OPEN. — i knew that something would always rule me

[avicula]

WHO: dutch + you
WHERE: the training deck, a bar?
WHEN: dutch's first week aboard
WHAT: dutch needs sparring and possibly drinking buddies
WARNINGS: none yet, will edit if necessary

[ the eluvio is considerably larger than dutch’s own ship, designed to hold a great many more people and to remain in space for far longer periods of time, or so dutch guesses. this is not the kind of ship that can dock at a planet or a moon like lucy’s docked on westerley. in size, it’s more like the rac cruiser or one of the slaver ships travelling the j and beyond. it doesn’t seem to be a slaver ship, at least, but dutch is still on edge, displeased with her displacement and her current situation as a whole. that explains why she’s found her way to the eluvio’s training deck, too: fingers wrapped, feet bare and non-descript athletic clothing on the rest, she’s been punching and kicking a punching bag for a while now, working up a sweat and settling in a steady rhythm of jabs that is broken up by kicks. she’s light on her feet, but her mind feels heavy, some of the same thoughts recurring over and over.

she didn’t get a choice about being here, and if those who’ve come before her are to be believed, no one knows how to get back yet. it’s just another event in a long line of events that dutch never got a say in, and she’s so tired of decisions being made or things happening that impact her like this. she’s tired of it, and it comes out in anger, simmering under her skin and making her punch just this much harder.

johnny left. that’s another things that she keeps coming back to. he’s been her moral compass ever since she’d run away, he’s been her gravity and her centre when she’s been lost, her best friend through it all, and he left instead of letting her ride shotgun on whatever train he’s gotten on. she wants to punch him for that, too, and yell at him, and she wants to hug him because he’s a stupid bloody idiot who won’t let others carry any weight for him even if they offer. because he left.

she can’t punch or hug johnny, right now — or she could, he's here, and maybe she will, but for now, she's punching this bag instead. she really can’t turn back time and make it so that the anomaly or whatever it was never picked her up and spit her out on this ship in a corner of space dutch has never seen or heard of. she can’t, and so she keeps punching the bag, hoping to at least drain some of the anger so that she’ll be able to think more clearly. ]

[ additional starters in the comments! if you'd like something specific, hit me up at abiosis ]

Comments

[estrayer]

[ He'll take that tone. She can believe him or not, it doesn't really matter. It might cause him fewer problems down the line if she doesn't. ]

I wouldn't say I'm ordinary.

[ His quick little smirk gets lost in concentration, while he dodges one elbow and blocks the next. He's fast, maybe faster than he looks like he'd be, yet he's not at top speed. This will be better if he doesn't cheat.

Of course, then she cheats by distracting him. He looks up, startled. ]

You what? [ And then her fist connects, unbalancing him and making him stumble a few steps back. Grinning wryly, he turns back to her, adjusting his jaw. ] Nice hit. I almost thought you were serious.

[ He's back in it now, aiming low and fast while he tries to get her on the back foot. ]

[avicula]

[ she believes him, but that doesn't mean she has to be impressed. if she can kill a six, she could probably kill a shadowhunter, not that she knows that that's what he's called. okay, maybe she is impressed, but not because he has any special abilities. if she's impressed, it's because he's a skilled fighter, because he keeps up with her easily enough, because dutch appreciates competence. ]

Did you? [ she responds, expression and tone both equally bland.

here's the thing: it wasn't a lie. she's glad he's taken it as a joke, though, because her past is not something dutch is all that happy explaining. instead, she dances away from his attack for a moment before moving into it instead of away, rolling to come up on his other side. ]

[estrayer]

[ Jace's eyes narrow a little. She still sounds serious.

It's not what he expected. A harem isn't a place where he'd imagine a lot of fighting happens. Training, sure, but not training for this. He blinks, all at once deciding to stay casual about this. Maybe she's serious, maybe she isn't. It distracted him once; it won't again. ]

So which monarch are we talking about?

[ He turns, smiling as she moves in to shorten his reach. She's good, not letting him have this his own way. That's very good. He follows up with a series of rapid-fire jabs. If she wants to move into his space, he'll give her something to play with. ]

[avicula]

[ a harem isn't a place where a lot of fighting is supposed to happen. dutch had been sent to restore her family's honour by marrying into royalty, and learning how to entice a prince was just what she'd been supposed to learn. except the mentor her father had hired to help her do just that had taught her to kill instead. ]

I doubt you've heard of him. Unless you know anything about the J.

[ it seems like no one here but johnny is from the same universe, or at least from the same part of space. no one's heard of the j, much less the quad. but that's less important than alternatively ducking below and blocking the jabs he's sending her way, keeping her on her toes and making it hard to get too close.

oh, but he's good. dutch drops low, in the end, swiping at his legs. ]

[estrayer]

The J?

[ Strange name for a monarch. Unless maybe it’s a nickname. Jace’s Mundane politics isn’t exactly stellar, but he thinks he’d remember a title like that.

Not waiting for an answer, Jace jumps instinctively over her sweeping leg and turns, pivoting on one foot and bringing the other up to try and hook her waist as she rises. He doesn’t even think about it, operating as smoothly with her as he would with any of his partners back home. That’s impressive in and of itself; when sparring works like this it’s almost like a dance. He’s smiling, definitely approving. ]

Guess it’s a mystery. Where are you from?

[avicula]

The J's a star cluster.

[ not a monarch's name or nickname, after all. ] I'm from a moon at the edge of it. [ and the royal harem had been on the planet the moon had orbited. a moon her family had owned until their name had been disgraced, leading to dutch being send to the harem. of course, she hadn't been dutch yet back then. ]

What about you?

[ she's going to assume his answer is going to be "earth". most people here seem to be from that place, though dutch has never heard of it.

his leg hooks around her waist and dutch twists, attempting to use this connection to force him to drop down to the ground, her weight tipping to the ground in a controlled fall on her end that will hopefully get him off balance. ]