everybody's got their limits

[unknowable]

Who: Adam Parrish (unknowable) and Maketh Tua (mismanagement)
What: Blackmailing the person who tried to kill you into teaching you how to shoot: the Adam Parrish story
Where: Spire 1, 101 - Maketh's place
When: The night after this thread
Warnings: Possibly nothing, maybe talking about death & violence



[When it comes down to this, Adam is not totally certain it's a great idea. It's true that she was under the influence of the gods when she tried to kill him, but she did still try to kill him, and that's not something he should - or will - forget. But she's skilled in ways that he isn't, and those are the things it would be useful to know.

Not that he wants to fight. Violence toward others isn't an area he wants to get comfortable with, and if he can leave it to people he trusts, he probably will. But he doesn't want to leave his protection in the hands of other people, and while his magic can do far more than even he understands sometimes, he doesn't want to depend on it.

Something like this will help. And maybe he wants to understand Maketh better - to know who the person who injured him is. Maybe.

He knocks quietly on her door late at night, not sure she'll even be there, though she was the one who told him to come.]

Comments

[unknowable]

It doesn't always understand, but I can communicate with it. I can get it to understand.

[It's taken him a lot of effort to even get that far, but he can do it, now.]

And it wants to protect me. If there's a better way to do that, I think it would.

[mismanagement]

[That's good. Maketh can work with that.]

All right. We'll start small, I suppose.

[She straightens her back.]

The first thing one needs to know is when someone is about to hit you. Before you can think of blocking or dodging, you need to see it coming. Understand?

[unknowable]

That much I'm good at.

[He knows it too well. The set of an angry jaw, the way someone's shoulders move when they're about to swing. He doesn't really like talking about it, especially to strangers.]

I used to get hit a lot at home.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh just nods. That explains a few things.] The trick is not to freeze when you see it coming - but to react decisively. Preferably before the blow lands. If you can get your power to react in a certain way when you recognize the signs that it's needed, then you will likely survive.

[unknowable]

[He nods. It makes sense, but freezing - covering his face, protecting himself - is always his first reaction. He learned too well not to fight back.]

It tends to act on its own when I'm scared of something. I guess I can try to... talk to it, convince it to do something else instead of just lashing out.

[mismanagement]

That would help. [Maketh hesitates.] Do you wish to continue, or think on what I've said?

[unknowable]

We can probably stop there for now. It's enough to get started on, anyway.

[And it takes time for him to communicate with Cabeswater in a way the forest can understand.]

But thank you.

[mismanagement]

All right. [Maketh hesitates, not sure what to say to that. Not long ago she tried to kill this boy--Adam. She knows his name now. He can't possibly trust her, and yet he wants to know how to fight. How to protect himself.

How strange and sad that she's the one he asked.] You...are welcome, I suppose.

[unknowable]

[He wouldn't know who else to ask. It's not that he trusts her, exactly, it's more that he thinks he knows what to expect from her. If nothing else, she seems intelligent and practical, and that suits Adam. He's the same.]

If there's anything I can do for you in return, let me know.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh nods, though she's not sure she would. Not unless there was no other choice. Part of her still wants to bolt from the room and pretend the thing that prompted this never happened in the first place. But she will not be weak. She will stand in line and do what must be done.] Of course.

[unknowable]

[He stands, and nods at her in thanks. It's not that he's put it behind him, really, but rather that he's now getting something in exchange for what happened. That's not usually how it works. How could he stay mad?]

Then I'll see you around.