Amiable Violence [closed]

[nuadasvengence]

(March 20)

Fury had run hot before turning a much more dangerous cold through Nuada Silverlance.  Dishonorable and low attacks from the halfling and the cowardly drugs of the human had left him to plot how best to be rid of both of them.  He had hoped the halfling would show more of the honor of  his higher blood, not sink to human lows. 

He would give them their due, in time.  Nuada had learned patience long ago.  He may not prefer it, however it was often the best strategic move. 

Patience and waiting for vengeance did not alleviate the need for the physical release of violence.  He was able to wait long enough for the loosely scheduled sparring match with Klaus Mikaelson. 

The man was a satisfying opponent.  His speed and strength were a good match.  He was recommitting long unused techniques to body memory and his improvement was steady.  In a month or less he may even be able to become Nuada's equal.  Their techniques were different, but each held their own advantages.

Today Nuada had brought some of the primitive weapons the rat infestation had apparently inspired.  More than one empty living quarters had been demolished to make weapons of wood and metal.  Wood was best for practice.  He had four poles four feet in length at the ready.  As he awaited his sparring partner he spun two of them as if they were swords, acclimating himself to the weight and balance of them.

Nuada was disgusted to find his new, slower healing required two days between sparring for deeper bruises to heal.  What should have taken a few hours took two days.  He desperately wanted to know what they had been dosed with.  But not enough to ask either of the cowards currently occupying the lab.  Perhaps the tattooed one would be able to work on such in the future.

So it was that Nuada was lost in thought and absently moving through a double sword kata when Klaus arrived.

Comments

[nuadasvengence]

Nuada canted his head to the side. "Four hundred is quite enough to lose the movement, if not it can't erase the knowledge. You may need to refresh that memory, however," the elf's smirk let Klaus know he'd enjoy the lesson with the bruises to remind him.

"If you would prefer a single weapon we can start with that. I will teach you how to use two. You can also use the left as a shield, to block with while attacking with the right." Nuada held the 'blades' out straight in front of him, crossed at the middle. "Two blades also lend to a quick dispatch." He scissored the weapons, demonstrating what would have been a neat decapitation.

[wholeworldoutthere]

Klaus's lips tilted up into an amused half-smile at the elf's smirk. He knew just what it meant, and welcomed it. He closely followed Nuada's next words, and the demonstration that came with them; he'd seen that move in films often enough.

"I've worked with shields," he'd learned with shields, "let's give wielding two a try."

He would probably progress faster that way than switching back to the one fake sword first, before moving on up. Jumping in the deep end it was, and Klaus had always been a quick study.

[nuadasvengence]

Nuada gave a sharp nod. Good, Klaus was not only open to learning but bold. He could respect that.

"You will need to build up strength in your left arm. It will come in time." And Nuada would take that into consideration. For now he wanted to work on skill. He'd keep from full on blows to the left side only, but keep his strikes hard enough to leave reminders of mistakes.

Personally, Nuada preferred an opponent to make the first move. It allowed him to judge attitude and style. He waited for them to come to him. But in a spar where he was actually attempting to teach he had to move first.

He played to Klaus' strength, attacking his right and was blocked almost too late. Lack of practice did tend to slow the reflexes.

What followed was a flurry of wood crashing together. Nuada landed at least a dozen hits, stopping the spar on occasion to demonstrate a counter move or a better way to block with the second 'blade'.

After fourty minutes he was pleased to feel Klaus land a sharp blow to his outer left thigh. It was an excellent move even if it did make him lower his left blade which allowed Nuada to thrust in and give him a painful poke to the ribs, meaning a kill shot. It was still excellent for four hundred years out of practice.

Klaus was also adjusting to Nuada's style. He had his own, but he was able to predict a few flips and bends, the more gymnastic moves. He was able to begin making an attack where Nuada would land instead of where he had been a second before. Nuada barely blocked him twice at such times.

[wholeworldoutthere]

It was all coming back to him, slowly but steadily. Elijah teaching him the basics, a few rare spars with Kol, steadily besting his brothers, becoming quicker and bolder, smug enough that Mikael would step in and teach him a lesson about humility. His father had always been so good at it.

This time, it was easier, devoid of the emotions that Klaus could never deny about his family, each and every one of them. This time, it was falling back into old habits and correcting them with Nuada's help, the elf the most skilled opponent Klaus had ever fought against. There was a smoothness, a fluidity and a ruthless efficiency to the way he moved that no human could ever hope to gain, even diminished as he must also be compared to his usual self. And it was simple. The pain of any blow Klaus failed to block was just that, physical pain, and much as the bruises would stick around for longer than he liked for them to, they would be that much better a reminder of what he was learning here.

It was, all in all, thoroughly enjoyable to get poked at repeatedly, if only for the few blows he managed to land himself. It was also far too long since he had had some proper physical exertion, and there was something about actually breaking out into a sweat. Again, he had Nuada's proficiency to thank for that; a simply human opponent would likely not have been enough.

This spar ended when he misjudged Nuada's counter, backpedaled, and landed very unceremoniously on his ass. He only just had time to block the first of Nuada's mock-swords, but no time to parry the second, which jabbed him in the ribs. He laughed even as the pain shot through him, and let himself go limp on the mattress.

"Tripping over my own feet is a clear sign I'm unlikely to learn much more today," he stated, amused at himself.

[nuadasvengence]

Nuada answered the other man's smile with his own. It seemed the only times he had smiled or laughed on this gods forsaken place had been when Klaus was within sight at least.

