Aleksei Volkov ♠♠ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thepupthatmatters) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
houseofcards_rp2014-03-10 10:40 am
thepupthatmatters) wrote in houseofcards_rp2014-03-10 10:40 am
[ota] aggressive normalcy
There's still a lot to learn.
But that's okay. He's starting to feel properly that it's okay. It's okay that he's still getting used to walking with a knife in his boot. It's okay that he's adjusting to which Fives to call by their name and which will all but slap him if he doesn't say 'sir.' It's okay that his greatest visible skill is an incredibly efficient knack for getting paperwork filed and delivered, and that the skill he's been progressing best at is classical piano.
Yes, the man he came here to find is an overwhelming force of nature. Yes, watching his father Challenge to Ten had absolutely sent him, briefly, through half a crisis. But that's okay too.
Because he's here. He's here, and here is the right place to be.
It's the right place to be while he works at filing cabinets. It's the right place to be while he steals mouthfuls in the kitchen and whispers in more comfortable languages than English with other former Outsiders. It's the right place to be while he gets his ass handed to him in the training fields and forces himself back up onto his feet.
And it's the right place to be while he steals out on an afternoon off to just skip rocks over the newly thawed lake. Because it's really nice to know that skipping rocks and throwing knives are both starting to feel equally normal.
But that's okay. He's starting to feel properly that it's okay. It's okay that he's still getting used to walking with a knife in his boot. It's okay that he's adjusting to which Fives to call by their name and which will all but slap him if he doesn't say 'sir.' It's okay that his greatest visible skill is an incredibly efficient knack for getting paperwork filed and delivered, and that the skill he's been progressing best at is classical piano.
Yes, the man he came here to find is an overwhelming force of nature. Yes, watching his father Challenge to Ten had absolutely sent him, briefly, through half a crisis. But that's okay too.
Because he's here. He's here, and here is the right place to be.
It's the right place to be while he works at filing cabinets. It's the right place to be while he steals mouthfuls in the kitchen and whispers in more comfortable languages than English with other former Outsiders. It's the right place to be while he gets his ass handed to him in the training fields and forces himself back up onto his feet.
And it's the right place to be while he steals out on an afternoon off to just skip rocks over the newly thawed lake. Because it's really nice to know that skipping rocks and throwing knives are both starting to feel equally normal.
Force of nature, eh?
It's hard to sneak up on someone while riding a rather tall horse so it's quite likely Aleksei is aware of his approach long before he actually says anything, though nor does he say anything right away.
"I can't say I've ever done much of that."
DADDY YOU ARE SO TERRIFYING AND THE BEST
They're still large beasts. They still shy at random. And they still often carry persons of interest.
This person of interest has him standing just a bit straighter, at least between moments of bent fluidity to toss the stones along the surface of the water. He pauses only briefly at the sound of Julien's voice before ducking down again to search for more smooth, flat stones.
"It's-- fun. Good practice but-- also fun."
what are you talking about julien is just a big fluffy puppy
But then Julien is sliding off Padraig and tying the horse's reins up out of the way so they don't get stepped on but he can graze while they talk.
"Show me, mm?"
...lies
He doesn't mean to sound incredulous. Or excited. Thankfully, his words wind up somewhere in between the two lips stuck bland by the simultaneous desire to frown and smile.
"You have a minute?"
No big deal. Just skipping stones with an absent (and unwitting) parent.
Re: ...lies
And there was something about this kid he hadn't put his finger on yet. Some certain vibe he got off him that he did see in others. Or when he'd glimpsed Aleksei elsewhere in the Suit, that he didn't see between Aleksei and others, high cards or no. A bit of a conundrum, something to tease out.
"It's not something I've learnt about." But he could see a certain utility in it.
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It's got a smile briefly on his lips before he nods and ducks his head.
"It-- You start with finding the right stones. Flat ones."
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"Very well. Then?"
He's interested in how the boy holds it, how he makes the throw so it skips over the water instead of sinking beneath it.
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He does scramble a moment with words before simply twisting his palm up for display. "--fingers."
Index finger on the edge, flat sides held with thumb and middle finger, loose and relaxed.
"You stand with it-- farther away."
Non-dominant foot forward. Modeling is better than explaining, clearly.
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It's quite alright, Julien is not always so verbal in teaching either. Better to show, when discussing things that require physical movement. So he just mirrors Aleksei's stance, his thumb circling over the stone a moment, "and then?"
A flick? A toss?
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He's got the slightest bit of a wind up, like a baseball pitcher pulling back before stepping into a throw. The stone leaves his hand for three, four skips before dropping below the surface of the water.
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Julien watches closely, then follows suit. The stone only skips once before losing its momentum. He frowns slightly. It's been a long time since something that requires hand-eye coordination didn't just come naturally. But this is a different sort of coordination than he's used to.
"Why do you do it?"
And there's that, too.
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"Because it's hard." Apparently 'fun' hadn't been reason enough. "It's something you-- work on a long time, and that... makes it satisfying to improve."
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That sounds like the voice of experience, even it it's long-past.
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It also leaves him just a little bold. "What-- did you do?"
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He shrugs slightly, skips the stone a little better this time. "I came here knowing how to fight. I spent a lot of time in the practice rooms."
When getting English words right became too difficult. When he couldn't stand the sight of books anymore. When his thighs ached from learning to ride. When he wanted to make sure all those people who looked at him out the corners of their eyes for the way he'd taken his rank in the Deck knew that he was no one to be trifled with.
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It still feels nice somewhere in his chest as he throws another stone along the surface of the water.
"Probably-- more useful than rocks."
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Probably now isn't the time to mention throwing them at people or anything of that sort.
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Which is an important question. Which is necessary, really, if he has any hope in being here.
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Or that their use is something they don't care for. But no one ever said it would be easy.
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But at least acceptance is something that can be earned. At least it isn't a mad dream to be chasing.
"I'm glad."
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"You are?"
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It feels like such a given. How could a person be here and not want a purpose?
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Julien really doesn't have a very good answer for that. It's easier to just pick up another stone.
"Show me again."
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"Maty." A stone is caught up and the grip demonstrated again, just for a moment, before he shifts back to release the stone in a fluid motion. "Verhaty."
[*Grip; *Throw]
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Perhaps he ought to have corrected Aleksei, considering their conversation about accents.
But he doesn't, he just returns to rock-skipping in peace.
No one would ever believe it of him.
(no subject)