Chapter Text
V’anila laughed gently, pulling Khein’a off the ground from where he had fallen. “You’re not bad,” he commented. “I’m surprised you even have the arm strength to lift the sword at all.”
Khein’a scoffed, giving an eyeroll in response. He knew this was doomed for failure from the start, but indulging his brother didn’t hurt. The sun beat down in the streets of Shirogane, their shared friend’s empty yard leaving plenty of room for training. Twisting his torso, the keeper stretched his arms back behind him, groaning when he felt several joints cry out in pain. “Anila, you’re gonna have to give me a break here. I’ll admit it, carrying that thing would cause me to die far before any primal.”
Another soft chuckle rang through the air, the other miqo’te smiling knowingly. V’anila regarded him with a quick glance before picking up the large sword off the ground, slinging it over his back with ease. “I told you, no? It’s not as light as you may think. By extension, I’m certainly not as fragile as you may think.” Khein’a raised an eyebrow at V’anila’s words, almost in disbelief; He smiled in return, mischievous yet sure of his words. “If you’re so doubtful, give it another go.”
The dismay on Khein’a’s face was enough to cause V’anila to shake his head, half out of pity, half reassurance that he had, in fact, been joking. “This aside, is the lance truly the only discipline you know? It’s not as if you’re weak, so it seems like someone like you should have picked up another weapon by now.”
Khein’a seemed lost in thought...And a few moments later, he looked to be lost for real. Absently tapping the butt of his lance against the back of his foot, he regarded it with a wariness V’anila hadn’t expected. Afraid he had spoken out of turn, V’anila raised his voice again. “It’s not as if I’m calling you —”
“Guess I haven’t, huh?”
V’anila blinked.
Khein’a shrugged. “My lance serves me well enough. My aether isn’t controlled enough for healing or magic. I have no desire to be attacked constantly like you. Do I truly need another set of skills?”
V’anila asked curiously, “Can you defend yourself hand-to-hand?”
Khein’a replied happily, “Not at all!”
A sigh.
“Why don’t we start working on that, then?”
It took surprisingly shorter than expected. Khein’a already had the strength, he just didn’t have the precision. Being one who normally fought with a long-range polearm, it was a little difficult for him to master the idea of blocking and the like with his hands, but he eventually got the hang of it.
Despite his level of mastery, however, he was proving to be difficult in other areas.
“Anila,” he whined, “You’re gonna hurt me for real, you know?”
A pitiful sigh followed as V’anila dropped his stance, Khein’a’s trademark pouting working its magic on him yet again — only to be followed with a hand making its way towards his shoulder. Quicker than lightning, he caught Khein’a by the wrist, holding his hand in place with nigh-inhuman strength.
“Khein’a Epocan,” he began admonishingly, “surely you knew that wouldn’t work on me. But trying to attack someone who’s not going to defend themselves?” His tone was overdramatic, as if he was telling off a child.
The attacker in question grinned playfully, shrugging the remaining arm that wasn’t being held captive. “You wouldn’t let your dearest brother win, just once? How cruel. I might cry.”
The two stayed locked like that for a few moments, sizing the other up. Suddenly, V’anila pulled down on Khein’a’s arm, forcing him over to his height. Expecting some sort of follow up attack, Khein’a naturally tensed —
The blow never came, and instead, a hand gently patted his head.
“Enough for today. Get some rest.”
Unpredictable as always, huh. “You too, then. I’ll see you around, yeah?” Reluctantly, he backed away, V’anila’s grip having already fallen off his wrist.. Khein’a gave a quick wave of his hand before turning to head towards the gate. “And no lying this time. I know when you haven’t slept.”
Brothers, huh. His smile turned into something soft as he looked over his shoulder, just in time to catch V'anila slipping behind the door. I could get used to the feeling.