"Shit, sorry, sorry--" The babbled apologies tumbled out as Alys went backwards and landed on her rump and Tal paused in unbuttoning his Vest, ready to offer her a hand up. The not-laugh caught at his heart, twisting it as much as her silent tears did while she slept, and his fingers clenched into the hard planes of the armor for another breath. By the time he released it she was already halfway to her feet and he hurried to shrug the rest of the way out of the garment before they both took their positions again.
"I've gotten so used to it, I don't even think about it anymore," he admitted with an apologetic grimace. "An' usually th'folks I spar with are hittin' me from a distance so it doesn't matter." Magic-slingers like Sah, or Flora with her thrown daggers didn't have anything to worry about from his Vest.
It no longer felt quite so weird to be the experienced one, and his pale eyes picked out her hesitation. He tried to think like a trainer rather than her partner and drew in a breath to encourage her to attack--
She came in suddenly and low, and Tal started to twitch left on instinct, knowing he could dodge it. But dodging wouldn't help her, and he braced himself as he forced himself to lean right and sink down, deliberately putting himself into her dagger so the blunt-edged weapon sank into his side rather than his thigh. He grunted at the impact, feeling the sharp spike of pain into his muscles and organs even though the dagger was too dull to draw blood.
And brought his own knife in towards Alys's ribs with more restraint. He knew what it felt like to sink a weapon into another body, and he didn't want to hurt his partner accidentally. If he hit she would receive a light bruise but hopefully nothing deeper.
"I've gotten so used to it, I don't even think about it anymore," he admitted with an apologetic grimace. "An' usually th'folks I spar with are hittin' me from a distance so it doesn't matter." Magic-slingers like Sah, or Flora with her thrown daggers didn't have anything to worry about from his Vest.
It no longer felt quite so weird to be the experienced one, and his pale eyes picked out her hesitation. He tried to think like a trainer rather than her partner and drew in a breath to encourage her to attack--
She came in suddenly and low, and Tal started to twitch left on instinct, knowing he could dodge it. But dodging wouldn't help her, and he braced himself as he forced himself to lean right and sink down, deliberately putting himself into her dagger so the blunt-edged weapon sank into his side rather than his thigh. He grunted at the impact, feeling the sharp spike of pain into his muscles and organs even though the dagger was too dull to draw blood.
And brought his own knife in towards Alys's ribs with more restraint. He knew what it felt like to sink a weapon into another body, and he didn't want to hurt his partner accidentally. If he hit she would receive a light bruise but hopefully nothing deeper.
