for peace of mind (open!!)

[thenobledie]

Who: everyone and their hopefully still living mothers...
When: June 1st and onward
Where: EVERYWHERE
Format: action or prose, whichever works!
What: The war is over, and everyone can relax. Or cry. Whichever.
Warnings: n/a?

PATROL HEADQUARTERS

THE DOJO

THE CLINIC

( ooc | did the major locations! but add others, and i will update the entry with

Comments

[charmprince]

[She side-eyes him, thoughtful.] Retirement? You don't seem old enough. [Then again, she was a little biased; no one seems old enough to retire when you're older than them, after all.] But it seems like no one gets to choose when they can lay down their weapons. Especially here, when you kind of need them whenever things get dicey.

[Four days. She could remember that, she guesses.] I'll be careful until then, I guess. [And by careful, what she really means is 'I'll try to remember them about ten seconds before I rip them trying to lift something too heavy for me'.]

Out of the habit... [She'd never been allowed to fall out of it; even when there was hardly anyone to fight, when all the rebellions had been quashed, she'd still been dragged out of her bed every morning, pre-dawn, by an insistent Ildon, who'd supervise her training for two hours before freeing her to find a place to hide from the responsibility of the day.] Guns are quicker and easier to use, I'll give them that. But swords feel a lot more... [She gestures as she looks for the words.] Personal, I guess. Ildon was always going on about how it's important to honor your opponent, to be aware of their last breath. [She chuckles, surprised at the rush of nostalgia that hit.]

I wonder how he'd feel, if he saw that something he'd said actually sank in.

Anyway, I don't have hands near steady enough for a gun. I think people who're good marksmen are pretty amazing. You've got very calm hands-- are you very good?

[fingersloophole]

[Yay! Someone who doesn't think he's old enough for retirement. There's even a little tiny smile on his lips as he finishes wrapping the wound.] You should stay still for as long as you can manage. It seems as though you lost a lot of blood. And I'm past the retirement age for being in the field in my profession. I should retire to office work, at the least.

[He doesn't want to. But it's only a matter of time before he's too slow. Before the people he's chasing are a third his age instead of half and he can't keep up.] I admire swordsmen...swordswomen I suppose as well. Honor isn't something you keep intact in my line of work. At least not anything but your personal honor. [He has shot people in the back. He'd do so again. He's not a SOLDIER, after all.]

I am good. Very good enough to survive to my age. Are you good with your blade?

[charmprince]

[She makes a bit of a face at the prospect of staying still, but she'll make an attempt, she guesses.] I can't imagine office work. Being trapped in the same place, doing the same things, over and over again-- [...Actually, it wasn't all that different from home. Or here, if you stretched your mind and tilted your head.] Well, maybe I need to grow up a bit more before I can stop thinking it'd be really boring. Life on the battlefield's all I've known for the majority of my life.

Of course... I don't know exactly how much honor there is there, either. Ildon made the fuss, but I don't think there's such thing, except-- as you said, personal honor. After all, no one dies with dignity-- it's a messy thing, isn't it, the whole business of killing and dying? But getting your hands dirty is necessary sometimes. You get stronger when you're fighting for something you believe in, and that's what matters, I think.

Anyway, I have a few things I believe in, so yeah, I'm pretty good. Not as good as I could be, but no one ever is. I'm not as strong as a lot of people here, but I'm quick, and I've got years and years of experience, so... [She pauses, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she thinks about what she's been chattering about.] I want to get better, though. I think the person who was helping me.... left, when all this began. I haven't seen him in a while. I'll have to continue on my own, I guess.

[fingersloophole]

Where I come from, killing people involves a good deal of paperwork. [And he was frequently the one to finish it because most of his Turks lost their pens or got blood on the forms or just forgot to do so. And someone had to keep things in order. He was training a few lackeys to pick up the slack but they had a bad habit of quitting on him. Or dying.]

We age. We change, even without aging. What suits you now might not suit you in ten years or in ten minutes. [That feels profound, somehow, but it's really just the truth. He's not doing the same as he was at sixteen or at thirty or at twenty four.] Killing and dying are both messy business. When you get too emotionally attached to what you do, there are problems. You have to think of yourself as something else...and you kill in the process of that job. Instead of being a killer for another reason. [He's well aware he's a murderer. But he at least likes to think it's for a good reason.]

As you've said, there's nothing here to do but train. I would offer my assistance but I'm rather sure you could best me with a blade and I've only trained in firearms and unarmed combat. [Which he needed to pick up again. Even if Elena was outgrowing the want to learn Wutainese choke holds with him]

[charmprince]

Where I'm from, it involves a quick blade and hopefully a good reason. Maybe things would be better if it DID involve paperwork. It'd certainly cut down on the number of people who attack out of nowhere. [If all her would-be assassins had submitted paperwork, she would probably have had a lot less need for a security detail at all times.]

Probably not even ten minutes, honestly. [She's just making light, though. She knows it's true. The Asellus of sixty years ago was just happy getting As in class and working part-time for her aunt. The Asellus of today would chafe so badly in the same roles. But she's quiet as he continues.] That's it, that's it exactly. You have to... what's the word, compartmentalize? [Not deny it entirely, though. She was still Asellus, but she wasn't just herself when she'd had to do the things she'd done. She was-- though she hated the title-- the leader of Facinaturu. It was her job, so she couldn't help it.

It always felt so unhealthy to think of it that way, but at least she's not alone in that.] It's got to be done. It can't be helped, and if it's your job, you do it. No time or room for doubt. [Her tone shifts, and she sounds like she's mimicking someone for a moment.]

I've always been bad with unarmed combat. [She holds up a skinny arm.] I'm not all that strong when there's not an implement in my hands, sadly, and you can only be quick so long before they catch you.