i_speak_softly | Forty-Eighth Theory [Accidental Video/Action for Housemates]

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Forty-Eighth Theory [Accidental Video/Action for Housemates]

[It should be immediately obvious that Don didn't mean to turn his journal on, and isn't even aware that it is on. He isn't looking at it. He isn't saying anything. In fact, he might not be awake. He's just sitting slumped in a chair, his head on the desk-like counter before him.]

[If you look past Donatello to the background of the scene, you might be able to identify the setting as a subway car. A very strange subway car, though - it's stuffed with technology that might look futuristic even to someone from the same world and time as Don.]

[Do you quietly look away, Lucetians? Or do you intrude on the private moment?]

((Backdated to a little earlier this morning, thanks LJ.))

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Tai chi is a fighting style derived from Tao philosophy. Tao is about accepting things as they happen, without resisting them or initiating other things. In tai chi, instead of attacking or defending, you absorb your enemy's strikes and turn his own energy back on him. It's very non-violent, because you only do to your opponent what he tried first to do to you.

[Robert nods slowly. If any fighting style would suit a Terran, this one seems to be it.]

I... I think I could learn this. [Though he still has the crawling feeling that it would be something he'd be jailed for back on Terra, but here is a different story.

... If he ever goes back home with this knowledge. he wonders if he can explain this to the authorities.]

Is this similar to... wh-what you use?

[He shakes his head.] I know a little, but mostly I study ninjutsu, which focuses on speed and precision. The aim is to defeat your opponent as quickly as possible.

[Robert has the suspicion that this is something he needs to be taught about too.]

... is... is it something you would be willing to tell me more about, perhaps...? A-at, at some point?

[He leans back, picking up the screwdriver and going at the underside of the control panel again.]

I'll show you.

[Robert watches Don fiddle with the control panel, conscious of how realistic the simulation seems. He wonders if the screwdriver itself is simulated...]

I would... be very fascinated to watch...

... There are still other things I would like to do soon, too. When... when this debacle ends.

[Nope; part of his regular gear.]

[The metal sheet comes loose, and Don pries it off and lowers it to the deck.]

Oh?

[Almost shyly:] I had, er, wished to... see the hot springs for myself. Now that I know the teleporters work for me, at any rate.

[It's an invitation for Don to come along.]

The teleporters? Did you go?

[He rolls to his knees, then stands up, taking the metal sheet with him.]

I have taken the one to the ocean before, when I went for swimming lessons with Doctor Mizuno at the ocean... I assume that the hot springs teleporter works the same way, but, er, I have never attempted to use it.

[Robert peers at the space where the metal sheet used to be.] Why did you remove that...?

Needed it. [Don carries the sheet to the still-open hatch of the sub and pushes it out, laying it across the water to form a gangplank. He kneels on the end, to hold it in place, and looks back over his shoulder.]

I didn't know Ami was giving you swimming lessons.

[Oh. That explains it.]

Ah - well, she was teaching other individuals as well... But yes, she was. I appreciate all the effort and assistance, really... [Hopefully he'll be able to swim with the family on outings or something in awhile.]

... Do I walk on the platform you just created? [That'd be less embarrassing than Turtle Bridge mk. II.]

Is she a good swimmer?

[He nods to the platform.] It seemed easier.

Quite skilled, as far as I can tell. Though she had never taught anybody before...

[Robert cautiously traverses the gang plank, this time by actually walking. He doesn't slip, yay!]

... Thank you.

[Don pulls the metal back in, leaving it lying on the floor. Then he climbs out the hatchway, hits the button to close it, and flips to the edge of the pool.]

When we get to the hot springs, will you show me what you learned?

I certainly shall. [Robert smiles winningly; he's actually semi-capable of swimming now! Sort of.] Though... I am not certain of the layout of the hot springs... is it, er, possible to actually swim in them?

Oh, sure. [With a quick return smile, Don turns to lead Robert over to the training dummy - or, at least, to the hologram of the training dummy.]

[Robert follows closely, studying the dummy with some mix of interest and confusion. He doesn't know what it's for yet, of course.]

What exactly is this?

[It hadn't occurred to Don that he would have to explain something as basic as a training dummy, but apparently he will have to do exactly that.]

It's a training dummy. Canvas and sand. Used for practicing strikes.

[... Derp. The shape probably should've been a hint, but Robert is downright stupid when it comes to fighting-related things...]

Ah, I see...

[He takes a few steps closer to it, appraisingly. He has to admit, it's a lot more palatable hitting this than a simulation.]

[Take your time, Robert. When you turn around again, Don will be holding that thing he usually carries on his back, waiting for you to be ready to see what he can do with it.]

[Robert steps back and away from the training dummy, looking at the staff in Don's hands. Probably wooden, though he inured himself to that part long ago. And now he knows it's a weapon, and finds to his own surprise he's not really as bothered by this as he would've been.]

This is a demonstration, I presume?

I've wanted to show you this for a long time. [He starts walking the staff over and over in his hands.] This is called a bo. It's a simple but deceptively powerful weapon. Its strengths are range, versatility, and the fact that you can find one anywhere.

[As he speaks, he starts spinning the bo more quickly, and in increasingly complex patterns: over his head, behind his back, one-handed moves to either side. At this stage it looks more like performance art than fighting, though Robert can probably imagine how similar moves could be used to seriously injure a person.]

I've been training with it for years. I've studied other weapons too, but I always come back.

[Robert watches, quite stunned by this display of sleight-of-hand. If it wasn't normally used for combat, this would actually be really beautiful to watch.]

You are obviously quite skilled with it...

Many, many hours of practice. [He spins the bo to a stop and holsters it.] But first I had to earn it by mastering a lot of other things. [He raises his hands and shifts into a standard form.] Before you can learn to fight with a weapon, you have to learn to fight with your own hands. But the real first thing you have to learn - [He drops his stance and tucks one foot behind the opposite knee.] - is balance.

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