[Once they're out there John lowers Vrillyhoo from where it was propped on his shoulder and gives it a test swing. There's definitely room to move and he grins before setting the hammer down again and stretching out his arms.]
Decent view, too, as long as one of us doesn't knock the other over the edge. We should have plenty of room no matter which way we're moving though.
...Are you plannin' to try to knock me over the edge or somethin', Egbert?
[ dave raises an eyebrow, but draws his sword. there's a familiarity in the movement even though he hasn't had a sheathe or the need to draw his sword until, you know, now.
he definitely practiced it for hours on end until it was second nature. ]
I'm not planning anything, I'm just saying. [He's still stretching out and yet he eyes the sword carefully, not afraid but mostly intrigued.] Also, you are the one who does the whole training thing all the time. If anyone is knocking anyone off it is probably you.
And the Vrillyhoo doesn't work the way it's supposed to so I think we're even. I'm good with going to disarming. Don't aim to land a hit since that would end pretty badly for both of us? But uh. Can we kind of go slow at first? And by slow I mean a normal pace because your slow is still faster than most people, I think.
We can go slow, dude. And I wouldn't aim to land a hit with the blade. [ not on john's person. maybe the flat of the blade if that, but probably not; he'll aim for the hammer and avoid everything else. dave is at least skilled enough to avoid injuring other people by accident, so long as he's being careful...
that said, he'll wait for john to move first, out of sheer habit. ]
I meant both of us not aiming for a hit. Hammer's still a hammer. [But a blade is a little more dangerous, yes. He eyes the sword for a minute, and it's obvious that John's never really trained or sparred outside of anything he's done with Dave since they got here. There's a few moments where he hesitates before there's a burst of speed, hammer overhead and suddenly swinging to try and knock the blade sideways.]
[ john wasn't wrong: dave is still faster, and he dodges easily, not bothering to try to throw up a block because john's stronger. knocking a blow aside or dodging it entirely is more likely to work than getting into a strength contest with a direct block.
darting around the side, he goes to weave his blade towards the hammer's handle to unbalance it from john's hands.
[Dave moves almost too fast for John to keep an eye on him, but he's used to combat by now and it's easy for him to turn almost immediately. However, he wasn't expecting that and despite the blade catching on the handle, John doesn't let go?
So instead, the blade catches and John's grip tightens and all this means is that he stumbles when Dave tugs to upend it from his hands. He lifts up to try and dislodge the sword but bounces back, trying to pull the sword with him at the crux between the hammer's head and its handle.
This also probably won't work, but it's worth a shot.]
[...yeah, okay, the fuck is this. The fuck is this? John whirls around again and he's staring with complete disbelief even as he changes his grip on the handle.]
That's not an excuse. [He might sound like he's whining a little but that's only because that was really cool? But he's rotating the hammer in his hands.] Start again?
[He eyes the sword again, now fully aware what ninja bullshit Dave is capable of, and he starts again, hammer swinging upward to slide the sword up and out away from Dave's grip. Or attempting to, anyway.
Disarming a sword with a hammer is stupidly hard and his eyes are narrowed in concentration as he puts muscle behind the swing, feet digging into the sand so Dave can't knock him back.]
[ dave darts to the side and doesn't try to knock john back because He's Not Totally Stupid, although he seems to be considering what to do next. it's one thing to fight someone who uses a sword; he's never really had to fight someone who uses something else. admittedly ogres used clubs sometimes, but he can't use the tactics he used against them here; he always fought to kill. he's obviously not going to fight to kill john.
but he probably can't get him to loosen his grip without pulling absolute bullshit.
shrugging mentally, dave slides into the secondary goal: training. he goes back in for another flurry of blows to the hammer, trying to pinpoint any weaknesses. ]
[He looks briefly satisfied with himself that he's managed to stump Dave momentarily, but that was his own mistake here. That was assuming Dave would take more than a millisecond to know what to do next and there's a sudden noise of surprise as the sword starts slashing and hacking at the hammer.
