maskormenacelogs | Not Quite the Kwoon

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Not Quite the Kwoon

WHO: Mako Mori and Daryl Dixon
WHERE: De Chima - Abandoned warehouse where her makeshift gym is set up
WHEN: Oct 11
WHAT: Sparring
WARNINGS: Zombie...s, dead families, stuff?

Mako's text to Daryl has been quick and relatively simple, an address, and emoticon of a cup of green tea, a picture of two hanbo and her tiny jaeger, along with the words come join me, Daryl-san sent in a text bubble. The tea she had brewed very carefully and there was a faint scent of peach to it, which was very calming. Mako herself was dressed in a tank top and military trousers, as she had been before when she had stepped on the mats at the Kwoon Combat Room in Hong Kong. That had been with Raleigh and seemed so long ago even as it seemed like it was yesterday.

This would be...different, but somehow, it seemed like the right thing to do. She would teach him as he had taught her how to use her wings. It was, she thought, a very good thing.

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Daryl had no idea what that string of pictures meant other than tea with the jaeger maybe. But it was an invitation to join Mako and of the people he'd met in this world, she was one of the few that didn't make him feel like he was just going through the motions on feeling like a person again. It had a lot to do with her enthusiasm for life, and the well of utter hope that shined through her eyes when she spoke of things. Reminded him of better days, of better people. And not in a way that hurt so much he couldn't look past the pain to see the differences between her and... and Beth.

He sent back a text saying simply 'okay'. No further questions asked. He could give those in person. It did take him a little time to get there. Largely because he had to look the address up and figure out a route to it on his bike before making his way over. He wasn't exactly surprised at the warehouse address, Mako had given him the impression of someone who liked their space and their relative peace and quiet the first time he'd met her.

Once there, his engine largely announcing his arrival, he cut it and walked the bike inside, curious at what she wanted to do at the place. It couldn't be for flying. Well, maybe it could. Small area practice was a possibility and not something Daryl had done a lot of. But she also already had the tea out. He could see it even if he couldn't smell it with the scented oil he'd picked up drowning out anything that wasn't close in to him.

Daryl nodded his hello as he put his bike to the side and set the kickstand down, "Hwy."

"Hey!" Mako said back, bouncing on her toes a little as she set her hanbo down. The little Jaeger trilled his name out in it's warbly voice and Mako laughed. "You have good timing, Daryl-san. The tea is done steeping. Do you want sugar in it or just as it is?"

She sat cross-legged on a small pillow, shifting herself until she was comfortable and gestured for him to sit across from her, with the small tea table between them. It seemed right to turn the area in a place for meditation and tea, so she had. Her tea set was iron, small, but hefty with a wonderful texture to it.

"As is, is fine," he answered, eyes going curiously to the sticks. He was guessing she'd anticipated he'd be interrupting her practice time with them. So he didn't bother apologizing for doing so as he moved to sit on the ground opposite her. The little table was kind of cute. Made him wonder if she'd brought it on purpose just for this or if it was normally there for her own needs. Probably the latter.

Daryl grinned at the jaeger and nodded as he got comfortable, "Hey Toebiter. Learn anything new?"

Mako delicately poured the tea into a small iron cup with a thin layer of glaze on the inside, her motions smooth and practiced as she set it before him and then filled one for herself. She didn't take sweetener, either. The light peach infused into it was enough to sweeten it and enhance the quality of the green tea base.

<< Aᴛᴀʀᴀsʜī? ɴᴇᴡ ɪɴ ᴇɴɢʟɪsʜ, ɴᴏᴛ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇᴅ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ. ᴛᴇᴀ ɪs ɴᴇᴡ. ʜᴏᴛ. ʙᴜᴛ ɴᴏᴛ ғᴏʀ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏɴsᴜᴍ-ᴘᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴅᴀʀʏʟ-sᴀɴ. ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛᴇᴀ. >>

Edited 2016-10-12 08:14 (UTC)

Daryl reached down and took the glass, settling the elbow of his now-occupied hand on his knee. The way she was presenting it seemed like there was bit of a ritual quality to it all. Like there was an expectation for waiting for the right time to actually drink. Only he didn't know the timing or the cues to start his part in it all.

So he settled on holding his cup for a little while and waiting until she took a drink from hers or gave some other obvious signal that it was safe to start trying it without being rude.

"Atarashi is 'new'?" he repeated. Though it came out as a question it really wasn't. But it gave him an opportunity to ask something that was niggling at him. "Hey, Toebiter, what's 'tsubasa-chan' mean?"

