deercountry | You're The Best Around : Karate War Training Montage Log

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You're The Best Around : Karate War Training Montage Log

The All-Trench Karate War | Training Log!

Who: Combat instructors, students, and anyone caught in the crossfire.
What: Training for the Karate War!
Where: Throughout Trench
When: Throughout April

[ Welcome to the catch-all log for the Karate War player plot! Please find your instructor's header below and feel free to start your own toplevels under that header. You can specify "OTA," "OTA to teammates," or "For [Character]" etc in the subject line.

Or jump down to the miscellaneous mingle and start your own toplevels there! Enjoy! ]

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You? Tastes? [She grins nudging him with her elbow as she takes another bite.]

Oh, guess it's a good thing I don't ever fight your cult, then. [Because while she does hold back in fights against clearly possessed mortals and humans, she absolutely will kill in self-defense if she must.] Besides, if your cult sees you lose to me they might become MY cult and I don't want one. [She grins even bigger.]

And Sasuke is not a buffoon. Neither is Amaterasu. The other two... [She makes a noise.] I mean, I don't know the other guy and Johnny is... I mean at least TRY to be nice. You clearly came here to watch.

Well, one cannot subsist on straight meat alone. You need some other flavors now and then.

[And he's discovered quite a number of new spices here in Trench. Her elbow barely reaches his waist and Maul grins back a little.]

Now, now, I'm not that foolish. And you'd hardly know what to do with a bunch of people following you around and obeying your orders.

[For all that it was a bit alarming Maul has a cult, he actually hasn't done anything harmful with them. He may be power-hungry but he's also aware the cult is not a toy and there are a lot of responsibilities that come with leading people, no matter how big of a group they are made up of.

He snorts softly at the mention of Johnny and Terry.]

I am never nice. You already know this. [Well, he could be, but those times were far and few in between.]

[She pauses and then realizes he doesn't know her future, then again, she's not shared, and he's not asked. She smiles at the idea. But no, he's right, even now, the idea of having a whole planet turning to her, looking to her. Her gaze goes distant, thinking of the future that awaits her.]

I know it much better than you think. [Not even a planet. Just the Senshi alone, willing to die and protect her, she gave so few orders but she was their princess and future queen nonetheless.] You don't give me enough credit.

You are and can be. You choose not to be. [But she wonders, if people knew him as she did, if he allowed himself such a thing, if he'd feel even more powerless, so many to protect and unable to in a world like this.]

Then enlighten me. What do you know about ordering people around? [Now he's genuinely curious as to what Usagi means by all those cryptic statements.]

If people were nice to me, I would be to them. But they usually are not. [Maul's personality puts off a lot of folks, or like Johnny, they start off on entirely the wrong foot with him right from the very start. First impressions tended to stick with Maul and he had ended up with lifelong grudges because of them before.]

[She looks around and even though no one is paying attention to them, she bites her lip, feeling uneasy at the idea of revealing that particular truth where anyone can just hear her.] I will tell you at a later time if you remember to ask. [Is all she says.] But that said, I have plenty of practice ordering YOU around, don't I? [She pokes him in the ribs.]

That's not how that works. [She moved to wrap her arm around Maul's cuddling him and resting her cheek on his shoulder.] We talked about how you like playing the monster, so people expect what you've conditioned.

Edited 2022-06-14 05:24 (UTC)

[He nods silently, making a mental note to do just that. It seems like there is a story there Usagi might not want everyone to hear, so he'll use discretion right now instead of pressing the matter.

Then he scowls and playfully swats her hand away.]

Only because I've learned you are a pain if I ignore what you tell me.

[So it's better just for him to give in. That scowl doesn't go away when she talks about him playing the part of the monster.]

When I let my guard down, people take advantage of my vulnerability. I won't have that happen again and again.

That's because I'm right. [She boops him on the nose because she can and she is by no means terrified of Maul.]

You don't have to let down your guard to still be a decent person, you know. Which, you're doing, and I'm proud of you, but I think you can do more than what you've been doing.

[If only everyone saw what Usagi did in him, than no one would ever be afraid of Maul anymore. But too many only see what is on the surface and so they remain terrified of him.]

I'm already doing as much as I can. Don't ask me to do more.