He's able to block because he has fought sword to hammer before but Dave is still fast and Dave still has years of training and experience on his side. He's trying to dig his weight to the ground but he's also taking a step back, pushing with the hammer to try and recreate Dave's flip over.
Granted, it's John, and that doesn't work so all that happens is he bounces and lands face-first in the sand. So that's fine. Everything was fine up until he tried to do something out of the ordinary for himself.]
two: dave's eyes behind his shades widened when he saw john start to get acrobatic but the john. face planted. and there's a sudden burst of laughter from dave. he's not used to having the upper hand in fights and he has always thought of john as being better than him; stronger and more competent and...better. he still does, even now, before training kicks in even as he laughs and he goes to try to kick the hammer out of John's grip.
he'll help him up after the match is confirmed, okay. john doesn't seem injured. ]
[First of all, fuck you, Dave Strider. Fuck you and your laughter that startles the hell out of John because he's laying on the sand and he hears it and...it's something unexpected. He rolls a little and sees him laughing but he knows better by now.
Don't stay in one spot.
But at the same time there's a grin because he's okay with Dave laughing at him, it's better than some of Dave's other expressions and actions and even when he tries to kick the hammer John decides to angle the hammer enough to swing and hook behind Dave's ankle to try and get him to fall, too. He's not getting up at all and if that doesn't work it'll be easy enough to disarm him. Ah well.]
[ it's the kind of move bro would pull, if he'd ever managed to knock bro off his feet. that's what dave thinks as it happens, and he's always been paranoid of the next trap, conditioned to expect everything to be yet another giddamned test he won't understand or ever even pass.
but he was also just laughing seconds ago and it's more relaxed than he usually gets with a blade in his hand. his balance goes unsteady and he has to hit the ground with his shoulder, tucking the blade out of the way - more worried about avoiding john than avoiding cutting himself - before he comes back up on his feet in one motion. it's a trained response more than anything else; as long as you can still move, your first priority is getting back on your feet.
second priority is a lightening fast mental summation of whether or not you're injured and third is to try for a disarm, again. assuming john doesn't do something in the span of seconds where dave does hit the ground, anyway ]
[He notices how immediate Dave springs to his feet again. It's faster than John can even think to get back up, and he's starting to get to his feet before the sword strikes again and knocks the handle out of John's grip. Vrillyhoo tips over and John faces Dave with another look before he sighs dramatically.]
Even after dragging you on your ass you disarmed me. [Part of him wants to say how it's stupid how poorly he's doing, considering he went toe to toe with Jack Noir. On the other hand, he could turn into the wind and he had other tricks up his sleeve back then. John's a powerhouse, but John also relies on all kinds of tactics. Dave, on the other hand, seems to rely solely on skill here.] You okay? It sort of looked like all of your weight went into your shoulder instead.
[ hey dave also relies on blatant cheating sometimes when pressed, ok, or improvisation,
but he blinks and rolls his right shoulder as if resting it. it did take all his weight and kind of hurts for it but he'd managed to fall so nothing would break and that was the Main Thing. dave shrugs (...shoulder injuries what shoulder injuries) and sheathes his sword before extending his left hand to john. ]
Nothin' major. Also, you could've taken me easy if you'd stuck to your advantages rather than tryin' out mine, dork.
You literally said I could do it, too. [Not that John fully believed that and perhaps that's why he ate dirt. Instead, he's grabbing Dave's hand and hauling himself up, bending to grab his hammer again and stretching out his upper back and shoulders himself.]
Third time's a charm? I can probably go a few more rounds before I get tired of losing. [There's a mischievous glint in his eye though that seems to hint he's not going to settle for losing though. At least not this time.]
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Decent view, too, as long as one of us doesn't knock the other over the edge. We should have plenty of room no matter which way we're moving though.
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[ dave raises an eyebrow, but draws his sword. there's a familiarity in the movement even though he hasn't had a sheathe or the need to draw his sword until, you know, now.
he definitely practiced it for hours on end until it was second nature. ]
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that said, he'll wait for john to move first, out of sheer habit. ]
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darting around the side, he goes to weave his blade towards the hammer's handle to unbalance it from john's hands.
