[Closed Post] ..the sky will come for you once..

[lanselos_du_lac]

The day is warm and bright -- it's lovely, in fact -- and so Lancelot is doing his best to ignore the strange tension that has been dogging him over the last few days. He is, of course, keeping to his usual routine, which helps, and now he is in the little clearing where he and Magnus meet for training. He's waiting for Magnus to arrive, checking the straps of Arthur's shield while he waits, and doing his best to clear his head and focus up on what he has determined they need to focus on today.

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[summerdude]

Magnus shrugs. "Not really?" he says. "I mean, we can if you want."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot shakes his head and shrugs, "I am fine. We can continue."

[summerdude]

"Okay," says Magnus. "Um, is it cool if Jack watches? —Oh, and I told Hanguang-jun he could come by sometime."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I would welcome Hanguang-jun, yes." He pauses to consider the question of Jack; this one he's less sure about. "Jack may watch, provided he does not distract you."

Lancelot would also prefer to be un-distracted, but he suspects Jack's influence on Mangus to be different than Jack's influence on Lancelot himself.

[summerdude]

So Magnus tugs the pendant off of his necklace. It grows into Jack, with his golden thirty-inch blade and smooth, leather-wrapped grip. "Remember," Magnus warns, letting go and letting Jack zip into the air. "No intervening. Silent judgement only." And then he settles back into a fighting stance, pulling his shield back into place.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Silent judgement is always preferable," he says wryly, settling back into his own stance. He takes a breath, hoping to shake his now even more unsettled thoughts and focus solely on sparring with Magnus. "Come, then."

[summerdude]

Magnus nods, sharply attentive. "Same as before?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Aye," a nod.

[summerdude]

So he lifts his practice sword and, uncomfortably aware of Jack's silent judging as he flies overhead, surges forward, trying out an opening Lancelot had taught him the week before.

[lanselos_du_lac]

This time Lancelot meets him, rather than hanging back. He moves in, seeking to knock Magnus' sword out of the way with his shield, to create an opening.

[summerdude]

"Señor, look ou--" Jack calls, but Magnus is already twisting to the side, trying to dodge the move and knock his own shield against Lancelot's to destabilize him.

"No cheating, Jack," he calls with a whoop. "You can give me notes after."

Jack's silence after that has the weight of a sullen one, but it is a silence.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Magnus is nearly successful in putting Lancelot off-balance, but at the last moment he pivots and shifts his weight, trying to score a hit from the outside.

[summerdude]

Magnus tries to get his sword up to block him, since his shield is busy continuing with the momentum shift of his attempt to knock it against Lancelot's. He's einherjar-fast, but that just results in his body twisting into a weird contortion that tells him his moves were definitely too wide and obvious and absolutely not economical enough.

But knowing the error he made is pretty cool, actually.

With a grin, he drops to the ground, confident that his athleticism and reflexes will serve him better by disengaging and then rising again than by trying to recalibrate and block.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Good!" Lancelot's exhortation is genuine, though he doesn't pause or slow down. He gets a little space and wheels on Magnus, coming in with an overhand swing.

[summerdude]

Magnus rolls to the side, bringing his shield up between him and Lancelot. His grasp on his sword falters, which is, like, against the first rule of sword fighting (rule #1: have a sword in hand), but is consistent with his fighting history. This time, he doesn't let himself get distracted by scrambling for it; his focus is on blocking the swing. He can fix his grip after.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot pulls the swing up a little short, so as not to send a shock up Magnus' arm -- it's a good block.

[summerdude]

With a little flexing of his fingers, Magnus manages to get his hand firmly back around his hilt, and he surges up right in front of Lancelot, trying to make him stumble back so that he can get a swing in.

[lanselos_du_lac]

This turns out to be quite effective. Lancelot swallows a curse, staggering back, and reacts more strongly than he intends, swatting Magnus' blade away with his shield -- probably too hard.

(He is distracted. He knows this. He should have begged off for today. There is too much on his mind.)

[summerdude]

Magnus pulls back. It was hard -- not too hard; Magnus can withstand a lot -- but a lot harder than normal. "You good, dude?" he asks, staying at the ready and circling just in case this is a fake-out.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Yes," Lancelot says, instantly. But just as he's about to move in again he stops, stepping back and swinging his blade down. He takes a breath. "Perhaps not."

[summerdude]

Magnus lowers his sword and his shield. "What's up?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I think-- perhaps we should stop for today."

Lancelot is frowning slightly, in spite of himself. It isn't Magnus' business, nor does he want to make it Magnus' problem.

[summerdude]

Magnus opens his mouth to protest, then closes it, squinting at Lancelot, like he's trying to read some kind of deep hidden meaning in this choice. Eventually he nods. "Okay," he says. "Um, I'm sorry if I, um. Stressed you out or something." By making him keep a secret for so long or whatever.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot shakes his head, saying evenly, "No, Magnus. It is naught to do with you. I just-- it is my fault. I should know better when I should beg off for a day."

[summerdude]

"Okay." Magnus hesitates a moment. "Do you, like. Need anything?"