The Park, Friday Afternoon

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan was still in a pretty good mood today. Yesterday had been productive. He'd set his nerves at ease with a good talk with Sabine after class, had stopped by Amaya's to pick up an actual metal sword, and had even made time to go watch a stupid movie at the community center, where he hadn't so much as glanced Seivarden's way.

It was all kind of nice, really. And now he was at the park with his dog and three different swords. The dog was demonstrating his impressive grasp of the command 'stay' by sitting patiently beside the bench watching Kanan work. Two of the swords, the bamboo training sword and the one he'd picked up from Amaya, were leaning up against the bench, waiting for any potential sparring partners. The third, Kanan's lightsaber, was assembled and in his hand, being wielded with swift, deadly precision as he worked through his forms.

He wasn't even holding back today. Even if Form III didn't involve the same acrobatics as many of the other ones, there was a speed behind his movements that surpassed usual human ability, and today he didn't seem to mind terribly if anybody happened to see.

So, really, yesterday had gone well.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

It hadn't really clicked how wrong last week had felt until Rey stopped by this week and watched for a bit.

"This is better," she said.

[uncertain_dume]

"This definitely feels better," Kanan agreed, giving the lightsaber in his hand a spin as he turned to face Rey. Yeah, he was grinning. It really was an improvement. After another moment, he gave a little whistle, which was apparently the signal he'd taught to Stance telling him it was safe to come say hello, now. Immediately, the dog was trotting over to Rey with his tail wagging. "Last week was an experience I'd rather never repeat, if I can help it. Paranoia's exhausting."

Funny, that.

[thatwaslucky]

Look at Stance being a good boy! Rey immediately crouched down to say hello.

"I'm guessing everything's okay now?"

[uncertain_dume]

"About as okay as I figure it possibly can be," Kanan agreed, grinning a little as he shut his lightsaber off and clipped it, whole, to his belt. "No more weird paranoid training sessions spent holding back, at least until the next crop comes in and I get a chance to figure out where they stand, too."

So, still careful. Forever careful. He wasn't quite at a point in his life yet where he could stop worrying about it.

[thatwaslucky]

"What changed?" Rey asked. Because maybe it should happen more often, he seemed happy.

[uncertain_dume]

"I actually did something about what was bothering me, instead of running away from it."

Which, for the record, was something new and novel after all these yeras.

"Had a good talk with someone. Maybe not an easy talk. But a good one."

[thatwaslucky]

"Congratulations. I'm very proud."

She said it lightly, but she actually was.

[uncertain_dume]

"Honestly, I kind of am, too," Kanan admitted. "Running gets under the skin. Becomes the easiest solution to things that have better fixes. I've done a lot of it over the years."

[thatwaslucky]

"Even after you've been here so long?"

Of course this was Rey, who did the exact opposite of running by trying to stay put.

[intotheout]

"Well. Someone's feeling better."

Tip was having another "please don't make me raise my arms" day, but she was very glad to see the lightsaber out and singing.

[uncertain_dume]

"Someone is," Kanan said, lowering his lightsaber, reaching into a pouch on his belt, and pulling out a tenner. "Had a good talk with Sabine. This is yours."

[intotheout]

Tip laughed. "And it only took a week! Are you feeling a little silly right now?"

[uncertain_dume]

"Honestly, I'm not," Kanan replied, shrugging. "Silly for putting it off for so long, maybe. But she understood my caution. Especially after I showed her this." He held up his lightsaber hilt, then clipped it to his belt. "Mostly I'm glad I got over myself this quickly to talk it out."

[intotheout]

"Well, I'm proud of you." And quietly taking at least partial credit for him getting over himself so quickly, yes. "You showed a lot of maturity."

[uncertain_dume]

"And there's something I don't get told often," Kanan said, laughing and shaking his head. "Feels good. I might have to start making a habit of it."

He held the ten out for her to take.

"So, what are you feeling up for today? Is Amaya still doing everything in her power to turn your arms to glue?"

[intotheout]

"Yes," Tip huffed, sagging even as she pocketed that ten. "We were digging trenches today. I'm beginning to think that class is just a scam to get free labor."

Although she did hire people to clear out the debris after last week. . . .

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing outright.

"I'm willing to bet that it's at least partly that," he replied. Because he had already spoken to Amaya about exactly that. "But it's still educational free labor, isn't it?"

[2_old_for_this]

Peter showed up with his own sword in tow, waving at Kanan before he got close enough to stand and watch.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan finished the next few steps of his form, and then shut off his lightsaber and straightened up again, turning and waving back to Peter.

"Hey," he called. "Good to see you here. I've been looking forward to this since last night."

[2_old_for_this]

"Me too," Peter confessed. He hefted his sword and took a few swings just to warm up. "I don't get to do this often enough."

[uncertain_dume]

"And here I've been getting to do it more and more," Kanan chuckled, making his way over and picking up the blade that Amaya had let him borrow. "There's something I never figured I'd get to say, once."

[2_old_for_this]

"I didn't think I'd get to say it much, either, once the world moved on to guns," Peter said. "Steel's not as good at blocking projectiles as your blade is."

[uncertain_dume]

"Still, it can't hurt to keep in practice, hm?" Kanan quirked a little smile as he gave the sword a twirl in one hand. "Especially around here. Never know when you might need it."

[2_old_for_this]

Peter nodded in agreement. "I should probably keep up my marksmanship, too, as far as that goes."

He nodded at Kanan's sword. "Have you had a chance to get used to the feel of it yet?"

[uncertain_dume]

"You ever need a partner for target practice, let me know," Kanan said easily, and then gave the sword another twirl for good measure. "And nah, I only picked it up yesterday afternoon. But I figure it shouldn't take too much to get the hang of it. The theory isn't all that different, except that it's got a flat side."