and mama always said--

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Who: Faith Lehane & training students & OTA
Where: Sparring Facility, Angel Investigations, a room on a floor of your choosing!
When: Aug/Sep Catch-all
Rating: PG-13, could increase
Summary: Faith is not handling her anniversary in Wonderland very well.
The Story:

sparring facility

[ she's going easy on everyone.

faith usually asks her trainees for an extra few punches, higher kicks, or harder throws. she makes it clear that the name of the game is to walk out feeling better than when you came in, sure. but this month she takes people at their word when they tire out, instead of asking for more.

her movement's still crisp but she doesn't hit or push as hard as normal. the threshold varies per person, a mental note in faith's head to tell her who needs her to throttle back less or more. ]

hallway, pick a floor any floor

[ she comes here weekly, to this unmarked door, but it's not her room.

when faith exits, it's with freshly-made bruises and drying blood that she hasn't quite cleaned up all the way. a sheen of sweat covers her, and she's pushing her hair out of her face like it's personally affronted her. ]

angel investigations

[ she's literally asleep on that middle round couch thing. which cannot be comfortable. wake the slayer, and choose your weapon wisely... ]

Comments

sparring facility;

[lightgunhustler]

[They've been at it for awhile when Jo finally decides there's something off about Faith today. She grimaces faintly when they stop for a break, reaching for her water and wiping the sweat away from her forehead-- it's unusual for Faith to concede to a break without pushing for a few more punches first, at the very least.]

Hey.

[She frowns a little, tossing Faith a towel.]

You okay? Seems like you've dialed it way back.

angel investigations;

[vampdetective]

[He's been watching her closely for days now. Even now, he watches for several moments before he walks over and helps himself to a seat beside where she's tucked her feet, leaning forward to fold his hands and rest his elbows against his knees. She might be sleeping, but he knows her. Some part of her is alert.]

Hey.

[They need to talk.]

[ Action; Hallway ]

[widows_kiss]

[ It's probably a coincidence that Natasha happens to be passing by the outside door when Faith steps out, looking a bit worse for wear. The sight of blood and bruises has her stopping to give a closer look, an assessing scrutiny of intent green eyes. ]

You look like you've had a fun morning.

sparring facility

[needlebearer]

[Arya isn't sure whether this is just a new tactic, or whether she's done something to upset Faith and make her react to her moves in such a half-hearted fashion. She frowns, then lunges at her even harder, wanting to provoke her to push back.]

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[ well hey who can blame faith when jo's punches are so crisp and clean! ]

Huh? [ so eloquent. she snatches the towel from its trajectory, and hooks it around her neck. ] Yeah, just-- body's here, brain's doing some wandering. Guess I'm kinda just tapping my marks, no real force, you know?

[ after a thought, she supplies something pertinent in an adjacent way: ] Coming up on a year here, soon.

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[ an intake of breath marks the moment faith comes back to consciousness. it's always a gamble when slayers leave the subconscious world of killing undead long gone. but angel's presence isn't the alarming sort, considering they'd roomed together for awhile. so she mostly grunts. ]

Someone's gonna have to steam-clean this thing...

[ faith it's your drool. you do the clean up. also stop trying to not have to talk-- there's a pact about that, remember? ]

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[ it doesn't count when accident probably means something entirely different in russian ok

obviously startled, faith catches herself mid-jump to smooth out the lines of her shoulders and the surprise on her face. a deep breath takes her into a nearly natural-looking nod that won't fool the likes of the black widow for a second. ]

Hey, when life gives you lemons. Just heading to grab a shower...

[ ah yes the least elegant attempt at an excuse to avoid what might be the exact conversation she doesn't want to have. faith lehane, folks. ]

hallway

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper spends a lot of time wandering around random hallways and poking his way into unoccupied rooms, so he's actually coming out of a room himself when he spots her. He blinks, doing a double take.]

Oh my gosh, are you okay? Did you get into a fight?

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[ the quick switch to force from repetition catches faith off guard enough that she retaliates, turning with arya's thrust to grab at the girl's axe-hand as it comes down in a firm grip. arya's body continues to move forward by her own wrist.

faith realizes what she's done in an instant, and lets go before she can chuck her student into a wall. she drops her own weapon and steps back, arms raised with hands open. ]

Shit. You OK?

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Jesus.

[ gah! when will faith learn that dipper pines is ... well, kind of ubiquitous. she rubs at the back of her neck, and nods. ]

Uh, yeah kinda. I'm fine, though-- it's nothing to worry about.

sparring facility

[therapize]

[The sarcastic part of Cami wants to ask herself why she's doing this again.

