Left Foot, Green {Aaliyah}

[ken]

For once, Kennedy decided to practice in a more public area. Mostly because he needed to actually try his Gift out in an area like this. Partly because he just wanted to show off. And it really did feel good to get some stress worked out. What with his planned proposal soon to be, and the regular stress that always came with the holiday season.

Right now he was trying to spar with a Faerie, which was proving far more difficult than it really should. He kept narrowly missing, and just getting hit. Probably had something to do with the glamors, and Kennedy just kept hoping that he'd eventually get lucky.

Fortunate favored Kennedy, if just so. He had just thrust out with a fist in perfect time with one of the Faerie's kicks. The result was split knuckles on Kennedy's part, but a loud crack issued from the Faerie, who immediately tried to regain his footing.

Kennedy immediately reached out, grabbed onto the Faerie's wrist, and helped him balance. the result was an odd, Twister-like combination, fully awkward, but decidedly less painful than falling down.

"There ya go," Kennedy nodded, letting his opponent take wing. "I think we're done for now, find a healer."

Smile all around, and some applause from those around.

Kennedy, suddenly quite tired, headed for a water bottle he'd stashed at the edge of the training area, taking a swig and glancing around, trying to decide if he was finished or not.

[kuriositkills]

Ali was leaning against the wall, watching as several sparring matches went on in the center. One was catching her eye. Human vs Faerie. and the human was winning. But faeries weren't always the best fighters. Surprise or not?

She went over to him when he drank some water and leered around the gym. Or maybe glanced was more apt; the expression on his face wasn't exactly unpleasant.....

She tapped him on the shoulder and smiled, showing fangs from her dragon form. Long and white and sharp. She crossed her arms over her chest, one of her fingertips grazing the sword at her side.

"Aren't you a teacher here?"

[ken]

By now seeing someone with fangs and a sword didn't bother Kennedy. He used to know people with swords that actually talked to you, and he'd adopted a Faerie as an unofficial younger sister. Not to mention dating the vampire. Everything just came in stride now.

He took another swig of water, smiling around the drink. He lowered it before responding, "Yeah, I pretend to teach here. Social sciences and history, really."

He chuckled as he lowered the bottle, sticking a hand out in greeting, "Name's Kennedy, and you already guessed my job."

Fangs and sword. Either a vamp, a demon, or a dragon. Demons wouldn't shake bare-handed, and Kennedy didn't feel the same feeling he used to get around Adelaide. Of course, she was extremely creepy, so that was understandable.

"You work here too? Or are you a student?"

[kuriositkills]

"Yeah, I pretend to teach here. Social sciences and history, really," came the reply.

Ali raised an inquisitive eyebrow and grinned. "Are you studying how faeries react to losing a sparring mathc qwiht a human then?"

When he chuckled, he held out his hand. Ali didn't shake it, watching his face with her head cocked ot the side. "Name's Kennedy, and you already guessed my job. You work here too? Or are you a student?"

Ali shrugged, glancing around the gym again. Dusk jumped onto her shoulder, and she reached up to scratch him behind the ear. The human was studying her, probably wondering what exactly she was. It was a bit sad that humans couldn't sense that. Even cats could, if ti was only vampires or creatures that posed a threat....

"I'm not a teacher, but I'm not a student either; I don't even know all the houses to be truthful," She replied nonchalantly. "I guess workign here is what you would call it. But I'm not aroudn the academy itself very often."

[ken]

"I practice every once in a while," offered Kennedy, shrugging. He glanced over the area, smiling to himself. "Got to keep in shape."

when it became apparent that Aaliyah wasn't going to shake, Kennedy lowered his hand. She was definitely the asocial fighting type. And the lack of contact made Kennedy lean more toward demon than dragon, but he still wasn't discounting anything. Some dragons were about this surly.

"So, uh, Agent then?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I hear that's a hard job."

She hadn't introduced herself, really, and didn't seem particularly friendly. So why had she came over and talked?

"Uh, nice cat," he offered, pointing at the creature on her shoulder.

[kuriositkills]

"I practice every once in a while. Got to keep in shape."

Ali nodded in agreement. Staying in shape was a little necessary for her job, but it was always a good choice. Running for your life was a perfect example, for instance. But running after kids was good, too. She alos didn't want her muscles getting sore, which hapepned if she dind't transform enough. Just like her wings. But even with the downsides, of which there were few,s he lvoed being a dragon. it gave you freedom.

"So, uh, Agent then? I hear that's a hard job."

She watched his eyebrows hit his hairline, and shrugged. "I guess it depends on who does the job. Someone might find it easy, compared to gardening or cooking. And vice versa."

