[open!]

[energyof]

Method: Action or prose, whichever
Who: Cassidy and you!
Where: On the training floor
When: Jan 28th, early morning
What: Killing time in the archery range

[ When he had first toured the ship, only a few days before the "portal people" (as he was now referring to them as) had been taken aboard, Cassidy's impression of the archery range was one of

Comments

[sublimated]

[In the five days since his arrival, Kanda has recovered some semblance of engagement with his environs. He's not nearly back to his usual self, but he's at least going through the motions of life under his own volition.

For the most part, he is simply observing his new surroundings and the people with whom he's found himself. So even though he's said little, he's still learning plenty about this world just by watching.

He's up early in large part simply out of habit. But even habit hasn't returned him to his own training routine. Having nothing else to do, though, he's wandered down to the training floor. He makes no attempt to move silently or hide his presence, but he also doesn't say anything in greeting to announce himself to the man already here.]

[energyof]

[ Cassidy's sense of hearing, while not as sensitive as his partner's, was still fairly sharp. He hears Kanda before he sees him and he feels the man's eyes on him like an uncomfortable laser beam, even if Kanda wasn't glaring at him yet. After a momentary dilemma to greet or finish his shot, the Hunter chooses the former.

Grip going lax on the bow, he glances up at Kanda. Then his brows arch slightly as he recognizes him as the man who was practically a zombie back in Ash Vacuum. He certainly didn't look happy, but a lot better all the same. ]

Morning. Can I help you with anything?

[sublimated]

[Kanda looks Cassidy up and down unabashedly before answering, taking in his stance, his manner, the way his hands grip the bow. He seems least interested in the expression on his face and passes that by almost fleetingly, looking passed the man to his target. Whatever the hell it is supposed to represent.

A slight furrow passes across his brow like maybe some question has occurred to him, but his answer is simple, blank.] No.

[Though he makes no gesture to withdraw or find something with which to occupy himself.]

[energyof]

[ The corner of Cassidy's smile goes crooked with slight confusion as Kanda looks him over. Judging. He was being judged. That's the same look the Captain had given him when they realized he wasn't the Hunter they'd gone to pick up. He hopes this doesn't become a regular thing because damn if it didn't make him feel like he'd done something wrong.

Kanda's one syllable answer doesn't help, either. ]

Oh, well. How are you feeling? You looked pretty bad back there.

[sublimated]

[Judging, yes. But it doesn't seem like Kanda has reached a particular judgment one way or another. He takes a few steps towards the couches by the far wall, but makes no move to sit down. He looks a bit like someone who's walked into a room only to forget what he came into it for.

It's a moment before he answers, absently and dismissively,] I'm fine.

[After several seconds, something does seem remember something though, and he turns to look over his shoulder at Cassidy.] You had a wolf with you the other day.

[energyof]

[ Cassidy was about to notch up the awkward level by one before Kanda volunteered another line. Usually the redhead relied on others to carry casual conversation, not the other way around. ]

Oh, Sograt? She's upstairs, sleeping. Wooden targets aren't really her thing. [ Or his, but. Kanda's observation kick-starts the memory cogs in Cass' head. So he had been aware of his surroundings despite how he looked, in Ash Vacuum.

Had it been the portal that affected him, then? But none of the others looked like Kanda had. Or Allen, too, for that matter. And they knew each other... ]

[sublimated]

[At the time, Kanda wouldn't have thought he was. He's a bit surprised himself to find that this encounter is calling to mind details and memories he didn't know he knew.

He continues his questioning not because he cares about the wolf or the man, but because he's now more curious of his own faculties.]

She's trained to attack? [Beat.] On your word?

[energyof]

Mmm... On the hunt, yes. Not at all untamed. She's perfectly capable of handling herself, though. [ Sograt was perhaps Cassidy's number one pride and joy and most definitely his best friend, so he's more than happy to talk about her, despite her age. While it was true she was an accomplished hunting partner, the fact remained that she was still a domesticated animal. ]

Have you any hunters in your...world? [ Referring to other worlds aside from obligatory Asgard and Niflheim, hah, that was going to take some getting used to. ]

[sublimated]

[Hunters. The tone with which the word is spoken implies a meaning to it besides the one that Kanda knows, but he won't pretend that he considers it significant when he doesn't.

