aerialassault | 001 [audio/action] backdated to the 18th

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001 [audio/action] backdated to the 18th

[accidental audio/action for CH 5]

--at's it. I'm gonna pulverize--

[The words, made audible through an accidental feed on the journal that Cliff threw aside, were cut off by the crack of splintering wood as his fist slammed into it at full throttle. Cliff had finally awoken from his shift-induced dream, and he was pissed. It was just unfortunate that the first person he saw that morning had to be the target for his frustration at the Malnosso.

He was going to crush their captors...after he crushed Albel Nox.

It wasn't going to be pretty.]

[very intentional audio]

Sorry 'bout the mess this morning. Technical difficulties. Won't happen again.

Now. What the hell was that last week? A shift? That's one helluva-- [He stopped and took a deep, calming breath.] Don't tell me that happens all the time.

I'm more than game if anyone wants to work off some stress. See ya at the Barracks. Or the Dome. I dunno.

Cliff Fittir. Over and out.

[action]

[True to his word, Cliff could be found at both the Barracks and the Battle Dome at various points throughout the day, as he restlessly wandered between the two facilities because neither actually fit his needs for the moment. A good spar was what he had in mind, although he wouldn't say no to company with someone that didn't know him and was actually sane.

Don't worry. He'll be cool.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Cheeky guy. Cliff straightened to his full height-- likely much taller than Okita-- and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.]

Nobody's figured a way to put a lock on it yet? [It was annoying.]

Ya could say I've cooled off. The air outside helped, but I don't wanna go back yet.

[Not while there was a hole in the wall, and the promise of seeing Albel again.]

[Yeah, being taller than him isn't hard. He's only about 165cm. Souji looks up at Cliff and laughs again.]

If they have, they are keeping the method to themselves.

The Shift did not treat you well, I take it. Did it make things difficult at home?

[That's about thirty centimeters on the stranger then. Definitely not hard.]

Uncool...but, that makes 'em smart. Now they've got a monopoly.

Ya could say that it made a tricky situation even trickier, and not in a good way.

Edited 2013-02-22 01:22 (UTC)

Do you not get along well with your housemates?

[Because nosy Souji is nosy, Cliff is going to get the brunt of his meddling now.]

[Don't worry. Cliff is good at the basics.]

You kidding? Go through a war together and see if you don't become friendly with a few odd ducks.

[Ah, he knows about that. Only he's the odd duck that everyone talks about.]

Then what is the problem? Is the tension uncomfortable?

The one ain't called 'the Wicked' for nothin'.

[He didn't want to elaborate on Mr. Slim, Snarky, and Haughty.]

You certainly have interesting comrades, Cliff-san.

San? Is that some kinda...?

[It wasn't translated by anything that this world gave him or by the communicator that he found in the item shop a while back. Even if it was moot to carry it around, he just felt better with the little device.]

[Oooooh right, the world can't translate the word for some reason. Okita thinks for a moment, trying to recall what other people said it means.]

Ah....it is what people here say is an "honorific." It is like the foreign language "sir," I think.

[He taps his lip, thinking and then laughs and shrugs.]

I've never been very good at foreign languages.

I'm alright with 'em, but there ain't much reason to learn here.

[A shrug. There was no helping it.]

Now I'm wondering why that slipped through.

It cannot be translated, as far as I have seen.

[He doesn't know why and the idea of tech is so far beyond him, he isn't even going to try to understand why.]

Did Cliff-san enjoy learning languages at home as well?

Weird.

I, uh, learned a couple back home, but there's so many different people and cultures that we found a way to make something kind of like how...whatever it is here works.

[He wasn't going to get into communicators or starships. Given how the stranger was dressed, he had a hunch that some of it might just be too much.

Best to keep it simple.]

I only learned what I did because I work all over the place, and sometimes its just better to not use those devices.

...

Are you a mercenary?

[Because that is the only thing he can think of that would cause someone to travel so much and be able to punch that hard.]

A merce--??

[He cut himself off, and laughed.]

Nah. I go around getting people to work together for a bigger cause. It's kinda fun when you're not bashing heads together.

[Ah, a visionary then. Who punches.

Oh my gods, this guy is the alien version of Sakamoto Ryouma.

Souji blinks at being laughed at, then joins in.]

Ah, I see. Hopefully you can do less bashing and more talking then?

Depends on who's there.

But enough 'bout that. What about you, stranger? Got a name with all those questions?

[Always depends, doesn't it. Oh well. Souji smiles and walks over to the wall where several wooden practice swords are resting on a rack. He takes one and leans down to pick up a few weights to put on it.]

Captain of the First Squad, Okita Souji. I suppose the title doesn't mean much, however, not here. Not anymore.

[After slipping four or five weights on, he straightens and wonders again at how strange it is to be so open with his name even after all this time.]

What is the cause you fight for, Cliff-san? It must be important if you travel so far for it.

[Titles never amounted to much in his egalitarian ethics and morals. He watched Okita move with a curious eye. It was an old style weapon from earth, he figured, although he couldn't quite pinpoint the era or region. The only part that he could discern was that it was from before the industrial revolution.

Cliff chuckled. Funny, how all of those Earth history classes in college would pay off.]

I just work to get the little guys together so we can take on the big guys, but the fight doesn't always need our fists. Words do a better job of it.

Why isn't your title important anymore, Okita?

[Souji smiled, more and more certain that this man could almost be Ryouma's Western counterpart.]

I knew someone who thought much the same way.

[He died violently, or so said the history books Souji read. He wondered absently if the same fate awaited Cliff; or even someone like Tetsu.]

It's an honourable way to fight. Something I'm afraid I'm very poor at.

[He held the weighted sword in both hands and raised it over his head.]

As for my title...

[He swung the sword downward, a practised arc, a perfect stop - a twinge in his side.]

It doesn't much matter. Have you ever worked with swords before?

[Cliff paid attention to Okita as he moved and spoke, taking note of the practiced ease of his swordsmanship and the even tone of his voice. That, and his title of Captain, led Cliff to the conclusion that Okita was a soldier on some level...or, at least, part of a highly disciplined unit.

He always ran a solid, dependable ship while he was still captain, and he preferred to keep his people at ease.]

I don't use weapons like that. Just complicates things, and I like to keep it simple. Words can get like that too, if you're not careful.

That why you never found a way to work with 'em?

Edited 2013-02-22 04:53 (UTC)

[Straightforward then. Souji could appreciate that and he raised the sword again, trying to keep his breathing controlled and slow.]

Words can sometimes be the most powerful and most dangerous of all weapons.

[He dropped the sword in the same arc again, stopping it at the same point as before.]

It takes a strong person to be able to use them well, and I knew people who could use them better than I, so I left it to them. You prefer your fists then?

[The subtle struggle wasn't lost on Cliff, but he didn't comment. It wasn't something for him to prod at.]

It also takes a li'l patience, and not everyone's got that. [Says the man who punched a whole in the wall on a whim earlier that day. It was just a moment of catharsis. He was always a reasonable man.

He smiled at the question and held up a fist.]

It's why I like my hands. What did you think I had these gloves on for anyway?

Edited 2013-02-22 05:05 (UTC)

[He smiled faintly at the comment about patience. He had the patience for it, but it was the finesse and the actual understanding of other people that he lacked. He could pry into people's lives, but he couldn't fix them. He'd seen that first hand with Tetsu and Tatsu.

Raising the sword again, Souji turned his head to look over at Cliff and gave him a cheeky smile.]

You seemed like a very fashionable person to me.

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