[closed]

[featheradrift]

WHO: Wanderer (featheradrift) & Various
WHAT: November Catch-all for random threads!
WHERE: Anywhere and everywhere???
WHEN: All of November
WARNINGS: Marked in threads

Comments

[yyds]

[ hong lu laughs. the blows come in quick succession, much like a whirlwind in motion. the little man is quick. hong lu blocks the blows with an up-raised arm, and then flips, twice, to vault over the roundhouse kick, which comes at the heels of a feinting punch. the third flip gets him back far enough to tilts his head admiringly. ]

You're the tricky kind, then. I like tricky.

[ hong lu winks his one, cyan eye. then, he falls into another form, slow, and flowing, and beckons hat guy to come at him once more. ]

[featheradrift]

[ Is he going to be on the offense while Hong Lu is on the defense this time? He doesn't dislike this role swap—but the change in form has him cautious. ]

Heh. Can you handle this?

[ He dashes forward as the other beckons him but he's careful to watch for unexpected moves as he throws out several more punches in rapid succession, half of which are feints or fake outs. He doesn't have anything to rely on. No Anemo or divine powers, so the only thing he can do is be tricky with his hand-to-hand combat. ]

[yyds]

[ the change in form shortens hong lu's reach. he remembers learning about it from the elders who taught this sort of thing, how they emphasised the switch in forms because a fighter must be flexible based on who they face. hong lu has never particularly cared for their lessons, but there really wasn't anything to do save to learn. so hong lu learned.

hat guy comes forward in a flurry of blows. hong lu carefully parries each one with low, slow movements, arm to leg to the long angles of his body. a feint will bring a blow, so hong lu ensures there is plenty of surface area to hit. he is laughing by the end of it, hopping back just a smidgeon to offer hat guy a low kick in playful reprisal. ]

You're having fun~ But I am too. Hey, who taught you to fight the way you do? You fight as if you've always had to claw for survival.

[featheradrift]

[ He dodges that low kick with ease and continues the pressure, trying to determine if there are any openings in Hong Lu's defense. It's a learned style, careful and precise. Despite his lack of common sense, he has been formally taught combat, the drifter notes.

It's true that the Wanderer was never truly taught how to fight, at least when it came to hand-to-hand combat. What he was taught was swordplay, but only in regards to testing blades, rather than for actual combat. Everything else, he learned by scrapping it out with bandits and monsters in his travels, but especially with the creatures of the Abyss. To say that he fought to survive would be accurate. ]

What about you? You're not as much of a wild beast as I thought you'd be.

[yyds]

Hm? Why would I be a wild beast? I'm a very well-trained one, after all. [ hong lu laughs, because of course he had been - it had been training since birth, after all. he had been kept in a cage, and so it follows that the way he fights must be the same as all the other caged animals. he wonders if the way people who were caged and people who weren't fought differently. perhaps that's why one was for survival, and one was for sport.

the blows continue. hong lu presses the advantage, falls back with the flow of things. by the end, he is bruised, and aching, and on his back as the young man with the hat stands over over.

hong lu is grinning. he also has a bloodied nose from where he'd let himself be hit just long enough to get a kick in himself. it's that sort of fight. ]

Ah~ [ hong lu splays out his arms. ] That was fun. I haven't fought anyone since I came here, so I was ready to be disappointed, but this place really is a good time. I had a really good time, Hat Guy, so I won't even mind it if you killed me now or something.

[featheradrift]

[ Though he has no visible injuries like Hong Lu, the Wanderer didn't come out of the spar pristine either. There are dirt tracks where Hong Lu has landed hits, even on his face when the other man had scored a particularly good kick and almost knocked over the drifter. But in the end, it is he who wins. He smirks triumphantly as he stands over the taller man. ]

Now why would I want to do that when I already have a favour in mind that I need you alive for?

[ The Wanderer holds out a hand to the fallen man. ]

[yyds]

[ hong lu looks at the hand. with a smile, he clasps it, and pulls himself up. he is limber as he stands to attention. around him, his hair is a terror of a waterfall, long and murk like an untenable galaxy.

his hand slips into his pocket for his extra hairtie. hong lu says, ]

Ah, right. The bet. I've never done anyone a favour before. What is it?

I just remembered this thread takes place before wanchan's chat with hythlo but /wiggles hand

[featheradrift]

Did you hear about the upcoming gala?

[ He'll take a moment to pull up the advertisement by Ghost on the network and show it to Hong Lu. ]

It's a black tie event, meaning we're supposed to dress up for it.