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]

[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.]

[onebetter]

[ James rolls his eyes. ]

I'd be an idiot to not acknowledge it when you do have a point.

[marmoron]

...And?

[EXPECTANT LOOK. Patiently waiting for James' self awareness to kick in in 3..2..1.]

[onebetter]

... and I just said you are right, what more do you want from me?

[ He's just staring back with mild irritation..... ]

[marmoron]

[Keith raises an eyebrow.]

Nothing. Just a little surprised.

[onebetter]

.... okay.

[ This is turning into a very weird staring battle and James isn't sure what else he is supposed to say to this conversation to help it move back to normal. So instead he shrugs his shoulders and just changes topic entirely. ]

Well, if I'm already here, I'm going to hit the gym equipment next.

[marmoron]

[...which is something Keith translates in his head as James has decided he's done spending time with him and that's fine by him. Or at least it would be if it didn't also remind him of just how bloody socially inept he is that people are practically running away from him. He sighs.]

Suit yourself. I'm gonna be hanging out here practicing with my sword.