[ closed/semi-open ] coldest winter for me

[overgrowth]

Who: Kanda (overgrowth) & Vietnam (hoasen), and YOU (see toplevel in comments!)
When: IC 2/09 OOC 7/26
Where: Thistle Do Nicely and elsewhere in the city, and some bar.
What: kanda gets lost and is a menace to society.
Rating/Warning: alcohol consumption but otherwise none!

---

[ his own belongings currently stashed in the apartment he'd been given, seeing as none of it was particularly valuable to anyone but himself—except for mugen, which is at his hip, and his clothes, which he's wearing for lack of anything else—kanda has been stalking around the colony. there's no sign of an exit, which he should have expected based on what others told him. equally discomforting is the change in setting. the technology is something like the science department would dream up, and he feels lost.

he's still walking around like he's going somewhere to commit a well-planned murder, though. his pace only drops when he glances through a window and seems something odd.

lotus flowers. he glances around and sees more, of course, but they're a different color than the ones in this shop. but maybe his hallucinations have progressed and he's now dreaming up a setting for the flowers, as well—a shop full of other flowers and a huge bowl of water for the thick-petaled lotus blooms.

so that's where vietnam will find him: glaring at her poor lotuses like he's about to pull out his sword and cut them to pieces. he's probably scaring off customers. ]

Comments

[protectthecastle]

[Veronica returns any suspicious stares with a tilt of her head as she settles down to watch, sitting back straight, gaze unwavering as she stares with all her might at everything he's doing. She has a lot of questions but since she was supposed to be watching right now she doesn't interrupt until he looks like he's about to stop.]

Why...is it that you must twist your hand as you throw a punch?

I AM VERY SORRY IF ANY OF THIS IS WRONG idk how this actually works

[overgrowth]

[ he hops back a bit from the bag, bouncing his weight to keep up the pace and his own heartbeat. he actually has to think about it before replying; it's been a long time since it was theory and not practice for him. ]

Because you start with your hands up. [ close to the face, as a guard. ] It's a straight punch with the knuckles.

[ so to actually hit properly, he has to extend his arm. ]

No worries, it's fine!

[protectthecastle]

[The bouncing reminds him of jogging in place with Rahzel and she wonders if that's what it's for.]

I see. And do you start with your hands up because it is easier to punch in that position?

[Since it seemed like it would be difficult if he kept his hands at his sides.]

[overgrowth]

Yeah. And to guard.

[ kanda steps back from the punching bag entirely, posture relaxing. ]

You've never done anything like this before?

[protectthecastle]

To guard. I see. Against other punches, I suppose?

[If his posture was relaxing, she hopes it's because he's going to answer her questions.]

I have done something similar. Self-defense classes. But we did not punch anything, and we were mostly taught to avoid confrontation and to hit them between the legs or to put our elbows into their faces if we were attacked. [Not...that she's actually done any of that.]

[overgrowth]

Or kicks.

[ kanda has relaxed enough to answer without being hyper-prickly, for once. ]

That's one way to do it. You can just run.

[protectthecastle]

What if they do not kick very high?

[Being relaxed is great if it means he was answering her. (The bad temper had never really bothered her much to begin with.)]

And what is the other way?

[overgrowth]

Then block with your leg. Or move your arm.

[ explaining this is harder than he thought... ]

The other way's to fight, but you're better off running.

[protectthecastle]

How do you block with your leg?

[She can't imagine how that works. But then again, the squires back home had trained mostly with swords and with wrestling.]

Why am I better off running? What if I am with someone else? Do we run together?

[overgrowth]

...lift your leg. [ he doesn't demonstrate, because he's already cooling down and doesn't feel like it. ]

Because you can't defend yourself like this. [ waving a hand at her to demonstrate "this". ] Why do you ask so many damn questions?

[protectthecastle]

But then you are being kicked in your leg. [How is that a block?

She actually looks down at herself when he waves a hand at her, looking down at the clothes chosen for function, and the shoes which were light and had 'good arch support' according to the shop. (But not noticing her flimsy arms and legs which were the product of living 17 years as a princess.)

......what was wrong?]

I ask because I wish to know. [And because no one ever denied her an answer.] And what do you mean by "this"?