[He says gruffly. Really, he's been pushed out of his comfort zone a lot in the past three months or so and it makes him feel like there's a layer of skin that's been peeled back, exposing raw flesh that others could use to hurt him if they got near.]

You're not, though. [She knows if she pushes or points out he's doing the bare minimum that he'll get defensive and regress because when he feels attacked he lashes out. So she sighs and stops pushing, for now. Maul moves at a snail's pace as it is, forcing him would just make him dig in his heels.

It was deeply frustrating and not all that surprising when people gave up. But Usagi has a unique sense of scope. She's seen the good he can do.]

But I will leave it at that for now.

[He's fully expecting another lecture and is surprised in the best way when Usagi just lets it go. Maul is grateful she's not pushing him right now. Too often he feels like people expect too much of him too fast, that he's somehow magically come to the conclusion overnight that he needs to become a saint. But that's just not how this process works.

He wraps Usagi up in a hug and presses a brief kiss to the top of her head before he rests his chin there.]

Give it time. I'm still improving day by day.

[She's in no mood for a lecture, certainly not in front of all these people geared up on fighting and competition. She does blink in surprise at the sudden hug and kiss.

Sure, SHE'S physically affectionate at all hours of the day but for Maul, outside of her house, he was VERY hesitant to show physical affection.]

I know. [She also knows people wish he did it faster.] You've come a really long way.

[He's getting a little better at being able to show his emotions. Plus, they're in the middle of people training to fight. Maul will kick the ass of anyone who mocks him for being affectionate with his wife.]

Thank you for saying that. I often have many doubts about what I'm doing and if I'm doing it properly. But I am trying.

[A small, amused smile comes to his face as he makes a joke.]

After all, it's been almost three months since I killed or maimed anyone.

I know you're trying. [She smiled well aware of where he was and where he is now.]

Hopefully we get you to a point where killing or maiming is your very last option. [She bit her lip.] Because I hope you understand, I do know that it is an option. It's not my first action. It's... it's the last possible action I go to, but I go to it. [Pretty sure even the Jedi resort to it when they absolutely must.]

I've had others tell me that as well. I'm not sure I like it.

[Mainly because that means changing a very core instinct that he's possessed for a very long time now, almost his entire life. Undoing or modifying that part of himself is going to be an uphill battle and he almost doesn't want to bother with it all.]

Yes, you have told me as much before.

[He knows if Usagi didn't believe he could be redeemed, he'd spend his entire time here as a squid with brief moments of returning to the beach before she obliterated him again. She sees something in him that can be redeemed unlike others she's dealt with in the past. That means a lot to Maul.]

You don't have to like it, but you are strong enough to do it, even if you don't believe you're strong enough.

[She reached out and took his claw into her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.] I've also told you that you don't have to do this alone.

[He doesn't say anything to the first part. No, Maul truly doesn't believe he's strong enough to go without immediately resorting to killing as an option. That's just not how his instincts are made up. But he'll try for the sake of others who believe in him.

He gives her hand a gentle squeeze back.]

I know. And I've been trying to rely on others when I need help even if I don't like it much.

I know and I'm proud of you. I wish you could see how far you've come, the distance you've made since the day you got here. Because I see it, and it's incredible.

[Is it filled with 1 step forward and 5 steps back? Yes. Is it baby steps or pulling him, kicking, and screaming? Yes. Are there days where he digs in his heels and won't budge? Absolutely.

But if it were easy, if it weren't without its pitfalls and setbacks and self-sabotages, she's not sure he'd see any value in it. Maul liked easy, this wasn't meant to be easy. Walking the path out of the darkness was never going to be.]

I'm glad you're here to tell me such things. I'll let you keep believing in me when I can't.

[That's one of the reasons he finds he needs Usagi in a way he's never needed anyone before in his life. He needs someone to believe in him, to tell him when he's doing things right and to yell at him a bit when he's stubbornly refusing to change his ways. Usagi knows how to handle him in all of his moods, everything from his childish temper tantrums all the way up to the killing rages that make him see red. Throughout it all, Usagi has been there for him, telling him he can do better and believing that he can whether Maul sees it in himself or not.

She's of the light but the soft kind that comes from the moon. Strong, firm, but never cruel, she's helped to guide his path thus far and helps to illuminate his next steps. He places an arm about her shoulders.]

Come. Let us go get some tea and lunch.

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You're The Best Around : Karate War Training Montage Log

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