The Park, Friday Afternoon

[uncertain_dume]

So, the guy with the lightsaber in the park today was a little shorter than the usual guy. He also seemed far more confident in his swordwork, though, running through Form III patterns as though he'd only just done them yesterday. Which... well... he had.

He also appeared to have a little bit more pink in his braid than he had yesteray morning. And a blue streak in the rest of his hair. And it was possible that he was keeping his eyes closed as he worked through his forms at least in part because his braid kept swinging into view and it was just so pink. Like... bright pink. Like Caleb had a Zeltron sparring partner back at the Temple who would have been jealous of that hair.

Was it possible to have buyer's remorse on stubbornness? Caleb might have had buyer's remorse on stubbornness, because he never would have let Rosa Emily put so much color into his hair otherwise. And his Master was either going to lecture him or laugh at him or both in equal measures once she was out of the bacta and she saw this, and the hair wasn't even the strangest part of his yesterday.

He spun on his heel, bringing his lightsaber down and forward, his dog (he still wasn't convinced Stance wasn't just a super weird wolf) watching intently from where he was sitting by a bench, as he waited for Tip to arrive for her Friday sword practice, like she had said she would.

[OOC: Open Park for all your tiny lightsaber friend needs!]

Comments

[intotheout]

They were both going to end up dead.

This was a lot more depressing than Tip had thought it would be.

"Anyway. I don't have a lightsaber, but if you want to run through some forms or something, I can do some of them, too. Not as good as a padawan or anything, but I'm pretty good for a beginner."

[uncertain_dume]

"You've been learning forms?" Caleb blinked at that. "I mean, lightsaber forms? Which ones do you know?"

This was an interesting but unexpected development.

[intotheout]

"Um," Tip said. "Okay, hang on, what's the name of the one that's all about defensive moves and wearing your opponent down?"

She was still proud of herself for remembering "Padawan".

[uncertain_dume]

"Form III," Caleb offered. "Soresu."

He smiled a little.

"You know some Soresu? That's great! That's what my Master goes over with me most often. I'm not bad at Jar'Kai, but you need two lightsabers for that."

[intotheout]

"That's the one," Tip said. "My teacher learned it from a Jedi master awhile back. Stuff gets, um, weird around here a lot, so he offered to teach me some moves so I wouldn't have to rely on a gun."

[uncertain_dume]

Caleb considered that for a moment, and then nodded and ignited his lightsaber.

"Guns are overrated anyway," he replied. "You're lucky to have found a teacher who knows it, though. People don't tend to teach outside of the Order. Masters only get to take one apprentice at a time, so they tend to prefer to teach other people who are strong in the Force."

He couldn't picture the series of events that would lead to someone outside of the Order being taught Soresu, but that wasn't a judgement so much as it was curiosity.

"I'm ready to start when you are."

[intotheout]

Tip pulled out her bamboo sword and fell into the first stance easily. "Maybe you can give me tips. My teacher's a little out of practice."

Sorry, Kanan, but it was true.

[uncertain_dume]

Caleb smiled and slipped into the first stance right along with her.

"I'll see what I can do," he promised as he braced one arm against the other, saber above his head, blade pointed toward the ground. "Maybe you can give your teacher some pointers the next time you see him, too."

[intotheout]

Tip let out a high pitched squeal of a giggle before managing to cut herself off.

"Sure!" she squeaked. "Could be!"

[uncertain_dume]

...

Caleb lowered the lightsaber again and just kind of blinked at her, baffled.

And then looked at his lightsaber in question. Was it something he'd done?

[intotheout]

Tip cleared her throat a few times, clearly making an effort to get herself back under control.

"Mm. Sorry. You had to be there."

[uncertain_dume]

"I, uh. Apparently so." He blinked again, and then, tentatively, slid back into the opening stance. "... But you're good now?"

[intotheout]

"Mmhm!" She was going to do her best, anyway. The hilarity of this situation was still bubbling away happily on the inside. "I am totally focused on the form."

[uncertain_dume]

"You're not," Caleb laughed, "but the sooner we get started, maybe the sooner you'll be able to focus on it."

[intotheout]

"Yes, sensei," Tip said automatically, then had to bite her lip to keep from laughing again.

Then she remembered Kanan's admonitions during her early lessons about not biting her lip or sticking out her tongue unless she wanted to bite them off and had to try to recenter herself all over again.

[uncertain_dume]

"I have no idea what that means," Caleb replied brightly. Beause some things never changed. "But so long as you're good to go, that probably doesn't matter."