Duel 002: Peaceful Days! The Fluffiest Training Montage Commences

[fluffydeathdealer]

[It's a bit of a pain, being in a school with no teachers.

Ryou Bakura isn't the type of kid who really likes being too active; he's about on the level of most ordinary teenagers. But after being laid up for so long with the burns to his arms and leg, not only is he extremely restless, but he's sure even his metabolism won't hold up much longer, with the amount he eats. That's why, after checking to see that Henry isn't home to take him up on that training offer, he's decided to try treating this like school and taking an hour or so to do his very own gym class, all by himself. It'd be easier with teachers, but... he doesn't have a choice right now.

Most kids probably would just take the break and be lazy, but right now, Ryou's working hard. Apart from the occasional break, he can be found pretty easily in the east wing, dressed in gym clothes and doing everything from running laps on the track field to climbing ropes.

...though that last one is more like 'falling off ropes'. Stupid mats... they don't cushion that fall at all. Hopefully nobody's dumb enough to stand below him.]

Ow...

[Time for a banana and some water, he thinks.]

Ah, I'm so tired...

Comments

[moderndaydragon]

...Yeah. I know. It's... really silly to get so upset over someone I wasn't... even more than friends with ever, isn't it?

[Kai feels surprisingly warm and comfortable. She doesn't want to let go.]

But... he...

[It spills out, the floodgates already opened.]

He was the only one who I knew that accepted me... all the way. He saw me go crazy... he saw that... monster half of me angry and willing to hurt someone and he still... he still came looking for me later on...

...I just... can't have anything like that... I've never even had any friends until I came here, so... I should be happy with that... right?

[shadowscall]

"Not that silly."

Yeah, he likes hugging her too. It's been a while since he's hugged anyone. Since right before he ended up in this stupid place, actually.

Kai's eyes widen a bit at that. She'd done that? He wants to ask who, but- He's willing to bet he knows why Bakura had gone looking.

"He's not the only person in the world that'd still be willing to be your friend after something like that. There's me, and I'm sure others..."

Kai trails off, not sure what else to say.

[moderndaydragon]

[She sniffs a little, calming down some.]

...Can you? I... could end up even... killing someone, if I got angry enough in it...

[Still, a part of her wants to believe it. More than anything, having another friend to accept her like that...]

[shadowscall]

"Yeah, I could. ...And you're not the only one capable of awful things, you know."

Kai closes his eyes and hugs her tighter for a second before loosening his grip some. He was still hugging her, but she could pull away if she wanted.

"Every time I use those Corridors of mine, or open a portal, I'm playing with a power that's dangerous. I know that, and I'm careful, but still...sometimes it calls to me enough that I don't really care about consequences. I know I should, but..."

Kai laughs softly and shakes his head.

"Aren't we a pair."

It isn't quite the same thing, but it's close enough to him.

[moderndaydragon]

[Corridors... that's right, those portal things. The reassurance is making her relax a bit more, though she doesn't pull away. It's just... too comfortable right now, like this. The contact is something she's craved, even if not from this specific person.]

...I guess that's... similar to it.

[She wasn't tempted, persay... more just losing her temper. But even so...]

Yeah... I guess we are.

[shadowscall]

Honestly, despite the fact he's hugging a girl he really likes, and the conversation's been so serious, Kai wouldn't have a problem just curling up with her here and napping. Not a single issue. The thought does kind of give him a kick in the head, and he lets out a snort. He's not going to ask, is he?

Naw.

"Feeling better?"

He can ask her that instead! More important, anyway.

[moderndaydragon]

...A little. Thanks, Kai-kun.

[She pulls away, rubbing her face on her sleeve and sniffing a few more times. The crying's stopped, if nothing else.]

Sorry... I know you probably didn't want to hear about that. But it helped to talk about it.

[shadowscall]

"A little's better than nothing...and you're welcome."

Kai settles himself back on the couch and eyes the cookies on their plate while he thinks about how to respond to that. He really does still want to go punch Bakura, but he manages a smile at Karasu instead. He'll grump later.

"No, it's okay! I didn't mind." Well, not listening to her, anyway. "I'm glad it helped. I'll be around if you need to talk about anything, don't worry about it."

[moderndaydragon]

[She nods some, managing a smile. It's not her usual bright ones, but it's genuine none the less.]

...Thank you. I'm really lucky to have someone like you as a friend, Kai-kun. I... I'll probably want to talk some more later. Since that's okay.

