[Backdated to January 16th; OPEN]

[not_apriest]

Who: Aramis and ANYONE
Where: A makeshift training room of sorts
When: Morning, January 16th
What: Aramis is training; the last few events have made it obvious he should stay sharp.
Rating: PG; will update if required


He'd discarded his doublet, chemise and boots on the floor near the far wall. Sword in one hand, dagger in the other, he moved through the room, cutting swathes through invisible enemies as he practiced various forms. He was focused on what he was doing; he might not notice a visitor immediately.

Comments

[not_apriest]

"Mm. She demonstrated." At rather an intimate moment that he wasn't about to go into. "I thought it was charming." In its...terribleness. But she was English.

He glances at Luke, catching his expression.

"She was a friend of yours?"

[alwaysnext]

Luke knows (or thinks he knows) what 'charming' means. He tried his best, but he and Donna weren't exactly on the same page when it came to rigorous grammar.

The question brings up happier memories. "Yeah! We're practically family. I helped her save the universe once." And the thing with the Daleks had been brilliant fun, right up until it became one of the scariest nights of his life.

"I haven't seen her for a long time, back home. I'm glad I got the chance to meet her properly. She was really amazing." He leans towards Aramis in earnest. This might be gushing, but who deserves it more than Donna? Her boyfriend should know her brilliant legacy, if Donna can't remember it for herself. Everyone should know. "The things she did were impossible. you have no idea how brilliant she's gonna be."

[not_apriest]

He frowned slightly. "What do you mean, 'impossible'?" he asked. "What does she do?"

[alwaysnext]

"There's these people. Daleks. Millions of them. They were going to kill everything." He shifts uncomfortably at the memories. That night alone, facing the end and waiting to see if mum would come home again. The first time he'd ever felt truly afraid of what would happen to them.

"But she stops them. All by herself. That's what she's gone home to do. She saves all of us."

[not_apriest]

Millions of them? And she stopped them by herself? ...Donna wasn't a warrior. Far from it. She was determined, that was for sure. Relentless, even. Could she win such a battle with sheer force of will? Well, if anyone could...

"I see. I suppose it's good that she's gone then, if she'll save the whole world."

[alwaysnext]

For a moment his expression is entirely blank, because no. Nothing that happens with Donna is good. But then he barrels on with a laugh, like he was never concerned to begin with.

"It's good whenever any of us get to go, isn't it? We don't belong here. You don't want to stay stuck here forever, do you? You must have stuff to do back home, too"

Treacherous plans to depose the king and become Pope, maybe. Ordinary Musketeer stuff like that.

[not_apriest]

Deposing a king is so far in his future, he can't conceive of having the notion. He frowns slightly. "I suppose it would be a better thing if we all went at once."

A pause, and he considers something Luke said earlier.

"If you don't want to learn swordplay, why did D'Artagnan try to teach you how to hold one?"

[alwaysnext]

For exactly the same reason he took up Aramis' offer. And Luke makes that obvious when his gaze slides down to his bare chest and then knocks off to the side as he strives to hide his reaction.

"Oh, I wanted an excuse to hit him with a pointy stick."

[not_apriest]

"D'Artagnan has that effect on people," Aramis remarked wryly, pretending not to notice the look cast along his body. He'd never been on the receiving end of it from a man before. What were you supposed to do in that case? "Do you oppose all forms of self-defence?"

[alwaysnext]

Luke doesn't know what you're supposed to do either, but it would be nice if it involved standing like this a bit longer. And flexing.

The question is a sensitive one. It dives right into the mental pressure to obey his mum's pacifist instructions (if not her violent, defensive actions), and his anxieties about morality, the inescapably pervasive idea that he's bad and wrong and was created to be that way. It also makes him feel like a bit of an idiot.

"No," he mutters. "It's just me. I don't touch weapons. Don't get into fights. I don't want to hurt anyone."

[not_apriest]

"That's a noble goal," Aramis tells him. "But a lofty one. What if someone seeks to harm you?" he asks curiously.