Natural Strength [Action/Open]

[gunbladegrrl]

[Maria hadn't done quite as well during the Tears Point mission as she might have liked. Aside from grossly underestimating the volume of monsters in a Lunar Cry, and getting turned into a dragon -- both of those completely understandable problems -- she hadn't turned in the combat performance she expected of herself. After some thinking and reflection, she'd concluded that a year of classes meant she'd neglected basic physical training for skill acquisition.]

[Time to change that.]

[So early mornings find her jogging around the outside of Garden, working up a sweat. Later mornings are her time for strength and endurance training, meaning she can be found lifting weights in volumes that would be weird anywhere but here in Garden. And afternoons are agility training, in the only real way she can think of -- going into the Training Center without weapons, and coming out with as few injuries as possible.]

[Care to talk to her at any point during this?]

Comments

[windbreak]

[As could be predicted from the size of his shopping bag, there's not too much to look at. One of them, unremarkably enough, is for a couple of shirts from a clothing store. The other is mostly bits and pieces of stationery plus a couple of snacks, and is almost unremarkable. The title of the last item on the list, though... well, there are one or two remarks that could be made about it...

But Yosuke isn't about to be the one to make them, and nor is he really looking at Maria to check that she isn't prying, although he does swipe the receipts before ducking down again to scrabble for his magazine.]

Hey, it's always the ones you least expect! [His grin is appropriately self-deprecating.] But seriously, thanks. Geez, it's lucky I ran into someone else out here.

[gunbladegrrl]

Are you bringing those all the way back from town?

[That's a little impressive at this time of day; the trip isn't exactly a casual one that's effortless to make, even if Maria wouldn't call it difficult or burdensome.]

[windbreak]

Well, yeah. [Yosuke looks a little hunted. Then again, as long as she's not asking about what he just hastily stuffed back into the bag, he can roll with it.] Gotta get used to it sometime. You couldn't just stay cooped up in a school by yourself on a day off, right? You'd go crazy. Plus, I kind of had a theory...

[Wait, no. When he puts it that way, it just sounds weird.]

Er, but never mind that. [He waves his free hand in hurried apology.] I won't hold you up if you're in the middle of something.

[gunbladegrrl]

Just jogging. That's pretty easy to stop and start whenever I want. What theory?

[Of course she didn't 'never mind' that. That would be too easy!]

[windbreak]

Oh, right. Jogging. [He looks her over as he readjusts his headphones.] Now you mention it, I guess it's pretty obvious, huh.

[He keeps on looking at her just long enough to be awkward before remembering himself.]

A-Anyway... uh, theory isn't really it. More like a hunch. [He scratches his head.] I mean, the way the classes and everyone's always talking about them, people just seem to treat them like wild animals here. So I figured I could make the trip a few times, pay attention to the time of day... You know what I'm saying?

[It might have helped if he'd started from the beginning.]

[gunbladegrrl]

[Once that gaze becomes extended, she folds her arms behind her back. She'll put most of herself up against any other girl, but Maria remains quite self-conscious about her forearms.]

Nope. Haven't a clue what you're saying. Unless you're surveying monster activity cycles...

[windbreak]

[Yosuke flushes slightly, a bit embarrassed, or at least a bit more than he is by default.] Yeah, but when you put it like that, it makes me sound like I've got a stick up my ass. I'm just trying to find out when's the best time to head into town without getting swarmed by flying murderfish again. [He shakes his head.] It was just an idea...

[gunbladegrrl]

That one's fairly easy -- don't go on the beach. But I get what you're saying. Come up with anything useful so far?

[windbreak]

[He rubs at his forehead.] It's not like I've been doing this for long...

[Still, he can't help but give her an odd look for a second.]

And you're saying that awfully casually. Would you know anything about it?

[gunbladegrrl]

Oh, I used to go down and fight them a lot back when I was just starting out. [She grins at the memories. It hadn't been THAT long ago, really, yet she still felt so much older and more mature than her fresh-cadet self.]

[windbreak]

For training, huh? That's not exactly what I was asking, but... oh well. I guess that couldn't hurt either, one of these days. [With a sigh, though not really an unhappy one, he readjusts his translator as well.] Man. Wonder what it would be like to grow up with all of this stuff around you.

[gunbladegrrl]

And Blizzard magic, which they're a pretty good source of.

[She chuckles at his statement, smiling.] I dunno. What's it like growing up in your world? I'm sure it'd be just as weird to me as this all is to you.

[windbreak]

[He blinks.] My...? Oh, so that would make you one of the local students, huh. Well, if you did grow up around these things and still don't have a clue, that doesn't scream anything positive about my chances...

[But then he shrugs. The movement makes something metallic-sounding clatter inside his jacket.] Guess they can't all be winners. Hey, if the time of day doesn't matter, d'you know if the weather has anything to do with it?

[gunbladegrrl]

Local graduates, thanks. [But she's still grinning, because she's damn proud to be a graduate.] Honestly, what really affects monsters is terrain. Forest monsters stay in the forests, beach monsters stay on the beach. That's probably the biggest factor in determining what you end up dealing with.

