dissonates | [Voice / Action]

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I need to speak with one of the Malnosso.

[Today, Asch is all over the place. First to the plaza, to check the item bazaar for a few things; next, to the north edge of the village, above the houses, his favourite spot to ~~blow shit up~~ practice his fonic artes; finally, to the opposite edge, sword practice against the targets inside the barracks. He's gotten so restless since Luke's disappearance and he needs to stay on the move to avoid going crazy.

Feel free to bother him at any of those locations or even en route; he could use some socializing.]

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[Yeah, don't punch your instructor.] Bullshit. You barely even started.

Oh...I understand. [Well, she's just going to adjust her quiver a bit. Asch is kind of scary.] W-well, it was really nice meeting you, but I should probably be heading off. I have some things I need to take care of.

How trusting of you. [Yeah he's smirking now.]

I learn quickly. [Which is true. IE: Final Fantasy VII the game.]

Is that so surprising?

[UGH HE HATES COCKY PEOPLE] Fine, prove it.

Not surprising. Amusing.

[Asch shrugs dismissively, turning back to what he's doing. I'M SO SORRY REBECCA ;_; HE'D BE NICE IF HE KNEW HOW. Honest.] I appreciate the information you shared.

[Cloud hefts the sword; it's much more familiar in his hand this time, and he's got much better control. Probably not as good as he could have, but that can also be blamed on him knowing jack shit about the "proper" way to use one.

Cloud takes a practice strike at Asch.]

Hey, c'mon. That's not something to be amused about.

[Asch lifts his own sword to meet the strike, ducking his head slightly and bracing himself for the impact again. Better this time; surprisingly so. Obviously untrained, but he's definitely seen worse.]

[.....Sigh.] And this is why I don't try to play around.

[When Asch gives no indication or word for him to stop, Cloud presses onward with his assault. It's obvious that he knows his way around a blade -in a way that someone might recognize which end to use on the bad guys and has done it rather often- but hasn't been officially trained in any real technique. His strikes are erratic.]

Well. [Guy turns to the coffee machine.] Maybe not about something like that.

[Asch notices this, actually, and before too long he begins to make his own retaliation instead of just letting Cloud wail away at him. He doesn't take it too seriously - there's little sense in trying to injure someone he's in the middle of instructing - but he doesn't exactly go easy, either. Someone with the sort of experience Cloud obviously has isn't likely to appreciate pussyfooting.]

I was joking about Dist. But fine, whatever.

[He just won't bother.]

[Asch actually striking back instead of just playing defense surprises Cloud before he adapts. He can feel himself able to move faster without the weight and sheer size of the blade slowing him down, but he also can feel his blows lessen in power without the weight of the blade to drag them down. It's very strange, and more often than not Cloud is caught slicing from too far away, or not putting enough power behind his attacks.

His side and shoulder start to throb as well, and he reflects blankly that maybe he shouldn't have been so eager to practice today.]

[Siiiiggghhh. All right, fine.] Do you want any coffee?

[Though most of his attention is focused on meeting Cloud's strikes blow for blow, Asch keeps an eye on Cloud's technique, or lack thereof. His form isn't bad, but it could definitely use work; quick movement with a large weapon is challenging, to say the least, and without proper training it can't have been easy to stay alive, let alone win battles. Asch would respect that if he didn't think it was rather idiotic.

Before too long he picks up the pace, raising the ante for the offensive- time to show Cloud what small swords can do, so he can decide for himself what he really wants to do.]

[Remember that sullen, cat-in-the-rain voice at the desert oasis? Yeah.] ....No.

[Cloud had fought a wide variety of enemies; large, skilled, fast, powerful. He'd been put through concrete walls and knocked around four times before he'd even seen a blow.

He could tell that Asch as good, though. And moving as he was -focusing more on precision and strategy than overwhelming power- he knew he was going to lose. His side was aching and his shoulder throbbed with steady pangs. He moves too quickly -or too slow?- on a thrust, misses a step and Asch's sword scores a cut through his shirt and against his side. It feels like a whipcrack over an open wound and he drops to a knee to grab it.]

Oh stop that. Do you want any or not? [Please note that Guy is still getting two mugs out regardless.]

[Asch stops short as soon as Cloud falls, lowering his blade. Something's wrong; someone as strong as that shouldn't have gone down from a grazing blow.]

...What?

Nothing. [Cloud grips his shirt, then pushes himself back to his feet and shakes the tenseness out of his arm by drawing the sword in a quick, readying arc in front of himself. It hurt, but not as much as his pride.

Damn you Yazoo, you son of a bitch.] Let's keep going.

[Noticing this.] You're going to make it anyway.

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