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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 0:01:49 GMT -8
Now she was getting a little frustrated. This was the second time she had hit him and it had no effect. She wasn't that weak!
So maybe it was something about him...?
She didn't have long to dwell on it. As she expected, the staff began to morph behind her: her own hand on the stone could feel it. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she bobbed her head downwards so that the nickel sized pillar shot over her head at Mathew.
She grinned as he stepped away, knowing exactly what was coming given her current position. Delilah braced for it as much as she could, in her heart, she knew this was gonna hurt.
His knee found her stomach, and although the metallic coating of her Qi hadn't moved from the spot it was in before (shielding her from the destructive damage the blow surely would have cost her), the force was enough to lift Delilah off the ground and jar her considerably.
Yep. I was right. THAT hurt.
She coughed and her saliva had a metallic tang to it that told her a capillary or a vein had ruptured somewhere. No big deal, but kind of annoying. In spite of her pain, she grabbed tightly onto Mathew's leg with her arms, one going over-top his thigh and the other snaking behind his. She clasped her hands and stepped forty five degrees to the outside of his leg, turning to face the direction she had come in and dropping to knee at the same time. The effect of this would be to lock Mathew's knee, which would lock his hip, which would lock his lower spine and take his balance, causing him to fall forward onto his face while Delilah held onto his leg from behind him.
If this were successful, she would immediately move forward, pressing knee with her weight behind it into the back of his trapped though and putting his ankle in what would look like a guillotine choke. She would be seated facing away from him as she applied this and would require both of her hands.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 9, 2012 0:30:13 GMT -8
It probably would not come as much surprise, but the pillar did not hit Mathew. Instead the pillar would once more slither up his sleeve and over his body as she locked his hips and took him to the ground. A smile forming on his face. He was having fun.
"Not bad."
But as she observed before. He was strong. It was pure brute force as he pushed with his leg, straightening it despite her efforts to keep it held. She would either have to let go or lean forward to try and keep her grip on it. Either way he would try to twist his body in a roll with her on him to knock her off. The leg she hadn't been grappling coming up to try and smack her in the side of the head for her trouble if she didn't get out of his way quick enough.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 1:03:31 GMT -8
"Not bad."
"Likewise." she chirped. Mathew wasn't the only one having fun: most people she fought now a days didn't take long to succumb to her various skills. She wasn't used to fighting an opponent so strong that she had to resort to technical skills and her knowledge of anatomy to gain even a slight advantage. He was hardly even trying, just enjoying being pulled along for the ride. Still, having known him for all of fifteen or so minutes now and having received two complements, she was inclined to believe that those were hard to come by coming from him.
Then he moved and she felt his strength as he tried to straighten his leg. For a moment, she foolishly tried to hold on to the leg before she felt the tell tale shift that indicated that was a baaaaad idea.
Shit!
Unable to resort to anything else, Delilah abandoned the leg, but it was was still too late to roll or evade the leg coming up to strike her in the head, so she let his momentum carry her over and under him. She wound up flat on her back underneath him.
Not well thought out.
"Well, fuck."
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 9, 2012 1:06:01 GMT -8
He chuckled.
"I think that is a good demonstration. Don't you?"
He would roll back off of her, not over her head. This was all friendly after all. If she didn't attack he would pick himself up before extending a hand to her. Unless she was already picking herself up as well.
"Body armor? Or gifted?"
He was curious.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 1:19:12 GMT -8
"I think that is a good demonstration. Don't you?"
She managed to groan and laugh at the same time, grasping his hand as he helped her to her feet. "Rather. Were we fighting for real I would consider myself suitably thrashed."
"Body armor? Or gifted?"
She blinked a couple times before she realized his meaning. "A bit of both," she shrugged, holding her hand out to him as she turned her Qi up to it's highest level and shifted it to her arm. Bleeding up through skin was what looked like quicksilver, completely coating her arm with a metallic sheen. She rapped the knuckles of her other hand against it to produce a clear peal of sound before disengaging her Qi. As she lowered her hand, the silver faded until it was gone.
Delilah nodded at his coat with raised eyebrows. "Can I assume the same for you?"
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 9, 2012 1:22:38 GMT -8
"They don't call me the Earth Dragon for no reason."
A blade of stone shot out from his arm. Sharp and barbed. The kind of blade that when pulled out would tear and damage the tissue worse than the initial stab had.
"You are a pretty good fighter though. You with a unit? Or you looking for work?"
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 1:38:44 GMT -8
She nodded, wide-eyed at the stone blade he produced seemingly from nowhere. It had an edge similar to her bowie knife, made for shredding and easy retrieval from deep stabs. She let out a low whistle of approval.
"Yes, I can see why that would be one way to describe you."
"You are a pretty good fighter though. You with a unit? Or you looking for work?"
Ah, and he was upfront too. She liked this guy. Delilah gave him an easy grin before replying, "Now now, we both know you would have wiped the floor with me if you had been more serious. But thank you. Piano is one thing: fighting is what I've always done and I take pride in what I do.
