i_speak_softly | Luceti Appointments

[Don smoothly replaces the bar on the supports and rests a moment, then sits up and smiles at Robert.]

You should come in here more often.

I feel... [... Like a burden?] ... unaccustomed to being in a place like this.

But if you would like me to, I could make a habit of it. [As awkward as he'll probably be. He definitely feels like a fish out of water.]

[Don gestures around.] What don't you recognize?

[... Please don't say 'everything'.]

Erm...

[... Most of it?]

... [He actually looks genuinely... ashamed of himself. Not knowing something really sucks.]

... I have difficulty... recognizing much of anything here.

[So pretty much everything.]

[He stands up from the bench.]

What do you want to know about?

[The things in this room are so familiar to him, he doesn't know where to start. Maybe this way will be better.]

I suppose the ones you... would use most often...

[Robert doesn't even know which ones those would be.]

... I... suppose I should use this sort of thing myself... are there protocols, for it?

[He answers the second question first, very strenuously:] Yes.

[He then moves to the far side of the room, where the floor is covered with some kind of woven material.] Mostly I work on the mats. I also use the training post a lot. [He indicates a thick, sectioned wooden pole, about four feet high, with pegs sticking out at intervals.]

How exactly do you use the training post? [It doesn't seem like something that would be easy to utilize, to Robert's perspective.]

Do you want to see?

Of course, if you do not mind demonstrating.

[And now Robert turns to watch attentively.]

[Don nods, then turns to the post, contemplating it for a moment before launching into a flurry of strikes that set the sections spinning. The pegs blur by, but Don intercepts them with unerring accuracy, using them to stop the sections or reverse their spin. The demonstration only lasts thirty seconds before he brings the post back to a standstill, turning to Robert again to see what he thought.]

[Robert is just standing there open-mouthed. For somebody whose reflexes and reaction times are as slow as his are, something like what Don was doing is ridiculously accurate and fast.

... Finally:]

... Gods. That was... well, incredible.

[Don looks embarrassed.] Just an exercise...

Just an exercise. [... Yeah, uh. That's one of the more impressive non-magical things Robert has seen in Luceti.]

...

I am not certain what to say about that.

[Don essays a smile.] Say you want to learn how to do it.

... I doubt I ever could. [It just requires so much that is nearly unattainable for him, physically or mentally.]

... I could try, but...

I think you'll surprise yourself, someday. [He gestures around the room again.] What else do you want to know about?

Perhaps if you continue to assist me. You are... rather an inspiration that way.

[Looking around the room, Robert's eyes settle on the rest of the equipment. ~~The mun really needs to figure out what might be in there...~~]

... Does... does it really take all this sort of equipment to maintain the fitness level you have?

[Don smiles. The feeling is somewhat mutual.]

No, but it's nicer than using sewer junk.

... Sewer junk? [He can't keep the potentially-privileged slight note of horror out of his voice. Using something sourced from a sewer sounds like a recipe for disaster...]

You know. The things that end up in sewers. It's amazing what you can find.

[That inflection almost doesn't register. To Don, the sewers are home, the safest place he knows.]

Yes, but... ... would it not be... unsanitary?

[... Don, you may want to explain that you pretty much lived in the sewers. Robert still hasn't quite figured that one out.]

It's not as bad as people think.

[He swears he mentioned this already, so he's going with the assumption that Robert knows.]

[He has mentioned it, just not in a way that Robert necessarily interpreted as "my family grew up in the sanitation systems".]

I... suppose your family would clean it thoroughly first, at any rate...

... And if anything, it certainly proves... your resourcefulness.

Sometimes we just played with it where it was.

[He reaches for a nearby water bottle and takes a drink.]

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