[Training] for old time's sake

It’s not so much about turning him into a knifeman so much as making him look like he knows what he’s doing. Bluffing can be half the battle. The preventative, ultimate defense half. Which is what she wants to impress on Rory; Wessex knows full well that they are very different people. Where she might revel in the beauty of a fight, in the thrill of power and the way her body seems to instinctively remember its training, in the satisfaction of winning, Rory might only need enough to keep himself and others safe. To stand up against someone if he has to - or wants to. She wants to keep him alive. And this is her way of doing it, without seeming sappy or maudlin, without a confession of love (hat good are words, anyway, when they can so easily be false?). She’d done somthing similar with Magrethe, all those years ago. (Because I can’t always be there to protect you!) More limbs. Concentration. Focus. She offers him what she thinks is a reassuring smile. “The good news is that focus and concentration can be worked on whenever you want. Don’t need anyone else to practice.” The bad news is she isn’t sure if he will practice or not. They move on to knives, sliding into her realm almost seamlessly, despite his fumbling attempts with the blade. Wessex actually chuckles and scoots her abdomen back, out of the way. “Ok, first thing is how to hold it.” Using her own as a demonstration, she lays it in the palm of her hand, blade pointing towards the center of her body, then moves her thumb to the dull edge’s side of the handle and curls it slightly in, making the weapon more secure. She waggles the rest of her fingers and wrap around the handle in a loose grip. “There’s this hold, which is useful for quick slashes, but not so great for stabbing. Then there’s this hold -” she flips the blade around so the dull edge is pressed against her wrist, blade pointed out. She moves her thumb from the top of the handle and again tucks it down a bit, while the other fingers wrap around the handle. She makes two slow stabbing motion towards Rory, careful not to come too close. The first goes towards his belly, the second diagonally towards his chest and neck. “- which has more force, but is less agile. But you can also easily walk with it concealed in your hand if you’re feeling unsafe.” Wessex demonstrates by walking and tucking the knife right against the skin of her wrist, hand almost totally concealing the weapon, shiny blade hidden from the front view. After a couple of paces, she quickly moves into a crouch, hand with the blade out in front, with the edge now facing towards the centerline of another person’s body. It could slide between the ribs, cut a major artery… whatever one might want it to do. “You try. Then show me your ready stance.” WESSEX She whispered back, I am the storm