[open]

[howlongiwonder]

who: 2B and whomever responds (probably perimeter guard members)
what: settling in with the guard (various prompts)
when: frontdated to after the picnic on april 10th
where: the Guard barracks
warnings: not really


i
[A new recruit has arrived, and she's quick to introduce herself.]

YoRHa unit number two, type B reporting. I'm projected to join the Perimeter Guard of Riverview Quarantine in the near future. When that happens we will participate in shared missions.

Let's work together to ensure future success.

[She states matter-of-factly, fist to the chest in an unusual salute.]

ii
[Okay, before anyone joins anything it's time for physical evaluation and conditioning, or as it's more widely known - boot camp.

Stamina training, obstacle course, weight lifting. It doesn't matter what she's told to do, 2B completes the exercise swiftly and without any complaints. She's not even winded at the end and wearing a blindfold doesn't seem to inconvenience her in any way. Is she even a human? Of course she's not, is she.

How about this then - peeling potatoes in the kitchen. Someone has to do it, right? Just this one time, 2B looks rather pouty at the task. She's still doing it though.]

iii
[Time for weapons practice. 2B stands in front of the weapon rack, pondering her situation. In the end, she's here to fight. No support pod, no operator, it's going to be different than before. Possibly much harder.

But that's not the only thing that's different. She's going to fight, but not to kill. She'll protect others. She'll protect humans. 2B allows herself a small momentary smile. If you look at it like that, it doesn't sound too bad.]

Right. This should be fine.

[She picks up a training baton from the rack and proceeds to swing and spin it around a few times for good measure. Time to get started - are there any onlookers to comment? Or perhaps join in the practice?]

Comments

[morganknight]

[Any fight in which the outcome matters must be decided in the most effective manner possible. That is why martial arts is pointless as a means of attack and defense in a world where guns exist... and why Morgan, despite not studying martial arts for that purpose, nevertheless loves a chance to spar.]

Oh hell yes. I think I like you.

[His grin is all boyish excitement as he drops back down into his ready stance. Time to switch it up and actually use this practice sword he's been holding, he thinks.]

You have a really aggressive style.

[howlongiwonder]

It's the most efficient.

[2B is a bit confused. What does liking have to do with anything?

Anyway, she swings her sword and keeps it at her side in a steady grip. Time for round two.]

[morganknight]

[Morgan will cut her what in his mind is a break and attack first -- in the form of a quick chop that brings both hands to his practice sword, the kind of strike that barely commits but still needs to be defended against. Every part of his style is about gaining an advantage, about forcing the opponent to commit and then taking advantage of that commitment. Everything is done with minimal wasted motion, absolute efficiency.]

[howlongiwonder]

[Remembering how the first fight went, 2B is determined not to repeat the same mistakes. The moment an attack comes, she is immediately on evasion, dashing sideways with momentum that most people would call ridiculous.

She spins again, cutting distance between herself and Morgan while trying to flank him. But this time her training blade is held at average height, not yet dedicated to parrying nor following up with a counter-strike. Which one will it be?]

[morganknight]

[Well, now she at least has learned a little respect for him, which Morgan appreciates. And she's learning not to commit, which delights him, because learning is the entire point of this thing.]

[Hmm. How to handle this? In less time than it takes to ask the question, Morgan decides and turns to advance on her, his own sword every bit as uncommitted as hers. Either she'll act first and give him the chance to intercept, or they'll both delay so long that he'll be within what he judges to be the preferred range of her style.]

[howlongiwonder]

[Instead of delaying any further, 2B takes action. She quickly tenses muscles in her legs...]

Haa!

[With a sharp exhale, she jumps! She continues the circular motion, her left leg raised into a spinning kick, while the blade - no longer held loosely, is now fully committed to forming a strong guard to parry any of Morgan's sword strikes.]

[morganknight]

[Okay, so Morgan could get out of the way. Which would be the rational and sensible thing to do and what any reasonable person would do in an encounter like this if the end result mattered.]

[Boooooooring.]

[OR! Morgan could engage in some glorious countermeasure, which she in turn will counter, forcing him to counter-counter, until their battle becomes a high-speed, high-stakes game of chess where the first wrong motion becomes a miserable defeat! It is ridiculous and stupid and frankly poor martial arts from a purist sense, but it's also fun and he'll probably learn more from it than he would fighting 'smart'.]

[So! Morgan switches style in a heartbeat, jerking up his sword arm to block her foot on his forearm with decidedly not-soft technique, then shoves back against her to wield his grounded strength against her airborne lack of leverage. Then he continues the motion into one mighty roundhouse kick, bringing his own left leg up and around at her.]

[howlongiwonder]

[So this is how it's going to be? As soon as their limbs clash with one another, 2B already starts to bend her knee, focusing on the impact point...

When the shove comes, she doesn't brace against it. Instead she uses it as an extra boost to spring away from Morgan, grunting quietly as she kicks herself upwards into a jump (and hopefully away from the roundhouse aimed at her). And some jump it is! The android woman flies way over an adult's height into the air. Frankly, it's quite ridiculous.

No time to ponder the situation though, she lifts her sword above her head and holds it with both hands, already preparing a downwards slash for when she falls back down into melee distance!]

[morganknight]

[He's man enough to admit that he did not see that coming.]

