Echoes of Home

37 - Steve

We got working on the shed around midmorning. Tsu'na seemed remarkably content at sawing boards for the new door panel. Guessing she slept well. We didn't really talk about what compelled her to drive chakrams into wood at velocity, but whatever it was it seemed to be out of her system.

We were done with the riveting by midafternoon. Sam brought out a couple ciders for us, and stayed to check out our work. "Ya know, I think this is sturdier than it ever was before, and it used to be sheet metal."

"More like sheet rust, am I right?"

"Heh, yeah, maybe. Gonna redo the wiring?"

"If I have to. Not really a wiring guy, though...You know anyone in town?"

"I can ask around. But no one else works for beer."

"Not even cider? Well, we shouldn't really need more than lighting. I can give it a try. Here, I'll even pre-jinx it...How hard can it be?"

"You're the one who used wood. Your fault if it burns down. So, no target practice today?"

"Oh, right, I promised you a show, didn't I?" Tsu'na and I set our bottles aside and led Sam around to the battered bay door panel.

Sam hadn't noticed before that we had matching outfits that day, but he did then. "You guys wearin' some kinda...uniform?"

The initial Dancer gear looks rather Aladdin-esque, down to the facial veil. Players tend to wear the weirdest things as Dancers, including bikinis, babydoll dresses, ballroom wear and tuxedos. We'd settled on a glamour consisting of black pants and boots and the white Scion jacket, along with white gloves and a grey fedora. The effect is somewhere between rodeo cowboy and neo-swing, but I for one am not embarrassed to wear it in public. Though it is odd to see the two of us dressed the same way.

"Different training schools have different outfits they favor. Like a karate suit. This is what we wear when we're practicing with the rings. What we wear out in the field is another matter."

"Huh."

We stood side by side in front of what was now the target panel. We brought out our rings. We eyed the wood, gave each other a nod, and started to move.

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM

The rings flew, impacted and flew back. The wood started to show more splinters than before. As we worked into combos, we began to synchronize, not out of intent, but simply returning to the rhythm we'd developed between us.

BAMBAM BAMBAM BAMBAM BAM!

The noise doubled from two sets of rings hitting together. The panel was beginning to shake and bounce from the force. And she'd been right...it felt good to move like this. I had no idea how much I'd missed it, throwing my body into destruction.

CRACK

One of the boards gave way under the rings. The rebound was a little wild; we had to jump for the final catch. I contemplated the damage, then turned to Sam with a grin. "Well. Guess we showed it who's boss."

Sam stared at the broken panel. "So that's how you guys fought...wherever you were?"

"Nah, we hardly ever had a reason to use the rings. Usually we were more up close and personal. But it's good exercise, you know? Great cardio and reflex training."

"Kinda loud, though, huh?"

"Well. They make a lot less noise hitting a body."

"...Right. Uh...can I...?"