The Park, Friday Afternoon

[uncertain_dume]

Well, the weather had cycled right back around to stupid somewhere between last week and this one, and so Kanan was once again sitting in the shade of a large tree and meditating.

This time, though, it looked as though he had come prepared to do exactly that. His armor and boots were set off to the side, so he was sitting barefoot. He'd worn his short-sleeved button down shirt again, not really a sparring shirt, and he had extra bottles of water and even a few cushions set to the side in case anybody cared to join him.

Not that he was sitting on a cushion himself, no. But still.

Stance was, as usual, with him today, although the pup was napping at his side, content to enjoy the shade and the occasional brush of his person checking up on him through the Force.

It was a good day to do not much at all. Though he had brought the bamboo swords along again, just in case meditation wasn't enough to keep people happy.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

Meditation days meant that was when Rey really didn't want to interrupt, so she didn't. She took a seat on the ground by Stance, waiting patiently and idly playing with blades of grass. This was a perfectly fine day for her.

[uncertain_dume]

Not long after she sat down, Kanan's mouth turned in a small quirk of a smile.

"I promise I'm not going to be disappointingly overheated for the entire summer," he offered. "Today just seemed like a good day for some meditating."

And he was disappointingly overheated.

[thatwaslucky]

"Which is good, since this isn't even that bad," she teased.

She was biased!

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan chuckled and ducked his head a little before finally opening his eyes and grinning in her direction.

"It's bad enough," he decided. "And the shade is nice no matter what you're used to. Besides. Stance is comfortable."

Which had nothing to do with Kanan's ability to spar, it should be noted.

[thatwaslucky]

"Oh yeah, he's definitely not doing any sparring today," Rey agreed, smiling down at Stance. "I wish I could be that comfortable, ever."

[uncertain_dume]

Stance, as if on cue, rolled over, tongue lolling lazily out of his happy-doggy-smile.

"I'm pretty sure it isn't possible for a humanoid person to attain a level of comfort like that," Kanan mused. "I'm kind of jealous, the positions he manages to pour himself into."

[thatwaslucky]

"And he can just do this in the middle of the park, on the ground, not a care in the world."

Of course with that position Rey also sort of had to go in for a belly rub so she really wasn't helping.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan went to the park. It was Friday, he was doing his usual friend-checking. He was mildly surprised but very pleased to see Kanan was practicing some self-care.

Stealing his dog, Kaidan flopped down in the shade and began snuggling his hands all over Stance's head.

"So. Tell me about swordwork?" he invited. It was possibly the lamest conversational opening he'd ever given another human being, but it was that kind of day.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan smiled a little, opening his eyes and looking Kaidan's way.

"Tell you about swordwork? That's vague," he teased. "Were you looking to give it a try, or did you just want to listen to me ramble about it for a while?"

[spectre_alenko]

"The latter, and then maybe the former," Kaidan admitted, petting Stance's ears. "Maybe not. Don't know, so thus the asking for the rambling first."

[uncertain_dume]

"Fair enough," Kanan replied, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose for me, it's as much a way to connect with the person I left behind when I took this name as it is a way to move forward as who I am. Running the old forms, it's like dredging up muscle memory I had in another life. But teaching it to Gratuity has been... gratifying, I suppose. Validating in a way. She wanted an alternative to guns. I gave her one. And in doing so I found a healthy place to put the frustration and anger I've had in me for so long."

He frowned a little, sure that wasn't quite what Kaidan had meant.

"It's precision," he added. "It's focus. It's mind against mind and body against body, and the consequences are just as dire as they are in a shootout with blasters, but there's something else to it. Something more immediate, more physical. Maybe not intimate, but as close as you can get while you're trying to not get cleaved in two. It's like wrestling without the grappling, like a bar fight steeped in thousands of years of tradition. Maybe not practical from a modern battle standpoint, but then, I did a hell of a lot more damage with a lightsaber during the war than I could've done with a blaster. It's still an appropriate weapon, you just need to know the circumstance that calls for it."

[spectre_alenko]

Caleb. Who'd trained with a light saber. Kaidan put that together and nodded thoughtfully. It was a little ..gratifying? ..endearing..? that for all Kanan's disassociation, he was reaching out even this much to the kid he used to be. It was an odd thing, to think that Kanan was essentially dividing himself into two people, and Kaidan considered both of them to be a friend. The idea of Caleb being shoved into some mental blackbox was unpleasant.

He said exactly none of that. No, that wasn't what he'd meant by asking, but that didn't make him any less glad to hear it.

