Clash of the Idjits

Participants:

scrivner_icon.jpg vette_icon.jpg dhatri_icon.jpg kaylee_icon.jpg shou_icon.jpg

Scene Title Clash of the Idjits
Synopsis A group of Scions bump into each other in Central Park, and Shou's lesson for Kaylee turns into a spar with Scrivner and Dhatri.

Central Park

It's a park. With trees and some water and some grass.


It's a sunny day, and if that were not in itself a miracle, it's a sunny day with no monsters in sight! Central Park is full of people having fun and exploring what it's like to have a nice, full weekend to themselves. Under a patch of sunlight, Kaylee and Shou are practicing. He made them both bokken — the type used to practice katana katas, bamboo reeds split down the middle to soften the blow — and Shou is moving slowly so that Kaylee can follow his movements.

Kaylee has watched a lot of swordfighting, being the Rennie that she is. But actually participating is a new aspect for her. She's moving deliberately, so that Shou can see her errors. And there are many.

For the day, Rufus has decided to step out of his flat and get in a walk. It's lovely and sunny, and soon enough craptastical weather will set in. Opportunities like these should not be wasted. Dressed "casually" in slacks and a button-down shirt, trenchcoat, with his sword in its case across his back, the man strolls along a path and comes around a corner. Pale eyes catch on the sight of the sparring partners, and he tilts his head, studying them curiously. One of them looks awfully familiar.

Vette walks along beside him, hands in her pockets as she looks at…Clouds! There are clouds in the shapes of bunnies and clouds in the shapes of puppies—clouds are such wonderful, amazing things to look at.

Dhatri is taking a walk in the sunlight; taking full advantage of the weather and the fact that he has this weekend off from the Hospital. He notices Shou and Kaylee training, and heads over to watch. Who knows, maybe he might learn something?

Shou pauses in a motion and slides over to Kaylee, putting his arms around her and taking her hands in his. "You wanna move firmly. You know how they say it's 'all in the wrist'? Well. It's not. It's all in the /elbow/. If you know how to use your elbow for leverage the wrist comes naturally." He's also talking into her neck, which might tickle.

It's almost like the cliche of the handsome golf pro teaching the country club wives how to improve their strokes. Ahem. Though Kaylee is actually being quite serious about the learning, she can't help but giggle at little at the tickling. "Elbow, not wrist, got it."

Ahhh…. it is who he thinks it is. Rufus turns to look at Vette for a moment, noting where her eyes are, and he smirks before shaking his head. Stepping smoothly behind Vette, he suddenly rests his hands over her eyes and quietly says, "Two people are sparring down the path. Describe them and their weapons."

"A puppy and a bunny." Vette replies absently, because she wasn't even paying attention to Rufus' question. "The puppy has two tails though, so I suppose it's not /really/ much like a puppy at allbut it's close enough. I do so lowait, was that what you asked me? Now I'm not sure."

Dhatri remains where he is, continuing to watch the pair. He hasn't yet noticed Rufus, and even if he learns little of swordplay, he may well learn a little of teaching.

Shou wouldn't know the first thing about golf. He'd probably clock the little ball so far it'd bounce off the moon or something, anyway. He steps back and tries the movement again, and grins. "There you go, that's it." He glances to the side, and spots Vette and Scrivner. "Hey you two."

Kaylee repeats the movement, using Shou's advice, but gets distracted when he spots people. She looks over, almost swinging the bokken at her trainer. "Oops!"

Drawing in a deep breath, Scrivner heaves the sigh of the suffering martyr and lowers his hands. "No," he says quietly. He places the tips of his fingers at her temples, and then he pushes at her head to get her face in Shou and Kaylee's direction. Look. See? Then he raises his hand to wave, and offering his elbow to Vette, he goes strolling forward again. "Hello there, Shou. Miss." And then he catches sight of the other man, and he faintly smiles. "Mr. Karmali. A pleasure to see you again as well."

"Oh, hello guys," Vette says, beaming and waving back and forth. "I didn't see you there." Shocked? Anyone? Anyone? Blame her father. Its his genetics that does this to her. "Oh, were you sparring?" As if its only now occurred to her.

"Rufus; please call me Dhatri," the Indian man requests of Scrivner. "Hello Vette. How have you two been doing since we last met?"

Shou catches the bokken Kaylee swings at him and smiles at Scriv and Vette. "Hi! Rufus, Yvette, this is Kaylee." He waves back and forth to introduce, and then glances over at Dhatri, raising a brow. He tips his chin at the guy. S'up. "I'm teachin' Kaylee to handle herself with a sword."

