Agent Maria Hill (by_the_book) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-03-27 22:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !completed gdoc, ~2017 march, ~25 points, ~~methos (chivalrysstupid), ~~~maria hill (by_the_book) |
Who: Maria Hill and Methos
What: Well, hello there
When: Monday
Where: Near the obstacle course
Warnings: TBD
Status: Closed/completed gdoc
Ever since Peter and Thor, Maria had taken some massive steps back in the social department. She went to work. She came home. On her time off she did some work and repairs on her house. Went for a run every morning, and sometimes, like now, ran the obstacle course. It was all a nice way to keep her mind off of stupid emotional baggage that she had no idea how to deal with anyway.
She had just finished her second run through the course at top speed, and came round the bend…just in time to duck a sword. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Maria’s instincts and training. She let her knees go as she bent back, turning her momentum into a slide through the muddy snow melt.
***
Methos wasn’t generally any issue on the obstacle course since he wouldn’t practice where people would be in danger but she did it different, probably to make it harder on herself, which meant he’d turned the sword so the worst she would have got was a slap with the flat but she slid right under it instead keeping her safer but muddier as well.
“I’m sorry are you all right?” He stopped what he was doing to hold a hand out to Maria to help her up off the muddy ground.
***
Maria liked to mix up the course to keep herself on edge. Leave it to her to almost smack herself into probably one of the few swords being used in town. And of course now she was muddy from knee to shoulders. There was even some mud in her hair. Lovely.
She chuckled as she took the help up from the ground. “Yeah, I’m fine. If I ever needed to know I still had it, this proved it.”
***
Being muddy this time of year outside was sort of a hazard anyway but she was sort of over the top with it after that slide. “You definitely have it on the defense. I’m glad I missed.” Because even if he’d turned the blade the slap with it wouldn’t have felt good either. “Would you like to borrow a towel?”
Methos had some hand towels with him for sweating and small mud issues, they wouldn’t work to get her entirely mopped up but at least she would be able to get it out of her hair and off her hands.
***
Maria had pulled her towel from where it had been tucked into her pants only to discover that it was in as bad condition as the rest of her. She wrinkled her nose with another chuckle escaping her. “Yes, please?”
Swiping at the mud would only smear it. She’d need a very thorough shower after this. “So what’s with the sword?” she said as she nodded at it.
***
Methos grinned after he saw her towel and went to grab the two clean ones he had in the little gym bag he carried with him to come practice. They were handed to her unfolded so she could use them without getting them all muddy just unfolding them.
“I did tell you I was old right?” Methos chuckled. “This is what I learned with...well not this exactly since I picked this style up somewhere in the eleventh century. The one handed broadsword really wasn’t a thing before then.”
***
Maria took the towels with a quiet thank you then began an attempt at clearing off some of the mud from her hair and face as Methos explained. “Okay now you’re just showing off,” she accused good naturedly. “Most people would have switched to something modern.”
***
“No real reason to switch. I do carry a gun as well but who expects a sword?” And it was considered the highest of bad form that he carried a gun by the ones that were really into the whole cult of one thing. Shooting someone then taking their head was definitely considered cheating. Methos called it being smart.
***
Maria would call it hedging your bets for survival, but she’d have to know a lot more about all of that to say so. “Swords are just so big,” she said. There were people in SHIELD who did carry and use swords, but she’d learned a long time ago that she prefers weapons that left her mobile.
“Have to admit it’s been a while since I sparred with one, though.”
***
“They don’t have to be all that big.” There were swords that were more like long knives after all. Methos just liked to have the reach without being overburdened by too much weight.
“You should come out some time and spar then. It never hurts to keep in practice.”
***
“I’d need a sword, first.” But it wasn’t as if she couldn’t buy one. She had enough money since she didn’t spend it on anything other than fixing up her house. “Guess I could check out that sword place or have one made.” There was a guy in town that did that, right?
***
“I have a couple of spares if you want to borrow one. Might not be your length but I could bring them sometime if you want to try them out.” Methos had picked up a few alternatives after he started practicing with Claire before she ended up leaving. “I had someone who wanted to spar and we weren’t sure what would would work for them. I just never got around to finding new homes for them.”
****
“Anything close to a katana?” That was what Maria learned on in her Kung Fu lessons. She’d gotten her black belt and stayed in practice, but nothing more than that. “Had to learn that for Kung Fu. I could use a refresher.” Now the knives in Krav Maga...Maria was a bit deadly with those.
