[ Events of the past couple of months have limited Weiss' movements around the resort, but she's back in business now! She isn't sure which amongst her friends and acquaintances celebrate Christmas, and she isn't too knowledgeable about it to make references all of a sudden, but she'll probably ask Tseng about it later just to see if he does celebrate it. After Hiyori told her about the holiday, she's started to shop for presents for friends!
That said, she isn't done yet, mostly because she's still recovering her funds. Her doppelgänger unfortunately drained her account after buying expensive jewellery.
This little "date" is at least part of her budget, so Tseng won't have to worry about Weiss mooching off of him. They can discuss food and expenses later on though, since they do have their workout first. ]
This is a little heavier than what I'm used to, but I guess it'll be good practice since I haven't used a sword in some time.
[ Referring to the steel sword she's swinging around. It feels good to be a royal again, because it means she can enter the gym any time she wants and ask for just about anything. ]
I'm all warmed up. What rules do we put in place for this? Nothing below the waist or above the chin?
[ just like weiss, tseng is among those who don't celebrate any kind of winter gift-giving holiday. the new year, sure, that's something that people in midgar will set off fireworks for on occasion, but there's nothing like christmas—in fact, tseng is so removed from the idea of a winter gifting holiday that until he'd received his first gift, he hadn't actually known it was real. he'd assumed that the holiday was fictional, since he'd only ever seen it in movies.
he has no expectation, therefore, that weiss will be gifting him anything, nor that she'll be paying for anything while they're out—not least of all because tseng slit the throats of his own doppelgangers before they could cause havoc, and therefore all his funds are right where he left them. ]
That's my normal rule set, [ tseng says. ] No blood, too. When I fight bare-handed I say first to the floor loses, but maybe in this case, first to be disarmed?
[ since it's probably less likely that anyone will end up on the floor when they're fighting with shortswords. tseng swings his own in an experimental figure eight, adjusting to the heft of it; he's normally a martial artist, but he's at least well trained enough in swordplay to hold his own, even if clorinde consistently kicks his ass. maybe weiss will too, who knows? ]
Weiss beings to glow a nice and light shade of baby blue for a second or two. People of Remnant don't really need to visually manifest their Aura to use it, but she did just that to be able to show Tseng what she meant. ]
Is it cheating if I have my Aura activated?
[ No blood would be drawn from her for sure with this, but if she put all her Aura onto the sword? She could end up sending Tseng flying.
[ interesting... tseng may have seen glimpses of weiss' power here and there, most notably back in the lobby of the hotel when they were fighting off the crawlers, but he's never really put thought into its application as defense during a spar. ]
You can use it if you like, [ is what he says, which doesn't technically answer the question. yes, it is cheating a little bit, but tseng doesn't honestly mind. however hard weiss can hit him, he's probably taken worse. ] Defensive magic is fair game.
[ not that tseng has any defensive magic of his own—he didn't turn up in this place with any of his materia. but that's beside the point.
he swishes the sword back and forth as if testing the heft of it, then holds it out toward weiss. ]
I won't summon anything, so it'll just be you and me. But you're probably a lot stronger than me, physically. It'll put us on the same level, or close to it, at least.
[ The sword the House provided isn't the kind that Weiss is used to when she normally wields a rapier, but it'll do. It's not like these are sharp, anyway, when weapons aren't allowed to begin with. The edges are a dull, with the tip blunt instead of pointy. Though it certainly makes for a funny picture when Weiss lightly taps one side of her sword against Tseng's.
One foot in front of the other, back straight, one hand behind her... she really does look like she's about to participate in a fencing match. ]
[ the finishing-school perfection of weiss' form doesn't escape tseng's notice, although he doesn't comment on it yet. he'd rather see the fight through before inquiring as to where weiss learned her swordplay.
and it's clear, once they begin, that weiss has certainly learned swordplay, even if her style is different than tseng's. for his own part, tseng had learned a martial art not unlike kendo, and is plenty skilled with a knife, but the way he wields a sword speaks to the way he would use it in real combat: tight, controlled movements, no finesse, just power and purpose. tseng has only ever learned to fight with the purpose of staying alive; it's only been in the last few months that he's come to appreciate the stylistic elements as well.
of course, tseng doesn't really want to fight weiss to the death. that makes it easier for him to let loose a little, getting into the flow of the fight rather than keying himself up on the prospect of survival. it lets him appreciate her movements more, too, the grace with which she conducts herself—he'd noticed it before, when they fought side by side, but it's easier to appreciate now that they don't have a real enemy to face down. ]
[ It's different to wield a sword that's not like what she's accustomed to, but she really is trying to make do as much as she can. Between Tseng's rougher and more powerful strikes, Weiss tries to handle finding the right grip and parrying with sharp and swift moves.
Since she isn't using much of her Aura, despite this being a sparring session for fun, it's taking a lot more of Weiss' strength and energy. It's a bit too late to add more Aura into her moves when she doesn't have much energy left, but she's always been someone who's determined to keep standing until the end.