Kaylee smiles politely and actually drops a curtsey. Too much Rennfaire for this lass. "Hello, Rufus, Yvette. It's a pleasure to meet you. Shou is teaching, I just hope I'm learning."

"Dhatri then," Rufus says with a faint nod of his head. "I'm doing quite well, thank you. Still alive, no complaints." His eyes flicker back to Shou and Kaylee, studying the pair, before a very faint smirk tugs at the corners of his mouth. "Shou is teaching? That is… well, good for you both. You looked as if you were enjoying yourselves, at least."

"We've met before," Vette reminds Kaylee, but she doesn't seem particularly upset. Given she's the girl who could easily forget her own name, she has no room to talk about forgotten meetings. "Rufus has been doing quite a bit of teaching himself."

Dhatri gives Shou a nod of greeting. "Good afternoon. I'm Dhatri," he introduces himself to the pair who haven't yet met him.

"Hey, I can teach!" Shou complains at Rufus with a furrowed brow. He pokes at the Englishman with his bokken. Poke, poke, poke. "Put'em up, English."

Kaylee sighs. "Shou, do you have to?" But she knows of his stubborness, and steps aside. "Just make it quick." She does plan to watch, to learn stances and strikes.

Those pokes are met by Rufus lifting his arm to knock aside the bokken, parrying them away. "Shou," the Englishman says calmly and levelly. "You really do not wish me to humiliate you." Then he smiles, just a little. "Not in front of the ladies."

Vette blinku blinkus and then shakes her head. This is on no matter what now, just because there is a Principle of Inevitability that now applies. It applies right now, to these two gentlemen, who are about to have at them. She finds a rock to sit down on to watch what she is sure will be an entertaining show.

"I don't know; a little humiliation is good for the soul," Dhatri says drily.

"My soul is downright healthy," Shou contests, poking at Rufus again. He tosses the Englishman the bokken and grins at Kaylee, taking the other and wrinkling his nose. He turns around, and adopts a stance: "No powers."

The declaration of "No powers" makes Kaylee lift her brows, looking at Scrivner in a new light.

Catching the bokken in one hand, Rufus lightly turns it, then he eases the weight of the sword off of his back and hands it calmly to Vette. "Very well. No flight, no lightning, no magical surfboards of silvery nonsense." He pulls off his trenchcoat as well and rolls his shoulders, likewise handing that to the redhead with a smile. "Whenever you're ready."

Vette lays the sword across her knees and salutes Rufus. "Kick his butt," she says, but she sounds good natured and easy going about the request.

"May the better man win," Dhatri says, not bothering to take sides. He has his gym bag with him; he tends to carry it most places these days…

Kaylee has to cheer for her man. "Take him down," she says sweetly, but with fire in her eyes,

For a few moments Rufus swishes the blade of the bokken through the air, just to get a feel for the balance. Different, but it takes him only a heartbeat to acclimate. He settles briefly into a stance, feet positioned with his weight evenly distributed before he suddenly rushes forward. There's not much strength at all behind his strike as he takes a slash towards Shou's left shoulder. The Englishman intends to pull his punches big time.

Shou sidles to the side when the blow comes at him and leans back, letting the bokken swing past him. He takes a step back, readies his attack, and swings low at Rufus' legs. He's pulling his blows, too. He wants them to impact, not actually hurt the other swordsman.

The wooden blades clack as Rufus spins the bokken in his hands, instinctively knocking aside the strike from the younger man without so much as thinking about it. The Englishman keeps his head level and his gait smooth as he steps forward again, sweeping up the sword as he goes for a deep lunge to tap at Shou's solar plexus.

Dhatri sits down on the grass to watch the two swordsmen spar. His eyes widen at the speed of their attacks; quite possibly because he's never seen anyone move faster than he…

Shou tilts himself back back back and puts one hand on the floor as he avoids the Englishman's blow. He shoves himself up, and spins around for a backhanded blow from his bokken, trying to catch his opponent off-guard.

Very faintly Rufus smirks, watching the man. "And if we were dancing in a limbo contest, you would walk home with first prize. Congratulations." He remains in his deep stance as he sweeps out his blade, again parrying the strike and then coming back for another of his own. The blade spins, sweeps down, and he angles a strike at Shou's knee with every intention of catching, hooking and knocking him off-balance.

