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 Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2024 12:08 am
Tonight was unlike the usual patrols in that rather than patrolling, Ekstrom was shadow-boxing for a change. Or shadow-fighting, as it were, since she was actually training with her shield as opposed to actually boxing. It was something she thought she ought to start doing–learning to swing with the thing and actually be effective both with fighting with it, as well as moving with it in the middle of a fight.
To up the ante just a bit more, she was training with it on both arms to make sure to keep the skill and strength (not to mention muscles involved) even on both arms.
She finally stopped to take a break and was sprawled out on the grass in one of her favorite parks–it had a nice little clearing surrounded by enough trees and brush that it served as a private enough space, at least out of the eyes of civilians. Her shield was lying on top of her chest, because she wanted to give her arms a break but still have it near enough that she could put it back on quickly if she needed to.
“I picked a bad day to forget to pack some water in my subspace,” she said to no one in particular. “I wonder if there’s a 7-11 nearby…”
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2024 8:09 pm
“Did I hear someone needed some water?” Sadie had been walking home, looking fabulous as per norm when she saw a familiar face…or rather. A familiar outfit of a Mercury Squire.
She withdrew a bottle of water from the tote bag she held and grinned, holding it out. “If you want some water, here you go.”
For a moment, Saide hesitated and then put the water on the ground and rolled it towards Ekstrom before she threw up a peace sign and let the form of Targovishte take over. “Boo! Bet you didn’t see that coming! Lucky I was walking by huh? What are you up to today, chica? Having fun without me?”
It was a good thing she had rolled the water, for her bag was magically missing. Pity...she was thirsty too...
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:50 pm
”Ekstrom froze where she lay when someone suddenly spoke. She hadn’t expected company so her brain went into overdrive for a minute, already trying to come up with some kind of excuse as to why she was dressed the way she was, and why she had a shield on her chest, and–
She blinked, though, when the stranger spoke again, and she wondered if she was hearing things. She could swear the voice was familiar. Tilting her head further back, she tried to get a look at whoever it was, but instead was met with a bottle of water rolling into her forehead and blocking her vision.
Not that she needed it in the next moment, though, as she felt a powered aura come to life around her. Reaching up, she grabbed the bottle and pulled in aside, and immediately her expression brightened and her lips turned up into a smile.
“Targovishte!” she cried out happily, and she quickly got herself up and over to give her friend a hug. “No, yes, and I was practice-fighting with my shield.” She answered the questions in quick succession before opening the bottle and taking a swig. “Thank you for the water! You’re a real lifesaver, y’know.”
“Mm. I don’t know about it being fun, but I figure it’ll help me out if I ever find myself in a pinch in the future.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 9:21 pm
“Surprise! Has this ever happened to you before, because I tell you, I don’t…think it’s happened to me. Normally I know who I’m running into since I’m powered up too, but hey! New things all around! Tell me, is it working well? What can your shield do besides protect you?”
Thinking for a moment, Targovishte summoned her staff and after another moment’s thought, yanked the windsock from it and shoved it into subspace….
She was getting quite a collection in there…oh well.
“Want to try and block me or something? We can have a little spar, see if my batting skills are any good?”
Spoiler alert. They weren’t. But she was still eager to try. If nothing else, she might be able to get her accuracy up by hitting the shield.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 9:30 pm
”That’s pretty much all it does,” she laughed lightly, eyes falling to her weapon that she’d left in the grass some feet away, just beside where she’d been lying down to rest. “It makes a little bubble around me if I stick it in the ground. The forcefield does something to people that touch it.”
Ekstrom quickly retrieved her shield and slipped it onto her arm, gauntlet-style. “It can also block or absorb magic that comes at it, too. It’s normal inside and outside the bubble, so it’s basically just a bigger shield. Once you’re past it, everything’s fair game.” She was more than happy with what her shield could do; it was more than what her pot lid could, that was for sure. Now it was just a matter of honing the skill to use it.
At the prospect of a spar, Ekstrom excitedly bobbled her head. “Let’s do it!”
So she got in a defensive stance, grinning at her fellow Squire from behind her shield. “Whenever you’re ready.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 9:39 pm
Targovishte grinned in return. “You’re fun, you know that Ekstrom? I want to hang out with you in real life too if you ever have the time. Do you go to clubs at all? We can dance~”
Was she flirting? Oh yeah she was flirting. Did she mean it? Honestly, most likely. “This will be kind of like a dance to, if you think about it…and….yeah do the magic too! I want to see what it’s like!”
Without more warning than that, Targovishte took off, swinging her staff with as much strength as she could muster, and to her surprise…she hit the shield instead of her friend which…
….Honestly? Was a good thing. “Hell yeah! Plus one on me for accuracy! That’s one of my worst traits, just so you know…so if you wanna be a moving target to make things harder on me…please do.”
It wasn’t that she wanted this to be difficult but…actually gaining real experience would…be nice. And helpful. Especially if she ran into those stab happy weirdos again.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 9:48 pm
”I can make time to hang out with a friend,” she replied brightly. “And not really? I’m more of a homebody, but I’ve been to clubs before. Usually with a friend or group of friends.”
The idea of a fight being something like a dance was one that intrigued her, though she didn’t have much time to linger on that thought as Targovishte came at her. She put her shield to block the swing, gritting her teeth as she felt the weight of the impact on her arm.
“I can do that,” she said before she pushed the Jupiter Squire to put some space between them again. She figured she could bring her kickboxing footwork into pay here, so she started making short, quick movements around her, never staying in one spot for too long before moving on.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 9:54 pm
“There you go!” Targovishte laughed and watched her friend moving for a moment before she came at her again, swaying her hips this time and missing the shield on her first swing, hitting nothing but air, thought the second, she managed another hit.
“Ah. Yeah you and I will have to do this again when it’s not three million degrees outside.”
Honestly, the Squire was dripping with sweat from the minor exertion and from her massive amount of hair.
It always kept her insulated but…when she was trying to be cool?
“Next time, I’ll braid it up and we’ll actually plan for a spar…I’m so out of shape!” But…it had been fun.
“...Mind sharing some of that water?”
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 10:02 pm
She managed to dodge one hit and block another, and was expecting more when Targovishte essentially said she wanted to tap out for now. Ekstrom looked relieved because, like her friend, she was also particularly insulated inside her knight uniform. Mercury was cold, so she was dressed for winter, not summer.
She was dripping sweat by the end of their little exercise, too.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” she said, lowering her shield. “Or maybe we can spar at one of our wonders, since summer’s not over for another month, god forbid even longer than that.” She honestly couldn’t wait for fall at this point. “If you wanna come with me to my kickboxing gym, you might get a kick out of the workouts there.”
Yes, pun intended.
“You’ll be back in shape in no time.” She tossed her friend the bottle of water then, and smiled. “No pressure, though. I’ll be around, and the invite’s there if you ever wanna take it.”
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