citylogs | ( open ) — july catch-all

[Alhaitham follows, to stand opposite of him a few feet ahead.] Are we going until someone requests a yield? First to the ground?

[Probably... not until one of them is knocked unconscious.]

Your call. First down works for me.

[ first blood is meaningless, and first unconscious would stray a tiny bit too close for comfort to the "not trying to kill anybody" line. ]

Then first to the ground it is. [He shifts his foot stance and gives Heine a "come at me" gesture. This is the more likely flow of he does get into a fight after all--reacting, not initiating.]

[ that's fine with heine—in fact, better for him to be on the offensive so he can get a better read of his opponent's capabilities. his goal is really and truly not to kill anyone, and in order to do that, he needs to know exactly how hard he's allowed to hit.

so heine takes the first swings, observing the way alhaitham responds—how he parries, how fast he is, how many punches he blocks versus how many heine lands. it quickly becomes apparent that alhaitham is strong, fast, more defensive in close quarters than he is offensive—but also that heine is stronger and faster, scrappy, undisciplined in a way that gives him an advantage.

so he holds back a little. not enough to throw the fight, but enough to make it even, until they've both taken a few punches and are at least starting to sweat.

when heine has the chance, he puts a little distance between them to catch his breath, reaching up to wipe blood out of the corner of his mouth. ]

What do you normally fight with? [ no offense, but it's obviously not fists, and alhaitham had mentioned a blacksmith before. ]

[On the other side, Alhaitham takes the defense for much the same reasons--it lets him observe Heine's actions, calculate, and then respond. Presumably, Heine's physical weak points are the same as any human: such as the head, solar plexus, the joints (he'll avoid the groin for both their sakes). So he focuses on conserving his energy on the defense and trying to get a return blow when it's the right opportunity.

But Alhaitham is still only an ordinary human, if a strong one, and in a battle of attrition he slowly loses ground against someone who is slightly faster, stronger, and recovers quicker. Nevermind he usually only fights with his fists when he's holding back against someone, though at least that means he's very controlled in the power he puts behind them. Don't need any accidental concussions.

Alhaitham steps back with a slight wince when the side of his rib aches, but he doesn't move to touch the area. Instead as they have a brief moment of reprieve he keeps his eyes rapidly tracking over Heine.]

A sword, and--[A brief pause, considering how to translate it.] I can usually manipulate dendro elemental energy for unique abilities.

[ dendro. tree. the word isn't familiar, but heine can at least put two and two together enough to figure out it has something to do with plants—which in turn triggers another memory, that makes him lift a curious eyebrow. ]

You don't happen to know a dude [ gestures about collarbone height ] this tall, ears, big into plants?

[ this is probably the world's least helpful description of tighnari, but heine never got his name, only a thorough scolding about the way he was damaging local plant life with his traipsing through the bushes. ]

Said something about plant fights. [ which sounds a lot, to heine, like ~manipulating dendro elemental energy for unique abilities~. damn. his own superpowers might give him a leg up in a fistfight, but they are definitely far less cool than what sounds like being able to order plants around. ]

[Alhaitham hasn't seen many people here who have their ears as a Big Feature, at least.

So he takes an educated guess.] Sounds like you met Tighnari. We come from the same place.

[Planet, country, city basically.]

[ the fact that alhaitham recognizes the description probably means tighnari wasn't kidding about intervening in plant fights, which is somehow both hilarious and terrifying. there's not a lot of plant life where heine's from in the first place, and if it could square up... yikes! ]

Nice guy. [ shame their first meeting involved heine stepping on the subject of his research...

brief conversational break over, heine darts back in to resume their fight—he's letting alhaitham's stamina be what guides the end of their sparring, because heine can keep going for a long time. ]

[Those whopperflowers are no joke.

Alhaitham nods, an affirmative grunt rolling with it. Tighnari is a nice guy, he agrees. Just don't eat any poisonous mushrooms or step on his research.

He's prepared when Heine surges forward, blocking the first blow. It's even easier to find the rhythm between them the second time and he's constantly calculating Heine's trajectory to dodge. His return punches get bolder. Being in such good shape he holds out for a while, withstanding bruises and split skin.

Ultimately, though, the exertion wears on him and eventually he fails to block Heine's next blow--staggering off balance and before he can right himself he's already falling back first to the ground.

He grunts as his spine hits pavement. Ouch.]

[ it's a good fight. for someone not accustomed to this kind of close-range, bare-knuckled brawling, alhaitham definitely holds his own, and by the time they're through heine is starting to feel the effects of it, sweat in his eyes and his limbs dragging a little more than he's used to.

when he feels alhaitham lose his balance, heine pulls back, but lets him take the fall. (learning how to fall is also a part of fighting... right?) after a second for them both to catch their breaths, heine takes a couple steps forward and offers a hand to pull alhaitham back to his feet. ]

Not bad. [ that's high praise from heine, who's almost as stingy with compliments as he is with smiles. ]

[Alhaitham spends a few seconds just starting at the sky as the pain numbs. When Heine offers a hand, he goes ahead and takes it to support him standing to his feet again. He wipes back the sweat on his brow with the edge of his palm.]

You're in excellent form yourself. [Credit where credit is due, Heine can clearly back up his talk.] Thank you, this was a very informative spar.

[He has a much better idea what gaps in his own fighting are when stripped of his sword and vision, and that's something he can begin to work on. Just... later when he isn't so sore.]

