Shady

"Um... a few, I guess," she murmured, glancing away. "I... have been trying not to... engage too much, you know?"

“No.” She shook her head. And I wish it would stop. “It just started a few days ago, actually… wait, are there people who do regularly see…?”

“Not at all.” She shook her head quickly, then forced a little smile. “I just… wasn’t sure if you…” she glanced around. “This is kind of new.”

Ky stopped, not turning towards him for a moment. Definitely a ghost then. She took a deep breath and bit her lip, then turned towards him and nodded. “Yes. Hello.”

Fuck. She should have invented an excuse to go with him. Insisted on taking her own gear. Feinted a strong dedication to personal responsibility or whatever. Anything to keep her ...

"Hey, wait a second, what's with all the batfish slander?" Shady blinked, very confused about where they currently existed in time and space. "I look away for two minutes and--" ...

Ky smiled more at the compliment, however guarded. She felt like she should return it, but the only things that came to mind felt like they would sound like she ...

"Sounds good." Ky nodded. "Thank you. I really appreciate it." She offered a little smile.

She offered him the sword as well. "When should I meet you again?"

"Oh, uh, okay -- yessir." She slid the sword between her knees and held it there as she loosened her armor and shrugged it off, then held it out to ...

There was no chance she was going to remember all those syllables -- the names from up here were so complicated. She didn't think she'd ever get used to it. ...

"I would appreciate that," Ky said with a nod.

“Okay.” She nodded. She didn’t like the idea of having to find a partner. She didn’t like it at all. But she certainly wasn’t going to argue. “…who should I ...

“…I don’t think so.” She shook her head, letting her arm hang next to her, grasping the sword loosely. “…anything specific I should work on before next time?”

(Good with me!) Ky blocked it with some difficulty. By the end of the lesson she’d taken a few more blows — though none that actually hurt her — and ...