Post by Value on Feb 21, 2016 21:53:36 GMT -5
He'd fucked up somewhere.
Takua knew it. Could feel it just as surely as anyone could feel a wound or see the sun. What he'd said should have provoked a response, yes. But not this response. Not this blend of anger and frustration, of loss and shame. Too many years away from people had made it sometimes difficult for Takua to get across exactly what he needed to, and if the look on Jian's face was any indication, he'd just done it all over again at the exact time that he'd needed to get his message right.
And now he didn't know if he could fix it.
But he could damn well fucking try.
Jian went into the box of fire, and Takua felt the last of his anger drain away. The smile fell too, fragile as it was. All that was left was the sick feeling at the bottom of his stomach. The Arrancar gritted his teeth and his hand clenched into a fist- and just as suddenly, he brought up his hand in front of his face.
It opened slowly. The blind man stared at it, and then beyond it to the attack Jian was currently defending himself against.
What was he doing?
He'd thought he'd known.
The box broke down, scattering to the winds as Jian's barrier shattered as well. If it weren't for the current mood, the blind man would have complimented on him on his ability to defend himself against that. But the boy spoke and Takua flinched. Yeah, he'd screwed up. Gotten the wrong message across. And he could hear the distance in the man's voice. Sure, some of what Jian had to say was accurate. But not for the reasons he thought he was. Takua's face twisted, trying to deny what the man had just said, and his hand reached out-
Fell.
Fell trembling down to his side as his head bowed. His lip sucked up just slightly as he bit down on it, the fresh twinge of pain keeping him focused on the present. Every line in his body tensed as the man, and man he was, finished speaking.
The two of them weren't the same. Jian and Sekai were at difference places in their lives. Weren't the same people. Jian was already a fighter, had already fought...and had never asked to be trained. Takua had simply launched into it. Turning what the young human had thought was a recreational spar into something far more, all based on Takua's own fears than anything Jian had wanted.
“I'm sorry.”
Delivered in the exact opposite tone from how he'd said it before, soft and distressed even as he brought up his hand to prepare for Jian's strike. Before it'd been meant to bite.
Now, the apology stood as what it was.
Takua brought his attention to bear slowly, glancing at the fist. A feint? There was no other source for the energy to be, but there was no mistaking what this was meant to be. The Arrancar brought a hand up, intending to deflect the real strike when it was inevitably unleashed.
Until that same feint was turned into the actual assault. A sharp intake of breath betrayed his surprise, even as a hastily charged Bala tried to fend off the incoming assault. Surprise betrayed him though, and his strike was not nearly as swift as it needed to be in order to totally deflect the mighty fist that powered through the still-forming Bala and break against his own hand. Pain erupted from his right hand, but the bones held even as skin ruptured from the impact. Takua flung himself backward, hopping along the ground in order to gain some distance before he came to a halt.
And he looked absolutely miserable.
“No. You have...some of the right of it. I assumed you wanted to be trained. I shouldn't have said that.”
He looked at the earth for a moment, head bowed even as he raised his voice to be heard easily. The Arrancar blew out a breath, huffing slightly as he shook his hand and flung the blood there to the ground with a wet splat, and then looked up. “Do you know what I'm afraid of, Jian?” This was the only way to get across to Jian what he'd tried to do. When you screwed up, you were honest, right? You addressed it early. It was what he hadn't done before, and look where he'd gotten to now.
A swift breath as his chest rose and fell, unable to really look directly at Jian.
“I'm afraid I'll find your body.”
One hand curled into a loose fist as Takua spoke, a touch of bitterness entering his voice, “I'd love to take this as just...relaxation. I like it, you know. Fighting. It's fun.” Hopping up and down to get the jitters out, Takua shook his head, pain creeping in to his words. “But I'm afraid that if I don't take this seriously, I'll find you dead. Dying again, because I didn't try. My enemies will target you. Just for...being someone I care for. Obsession could do that. And I might be elsewhere. In another plane. Too far away. What then?”
Takua gritted his teeth, frustration with himself mounting as both of his hands turned white from the pressure as they clenched. “I didn't want you to face something without doing my damnedest to make sure you were as ready as you could be for it.”
Maybe even something because of Takua. But it wouldn't necessarily be just because of him. It could be because of Jian's own actions. And at some point it wouldn't be Takua's fault.
But to let it go without giving a try...
Takua's jaw clenched, but the bile he spat was all directed inward. “But I didn't even ask what you wanted. I just...assumed,” and then yelled at you when you didn't match it.
Blood oozed from the ruptured skin of his hand. Takua knew he could continue this. A simple Gran Ray Cero would suffice.
But it wouldn't matter. If this wasn't what Jian chose it would all be for nothing. That was always how it went. Both for the choice that shattered that barrier inside of the soul and to gain the kind of power that Takua could teach.
The former Primera straightened as the wound on his hand began to slowly close. “So. Let's fix that.”
The full weight of Takua's attention fell over Jian, the stare present even from a blind man. He held out his hand, palm upward in front of his body as the last fragments of venom vanished from his voice, “Jian. I can train you if you want. As best as I'm able. Not just today, but many days.” The hand fell back down, and Takua relaxed just a bit, although the intensity of his stare never faded, “Or these can just be friendly bouts, no strings attached.”
And he'd stop heaping his own expectations for Jian on the man's back.
