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Tweak says, "And I'm good at it, too!"

Kamiyama Midori (lightofhokkaido) wrote in nosuchplace,
@ 2008-06-09 23:36:00

Entry tags:

james pryce, midori kamiyama

Sunday, September 9, 2007
Who: Midori and OPEN
When: Afternoon
Where: Combat Gym
What: Working out frustrations

Midori took a deep breath. Her eyes were shut tightly. There was so much on her mind, she needed to center herself, focus on one thing at a time. Serving as the head of the Celestial Kitsune for so many years, she was good at this. But things involving Mitsuko tended to muddle situations, made it all so much harder to figure out.

Gone were Midori's usual formal kimono. Instead, she wore a casual hakama and gi. The clothing she donned to practice in. Going through the movements of combat centered her in a way nothing else did.

Keeping her eyes closed, Midori let her body guide it's own movements. They were fluid, with a natural grace. Each step and turn of her body was smooth. It was almost as if it were a dance, but each movement had a dangerous edge to it. Her kata was in no doubt part of a deadly art, one she was quite good at.

Once she finished the final move, she went still. Her eyes remained closed, but she knew there was someone there, behind her. She had felt the presence during her kata. "I do not do this for entertainment," Midori said softly, a dangerous tone in her voice. "If you plan to watch me, I suggest you attack."

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pryceisright
2008-06-12 06:24 am UTC (link)

Pryce had come in today for his usual workout routine. Sure, he was getting old, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep up the gym visits. It helped keep his body strong in these later years of his life. As he walked into the gym, he hadn't taken much notice at first of the person who already occupied it. Not until he had gotten closer, as he walked towards the area that held weightlifting equipment, did he notice the young woman practicing by herself and actually look at her.

She was quite the looker, Pryce had to admit. Of course, he stopped in his path to cross his arms and take a moment to watch her movements. He wasn't much of one to practice anything usable for fights. Pryce rather liked just throwing fists and seeing where they landed. He much rather preferred weightlifting or treadmills when it came to working out at the gym. This lady seemed to know her stuff, though.

When she paused, Pryce stood there still and watched her to see if she was done or not. The woman spoke, though, giving away that she realized his presence nearby. He couldn't help but feel the need to grin as she claimed that she wasn't doing what she was doing for entertainment. Well, Pryce found it entertaining enough.

He held up his arms, even though she wasn't looking at him. "No thanks, lady," Pryce announced loudly, continuing his walk towards his original destination in the combat gym. "I know they call this place a combat gym, but I just come here to workout. I don't do karate. Throw fist. Punch opponent. That's as far as my knowledge on fighting goes," Pryce said flippantly, waving his hand in the air as he walked.

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lightofhokkaido
2008-06-12 07:17 am UTC (link)

Midori turned her head, glancing over her shoulder at the man who stood behind her. She sniffed the air. While the stench of the gym made more accurate detection impossible, she was able to pick up on humanity. She could not be certain, but he was most likely human or metahuman. With human aging, that would put him somewhere in his forties. Midori always sized up her opponent, even if the sparring was verbal rather than physical.

Straightening her gi, Midori turned full to face the man. She arched a brow at him as she regarded him coolly. At least he wasn't outwardly leering at her, as Giles had been upon their meeting. She had briefly been concerned all men in Elysium would regard her in such a way. But when he spoke, she would not call his words 'respectful'. In fact, far from it.

"My name is not 'Lady'. It is Kamiyama Midori." She cocked her head. "What is your name or will you be content at being referred to as the disrespectful Gaijin from the combat gym?" She let out a small laugh. "And it's very clear you know nothing about fighting. I was doing Aikido. Not Karate. Not that I would ever expect an American to know the difference."

Japanese-English

Gaijin = Foreigner. Considered exclusionary and derogatory.

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pryceisright
2008-06-12 08:19 am UTC (link)

Well, when he stepped into the gym today he wasn't expecting a business meeting, so extreme politeness was one of those things that flew out of the window for Pryce at the moment. In fact, most moments for him were like that, even if he was in a professional setting, such as the medical pavilion and doing his job. He recalled his meeting with the young man named Adair. That alone was proof enough that Pryce only showed his serious side, let alone respectful side, when the moment really and truly called for it.

If the moment didn't call for it, by golly, he was going to be as casual as blue jeans on Friday. Wasn't that the thing about Americans? Everything was casual. "Kamiyama?" Pryce inquired, actually pausing in his steps. "Interesting name. Where's it from?" Pryce knew it was Asian, but it wasn't like he knew the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or whatever else have you, when it came to names and words. Pryce raised his eyebrows when he heard the word gaijin. "Gaijin, eh? Sounds like a Mexican dish. Ooh, I'd kill for some Mexican grub right about now . . . "

Pryce waved a dismissive hand. "Aikido, Karate, Kung fu . . . it's all the same," he commented. "Just different names. My name's Pryce, by the way, Miss . . . " Pryce scrunched up his face. "Now, I don't know whether I'm supposed to call you Miss Kamiyama or Miss Midori."