"Actually, I'm with the Crows, First domestic officer, head engineer and blahblahblah." Delilah looked him up and down again. "And yourself? I can imagine groups would be trying to snap up the Earth Dragon as quickly as possible once they heard you were back in town. "
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 9, 2012 1:43:41 GMT -8
He clicked his tongue in disappointment. He still wasn't a fan of the Crows. Despite what David said. This was obviously the Delilah he had mentioned then.
"Elder Dragon for the Dragon, and Aries God of War now."
He frowned a bit. Not at his titles, those were awesome. Just disappointment that she was a Crow. It was a shame.
"I suppose I shall hope that next time we meet we are not enemies."
It was possible. And he would not be happy having to kill her. She seemed nice enough, and he enjoyed her music.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 2:08:42 GMT -8
She nodded at his titles, having expected as much. A dragon belongs with other dragons. What was a group of dragons called anyway? Not a flock, that was just silly. Once she thought she heard someone use the term 'a rage of dragons'. Yeah. That seemed to fit.
Delilah watched him carefully, a slight look of concern creasing her brow at his own look of consternation, waiting. Patience was a virtue that she had practiced until it became part of her very nature. Being a mother of a hyper-intelligent five year old would do that for ya.
"I suppose I shall hope that next time we meet we are not enemies."
She was obviously missing a bit of back story here and the thought of that made her frown deepen slightly. Clearly he had something against the Crows. She tilted her head slightly to the side. "That's neither here nor there in my book." she said firmly. "I don't consider you an enemy. If I'm forced to fight you for real one day, I'll consider it a great honour." she extended her eternally oil blackened palm to him, a sign of the line of work she was most known for: automechanics."Though personally I'll do what I can to prevent that. I've grown rather fond of living, if you don't mind my saying so," she said with a chuckle.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 9, 2012 2:16:23 GMT -8
His frowned lightened in to a small smile at her words. He took her hand in his and shook it, a firm and calloused shake. She was a mechanic, he had been a fighter for a very long time. That and one that meddled in politics.
"We will see where the future takes us."
He has been on opposite sides of battle against a lot of old friends. But it was a simpler time back in those days. It was before they all learned to use Qi powers.
The stone tightened and coiled around his body, shifting under his agitation. He released her hand once the shake was done and he took a step back, his eyes moving back to the piano.
"Play me another song?"
It would be different this time. He wasn't sneaking up on her.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 2:56:48 GMT -8
She relaxed as he smiled and they shook hands."We will see where the future takes us." Delilah nodded. Nothing more really needed to be said. They moved apart and she cracked her knuckles restlessly, following his eyes back to the piano."Play me another song?" She blinked at the request and looked back at him as if unsure. The reason no one had heard her play before was because music was so personal, portrayed so much of herself that couldn't be expressed by mere words that it was almost intimate. Not even Stu had heard her play before.
"Sure".
Even so, it only took her a moment to acquiesce with a smile and a nod, walking back towards the piano and sitting on the bench, fingers hovering over the keys. Maybe it was just easier to play for someone she really didn't know all that well who couldn't judge her as well as someone who knew everything about her, but she was starting to realize that this sort of music was meant to be heard. Besides, what did she have to be afraid of?
So, without any real song in mind, she released the flood of her emotions to the tips of her fingers and played.Unlike before, when she had played in a mostly rigid posture, her body seemed to move in time with the music through each allagrando and allegretto that seemed to spill from her finger tips as they danced over the keys. Her own breathing moved in time with the peice and the music flowed from her and into the room.
After a time, the song came to an end and she stopped, releasing a relieved breath. She looked over her shoulder at Mathew, looking uncharacteristically shy, but not saying anything.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 9, 2012 10:26:54 GMT -8
He would take up a spot against the nearby wall. Leaning against it with one foot up and his arms folded over his chest. His eyes watching her fingers move across the keys of the piano. Slowly letting them lose focus as he let the sound of music wash over him. A rare treat in this world now. No one seemed to play music anymore. There was never any time.
When the song end and she looked over at him he gave a small nod and a smile. She did good, and he was pleased with her performance. Once more he slowly applauded her.
"Very moving."
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 10:46:35 GMT -8
She swiveled around in her seat to face him completely, pursing her lips thoughtfully and clearly happy with his praise. "Thank you. Like I said, no one's heard be play before." she turned her head back to look at the piano, her expression wistful. "now you know why."
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 9, 2012 10:49:14 GMT -8
"Because you are afraid they will see parts of you that you keep hidden leaking through cracks in your defenses?"
He asked with a small quirk of his brow as he pushed himself off the wall and began to slowly walk toward her, only a few short steps until he made it to the piano.
"Or because you are shy about your hidden talent?"
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 9, 2012 11:48:56 GMT -8
She took a moment to think on that as he approached, feeling..unsettled. What Mathew was doing right now was what Delilah had done since time immemorial, and it felt really strange to have herself scrutinized on an indepth level that not many people were capable of.
"...I suppose that would have to be both," she said honestly. "One kind of gives way to the other. I'm well known for being...or at least, appearing strong or together. This," she swept her hand at the room, "is pretty much the only way I can put that aside and just let go."
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