Because of this though, she can only be graceful for too long. A few more parries, a few more thrusts of her sword that she's pretending is a rapier, and she eventually slips and falls on her butt. ]
Ow, ow- [ Goes to show how badly she needs to keep training, it looks like. ]
[ as soon as weiss loses her balance, tseng slips his own sword out of the way behind his back so as not to unintentionally injure her with it. at least it doesn't seem like the fall was hard, so tseng offers her his other hand to pull her back to her feet, giving her a look over as he does. ]
Are you all right? [ but he sounds more impressed than worried as he hauls her up. ] You fight well, your form is far better than mine.
[ by now tseng has been able to piece together little bits of knowledge about weiss' background and her education, and he's curious how her skills with a sword fit into the overall picture. a part of her normal upbringing, or something she learned alongside the magic she wields? ]
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ACTION
That said, she isn't done yet, mostly because she's still recovering her funds. Her doppelgänger unfortunately drained her account after buying expensive jewellery.
This little "date" is at least part of her budget, so Tseng won't have to worry about Weiss mooching off of him. They can discuss food and expenses later on though, since they do have their workout first. ]
This is a little heavier than what I'm used to, but I guess it'll be good practice since I haven't used a sword in some time.
[ Referring to the steel sword she's swinging around. It feels good to be a royal again, because it means she can enter the gym any time she wants and ask for just about anything. ]
I'm all warmed up. What rules do we put in place for this? Nothing below the waist or above the chin?
no subject
he has no expectation, therefore, that weiss will be gifting him anything, nor that she'll be paying for anything while they're out—not least of all because tseng slit the throats of his own doppelgangers before they could cause havoc, and therefore all his funds are right where he left them. ]
That's my normal rule set, [ tseng says. ] No blood, too. When I fight bare-handed I say first to the floor loses, but maybe in this case, first to be disarmed?
[ since it's probably less likely that anyone will end up on the floor when they're fighting with shortswords. tseng swings his own in an experimental figure eight, adjusting to the heft of it; he's normally a martial artist, but he's at least well trained enough in swordplay to hold his own, even if clorinde consistently kicks his ass. maybe weiss will too, who knows? ]
Anything else?
no subject
Weiss beings to glow a nice and light shade of baby blue for a second or two. People of Remnant don't really need to visually manifest their Aura to use it, but she did just that to be able to show Tseng what she meant. ]
Is it cheating if I have my Aura activated?
[ No blood would be drawn from her for sure with this, but if she put all her Aura onto the sword? She could end up sending Tseng flying.
... Maybe. (She's not that strong.) ]
no subject
You can use it if you like, [ is what he says, which doesn't technically answer the question. yes, it is cheating a little bit, but tseng doesn't honestly mind. however hard weiss can hit him, he's probably taken worse. ] Defensive magic is fair game.
[ not that tseng has any defensive magic of his own—he didn't turn up in this place with any of his materia. but that's beside the point.
he swishes the sword back and forth as if testing the heft of it, then holds it out toward weiss. ]
Shall we?
no subject
[ The sword the House provided isn't the kind that Weiss is used to when she normally wields a rapier, but it'll do. It's not like these are sharp, anyway, when weapons aren't allowed to begin with. The edges are a dull, with the tip blunt instead of pointy. Though it certainly makes for a funny picture when Weiss lightly taps one side of her sword against Tseng's.
One foot in front of the other, back straight, one hand behind her... she really does look like she's about to participate in a fencing match. ]
Don't hold back on me, okay? I can handle it.
no subject
and it's clear, once they begin, that weiss has certainly learned swordplay, even if her style is different than tseng's. for his own part, tseng had learned a martial art not unlike kendo, and is plenty skilled with a knife, but the way he wields a sword speaks to the way he would use it in real combat: tight, controlled movements, no finesse, just power and purpose. tseng has only ever learned to fight with the purpose of staying alive; it's only been in the last few months that he's come to appreciate the stylistic elements as well.
of course, tseng doesn't really want to fight weiss to the death. that makes it easier for him to let loose a little, getting into the flow of the fight rather than keying himself up on the prospect of survival. it lets him appreciate her movements more, too, the grace with which she conducts herself—he'd noticed it before, when they fought side by side, but it's easier to appreciate now that they don't have a real enemy to face down. ]
no subject
Since she isn't using much of her Aura, despite this being a sparring session for fun, it's taking a lot more of Weiss' strength and energy. It's a bit too late to add more Aura into her moves when she doesn't have much energy left, but she's always been someone who's determined to keep standing until the end.
Because of this though, she can only be graceful for too long. A few more parries, a few more thrusts of her sword that she's pretending is a rapier, and she eventually slips and falls on her butt. ]
Ow, ow- [ Goes to show how badly she needs to keep training, it looks like. ]
no subject
Are you all right? [ but he sounds more impressed than worried as he hauls her up. ] You fight well, your form is far better than mine.
[ by now tseng has been able to piece together little bits of knowledge about weiss' background and her education, and he's curious how her skills with a sword fit into the overall picture. a part of her normal upbringing, or something she learned alongside the magic she wields? ]
You're more used to a rapier, I take it?