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lightofhokkaido
2008-06-12 08:49 am UTC (link)

Midori was always formal. It had been ingrained in her from birth. She had made her reputation on it. While she had been called the Light of Hokkaido to her face, the name she was called behind her back (to which she was well aware) was tetsu no onna. Iron woman. Hard, unyielding, deadly. To be anything but formal was to show weakness. She showed no humanity because... Well, she wasn't human.

Keeping her gaze trained on Pryce, Midori's lip curved in a dangerous smile. "It is Japanese. It means God's Mountain." She strode towards Pryce, getting close to him. "Gaijin means foreigner." A dirty, unrefined foreigner. While those words were not part of the literal translation, they had without a doubt been in Midori's inflection.

She ran a tongue over her teeth, letting out a soft, cold laugh. "I assure you, they are quite different. You are, in fact, inspiring me to demonstrate the differences, Pryce-san." She paused. "Kamiyama is my last name. Midori my first. I suppose it is your choice which you choose to use." She narrowed her gaze, wondering which he would choose. It would say a great deal about him.

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pryceisright
2008-06-13 03:22 pm UTC (link)

"Ah, 'God's Mountain,'" Pryce said, echoing her definition of the name. "Nice, strong name. Suits you," he added, pointing a finger at her. He noticed she was heading towards him, too. He raised an eyebrow. Pryce bet on his racer wheelchair that the tough look in her eyes wasn't actually going to take form in physical action. "I still think it sounds like a Mexican dish," Pryce joked with a toothy white grin. He made a face. "Very cannibalistic, though."

Well, hello there, Pryce thought as he noticed her tongue run over her teeth and listened to the laugh that followed. Made her sound just slightly crazy, but sexy with the way she did it. Of course, he wasn't going to say this out loud. At least not yet. "You can demonstrate on me all you want," Pryce jested to her, still grinning. Double entendre for the touchdown! "That's a joke, of course," Pryce added, thinking that him pissing off a fierce lady was the last thing he should be doing. And yet, it was so tempting.

"Well, in that case," Pryce said loudly and almost immediately after her explanation, "Ms. Kamiyama, it is nice to meet you." He tipped his head at her. " . . . Or is it Mrs. Kamiyama?"

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lightofhokkaido
2008-06-15 06:10 pm UTC (link)

Midori's smirk was one of self-satisfaction as Pryce commented on her name meaning. She knew this Pryce was humoring her, not realizing her true power. Once he knew what she was capable of, his awe would be genuine. She also knew he was trying to make a joke about her use of the word Gaijin, but for the life of her she could not find anything entertaining about it. "Yes... Very." She rolled her eyes.

Both her allure and her madness were calculated.... Well, her allure was calculated. The madness was only partially so. It was quiet advantageous to project an image of instability. But-- Midori laughed at herself mentally at the thought-- believing she was still as powerful as she had been was madness in itself. Her people were gone, yet she still wanted to believe she wielded the same influence.

Madness.

"You're quite an amusing man," Midori deadpanned, not a trace of amusement in her voice.

She bowed to Pryce cordially, her bow so deep she nearly reached the floor. "It is Ms." Her smile twisted as she looked up. With a sudden movement, she did a sweeping kick, hitting him behind the ankles. He was unprepared for the attack and fell to the ground. Midori pulled herself to her feet and strode to him, straddling him and leaning in. "I belong to no man."

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pryceisright
2008-06-15 06:35 pm UTC (link)

He wasn't blind. He noticed the way she rolled her eyes. She wasn't amused by him, or maybe she was amused somehow. Either way, Pryce thought it was a virtue to not take yourself so seriously. It was the reason why he never seemed to be serious about anything. He'd rather appear like a nutty guy than someone with a stick up the rear end. So far, so good. She spoke to him like she didn't think much of him when she did, but Pryce attributed that to the stiff, upright stance and the self-importance she seemed to carry herself with.

Pryce grinned at her. "Never too late to make someone smile," he said, though it sounded a little cryptic. At least she shook his hand. That was a step in the right direction, he thought, as he shook her hand back with a firm grip. Something told him a woman practicing fighting techniques in a combat gym could definitely handle a strong handshake. "Oh? Miss? Miss it is—"

He was in the middle of replying during her long bow when she swept a leg out of nowhere and caught him behind the ankles. Pryce made a sound close to augh as he fell to the floor, hitting it heavily with the mass of his body. It was not a pleasant drop, and Pryce had a wincing feeling that his head had bounced and hit the solid floor.

