Who: Kimiko Proudfoot and Dante Abellard (plus dog) What: Kimiko finds someone out of place, and she and Hero make a friend. When: Lunch break on Friday, 7 June 2019 Where: Out on the range, Brightstar Reserve Warnings: Dueling! Flirting! Mild peril to animals!
"All right, Hero, we're far enough from the beasts," Kimiko said to her dog, whom she spoke to like a person most of the time. Hero was smart, and Kimiko's dignity would not allow her to use baby talk with anyone, even an actual baby, or an animal. "Would you like to play fetch?"
It was yet another cool and cloudy day on the reserve, and Kimiko had taken advantage of a break in the rain that handily coincided with a break in meetings to trade her pumps for boots and take her dog for a walk during the lunch hour. They'd trekked out past some of the outbuildings into the open, where they often played fetch. Hero knew what this walk was, and as Kimiko drew the ball out of her weatherproof cloak, the dog's whole lower half wagged excitedly and she drooled in anticipation.
Kimiko smiled, her usual RBF fading into something much sweeter than she would ever admit to in public. "Fetch," she told her favorite person, and as Hero took off running across the range, she tossed the ball. The dog leapt up to catch it on the second bounce, nearly falling over her own short legs on the way down. "Good, Hero. Come."
But the dog's head suddenly swiveled sideways, and instead of trotting back toward Kimiko with her prize for praise and another toss, she took off running in the opposite direction with the ball still in her mouth. "Hero, come!" Kimiko called again, but Hero didn't turn. She vanished over a hill, and Kimiko frowned and started to follow.
A long week and a cloudy day made for a good excuse to set himself to a truly grueling set of practices. Exhaustion made reaction times suffer, and that was how people got hurt. Or killed. Dante had found this patch of ground a perfect distance to go through his forms without notice. He could do big magic here, but repair any damage so no one would know he'd been there. The drill he was running through now had saved his life a few times, and he could do it in his sleep. Had actually done it in his sleep once, if his unit could be believed.
Spells flowed from his glowing wand tip, one right after the other, seamless and uninterrupted. He was in the zone, moving from a modified shield spell into a side roll. Flames came in a spiral from the action, licking the chilled grass without burning it. They flickered blue and rose in a nimbus cloud that crackled and thundered. It was good, but not his best. He dismissed it all with a quietly muttered, "Finite."
He walked back into the starting position and snapped his arm out. The red sparks of a stunning spell exploded from the end of it--right as something small and obscured by the glowing light bounded into its path.
Kimiko made the crest of the hill just in time to see Hero trotting trustingly toward a stranger with his wand out, her barely-there tail perked up and vibrating happily, and despite her dueling days being far long ago now, her reaction was still pure instinct: she whipped out her wand and sent a shield charm spinning toward the man, knocking his stunner aside, and followed it up with a body-bind as she advanced down the hill, her wand trained on him.
His dismay had been very real, and it was entirely too late to try to stop the stunner on his own. For about half a second, Dante was relieved by the sudden appearance of the shield, and watched as the flare of red from his spell splashed harmlessly off of it. A spare thought of, 'Oh, thank god,' lanced through his head as he detected what was evidently the dog's owner coming toward him, but both thought and feeling had to take a backburner as the woman let fly another spell. He had only enough time to turn his body to the side, so it hit him on the right instead of deadon.
His arm snapped into his right side and his leg felt like it had taken root right then and there. But as the arm had slammed against him, his stiffening fingers had deftly tossed his wand to his left hand. He couldn't do anything about the bind, but he could toss up his own shield charm against any further attacks. A translucent wall of glowing gold shot up in front of him. With the dog inside it, because it had decided to put on a burst of speed to say hello. Of course. This had all the earmarks of a colossal misunderstanding.
Kimiko's gaze snapped down to her dog behind the stranger's shield, and she came to a stop yards away, holding her wand at the ready. Hero, completely oblivious to the magic flying around her, dropped her damp ball at the man's feet and sat, her back half wagging furiously as she panted up at her new friend, her tongue hanging out of her widely grinning mouth.
"Who are you?" she called, her voice clipped, as she shifted her weight into a duelist's stance, her wand staying steadily trained on the stranger. With everything happening around the reserve, strangers showing up, poachers attacking staff, she was highly suspicious and not willing to let this man go without questioning. "Why did you attack my dog?"