"I would agree, as it is obvious you have no alehouse to try and blame," Nuada set aside his weapons and folded himself to the floor next to Klaus. He had begun to breathe hard from the exertion as well. A few green and yellow bruises stood out against the white of his skin. Well earned ones at that.

"Speaking of alehouse, I understand you and your friend were complaining at the lack of alcohol. You are how old? The machine in my room has given me fruit," Nuada gave Klaus a look that telegraphed 'don't be stupid'. "Gather enough and make a mash in a large bowl. Let it sit. You leave any juice out long enough it will either mold or ferment. Keep trying until you get a base and gather some of the glass containers from the lab to finish. It's simplistic and I do not think it would pass any vintner's muster, but... Long ago, making your own was the common option."

He swept his wet hair back and reached for the two towels he had brought, handing one to Klaus.

[wholeworldoutthere]

"Thank you," Klaus said as he caught the towel, but he remained on the floor, on his back, and only wiped at his face vaguely before dropping his arm again. Still catching his breath, when he should not have lost it in the first place.

"I was hardly complaining about the lack of alcohol," he then assured Nuada, "but about the lack of quality alcohol. The machines have given me several different variants on alcohol now, none of which meeting my standards." He paused, raised his eyebrows. "Some of them were quite... surprising." He did not think they were from Earth, truly, and it was not that surprising, in a place like this one.

He straightened up slightly, leaning on his elbow, his other arm draped loosely across his stomach. "But thank you for the input. I do remember making our own wine, but I wouldn't trust myself to manage anything satisfying. I have better luck trying the machines; eventually they'll yield something acceptable."

[nuadasvengence]

"Ah, quality is a whole other matter," Nuada agreed. "Some of the best goblin ale would make a human blind or kill them if not watered down. But it is so smooth and sweet one tends to forget until you wake up in... places you aren't supposed to be."

Mechanics and alcohol were the virtues of the goblin race. And in his youth, Nuada had found himself hauled out of more than one den or ally by Mr. Wink. He still had no idea how he got up that tree when he was two hundred or so. But getting out of it with a hangover and the grating diatribe of a cave troll had been an adventure he'd never forget. Luckily, he grew up. Especially as apparently Nuala also felt the effects of her brother's stupidity. He grinned hugely at the remembrance.

"If the machines do produce something acceptable the trick will be getting them to do it a second time," Nuada pointed out. Dependability was not one of the features of the food machines. "Last meal it gave me a live squid on the first try."

[wholeworldoutthere]

A squid? Poor thing. That certainly confirmed the odd variety of blood that Klaus had been getting. All of it dead, off, but some of it tasting so strange... He had never been into animal blood, but he could smell it the way he usually could smell a human's, and it wasn't any animal's he had met. Probably some alien race or other, and at least it was nice to know that he could survive on the blood of other races.

"Oh, I wouldn't trust it to give me twice of anything in a row," Klaus confirmed. "But being lucky once would certainly be a welcome occasion." He tiptapped a few fingers on the floor, thoughtful, and pushed himself up in a sitting position to rub the towel over the back of his neck. "I have to wonder if we might not be more affected now that we are weaker. It might not take goblin ale anymore."

[nuadasvengence]

Nuada barked a laugh. "If we tire faster, most likely we've become light weights. It may take only a dozen human beers to feel the effects. Are you proposing we try?"

It had been so long since Nuada had deliberately gotten drunk he couldn't count the years. He was fairly sure the Romans had invaded Hibernia.

"If we could find a descent brew I would be willing to put it to the test. We must know our own weaknesses, after all."

[wholeworldoutthere]

"You read my mind," Klaus confirmed with a slightly wider smile. The notion did appeal, and if there was anyone on this space station he would not mind getting drunk with, it was Nuada. Nuada could handle him, and vice versa, and they seemed to be of a like mind on enough subjects.

"We'll have to work on it to be able to get enough of any drinkable alcohol, however, I'm afraid," he went on, eyebrows raising pointedly. But it would be smart to make certain of that particular weakness.

[nuadasvengence]

"Now depending on the drink I'll end up doing something embarrassing, or chopping that Holmes creature and the halfling to pieces. Beating them to a pile of broken bones and tissue would be just as satisfying. Someone would have to stop me because I do want to be sober enough to enjoy that." Nuada flopped back to lie on the mats.

"What kind of drunk do you tend to be? Perhaps we could terrorize the mortals and blame it on drink."

[wholeworldoutthere]

"I'd have to stop you, we might need their brains to get out of this one," Klaus stated, almost distractedly, as he thought over how to answer Nuada's question.

"I don't generally get drunk," he started, and looked up at Nuada. He had almost grown used to the oddness of his face by now, much as it had never properly startled him. "But when I do, there is generally a lot of blood involved. It would be best to avoid that, this time."

[nuadasvengence]

"Now see, the idea of lots of blood involved has appeal. And I would be certain to save their brains just for you," Nuada propped himself back up on his elbows.

"Oh, very well. I won't kill them. Yet. How about ears? They won't need both of them. I do need some recompence." Nuada knew it was unlikely even maiming was allowed if they were to return to their homes. But it was a lovely thought.

[wholeworldoutthere]

This was all said in jest, which might be why it was bearing down on Klaus. They did not need all their blood either, and he was behaving, refraining. It would be so easy, but also so dangerous, and he was going to go out of his mind if he didn't allow himself some proper blood some time soon.

"All this talk of violence has me hankering for some more," he stated, getting back to his feet and picking up his makeshift swords. "Another round?"

[nuadasvengence]

Nuada chuckled. "Always. I never could resist a good fight," even in practice.

He reclaimed his own makeshift weapons and took an opening stance.