Well, it wasn't all bad. She straddled him a second later and leaned in close. One of Pryce's hands had reached up to rub the back of his head. "Ow," Pryce said unceremoniously. He nodded his head. "You're good," he said. The doctor couldn't help the sly grin that appeared on his face, though.

Using his powers, which were considerably weakened by the head bump, Pryce focused what he could on the woman who was straddling him. "But let's see if you can take a swing at this," he joked, focus his strength on her and lifting the woman into the air about three or four feet with some serious effort and floating her backwards to get her legs out of kicking distance. That head bump really took a blow to his skills. Normally, he could easily lift someone her size off the ground without breaking a sweat.

Pryce slowly got to his feet, wincing and losing his hold on her. She fell back to the ground rather abruptly. "Dammit," Pryce said aloud, holding his head. "Not as smooth as I would like. Sorry, miss."

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lightofhokkaido
2008-06-16 11:08 am UTC (link)

The general idiocy of human males was quite amusing to Midori. It just confirmed her superiority, something she always liked to be reminded of. Pryce didn't disappoint her on this. She couldn't imagine not taking herself serious. She was Kamiyama Midori, the Light of Hokkaido, Mistress of Kitsune. How could she possibly think much of him?

Once Midori had Pryce on the ground and she was on top of him, she felt a thrill of power. It had been far too long since she had dominated over anyone. She had been bereft of such pleasure since the death of her clan. Power... Power was a drug for Midori. She needed it. She needed to feel complete control.

But then, she suddenly found herself floating backwards. Curses! A psychokinetic! Midori twisted, making annoyed hisses. She couldn't break free of his praeternatural hold. She hit the ground with an undignified grunt. She pushed her long, dark hair out of her face. "Is that how we're going to play it?" Her fox ears twitched in irritation. Her lip curled, showing off elongated, fox-like canines. Her eyes were golden-colored. The more annoyed she got, the more fox-like characteristic she developed. "You're hardly the only one with power." She pulled herself to her feet. "You want to see mine?"

It took a great concentration of power, power she hadn't used in a long time, but Midori managed it. A perfect replica of herself, standing right in front of Pryce. Midori chuckled. It was mere illusion, but it looked no different than her real form.

It hit just like her too. A right hook across the jaw, before it faded away into nothingness once again.

Midori chuckled darkly. "So you're psychokinetic?"

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pryceisright
2008-06-17 08:12 pm UTC (link)

Pryce made a ridiculous face that displayed something along the lines of what the hell? on his features as he noticed the woman's face changing a bit drastically. She looked like some faint cross between a canine and a human, and it was mighty strange for the doctor to look at. In that particular moment, she kind of lost her attractiveness in Pryce's eyes. "Whoooa, lady," Pryce said aloud with a whistle. "You might want to get that problem fixed. It really doesn't suit your face."

She got even angrier, though, or annoyed with him. With her, he honestly couldn't tell the difference. However, he had insulted her looks and that never went well with a lady. "I didn't know we were playing," Pryce countered. "After all, this isn't grade school and we ain't on a playground, honey."

Oh, she did not just insult his power. If Pryce knew one thing, he could lift her and toss her across the room if he wanted. He could will a real object to crush her. "Lady, you don't know what I'm capable of."

She made some fancy magic, appeared right in front of his face suddenly, and landed him one on the jaw before he could react. Pryce swore aloud and touched his face. "Okay," he said slowly. "Now, you're really going to pay for that one."

Fighting hand by hand wasn't the honorable way to go. Power to power. Pryce held out his arms for added effect and summoned over workout pads from across the room. They were a few inches thick of cushion or foam, six feet long each, and they weren't harmful but they sure would be annoying. Pryce wasn't looking to hurt, after all.

Using his powers, he swung the various mattresses at Midori all at once, hitting her from all angles.

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lightofhokkaido
2008-06-17 10:50 pm UTC (link)

Midori's jaw dropped and she narrowed her gaze in absolute malice. How dare this man suggest.... "I am considered as beautiful as I am powerful," she said firmly. "This--" She looked down at herself. "--Form is only a pale shell compared to the glory that is the Light of Hokkaido. You should be grateful for the honor of seeing aspects of that side."

Raising her chin high, Midori kept her venomous gaze on Pryce. "My idea of playing is anything where I don't rip your throat out."

Her smile was downright feral. "And you don't know what I'm capable of."

She wasn't at all affected by the fleeting look of anger on his face at her illusion. In fact, it did nothing but charge her up further. It had been much too long she she had used her powers. She wanted to revel in it.

