Justric

The Last Kings of Orion

*looks at Kuro's suggestion and starts to giggle*

That would be an awesome scene!

The Last Kings of Orion

Hob's stomach may be getting full, but Jack is smitten.

The Last Kings of Orion

The look upon Hob's face said more than his words could convey as he gratefully accepted the glass. His eyes closed once more as the milk trickled down his throat, both washing away and enhancing the taste of the cookies at the same time. The cold was refreshing. It was a nice contrast to the stale, dry, and recycled air that pumped out of the ship's vents, the circulation system maintaining the same temperature throughout nearly the entire vessel. When Hob set the glass down, it was almost reverently. Better still, the hardware and wiring in his skull was recording the sensation down to the last iota of pleasure. He could relive this moment any time he wished the next time he was logged in, and to think he wouldn't have had this memory to savor (and to share with OLGA) if he hadn't dodged his doctor's appointments!

"The moon shines bright: in such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
And they did make no noise, in such a night
Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls
And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
Where Cressid lay that night."

Shakespeare's words came softly from his lips, his musician's voice setting Lorenzo's lines to a nostalgic tune as they wafted across the cafeteria like smoke. While the theater was not his first choice of art, he'd indulged in it in his time.

The young woman was speaking again. "Pulled pork?" Hob snapped out of his revere and grinned wildly. "My dear, if that sandwich is even half as good, a quarter as good, as those cookies, you're going to have a damn hard time getting me out of this seat!"

***

Jack was running. Not out of fear for being late for his date, but out of the sheer joy that came from the anticipation of it! He had easily wrangled the cart with the garbage to the nearest recycling chute, dumped its contents, pushed it into the nearby corral, and then dashed down the corridor towards his room. More importantly, to the communal bathroom nearby. The molasses was stored in his locker for now, safe as houses. A morning of cleaning up after cryo-sickness and an afternoon scrubbing grease and dirt off of tools? He didn't think he was going to make the best of impressions in smelly and stained overalls! People passing the bathroom could hear the Newfie singing happily... and badly... at the top of his lungs as he scrubbed himself down.

"And it's Old Brown's daughter is a proper sort of girl,
Old Brown's daughter is as fair as any pearl;
I wish I was a Lord Mayor, Marquis or an Earl,
And blow me if I wouldn't marry Old Brown's girl.
Blow me if I wouldn't marry Old Brown's girl."

He was still humming out of tune as he carried himself into his room and picked out his clothing: jeans that hadn't been torn or splattered in paint at any point, a red and black checkered flannel shirt, and black fiddler's cap made of wool to top it all off. Somewhat reluctantly, he traded his work boots for shoes. Normally he only wore the black leather Oxfords for special occasions that boiled down to more or less just weddings and death, but he decided that Penny was worth it.

Checking his comm unit, he grinned again. He would be just in time. Snagging his work ID badge and stuffing it into his back pocket, Jack made his way quickly towards the cafeteria. When he saw Penny helping some poor fella with eyes like a starving dog, he couldn't help but lean agains the doorway and just look at her. "Some gear, oh, yes," he mumbled happily to himself as Penny brushed a stray curl away from her face. "Some gear."

The Orphan's Wedding

You are correct! His left leg is the bad one. (Shaking head) I can't believe I went all this time without clarifying that, too! My bad!

The Last Kings of Orion

Sounds about right! Big difference between doing hyungs (katas), sparring for points, continuous sparring, and fighting for your life. All related, but never mistake any one of the them for any of the other. Your mention of dropping your weight into the technique? Dead on! The do-jang's masters are really focused on getting the students to be less stiff and to use the sine wave more in their movements.

The Last Kings of Orion

Yay, Kuro!

The Last Kings of Orion

One of the problems of static martial-arts training was the tendency for practitioners to pause after executing a technique. This habit was trained into them by the rigid formality of most martial arts dojos. While this was fine when a man’s only purpose was to earn a new belt or get a shiny trophy, in battle it could get a man killed.

I'm hearing echoes of my KwanJangNim from where I work... as he has so painfully demonstrated on my ribs a number of times during sparring.

The Orphan's Wedding

Victor's scars: (some of these she won't find out about until later, of course)

Left side of face, running from the top of his ear down along his jaw to the left side of his chin. It's fairly narrow but obvious.

Back of right hand and top of forearm, burn scars. the skin is smooth with a slight melted looked to it, but is otherwise fine.

Front and outside of left knee, heavily scarred with no pattern to it. Muscles around the knee look twisted as if torn. Several surgical scars interwoven with them.

Left chest, diagonal scar running shoulder to sternum.

Left shoulder, short but thick scar.

Right side of belly, two puckered circles about the size of a small coin.

Right foot, missing most of two middle toes.

Back: heavily scarred from being excessively flogged.

The Last Kings of Orion

Great post, RoadRash! Welcome back!!

The Orphan's Wedding

Haven't forgotten about a better description of his scar, hope to work on it tonight!