[closed] the best way to a man's heart

[thatdamnknight]

Who: Flynn Scifo thatdamnknight, Leon Magnus discard
When: 7/21, waaay too early in the morning
Where: A room at the gym
What: Sparring time!
Warnings: None for now!

[the best thing to happen to flynn after that horrific bug was getting a message from leon regarding that promised spar. having been completely out of commission for 3 days plus a few extra days to fully recover meant being unable to do much of anything aside from rest. as necessary as it was, it was dull and did not benefit his skills at all (though he did greatly improve with being able to hold throwing up back until reaching the toilet but that's not a skill to brag about...).

needless to say, flynn happily agreed to it and headed on out when the appointed time came. did he mind it being so damn early that most birds would probably give them the stink eye for being up? nah, this is his norm. early to rise means getting more out of the day.

he arrives at the gym a few minutes early. certain rude people might not care about it being poor manners to arrive late, but he sure does. flynn comes clad in the usual knight armor plus shield and sword. oh and blastia, too, of course. that rarely ever leaves his person due to ceres' habit of pulling people places without warning.

giving it all against leon feels right so give it his all he will. good spar will be good.]

Comments

[discard]

[Early sparring is something that Leon legitimately...well, enjoys. He's always been a bit of a workaholic, and this suits him perfectly.

So, utterly clueless about Flynn's suffering over the past few days, Leon's more than willing to set up a spar today, and he'll even arrive early as well, not for manner's sake so much as because he just prefers to make sure that he has a few moments to prepare himself before embarking on a proper spar.

He's wearing his uniform, of course, but in contrast to Flynn he really doesn't ever wear much in the way of armor... which will probably show a lot more when they start sparring, with the way that their styles differ so much. Here's hoping he doesn't fold like a wet piece of tissue paper in the first hit with his defense as it is!

But when Flynn arrives, around the same time as Leon himself, he just nods to him in greeting.

MORNING.]

[thatdamnknight]

[teeny defenses stand a better chance against a tank who experienced the joys of a sewer virus. despite being healthier, flynn's strength hasn't returned to 100% just yet. it suffices enough for a spar. ...maybe the battle maniac inside him couldn't refuse a spar quite so easily, either.

his expression immediately brightens at the sight of leon. the nod receives a little more than that in return. simply nodding lacks the same bang as an actual verbal hello.

thus flynn smiles warmly.]

Good morning.

[prim, proper and polite! plus, he looks way cooler in his armor than leon does in the cape so flynn wins in all the ways.]

[discard]

[Whatever, Flynn!!!

Leon just huffs faintly at that, crossing his arms, though he at least doesn't look away. Slowly...... acceptable social interaction is happening.

Sort of.]

Are you prepared, then?

[RIGHT DOWN TO BUSINESS as ever, with Leon.]

[thatdamnknight]

[acceptable beats the usual 'HMPH I AM LEON AND I AM BETTER THAN YOU SO YOU CAN GO TO HELL' interactions. baby steps.

flynn nods. getting down to business with fighting won't ever get opposed to.]

Yes. We can begin whenever you'd like.

[he's dressed up, geared up and fired up. good to go on his end.]

[discard]

Very well then.

[Leon draws Chaltier then with a stupidly flourishy gesture in his left hand, facing Flynn head on. He'd reach for his dagger, but for now this is swordwork and sword practice--he'll stick with just Chal for now.

But he'll also wait until Flynn's prepared before he starts.]

[thatdamnknight]

[none of that same fanciness comes from flynn's end. sword gets drawn in a nice and fluid motion before he gets into a more battle ready stance.

instead of jumping into the fight, he remains still. first move is yours, rosebud.]

[discard]

[And so the first move Leon will take.

He lunges forward, deceptively quick, bringing his blade around for a quick overhand swing, following it up with a follow-up cut to the side; it doesn't matter if either connect, because Leon's sword fighting style has always involved being quick enough to rid himself of his enemies before they can connect with him.

Naturally that won't work quite as well against Flynn, but even so, he'd rather open up with the style he's most comfortable with.]

[thatdamnknight]

[nice start. fast and striking immediately. this will be a good fight, this much is certain.

flynn lacks the same level of speed due to his armor, but moves surprisingly fast despite the weight. having both sword and shield on hand means being able to block the cut off with the shield while parrying off the blade with the sword. a counter comes in the form of a thrust toward leon's upper torso immediately following the parry.]

[discard]

[Leon moves with the parry, using the momentum to dance out of range--barely. He's very aware from the way Flynn swings his blade and the steady stance he has that a blow from him would hurt--and Leon's not really interested in testing his ability to block just yet.

It'd be embarrassing if Flynn hits harder than Leon can block.

