[ yulia had been expecting that knock on her door, actually. she'd been up for a while now, doing her morning exercise routine when she heard someone pacing back and forth out in the hallway.
it wasn't too hard to figure out who it was. taning--stanley-- what-the-fuck-ever, wouldn't do that, neither would josh. brianna didn't even seem the type to come to her at this hour, so that left kaz. (jillian and leo had no reason to knock at her door at all).
wiping her brow with the towel draped on her shoulder, she pads toward her door to answer it even before kaz finishes whatever it was he was saying (something about training rooms, or whatever). ]
Give me five minutes.
[ it's the only thing she says before she closes the door again. five minutes because, as was usual, she'd stripped down to her underwear (sports bra and shorts, always in the morning) before working out.
and it takes her exactly that-- five minutes to freshen up a bit and put her clothes and her weapons on, and she's back at the door, out the room and locking it behind her. ]
[She's fast and he knows better. He cocks his head in the general 'let's go' gesture and moves off, navigating the staircase and a couple of quick turns to get to a lattice sliding door. If it had been Josh or Jill or Leo he would've said something like...]
Y'know it's bigger on the inside...
[His eyes bug out because goddamn it Karlo Antonio, really?
A Bladian Russian Ice Queen and you decide to make a DOCTOR WHO reference?!
The lack of self-preservation instincts, combined with the bluntness he seems to be acquiring from his mentor makes for a very honest, stream-of-consciousness, sometimes stupid kid. Which is why he clamps his mouth shut, opens the door and steps into the training hall.
This is an odd room, and it was one that Kaz had found completely by accident one day: a room the exact same size as the walls that bordered the dorm's inner walls, which made no sense because there were dorm rooms all over the place. Its floor is completely decked with tatami mats, lacquered support beams scattered about the room, evening out the space.
There are cubby holes for shoes, and rows of practice weapons. But then, Kaz is carrying the Wings of Therion.]
Welcome to the hidden hall. Found it this one ti...But you don't want to hear about that. Right.
[He slips off his sneakers and stows them in the nearest cubby, leaving him in a pair of blue socks with little boxes on them, and steps out onto the mats, drawing both of the Wings as he goes.]
[Kaz's eyebrows shoot up into his fringe, mostly because he really was not expecting that fron Yulia. At the same time, he's indignant because Nico is not a toy. And neither is he.
So he ignores the warning bells going off in his head and quips:[]
Different story altogether, but I didn't realize me fucking a Zangyaku initiate was something you concerned yourself with.
[Kaz flicks the Wings into Tonfa mode, the whirrs and clicks of gears going off as they do. He drops into a stance and readies himself to die, not that he's being dramatic, but after what he just said... Well.[]
You'd be surprised with what you hear in hallways.
[ she just stands there, hands at her sides in a loose stance-- if you could even call it that. she's standing feet apart, but leaning her weight to one side. her knives aren't drawn, like she isn't even bothering to take this spar seriously.
yes, it's a taunt. and yes, that's a smirk on her lips. ]
And he gets it, her knives aren't drawn and she's probably not taking him seriously. He understands that she's a Sixth Circle Hunter and she could wipe the floor with him, but he's never stopped trying.
Kaz's fighting style is... unconventional. Alistair says it's sloppy, but he'll learn finesse in time. Which is why his first move is to drop low, make for the nearest beam and rebound off of it, eyes flashing as he brings his left tonfa in for a strike.]
You remember? I don't think I ever thanked you properly for that day. Let me do that now...
[Kaz hasn't been idle. He trains more and more each day - Alistair is a thorough teacher - but Kaz isn't even remotely ready to ask his mentor to not hold back. Yulia, however, will give him all the fight he wants if he can just interest her enough.
He waits a beat, for her to circle behind him before he moves, feet skidding on the tatami mats. He moves back, then runs low, so low his chest is three inches off the ground, feints a strike at her legs before sliding around - out of the crouch - behind Yulia and bringing the tonfa forward to a halt beside her head.]
I know I'm not much help, Yulia. But I want to learn to fight as well as you do. I can't have my own Blademate looking down on me when I come to her asking for help.
