un: j.griffin

[onebetter]

Hey, newbie here with four (4) questions! I'll try to make this short and sweet.

1.) What's the top 5 books in the library that you absolutely have to have read?
2.) How much does the STAR Club actually work with Runes in practice?
3.) Best free time places in Soleil? I'm fresh from the USA, France is all new for me.
4.) Any recently enrolled undergraduates up for a study group kind of thing? Can totally be casual and involve nice cafés etc. I figure I'm not the only one who came here from half the world away and needs to meet new people.

Comments

[marmoron]

[There's an eyeroll at that.]

The hell does that have to do with anything? You were an asshole for saying it.

[onebetter]

[ James considers that for a moment. Definitely a longer than appropriate moment.

But maybe, just maybe, what he says makes up for it a little: ]

Yeah. I was.

[ Because they are supposed to be roommates and not make that horribly awkward and because... well, framed the way Keith did now, James can see why it hurt. ]

[marmoron]

[The acknowledgement surprises him, admittedly. The lack of an apology to accompany that however is the least surprising thing in the world. Keith sighs deeply, then just adopts a fighting stance, raising his arms and staying light on his feet.]

Unjustified use of past tense.

[A beat.]

C'mon. Show me what you got already.

[onebetter]

[ James is admittedly relieved to get out of the conversation and into... whatever this is. The whatever is most definitely his own fault, but their bedroom conversation seems unreasonably long ago now. ]

Gladly.

[ He shifts his feet, getting himself into a more secure position, and tries to ban their talk from his mind entirely. Distractions aren't needed if he wants to prove a point here. Time to summon up Judo classes from days long past.

He's mostly done non-fighting work-outs through high school because it was better to flexibly plan his study time around, but he knew he'd never be able to allow himself to forget combat basics.

When he moves in for an attack, it's at least obvious that he fought before. ]

[marmoron]

[There's only so much a conversation can accomplish and Keith's no longer interested in dealing with words anymore. Letting it go in favor of just pushing James around for a bit is a far more satisfying prospect than pointless banter about middle school.

Surprisingly, Keith recognizes the style of approach from childhood judo classes of his own -- something his dad had sent him to in order to work off some of his energy. Those classes were a long time ago though, and he's since adopted a more fluid style of combat. Something that'd probably make a professional judoka cry, but might win him the approval of an MMA fighter.

There's no hesitation. James moves in, and Keith simply pivots and throws out a quick kick to zone him out. Keep him out of grab range. Another kick to advance and drive James back towards the wall, followed by a quick grab of the shoulder and hip. Pushing forward to tip the other off balance, there's a quick sweep of his foot for a take down.]

[onebetter]

[ James avoids taking the fall, but he does so narrowly. Keith's style is... all over the place, way too creative for James to judge. He's used to fighting people who stick to the judo handbook just as strictly as he does and he's good at working within that framework. Keith is... something else entirely.

Something that has James on the defensive far more than he'd like, spending a ridiculous amount of energy to simply stay on his feet. He manages to get himself back into a more favorable position, manages to hold up a little, land a few movements on Keith....

And yet in the end, it's all over far more quickly than he'd like. ]

[marmoron]

[James isn't bad -- Keith can tell that much pretty readily. Technique is there, execution is there, it's just an utter lack of flexibility or perhaps just general inexperience sparring with people who are proficient in martial arts other than judo. He grits his teeth as he maneuvers himself out of various grabs with hard elbow jabs to the ribs. Seeing an opening, he seizes it quickly, ducking down on one knee to yank James over his shoulder and rolls him onto his back. A moment later, Keith pins down both shoulders, pressing them firmly into the mat while sitting on the other's hips.]

You done now?

[onebetter]

[ He certainly is done. There's no way he can recover from this position that has him so firmly put in place. James stares up at Keith with grit teeth for a moment, unwilling to speak. Keith is heavy on him and he's way too aware of the other's power this way. Who allowed Keith to be this muscular anyway?

Eventually, James nods.]

I'll rematch you when I've gotten back into fighting properly.

[marmoron]

[This is getting a dubious look at first, like he half expects this to be some dumb ploy on James' part. Get him to lower his guard maybe before trying something dirty; it's not like this guy has historically accepted defeat with any kind of grace. As such Keith stays put for a long moment,putting more weight on his hands to pin shoulders down even further.]

Will you now.

[onebetter]

[ It reminds James a little of that time Keith hit him - or rather, that time Keith tried to beat him up in front of everyone. Pinned below Keith, helpless and losing. Only this time there's nobody else here, only this time there are no punches coming, only this time he got himself into this mess and he can only stare up at Keith defiantly as he simply lets him pin him down. ]

I will.