"Like martial arts," Kaidan offered, "The forms on their own, controlled motion."

[uncertain_dume]

"Like martial arts," Kanan confirmed. "It is a martial art. Adding a sword doesn't make it less of one."

He glanced over toward the bamboo training swords he'd brought.

"If you're ever interested in going over a few forms..."

Just to get a feel for a sword in his hand, maybe. Or as another outlet for the restlessness that Kanan could feel whenever he reached into the Force.

[intotheout]

Tip, in the meantime, had come prepared for anything -- including bringing her wooden cutlass from swashbuckling class. (Was she supposed to keep it? Who knew? But it was a class about piracy, surely keeping it at least earned her extra credit or something.) Her sword stock was getting a little ridiculous, with the bamboo sword, the Zora sword, and now a cutlass. She was going to have to look into carrying them in something other than her school backpack.

"Hey, Sensei," she greeted, figuring Kanan knew she was there whether his eyes were open or not. "Meditation time again, huh?"

[uncertain_dume]

"Some days are meditation days," Kanan replied. "I brought the swords along anyway. Student's choice today, what curriculum would you like to touch on? Anything you're feeling ready to move forward with? Anything you have questions about?"

He was usually pretty good at observing, himself, and addressing things as they came up. But getting her input from time to time seemed important too.

[intotheout]

Tip shrugged. "I guess . . . I mean, it might be nice to try sparring other opponents? I mean, I know I can do it against you, and I've practiced some with Uma, too, but doesn't that kind of mean I'm only really going to learn how to fight you two?"

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan considered that one for a moment.

"I don't have many other opponents to pick from," he noted, thoughtfully. "Peter, but Peter and I break all the rules along the way. Rey?"

He reached a hand up and scratched his chin as he thought.

"I can ask around, see if anybody else knows their way around a melee weapon."

[intotheout]

Tip shrugged. "There's no rush or anything," she said. "I can probably find some people myself, too. But you asked, so."

[uncertain_dume]

"I asked, because I want to make sure that you're getting as much out of these lessons as you possibly can," Kanan replied. "If you think you need more sparring partners, I'll find more sparring partners. Not everything out there is going to handle a blade the way I do, after all."

In fact, that would be a rarity.

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando found his way to the park, only getting a little lost along the way. A short sleeved button shirt was tucked into a pair of light linen slacks. It wasn't entirely appropriate for the beastly weather, but it was about as far as he was willing to downgrade his wardrobe in concession.

There was a man, and a dog, taking a nap in the shade. The area in front of him looked set up for an event of some kind. Hernando tried to keep out of his way, and also quiet to not disturb the somnolent pair.

The park enchanted him. There were so many plants here, even of types he was certain didn't grow in this region of the world. Tiny flowers like jewels hid among the grass. There was enough shade that the air was a touch cooler than it had been on the walk here, if not so cool as the sea breeze at the shop.

[uncertain_dume]

Huh. There in the Force was a presence that Kanan hadn't encountered before. Someone new to the island, most likely, since he hadn't sensed a presence quite the same as this one during other meditations past.

It didn't hurt that there was an unmistakable air of novelty about him. Smiling faintly, he opened his eyes and looked that way. He was a little loathe to interrupt, given just how enraptured the other man seemed by all of this, but all the same, he called over with a light, "Good afternoon, there."

[hernando_fuentes]

"Hello," Hernando greeted apologetically, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb your nap."

The dog.. did the dog have colored spots? It appeared to. Hernando smiled at it.

[uncertain_dume]

The dog absolutely did. Because if the island was going to make a pit-stop in the land of Lisa Frank for a while, it stood to reason that somebody was going to end up with a ridiculous dog.

"I was meditating, actually," Kanan replied, his smile going a little crooked for a moment. "But it's fine. In weather like this, a nap is even a little tempting. Stance here," he gestured to the dog, "definitely has the right idea, anyway."

[hernando_fuentes]

"He is a very pretty dog," Hernando said, "I like his colors."

Hernando didn't even know Lisa Frank worlds existed, and the art teacher in him really wanted to. "Do you meditate here often? It seems like a very nice place for it."

[uncertain_dume]

"The colors aren't even the best part about him," Kanan replied grinning. Because he had a bias in favour of his weird dog. "And I'll meditate here every now and again, mostly when the weather's no good for training." And then he paused and gestured toward the pair of shinai leaning up against the trunk of the tree. "I have a student, she wanted me to teach her. So I'm out here every Friday, at least, either to meditate or swing one of those around."