houseofcards_rp | [RP] [Locked] For Lancelot and Alexander, sparring?

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[RP] [Locked] For Lancelot and Alexander, sparring?

So, an hour later or so, Elani can be found waiting for Lance in a practice room.

She's taken to forgoing loose hair and skirts for practice sessions such as these (possibly after the weaponsmaster tore one of her skirts in a session and told her to put her hair back lest it get pulled out if she had to fight). So she's braided her hair back and pulled on a simple outfit for exercise.

She's also performing various stretches in front of the mirror and she has quite carefully not picked up any of the practice blades yet.

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[Alexander enters the practice room (really does he ever go anywhere else?) and is surprised to see Elani there. He expected her training to cease immediately when the Queen returned and rescinded the martial standards he's instituted]

"Elani, good day. I'm surprised to see you here."

She's here at my request, your Highness.

[Lance steps into the door just after the King, bowing first before inclining his head to Elani. He is dressed down himself, sweating lightly from the last hour spent in practice of his own-- a good way to put aside his feelings regarding the present Eight and her Spade suitor.]

Elani told me of the practice she had been doing with you, [he explains] and I asked her to show me. [There's no judgement in it. He is generally curious.]

[This could be interesting. The forms he had Elani practicing shouldn't be perplexing to Lance at all, but they are the foundation of a system he won't have seen before. Alexander decides that it wouldn't be impolite to stick around, but he'll stay on the wall for now]

"By all means, then."

Well, saved by the Jack...she hadn't even had to explain herself. But it was already intimidating, a little, to be doing this for Lancelot. To be doing it with the King's watchful gaze on them too? Well, she'd just have to think of it like yet another performance and make believe the practice room a stage.

Not so hard, right?

"Okay..." Lance gets a smile and Alexander a bow before she rather visibly pulls herself together and approaches the Jack. "How do you want to start?"

"Whatever you feel comfortable with." Lance smiles, the expression low-key and easy. He doesn't even glance in the King's direction-- not so much for himself as for the fact that it's easy to tell that Elani has some nerves over the situation.

"Why don't you to through the forms you've learned? I'll counter."

[Alexander is aware that he must be a source of discomfort, but he sees Lance's involvement as a probable positive force on Elani's training. He doesn't remove himself from the situation so as not to miss any opportunities which may arise.

He smiles gently and does his meager best to appear unassuming]

Okay. She can do this. So she nods to them both and settles herself into the routine that Alexander taught her, focusing on doing that and doing it well as opposed to the men in the room with her.

For a few minutes, Lance watches.

Elani is... very graceful. She flows through the forms like a dance which is both beautiful and impractical-- but Lance can see the basics in the set and understands why Alexander taught her this. It fits her. And anything that comes naturally will ultimately be more effective.

If she ever uses it.

When the set begins to repeat, Lance steps in. He doesn't know if the King ever actually had Elani land any of the forms as a strike or not; there is certainly something to be said about setting the muscle memory down first. She has it now, that much is obvious, which means what Lance is about to do shouldn't change anything at all.

He steps into the flow of her forms; his motions are not a precise set to hers but they match well enough: each time Elani sweeps an arm, he blocks it with his own. Every time her fist comes forward his palm is there. He never holds her or gets in her way but there will be a subtle and distinct difference between moving through the forms and moving into them. He's forcing her body to compensate. To push.

[Alexander is impressed. Lance is a quick study. He's presenting the ideal techniques for her form to counteract. Elani also impresses him as she keeps up with the change in her accustomed practice.

As they complete a sequence, Alexander speaks]

"Traditionally, a student learns the forms as a catalog of techniques, then isolates shorter sequences for repetitive drills. The final objective being that any technique initiated by an opponent will fit into one of the responsive sequences.

Elani, you've certainly perfected your grasp of the motions. You'll grow quite formidable practicing that course with the right partners."

[He ends there, knowing Lance doesn't need his skills validated by another]

Elani does bobble, a moment, right after Lance steps in and the barest hesitation can be seen just before she "hits" him. She's never actually hit anybody and Lance, of course, might be the last person she'd ever want to strike (well, Eileen is probably the last one). But she reminds herself this is just practice and settles back into the focus she was holding a moment before, dropping her weight into her feet and anchoring herself more to the ground which has the effect of allowing her to put more actual power into the movements instead of gliding, graceful motions they were before Lance stepped in.

When they finish, she feels like she's actually done some work but it's a good feeling and she listens respectfully to what Alexander has to say. When he compliments her, she smiles and bows a little, "thank you, your Majesty."

She is, actually, rather proud of herself.

As is Lance.

He gives the King a bow just a moment behind Elani's. It's respect for his knowledge, for watching, for letting Lance do as he saw fit even though he could have dictated the bout. He pushes hair back from his forehead as he turns to Elani to smile. "You've learned well-- and obviously, have had a good teacher."

[Alexander nods his thanks, then continues speaking in the airy fashion of someone trying to keep a relaxed, theoretical tone, but a certain measure of pain and chagrin - even weariness - seep through his facade]

"I'll be frank with both of you; though I've yielded to our Queen on the matter of compulsory defense education, I still see it as of highest importance to our Suit. We are a people of long virtue, and while some virtues may be more precious than strength, none have life without the strength to safeguard their practice. As such, I will continue to foster those skills in the willing to the best of my ability.

Elani, it pleases me more than I can say that you have continued your practice absent a compulsory decree. Thank you."

Elani blushes at the compliments from both of them. "You're welcome, sire. It...I'm glad I continued."

And Elani doesn't lie so he can feel assured that's the truth.

[He smiles. Now an awkward moment. Does she want to continue working with him? Or Lance perhaps? Well, that can be settled in time. He'll extend an open invitation that doesn't require immediate response]

"Please come to me any time you like and we can make arrangements."

[There, that was inviting but not pushy, wasn't it?]

Not pushy at all and she does think it's a kind invitation for him to make. Especially since he is the King and likely has more important duties to attend to than whether one rather pacifistic Eight gets more one-on-one training with him or not.

"I will, Sire, thank you again."

[He smiles and nods curtly.

He does of course mean well for her personal development, but he also considers her valuable ideologically. If a pacifist learns to defend herself competently and appreciates skill at arms for the tool it is, can anyone else claim objection to it?]

Lance nods quietly at the entire dicussion. Elani looks good doing the forms, they seem to come naturally to her; why shouldn't she learn how to make them useful? She certainly doesn't have to go out and attack anyone with them to feel as if she's learned something. He'll have to pull some books off his shelves for her, things that Eileen went through but, he thinks, didn't understand as much as Elani might-- and not because of her age, but because of her already firm mindsight.

Both the King and the Jack know that they don't see eye-to-eye on certain matters, but Lance can't help but hear the undercurrent in the other man's voice. "I think it's well that you continue your training, Elani." He looks at the King and then the Eight. "Even if you never use it-- and hopefully that should be the case-- but knowledge is good for knowledge's sake."

[Alexander nods to the Jack in kind. They'll probably never be friends, but they can work together for the right reasons]

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[RP] [Locked] For Lancelot and Alexander, sparring?

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Hah, poor Elani's got an audience. ;) [also...I'm going to forgo brackets for her here]

thumbs up! Also, posting order. Alex, Elani, Lance?

Re: thumbs up! Also, posting order. Alex, Elani, Lance?

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