"Uh, nice cat."

Ali smiled like she was trying hard not to laugh. In fact, she WAS terying hard not to laugh. Nice cat? Was he complimentign ehr or Dusk? The whole idea was silly, especially if he was complimenting her for the cat. She gritted ehr teeth together and clsoed her eyes, willing fire nto to spew out her nose. it did that when seh was containing laughter. Luckily, the fire spewing out ehr nsoe disracted everybody else and then EVERYONE ended up laughing.

But laughign was a strange enough occurence ofr Ali. She decided she liked him, sos eh held out ehr own hand with a grin, and answered, "My name is Aaliyah, but I prefer Ali. Pleasant to make your acquaintance, Kennedy."

She had surprised herself by not saying Mr. It had been reflex reaction whent alkign to teachers for ages. Since she was a child. She always called her teachers Mr. or Mrs. So why hadn't she called Kennedy that? One of life's great questions, apparantly.

[ken]

"You got me there," admitted Kennedy, shrugging. She'd more or less just turned his statement back on him, which unnerved him slightly, especially with how little effort she showed in doing so. "Everyone's job probably looks hard to someone else though. It's more about overall difficulty than anything. And Agents are one of the few people I know that have to risk their lives."

There, that should work well enough.

Fire out the nose? As a result of laughing? Clearly he was dealing with a dragon here, or else a demon offspring of one. Didn't unnerve Kennedy in the slightest, though he did take a step back. Just because he wasn't afraid didn't mean he wanted to get singed.

Kennedy slid his hands in Ali's shaking it, "Nice to meet you too, Ali," he naturally slipped into the nickname, a long standing habit of his. First names had always came easy to him, and he still wasn't used to the formality he was supposed to show as a tutor.

He still felt like he should be pushing the conversation, though it felt a bit like talking with an alien. "So, uh, what brought you to the training room? Looking for a sparring partner, maybe?"

[kuriositkills]

"You got me there. Everyone's job probably looks hard to someone else though. It's more about overall difficulty than anything. And Agents are one of the few people I know that have to risk their lives."

Ali grinned. He had a good point there, she had to admit. Overall difficulty.... there was always someone that found things easy. Which made the whole world topsy-turvy.

"Soldiers, assassins, hunters, etc," Ali shrugged. She grinned again; she liked the way this conversation was going. "But even a professional bowler could get hurt. it isn't likely, but it's possible."

She shook his hand with a smile, her skin hardening slightly. She needed to transform. Soon. Damn. Her dragon form was getting too close to the surface. She'd start spewing fire and brimstone soon, and then her wings would pop out and everything else.

"So, uh, what brought you to the training room? Looking for a sparring partner, maybe?"

Ali's grin widened. he had made the offer of the century. Right? Or was he asking innocently, with no intent of violence. She was goign to have fun if he did happen to want to spar.

"Care to fight, then?"

[ken]

"Bowler's probably not going to get hurt in the same way," Kennedy pointed out, nodding. "Unless they're doing some extreme bowling."

he smiled as he pictured that. Bowling with fireballs, maybe? It was a silly idea, really.

The smile slipped as he noticed Ali's features. They were slipping ever so slightly. Kennedy wasn't an expert on dragons, but he guessed that her draconic features were beginning to slip through her defenses. Just peeking out. Not always a good thing, though Ali couldn't have picked a better place to do it.

Spar with her?

"I could, if you wanted," he offered, shrugging, "I just got done, so I guess that means I'm warmed up. But if you're what I think you are, I'd rather pick up a different set of Gifts."

He looked around, hoping that the right combination happened to be standing together. Rarely did he get so lucky, but you never know...

[kuriositkills]

"I just got done, so I guess that means I'm warmed up. But if you're what I think you are, I'd rather pick up a different set of Gifts."

"Just keep it fair," Ali replied, nodding curtly. An earth or wind gift would not help, but water would not be fair if the amounts were copious. Plus, she was curious if there was a special technique to 'absorbing' gifts. At least she now knew what gift he had. Gift Mimicry. She also felt a sense of admiration. If she was forced to be a gifted one instead of a dragon, she would want his gift.

She pulled off her jacket and purposefully ripped the sleeves off her shirt. She still had the torso of the turtleneck, which would keep her warm. She was cold-blooded, so she needed to stay warm or her muscles would bunch up and freeze. It was the one downside to being a dragon: she couldn't go into cold climates.

She let her scales show over her arms, and on her neck and over her faces. Her tongue grew out, becoming forked, and her pupil's turned into slits, bright red. Spines appeared on the outside of her arms, over her elbow and reached up to her wrist. Her hands turned into claws, palms and hand-backs scaling as well.