[ she smiles down at him, looking very unruffled. it helps that she's taller. (it's funny because she knows he doesn't mean it literally.) ]
Good.
[ she responds to his 'attack' this time around. she grabs his wrist, the one holding the tonfa near her face, and pulls, hard, throwing him across the tatami floor. then she pulls out one of her knives-- her off-hand-- holding it in the 'earth' position. ]
Then you shall show me what you have learned so far, da?
[Kaz barely has time to register a smirk before he's thrown across the room, so his recovery is a little graceless, but he still manages to flip into a crouch.
Gong Yi Tan Pai he thinks, coming up from the crouch with his tonfa spinning. They lie flat against his forearms in a classic 'ready' stance.]
[ she draws her other knife now, as well. it's different from the standard issue knife she was already holding out; it's silver (or was it red?) and delicate-looking, but it's definitely a killer.
her stance changes, too. her off-hand knife was still on the earth position, but her main knife was in the stabbing position. she moves her feet apart, one in front and another behind, knees bent low.
[and he's on the move even as he says it, grunting the last as he aims a rather savage kick at her shin with his left when he closes in - a feint - before slamming the same leg into the ground and using all his momentum to ram his right shoulder into her.]
wow i just noticed the horrible typo up there and i never fixed it orz
first, yulia goes easy on kaz for the first five minutes. she lets him take hits, though none so bad that could disarm her. she lets him move as he wants, lets him jump and bounce around the room, showing off his parkour. she doesn't care if he doesn't notice that she hasn't left that one square on the tatami floor.
that was probably his first mistake.
second, once the five minutes are up, yulia takes all her observations on kaz's fighting style and uses it against him. all his feints end up with her slashing at his shirt, or lightly nicking at his skin. she smirks every time she makes him trip on his own footing by throwing her knives around. charging at yulia doesn't do any good, either; she uses his momentum to slam him on the ground or on the wall.
she isn't gentle; she did promise that she wouldn't go easy on him. the match ends with yulia pinning kaz to the ground with a knife at his throat. ]
You are dead, yet again.
Re: wow i just noticed the horrible typo up there and i never fixed it orz
[Being pinned to the mat with a knife pressed to his neck. But then... It's exactly what he expected of Yulia. So he smirks, because he's a little shit without any self-preservation instincts.]
Otlichno, comrade Bostova. Zangyaku won't know what hit them when you join...
[Kaz stays perfectly still as he says this, it took him most of the night to learn to pronounce 'well done' in Russian, and it's a compliment that he means. Yulia saved his life more than once during the Amrita fight, and that's what holds the frustration of losing at bay. He knows she's amazing. Which is why he talks again without hesitation.]
I take it you can tell me exactly what I'm doing wrong?
[Kaz sits up unsmiling. Ouch. He was going to be sore for the rest of the week.]
Everything, huh?
[He can't say he's surprised she'd say that, and he flinches at her frown a little, maybe not the best way to ask her. The only thing he could be good at is parkour, and clearly, that didn't faze her at all. He's putting his weapons away when he speaks up again, voice neutral.]
Thank you. It's been an enlightening fight. I have a lot more to learn, and... I guess, not a lot of time to learn it all. So if you'd have me, I'd like to learn from you.
[Kaz actually tries to keep the smile at bay, because he had been expecting a flat out no.]
I can keep up, as long as you push. We both know I can't afford to get lazy. I don't...
[He pauses, then, because at the end of that sentence were the words I don't want to be dead weight. He sighs and sheathes his weapons, she would appreciate honesty, maybe.]
I don't want to be the one that holds us all back.
lmfksjgkljf i keep messing up my html i'm sorry i never notice ;;
[He blinks a few times before it registers. He doesn't have a chance to say thank you, but the feeling is there. Kaz tumbles back onto the mat and just breathes. He's nicked and scratched and he sacrificed a good shirt, but it was worth it...
At least until he looks at his phone. ]
SHITSHITSHIT!!!!
[He's got fifteen minutes to run back up, shower and make a mad dash for Gideon's class.
Hay, no rest for the wicked...