The extent of trained animals with which he's had experience basically begins and ends with Lau Jimin, General Cloud Nyne's sentient Innocence which takes the form of a monkey. He knows little enough of it, save that it is formidable in battle, but Cloud is not his General, so he has little reason to know.

And as for the question? He answers, but in what is probably a very unsatisfying detachment,] People hunt all sorts of things.

[energyof]

[ Wow this guy was really not a happy man! Well, to be fair, Cassidy wouldn't be very happy to be displaced, either, but the others seemed to take it better stride than this one. ]

That's true. Um. Here, Hunters primarily hunt monsters, either for food, materials or bounties. Some choose to serve in the military instead. [ Pause. ] I'm the former. Normally, anyway.

[sublimated]

"Monsters"? [The question is accompanied by a that level, unimpressed stare that he seems so well practiced at. The air quotes are audible in his tone, as though he finds the word itself juvenile.

In his world, after all, akuma are called monsters only by those who don't know what they really are, who don't know their proper name. Such people are never the ones with knowledge and skill enough to kill them. Fighters of skill will have learned their foes proper names.

By the looks of things, it seems that Kanda is still judging Cassidy on everything he says.]

[energyof]

[ He begins to rub the smooth part of the bow's belly between his thumb and forefinger, a nervous reaction due to Kanda's unending stare of judgment. Cassidy was unused to being so focused on, even if Kanda was more interested in what came out of his mouth than he himself. Normally, he was the focuser.

Now he had an idea of what his prey felt like. ]

Yeah... Um. Wherever we're heading, Payon or Geffen most likely, there will be monsters. Stronger ones if it's Geffen... [ he trails off, thinking

[sublimated]

[Kanda's eyes are drawn reflexively to the nervous rubbing of the bow's surface, a look that lingers there just long enough to be noticeable before returning to Cassidy's face. Kanda knows the signs of a fighter's unease when he sees them.

If that's the case, then good. Kanda could not have been less contrite. The man's discomfort should encourage him to maintain his distance, which was generally what Kanda wanted from people.

He continues looking at him with those same deadpan eyes, not caring about the silence or about any rudeness, perceived or intentional, on either of their parts.] Che. And then? You think we're all a bunch of mercenaries out for the bounties on these "monsters" of yours?

[energyof]

... No? [ Goodness gracious, the guild didn't even know what they were capable of. Throwing them right into bounty hunts could be throwing them to their deaths, depending. ] But it's a good idea to know what's around.

[ Right? He was fairly sure that, at least, was universal... ]

I don't think...the captain or leader would drop you into a dangerous area, anyway. What kind of... [ he does some vague motions with his free hand, like swinging an imaginary blade (because Kanda doesn't look the spell-type, but he definitely looks like a fighter) ] combat experience do you have?

/facepalm I am SO sorry about him

[sublimated]

[Kanda is fast coming to the opinion that this conversation is irritating. In fact he's fast coming to think this person is irritating. It's the chipper cheery attitude, determined to stay on the sunny side of a situation, even if that means manufacturing a sunny side when one's not there. He's always hated that attitude in Allen, and he hates it no less seeing even the hint of a similarity in Cassidy.

His stare turns colder, and he takes several self-assured steps closer so that he's standing just close enough to infringe on the other's personal space. The potential threat of his body language is clear--not what he intends to do now, but what he could do, a skill in battle of which he is very aware. And that threat is mirrored in the tone of his voice, low and warning.]

Enough to know it wouldn't cost me even breaking a sweat to take out you and your little dog. But I do not fight on the whims of strangers.

[energyof]

[ Cassidy's body automatically leans back in tandem with Kanda's intrusion of his personal space, eyes widening a fraction in surprise. Intimidating, Kanda was intimidating, and purposefully so. Yet despite Cassidy's reluctance when it came to dealing with people, he was still more than willing to defend himself. When his safety was threatened, there was no distinction between human and beast.

His expression hardens. While it isn't nearly as dangerous as Kanda's, nor is his tone as aggressive, it's clear that the Hunter isn't going to simply roll over for him. ]

No one's asking you to fight on a whim. That doesn't change the fact that unless you plan to hole up in this ship for the duration of your stay you will inevitably encounter monsters.