As much as Dante dearly wanted nothing more than to take up that ball and toss it away, which was clearly the expectant and very friendly dog's agenda here, he couldn't take his eyes off of the severe woman's face or wand. Kimiko Proudfoot. Her face went with a small file he had in his head: Reserve position, career history, an overview of her school years and notable achievements both there and in her professional life. He dropped the shield with a small motion and held his free hand up, wand lax in the crook between thumb and forefinger.
"My name is Dante Abellard, ma'am. I'm a recent hire in the grounds department." He said this carefully, with as neutral a delivery he could manage with half his face semi-frozen. "And, begging your pardon, but I wasn't attacking your dog. I was running a few drills and didn't see her there. I hope you'll accept my sincerest apologies."
Kimiko held her position while the other dropped his shield, and only then did she lower her wand. The name was familiar; a few steps closer let her see his employee badge, which relaxed her almost entirely. She tilted her head to consider him and his explanation for a moment, and then she undid her body-bind with a flick of her wand. "Very well. I apologize as well. Hero, come."
The dog trotted willingly back over to her human, leaving the soggy ball at Dante's feet, and Kimiko glanced down, scratching the top of her head gently. "I'm Kimiko Proudfoot, Chief Financial Officer here. This is Hero." She looked back up at the new hire. "Are you a duelist?"
"Miss Proudfoot." Dante nodded a little, completing the greeting cycle in the way his mama had taught him. He leaned down to retrieve the ball, not even flinching at the slobbery wetness. "It's nice to meet you, and Hero. Hey, girl." He waved the ball a little, getting the dog's attention, but looked back up at the CFO. "May I?"
As he waited for permission to engage in play, he inclined his head a bit to one side. It wasn't quite a nod or a shrug or even a shake to the negative. "I am--or I was, back in the day, ma'am. Used to do competitions back in school, and then got to use the skills a time or two--" thousand--"when I was deployed. And yourself?"
Kimiko nodded her permission. "Go ahead. Hero would appreciate it." Indeed, the dog was wagging her whole rear end with excitement, tracking the ball avidly with her big brown eyes. Tucking her wand away again and folding her hands behind her back, Kimiko watched Dante's profile. "I was an All-American semi-finalist in school. Blacksburg, class of '08," she added. He hadn't asked, but it was relevant information. "You were in the military?"
If there was one thing that Dante had neither the time nor the patience for, it was the type of pissing contests and one upmanship that were so indicative of the typical male ego. It reeked of toxic masculinity, and he refused to engage in it. He'd said about as much as he'd intended to anyway. Anything more was useless bragging, and this woman struck him as being the type who wouldn't put up with it anyway. He waved the ball for Hero, smiling as the dog geared up for the inevitable retrieval, and then chucked it some distance away. Only once this was done did he look back at Kimiko, giving her a nod. "Yes, ma'am. Left the service just last year. Marine Corp, Special Forces--joint venture between the AWC and the no-maj government."
She turned to watch Hero bound after the ball with an enthusiasm that far outpaced her short legs. "I see. I'm a little surprised that you're in the Grounds department, in that case; Security would seem to be a natural fit for skills like those. What brought you to Brightstar?" Kimiko glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow just a little to indicate simple curiosity. It put people more at ease if she changed her facial expression on occasion.
His smile at watching the dog careening after her toy faded into something slightly more wry. It was a fair question, and it deserved an answer that hewed close enough to the truth that he didn't feel bad for saying, "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but I left the military precisely to get away from things like Security." He shrugged a shoulder, casual to show he wasn't offended or anything. "Grounds gives me the structure and labor I need to keep my body occupied enough where my mind doesn't get quite so--" his lips quirked up to one side--"loud. Honestly, this place? It was a VA suggestion. Veterans Affairs. A person with my… experience can sometimes have trouble finding the right fit in civilian life."
Kimiko nodded. "I see." Dante was watching Hero, and she was watching him; he was a handsome man, and it had been a while. Anyway, there was no harm in looking. "But you still run dueling drills. Why is that?"
Although it was subtle and only viewed on his periphery, Dante still detected a shift in her gaze that he recognized. He didn't smile anymore than he already had been, but maybe his back straightened just a hair. "More body occupation," he answered honestly enough. "I might not necessarily need to keep as sharp as I did in combat situations, but I'm not far enough removed from the Corps yet that I've given myself the luxury to slack off. To get--" he chewed over the word, because he knew it could be insulting--"soft."
