midnightstar | Shionne and Alphen in Menancia

They've all come a long way since Calaglia, both in terms of distance and... other things. Things Shionne was forcing herself not to acknowledge. Because what would the point be to acknowledge those thoughts when she couldn't act on them - when at the end of this journey, she had no future? Ah... but that was something she hadn't - couldn't - tell the others, who she's begun thinking of as more than just 'tools'.

Particularly Alphen.

It was the hardest to think of him when she knew how much she was keeping from him. Much to her frustration, however, the group had decided to take a break for a little while since Shionne's pace had been pushing the others quite a lot - and they did just gain two new companions. Shionne was avoiding them as much as possible, deciding to go for a walk through the city almost...baffled by how accepting the Dahnans and Renans were.

It was ... nice. But it felt so alien to her, at the same time.

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He grinned, watching her off with a nod before turning his attention back to Alphen.

"Think what?" Law would do well to watch his next words very carefully...Oh wait it's LAW. Tact and finessse are even more foreign concepts than they are for Alphen.

Law, unfortunately, had not yet ret the age of maturity where 'tact' was a common concept. "Well," he threw a practice jab at his friend as they started training, "She seems a bit different from when we first met, don't you think? I mean you've known her longer than Rinwell or I, let alone Kisara an dDohalim so you'd probably know better than anyone else."

Oh good he had dodged a bullet by not assuming Shionne might be into him. Instead the topic got a soft smile to spread over ALphen's lips.

"No you definitely have a point. She's been opening up more and more since we met." More than anyone else in the group even realized but that was something between himself and Shionne.

It might be too early to celebrate Alphen! "Yeah, Kisara and Rinwell were talking about that earlier, actually. You probably didn't notice because you and Shionne were -- uh..." Well, very much focused on each other.

Alphen raised an eyebrow. "We were what?" He didn't feel like they were acting that out of the ordinary. The two of them had just been talking between eating.

Law pondered a moment, "I mean.. you know. You were pretty close .. I don't think you even noticed her thorns triggering around you. I don't think she did either. Kisara was getting worried until Shionne suddenly excused herself the way she did, and Rinwell was wondering if she was into you or something. Although with the way she is, there wouldn't be much point, right?"

Something about those last words ticked him off faintly and he drew his sword.

"I wouldn't say that. Besides there's nothing wrong with Shionne and me getting closer. Now are we sparring or not?"

See, THIS would be the moment an astute person might pick on that slight irritation and shut up. Law, however, is not such a person. At least not in this particular matter because he .. keeps talking. Open Mouth Insert Foot, right? "I guess not, but those thorns of hers are still going to keep you - anyone - from getting too close anyway, right? So you can't get -THAT- close." Oh right, the reason they came out here. "Oh yeah, I'm ready~!" Eager Puppy is going to be put on his ass isn't he?

"Those thorns never stopped me and I am not going to start letting them now." With that Alphen kicked off the ground into a dash right at Law, his blade cutting into an arch upwards into Law's side though still with the flat side since despite his annoyance he wasn't out to kill poor Law.

Yie! A little extra aggression there, Law hadn't anticipated that quick a move - though he should have - and quickly brought his arms in to quickly knock aside Alphen's arm, though he grunted at that initial hit. Even though it was with the flat of the blade, it still stung! "Oof -- sure you say that, but she probably doesn't want to hurt you."

He knew Law was right and that just annoyed him even more as he transitioned into a kick and aerial slam at Law.

"She's not hurting me. If anything she does the opposite since I tend to get wounded without noticing and she's always there to patch me up."

Law's air rushed out of him in an OOF as he hit the ground, though he quickly rolled to his feet and charged forward to break through and send a flurry of blows Alphen's way. Chaaaaaaarge~

He's also HIGHLY suspicious of that 'she's not hurting me' comment. "I mean.. sure, but that's only coz you can't feel pain right? Doesn't your body still get damaged from it?" Probably not as much as their sparring sessions tend to get.