But she knows all too well just how dangerous a place Wonderland can be. It preys on minds, emotions, psyches, and all of that can drive even the most controlled person to lash out physically.

She's also got a pretty good idea of how many super powerful beings aren't all that in control.

So she shows up, managing more of a grin than a grimace, ready for the promised bruises. But there's also more to it; Faith's a slayer, supernaturally designed to hunt and kill vampires. The thing is, there are some vampires who have shown up lately, ones Cami knows, ones she's certain won't hesitate to kill Faith back.

She probably should tell Faith everything, to try and broker a peace before the war potentially begins.]

Hey. Reporting as ordered to get my ass kicked.

[widows_kiss]

[ Natasha wrinkles her nose. ] I hate lemonade. That's the worst metaphor.

Does whoever you were beating up in there look better or worse than you?

Sparring!

[goodwoofjames]

[Sirius learned, when he was Seren, that fire might be a bit too much to work with when he's still figuring out how to mix magic and physical fighting. So he's downgraded to harsh gusts of air-- maybe a little more powerful than a hairdryer. Not bad enough to hurt anyone, but still noticeable enough that Faith can tell him if he's made a hit. And it's actually pretty distracting to get a blast of air in the face, he's noticing.

Maybe too distracting?

Sirius backs up a few paces and holds his hands up, wand pointed to the side against his palm.]

You alright? Am I-- should I go harder or something?

[Usually she'd tell him to, after all.]

[krmvgivv]

That's a lot of blood for nothing to worry about. [Dipper frowns. He is not convinced.]

[vampdetective]

Good thing Wonderland doesn't charge a rental fee for that kind of thing. They gouge you for that in LA.

[One of the many perks of living in a mystical, magical mansion, he supposes.]

You've been showing up covered in bruises a lot lately.

[It's a calm observation, with very little inflection, but the fact that there's no lead-in speaks volumes. He's been watching, and he's concerned.]

[needlebearer]

[As Faith lets go of her, Arya struggles to keep her balance. She throws her axe down before she accidentally hurts herself with it, pushing back against the floor with her hand before she falls completely. She doesn't seem to fazed; more than anything, she's confused at how Faith could make such a simple mistake.]

That's what I should be asking you.

[lightgunhustler]

[The explanation is almost good enough. 'Distracted' is exactly how Jo would sum up Faith's behavior today, except she never took Faith as the type to get distracted, not like this. Sparring meant a lot to her. She pushed her students, demanded nothing but the best from them. It's what made the shift in her behavior stand out so much.]

Makes sense. Gives you a lot to think about. The one-year marker is always tough.

[It had been a sobering experience for her, too.]

It gets easier in some ways, as time goes on.

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[ she's still moving, but it's only when she doesn't feel sirius' next gust that faith blinks herself out of the dream to register his words. oh. oh shit. ]

Nah, you're doing great. [ faith huffs, and scrubs a hand over her face. ] Sorry, I'm just kinda out of it. Uh-- go through the close-quarters stuff again?

[ she will push through this, damn it. sirius needs a hand sparring and she'd made a commitment! ]

I won't space out this time, promise.

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You sure about that?

[ faith's smirk is only a little watered down when she gets to her feet from the bench at the far end to close the distance between them. ]

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[ faith likes to think she's as good at blocking and deflecting blows as she is at landing them. her first block attempt comes with a lewd grin. ]

Says the chick married to the hot guy with an accent.

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[ she stills, an unnatural lack of movement -- no reaction is still a reaction. ]

Yeah. Forget my own strength sometimes.

[ you know, when she's exercising some good ol' destruction of property. ]

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You hate lemonade?

[ ignoring the other question for the more important factor here, obviously. faith starts to move down the hall, pulling her hair from the ponytail and ruffling out the kinks. ]

Nobody hates lemonade...

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Wish I could say yeah.

[ she shrugs, moving another step from arya-- if she were an adult, or at least closer to faith's age, maybe the slayer wouldn't be feeling this guilt so strongly. but she also wouldn't be so willing to be forthright. ]

Starting to feel trapped for real. I've been in this place for almost a year-- thought I'd be out by now, I guess.

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Sorry-- habit.

[ a sigh and a shrug, and faith knows better than to try that shit with dipper, doesn't she?she's supposed to have learned it across the board, with angel. but old habits of hiding pain die hard. ]

It's worse than it looks-- and just me. Promise.

[widows_kiss]

I'm not a fan of lemons in general, so it only stands to reason.

[ Natasha's lips quirk in amusement as she falls into step with the other woman, her expression mild but not at all fooled. ]

And you didn't answer the question.