So for now, avoidance and dodging, and a moment later Leon is spinning back around to aim for Flynn's back, trying to keep him moving so he can't get a solid strike in.]

[thatdamnknight]

[flynn spins to meet the attack at his back, his coattails flying behind him thanks to the movement. it was either this or attempt to dodge. dodging, though doable in most cases, isn't when faced with a speed demon of an opponent while wearing heavy armor. leon has him obviously beat in terms of speed.

but flynn's got power on his side. being a tank proves an invaluable asset in battles like this. all his strength goes into pushing back leon's blade in an attempt to deflect it to the side and potentially throw leon off balance.]

[discard]

[Flynn absolutely has power on his side--and his shove has more than enough strength behind it to throw Leon off-balance. He staggers forward, past Flynn, and tries to recover his balance, shifting sideways to see what Flynn's doing to try to predict any strikes he might try to make while he is off-balance.

But he's lost his own chance to go on the offensive now.]

[thatdamnknight]

[the inability handle powerful attacks isn't lost on flynn nor does he ignore such weakness. ignoring would be not giving it his all. that simply won't do. leon, being another knight, deserves a proper spar and a proper spar means battling as one would on the battlefield. ...if without the killing intent. no killing sir rosebud, no sir (not when that happens easily enough without anyone's help).

flynn doesn't waste the opportunity and rushes in with a strike aimed at leon's back. similar to the attack before, this one packs a punch to it. the goal in mind is an attempt to either fully make leon lose his balance or disarm.]

[discard]

[Well.

Flynn's giving it his all against Leon.

It'd be rude of Leon not to do the same in response. Flynn lashes out with his sword, aimed at Leon's back, and Leon takes his free, closer hand and immediately slides his dagger from its sheath, using the dagger and a faint bit of force to redirect the blow.

Balance regained, he dances away quickly, buying himself some space and time, both blades up and at the ready. After all, he's always been far more proficient fighting with both hands.]

[thatdamnknight]

[flynn's lips curve upward the slightest bit in approval at that (someone's enjoying themselves). very good tactic and very fast recovery.

but he attempts to prevent both the increase in distance and the buying of time. it's not as though flynn can't do ranged attacks (whether it be through artes or spells), but more that he'd rather not spring it on an unsuspecting foe. ...and a holy lance would probably tear up the floor real good. pass on owing the gym a new floor.

another rush in follows, this time with forward thrust aimed at the torso.]

[discard]

[Leon has no intentions of allowing Flynn to retain the advantage for long. For one thing, it bothers him fundamentally--he prefers it when he has the upper hand, and right now, he very much does not. For another, he's very aware that if he doesn't regain some sort of advantage, he'll lose. It's just a fact.

So he steps forward instead of away, twisting around that thrust (thank goodness he's so thin and twiggy, apparently) and when he's inside of Flynn's swing range, he swipes his dagger up and towards his chest. The other advantage to a dagger (and ambidextrous fighting) is that he can fight in this close range, when a large sword would be cumbersome, after all.]

[thatdamnknight]

[leon losing so fast also wouldn't be any real fun, either. thankfully, losing on either of their ends won't happen easily and leon's next move confirms it. good praise'll come after the battle for sure from flynn.

though lacking the same offensive advantage due to dual weapons, another advantage is his: defensive. shields are wonderful things and his own leads to flynn deflecting the dagger in an upward motion. immediately after, his sword hand comes back toward leon but not with a sword strike. the close proximity between them doesn't permit for effective usage of a sword this long so, instead, he uses the hilt to attempt to land a hit on leon's side.]

[discard]

[Flynn's quick thinking and adaptability suit someone of his rank, Leon thinks vaguely--but the majority of his brain power is reserved for quickly ducking out of the way. Flynn's counter is more than enough to get Leon to back off, putting him back at a reasonable range for sword fighting, though he seems unbothered by this.

Instead, he'll just bring Chaltier back up, prepared and ready to take Flynn on like this as well.

Which is why he won't wait, no hesitation to be found as he lunges forward, sword raised, to bring a strike down towards Flynn's head.]

[thatdamnknight]

[quick thinking is what got him to where he is, along with recklessness (mostly recklessness, really...).

he'll dodge to the side, spinning around on his heel in order to bring around his own blade aimed at leon's back. the amount of strength behind the attack ends up sizable thanks to both momentum and flynn's own natural strength.]

[discard]

[(A lot of recklessness.)

Leon's too close to Flynn to be able to properly dodge that, so he has to try to take the blow on his sword, supported by his dagger. Still, the force of it is overpowering for someone (delicate) like lLeon, and it sends him staggering back, properly on the defensive now, gritting his teeth.]