i_speak_softly | Luceti Appointments

[Even being a sounding board to Robert's thinking helps. If nothing else, saying them aloud serves to give them coherence and meaning besides simply bouncing around in the recesses of his mind.]

I do not wish to think that... my a-abilities could be used to indiscriminately harm. But when you have such a skill as mine... is it not t-true that the knowing of it... is essentially a sort of weapon in and of itself...?

[Robert's gaze is distant as he speaks. This is rhetoric that he has been far-removed from for so long, but even now it still makes a certain degree of sense - a warped sort of sense, perhaps, but sense.]

... As you know well... on Terra, all violence is... i-innately harmful, or considered as such. Even the... possibility of it is... abhorrent. This is why... this is why the mere knowledge of how to perpetrate such acts is... considered dangerous. This is why... culture does not reflect such seeming-atrocities, or... or why education does little more than assert it once existed.

[He looks down at the hands folded in his lap. Here in Luceti, they are comparitively nearly harmless. Here he is as weak as a paper doll.

But on Terra, these would be the hands of a potential murderer...]

... In order to... e-escape the threat of violence... Terra neutralized it, by... forcing violence to cease to exist in... in its entirety.

But... but I am not so certain now, that... that such a method is even possible completely. I am not so certain that... it is true.

[Having seen what intellectuals can do on both sides of the morality spectrum...]

Edited 2012-08-15 09:31 (UTC)

[Robert has been doing a pretty poor job of recognizing Don's current needs, but he's made amazing progress in understanding the things that have always been important in his partner's life, and it helps Don feel connected to him in a way that's been missing these past weeks. It's a relief to have that again, and it might show in the lines of his face and shoulders.]

[And luckily, Robert has known Don long enough to recognize at least some of that relieved look about his countenance. The small smile he puts on is in response to that.]

... Thank you for... listening. You are always... g-good at that, Don.

[Even if he does wish Don could speak back aloud, having his presence here, his warmth and understanding, is enough.]

[Don smiles back, a little, then looks at the sword lying at Robert's side, by way of asking what the man wants to do next.]

[Robert looks back at the sword himself, picking it up in the slow, careful way associated with proper seiza.]

Did... did you want me to... j-join you? With... what you were doing prior to my arrival...?

[If they can't connect as easily through shared knowledge and opinions anymore, maybe there's a way to connect through physical experience instead.

... Not that Robert really knows what to do. But he trusts that Don will at least try to show him.]

[What Don was doing earlier, was lifting twice Robert's weight. While he's not opposed to company, he's not sure how to include his partner in that kind of activity.]

[Let him watch? Let him attempt to lift some pitiful excuse for a weight? ~~Laugh at the inevitable result of that?~~

Or he could just sit. That's also okay with him.]

... I do not mind... being a spectator...

[Don has his reservations about this next suggestion, but... it would mean so much to him.]

[He looks over at the rack of bo staffs.]

Will you... see me do that?

[Robert's starting to learn that Don often looks in the direction of things he wants to relate to the subject of the conversation. So it's not too hard to guess what he means by this.]

... Of... of course I would watch...

[He's not really sure if he could spar against Don - if that is what Don is trying to imply - but... merely watching him handle a weapon now is no longer impossible. It will certainly be strange - he's much more used to seeing Don handle scientific tools than weaponry - but it's not a terrible thought anymore, either.]

[Don hesitates, then stands, pads over to the rack, and takes a staff. He comes back to take a position on the mats, holding the weapon thoughtfully.]

How much?

[What level of ability can Robert handle seeing?]

[He's been training with a weapon for six or seven months now and he's actually been in a battlefield. As long as Don isn't going to be physically beating people with his bo right in front of Robert, he'll probably be okay.]

... Though this will be new to me, Don... or, er, relatively so... ... I confess it does not... bother me. Certainly not as much as it would have...

[He can't shake the feeling that it's definitely not as much as he should be bothered, either, but he is curious.]

[Don decides to go for some intermediate exercises - above Robert's current ability level, but not showing the full extent of what Don can really do.]

[The result is very fast and very precise, and there's clearly a lot of strength behind the moves. More subtle is the satisfaction Don experiences from being able to do these things.]

[There's still a small part of Robert, the part that clings fiercely to his world's values, that finds this display... slightly disturbing. It's not nearly as vehement as his feelings would have been before - perhaps it can be likened to the mixture of discomfort and awe that comes from seeing beautiful works of art carved from bones.

He is aware of the sheer skill that goes into the motions - the speed and precision are obvious to anybody with even a rudimentary knowledge of physics - and he can see the effortlessness that Don performs them with. Now, with some thought and assistance from his own training and what Leo has taught him, he can reconstruct what these moves might do in an actual fight.

On some level, that concerns him a little. On the other levels, though, he is both fascinated by Don's lithe grace and amazed by his sheer ability with something so deceptively simple as the bo staff.

He watches respectfully either way, not taking his eyes off of Don's motions as they continue.]

[After a minute or so of demonstration, Don spins the bo back to a ready position and returns to his center, only then looking away from the imaginary opponent he was battling and directing a shy, questioning gaze at his observer. What did you think?]

[Don's response is a soft, genuine smile and a slight nod of what might even be approval.]

... Is it... odd to say that you look... b-beautiful, when you are performing such motions? Even if they are... dangerous, I suppose, they... they have a sort of... [... grappling for the right words, here...] ... aesthetic quality. And... technically speaking, the precision is astounding.

[He pauses then, before continuing in a somewhat more sober tone.]

... Thank you for... allowing me to watch. It... is certainly different to see you do this, but... [Quietly:] I know that... this is very important to you, and your family. I... wish to be part of it as well... more than just, er, training alongside, so to speak.

[Don rubs his head, embarrassed - no one has ever described his ninjutsu that way before.]

[When Robert is done speaking, Don reflexively holsters the bo in his belt, then steps forward and offers his partner a hand up.]

[That's because nobody has ever had the strange perspective of this small man sitting in seiza in front of you, Don.

Robert takes Don's hand - with a surprising confidence - and stands. He doesn't wobble, not like he used to.]

... If... if it is something you would enjoy... we could p-practise together sometime. If, er, Leonardo does not mind...

[Leonardo can deal with it.]

You're wanting to train to me forever.

[Processing... processing... uh...]

... Hmm...

[Nope, sorry. Not getting it exactly.]

Ah, do you... mean that you wish me to train with you more often? Or, er... perhaps vice-versa...?

[He'll get this eventually, Don. It just requires abstractions that he has to build into his thinking.]

[... He's not sure what the opposite of that would be.]

Yes?

[Addressed the opposite way! Asking if he does, naturally.

Close enough either way, right? He got... something of it! It's a start. ~~Better than the blatant mistakes he's made earlier.~~]

... Well.

[Fidgeting with his fingers a little:] ... I... I do not mind. It... might even be n-nice, I suppose. [Though now he'll feel like he should be even more attentive to himself. Some self-consciousness has set in, though not enough to make him do more than look pitiably shy about the whole thing.]

Luceti Appointments

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