InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I admire the way you shine"

Sascha Connolly, Ph.D. (bohemiarhapsody) wrote in nosuchplace,
@ 2008-12-08 15:53:00

Entry tags:

katy wilson, sascha connolly

Wednesday: October 31, 2007
Who: Sascha and Katy
Where: Training Terrace
When: Mid-afternoon
What: Arrrgh, swash swash buckle buckle XD

Advance, lunge, recover. With no small amount of juvenile humor, Sascha took a moment to acquaint himself with the joys of thrusting.

The sword in his hand was a mostly unfamiliar weight, and he'd already spent a good half hour or so trying to wield his new blade in a manner befitting his costume. It had taken nearly a decade for him to develop the outfit to its full potential, occasionally adding a sash here or some beadwork there. Annie had been alive to see the costume in its original incarnation all those years ago, and her reaction had simply been to grin and tell him he looked like a gay Captain Morgan; that was confirmation enough for Sascha. He was glad he'd thought to haul it here to Elysium with the rest of his mementos.

Normally he'd have been on-shift at the library at this time of day, but since the place had been virtually empty all morning, he'd convinced one of the elven aides to keep an eye on things while he headed out early. His second stop (the first being the restaurant for some lunch, of course) was the weaponsmith's shop, and he'd come away with a beautifully weathered old cutlass to complement his pirate getup. The blade could probably benefit from some sharpening, but Sascha didn't really care- he wasn't intending to slit any throats, after all. He just wanted something (relatively) shiny to make the costume look more authentic.

The Training Terrace had seemed like a logical place to practice his swordsmanship, and it had only taken five minutes of hack-and-slash before one of the trainers from the combat gym had approached him and offered to give him a few fencing pointers. Not that a cutlass was really designed for all the fancy techniques of something like a foil or rapier, she'd explained with a smile and a wink. No, a cutlass was perfectly suited for someone with little experience because of its simplicity of use; hacking and slashing were totally acceptable.

She'd taught Sascha a handful of moves and their accompanying terms, which he was now trying to commit to memory, before leaving him to practice on his own. Ever true to character, he'd curled his fingers over her shoulder and suggested another time and place for some private instruction, to which she'd replied that he'd have to learn how to make a proper thrust before anything could really happen. For the moment, that's exactly what had monopolized his attention. Cross over, lunge, recover. Damn, his thighs were really starting to hurt.

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beneaththeskin
2008-12-11 10:02 am UTC (link)

Katy walked around Helicharis in her costume, the satin green mad hatter. She had found herself a longer cape and a walking stick to go along with it. The cape was for warmth, and the cane it, well it made it look like she had a pimp stick. That amused her greatly. She thought the mad hatter would have greatly benefited from the use of a pimp stick. It would certainly drive the point home of “No room, no room!”

There weren’t many people in costume yet, and a lot of people walking around getting ready for the festivities later on that night. Some people would stop and just stare at her as she walked around town. Katy couldn’t be the only person already dressed up for Halloween! As far as she was concerned, the holiday lasted all day, so you might as well be dressed up all day.

She made her way past the town hall and toward an area she had only explored a little of. The whole area looked like it was based in the idea of improving yourself and your abilities. There was a combat gym, the library was near where she found herself, alchemy labs, and the list just went on.

While it was fun just wandering around and getting to know the place better, it was getting a little old already. She stopped in between the library and the training terrace and leaned on her pimp stick and watched what was happening over there. A man in what looked to be a very detailed costume was thrusting a rusted old sword in the air. Images of 12-year-olds playing with plastic swords outside came to mind. Katy smiled and twirled her cane ala Chaplin and made her way over to the “pirate”.

She still had not met to many people yet, and she had been feeling rather lonely, but messing with another Halloween-phile sounded a bit fun. He looked like he was really into the character of whatever he was playing so she snuck up on him and reached out to poke him with her cane. “Tell me sir, why is a raven like a writing desk?”

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bohemiarhapsody
2008-12-11 05:00 pm UTC (link)

There was an odd moment, as Sascha moved forward into another sharp lunge, when he felt an unexpected pressure against his shoulderblade. The sensation was concentrated all on one particular point on his back, as though he were being...poked. Then he heard the playful voice behind him, and he knew he'd been had.

Slowly, and with as much grace as he could muster, Sascha righted himself and turned to face his mystery companion. There was something distinctive and slightly off-kilter about the way he moved, puffing his chest out like a peacock and pivoting on his heel as though he were walking a tightrope rather than standing on solid ground. His unarmed hand hovered foppishly in the air for several moments before dropping to rest on his hip, and he raised his own blade to cross the woman's still-extended walking stick.

"Perhaps," he returned with a roguish grin, effecting a sort of drunken cockney accent, "because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat- and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!" Ah, so she was a clever little thing. Sascha's eyes skimmed appreciatively along her legs and up to her face, pausing briefly to examine the shiny green ascot at her throat and the dainty decolletage beneath it. She looked to be around the age of his (younger) former students, but she was positively the most enticing little Mad Hatter he'd ever seen; shame on him for nearly missing her reference. "Or perhaps...there is no answer at all. Then what would you have me say?"