Large black wings sprouted from her back, a shade paler than her midnight scales. She ripped the bottom of her pants too, up to her knees. Her legs were scaled, too. She was ready for battle. Now she just had to wait for the teacher to finish his business.

[ken]

The turning was certainly impressive. Kennedy warily watched Ali out of the corner of his eye, fighting against the urge to whistle. Dragons always did look impressive when they pulled stuff like that. Kennedy couldn't do that even if he wanted to. Then again, it just meant he had that much more to grab onto.

He paced near groups of students, feeling his way through Gifts. Unfortunately, he didn't always know which Gifts he was picking up as he passed. He did luck out in one respect: he saw a kid healing from a cut with a practice weapon. After making sure the student was alright, Kennedy walked away a good deal more confident.

Cellular Regeneration will do that for a person.

He'd picked up two more, too, but he didn't know for certain which ones. Probably hidden ones, the type that weren't quite so obvious. Regardless, Kennedy figured he could give the dragoness a run for her money. Or at least patch himself up after she tore into him several times.

Kennedy walked to a practice ring, motioning for others to get out of the blast radius. They grinned, eager to see the fight, and parted.

Kennedy stood there, looking to Ali expectantly.

"You can't kill me now, so we should be good," he joked, chuckling. "You want to have some kind of signal or just get started or what?"

[kuriositkills]

"You can't kill me now, so we should be good. You want to have some kind of signal or just get started or what?"

The teacher looked far too confident. What gift had he picked up? Regeneration? Telepathy? Telekinesis? Well, since he said he couldn't be killed, ti was probably a shield or regeneration. Regeneration was more popular, and it didn't feel like a shield in her gut.

"You may go firssssssst," Ali replied. Her voice sounded reptilian, snaky. Her S's were over-pronounced, like in all those bad horror movies. Her scales glistened in the light, and her beady red eyes flickered from his face to those around them.

An audience? She had never had an audience before, she realized as she leaned into a slight crouch, her wings rustling impatiently. Her tail slithered into existence, flickering along the floor. The end of her tail was covered in spikes and spines. Although not poisonous, they were sharp and dangerous. Painful for anyone that got hit.

Some part of her was always moving, if minimally. Her tail flickered along the floor, the tip twitching slightly every time there was sound from heir audience. Her wings rustled, folding and unfolding a bit. The black was stunning against the pale skin that was mostly covered up, but her black hair matched perfectly.

"I am ssssssimply waiting forrrrrrr you," Even her r's were hissed and obvious, rolled over her tongue like wheels.

[ken]

Make the first move. Not something the Cavans were trained to do. Well, the actual Cavan siblings, as opposed to Cavanites. Cavanites were trained to launch at the enemy, guns blazing.

Kennedy concentrated, feeling his way through his three Gifts. Regen, yes, he knew that was there. He felt... something else. Like that was helpful. Extending a hand to the ground, he felt something within him leap out. A ripple spread from his fingertips, heading toward Ali. The floor slowly changed from solid padding and stone, to liquid padding and stone.

Matter Alteration.

"Well, that should be helpful," muttered the tutor. He kept an eye on the dragoness, waiting for her to take to the air. That was the logical move to make. Question was, what could Kennedy do then?

He kept searching, trying to figure his last Gift. No writhing in elements, so no obvious ranged attack. Gah, this could get ugly.

[kuriositkills]

Ali leaped into the air the minute the ripple appeared. Her wings caught her, and she floated a foot and a half about the ground. Liquid? Matter alteration? Nice, she thought appreciatively. Let's see what else you got.

She flew just a hint closer to him, close enough that she could cut him with her tail or burn him with a flame, but not close enough for him to reach out and touch her. She blew gently, letting a small flame dance between them. He would be able to feel the heat, but it wouldn't burn unless he stepped closer.

"If you wish to play gamessssss, I sssssuggesssssssst you do sssssssomething more impresssssssssssssssive," Ali murmured softly, teasingly. Her eyes seemed almost human for a moment. Almost.

[ken]

Flames would hurt, but it would only last a little while. Then the healing would begin. So, Kennedy just had to grit and bear it, while working with it.

Grunting, he reached down, lifting up bits of liquid floor. This he hurled at the incoming dragon, going through the flames. Then he tried to roll out, though his left side was still badly singed.

As his body reconstituted itself, Kennedy watched the super-heated liquid floor materials splatter toward Ali, smiling.

"I'm working in it!" he replied, wishing he could keep the pain out of his voice. Figuring out his third Gift would be nice too, but he'd just have to work with what he had for now. Besides, scalding floor bits was a pretty good trick.