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 Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 3:28 pm
Stick-fighting class was new. Stick-fighting class was different. Stick-fighting class……
Did not particularly feel relevant to fighting people with a folding fan, just yet? Or at least, Kaifeng was struggling to make the mental connections here, whether powered up as himself right now or running around as Líanlí. Not that he hadn’t had a more or less enjoyable experience with it, once he’d calmed down, and let Hayden and Enfys help introduce him to people, but……well. He had deserved the callout that Hayden had given him about how he was being needlessly dramatic about having to be a Beginner at something……about not being As Good at something as he wanted to be, right off the bat.
Still, Kaifeng had to push through that. Endure. Accept that he had as much work to do on learning bataireacht as he did on learning how to do all the things at the gym that he’d never enjoyed doing and thus, avoided.…… Thanks to the healing job that he’d gotten as the battle had wound down (and possibly in spite of Líanlí not entirely giving up his morning runs, on the grounds that his brain needed them as much as it needed his Adderall), Líanlí had recovered faster than any doctor he’d seen had expected. Maybe he wasn’t at 100% yet, but he’d gotten the go-ahead to start doing more intense physical activity, within reason.
As Kaifeng wandered through North End Park, he carried Hayden’s definition of “within reason” around with him. Normally, Hayden’s definition of “within reason” meant telling Líanlí NOT to do things, or holding him back by the collar, or asking why he’d abruptly changed his mind and decided he was very lonely actually all because of Táotáo’s big brown eyes. With this sign-off, though, Hayden’s definition of “within reason” had apparently expanded to include things like push-ups (eeeugh), squats (doable, but boring until Hayden had made some kind of point by knocking Líanlí over), and pull-ups (which Líanlí couldn’t even justifiably complain about because Hayden could just counter him with “You almost fell into a pit full of, in your own words, ‘miscellaneous pointy, stabby objects’ at an evil wizard tower in space” and, well……yeah. Líanlí had told him about that, hence Hayden even knowing it).
So, obviously, Kaifeng had his work cut out for him.
Obviously, he needed to accept all of this with humility and respect, take it on the chin that he had work to do, and keep going.
Obviously, he needed to stop thinking about Zhìháo getting picked last for everything in gym class because, after a certain incident, he’d gotten bigger than most of the other kids and nobody wanted his lack of speed or stamina on their teams……or about Zhìháo lagging behind so badly on the annual mile run in gym class that he was still going several minutes after everyone else had finished……or about other kids in gym class snickering when Zhìháo had his turn for different fitness test trials, and how many of them got away with directly heckling him or loudly saying things like “At least we know who’s gonna do the worst” because the adults in the room agreed with them and, thus, said nothing.
Better things to think about were all around Kaifeng, and anyway, he wasn’t Zhìháo anymore. Hadn’t been for over a decade. The past couldn’t hurt him, so why worry about that instead of focusing on the Negaverse aura that sprang into his awareness. More powerful than his own, for sure, but since when had that ever stopped him?
Throwing himself out of his own head, Kaifeng swooped up behind the Negaverse officer. Not a General, but something stronger than Kaifeng, for sure. Either way, he pressed his folded up fan against the other’s neck. “Whatever you’re doing,” he said, “you’re gonna want to knock it off, friend.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 4:49 pm
There was something to be said about how notable Siegenite found it that he was stepping out to patrol and it did not immediately start pouring buckets. A few weeks of bad luck, a few uncomfortable run-ins, and the end result was that he was starting to wonder if on some strange level, the gray Senshi with the long hair--the one that ******** bit him--was right. Maybe he was responsible for the rain because he was, somehow, cursed.
Except that curses were not a real thing--which might seem to some to be a silly dismissal, when Siegenite was a magical warrior, but as far as he was aware, magic worked on set rules and those rules did not include the things colloquially interpreted as "curses." Not that it stopped him from spewing a few ancestral favorite ill wishes when the occasion arose, but there was no actual magic that might be dogging him and making him more likely to step outside on a day where good weather gave way to pouring rain, no matter how much he wondered at the possibility.