[She motions down at herself, still not seeing the problem.]

[overgrowth]

You block your stomach, chest, and other vitals.

[ kanda just snorts at first, trying to find a way to put it that isn't super rude. after a moment, though, he gives up. ]

You're weak and you have no idea what to do. Unless you have some other kind of ability, you won't live through an actual fight.

[protectthecastle]

I see. But how?

[There's no one with her now who would point out the rudeness. As far as she was concerned, he was being truthful and that helped her more than trying to spare her feelings did.]

I am, but I am willing to learn in order to improve myself and to not be a burden. And I can use magic. [Though that also took a lot of stamina to cast continually.]

[overgrowth]

What kind of magic?

[ it could be useful, kanda acknowledges, but if she can't stay alive long enough to use it... ]

You'll have to start from the basics if you actually want to learn.

[protectthecastle]

[She's also been practicing with guns for two years, but she doesn't really consider that an ability. Not to mention the fact that after learning exactly what guns can do she also can't bring herself to shoot even in the general direction of another person so.]

I can reflect another's magic and I know a few other simple spells that can be used defensively. [but which were offensive spells at their very essence.

...It does sound like he's willing to teach her though, and the thought makes her eyes brighten, bringing a smile to her face.]

And I do not mind starting from the basics. I want to learn.

[overgrowth]

[ it's kind of a surprise to see her smile, after all the staring he's seen. kanda doesn't weaken that easily, though. ]

I didn't say I was going to teach you.

[ but he's curious about the magic. ]

What kind of defense can you do with the spells?

[protectthecastle]

That is true. You did not. [He'd seen through her completely, hadn't he? Was she really that transparent? The thought is an amusing one and she can't help laughing (only mostly at herself).]

You said that I could watch. Is it because you do not think that you can be a teacher?

[As for the spells...]

Magic can hit from a distance, and must nearly always be cancelled out by another. [Unless they knew the reflecting magic that she did, but that was supposed to be a secret. And also a royal family thing.] When the sacrifice that you use is older, the power of the magic goes down significantly and it can be used as distraction.

[overgrowth]

[ kanda can barely remember a time when he was being taught formally—by tiedoll or the people at the lab—and now that he thinks about it, he doesn't want to remember, because those times sucked. ]

I wouldn't be a good one.

[ magic, fine. kanda listens, expression unchanging until she's almost done talking. at that point his eyebrows pull together. ]

Sacrifice? What kind?

[protectthecastle]

Why would you not be a good teacher? [She's not even sure there is such a thing.]

A sacrifice is always something from the body of a person. [Though not the caster, specifically.] It can be hair, blood, bone, skin, teeth, nails...Glen also had an umbilical cord in his supplies, although I never found out what kind of magic that casts.

[And even if she had, she wouldn't have been able to cast it without the proper contract with a spirit.]

[overgrowth]

I can't teach anything and I don't want to teach people.

[ kanda kind of makes a face at the description veronica gives of the items, but he also grew up with people who used their blood for magic. ]

That's gross. How are you going to find stuff to use here?

[protectthecastle]

May I ask why it is that you do not want to teach people?

[Magic was important, it protected people and she had long ago learned to come to terms with the gross things you used to cast it. (Though even she had stared in shock at the umbilical cord when she'd been told what it was).]

I can use my own blood and hair to cast. [She didn't know magic that used anything else anyways.] I have some saved up for that purpose.

[overgrowth]

Because I just don't.

[ and he's certain that he wouldn't be good at it, too. ]

What, in like... bottles? [ bottles of blood?? ]

[protectthecastle]

For no reason? Because you do not wish to be a bad teacher? Whether or not you are a good teacher is something for the student to decide though.That is what I have always thought.

I believe that the bottle adds unnecessary weight and it will not preserve the powers within the blood itself. I have always used old bandages. They are more than enough if I only wish to create a distraction.

[overgrowth]

I already know I'm going to suck, so no thanks.

Don't old bandages take up space too? And have germs and shit?

[protectthecastle]

Because you have been a terrible teacher before? [She's certain that you need a basis to make assumptions, Kanda.]

But they are lighter to carry. As for germs, I think it should be fine as long as you keep them dry and wash your hands properly afterwards.