Li Haneul
Keme
University Junior: Mage
The enemy is nothing but images and illusions. Break the image and you shall break your enemy.
Posts: 85
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Post by Li Haneul on Nov 8, 2009 12:12:45 GMT -5
Haneul crossed his arms and paced around Nina, his shoes making the frosty grass crunch underfoot. The little mage was stretched along the ground, all of her weight supported on her toes, and the middle knuckle of both hands. Movement was restricted to her elbows; it might have been mistaken for a normal pushup if her fists were not placed side by side and directly below her chest.
“Ten more and you can rest,” Haneul said to her.
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Nov 8, 2009 12:13:23 GMT -5
Nina pursed her lips and let herself sink once more, her muscles burning with the effort of controlling her descent. Her nose barely touched the grass before she pushed back up.
“You said that forty pushups back,” she rasped, her voice squeaking a little on back as a shot of pain traveled from the joints of her middle fingers to her shoulders. Nina bit back an expletive and completed another nine mountainfist pushups before straightening her arms completely and staying in that position, letting her head fall slightly. This was the rest position.
“How many sets have I done?” she gasped, feeling her muscles quaking.
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Li Haneul
Keme
University Junior: Mage
The enemy is nothing but images and illusions. Break the image and you shall break your enemy.
Posts: 85
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Post by Li Haneul on Nov 8, 2009 12:20:26 GMT -5
“Going on a dozen,” Haneul told her. A chuckle found its way into his voice. “You’ve been slacking. All we’re doing is catching up.” He patted Nina’s hair and grinned. “One more rep and I’ll let you stop. Then we can move on.”
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Nov 8, 2009 13:09:24 GMT -5
Nina groaned. Going on a dozen? A dozen sets of twenty-five. Three-fucking-hundred mountainfist pushups. She was not going to be able to hold a pencil correctly for a week.
Eleven, twelve… “If you weren’t family,” she grumbled between pushups, “I think I would hate you, oppa.”
Eighteen, nineteen, twenty… Nina uttered a small squeak at twenty-one and pushed herself sideways, rolling onto her back. Her hands shook. Her arms shook. Her shoulders and back and legs screamed at her. At least the ground was cold.
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Li Haneul
Keme
University Junior: Mage
The enemy is nothing but images and illusions. Break the image and you shall break your enemy.
Posts: 85
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Post by Li Haneul on Nov 8, 2009 13:17:21 GMT -5
Haneul thought about making her finish, but decided against it. Instead, he sat down at her side, folding his legs lotus-style and resting his forearms upon his thighs.
"It's a good thing I'm family then," he said after a while. He watched Nina for a moment and found another grin creeping onto his features. "When you think you can, stand up. We haven't sparred in a while."
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Nov 8, 2009 13:33:46 GMT -5
Dubhiarr smiled as she led Stephen out into the courtyard. Blinking a little in the sunlight, she tossed her long braid over her shoulder and surveyed the courtyard, grinning at the sight of two familiar figures on the grass several feet away. She took Stephen's hand and hurried over to where Nina lay and Haneul sat. Let the awkwardness begin...
"'Ello!" she greeted them cheerfully, settling down on the grass beside Haneul and tugging Stephen gently down beside her. "Nina, Haneul," she said, nodding to each of them in turn for Stephen's benefit. Her eyes lingered a little longer on Nina; the girl looked exhausted. "I hope you're not being too rough on my roommate, Han."
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Li Haneul
Keme
University Junior: Mage
The enemy is nothing but images and illusions. Break the image and you shall break your enemy.
Posts: 85
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Post by Li Haneul on Nov 8, 2009 13:44:13 GMT -5
"Hullo Du, Steph." Haneul ran a hand through his hair. It fell right back into his face, obscuring part of one eye. "She's not dead yet," he joked. "We were going to spar... If she ever stands up."
He nudged Nina with one fist, teasing, "Come on, little one. It wasn't even three hundred pushups."
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Nov 8, 2009 13:56:40 GMT -5
"Three hundred?!" Dubhiarr gasped. "In a row? No wonder she can't move!" She stretched out on the grass, rubbing Nina's arm gently and giggling. "Good thing this little Peach is tougher than she looks, huh?"
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Nov 8, 2009 14:20:20 GMT -5
Nina groaned dramatically. "He's trying to kill me, Du," she accused, pulling herself into a sitting position. Her skin was pink where it had been against the grass. It was cold outside and she was in her usual workout ensemble of baggy Shaolin-orange pants secured to her waist with a thick cloth belt, and a sports bra in the same shade of dark blue as said belt.
She rubbed her chilled shoulders and smiled at Stephen. "Hi Steph!" she chimed. "I haven't seen you in a while. It was starting to make me sad. How've you been?" She tipped her head to one side and waited for him to answer, watching his face.
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Stephen Shorne
Ireth
University Junior: Vampire
Dancing through life...
Posts: 168
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Post by Stephen Shorne on Nov 8, 2009 15:24:29 GMT -5
"Been better, been worse. I have a pretty bad case of amnesia, thanks to a bunch of memories I wasn't supposed to see. Du's been helping me remember stuff."
Stephen smiled and shrugged, shifting so he was lying on his stomach on the grass as he answered the teeny-tiny girl, looking calmly into her eyes. They were strangely beautiful... dark green with gold and blue edges. He wished he could remember more about her. Nina. Her name was Nina.