***
“One of them is a Wakizashi.” If she knew her swords she’d know it was like a Katana but shorter and one of the two swords a samurai wore together in their daisho set. “It’s a ko-Wakizashi so it’s a little on the shorter side.”
He’d gotten it just for that, Claire was a little on the shorter side and beginners had more control with a short blade.
“Despite a good friend using a Katana I’ve never been a fan, they actually have some drawbacks to them against the European swords.”
***
“Europe was a little short on the competitive martial arts so I didn’t study a lot of that.” This was maybe the most Maria had said to anyone in the past week or more. At least at one time. But Methos had her talking about fighting, and that was one area that was safe for her to talk about at the moment.
“The Wakizashi will work.” Her eyes went to the sword he was currently holding. “So how old is that one?”
***
“Anything that is fighting is technically a martial art.” And his old mentor Sun Tzu would slap him upside the head for looking down on any of them because you needed to know everything you could about other styles to have appropriate tactics. “But there was a lot less finesse when everyone clanked around in a tin can.” He laughed remembering how fun it was to show people in armor how badly it could handicap you.
“This sword came with me, it’s a little over three hundred years old.” He held it out on the flat of his hands so she could look at it. It obviously was well worn and had seen plenty of combat.
***
“That’s why I said competitive,” Maria said with a smirk. “Not a lot of national tournaments for medieval hilt bashing.” Oh sure, she’d seen the demos at renn fairs and those weird reenactments, but she’d been pretty sure she could have taken any of them down.
She knew better than to touch the sword. You didn’t touch someone else’s equipment until invited to...and she didn’t want to think about what Barton would turn that into. “My Kung Fu sensei had a katana that was about four hundred years old. He let me use it once, and I almost took my foot off.”
It was a nice sword. Maria could see the care that was given to it and she smiled. Obviously Methos gave a damn about it.
***
Sadly Methos probably would have made the same thing of it that Barton would have so it was a good thing she didn’t say it. “Katana’s do have the advantage on the slash...that wedge edge and hardened steel...it makes it challenging to use until you’re used to it.”
Methos let out a soft huff of laughter as he sheathed the sword and hooked it to his belt. “If I didn’t heal almost instantly I’d have quite a collection of scars from learning how to sheath one. An old mentor of mine used one and wanted me to learn. I kept trying to take my thumb off.” He was obviously amused by the memory. “I got yelled at a lot.”
***
Maria chuckled then held up the unwrapped hand to show off the back and the knuckles. Scars of varying age cross crossed her skin. “Krav Maga knife fighting. You can’t really work with fake knives. The weight and motion aren’t the same. You basically judge your advancement by the amount of stitches.”
***
“You know you can work with real knives and swords without them actually being sharp enough to damage you right?” He was being partially joking since you did have to start working with real, live steel at some point to make sure you knew you weren’t cutting yourself.
Then he held out his own hand with its perfectly smooth skin. “Doesn’t matter how much I cut myself. It doesn’t stick unless it happened before I died the first time.”
***
Maria looked at his hand then wrinkled her nose. “I know a few women in SHIELD who would hate you for that.” She wasn’t one of them. Maria had her fair share of scars from training and actual combat. She’d never been a girly girl that cared about her hair, nails and clothing. Until recently. Shut up.
***
“It’s a little weird to not be able to show your experiences on your skin. But I’m used to it by now.” When he was younger Methos wanted to be able to show he wasn’t as young as he looked. As he aged he liked that people underestimated him because he didn’t show that he’d ever been near a blade.
“They shouldn’t hate me because I’m beautiful.” That was said over the top complete with a cheesy pose before he grinned and dropped the goofiness.
***
Okay that was too much. Maria burst out laughing. “Keep that up and I’ll drag you along to one of the manicures I endure with Pepper and Sue.” Yes, she actually enjoyed their mani/pedis, but right now she related them too much to Peter.
***
“Do you think I’m afraid of a little nail care?” Methos didn’t actually get mani/pedis no matter what MacLeod would probably accuse him of but he also wasn’t threatened by them and his potential ‘loss’ of manhood getting one. “I do draw the line at gel nails though. They’re just silly.”
***
Maria smirked as she snorted, looking Methos up and down as if sizing him up then crossed her arms. “All right. Prove it.” She arched a brow.
***
“Well do you want to take a shower first or are we going covered in mud?” Methos smirked right back at her as he waved a hand at the mud clear up and down her from her slide through the mud.
***
“Oh, right.” Maria grinned, possibly for the first time in weeks, as she looked down at herself. “And here I was beginning to feel like I was back home.”
The muddy hand towels were balled up. “I’ll text you the address. Meet me there in an hour.”
***