"Not really. She always checks every time and she hasn't had to heal me whenever we touch." Alphen accidentally spilling the beans in the heat of the moment though Law does finally get a good hit in but not enough to achieve more than just pushing Alphen away and making some distance.

WHOoooooah, that threw Law off, and one of his swings went wide as he stared at Alphen, "Wait, what?" Did.. wait those two weren't.. he meant casual touches right? "You two .. I mean you're.. uh.." He skids to a stop for a second, trying to think of a *gasp* tactful -- oh hell it's Law we're talking about - "You got that far?"

"Far? What's that supposed to mean?" Alphen was a different kind of dense though he did see an opening so naturally he pushed forward to rush Law and keep him off balance which was not easy given his status as a martial artist.

Law swayed backwards, arms up in defense as he put his physical guard up, watching for a moment to get a hit in on Alphen. "You know.. i mean, you and Shionne.." A little awkwardly said, "You're. .. you know.. close. I mean that's great for the two of you, but I thought that kind of thing would be really hard for the both of you. But if you make it work, then that's awesome, congratulations~!" He just stammered through the misconceptions as quickly as possible.

He was not about to give him too much time to think as Alphen went for a sliding kick and slam of his sword aimed to sweep Law's legs out from under him.

"You're making it sound as if it's something strange to even try."

Crap, he was going full on aggressive - which was understandable when he was a front liner too. But he saw that sliding kick coming in and leapt upwards to dodge it, aiming to land behind Alphen for another chain of kicks and punches - although perceptive as he was he might see that one coming too! Either way he's a little out of breath after his attack, and huffed a bit,

"Well.. I mean.. it is, isn't it? A little? Shionne's great, but if I were in your position I wouldn't be able to do what you're doing. Probably a lot of people wouldn't - couldn't be with someone if they couldn't even touc-"

... and a flash of pink and white out of the corner of his eye drew his attention as he realized ...oops. Worse still, Rinwell had been watching through the window with Kisara and Dohalim and .. they probably all heard that too, judging from the assorted looks of annoyance and disappointment and judgment. :/ At least Kisara left the window shortly after, no doubt to check on Shionne, but Law felt many shades of uncomfortable from the glares. He didn't think he'd said anything -bad-!

The sound of some knuckles being cracked could be heard from behind him as Alphen looked...oh he'd thrown away his sword after Shionne had left. Oh dear. This was going to get messy.

"THere are some things you shouldn't say Law."

Law scratched his arm awkwardly, wondering if he should say something - but he didn't know she'd watch and.. and then he sensed DANGER. Immediately he pivoted to face Alphen, seeing he'd thrown his sword aside, and held up his hands defensively, "That.. I didn't know she'd be there.." He kinda feels like he deserves a punch from Alphen, actually..

Too bad ALphen wasn't thinking of a punch but as he dashes out at the young man, his arm goes for a clothesline at the last second, the shift happening with disturbing swiftness as if he might have had more experience and training in hand to hand combat than a former slave should have had.

Law initially braced for the punch to come, but he was caught off guard by the last second shift - the speed in which he did it was insanely quick too, "KWAg-" Right in de troat, the clothesline knocks him off his feet and he coughs a bit when he hits the ground with a grunt. "Arright -- I *koff* I deserved that.."

"At least you know that." Alphen sighed as he went over to help Law up. AFter all he had to make sure he wasn't actually hurt since then they'd have to rely on Shionne to heal him and odds were she would not be comfortable seeing him so soon. Hopefully Kisara would be able to smooth things over... Well if she didn't he'd go after her himself and reassure her all over again that none of what Law said meant anything because it would never come true.

It would be the most -awkward- heal. Law got to his feet with Alphen's help, glancing over his shoulder, "Should I... y'know, do you think..?" Although Shionne probably wouldn't want to see him even to apologize to her right now.

Aaaah he looked fine. Nothing a little gel can't fix. Though his question did make his frown soften a little before shaking his head.

"Not right now. Give it a day or two to let her settle down again."