"I see," she answered again, absolutely unoffended. "I don't think anyone could accuse you of being soft, Mr. Abellard." She didn't look away from her frank admiration of his form even as Hero came bounding back, ball in one corner of her mouth and her panting tongue lolling out the other side. The bulldog headed toward Kimiko with the ball, but changed course to veer over toward Dante, shoving her face into his hand to release the slimy ball.
Kimiko glanced down at her dog; the way Hero was gazing adoringly at her new friend made her shake her head at herself for doing her version of the same thing. "I haven't kept up training on a regular basis, myself," she added. "But if you're interested in having a sparring partner sometime, I would appreciate the chance to get back in practice."
Now his smile did curl up a little more on one side as he tossed the sodden ball a couple of times before throwing it again. "I'd definitely be interested, Ms. Proudfoot. I was even considering offering myself, but you beat me to it." He let his gaze wander over to the gamboling Hero, his tone nothing but casual. "I have to warn you, though, I have a tendency to go hard."
Dante glanced over, lifting a brow. "Think you can keep up?"
Kimiko met his eyes squarely, studying his expression with frank appraisal. "I've never had a problem keeping up with a partner." She shrugged slightly and turned to watch Hero running after the bouncing ball, her short legs going a mile a minute. "Are we still talking about dueling?"
It didn't much matter to him that she'd called him out. Sometimes he was shameless, like now. He tossed a grin toward the ground, and then looked back up at her. "We could be, if that makes you more comfortable. I like subtlety as much as the next person, but I'm also a huge fan of frank honesty. I've known you for about five seconds, and even I can already tell that you are too." He pulled his wand out and set the ball dancing around Hero, making her turn to-and-fro in paroxysms of delight. "If I'm way off-base, all you have to do is tell me, but honestly? I'm not talking about dueling."
She nodded, business-like. "Then we're on the same page. I find you extremely attractive, and if you're not otherwise attached, I would like to ask you for a drink some evening. Please be aware that I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I prefer discreet, casual, physical arrangements. If that isn't what you're looking for, then yes, let's talk about dueling instead." Kimiko glanced out at Hero, and smiled a little, watching the dog jump joyously after the hovering ball. "You'll be her new favorite person after this."
It was his turn to watch her, not quite appraising, but definitely considering. Her smile, however small, was like watching a secret made physical. Dante started to wonder what other secrets he might be able to coax out of her. "I can't say I'm opposed to those arrangements at all, ma'am, so I'd like to take you up on that drink. You wouldn't happen to be free this evening, would you? We can discuss form and technique."
"I would," Kimiko agreed, and looked back up at Dante to meet his eyes, pursing her lips thoughtfully. It would have been the most convenient to simply invite him over to her house, but she didn't actually know this man, and she wasn't going to have a complete stranger in her house without feeling him out and discussing the rules first. "Eight o'clock, at the Kestrel. I live not far from there in the village. And please, if we're going to get to know one another, call me Kimiko."
He inclined his head with a smile that was both warm and inviting, but held the barest hint of something dark and pleased. "Fair enough, Kimiko. I'll see you at the Kestrel. 20:00 hours. But also?" He touched a hand to his chest. "Dante."
A triumphant Hero bounded back over, and he laughed a little to see that smug strut in her tiny legs. "And it was a genuine pleasure to meet you too, Hero. Maybe Kimiko here can tell me how you got such an impressive name. Over drinks."
Kimiko favored him with a small smile. "It's not an impressive story, but I'll tell you if you like. I'll see you tonight, Dante. I apologize again for the hex." She held out her hand to shake his, and snapped her fingers on the other hand for the dog and held her hand out for the ball. "Come, Hero. We have to go."
Hero dropped the ball willingly into Kimiko's hand, wagging her rear end, and turned to butt her head into Dante's leg for further petting.
While Dante appreciated the apology for the hex, he didn't feel it prudent to point out that he'd been on the receiving end of much worse-- especially not when it probably would have come off as bragging. That was about as far away from his intent as a concept could get. Instead, he merely nodded at it with a small answering smile of his own and leaned over to happily accommodate the dog, tickled by her boundless enthusiasm. He gave the area behind her ears a good scratch before straightening again. "I hope the rest of your day goes well. I'll try to make sure your evening definitely does."