[Morgan can't recover from the kick and get his own practice sword up in time -- all he can do is shove himself to the side, meaning he takes the blow on his upper arm instead of his head. Gonna have a bruise there... which is what he'd have come away with from a real sword too, since 2B now gets a chance to see that his coat does double-duty as armor.]

[His own performance doesn't please him, but he's still grinning as he slaps his free hand down to balance and twist back up to a standing position at the end of his lunge.] So that's what a double-jump looks like in real life!

[howlongiwonder]

[2B lands still leaning forward, but she moves the training blade back to her side.

It's not that she was trying to cause serious damage with her strike, she did keep her limiters in check - but it looks like the blow still struck weaker than she expected. So, she's a little bit curious now. Perhaps in terms of toughness, humans are not to be underestimated as well.]

Yes. You could say that, I suppose.

[She never heard that term before but it seemed fitting.]

[morganknight]

[Morgan's a bad person to judge off of; he's in excellent shape, but in terms of toughness and endurance, there are few people who can match him. He's not even breathing hard after all this sparring, which, as everybody who has ever watched Dragon Ball knows, is a sure sign that he's badass. ...right?]

I hope you're enjoying yourself! [No, really, he does! But she's a robot, right? (He's convinced she is by this point.) Can she enjoy herself? If she does, can she show it well?]

[But idle questions aside, Morgan rolls his neck a little, then just... casually saunters back towards her, practically inviting her to attack.]

[howlongiwonder]

[Even if she is enjoying herself, 2B definitely does not show it well. She appears cool and collected still.]

Yeah. The more we do this, the better prepared for the future we are.

[Though she says this at least. She lightly tilts her head seeing Morgan's next course of action. A curious choice... but she'll walk quickly forward, her steps turning into a dash as she raises her weapon once again!]

[morganknight]

[One hand strikes out as she advances -- not a chop or a punch or anything so blunt and forceful. Morgan simply grabs for her shoulder, and will even settle just for clothing, the better to give her the tiniest shove backwards.]

[It's basic aikido principles -- a human, at least, will instinctively try to straighten up again as a hardwired reflex. Morgan doesn't know if she will, but if she does, using that straightening momentum to pull her down into a pin is a very simple technique, even given her unexpected mass.]

[howlongiwonder]

[Seeing that hand going for her, 2B quickly abandons the dash, trying to evade by jumping backwards. Her arm is already swinging, trying to sweep with the blade - but there's still a moment to react, perhaps enough to follow up with Morgan's plan?]

[morganknight]

[Well, his hand is already out there, and she's swinging, sooo -- he'll grab her wrist, pull, and go for the pin from there, why not?]

[howlongiwonder]

[2B is still mid-leap so she can't really brace herself against anything. She could try to swat the grabbing hand off with her own hands or something similar. However she's holding the sword, so...]

Gh...

[Looks like she's getting dragged to the ground - again.]

So that's how it is, huh.

[A rather strange statement, considering the circumstance.]

[morganknight]

[Morgan follows her down with perfectly trained movements, the sort that can't be described as 'reflex' or 'instinct' because every one is conscious, and yet the follow-up to pull 2B into a joint lock takes no more mental effort to enact than he has to put in to consciously moving an arm or a finger.]

[But a problem occurs to him as he hauls her arm behind her back to pin her down, as he considers just how these pins are supposed to keep people down.]

Uh, do you feel pain?

[howlongiwonder]

[2B finds herself being pinned down. As soon as the initial surprise wears off though, she is already trying to break out of the hold - not necessarily hastily, we don't want any accidents after all, but with strength more befitting a bear than a normal person.]

I do.

I'm used to it, though.

[morganknight]

Oh, well.

[Morgan shoves off her quickly, mostly because he believes she'd risk fare more pain to break the lock than a spar deserves, and he doesn't want that for her. He skips back a couple paces as he regains his footing, dropping back into a ready stance.]

[howlongiwonder]

[2B finds herself freed from the pin before she could free herself. That was certainly unexpected. She looks at Morgan, then down on her body, then back at him, confused.]

What was that about?

[morganknight]

It's a spar, there's no point in you enduring pain to break out of a pin when there's nothing at stake.

[Whether or not she could have, Morgan isn't sure -- she's tremendously strong, but strength only has so much advantage against leverage and positioning. Either way, though... no, there's no point in the pain of it.]

[howlongiwonder]

It's a spar, but isn't this taking things too easy?

[2B also isn't sure if she could break the pin or not, which is why this abandonment puzzles her. It's hardly the only thing she's feeling at the moment though. She folds her arms, dropping out of a fighting stance.]

I think that will do for now.

All the combat data we got here needs analysis, too.

[Fighting as training, and not to defeat the other person. So that's how it feels like.]

[morganknight]

Every spar is taking things too easy, because if it was an actual fight where the results mattered I'd be using the most absolutely effective means possible.

[That's just how it is! Morgan lets the tension out of his muscles as well, offering a lazy grin across their impromptu arena.]

And having worked up an appetite from all that -- would you care to accompany me out for some food?

[howlongiwonder]

I understand that part.

[Are all spars like that then? And yet on some level they are quite useful, 2B can understand that. How strange.]

I don't... really eat.

[morganknight]

I kind of guessed that! Which is why I put it the way I did!

[Accompanying him didn't mean she had to eat something, after all.]

Point was, I'd care for your company, if you'd be willing.