Sascha watched her carefully, running his blade teasingly along the length of the walking stick and back again before beating it lightly away. "My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are curious. Tell me, pet," he purred, stepping closer and lowering the cutlass, "how may I be of assistance?"

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beneaththeskin
2008-12-17 01:31 am UTC (link)

Katy watched this pirate intently. Was this how this person acted on a normal basis and what kind of accent was that exactly? Hopefully this was just part of the Halloween spirit. Katy tilted her head slightly, making her hat look right-side-up while her head obviously wasn't. She placed her free hand on her hip and twirled her cane in a small circle at him.

She grinned a bit and reached her hand behind her head to push her top hat slightly forward to give herself a determined look. “Well aren’t you a smart one. But can you do addition? What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?” She circled around him as she spoke, making sure to keep the same amount of space between them even as he moved closer to her.

“You’re very silly aren’t you? Stabbing at air, snicker snack. If you are fighting an invisible opponent, you are sure to lose for you never know if they have left or not.” She suddenly stopped and stood in the familiar fencing pose. Katy had taken the class while in college. Anything to do with physical activity, and she had been up for it.

“You might have a better chance if you fought with me Mister...I’m sorry, I did not catch your name. I am the Mad Hatter.” She placed her hand on her chest in a very over the top manner to indicate herself and bent slightly at the hip in a tiny bow.

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bohemiarhapsody
2009-02-11 08:11 pm UTC (link)

Sascha watched the little satin hatter as she circled him, blinking a few times at the utter repetition of her questioning before waving his hand at her dismissively. "Addition, multiplication, both delightful little trifles. Much moreso than, shall we say...subtraction? Unless one happens to be a pirate- which I, coincidentally, just so happen to be." He looked rather smug at that proclamation, as if it wasn't already obvious from the outfit he was wearing. "Take what you can, give nothing back...words to live by, my bonnie lass."

He watched as she abruptly drew back from him and settled into a fighting stance, her cane poised at eye-level. Interesting. So, she wanted a fight, did she? Sascha was more than willing to oblige her even though he lacked any solid training; hopefully, those thirty minutes of basic instruction would be enough to prevent him from becoming a proverbial pin-cushion, nevermind the fact that he was the one with the actual blade.

"Not quite according to plan," he mused aloud as his opponent introduced herself with a slight bow, "but complications do arise, and ensue...and shall, inevitably, be overcome." Yep, them was fightin' words if Sascha'd ever heard any. He beat the tip of her cane aside with his blade and advanced, a ridiculous grin plastered across his face. "You may kill me, but you may never insult me. Who am I?"

That's right, copyrights be damned. This was Halloween.

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beneaththeskin
2009-02-13 04:09 pm UTC (link)

"Hmm, that sounds awfully familiar." Back before the wars and the virus, when pirate moves had come out in theaters, they had always been the rage. Especially during Halloween. One could always find at least a dozen people dressed up as a swash-buckling buccaneer.

She grinned as she endeavored to continue confusing him with her extensive knowledge of Lewis Carroll's work and quotations. She a took a deep breath and centered herself before saying, "If you are a pirate then, be what you would seem to be - or, if you'd like it put more simply - never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."

Even Katy herself was a little flabbergasted after that mouthful spewed forth and couldn't help but grin a bit at the ridiculousness of her speech. "And I bet you thought the addition was hard to understand." She tapped her cane against his sword and invited him into the game. She had one hand on her weapon of choice and her other held up and behind her head. She hoped he wouldn't go for any high or low blows seeing as he had an actual weapon in his hands.

“'The time has come,' the walrus said, 'to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings.' Where is your Ship my pirate of a friend? Or should I start calling you 'the captain'?" She lunged at him, but she was far enough away that if she hit him it would feel more like a slight poke. This distance also made it fairly easy for him to dodge or smack her cane in another direction. This was fine with Katy. After all, the fight had just begun and she wouldn't want it to end too quickly.

"I have in no mind to kill you. I'd much rather invite you to tea, but do you know who you are. Or has that lack of self-knowledge left you saying to yourself 'Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.'"

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bohemiarhapsody
2009-07-20 08:29 am UTC (link)

...what the hell did she just say?

Sascha furrowed his brow at the confusing train of babble spewing from the woman's mouth. He could follow most of the first part, but then the words began to tumble over themselves in a stunning display of verbal gymnastics, and he gave up all pretense of trying to follow along and simply yawned.

"My lady," he said with a smirk, drawing back just enough to give a shallow (and mildly insulting) bow with arms spread to either side, "are you always this verbally incapacitating, or are you just trying to impress me?" He watched as she lunged at him with her cane extended, and he quickly countered the motion by beating the cane aside with his blade and advancing a few paces. "It's almost enough to drive me to drinking, if there were any drinks to be had. I'm not much one for tea. Although...perhaps you could be so kind as to inform me of why, precisely, the rum always seems to be gone?"

Slowly, Sascha began to circle his opponent in the same fashion as she'd done earlier, keeping his eyes trained on her "weapon" as well as the dainty decolletage that lay in sight beyond the length of her arm. Oh yes, he definitely approved of her costume and the wonderfully revealing view it afforded him. "'Captain' is my name, dearie, for I just so happen to be a captain. As for my ship, well...I'm in the market, as it were."

