Atlas Gym, Sunday Morning

[suitably_heroic]

The little LIGHTSABER SPAR IN PROGRESS sign was back up on the door of Atlas Gym. This time, though, no Skywalker was involved in the process.

Last night had been tense; Atton had spent at least part of it curled up on the sofa in silence, as if he and Meetra were locked up in some competition over who would stop looking and start talking, first. In the end, no one had won, and the next morning, he was a spring all coiled up full of energy. There had been only one sane option after that.

It was a good one.

Practice lightsabers cut and whirled through the air, catching, glancing, trading blows. This wasn't like sparring Anakin, where he spent the entire fight trying to figure out some weakness, something to bring the big guy down: the Force bond in his head was flaring up big, and he and Meetra moved like it was a dance, choreographed. He'd blown past the manipulative tricks and straight into Ataru with its demonstrative acrobatics; best way to blow off steam without getting reckless.

She was better than him, but she didn't seem interested in getting the upper hand, either. (Meetra knew what Atton was doing - avoiding a conversation. But she was unsure whether it was her place to force one, and if it was, whether that would even be successful. And it was... a joy, to see how much his technique had grown.)

Eventually, their moves started to blur with Force speed, a flip, a kick, a fight taken up into the air and then back down again. Atton forgot to hold back, and went all in, and it was beautiful, adrenaline flowing through his veins.

By the time they finished, lightsabers poised at each other's throats and eyes locked, they were thoroughly exhausted.

"You've come a long way from complaining about every form I taught you about," Meetra panted.

"Yeah," Atton said, equally out of breath, "Turns out it was useful. Go figure."

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[sith_happened]

Anakin had headed back to the island while the kids were decorating his birthday cake (it was an awkward weekend, yeah), and was drawn to the sound of lightsabers.

"Coming in!" he called before opening the door.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton had just pushed off from a blow Meetra had nearly hit him with-- his feet hit the ground hard only a few meters away from the door. "You don't need to yell," he called, "We're avoiding the general door area."

... Except for right now, but shush.

[defiance-exiled.livejournal.com]

Meetra gave her lightsaber a little swing just to keep her muscles from seizing up. She took a few steps backwards and looked towards the newcomer.

He got a nod.

[sith_happened]

"I didn't want to blamed if you crocheted badly off the ceiling," Anakin retorted, smiling as he came in.

[suitably_heroic]

"This guy's not nearly as amazing as he thinks he is," Atton told Meetra. "Just so you're aware."

[defiance-exiled.livejournal.com]

"But he's strong in the Force," Meetra observed.

She deactivated her training lightsaber and walked towards Atton, the door, and Anakin. "Sorry; Atton wanted to spar. I didn't realize someone else might need the room."

[sith_happened]

"There aren't so many lightsabers around the island," Anakin said. "I was curious to see who was sparring and how good they were."

[defiance-exiled.livejournal.com]

Meetra's mouth quirked. "I'm decent," she said. She tilted her head. "My name is Meetra Surik," she offered, "And you are...?"

Atton hadn't really gotten around to giving her the what's-up with the Jedi on the island. She hadn't really wanted to push there, either, even if she could sense them.

[sith_happened]

"Anakin Skywalker," he said, inclining his head. "I teach ethics here."

[suitably_heroic]

"Which becomes more hilarious the better you get to know him," Atton said.

He clicked his lightsaber off, too. "Skywalker and I spar here sometimes," he said vaguely. "He likes to crowd people out of existence."

[defiance-exiled.livejournal.com]

"I didn't realize there were other Jedi in this time period," Meetra said, tilting her head. "Well, you mentioned someone-- but you said that was years ago."

Atton shrugged. "Things can get a little complicated out here."

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "The island is a bit of a dimension nexus," he said. "I've managed to teach both my Master's Master and my own great-great-grandson. Not at the same time."

[suitably_heroic]

"Visas has been here too, and Mira," Atton said, with a casual gesture of his head. "Skywalker here, though, he's about... a couple thousand years away from when we live."

You know.

Not that that had anything to do with anything he might've told her.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Karina came to a dead halt outside the gym as she read the sign on the door. She hadn't really been meaning to go to the gym but that sign was...

"Claiming the entire gym for a duel?" she muttered. "Rude."

So, yeah, she was going to go in. They probably didn't own the gym.

As proof that she had some sense, though, Karina did say loudly through door, "I'm coming in and if you kill me, I will haunt you."

She didn't wait for a response, just figured that was warning enough to open the door and step inside.

[suitably_heroic]

...Just in time for Atton to do a flip over Meetra's head, parrying a blow before landing on the ground not too far from Karina.

He sensed someone there, but didn't have a whole lot of time to react to it, as his opponent followed him, their lightsabers clashing.

Look, neither of them had actually claimed the gym. That sign was there to disclaim the NPCs folks staffing the place right now in case anyone lost any limbs.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Was that a muffed 'eep'? That was totally a muffled 'eep'.

Not that she was just going to stay there and maybe get hit, no. If there was one thing Karina was pretty good at, it was getting the hell out of the way.

So there she went, sliding further down the wall and she probably wasn't going to stop until she found a reasonably safe looking corner. Sure, going out the door would've been easier but shut up, she hadn't thought of that until after moving away from it.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton caught another blow and then slipped past Meetra with Force-augmented speed. "We got company," he said.

In turn, Meetra cut her next move short, her lightsaber swinging in a clean arc until it wound up just at her side.

They both turned towards the girl, and-- "Ah, Karina. Poodoo."

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

"Oh, hello to you too," she said snippily.

He totally deserved that after that greeting.

Awe at the way they'd been fighting could come later. First, she had to be grumpy.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton winced, deactivating his lightsaber and walking towards her. "You doing okay?" he checked. "We didn't get you on the backswing, right?"

He figured he'd have noticed, but he was going to go and check anyway, before she started yelling at him.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine," Karina said, crossing her arms. (The better to glower at him more effectively.) "I got out of the way in time."

She really was good at dodging--though it had helped a lot that neither of them had actually been going for her. She sooo couldn't match their speed, holy crap.

[suitably_heroic]

To be fair, their speed was largely fueled by an intergalactic energy field. It was a little like cheating.

Or a lot.

"If it helps, these are training lightsabers," he said, "They don't cut. Singe a little, though."

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

...

"...and that's supposed to help" she demanded incredulously.

[suitably_heroic]

"Hey, would you rather get a burn or lose your arm?" Atton retorted.

[defiance-exiled.livejournal.com]

"What he means is that we're sorry that we scared you," Meetra said, crossing her arms, "And we were trying to do our utmost best not to hurt you."

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Karina blinked.

"Well, yeah," she said, like that had been obvious. Apparently they were going to have to use their words properly or something. "But, thanks, I guess. Apology accepted."

Using words properly was not nearly as fun as just bitching Atton out though.

"I did announce my presence before coming in though," she added, so they didn't think she was stupid.