[ once alhaitham is standing again, heine lets go and strips off his gloves, shoving them into one back pocket for the time being. he wipes his face with the hem of his tshirt (tshirts being a dime a dozen around here, he has no particular need to keep any of them in good condition) and then stretches out, almost relishing the ache in his shoulders and the few bruises from where alhaitham's fists landed. the one on his jaw is probably already fading, but the one on his ribs feels like it'll be a few more minutes. ]

Glad to help. [ he likes that even though alhaitham was apparently in it for information moreso than the thrill of the fight, he hadn't taken it easy on heine nor expected heine to take it easy on him. ] Must be weird, huh? Not having the...

[ what had alhaitham called it? ]

Plant power.

[ that's not what alhaitham called it, but whatever. ]

[Close enough. We don't need to get into his weird mirror projectiles.

He shrugs--twitching briefly during it, but his expression continues to look straight as ever.] Truthfully it doesn't serve me any good outside of a fight, but it's important to be capable of dealing with any disruptions in life. Including physical altercations.

But I've grown used to having it, so unless it suddenly starts to work again I'm going to need to adapt. I take it there's nothing like that wherever you're from?

Not elemental magic. [ and thank god for that, because if anybody in heine's hometown managed to wrangle control over something like fucking electricity, they'd all be doomed. ]

There's some... life science, biology. Genetic mutations. [ but heine doesn't really count those as powers. ] Mostly developed by rich people funding their perverted habits.

[ good news: the number of animal ears he's seen so far in the city hasn't even pinged on heine's weirdness radar. bad news: the reason is because he's used to dealing with the descendents of fetish mutants who were forcibly cross-bred with animals. ]

Can everybody do it?

"Genetic mutations"? [That sounds like a story, but also in the kind of science that Akademiya dissuades. Not that it even stops all scholars, anyway.

He shakes his head at the follow up, turning slightly to show the Vision on his cape.] Not for humans, anyway. It requires a Vision, which is a blessing from the gods, and very few people receive one.

Yeah. Like... [ he gestures vaguely. ] Mixing genetics. Putting ears or tails on people.

[ or wings, like the ones nill had. her angel wings, although heine knows realistically they were probably a dove or something.

he glances at the ornament alhaitham shows him, expecting it to glow or something. it doesn't, which is disappointing, but at least it's a cool toy. normally heine isn't the type to care enough to ask follow-up questions, but this is far outside the boundaries of what he knows. ]

I guess gods have criteria for that kind of thing.

Ah. [So Tighnari, if he wasn't a natural evolution. It's not terribly common in Teyvat, but yeah. That sure sounds like something the Akademiya would ban.]

They must, but the truth is nobody knows what it is. They don't tend to include an explanation when they give one.

[Or even like, a greeting.] But I wonder where you fit in. Mutated, perhaps?

[ the akademiya definitely hates this one weird trick!

heine nods. ] Sounds about right. [ those with power rarely feel the need to justify their actions to those with less, whether we're talking gods or just folks with too much money.

the question being asked so straightforwardly makes heine blink—he's never had someone call him out so... almost nonchalantly before. (it's weirdly refreshing?) ]

Sort of. But the science experiment kind, not the fetish mutant kind. [ after a second's pause, he reaches up to tap at the back of his neck, over the bandages wrapped around his throat. ] Genetics make me strong and fast, implant makes me heal.

[Alhaitham's gaze follow the gesture, before diverting to a still visible bruise as if he'll watch it disappear in real time.]

Huh. [Willful or not doesn't matter, not really, but he could tell Heine had an edge.] It would make sense to pair those things together.

[So his body could handle the greater exertion he places on it.] How much compared to the average person?

[ if he watched long enough he probably could see it fade in real time. at least it's probably obvious that the worst of the bruising is looking a lot better already, much quicker than it should. ]

Here, or back home? [ because those two situations are very different! but then again, alhaitham is already familiar, presumably, with the limitations of the city, so heine assumes he's probably asking about normal circumstances. ]

I never compared, exactly. [ the scientists that made him undoubtedy had records of his performance in comparison to a baseline, but heine hadn't bothered to take those with him when he ran. ] But a lot, I'd guess.

Is it restricted here? [Now that's interesting. A Vision is bestowed by an outer force, and even in Teyvat being separate from it would inhibit his ability to use dendro. In that way, losing his ability to use it isn't that surprising in Place That Seems Ever Likely Not Teyvat.

Genetic makeup is a lot more deep.

He stares at the waning bruise much longer than is really polite but does, eventually, shift his gaze back to Heine's face proper.] I see.

Yeah, by a lot. I'm still healing fast, but if we were back where I'm from I wouldn't even have bruises. [ in fact, heine can't even remember the last time that he actually had a bruise. normally they're gone by the time he thinks to look.

fortunately for alhaitham, heine isn't really concerned with the limits of propriety anyway, so the staring doesn't bother him. he gestures vaguely to the city. ]

Seems like they at least tried to take all our weapons. [ including the inherent ones. ]

[So fast there's no bruises? That's awfully convenient. He could spare himself the inevitable lecture in his future if he could do the same. Oh well.]

Mm, but people are resourceful. [So they'll find ways to get violent even if you take away their actual weapons and powers.] Though it would be better to not have to, I doubt we'll get that lucky. Do you plan to continue scheduling fights in the future?

[ indeed, the ability to return unscathed from all kinds of altercations had indeed saved heine many a talking-to from those watching at home... except badou, who nagged him regardless. ]

I might. Unless we get our shit back I'm going to need to keep my skills sharp.

[ plus, it's pretty good stress relief! ]

Why, you want to come back for more?