Shou snickers as he leaps over the attack, and… spins? The son of Susano-O changes it all up a bit as he twirls into a back-heeled roundhouse kick to Rufus' shoulder, much faster and more agile than his swordsmanship.

The Englishman had been prepared for a strike from the bokken blade. He had not been prepared for a /foot/ to the shoulder. Hissing a breath through his teeth, Rufus spins the blade, but too late. Shou's foot connects, which sends him staggering back a step. "Augh," he growls, as he lowers the practice blade. "Bad form, Peter Pan." He smirks though, and then he bows shortly from the waist to concede defeat.

"Bad form? That was a friggin' perfect kick!" Shou grins, and bows back, swinging his bokken over his head and across his shoulders. He glances over at Dhatri, and then tosses him the bokken. "Here, you take on Ruffie next."

Vette awwws. "Oh well," she says. She doesn't seem too upset by Rufus' loss. "Well it was an enjoyable spar to watch in any event," she says, smiling.

Dhatri catches the bokken. "Somehow, I think I can expect a fairly thorough beating, but very well," he says, rising to his feet and heading to the area where Shou and Scrivner had been sparring.

"Well, thank you, my dear," Rufus says with another smirk, beginning to turn away and hand over his practice blade, but he stops a moment and glances at Dhatri. "Well, why not," he lightly says. "It will be a pleasure, Dhatri." This time, though, he rolls back his shirt sleeves to the elbow. "Same conditions as before? No powers, first blood?"

Shou hops over to Kaylee to watch the spar, sitting down behind her and resting his chin on her shoulder.

Dhatri nods. "Yes, that works. Defend yourself," he warns Rufus, the warning in a dry tone that suggests he expects exactly what he predicted to happen.

Kaylee hops up and down as Shou wins the spar, and gives him a big hug when he comes over to join her. "What did he mean by 'bad form'? Just because you struck him without using the bokken?"

Once again Rufus sinks down into his stance and brings up his arms defensively, blade brandished before him. He inclines his head to Dhatri, and the faint smile that had been on his lips gives way to tight-lipped concentration. He has no idea what to expect from the other gent, but he doesn't intend to go too easy on him. No more than he did for Shou. Abruptly he steps forward, taking a light, brisk slash at the other man's right hip.

Dhatri attacks at exactly the same time as Rufus, aiming an agile blow to the top of his opponent's head. His centre of gravity is higher than one might expect; allowing for a more mobile position.

His attack ends up looking… well, not altogether /that/ spectacular, but his reactions are tight and swift. Rufus grits his teeth as he sweeps up his sword's blade to knock aside the blow coming for him, wood again clacking as the swords connect. And just as swiftly the Englishman is stepping forward and bending low, sweeping the blade up and forward in a light lunge aimed for Dhatri's heart.

Dhatri ducks out of the way of Scrivner's first attack, his own reaction born more of reflex and agility than actual skill, before returning to an upright position to attack again, this time at Rufus's right side.

Dhatri winces as Scrivner's bokken strikes home, causing a nice bruise over his chest. "Thank the gods we were pulling our blows," he says drily to his opponent, lowering his blade. He looks as though he may well have learned some very valuable humility as well…

Immediately stepping back, Rufus smiles politely and says, "I quite enjoyed myself, thank you. It wasn't /that/ easy of a win, Dhatri." He turns the bokken, and then he presents it to Shou hilt-first. "And one of these days, I shall have to pay you back for that loss."

Shou reaches out and takes the bokken back with a smirk. "Sure you will." He snickers a little, and then glances at the sky. "What time is it? I need to go give my mom a call."

Dhatri also passes his Bokken to Shou. He then turns to Rufus. "Maybe we could spar more often; obviously you're faster than me, and your technical skill with a blade is better than mine, but I think I could help you improve your overall agility."

Kaylee checks her cell phone. "It's around 9:30 here, Shou. You should have plenty of time to call your mom back in Hawaii, it's what? 4:30 there?"

After turning over the bokken, Rufus steps back and meanders over to Vette's side again, reaching for his trenchcoat and his sword. He glances over his shoulder at Dhatri, thinking it over, before he nods his head. "It would be good to get in more practice, in between trying to kill Titanspawn and teaching students. Thank you, Dhatri. I'll take you up on that."

Vette is happy to hand his sword back to him, as well as his coat. Then she drops her hands back to her lap, happy to let Rufus talk. It may be that she's found an interesting pattern presenting itself in the rock she's sitting on. One never knows, with Vette.

