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

[om_nom_namur]

[Namur acts like he's thinking it over, running his finger over the bottom of his mouth pensively.]

Hmm... Think I might be gettin' the idea.

[Oh look, grats. Namur's not junctioning any elemental attacks at the moment, but even then they pose only a minor distraction.]

A'ight, I'm convinced. Where d' y' find him, d' y' know?

[gunbladegrrl]

According to the reports, he used to be in the Deep Sea Research Facility. But I'm not even sure that's there any more.

[She doesn't even bother to pull her blades.]

[om_nom_namur]

A deep sea facility y' say?

[Namur grins, catches her eye, and winks.]

Talkin' t' the right man for that. Gimme a few days an' a general idea where it ought t' be an' I'll find out if it's still there or not.

[gunbladegrrl]

Oh, I can show it to you on a map easily enough. How are you with working steam-powered barricades and stuff?

[om_nom_namur]

Barricades? Can't y' jus' swim 'round 'em?

[He shrugs.]

If I can't figure out how t' use 'em I could always bust 'em up. Ain't got seastone 'round here from what I seen, an' my teeth go right through anythin' that ain't that.

[gunbladegrrl]

No, no, the facility is in the deep sea, but there's AIR inside! [She can't help but laugh at the image.]

[om_nom_namur]

Hmmm...

A'ight, so I bust up whatever's holdin' it down there an' we hook it t' a submarine or somethin' t' keep it from jettin' up t' the surface. Bring it up nice an' slow an we won't get none a that messy explosive depressurization shit.

[Yep, it's a plan.]

[gunbladegrrl]

[Maria just laughs brightly. She can't fault him for enthusiasm, regardless of the facts.]

We'll see if we can find time to do an investigation, maybe. It's not a priority...

[om_nom_namur]

Keep y' pretty busy doin' missions an' shit?

[He knows Thatch would take off for a few days every once in awhile back when they were in Trabia... It didn't seem like a whole lot, but maybe that was because Thatch is an instructor.]

[gunbladegrrl]

Garden itself is busy with everything going on! Sometimes I feel like we can barely keep up!

[om_nom_namur]

Well yeah but... y' ain't necessarily in the middle a all that... Yerself, I mean...

[Namur runs his hand over the back of his head for the upteenth time. This girl ain't one of Garden's decision makers, is she?

They're back at the sliding door to the training center, and Namur hits the release button to let them out, motioning to Maria to go first.]

Anyway, meet y' at the front gate? Half an hour?

[gunbladegrrl]

[And out she steps, doing some quick planning and calculation in her head.]

How about forty-five minutes? I want more than just a quick shower after that, especially if we're going to Balamb.

[om_nom_namur]

Don't mind that at all, sweetheart. Do what y' got t' do.

[Gives him time to track down Thatch and see if they can take the car.]

[gunbladegrrl]

Okay! I'll catch you then.

[With another smile, she sets off for her dorms at a quick clip, not quite a run but with some speed in her step.]

[om_nom_namur]

[Namur shakes his head as she goes, thinking he's already getting a little too caught up even though they just met. He wonders how he'll explain to Thatch why he wants the car and then remembers: Thatch is off on a mission and took Li'l Blue with him.]

Aw, damn.

[It's not directed at anyone in particular, but a few heads pop up to regard him with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. Namur smiles sheepishly, then hurries to grab his stuff and head back to the dorms to shower, change, and make it to the front gate before Maria does.]

[gunbladegrrl]

[That isn't too difficult; Maria wants her nice long shower, damn it, and she's going to get it. When she finally does show up, it's as a much cleaner girl, though if she's changed her outfit the current one is so close to her old one that the two might as well be the same. Strangely, her one addition to the ensemble is a rifle now affixed to her gunblade holster.]

[om_nom_namur]

[He's lived with pirate women for more than a decade. Being ready for overkill at all times is a way of life, and he's glad to see she's prepared. You never know when Marines might come busting in to ruin a date.

Except, well. He's the Marine now, in a way. So maybe pirates? Are there even pirates native to this world? What would they be looking for if there were?

Too much thinking about ugly sailor dudes. Focus on the hot maid here that apparently digs fish and heavy weaponry. Almost makes him wish he had a weapon specialty for her to get nerdy over, but oh well. Better to be the weapon rather than relying on something that might break before you do.

Namur nudges the butt of the gun a little.]

Reckon there's a theme here, sheheheh! How many a these things y' got?

[gunbladegrrl]

Hey, versatility is important. You never know when the team sharpshooter will end up disabled or trapped in a pit or something and you'll be called on to make the critical shot that completes the mission.

Also it's really hard to hit flying enemies or ones a few hundred feet away with gunblades.

[om_nom_namur]

'S what nakama's for- fillin' in the gaps.

[He smiles though. If she wanted to spread herself out and come as close to a one-woman army as she could, who was he to tell her no?]

Thatch took Li'l Blue t' Centra so we got t' walk. Hope y' don't mind.

[gunbladegrrl]

[There's more to the story than she's told him, about an Instructor she looked up to... but it's in the past, it doesn't mean much any more.]

I'm used to walking to Balamb, it doesn't bother me at all.

[om_nom_namur]

Cool.

[Namur starts walking at a quick pace, the forward momentum seeming almost to come from his shoulders rather than his legs.]

People's been throwin' shit lately, think that's the worst'll happen. Where d' y' get one a them gunblades? They got a store for 'em somewhere or somethin'?

[gunbladegrrl]

These I got from my old trainer back in Dollet. Garden has a couple of the two-handed models in storage and one or two for demonstration purposes, at last count.

[om_nom_namur]

Meant for buyin'. Got a brother here kind a digs swords. Says shit like they're part a y', an extension or, y' know. Whatever. Anyway, thought he might like t' try one, but he's fussy an' prob'ly wouldn't go for it usin' someone else's blade, y' know?

[gunbladegrrl]

Oh, for a new one you'd probably have to order it from one of the few makers left. Smaller outfits who do custom work, you know? They're not in common production any more.

[om_nom_namur]

A dyin' part a yer culture, huh? Kind a sad. What happened, everybody got hung up on some kind a new tech or somethin'?