[ This might not be a public humiliation, but that's no reason for James to just let it stand.

After a pause, he adds: ] Your training really paid off.

[marmoron]

[The defiant light in James eyes whenever they fight is just about the only time Keith actually finds himself relaxing around the other boy. There's a stripped down honesty in the anger that James can't pretty up and pretend doesn't exist for the sake of his plastic mask and seeing it is satisfying. It makes a corner of his lips turn upwards slightly,

That is, until the next part of what James has to say. Then he's just left feeling like he's missed his footing. Sure, he'd just said that James was an asshat for always brushing of his successes as flukes, but he wasn't expecting a change in rhetoric any time soon. His eyebrows lift, betraying his faint surprise before Keith can think better of it.]

Oh.

[Just that. This ineloquent little 'oh' until he kicks his brain back into gear. He doesn't need to put any weight on a tiny concession here, does he? James is a person with an endless supply of platitudes he doesn't mean. It's just how he is. And Keith is a person who doesn't have the time of day for those.

He gets off, dusting off his hands when he stands back up on his feet.]

You know playing nice now isn't gonna make me go easy on you, right.

[All the same, he holds his hand out to James to help him up. Take it or leave it, he doesn't care.]

[onebetter]

[ That moment when Keith comprehends with James just said and they're just looking at each other in the world's most compromising position seems to stretch on forever, and James isn't sure how much more of it he can take. Keith's weight on top of him is starting to feel not threatening but intimate and James doesn't want any part of it. He almost sighs in relief when Keith finally gets off, though he can only get as far as to sitting up on the floor until his opponent throws another curve-ball his way.

That sure is an extended hand. The whiplash of being roommates with Keith is truly never-ending. James only takes a second to decide that he'll take Keith's hand. Good sportsmanship and all that. ]

It better won't. Otherwise what would even be the point of challenging you to a rematch?

[marmoron]

[As James grabs his hand, Keith grips firmly as he pulls the other boy up onto his feet. He lets go fairly quickly, not quite making eye contact during any part of these series of actions.]

A win's a win no matter how underhanded the tactic?

[He shrugs.]

[onebetter]

[ With both of them standing again, James immediately feels more comfortable and a bit of whatever weirdness hung in the air beforehand disperses. ]

Maybe to some people, but I want to actually measure my abilities. It's meaningless if you're not also serious about it.

[ And really, he doesn't respect the underhanded-tactics people either, he just acknowledges their existence. ]

[marmoron]

You don't buy that "all's fair in love and war" stuff, huh.

[Because really, Keith himself leans heavier on that side that thinks a win's a win. He doubts the enemies they're preparing to fight care much about fairness, so training should also be done with that in mind.]

[onebetter]

[ James tilts his head a little. ]

This isn't war. You're my rival, not my enemy.

[marmoron]

[That... surprises him for a moment.]

Being rivals would imply we were competing for something. I didn't give a shit about grades or school back in Arizona. The hell were we competing over?

[onebetter]

[ .... ah. Yeah. That's... that's not a question that is exactly easy to answer. There are things here that Keith doesn't know and that James doesn't want to tell him. Though he sometimes forgets Keith isn't aware, James still doesn't want to be the one to break it to him. Least of all after that talk they had about Keith's opinions on the Garrison.

Time to keep this general then. After a pause that is just a little too long. ]

Well, you're my rival now that we've started competing in martial arts. And hopefully you'll be putting some more effort into grades here now, so there's that as well.

[marmoron]

[There's a raised eyebrow at the "hopefully" like he wants to ask since when James gave a shit about his level of academic engagement, but thinks better of it. It's clearly a throwaway comment, not one that has to be specifically inquired after. All the same, he can't quiiiite let this go.]

That something you just decided on your own?

[onebetter]

It's not a pact for life, Keith. You don't need to think so deeply about it.

[ That would force James to also think more deeply about it and he would prefer not to. ]

It was just a good word to explain why this isn't comparable to war.

[marmoron]

I wasn't thinking that hard about it?

[Okay, well that's a lie if there was one. A beat, then:]

I just wouldn't have called you a rival.

[onebetter]

[ Annoying as it is, James knows that it makes sense for Keith to never have used the term in his head. He'd never had reason to, he's never compared himself to James this way. ]

Well, is this war to you then?

[marmoron]

We're training for a war, so technically yeah.

[onebetter]

[ There's a pause here. Keith has a point and James is considering it seriously. ]

Can't deny that... I wasn't thinking of this or the rematch as practice so much as of competition. That's the difference then.

[ ..... ] You might have the right of it though.

[marmoron]

....did you just say that I'm right about something?

[Perhaps that's entirely besides the point, but it gets a disbelieving kind of laugh.]