Dhatri nods. "Very well. It's rare to find someone capable of actually hitting me, let alone hurting me, so I suspect any practice between the two of us will be mutually beneficial."

"Yeah," Shou tells Kaylee, "but I gotta run some errands first. I'll call you later, okay?" He gathers up the bokken and kisses her cheek softly. "See you guys later." And then? He jumps. Fwoosh.

Dhatri sighs. "Wish someone would teach me how to fly; I know I can do it; I woke up levatating above my bed, but it would be nice to be able to control it…"

Kaylee sighs happily. "See you later, Shou." And then she remembers that there are other people around, and blushes.

Rufus tilts back his head to watch Shou depart. He shakes his head a few times, then he slips on his trenchcoat and sweeps the strap of his sword's carrying case over his shoulder. "Quite," he says. "Flight?" Deja vu here. The man smirks for a moment, and he says, "Flight is… Well, Dhatri, flight is merely command over the winds to lift you and carry you to where you wish to go. Do you know how to use them to brace you should you fall?"

"Good evening," Dhatri greets Kaylee. "I believe Shou introduced you as Kaylee?"

Dhatri nods. "Yes, that much I've been able to master. It even helps me if I need to jump somewhere that even with my other divine gifts In gifts, I'd be unable to reach."

"You are mostly there already then," Rufus says with a nod of his head. Now comfortably settled in his coat again, he slides his hands into his pockets and glances briefly down at Vette. Then he looks over at Kaylee. Still, he addresses Dhatri, "I've found that most people who struggle with this gift are simply trying too hard. The wind does the work. It took me awhile to learn that the wind will carry me, and all I really need do is trust in it and guide it."

Vette smiles. "I'm Dirt Girl. I have nothing to add on the subject of flying, other than Rufus does know what he's talking about. He's quite good at it."

"So, I simply will the winds to carry me in the same way as I will them to break my falls or catch me should I be forced back any distance?" Dhatri ask Rufus.

"Yes, I'm Kaylee, and you're?" Kaylee isn't blushing as much anymore. "Dirt Girl? What do you mean by that?"

"Vette—" Vette repeats, staring at Kaylee with confusion. "I swear we've met before. They call me that. Dirt Girl. Because I do things with the earth. Shape it and such. Shou came up with the moniker, I believe, but it seems to have stuck."

Rufus glances over his shoulder at Vette, and smirking, he offers her his elbow. "Thank you," he says quietly. Then he nods at Dhatri, saying, "Precisely. You know how to swim in water, yes? It is … rather a lot like the same, only you scarcely need to flap your arms about. Flying is little more than calling currents of air to carry you about."

"I'm Dhatri Karmali," Dhatri introduces himself. "Please, call me Dhatri. And surely someone could have come up with a better moniker than 'Dirt Girl'; you certainly seem intelligent enough to warrent something better…"

Kaylee laughs. "Shou does have a way with nicknames, Yvette. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Dhatri." A pause. "I guess we all have a certain thing in common, then? The conversation sort of makes me think so."

She's reasonably certain she'd met Dhatri too—hadn't she? Vette just smiles, shrugs, and takes Rufus' offered elbow. "I don't mind. It was offered in friendship and fun, so I will enjoy the name rather than worrying about a better."

"If you mean our parents, then yes; I suspect we all have gods as parents," Dhatri replies to Kaylee. He then closes his eyes for a moment, almost as though he's meditating, and slowly begins to raise from the ground. Not far; certainly not far enough above the ground for someone watching to notice, but enough that those nearby will notice.

Rufus' eyes flicker down to the ground at Dhatri's feet, and a smirk flickers at the corners of his mouth. "It seems to me as if you are getting the hang of it very quickly, yes," he says. "See? It is not so difficult at all."

Kaylee blinks, then applauds as Dhatri rises a little. "That's wonderful! My father's not much for flying, I think. But it takes all kinds, I guess."

Dhatri floats around a little then returns to the ground. "Thank you Rufus, I'm looking forward to training with you again. For now, however, I need to head off.

"My pleasure," Rufus says easily in answer. "Give me a call when you want a sparring session, Dhatri. I'll see what I can do about clearing out some room in my schedule." He takes a step back to give the other man plenty of room.

Dhatri lowers himself back to his feed. "Have a good evening; I'm sure I'll see you all again," he says before leaving the small area that had been used for training.


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