aefenglom | text; un: magicowl

I don't mind if you want to watch. You can watch over Stella too and keep her from getting into trouble.

[ And maybe her presence might just curve his mood, even by just a bit. ]

Thank you! I'm looking forward to it. Who is Stella?

[ She's guessing pet unless Mr. Bishop has a child that she didn't know about. ......Or possibly a really rambunctious friend she wouldn't judge. ]

The kitten that chose me as her source of food and warmth. I think you'll like her. She's still learning some bite inhibition so if you wanna play with her, be careful. Just smoosh her down and knead her for a bit if she bites you too hard.

Are you sure about smooshing her down and kneading her? It sounds a little mean.

I don't mean that you're mean! I don't know much about what to do with misbehaving kittens. That might be how it's supposed to be done.

You don't knead her like bread dough. Just hold her down gently and slowly massage her until she calms down. I've seen cats do that to teach kittens to behave and believe me you'll want that. Stella's bitten hard enough to draw blood a few times already, and she can get really excitable.

You could also try scolding her if you want but cats don't understand human speech last I checked. Also she's not that smart so there's that.

Oh. That makes sense now. Princess is mostly fine as long as I give her space and the sphinxes at the café are all very well behaved, so I never had to ask Mr. Hector about how to discipline a kitten. But if you want her to keep out of trouble, giving her space isn’t going to work.

I don’t think I’ll need to scold her. I’m sure she’s a lovely cat. [did you not read how she bites hard enough to draw blood]

[ In his head something doesn't compute and it hurts him. Who the hell would let a little girl near something as dangerous as a sphinx??? ]

I have concerns about some of the things you just stated but I'll leave that for another day. I'll be practicing over at the top of the north wall. If you want to head over and wait for someone to arrive, feel free to do so. I'll bring the cat.

[ ????? Whatever could he be finding concerning??? ]

All right! I can try to find out more about the Bright Wall while I wait. I will see you and Stella there!

[ The north wall is something she’s been atop several times since she started researching about the Bright Wall, so it works out perfectly for her. ]

[ Always such an eager beaver she is, but he doesn't dislike that about her. Regardless, Bishop heads to the mentioned area with his katana and kitten in tow and he's already started to practice before Leslie arrives.

Iaido is what he's practicing now, and much like the first time she saw him practice, he was going through the different forms. Unlike the first time however, these moves were lightning fast and precise, each movement made to kill or gravely injure the opponent and he practiced this on little pieces of wood that where being shot at him by a sphere of wind. ]

[ She thought he’d be held up arranging sparring partners (and also doesn’t really think about how the difference in their stride length is going to make her trip relatively farther), so she’s surprised to find him already there.

The first rapid strike after she catches sight of him makes her jump and stiffen up like she’d seen a jump scare in a horror movie — something that isn’t quite fear but is a much stronger surprise than learning he arrived first. After a few more chunks of wood are struck down, though, she begins to become accustomed to the speed and settles down on the floor against the parapets to watch, intending to wait for him to come to a break naturally rather than interrupt if he hasn’t noticed her.

She’s learned a little about the use of swords — though from a more European fantasy view — but it’s not enough for her to understand how he’s managing this. It won’t stop her from trying to find out.]

[ He cuts down chunk after chunk and after each one his moves become more complex, from drawing the blade to a follow up slice, a spin kick, quickly sheathing the sword once more then repeating. He advanced as he struck and the sphere moved to attack from other vantage points but always keeping it's distance and increasing the frequency and speed of it's attacks.

Bishop did the same but it was clear was he straining. He had some trouble turning or leaning to the left, which started to make sheathing and drawing harder. Eventually the strain got to him and he was forced to stop when he jolted and lurched forward mid-draw, hissing in pain and then kneeling while the pain subsides. ]

[ Leslie notices that he seems to be starting to have trouble, but, only being an amateur when it comes to any sort of physical training, she second-guesses her observations. He'd know if something was going wrong and stop, right?