He made a slashing motion with the cutlass, slicing a horizontal path through the air in front of the little hatter but keeping far enough away that he wasn't at risk of injuring her. It wasn't exactly a fair fight, but she had been the one to initiate it, so why not put her to the test? She certainly seemed to have a bit of brashness about her.

"You'll find that I am impeccably and inescapably true to my word, love, so I would find nothing dishonorable in your surrendering and or conceding defeat."

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beneaththeskin
2009-07-20 05:10 pm UTC (link)

Katy smiled to herself. Obviously she was proud to have confused the pirate man, although it certainly had been fun sparring with him using words. But now she needed to focus more on the sword, or better yet the cane. While his sword didn't look like much, but Katy was certain that the blade was sharp enough to cut.

She caught on to the subtle insult and condescending way he was acting. There was a part of her that wanted to laugh and another part that wanted to smack him in the head with her cane. She had just met him and he was already this annoying? Katy wondered how bad he was while not in costume.

"I keep telling you, I am not a lady. I am the hatter. And as to the location of the rum, I am afraid I could not tell you precisely but please have as much of it as you want despite the fact that there isn't any." She kept the her cane close to her as he circled around her. She made sure to keep an eye on him as he moved and moved herself to mirror him.

"Captain is it? Would that be your given name or your surname? Sounds like a surname to me, so should I call you Mr. Captain?" She grinned showing two rows of straight white teeth. She was very amused and was enjoying confounding him. "Inland probably is not the best place for one to look for a ship. I doubt there is a market for one."

She took a few steps back as he slashed his actual sword in the air in her general direction. She didn't want him to tear her costume before the actual party, nor did she actually want to get hurt. She looked up at him and her mouth was shaped in a perfect "o". Had he really just said that? "Oh, you don't have to worry about me surrendering Mr. Captain, or maybe Mr. Pirate would be a better name for you."

She waited until he had slashed his cutlass away from him, leaving himself open before lunging and extending her cane quickly but precisely, and tapped him on the chest. Hit! She stood back up and grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You don't know much do you sir, about the art of fencing? Lady, dearie, love! Why I hardly know you Mr. Pirate, and you really should mean what you say. I very seriously doubt that you are in 'love' with me. And when has a pirate ever been true to his word?"

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bohemiarhapsody
2009-08-03 04:58 am UTC (link)

Sascha waved his hand dismissively as the woman continued with her verbal barrage. He could see from the expression on her face that she was enjoying their little exchange- as was he, of course- but now that she was beginning to have the upper hand, he couldn't help but feel a little...irked. Which was strange, especially for him. Usually it took quite a lot of effort to ruin his composure, but this girl seemed to have a natural talent for it.

He was just about to make a suggestive remark regarding the size of his former vessel when he felt a concentrated pressure on his chest, and as he looked down and saw the tip of her cane poking insistently at him, he realized she'd landed a solid hit. Not that he'd exactly expected to beat her during the swordfight considering he had practically no experience with blades of this size and wouldn't ever consider trying to touch her with the one in his hands...but still.

To add insult to injury, she was cocky enough to throw his obvious inexperience in his face! Sascha blinked a few times to clear the irritation from his mind. She was only playing with him, for Chrissake- and playing his own game to boot! "What was your first clue, my dear hatter?" he asked with a smile, a hint of annoyance still detectable in his voice. No matter, no matter. This little girl wasn't about to get the best of him, not on Halloween.

"Trust me, poppet. I may be a pirate, and a dishonest one at that, but at least you can always trust me to be dishonest. I fly my colors out in the open. How many men can say as much?" Ah, loaded words if he'd ever heard any. There didn't seem to be much left in the way of their duel, at least not that he could tell, so Sascha decided to make as theatrical an exit as he could manage. What the hell, he was already in costume, right? He clutched at his chest over the spot where she'd struck him, wincing for effect and staggering just a bit.

"And if I don't mean what I say, then at least I say what I mean. Oh, bugger." Then he collapsed to the ground dramatically and proceeded to lay there. Ah, sweet death.

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Fin

beneaththeskin
2009-10-08 05:13 pm UTC (link)

"Ah, I believe that I have killed you." She tilted her head, smiling proudly at the man dressed as a pirate and nudged him lightly again with her cane. He was really very good at the accent. She wondered if maybe he was an actor before everyone had been herded into haven like so much cattle.

She blinked and watched his dramatic, if a little delayed, death and walked over gingerly and bent down to look over him. To be completely honest, during his speech she hadn't quite caught the complete meaning behind his words. She furrowed her brow as she tried to figure it out, but eventually shrugged it off. "You, my dear pirate, were a little late, but then I guess the end is the same either way. You know that dishonest people never prosper, or something like that."

She poked him in the chest with her finger, smiling down at him with her normal smile as she broke character for a bit and whispered conspiratorially at him. "You really are very good at this, and by the way I love your costume. Hope to see you at the festival. You've got my vote." She winked at him, stood, and stepped over him to continue on her way.

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