Midori put her arms up to block herself as she was assaulted with the mattresses. She reverted to her fox form, darting out of the way of the final few. Once out of the fray, she transformed back into her human shape. "I'm not impressed." She held out her own hand. She formed the illusion of a fireball in her palm. It could not burn him, but such illusions were good for scaring people. "Now this is something you wouldn't want thrown at you." She wound up as if she were going to throw it.

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pryceisright
2008-06-17 11:16 pm UTC (link)

Pryce raised his eyebrows. "Uh-huh," he stated flatly. "You got a bad case of Egolitus, or what I like to call 'a really big, fat head full of demented delusions of grandeur and other such nonsenses related to power, beauty, and the whole shebang of I'm Awesome, Look At Me!' Really, lady, you aren't the first person to place yourself on a pedestal." Wow, what level of Highty Mighty Mountain did she come from?

The doctor whistled aloud again, opening his eyes wide at Midori. "Well, now, doesn't that just beat all! I think I heard a threat to my person! And me! A doctor! Why, if anything happened to me, all sorts of people would die horrible, agonizing deaths because there was no one to take care of them. Now, that," Pryce jerked a thumb towards his chest, "is how you play 'I'm God.'"

When she turned into a fox to escape the mattresses, Pryce tossed them aside in a heaping mess. Okay, he might clean that up later. After he was done with her, of course. "Not trying to impress you," Pryce said lightly. "Just trying to annoy you. Tell me, is it working?" He flashed her a winning shit-eating grin.

Pryce saw the fireball and held out his hand using the force of his magic against the ball itself. It was either block it or grab it, and he used his powers to grab the fireball with his mind and float it over to himself. Only there wasn't any heat coming from the ball. "No real fire?" Pryce asked, and he appeared to be pouting. He threw it back at her like it was a basketball and crossed his arms. "You gotta do better than that."

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lightofhokkaido
2008-06-18 02:22 pm UTC (link)

Midori was going to snap back how the whole of Japan had bowed to her wisdom and power. But... Japan was in ashes now. Her people were dead. Even her own daughter did not bow to her. The only follower she had was a Genko pup who would stab her in the back the moment he felt he had the advantage. She opened her mouth to speak, but found words to be quite... Missing.

Here in Elysium he was more important. He had a place in this world. Midori was nothing. An echo of a life that had burned and been scattered to the wind. Midori's hands shook slightly, a mixture of anger and woe suffusing her being.

She felt as impotent as the illusion of a fireball she had thrown. Frightening for a moment, but with no true power. With a wave of her hand, the fireball disappeared into nothingness. "I no longer wish to do this," Midori finally managed, keeping her voice deadly calm and even.

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OOC: You can wrap it up with your next comment! :)

pryceisright
2008-06-19 05:23 pm UTC (link)

Pryce was surprised to find it over with so quickly. She seemed to be a little fireball herself. There wasn't anymore taunting, though; clearly, no sound of it in her voice. No more magic tricks from either one of them, and they both just stood in silence for a moment. Pryce felt like a very normal human being despite the occurrences that had just gone on a few minutes before — floating objects, illusions, and fireballs. It all faded away as he stared across the floor at her.

" . . . Wanna go grab a beer?" Pryce asked suddenly, a nonchalant quality to his voice. It held no suggestive tone to it. It wasn't a drink that was going to lead to anything except for maybe, just maybe, conversation. After all, they just beat each other up in a fashion that only little children were supposed to do. Pryce felt just a mild feeling of shame over his actions. Sometimes he reacted more childishly to things than he should.

"Except for you don't have to," he added with a wave of his hand in the air beside him. Pryce stood a little straighter, coughed to clear his throat, and crossed his arms. "But it's the least I can do for hitting you with foamy mattresses." He held up his fist to his mouth and coughed again, not because he had to but because he was trying to cover up how that was supposed to be an apology.

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FIN

lightofhokkaido
2008-06-19 08:36 pm UTC (link)

Pride wounded, Midori just glared at Pryce. There was so much more she wanted to do. She wanted to hurt this man who had hurt her ego. But there was no point. Rather, she would just find herself in trouble with the Council if she struck against him. Besides, has had become abundantly clear, she could no longer do whatever she wished. She had to play nice with the humans.

Rubbing her temple, Midori winced just a little bit at the suggest. How vulgar. It was hardly her idea of a good time to imbibe in alcohol with lower beings. But her idea of a good time didn't seem to exist in Elysium.

"All right," Midori said with a sigh. She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Why not?"

She strode ahead of Pryce towards the exit. How the Kitsune Council would weep to see the great Light of Hokkaido reduced to such a level. But then, Hokkaido no longer existed. Its light now had to become something else entirely.

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