"So tell me," he asked her, holding her gaze, "how does someone so tiny do three hundred pushups without dyi-- woah!" He yelped as memories surged up before his mind's eye, drawing him in.
Nina leaned upon a windowsill, looking into a classroom as she spoke with someone inside. The sunlight caught her hair, accenting the many streaks of colors in it. She had been coloring a picture with chalk pastels; the dust was all over her hands. The person she was talking to sat down on the windowsill and turned sideways to see her more clearly. (It was himself, Stephen realized in an instant.)
"So do you always streak your hair with chalk, or is that a new look?" asked the Stephen in the memory.
Memory-Nina giggled. They chatted for awhile, about Nina's drawing and the memories it brought up, and where they both had come from; Nina from all over Eurasia, and more recently a monastery in China, Stephen from a small town in Manitoba, Canada. (Stephen paid particular attention to this part, hungry for details about his life before coming to this place.) Then they discussed kung-fu, before being interrupted by the arrival of Dubhiarr.
From there the conversation turned to "the new History professor" and the many ways in which he was frightening the students. Conall, that was his name. Professor Conall. (The very sound of the name, uttered by Stephen in the memory, made the real Stephen's lip curl in disgust. He would have to look into that later on, he decided.) Nina timidly asked that they change the subject at that point.
"Sure, Peach. Whatever you'd like to talk about," the Stephen in the memory smiled.
Stephen laughed under his breath as the memories faded away, leaving him with a clear head and a little more knowledge about himself, as well as more questions to ask to find out more. He rolled over onto his back -- his stomach was getting cold -- and looked at Nina upside-down.
"I remember you now!" he grinned at her. "The day we met. You had chalk in your hair, and I nicknamed you Peach. We were talking about someone... a history professor? Conall." The name clawed darkly at the back of his mind. Who was this person?
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Nov 8, 2009 15:40:10 GMT -5
Nina, who had been watching the array of facial expressions flitting across Stephen's features, blinked and took a moment to collect herself. "Yeah, I remember that too. It was fun, wasn't it?" At the mention of Conall, she bit her lower lip. She looked at Haneul, then Dubhiarr, and pulled her knees to her chest. More than a few choice words bubbled to her lips but she held them back.
"Let's not talk about Conall right now," she asked, her voice sporting none of the timidity it had on the day Stephen had met her.
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Nov 8, 2009 15:50:52 GMT -5
Dubhiarr tensed at the sound of Conall's name, looking at the ground. One hand rose unconsciously to fidget with her scarf, her fingers lightly brushing the scars on her neck. She wasn't sure why they hadn't gone away... surely Ellie would have been able to do that right away. Now they served as a constant reminder of that horrible night. The scarf made her more conscious of what she was hiding, but not wearing it left the scars exposed for others to see and talk about. Oh well.
"We'll talk about him later," she assured Stephen quietly, looking over at him. She should have known Conall's name would crop up eventually.
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Stephen Shorne
Ireth
University Junior: Vampire
Dancing through life...
Posts: 168
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Post by Stephen Shorne on Nov 8, 2009 15:55:07 GMT -5
Stephen looked up at Dubhiarr and nodded, biting the inside of his cheek a little. "Okay."
He clasped his hands under his head, sifting through the memories he had just seen for a more appropriate question to ask. "Who is Seele? Apparently I know her. Is she a friend of ours?"
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Li Haneul
Keme
University Junior: Mage
The enemy is nothing but images and illusions. Break the image and you shall break your enemy.
Posts: 85
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Post by Li Haneul on Nov 9, 2009 23:32:57 GMT -5
Haneul felt himself grinning again. "Seele is indeed a friend," he chimed, crossing his arms. "A very brightly-colored friend." He was glad for the change of subject. He looked at Stephen reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "You and I are friends, as well."
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Stephen Shorne
Ireth
University Junior: Vampire
Dancing through life...
Posts: 168
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Post by Stephen Shorne on Nov 9, 2009 23:43:53 GMT -5
Stephen laughed as Haneul squeezed his shoulder. "Well, it's really good meeting you again. I hope we can catch up. I've got a lot of memories to get back. I can't even remember my own middle name. You guys wouldn't happen to know it, would you?" he wondered aloud, looking at his three friends.
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Nov 12, 2009 22:58:26 GMT -5
Dubhiarr shrugged, grinning apologetically at him. "Sorry, I don't. I don't think you ever told me."
She looked curiously down at Stephen, wondering if he realized what she had found out about him. She wasn't even sure how she felt about it yet. She still felt strong feelings for Nina, made all the harder to bear since they had never really talked about them together. They desperately needed to, Dubhiarr knew.
She leaned over to Nina, catching her eye and speaking so that only her roommate could hear. "We need to talk. Later, in the dorm, okay?"
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Nov 12, 2009 23:04:37 GMT -5
Nina's eyebrows rose. She tipped her head to one side, then nodded at the older girl. "Okay," she agreed.
She ran one hand through her flaxen hair and blinked a few times. The morning chill was finally getting to her. It made her sleepy.
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Nov 12, 2009 23:11:53 GMT -5
Dubhiarr smiled, ruffling Nina's hair softly. "We should rebuild our blanket tent, too... I miss it."
She flopped down on the grass and stretched out, closing her eyes against the sunlight. "Anyone have the time?"
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