WC: 1170 | GP: 23 | Total: 294
Takua knew it. Could feel it just as surely as anyone could feel a wound or see the sun. What he'd said should have provoked a response, yes. But not this response. Not this blend of anger and frustration, of loss and shame. Too many years away from people had made it sometimes difficult for Takua to get across exactly what he needed to, and if the look on Jian's face was any indication, he'd just done it all over again at the exact time that he'd needed to get his message right.
And now he didn't know if he could fix it.
But he could damn well fucking try.
Jian went into the box of fire, and Takua felt the last of his anger drain away. The smile fell too, fragile as it was. All that was left was the sick feeling at the bottom of his stomach. The Arrancar gritted his teeth and his hand clenched into a fist- and just as suddenly, he brought up his hand in front of his face.
It opened slowly. The blind man stared at it, and then beyond it to the attack Jian was currently defending himself against.
What was he doing?
He'd thought he'd known.
The box broke down, scattering to the winds as Jian's barrier shattered as well. If it weren't for the current mood, the blind man would have complimented on him on his ability to defend himself against that. But the boy spoke and Takua flinched. Yeah, he'd screwed up. Gotten the wrong message across. And he could hear the distance in the man's voice. Sure, some of what Jian had to say was accurate. But not for the reasons he thought he was. Takua's face twisted, trying to deny what the man had just said, and his hand reached out-
Fell.
Fell trembling down to his side as his head bowed. His lip sucked up just slightly as he bit down on it, the fresh twinge of pain keeping him focused on the present. Every line in his body tensed as the man, and man he was, finished speaking.
The two of them weren't the same. Jian and Sekai were at difference places in their lives. Weren't the same people. Jian was already a fighter, had already fought...and had never asked to be trained. Takua had simply launched into it. Turning what the young human had thought was a recreational spar into something far more, all based on Takua's own fears than anything Jian had wanted.
“I'm sorry.”
Delivered in the exact opposite tone from how he'd said it before, soft and distressed even as he brought up his hand to prepare for Jian's strike. Before it'd been meant to bite.
Now, the apology stood as what it was.
Takua brought his attention to bear slowly, glancing at the fist. A feint? There was no other source for the energy to be, but there was no mistaking what this was meant to be. The Arrancar brought a hand up, intending to deflect the real strike when it was inevitably unleashed.
Until that same feint was turned into the actual assault. A sharp intake of breath betrayed his surprise, even as a hastily charged Bala tried to fend off the incoming assault. Surprise betrayed him though, and his strike was not nearly as swift as it needed to be in order to totally deflect the mighty fist that powered through the still-forming Bala and break against his own hand. Pain erupted from his right hand, but the bones held even as skin ruptured from the impact. Takua flung himself backward, hopping along the ground in order to gain some distance before he came to a halt.
And he looked absolutely miserable.
“No. You have...some of the right of it. I assumed you wanted to be trained. I shouldn't have said that.”
He looked at the earth for a moment, head bowed even as he raised his voice to be heard easily. The Arrancar blew out a breath, huffing slightly as he shook his hand and flung the blood there to the ground with a wet splat, and then looked up. “Do you know what I'm afraid of, Jian?” This was the only way to get across to Jian what he'd tried to do. When you screwed up, you were honest, right? You addressed it early. It was what he hadn't done before, and look where he'd gotten to now.
A swift breath as his chest rose and fell, unable to really look directly at Jian.
“I'm afraid I'll find your body.”
One hand curled into a loose fist as Takua spoke, a touch of bitterness entering his voice, “I'd love to take this as just...relaxation. I like it, you know. Fighting. It's fun.” Hopping up and down to get the jitters out, Takua shook his head, pain creeping in to his words. “But I'm afraid that if I don't take this seriously, I'll find you dead. Dying again, because I didn't try. My enemies will target you. Just for...being someone I care for. Obsession could do that. And I might be elsewhere. In another plane. Too far away. What then?”
Takua gritted his teeth, frustration with himself mounting as both of his hands turned white from the pressure as they clenched. “I didn't want you to face something without doing my damnedest to make sure you were as ready as you could be for it.”
Maybe even something because of Takua. But it wouldn't necessarily be just because of him. It could be because of Jian's own actions. And at some point it wouldn't be Takua's fault.
But to let it go without giving a try...
Takua's jaw clenched, but the bile he spat was all directed inward. “But I didn't even ask what you wanted. I just...assumed,” and then yelled at you when you didn't match it.
Blood oozed from the ruptured skin of his hand. Takua knew he could continue this. A simple Gran Ray Cero would suffice.
But it wouldn't matter. If this wasn't what Jian chose it would all be for nothing. That was always how it went. Both for the choice that shattered that barrier inside of the soul and to gain the kind of power that Takua could teach.
The former Primera straightened as the wound on his hand began to slowly close. “So. Let's fix that.”
The full weight of Takua's attention fell over Jian, the stare present even from a blind man. He held out his hand, palm upward in front of his body as the last fragments of venom vanished from his voice, “Jian. I can train you if you want. As best as I'm able. Not just today, but many days.” The hand fell back down, and Takua relaxed just a bit, although the intensity of his stare never faded, “Or these can just be friendly bouts, no strings attached.”
And he'd stop heaping his own expectations for Jian on the man's back.
WC: 1170 | GP: 23 | Total: 294