OR THAT IS THE GOAL, ANYWAY ]
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So instead, the blade catches and John's grip tightens and all this means is that he stumbles when Dave tugs to upend it from his hands. He lifts up to try and dislodge the sword but bounces back, trying to pull the sword with him at the crux between the hammer's head and its handle.
This also probably won't work, but it's worth a shot.]
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instead, dave shoves the blade further across the handle and sort of
flips over the hammer and john to the other side, using the blade as a kind of lever before landing on his feet, sword retrieved.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
stupid rooftop irony ninjas ]
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Okay what the fuck. That is not fair.
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[ ............MAYBE? okay, admittedly john isn't. that acrobatic. ]
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Well, it was the only way to keep from droppin' my sword?
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Disarming a sword with a hammer is stupidly hard and his eyes are narrowed in concentration as he puts muscle behind the swing, feet digging into the sand so Dave can't knock him back.]
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but he probably can't get him to loosen his grip without pulling absolute bullshit.
shrugging mentally, dave slides into the secondary goal: training. he goes back in for another flurry of blows to the hammer, trying to pinpoint any weaknesses. ]
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He's able to block because he has fought sword to hammer before but Dave is still fast and Dave still has years of training and experience on his side. He's trying to dig his weight to the ground but he's also taking a step back, pushing with the hammer to try and recreate Dave's flip over.
Granted, it's John, and that doesn't work so all that happens is he bounces and lands face-first in the sand. So that's fine. Everything was fine up until he tried to do something out of the ordinary for himself.]
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two: dave's eyes behind his shades widened when he saw john start to get acrobatic but the john. face planted. and there's a sudden burst of laughter from dave. he's not used to having the upper hand in fights and he has always thought of john as being better than him; stronger and more competent and...better. he still does, even now, before training kicks in even as he laughs and he goes to try to kick the hammer out of John's grip.
he'll help him up after the match is confirmed, okay. john doesn't seem injured. ]
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Don't stay in one spot.
But at the same time there's a grin because he's okay with Dave laughing at him, it's better than some of Dave's other expressions and actions and even when he tries to kick the hammer John decides to angle the hammer enough to swing and hook behind Dave's ankle to try and get him to fall, too. He's not getting up at all and if that doesn't work it'll be easy enough to disarm him. Ah well.]
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but he was also just laughing seconds ago and it's more relaxed than he usually gets with a blade in his hand. his balance goes unsteady and he has to hit the ground with his shoulder, tucking the blade out of the way - more worried about avoiding john than avoiding cutting himself - before he comes back up on his feet in one motion. it's a trained response more than anything else; as long as you can still move, your first priority is getting back on your feet.
second priority is a lightening fast mental summation of whether or not you're injured and third is to try for a disarm, again. assuming john doesn't do something in the span of seconds where dave does hit the ground, anyway ]
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Even after dragging you on your ass you disarmed me. [Part of him wants to say how it's stupid how poorly he's doing, considering he went toe to toe with Jack Noir. On the other hand, he could turn into the wind and he had other tricks up his sleeve back then. John's a powerhouse, but John also relies on all kinds of tactics. Dave, on the other hand, seems to rely solely on skill here.] You okay? It sort of looked like all of your weight went into your shoulder instead.
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but he blinks and rolls his right shoulder as if resting it. it did take all his weight and kind of hurts for it but he'd managed to fall so nothing would break and that was the Main Thing. dave shrugs (...shoulder injuries what shoulder injuries) and sheathes his sword before extending his left hand to john. ]
Nothin' major. Also, you could've taken me easy if you'd stuck to your advantages rather than tryin' out mine, dork.
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Third time's a charm? I can probably go a few more rounds before I get tired of losing. [There's a mischievous glint in his eye though that seems to hint he's not going to settle for losing though. At least not this time.]
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