted to the 'enemy' - however little it answered, because, like, insofar as Albite was aware his people didn't have magical weapons per-say, maybe? Not that he'd ever really invested himself in testing that.

"Nuh-ah, can't give out trade secrets yanno. Good hairs important - a guy's gotta value his hair game." laughed at himself, tilt to the head as he considered, the guy hadn't ever met a Senshi before? No, more importantly, hadn't ever met a corrupt Senshi before.

Fresh - fresh - like driven snow - untried and untested - that could be just as fun as someone who was practiced. Might even be worth taking a swing at just to teach lessons, to work out his boundless energy on.

"But you do have magic - saw this badass shovel knight. An absolute lion of a ********, and leme tell you? If that wasn't magic, wasn't like - cosmos shining through? Then I don't know what it was." shrug inherent and Albite paced in, closed the distance between them and loomed. "Maybe it just needs some waking up huh, like, an opponent worth it turning on for? Like in all those shows, give the hero a worthy opponent and 'fwooom' power for days." the thought gave Albite ideas, a bevy of them, put a twist to his smile with the way he thrilled for it.

"I can be that - show you a little bit how 'we' work - my kind of 'Senshi'." his words more threat than question; held promise for things to come. Albite held still enough to give the page a chance at an out - not that he wouldn't chase him down - sometimes though? It was nice to give people the chance to run, get himself a good work out in for the effort of it.

"Whatd'ya say pagelet, ya wanna see what I'm working with - what the cracks n aura all amount to?"

A huff of a sigh, the pages shift in tone didn't send him packing so much as his words shifted the way he held himself, because come on....

Who just, like, stood and asked for a beating...all placid like. Okay, Albite did it all the goddamned time, but he loved that s**t. Lived for bleeding, for testing things out. Watching the guy stance up after announcing he had a weapon that amounted to, not much of anything.

No fun...

He'd fix that though.

"Ohmai - ever loving - f u c k - man. Like, c'mon, get a little hyped for it, yeah? Get into it! You've got the ******** heavens on your side right? Light of the moon and s**t like that! Or - uh - whatever makes pages into pages?" growl of words and albite only hoped that it wasn't cats, or maybe hoped that it was cats? Would've been nice if it wasn't only Senshi that had to suffer through the endless dealings of magic wielding furbags, what with their paws that became fingers, and fur that could become flesh.

"I don't get it - your kind, the senshi - n' not all of 'em acourse, every now n' then I come across one or two that's got like, yanno, the drive for this?" A definitive gesture between them, growled around the words, because what was with his luck of continuously brushing elbows with these types. No answers, no drive, no will. Like their powers had been haplessly foisted upon them and all they could think to do was chat. Could do both at the same time, could chat and punch, could get answers in action and motion of form that weren't apparent in just the talking. "Like, playing war, yeah? Except supposedly, we're not playing, and like - what I wouldn't give for this to be like an actual war? The kind that're supposed to have beginnings and endings instead of, yanno, eons stretching between start points." genuine glee for the idea, tinge of want and Albite gestured between them, rambling diatribe of thought, a deluge of words that he lived for speaking like he lived for breathing air.

"I don't - okay no - I do wanna punch you, but like, I want you to want me to punch you? Gimme that - get a hit in and see how it makes you feel - it'l be good training even, since your so fresh at this." and albite thought his idea was brilliant, let himself be easy and open, kept his thumbs tucked into his sash and just - let himself be a loose target for the page. Wasn't like he was a small target, the guy had a bevy of options and Albite had been handing them to him since he'd come up on him like a race horse.

Handed them out like unwanted pamphlets at a college job fair.

"Take some liberties with your 'learning' opportunities why don'tcha? "

Cheap shotting son of a - good though. Snarl for the pain there, as he hopped, surprised for the unexpected way the other had kicked out. Loosed his magic with a hiss of breath - a curse of "Binding Retribution"

Page was chatty - so they'd talk - was peaceable - so they'd talk. Have the kind of conversation Albite could understand as his magic sought to bind and catch and keep - keep the page close before he got any ideas about stepping out on their dance early. Yanked to keep him in close once he felt the bind take.

"Time to get good then little page~ There's no choosing the hand you're dealt! M'sure yall feel some type of way? Peace, love, and light, but fun facts? What're we? You or me or anyone you love? To do against someone with an axe, with a scythe, with a sword at your throat?" the absolute grin for that. For the idea of that. Zero sum game that was being played and who cared who won in the end as long as someone - ******** anyone - finally won. As long as there was an end, because eternity? Of reincarnations, of re-do's - of knowing a smattering of future existences of his self would be dragged into the sphere as Senshi time and again, time immemorial until the heat death of the universe consumed them all.

The headache that followed that.

So he lived as himself in the now - made choices - picked a side - not for some deep love of darkness and chaos, but because it seemed like the side to pick. Because the alternative? Was standing before him, rolling its eyes, kicking out - untried and untrained - a blade that hadn't yet been whetted and was making excuses for it.

Albite was going to turn all those excuses into ex'can'ses. By main force even.

"Be real glad I'm as basic a b***h as they come - cause for every friendly ******** face you get? You're gonna get twice as many with a sharp pointy agenda aimed at your back."

Teaching - he could do teaching - could do lessons in the form of pain. The sort that would stick. Auras were a thing - blazing beacon to all - and for the way the other rolled his eyes. Sought to correct that with a jab of a fist....

The grin he held for that, an easy thing, and it was nice to see the page smile - to hear better questions from him now that he had his attention. If he’d had it in him, he woulda recommended the guy go with groups, get himself a team. Being charming and polite only ever got anyone so far -

Albite knew, he’d tried it often enough himself with varying degrees of success and failure on both ends of it. “Heh, it’s Praxidike of Retribution” felt the seconds dwindle and tick down - watched the pages focus narrow on him. “Though if we’re gonna be running into each other in the future? Albites better.” let the seconds dwindle, let them run down and down until his tattoos given life, woven like ink round the mans faded off into black sparkles of unraveling - reappeared onto his flesh where they lived, real and pet of his being.

“Got an idea - cause your right - I’m not the type to go shooting fish in a barrel, and this? This isn’t gonna be any kind of ******** fight to go off about later…could still be fun though?”

Let the man go - backed up further than the three feet he had would have needed, would make it a little more fair. “I’m gonna count to ten, you’re gonna run? S’like tag - oh - or hide n seek, yeah? Between here - and the city line - you make it outta bounds before I can get a hold of you - you hide up well enough that I can’t track you down? And you win. No more punches.” Liked it simple, easy rules, and if he caught him? Simple repercussions - all the punches instead of no punches at all.

“Side advice? Please train up some before you come back out, hell - bring a friend - boyfriend, girlfriend, other pages? Whatever……1……….2…..” started counting slow to get the point across, slow and he wondered if he’d learn the same lessons it took albite months to learn - years to learn - knew that it’d taken getting chased by generals and youma alike to learn it.

Wanted a fight, wanted fun, but not like this - couldn’t kick a pirate puppy with nothing but words for his defense, let someone else have him.

Let him go - sucked on his teeth and watched his aura drift off and just - kinda laughed. Albite realized how long it'd taken him to learn that 'trick' - to drop the power so that he could disappear for 'real'.

Not that it worked on some, not the ones faster then him, or stronger than him, but when dealing with basics? With those on the bottom rung? Worked like a charm.

Whistled his way the ******** off because he figured it could be someone else's lesson to teach. Wondered that pages didn't have mentors, n generals and captains to help with all those things - keep them from being easy pickings from others that knew things.