When he kneels, hissing in pain, though, she realizes that she'd been right. She gets to her feet and runs over. ]

Mr. Bishop! What happened? Are you okay?

[ The barrier spells she's learned in her study of abjuration aren't the strongest, but if the wind-magic pitching machine is continuing to fire at him, she can certainly manage to put up a strong enough barrier to deflect the wood chunks away from both of them. ]

[ The little wind spell he conjured was indeed still flinging wood chunks at him but at a slowing pace until it eventually just dissipates. The barrier was still well appreciated.

His left shoulder shivered and his face was wrinkled as pain a hot sharp pain ran from his shoulder to his right waist and then back up. It was painful enough to let a few beads of sweat form and roll down his brow. ]

J-Just give me a sec...

[ He takes a few lungful of air to settle his breathing and get his blood flowing and after a moment the tremors subside and he's breathing normally. ]

I'm okay, thanks Leslie. Could you go into the bag over there and get the canteen inside?

[ He says while sheathing his sword properly before rubbing his shoulder, still groaning just a bit. ]

[ Leslie hovers over him (well, not hugely over even when he’s on his knees, given the height difference), looking worried. She knows a little about healing from her studies in abjuration, but she focused much more on warding. She can close over cuts or bring down inflammation, but she doesn’t know enough about the body to understand injuries that are less outwardly apparent.

When he asks for the canteen, she nods. ]

I’ll be right back!

[ And she dashes for the bag as fast as her little legs can carry her, rushing back similarly quickly to hold out the requested canteen. ]

Do you want me to numb the pain a little? I don’t know very much healing magic, but I can do that much.

[ He moved slowly from kneeling to sitting cross legged and rubbing his shoulder as Leslie went to get the canteen. It stung quite a bit when the spasm started but the gentle movements and deep breathing carried him through the worst of it. ]

Thank you.

[ He said taking it from her and popping the top off and taking a mouthful of water. ]

That's very kind of you but, I'm alright. The pain is subsiding. I'm okay.

[ He gave her a weak smile, the best one he can muster given the circumstance. ]

Sorry to alarm you like that.

[ The remnants of the alarm remain on her face in the form of lingering worry despite his claims of being alright. She shakes her head at his apology. ]

You couldn’t have helped that something like that happened now.

[ She hesitates, as he didn’t answer last time she asked, but she thinks it was probably because it was more important to deal with the pain. So now that it’s subsiding.... ]

What happened? If it’s okay for me to ask.

It's an injury from a quest. I got a little careless.

[ What he means is he got owned because was upset, distracted, too pigheaded to deal with his feelings like an adult, and bit off more than he can chew. ]

It's fine though. Nothing permanent. The muscles in my left shoulder are just stiff, so a little movement will bring them back up to peak performance.

[ He's also too damn stubborn to visit a doctor, and too prideful to use healing magic to heal it completely. He's trying to teach himself a lesson about taking care of himself....by putting himself through hell. ]

[ Leslie frowns — not so much from a disapproval of his actions as a result of trying to think hard about them. She’s not a doctor, but this doesn’t sound right. ]

Isn’t the way to heal from an injury to rest? Doing this intense of a workout seems like it would make an injury worse.

[ She accepts the possibility that she’s wrong and there are reasons to just stretch them out with intense exercise. It doesn’t seem to have panned out for him, though. ]

I've rested enough, in fact, anymore and I may start to get lazy.

[ He sighed as he leaned against the wall, taking sips of water before sighing again. ]

Though I guess I may have over did it. Sorry for worrying you. [ He says with a sheepish smile. ] Ahhh. I can already see and hear my master shaking her head and saying "Fudoshin." How vexing.

[ But he'll take being vexed over angering his oni master. ]

text; un: magicowl

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

text -> action

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

oops, secret genshin impact hiatus.

but was it a fun secret genshin impact hiatus?

to an unfortunate degree re: actually doing anything else, but at least I enjoyed it.

no subject