April Catch-All

[leatherdaddy]

who: Gladio and a lot of scrawny dudes YOU
what: Two missions, and a whole lot of bad decisions social interactions
when: April catch-all means... all of April!
where: Various
warnings: Warnings will be in subject lines!




Mission: Brownout (closed to Reaper, Sans, McCree, Gladio)

Mission: How to Train Your... (closed to Gladio, Sans, Gooeygetsu, Eichi, Sasuke, McCree)

I Never (closed to mission-goers; tag in with your I, Never and threadjack away!)
 
Training Sessions (OTA who wants to play out survival, weapons training, etc)

Comments

[eyeforaneye]

The materialization of a broadsword in flecks of crystalline light is of greater interest to unnaturally keen eyes than even the beast below him is, one whose enraged cries and wild thrashes garner no response from a particularly unsympathetic ninja. To him, this is just one more living thing that's become a dangerous inconvenience for others, and thus it needs to be removed. That much has been made clear, and while he was willing to defer to the loud wishes of his teammates, he's at least glad to know that this won't be made more complicated than it has to be.

So the end result is settled. What isn't settled is how they'll get there.

That red stare goes from Gladio to Suigetsu and he understands the look he's given immediately, shifting right back to Gladio again. Right. Let's see what he's got.

When the behemoth crashes into the earth Sasuke finally moves back and out of the potential firing line, taking several steps further along its spine with a shallow slice of his sword into flesh. This time it serves another purpose, with the tip of that chokuto stabbed down into thick skin just to stream a low-level current throughout the beast's massive body to keep it still.

[leatherdaddy]

Gladio's charge loses steam as his eyes grow wide and that determined scowl relaxes into genuine amazement. Several reasons why the Shield is diverted from his goal - all of them revolving around the pair of them. First, there's the casual ease of their strikes, the lightness of their movements that seem to defy gravity and glide through the terrain as if their bones were hollow and impossibly unbreakable things. The calm or knowing stare in the wake of their attacks, confident and completely at ease with what would have otherwise been a daring fight.

The beast is struggling, but held at bay by some invisible force or effect, twinging and twitching. Whatever Sasuke was doing to that Behemoth, it was hugely effective.

Gladio finds himself within easy striking distance, squaring off to a position where he could easily throw his weight into his greatsword to hack off the massive head of the beast. But he doesn't. He holds his breath, never once ever considering standing so close to something like this for this long with it fully aware of his presence and yet unable to move. Some strange guilt twists in his gut, like he can see himself twisting in the bonds of some Niff and forced to endure the indignity of being toyed with and while he doesn't compare the creature to a human in any way, it just doesn't sit well with him.

"What are you waiting for?" Kill it.

But no, they're looking at him, aren't they - Suigetsu even calls for him to deliver the final blow and Gladio stares back at him hard for it. All the fight has been taken out of the beast and he's left with expectant looks and the foolishness of being given the task of ending it's suffering. With help. As if he were a child on his first hunt.

"This ain't a game so quit playing around." Gladio raises his weapon from his shoulder and lets it disappear into the air, his pride standing solidly and resolutely in the way of him delivering the killing blow. He misses out on acquiring some choice cuts of the beast as a result of turning away, but the sacrifice is worth it. The price to his pride is too steep, particularly after witnessing the staggering differential of power between himself and the two shinobi.

Gladio tries and fails to hide his disappointment by turning away to search for tracks, can practically feel that scorecard reading all D's for his failure to participate. His tone is low, but sharpens into a shouting rebuke as he goes.

"...I'm gonna look for the flock that Chocobo belonged to. Just put it out of it's misery already!"

[liquidate]

Clearing the Behemoth's gigantic front leg to avoid even a tiny dose of that electrical current, feet finding grass beneath its great head. What he finds when Gladio approaches isn't a praise-worthy strike, though, rather some kind of sentiment he can't quite grasp. It's the backpedal that slaps a look of confusion onto a fairly honest face, eyebrows raising as he's address and—

"Playing around?"

Suigetsu looks over his shoulder at the paralyzed Behemoth, wondering if that's what they're doing. As far as he can tell, they'vfe subdued and are using it for a skill test, something that can give them the information they desire without having to risk much. To be construed as 'playing around'...

He raises his chin to look at Sasuke after the disappointed Gladio flees the area, lips a firm line.

"What, was he scared or something?" Asked obtusely, sandals grinding into loose dirt and dry leaves as he prepares a jump that takes him directly to Sasuke's side with a light step and a test of the electrified flesh.

Subdermal. Should be alright.

"Guess we'll have to wait."