hadriel | Video 2 (Backdated to the 12th)

Damn. I was hoping they finally started stocking this place with some sweet kicks.

[Work boots forever, he guesses.]

Anyway, I didn't exactly bring targets back with me from the other side, but I figure nobody's gonna miss some random wood.

[He gestures to his janky setup.]

You ready for the demonstration round?

No such luck. It's all three legged pants and novelty tees at the shops.

[forever and ever and ever and ever and...]

I'm sure you figured right. And if you're wrong, I can run fast. How 'bout you?

[she follows his gesture to look at the setup]

Ready as I'll ever be.

[Ah yes, the novelty tees. His favorite.]

You kidding? I'm like fuckin' Usain Bolt. I'll manage.

[Did you sign up for the bragging hour? Because welcome to the bragging hour.

Tucker pulls one of his knives out of his jacket; it's got a little more of a handle than George's do, but it's still shaped roughly the same. Clearly made for throwing and not just stabbing, and it's definitely seen some use. Since this is just the overall demonstration, he doesn't bother with any explanations yet. He just takes it in his left hand, fingers loose on the grip, the index resting on the spine of the blade.

He pulls back and makes a rapid, overhanded swing, releasing near the top of the arc. The knife makes a swift curve through the air, sticking point-first into one of the wood targets. He repeats the process with his other knife and his right hand, just to be a showoff.]

See? Easy. The toughest part for beginners is trying not to spin it. We'll work on accuracy later, that's like, the last priority.

[He moves to retrieve the blades and steps back to where he started.]

Hold it however, just make sure your pointer finger's along the top, like this. That's where all the force comes from. Don't think of it like pointing a gun, it isn't supposed to go in a straight line. It's more like... I don't know, shooting an arrow.

[He assumes, since he has never done that. He does a couple more throws, a little slower this time, so she can see.]

[he could totally rock a cat tshirt.

friendly eye-roll goes here] Oh, okay. You'll manage.

[she signed up for the learning how to throw knives hour, but she's not surprised by the bragging hour. finds it strangely endearing, in fact.

she watches his every move carefully, mentally taking notes of his stance, how he's holding the knife, how and when he throws it. and she's not surprised by the showing off because 1) it's Tucker and 2) it gives her something else to observe, so she's happy]

Yeah, that's the part that worries me. The spinning part.

[she takes out one of her throwing knives and listens intently to his explanation, trying to follow his instructions exactly, adjusting her pointer finger as indicated. she's never actually shot an arrow before. she got kicked out of Girl Scouts before they got to that part.

she watches him throw again. he makes it look easy, but she's under no illusions that it will be easy]

Okay. Okay. I can do this.

[she pulls one of her knives out of her courier bag, sitting the bag down beside her. she gets into a stance similar to the one Tucker took, holding the knife with her pointer finger along the top.

she takes a breath and throws. the damn thing spins and lands with a thud against the target]

...sonuvabitch. Okay, what did I do wrong and how do I fix it?

[Tucker tries and fails to contain a chuckle.]

What you did wrong is just that this is the first time you've done this. It's not something that happens instantly.

[He shrugs.]

But okay, if it'll help, think of it like... throwing darts? The knife is the dart. Just... don't hold it like one.

[He demonstrates the grip again, but moves closer so she can see it better, using the hand she used.]

What you probably did was let go too early. The pointy end fell too far and it flipped over. You wanna start letting go like, halfway through. But remember to kind of push it at the same time. Put some force behind it.

[she gives him A Look. which would be chilling if it wasn't already warmed by friendship (and finding him hot)]

I've thrown darts before. Wasn't bad at it. Wasn't good at it, but there's always room for improvement, right?

[she watches and listens closely]

Right. Put some force behind it. I can do that.

[and she takes another knife, holds it correctly, and does her best to take what he's said into account. this time it hits. far to the left of center, but this is her second time, right?]

[Tucker thrives on getting away with things people normally don't. He also thrives on people thinking he's attractive, so there's that.]

Hey, not bad. Still too early to see if it's beginner's luck, though. Now you just gotta sink it like... a bunch more times. Practice, you know.

[He goes to retrieve her knives for her, and hands them back.]

Like I said, aiming's the last part. For now, just focus on getting the blade to stick more than once.

[well, if George wasn't such a chickenshit, she'd say something about finding him attractive]

Didn't figure there was any shortcut around practice. Like a training montage in a movie with a stirring soundtrack?

[she takes the knives back]

I can do that. I can do that. [that last one is said more to herself than him.

she gets in the proper position and tries again. this time, it's way to the right, but it sticks]

[Oh boy.]

Yeah, unfortunately we don't have a fast-forward button or a pocket dimension handy.