[shadowscall]

Friend. Ouch. Well, what else is he right now? Besides, slow is good. It's normal, right? Unlike suddenly having a crush on a girl for the first time at seventeen.

...Maybe that's genetic too. Thanks mom.

Kai brightens some at seeing Karasu smile, and his turns into an outright grin. "No problem. Even if it's the middle of the night." He means that. "I don't mind."

[moderndaydragon]

I don't think I'll be coming to you in the middle of the night! I prefer sleeping in. But... I'll remember that, just in case.

[It's a bit like a poison, maybe. It still hurts, but having gotten it out, she feels much better.]

[shadowscall]

"So do I, but when you spend about two years being poked awake at dawn, you get used to sleeping weird hours. This place...it's kind of odd how quick I got used to just being in one spot again. Even if I'm still not really fond of it." Kai shakes his head and reaches out to grab a cookie. He doesn't take a bite, just turns it around in his hands. "I found some books on magic in the library, after our practice. There's one that's got spells pretty similiar to the stuff back home. I've been working with one." Kai laughs softly. "It's neat."

[moderndaydragon]

You woke up at dawn? Why?

[Karasu bites into another cookie, apparently in an attempted nibble, but, well, with her teeth...]

It is a little weird, isn't it? Being stuck in a strange place for a long time... But at least there's a lot of people here, right?

[shadowscall]

"It was what 'Jem was used to in her village. Get up early, get started on chores and things. She'd poke me with her fishing spear. Can you imagine how bad that smelled?" Kai makes a face. At least sometimes she'd used a freshly cut stick.

"Yeah...though at least it's not as many people as in a small town. Or a city." If that was the case, Kai would've ended up blending into the walls, never to be seen again.

[moderndaydragon]

That sounded like it hurt more than smelled bad... eesh. But I guess it worked in getting you up?

Yeah, that's true... I kind of like it. It's enough people to feel like this place is actually alive.

[shadowscall]

He lets out a bit of a sour laugh at that. Maybe it would have, if he didn't have worse pain to compare it to. "Eh, it wasn't that bad. Really, the smell bugged me worse than anything." Kai looks down at the cookie he's been playing with and finally takes a bite, chewing thoughtfully before he answers.

"You know, it does, but I'm actually glad there aren't any teachers around. That'd just be annoying." Although the thought of someone sending Bakura to detention is almost enough to make him snicker.

[moderndaydragon]

I don't know. Maybe it would be nice to have some classes to distract us from... well, everything.

[shadowscall]

"Well, there's magic classes?"

He gives her a hopeful smile. Let's see, what else...

"I'm still working on that whole 'maybe developing film' thing, so once I get that down, you want to help me find stuff to take pictures of?"

Wait, wait, that sounds bad. Totally not what it sounds like!

"I mean trees and the beach and stuff! Scenery."

[moderndaydragon]

[That does make her smile, looking down a little and pushing some of her hair behind her ear. She looks back up at the question, but can't help a laugh at that last part. What did he think she was going to assume?]

Sure. That sounds like fun!

[shadowscall]

"Okay. Lessons whenever, and the pictures whenever..."

That's a lot of whenever. Specifics, Kai, specifics...

"I was thinking it'd be kind of neat to get shots of the beach at sunset, maybe. Kind of want to compare it to childhood memories. My dad used to take me to the island where he grew up, so..."

Kai trails off and sets the remainder of his cookie back on the plate, a faint smile on his face.

"The magic stuff...um. We've got a ways to go, but maybe I can show you the spell I've been teaching myself. It's sort of like a shield, and it's got the potential to form a box, but that might take awhile."

Unless he threw some serious juice into it, but he wasn't mentioning that.

[moderndaydragon]

A beach at sunset... that sounds really beautiful.

[Romantic sort of NO BAD DRAGON NO THINKIE OF THAT. She finishes off another cookie, shaking her head a little. Magic, yes, please.]

A shield spell? That does sound pretty useful. A "box" kind of spell might help too, if I'm actually flying.

...assuming I could do this in dragon form at all, I mean.

[shadowscall]

"Yeah, it really is- uh." Subject change is good, yep. "It definitely takes some effort just doing it this way, you'll have to put a lot of work into it. So far I've only managed- well, watch."

Kai stands up and moves back a foot or so, holding a hand out in front of him. He bites his lip as he concentrates, and slowly something begins to form in front of his hand. It looks like a bluish-purple swirl of smoke that seems to solidify a little as it expands to the size of his hand.

"Ha. 'Kay, um...throw a cookie at it."