He wasn't sure the little guy... girl? whatever - would know the (assumed) insult, but he kind of wanted to know just how much he should resent Kaneda for calling him that. Without Kaneda knowing he didn't understand it.

<< Tsᴜʙᴀsᴀ ᴍᴇᴀɴs 'ᴡɪɴɢ' ɪɴ Eɴɢʟɪsʜ. ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏɴᴏʀɪғɪᴄ 'ᴄʜᴀɴ', ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴀᴘᴘʟɪᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡɴ ғᴏʀ ᴀ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴅᴇᴀʟ ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ sᴇᴇɴ ᴀs ᴏғғᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪs ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟʟʏ ᴄᴏɴsɪᴅᴇʀᴇᴅ 'ᴄᴜᴛᴇ'. ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀs ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ɢᴇɴᴅᴇʀ ᴍᴀʏ ᴄᴀʟʟ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ 'ᴄʜᴀɴ' ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ɪɴsᴜʟᴛɪɴɢ. >>

Mako's eyebrows arched. That was the most the little jaeger had ever said, but it wasn't too surprising, considering the amount of language programming Mako had invested in it. Rules, definitions, grammar, all of these things were important and she had spared nothing when it came down to making sure communication was as fluid as possible. She laughed a little and bowed her head toward Daryl before taking a small sip of tea.

"It seems to enjoy language and grammar," she murmured. "I made sure to include extensive programming so that language wasn't a barrier. It seemed a sound decision."

Wings. Kaneda called him 'wings'? It had come out like an insult, though. Maybe that was why he'd added the chan. So it would be insulting. But... shit. Wings wasn't insulting at all. It was just what he had on his vest.

"huh," was the ever so intellectual response to the definition given. He left his mouth open when he was done with the sound, thinking on it and trying to decide if he should even pretend to be offended if it happened again. He wasn't sure it was worth it, might be more satisfying for the kid to know he his barb had missed the mark.

It took Daryl another moment before he was nodding at what Mako said and then taking a drink of the offered tea since she'd already done it. It wasn't bad. "Yeah. Good idea. Ain't never learned much of any language other'n English m'self. Know a couple words in Spanish, but that's only 'cause they're all over the place. You know, well known."

"It is easier if you have regular association with someone who speaks the language fluently," Mako said and took time to blow on her tea again. "I knew only Japanese for much of the time growing up, and learned English when I was adopted by the Marshal. I was at an orphanage for a few years after the attack that claimed my family's lives, before he came to adopt me."

"He the one that taught you?" Daryl asked, more to make conversation than anything else. But he'd be lying if he'd said he wasn't at all curious. How other people were educated and how they grew up were interesting to him. As long as they weren't the rich asshole sorts. "Or you learn at the orphanage?"

"He was," she said with a nod. "The Marshal spoke Japanese as well as I did, but it was always In English, Miss Mori," she did a pretty good job with his accent too, gruff as hell, demanding excellence, and laughed. "Everything he did was for a reason, even if it seemed harsh. Sometimes, I felt it was, but I, too, became what he wished me to be. A sword, focused and ready for battle. Here, there are no kaiju, but, I have seen that id does not mean that there is no fight. It is just different."

Became what he wanted her to be. A sword. A weapon. Was she anything else to the man? She didn't seem hurt in how she said it. But it made Daryl wonder just what she meant by 'harsh'.

"You ain't gotta fight," he said, instead, as he finished his tea and set the cup down. "You ain't gotta be a sword for no one if you don't wanna."

"Everything I did was for my family," Mako said with a slight nod. "I wanted to fight then, when I was young, to protect people who could not or would not protect themselves. It's something that hasn't diminished over time."

Her fingers touched the rim of her little cup thoughtfully.

"If I'm to stay here," she said, looking down for a moment, "I want to...be respectful and fight for the people I will call my allies and, one day, I hope my family. It isn't about obligation, being forced into anything." She looked up at him with a wry sort of smile. "I want the people I know to feel safe. It's hard to do, but, I suppose I am at heart, following the way of bushido. The path of the samurai."

Daryl actually knew a little about that. From reading mostly. When he was looking up what he could about Zen Bhuddaism in the local library. Which wasn't a lot, but it'd been interesting. He'd ended up preferring the legends and myths more than the philosophies.

After a second of staring at her, he let his brows raise up and his lips twist in something of a teasing manner, "Lotta words to say you like fightin'."