He thinks, grinning ever so slightly as he bounds up the stairs two at a time.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
it wasn't too hard to figure out who it was. taning--stanley-- what-the-fuck-ever, wouldn't do that, neither would josh. brianna didn't even seem the type to come to her at this hour, so that left kaz. (jillian and leo had no reason to knock at her door at all).
wiping her brow with the towel draped on her shoulder, she pads toward her door to answer it even before kaz finishes whatever it was he was saying (something about training rooms, or whatever). ]
Give me five minutes.
[ it's the only thing she says before she closes the door again. five minutes because, as was usual, she'd stripped down to her underwear (sports bra and shorts, always in the morning) before working out.
and it takes her exactly that-- five minutes to freshen up a bit and put her clothes and her weapons on, and she's back at the door, out the room and locking it behind her. ]
Let us go.
no subject
[She's fast and he knows better. He cocks his head in the general 'let's go' gesture and moves off, navigating the staircase and a couple of quick turns to get to a lattice sliding door. If it had been Josh or Jill or Leo he would've said something like...]
Y'know it's bigger on the inside...
[His eyes bug out because goddamn it Karlo Antonio, really?
A Bladian Russian Ice Queen and you decide to make a DOCTOR WHO reference?!
The lack of self-preservation instincts, combined with the bluntness he seems to be acquiring from his mentor makes for a very honest, stream-of-consciousness, sometimes stupid kid. Which is why he clamps his mouth shut, opens the door and steps into the training hall.
This is an odd room, and it was one that Kaz had found completely by accident one day: a room the exact same size as the walls that bordered the dorm's inner walls, which made no sense because there were dorm rooms all over the place. Its floor is completely decked with tatami mats, lacquered support beams scattered about the room, evening out the space.
There are cubby holes for shoes, and rows of practice weapons. But then, Kaz is carrying the Wings of Therion.]
Welcome to the hidden hall. Found it this one ti...But you don't want to hear about that. Right.
[He slips off his sneakers and stows them in the nearest cubby, leaving him in a pair of blue socks with little boxes on them, and steps out onto the mats, drawing both of the Wings as he goes.]
no subject
[ she fills it in as she slips off her shoes, her voice in that disinterested tone that clearly stated she gave no fucks.
yulia follows kaz to the center of the mats, knives still in their sheathes, at her sides. ]
Or is it a different story altogether?
no subject
So he ignores the warning bells going off in his head and quips:[]
Different story altogether, but I didn't realize me fucking a Zangyaku initiate was something you concerned yourself with.
[Kaz flicks the Wings into Tonfa mode, the whirrs and clicks of gears going off as they do. He drops into a stance and readies himself to die, not that he's being dramatic, but after what he just said... Well.[]
no subject
[ she just stands there, hands at her sides in a loose stance-- if you could even call it that. she's standing feet apart, but leaning her weight to one side. her knives aren't drawn, like she isn't even bothering to take this spar seriously.
yes, it's a taunt. and yes, that's a smirk on her lips. ]
no subject
And he gets it, her knives aren't drawn and she's probably not taking him seriously. He understands that she's a Sixth Circle Hunter and she could wipe the floor with him, but he's never stopped trying.
Kaz's fighting style is... unconventional. Alistair says it's sloppy, but he'll learn finesse in time. Which is why his first move is to drop low, make for the nearest beam and rebound off of it, eyes flashing as he brings his left tonfa in for a strike.]
no subject
You did same on Amrita at Thailand. Will not work twice.
[ she takes a few steps back and circles him. this will be fun. ]
no subject
[Kaz hasn't been idle. He trains more and more each day - Alistair is a thorough teacher - but Kaz isn't even remotely ready to ask his mentor to not hold back. Yulia, however, will give him all the fight he wants if he can just interest her enough.
He waits a beat, for her to circle behind him before he moves, feet skidding on the tatami mats. He moves back, then runs low, so low his chest is three inches off the ground, feints a strike at her legs before sliding around - out of the crouch - behind Yulia and bringing the tonfa forward to a halt beside her head.]
I know I'm not much help, Yulia. But I want to learn to fight as well as you do. I can't have my own Blademate looking down on me when I come to her asking for help.
no subject
Good.