[There's probably a spell for that, but he wouldn't know it.]

See though, you're gettin' it. You'll probably still fuck up a lot but it's part of the magic of learning, or whatever.

[don't worry, she'll likely remain too chickenshit]

Damnit. One of those woulda come in really handy right about now.

[well, then, he might want to get on that?

she grins at him and raises an eyebrow] "The magic of learning?" Holy shit. That is like the cheesiest thing you've ever said to me.

[Welp.]

Yeah yeah, you wanna learn the non-cheesy, useful kinda magic, you go talk to Kyna and Harlan. With me you just get the Miss Frizzle kind.

[Hopefully they have the Magic Schoolbus in her world.]

I'm already getting lessons from Harlan. So that's taken care of. [a beat] I just wanna be able to take care of myself.

[they did, but George was already reading Dickens at six years old]

Fair enough.

[He crosses his arms, more for something to do with them than out of any kind of impatience.]

Most magic-users in our world, though, they live and die by that stuff. I don't think either Harlan or Kyna carries a weapon. [At least not one they know how to use.]

But magic's fallible, shit can happen to it, same as everything else. It's not a bad idea to pick up another skill or two.

[she throws another knife. this one isn't so off to the margins]

Seriously? But what if something happens to fuck up their magic? Or they run into someone who's better at it than they are?

That's what I figured. Which is where you come in. Thank you for that, by the way.

They freak out, most of the time.

[At least Kyna did, both the times her magic got fucked up. Harlan probably would, too- wait. Yeah, he did. It just happened before they met.]

They just have to hope they've got competent people with 'em, I guess. [Like yours truly, is the implication.] I don't know what happens when it's just two wizards dueling out in the wild. Before the guild thing I tried to stay out of magic shit for the most part. It's dangerous.

And you're welcome.

I can imagine. No, seriously, I'm imagining it right now.

[it involves a lot of running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. maybe a little "Yakety Sax" in the background]

Who can pull their asses outta the fire? [yes, she's assuming it's him] I bet it gets intense. Especially if they're both equally strong. I wonder if they'd just keep on going 'til one of 'em passes out? And it still blows my mind that in your world, magic is just y'know, there.

Don't let it go to your head.

[It's a bit like that, except minus the running. It's like that metaphorically.]

Probably until one of 'em dies. Or runs out of magic. That's a thing that can happen, or at least like, you can get too weak to cast anymore. Not with cantrips, though; you can do those all day, since they don't take much effort.

It blows my mind that magic is just not there in yours. It's hard for me to wrap my head around it. Speaking of which, I let everything go to my head, so too late.

[metaphorical headless chickens. well, she's imagined weirder things]

Getting so worn out you can't use your magic anymore would suck. You'd think that if that happened, you might be able to at least punch 'em in the face and win that way?

It blows mine that it's just there in yours. Just an ordinary, everyday thing. And I should've known.

I guess, but most magic users don't bother with physical training. So most of 'em don't know how to throw a punch. Also most of the shit we dealt with back home, a punch would not solve the problem. Might actually lose you a hand.

Guess my world's just cooler than yours. And yeah you really should have.

Really? You'd think they'd want something to fall back on, y'know, just in case. And what kind of shit did you deal with that would do that?

Every world is cooler than mine. So that's not saying much. And I'll know better next time.

Monsters, you know. Manticores and dragons and shit. Ghouls. And you probably shouldn't punch a jelly cube, either. Probably dissolve it. Your hand, that is.

[Nasty stuff, those slime monsters.]

I guess my world might be cooler, but it's also potentially more dangerous.

A jelly cube? Okay, all I can picture is a giant piece of Jell-O with an angry expression on its face. But they can actually kill you?

[of course it's the jelly cube she gets distracted by. of course]

Because of the weird creatures and other people who can do magic, but might not necessarily be on your side?

Okay well it's called jelly, but it's not literally jelly. It's more like... squishy clear stuff. That dissolves things. It's like a slowly moving stomach. I'm not even sure if it qualifies as an animal.

And yeah, those'd be two things. There's dealing with people with guns, and then there's dealing with people who can liquefy your insides with a few words and a hand gesture. Not that there are a whole lot of the latter, but you know. The possibility exists.

...that is so gross. And I bet it's also so painful.

Fuck, I completely forgot about guns. All I can think about now is that scene in Indiana Jones where this guy comes at him with fancy sword fighting and Indiana Jones just shoots 'im. Or do things like magic shields exist? How often does the possibility happen?

Video 2 (Backdated to the 12th)

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here have a novel about knife throwing

here have a novel about knife throwing

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notification got eaten, sorry! :(

it's okay!

yay!

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