Outside Savage Garden | Sunday Morning

[withasword]

Kate always had been an early riser. One of those traits hammered into her early by Voron, insisting that sleeping in made you lazy and would one day get her killed. She'd always been skeptical (what could a couple extra hours under her blankets really do?) but the training had stuck all the same

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[deaths_demigod]

There was a person on the steps to his cabin. Nico always had that internal bit of dialogue where he wondered if he should simply nod and pass by or attempt to engage the person in some sort of sad attempt at conversation.

Today, the part of him that asked What would Luke do? decided to drop his armor on the porch and take a seat on an empty part of the steps to clean his sword. "Hope you don't mind," he said as an afterthought, realizing the dark, stygian blade might not seem all that normal.

Luke would probably say something cooler, too. Oh well.

[withasword]

Considering Kate fed her large magical sword on a regular basis... Not so bothered by someone else choosing to polish theirs in her presence.

"It's a free... porch." Besides, he was already sitting now, and it gave her a chance to indulge her curiosity and watch. "As long as you're not planning to skewer me unarmed--" Kate shrugged.

Okay, so she wasn't completely unarmed, but he didn't need to know that.

[deaths_demigod]

Nico snorted at the idea, but he made sure he turned so she wasn't in any danger if his arms lost control of what he was doing. "I'll do my best to keep the pointy end under control. I haven't stabbed any humans on accident so the odds are in your favor already."

[withasword]

"So if I annoy you enough, I'm fair game?" she wondered with a smirk. Whole different situation if he was trying to poke her with holes on purpose, right?

[deaths_demigod]

"Something like that," he snickered, inspecting his sword and wishing Leo was still around to help him keep his armor looking as decent. "Do you usually annoy people? Should I be worried here?"

[withasword]

"No one here's tried to stab me yet," she told him. That was somewhat of an achievement. "... Except that one guy. But I was doing it right back. Fair's fair." A little sword practice with someone didn't count.

[deaths_demigod]

"Which guy?" Nico wondered. Chances were he knew him. "Did you succeed in stabbing him back?"

[withasword]

"Brown hair, blue eyes... large sword he can turn into a pen?" Yeah, Kate hadn't bothered to get a name before waving her saber at him. "And no, but I did make him fall over." Which had been fun in itself, and she quirked a grin.

[deaths_demigod]

Oh yeah, Nico knew him and smirked at her besting the demigod even a little. "That would be my cousin, Percy. Did he whine when you knocked him down?"

[withasword]

"Less whine, more trash talk. He still thinks he can take me." But he hadn't proven anything yet, so she was calling it her win. "That fit him about right?"

[deaths_demigod]

"Yeah, pretty much," Nico said, shaking his head and wondering what about Fandom made Percy seem like a jerk. "He thinks he can take me, too. Probably thinks he can take the whole school. Just don't engage him near a fountain or pool or anything. I'm pretty sure even I would need to raise a whole graveyard to take on his water power."

[withasword]

"Noted." Sorry Nico, but at that you were getting regarded with rather more suspicion than you had been. Shared power or not, Kate had never been entirely comfortable with it.

"You find you need to do that often?"

[deaths_demigod]

"Nah," he shrugged, not being one who cared who knew what about him or if his powers offended them. "See, I've been practicing with the sword so I won't have to rely on my powers all the time." Useful as they were. "I take it you're a big fighter-type?"

[withasword]

Kate shrugged, "Something like that." Yes. Yes, she was. "Magic comes and goes. Guns misfire. But I've found a good sharp point almost always works."

[deaths_demigod]

"So long as whatever you're fighting can get hurt," Nico added. "Or you've got the right blade." His was getting a proud look from him at that. "What sort of sword do you use?"

[withasword]

"Single-handed saber." Kate's strong point would always be her speed and the ability to dodge and move, since she'd never match the strength and size of male opponents. Two handed swords just weren't practical for her, but Slayer worked just perfectly.

Since he was gazing all lovingly at his, it drew her attention again. "I've never seen one like yours," she had to admit. "Named?"