Main Page |
* Dusk and Jewel have been sparring off and on for most of the afternoon, working on Jewel's knife-fighting. Finally, seeing that Jewel is beginning to wilt (and not feeling altogether springy with energy, himself) Dusk calls a halt. He flips his practice-knife casually into the target on the wall, and drops onto a chair, panting. * Jewel sheathes her own knife and drops onto the floor where she was standing, leaning back on her hands and staring at the timbered ceiling as she gets her breath back. <Jewel> I... ::pant:: ...made you... ::pant:: ...breathe hard this time... ::pant:: ...at least. <Dusk> ::grin:: {You're improving quickly. Are you using your psionics, at all?} <Jewel> ::shifting her weight off her hands so she can waggle one:: A little. ::her chest heaves a little longer while she thinks about it:: Danger sense is... hard to turn off. But I think... this hones it, too. Used to be, you'd pick up a knife and my head would start buzzing all over. <Dusk> ::nods:: {Good. You're getting to the point where it's time to start meshing your abilities. To reach for more...} <Jewel> I-- ::she looks a trifle shamefaced:: You're right, of course. But it still feels like cheating, to use it against you in practice. * Dusk grimaces and stands. He retrieves a bucket from one corner, and pulls a wet rag from the bucket. He wipes his face and neck with it, rinses it out, and offers it to Jewel. {Stretch down, or you'll be too sore to walk tomorrow.} He begins, slowly, to follow his own advice. {It's not cheating. I wouldn't use it against Dawn... not yet. But it's important to expand. To grow as much as you can.} His expression is solemn - even introspective. * Jewel wipes off the back of her neck first, and then mops sweat from her face, cleavage, and arms, wincing a little at the sting from a shallow cut on her forearm. <Jewel> ::her mouth pulling down at the corners:: I don't know that I would *ever* use it against Dawn, unless I was forced to in earnest... and I pray it never comes to that. <Jewel> ::she looks wry:: If I ever had to rely on *me* beating *Dawn*... well, we'd be in pretty bad straits, indeed. * Dusk grins and nods, then tips his head at her curiously. {Tell me something... What would you do if you wanted to do something that Mace wouldn't want you to do?} * Jewel raises her eyebrows. "I suppose that depends... on what it was, and how badly I wanted it, and why he didn't want me to do it." She smiles impishly. "Mace can't lay claim to *all* the charm, after all." * Dusk finishes his stretching and remains sitting on the floor, propping his elbows on his knees. He looks at a blank space between his feet, frowning slightly in concentration. {If it was something you had to do to... to grow. To be what you have to be. But it would mean that you might grow beyond what he wants you to be.} * Jewel tosses the rag accurately back into its bucket and starts stretching out her legs (as she's conveniently already on the floor). "I... don't know. I... I've gone against his wishes before, when... it was something I had to do. But... it was for both of us." She considers, stretching her side. <Jewel> I... ::she shakes her head slowly:: He wants me to be safe. *I* want to be safe... usually. But other than that... ::she stops, and looks up at Dusk, shrugging helplessly:: He's... never wanted me to be anything but wholly myself. <Jewel> And he knows me better than *I* know me, sometimes. ::she grins:: Sometimes it's a question as to which of us is the mindbender. * Dusk half-smiles, then sighs soundlessly. {Don't tell anyone I asked, please. It's... You understand emotions. And you know how to keep a secret.} * Jewel nods, eyeing Dusk a little curiously. Flexing her fingers a little, she moves to passable (although slower) fingerspeech, with a trace of Dusk's own "accent." {A question for a question... whose growing pains are you really worried about?} She arches an eyebrow. * Dusk shrugs. {There are times I think that I'm holding Dawn back. He's grown so complacent lately. He used to be full of such fire and ambition... And there are times that I think of the... opportunities that I have lost, to remain with him.} He closes his eyes, as if in pain. {We don't want the same things any more.} * Dusk grimaces and then grins. {Also, I'm apparently turning into an adolescent girl.} * Jewel looks stricken, but nods. {Have you tal--} She snorts. {Silly me. Of *course* you haven't talked about it with him. I can imagine how *that* conversation would go...} She looks sympathetic, and then grins. "Well, *one* of you has to wear the skirts occasionally, I imagine." She winks. * Dusk snorts. * Jewel stands to continue her stretches, regarding Dusk sideways. "I *do* think you'd be the prettier of the two in drag. You have the eyelashes for it." She bats her own at him. * Dusk half-smiles at her again. {All the wrong muscles, though. He's thinner.} <Jewel> True. And neither of you have the hips for it, sad to say. Alas. The fashion world will just have to wait a little longer. ::she sighs, and augments a back-stretch with a wrist to the forehead:: * Dusk smirks. {It can wait a long time, for that.} He eyes her seriously. {You will keep this to yourself? There is no... immediate need for a decision.} <Jewel> ::she nods:: I will. ::she smiles a little:: {I'm glad you trusted me enough to ask.} * Dusk shrugs again. {There aren't many who would be able to understand.} His eyes unfocus, staring at something beyond the walls. {It would be easier if I only had to decide which of us should live and which to die...} <Jewel> ::shuddering:: Pray Hanali it doesn't come to that. You two have had to make decisions like that far too many times already. * Dusk raises an eyebrow at her for a change. {Interesting choice of deities.} <Jewel> ::blushing a little and shrugging a shoulder:: I may've taken tea with Lady Iselyn a time or two, lately. <Dusk> ::grins:: {Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me.} <Jewel> ::eyes twinkling:: Secret? What secret? <Dusk> {Precisely.} <Jewel> ::moving over to lay a hand lightly on his arm:: If you need to talk, Dusk, you know how to find me. But I should really get back to the shop now. ::she smiles:: Thanks for the lesson. * Dusk nods. {I'll keep it in mind. My pleasure.} |
|
|