"There are many ways to fight, Daryl-san," Mako says with a grin. "And many reasons to fight. One must do so for the correct ones or not at all."

He gave a snort that was about as close to a laugh as he ever got any more, but his smile widened enough to be obvious. He leaned back on his hands and glanced around the place. Took more of it in than he had on arrival. Looked like she'd been here for a while.

"This where you're stayin', or you just usin' the space?"

"I am housed at the De Chima Government Apartment Complex," Mako said, glancing up after taking another sip of tea. "This place seemed to suit my need for a personal use gym. I thought I'd be courteous to the people in my building if I didn't kick punching bags into their living room. Very impolite."

"They didn't put you in a house?" The words leave his lips before he has the time to think about them. He'd thought everyone got put in a house at first. But if it's Government Housing, then it was definitely the government that put her there. "Thought they gave everyone the roommate treatment."

The question ended up being more rhetorical and he moved on, back to the current location, with: "I didn't get here too early or somethin', did I?" He could only hope he didn't interrupt her even if she'd been expecting him.

"No, no house," Mako murmured, answering it without thinking. "Maybe they're waiting for one to place me in, I didn't ask at the time." She shook her head.

"You're here at precisely the right time. One of those is for you. It's called a hanbo. We use it in Ranger training as a training tool to help us pilot Jaegers. It's not about fighting and beating the other person on the mat, it's about opening a dialogue without words." Mako smiled at him over her tea cup, a small, pleased smile.

"It is also like meditation. If you would like to join me, I will teach you, Daryl-san."

Wait. What?

"You want me to hit you?" Daryl can't stop himself from looking as taken aback as he felt just then. He didn't do the whole fighting with someone else for practice thing. Then his brain caught up with the rest of what she'd said. "How is that like meditation?"

"Let me show you," Mako said with a laugh. "And no, you're not going hit me, you're going to tap me. Think of it like..." she gestured, trying to think of the right word, "like the game of tag. Your objective is not to hurt, but to anticipate, to move with the person you are with until it is like a conversation."

Mako tilted her head slightly, a flash of blue showing through her hair as she laughed.

"I will teach you how to move." She finished her tea and rose fluidly. "You remember when we met and I was training. It will be like that, but slower until you are familiar with it. No hanbo, for now." Mako took off her shoes and socks, placing them at the edge of the mat, then shrugged off her jacket until she stood in her tank top and the dark blue khakis she'd found in a thrift shop. When she moved it was like a cat or an athlete as she bowed to him. The first kata she did slow, even, centered, and she remembered the first time she'd done it.

"When you have learned it," Mako said softly, "it will look like this." She sped it up for him, so he could see and then gestured for him to join her. "The hanbo will come later."

Daryl hesitated. Stared at her while she went through the motions and continued his staring when she was waving for him to get up and take part. The whole style of it was some sort of martial arts, obviously, but it wasn't something he'd ever learned how to do and he wasn't sure it would do him any good, either.

He stood slowly and started to pace along the outside of the mat. He'd have to take his shoes off. He didn't want to take his shoes off. He wasn't even sure he wanted to do this at all if it eventually led to hitting. But it wasn't hitting right now. He could try it. Maybe.

"I gotta take my shoes off?"

"It's easier to move on the mat," Mako said, with a smile. "That's all you're doing. Moving. That's why it's like meditation. You focus all of your energy into it. No sounds, no distractions, nothing but yourself....and your sensei, for the moment."

He continued his wary circling of the mat, still looking confused and far from convinced, "Why you want to do this?"

It wasn't exactly a request he usually got from people. Even those he knew well.

"Stand here, Daryl-san." She shook her head and pointed in front of her. "You remind me of me in some ways and I think this will help. In order to let the rest of the world fall away, you must focus on only what you choose to focus on. Yourself, your movements, me, my movements. When I move, you move - like a mirror. Keep your thoughts here, in this moment."

The hunching of his shoulders at the order wasn't something he could help. But it also wasn't something he would continue to fight. It wasn't worth it and he felt no actual threat from her, so...

Daryl huffed like he wasn't impressed by her or moved at all, but his arms fell to his sides as he turned half-away. Then he bent down and started untying his boots. Toed them off when they were loose enough. Then he went about shrugging off his jacket, which he'd worn his vest over in the usual manner. They both came off together, leaving Daryl in just a button up with the sleeves cut off. He didn't bother pulling the vest back on. No wings to protect him - as far as he knew. No need for them. The last to go were his socks.

When he was done taking his sweet time, he stepped up onto the mat opposite her.

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