[windbreak]

[She gets another stare at the word "graduate", but it doesn't last nearly as long - that other girl did mention people seem to graduate pretty quickly around here.]

Well, duh, but are you seriously saying they're all exactly as active twenty-four hours a day? And whether or not it's raining, or anything else? [He presses a finger against his forehead.] That's nothing like regular wild animals...

[...And this is a girl, too, come to think. He's babbling about this stuff and making himself sound like an idiot in front of a girl. Whoops.

He looks up sheepishly, and rather suddenly.] S-Sorry. Didn't mean to start bombarding you with questions you don't care about. Uh, we haven't met, have we? I'm Yosuke Hanamura.

[gunbladegrrl]

Maria. [She starts to offer him her hand, then hesitates -- she hadn't missed him looking at her, after all, and though she'll stack herself up against most girls without worries, shaking his hand means getting those gigantic forearms of hers practically up in his face...]

[Ugh, but she can't NOT do it, and it's not like she's trying to be all hot for the guy, right? It's just embarrassing.]

[So is this little hesitation, though, so she mentally grits her teeth and offers her hand. And pulls rank a little.] Maria Cyphert, SeeD.

[...she totally looks like she could crack walnuts with her fingers.]

[windbreak]

[He looks at them again as he obligingly shakes her hand; he'd seen them already, but man, those are so not his idea of cute.

That tiniest of pauses and the hint of embarrassment he thinks he can detect, however... Haha, looks aren't everything. He can't stop himself. He bursts out laughing as he lets go.] What's the matter? Worried someone's about to barge in on you fraternising with a lowly, innocent student? [It's obvious from his suddenly singsong tone of voice that he's just needling her. Well, mostly just needling her.]

[gunbladegrrl]

[Damn it, stop looking at them.]

[If not for that, she might have taken the needling in stride, but he's hit a nerve or two. Her voice and her smile get syrupy-sweet.] Oh no, just worried you couldn't handle the handshake. But I managed to restrain myself somehow. No infirmary for you... at the moment.

[Okay, that part might have been just a LITTLE less sweet...]

[windbreak]

[Shit, that was sudden. Was it something he said? He recoils, making his jacket clank again, and waves his hand frantically.] Hey, relax, I was just kidding! Don't fly off the handle like that!

[He coughs.] Uh, Miss Cyphert, was it? Am I saying that right? I-It's nice to meet you. Looking forward to working together. ...Haha. [That wasn't a mocking laugh, that was an "oh crap oh crap I'm too young to die" laugh. If only his partner was here and could give him someone to hide behind.]

[gunbladegrrl]

[Maria is already regretting her kneejerk response... even if he deserved it a little, damn it. And not sure how to, or even if she should, gracefully apologize, she settles for running a hand through her hair and trying to change the subject.]

Had time to look over the whole course catalogue yet? Anything catch your eye?

[windbreak]

Huh? [Is it that obvious? Does he look like that much of a misfit? Aw, man.] Oh, yeah. Actually, I've been here... [He thinks for a second.] Damn, I guess it's been a couple of weeks already. Hard to believe...

[He rubs the back of his neck, trying to recover the rest of his composure. This woman could be bad for his health.]

In the end, I mostly went for the stuff that didn't just sound like regular old high school, but - tell you the truth, maybe I shouldn't've bothered. It's just lectures on top of more lectures. I mean, they're talking about actual magic outside the TV, and they still manage to make it sound boring... That takes a kind of talent.

[But then he starts.] Wait, but I'm not saying it's all bad! There's... interesting moments. [And then he perks up.] And some of the classes are way better than others.

[gunbladegrrl]

Hey, look at it this way: all the boring stuff is just what you need to know to actually use paramagic, and that's pretty cool, right?

[She's afraid to ask out of fear it'll be 'swimming' or some other class that involves eyeballing girls, but she'd resolved to be nice to him after that little blowup earlier, so...] What are the better ones, then?

[windbreak]

Well, there's swimming... [But even Yosuke has some survival instinct. He hurriedly casts around for something less damning to move onto.] And the one on, uh, GFs! Some of that's pretty cool, you gotta admit. I've been thinking that one over since that time they stopped me in class.

[He smiles, a bit less nervous.] Must be easier to step back and look at it the mature way when it's already over for you. I'll just have to keep reminding myself.

[gunbladegrrl]

[Oh for Hyne's sake --]

[Well, lucky he changed his tune really quick.] See, I grew up wanting all of this. I came here prepared. It's a totally different experience than getting dumped here and forced to learn... and not one I envy.

[windbreak]

Heh, sorry. I bet people around here must be sick of those complaints. [He shakes his head.] Honestly, I don't mind it. It's something new, and it's definitely better than getting dumped here with nowhere to go. It could be a lot worse. And getting tunnel vision about finding a way home without being prepared, without paying attention to what's around you... That's no way to solve a mystery, right? It'd be a waste.

[...Whoa, did he get serious for a moment there? He shifts his weight awkwardly. Maybe he should try to lighten the -]

Ow!

[Or one of his kunai could fall out of his jacket and bounce off his foot. That's something else that could happen.]