[ she responds to his 'attack' this time around. she grabs his wrist, the one holding the tonfa near her face, and pulls, hard, throwing him across the tatami floor. then she pulls out one of her knives-- her off-hand-- holding it in the 'earth' position. ]
Then you shall show me what you have learned so far, da?
no subject
Gong Yi Tan Pai he thinks, coming up from the crouch with his tonfa spinning. They lie flat against his forearms in a classic 'ready' stance.]
Okay. I can manage that.
no subject
[ she draws her other knife now, as well. it's different from the standard issue knife she was already holding out; it's silver (or was it red?) and delicate-looking, but it's definitely a killer.
her stance changes, too. her off-hand knife was still on the earth position, but her main knife was in the stabbing position. she moves her feet apart, one in front and another behind, knees bent low.
so. come at her, kaz. ]
no subject
[and he's on the move even as he says it, grunting the last as he aims a rather savage kick at her shin with his left when he closes in - a feint - before slamming the same leg into the ground and using all his momentum to ram his right shoulder into her.]
wow i just noticed the horrible typo up there and i never fixed it orz
first, yulia goes easy on kaz for the first five minutes. she lets him take hits, though none so bad that could disarm her. she lets him move as he wants, lets him jump and bounce around the room, showing off his parkour. she doesn't care if he doesn't notice that she hasn't left that one square on the tatami floor.
that was probably his first mistake.
second, once the five minutes are up, yulia takes all her observations on kaz's fighting style and uses it against him. all his feints end up with her slashing at his shirt, or lightly nicking at his skin. she smirks every time she makes him trip on his own footing by throwing her knives around. charging at yulia doesn't do any good, either; she uses his momentum to slam him on the ground or on the wall.
she isn't gentle; she did promise that she wouldn't go easy on him. the match ends with yulia pinning kaz to the ground with a knife at his throat. ]
You are dead, yet again.
Re: wow i just noticed the horrible typo up there and i never fixed it orz
Otlichno, comrade Bostova. Zangyaku won't know what hit them when you join...
[Kaz stays perfectly still as he says this, it took him most of the night to learn to pronounce 'well done' in Russian, and it's a compliment that he means. Yulia saved his life more than once during the Amrita fight, and that's what holds the frustration of losing at bay. He knows she's amazing. Which is why he talks again without hesitation.]
I take it you can tell me exactly what I'm doing wrong?
no subject
Da, I can summarize in one word: everything.
[ she withdraws her knife and gets up, makes a show of flourishing her knife before sheathing it. ]
Because read mood
Everything, huh?
[He can't say he's surprised she'd say that, and he flinches at her frown a little, maybe not the best way to ask her. The only thing he could be good at is parkour, and clearly, that didn't faze her at all. He's putting his weapons away when he speaks up again, voice neutral.]
Thank you. It's been an enlightening fight. I have a lot more to learn, and... I guess, not a lot of time to learn it all. So if you'd have me, I'd like to learn from you.
no subject
Can you keep up?
[ It's no that she's against it. The kid could use another sparring partner to learn a bit more, but... was he serious? (he had better be.) ]
baby boy, make me lose my breath /shot
I can keep up, as long as you push. We both know I can't afford to get lazy. I don't...
[He pauses, then, because at the end of that sentence were the words I don't want to be dead weight. He sighs and sheathes his weapons, she would appreciate honesty, maybe.]
I don't want to be the one that holds us all back.
lmfksjgkljf i keep messing up my html i'm sorry i never notice ;;
[ She crosses her arms. ]
We spar when we have time. Show me how much you improve from your training, make it worth my time. Yes?
It's okay. Gmail didn't ping me when you replied. sob
I'll do my best, Yulia. Shall we? I think you've got a schedule to keep, and I should probably change before class.
no subject
You had better make it to class.
[ It sounds almost like a threat. It could easily be, actually. ]
I look forward to seeing your progress.
[ And without so much as a by-your-leave, she turns on her heels and leaves the training room. ]
aaaaand that's a wrap :3
At least until he looks at his phone. ]
SHITSHITSHIT!!!!
[He's got fifteen minutes to run back up, shower and make a mad dash for Gideon's class.
Hay, no rest for the wicked...
He thinks, grinning ever so slightly as he bounds up the stairs two at a time.]