xp_logs | Angelo and Clarice - stabby stabby stab stab!

Shortly after Amanda leaves for Europe, Clarice finds Angelo stabbing the life of poor dummies and offers to spar. They end up dancing around each other and she finally succeeds in getting through to him. Sorry folks, little angst just lots of sword fighting.

He'd walked Joyita about all she could manage in one day, as shown by the fact that she was fast asleep on the foot of his bed now. And he didn't really feel like hitting the punchbags today, which only left one displacement activity. So, Angelo headed for the sword room for some practice with his own sword from Asgard.

"You can't kill an inanimate object," Clarice informed him, coming out of the locker room, holding her own sabre, "It's not alive."

"Not tryin' to kill it", he told her with a glance round in acknowledgment that she was there. "I haven't been practisin' enough, is all. The swordmaster who taught me'd throw a fit if he'd been here."

Nodding in understanding, Clarice began stretching in one corner, "I brought Drain STH. Wanna spar? No powers, no fencing rules...but with pads. You look like you could use it."

Angelo paused, lowered his sword, and turned to her with a nod. "Yeah. Sounds good - thanks."

Nodding, Clarice turned the music up and lowered her mask, waiting for Angelo to make the first move. While she wasn't normally one to use fighting as a way of anger management, she prefered to do laps of lunges privately until she could barely walk, she did understand the need to get that angry energy out.

Angelo had no mask, but then he'd never had one. Keeping it firmly in mind that this was a training exercise and Clarice was used to fencing swords rather than battle swords, he made his first strike.

Deftly, Clarice blocked the strike using a move Shiro had taught her as a part of Kendo, it was awkward with the European sabre, but it still worked, barely. Using her height, or more accurately, the lack thereof, she ducked under his arm and parried.

Their swords clashed and slid as she blocked his strike, before he freed his and raised it again, ready for her move.

"You feel any better?" she gasped, as her sword struck the inside of his arm, causing her to get almost too close.

"Some", he answered, hissing as the blade scraped over his arm. "Distraction's always good."

Skittering back a few feet, Clarice circled him, waiting for his attack, "That's gonna leave a welt," she warned, still on guard.

He shrugged. "It'll heal. I've had worse." And he lunged at her again, aiming to get past her guard.

Clarice took a step back, but not enough of one and his sword jabbed her in the chest, ignoring the stab of pain, Clarice continued backwards before lunging. He had a longer reach, both with the longer sword and by virtue of being taller, but she had speed and was a much smaller target. Together,they were fairly close to evenly matched.

He glanced her over quickly, checking for blood - his sword was sharp, after all - but didn't see any and relaxed, bringing the blade up again to block hers.

She blocked, thrusting past his guard, "You're going easy on me."

He raised an eyebrow at her, shifting to parry again. "I don't wanna hurt you. You used to fightin' against this kind of sword?"

He couldn't see it, but she grinned behind the mask, "I'm getting used to it," between the fencing and kendo, she was becoming a lot more used to sword fighting as opposed to fencing the sport.

His look turned appraising. "Maybe we'll have to see about gettin' you a sword to match this one, then, to go with your sabre. I'm not as good as Falla was, but I'm probably good enough to teach you some."

"I have a shinai," she replied, hopping into a ballestra in an effort to confuse Angelo while attacking as if she were holding a shinai. Integrating the moves was something she was still working on as she learned new moves in kendo, but it tended to confuse her opponents.

He dodged the attack, looking at her with interest. "What's a shinai?"

"Japanese practice sword. It's wood. Hurts when it hits you," she parried his feint, skittering backwards a few steps, "I don't use my katana in a practice. Only when we get invaded."

He had to laugh a little at that. "So, every few months, then? I've only got the one sword, so it's my practice one as well."

Clarice opened her mouth to deny that, then closed it, lunging forwards quickly. She couldn't deny the obvious, not at Xavier's. Katana's are sharp. Sharp shinies."

"Sharp shinies are good", he answered with a grin, parrying. "This one's special, though. It's a souvenir."

Blocking his thrust awkwardly, she circled away from him, "All the sharp shinies are special."

He put up his sword and waited for her to circle back. "Yeah, I guess they are at that."

"Better than guns," she said, grinning ferally, or at least trying too. Not that Angelo could see through her mask, but it was important that she do it, "Guns are...inelegant."

He went very still for a moment, then smiled. "Gotta agree with you there, Pixie. You keep away from them, 'kay?"

"Duh," Clarice took advantage of the distraction, even if it was inadvertant, and stabbed him squarely in the chest. "I win."

He took an involuntary step back, laughing. "Pixie! You cheat!"

Pulling her mask off and bandana off Clarice grinned up at him, triumphant, "But I got you to laugh."