Either way, he was enjoying a session of energy draining without worrying about unfortunate inclement weather, and that was nice enough. His latest victim lay slumped over on a bench, and he was examining his haul when he felt something press against the back of his neck.
Very quick analysis: the only nearby aura was a Page. there was an Eternal somewhere in the park, but they felt, generally, farther away, and so this was likely not them. Whatever was pressed against the back of his neck did not feel particularly sharp. Soft, actually, for the most part. He also had enough time to tuck away his energy haul, the work of only a moment, and ensure that it was safe.
"Shouldn't punch outside your weight class, Page," he said, flatly, summoning his weapon to hand. If they were close enough to threaten him, they were close enough that he could swing his weapon for where the ribcage ought to be. That sort of thing did wonders for making people realize that they were making terrible choices, which challenging a Negaverse Captain absolutely was.
So, he produced his weapon from subspace, spun, and swung.
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 5:36 pm
Listening to the other guy talk, Kāifēng felt something blaze hot within him. Had he been in the mood to stop and think about his feelings long enough to put proper words on them, he might’ve recognized the emotion as outrage—not even at the gall of these people to go draining innocents of their energy and leaving them alone on a bench, but at the implication that Kāifēng ought to just lie down and let him.
The implication that Kāifēng couldn’t do something.
No. Zhìháo couldn’t do things. But Líanlí could. And Kāifēng could do more. He got a deep breath to steady himself, readied himself to quip something back—but he didn’t get the chance to say it.
Not right then.
As the Captain rounded on Kāifēng with his heavy-looking, orb-bearing staff, the thought flashed through Kāifēng’s mind, Y’know, this particular Negaverse guy maybe has a semi-decent point.
Instinctively, Kāifēng bit back any pain from the impact. Sharp, swift, sudden. He’d feel it later. A little noise managed to escape his throat, and he couldn’t help gasping, but Kāifēng choked down the majority. Never went well for anybody, making noise and letting the people who’d hurt you know they’d done so. He’d feel this pain later. Not like any pain would go away by magic—not unless the Eternal senshi somewhere else in the park maybe had healing magic—so Kāifēng would have to feel it LATER.
The chills that rushed through him, he couldn’t do as much about. Even biting his lip couldn’t mask the way he shivered.
Still, as he looked up at the Captain’s face, Kāifēng put on a smile like high-noon sunshine. “Oh, thanks for that,” he said, equally bright. “The heat’s been murder today, hasn’t it?”
Not really so much for Líanlí, who often wound up feeling cold while everybody else was dying. But the point here was refusing to give this Captain any satisfaction. Perhaps Kāifēng couldn’t stop him, but he could be incredibly annoying and maybe ruin this guy’s night a little.
“Anyway,” he added, “how’s a girl supposed to learn if he doesn’t take some risks?”
In the spirit of annoying this Captain, Kāifēng went for the Captain’s glasses. Not trying to directly break them, but he whapped his fan against one of the ear-stems. Maybe he could knock them off.
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 6:14 pm
Siegenite had felt the impact of his weapon against the Page. He knew he'd done damage, and so it was a little infuriating to see him be so perky just moments after a blow that should have done major damage.
Perky and full of deeply irritating spite, apparently.
Siegenite was winding up for another hit when the fan caught the arm of his glasses and flicked them off. Suddenly, everything got very blurry, and he bit back a groan. It was a good thing that those were essentially magical copies of his regular glasses, because he did not look forward to trying to recover them with an enemy nearby who would undoubtedly take advantage of his distraction.
Still, Siegenite knew that on the whole, he'd won. He had his energy, and he'd definitely wounded the Page in the process.
"Keep learning, then," he said,a s a parting shot.
And then, rather than suffer this nonsense for a second longer than he had to, he vanished.
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