damned_institute | M1-M10 Hall, Outside M5, Nightshift 22

"All right..." Alfons again didn't seem to find anything odd with those hands on his shoulders, nor with Maes nudging his feet into position and standing behind him. It was just a quick way to learn how it was supposed to work, and when time was limited, something like this would be fine.

It was an easy matter to remember how his feet were supposed to be positioned, and also to angle it down a little, and everything else.

The problem was, of course, that he overcorrected, a little. He angled a little too far down, and what was supposed to hit the pillow instead impacted with the bed, hilt-first, and bounced to the floor with a disheartening thud. Practice, practice, practice...

"Okay, okay." Maes nodded and retrieved the knife. "Considering I haven't even shown you how to hold your arm, that wasn't too bad." He chuckled some. Alfons was certainly eager. That wasn't a bad thing at all. Hopefully he wouldn't get frustrated; this wasn't an easy skill to learn.

"Alright. Take it again." This time Maes offered the knife hilt first, and took up position behind Alfons again. "Now lift your arm up like this, chest height, and keep it straight. Alright, now bend your forarm up like this...." Maes pulled back on Alfons's wrist some, to get his arm right. "You want the knife right by your ear. When you throw, I want you to think like... like you're chopping wood with an axe. A nice, firm, smooth stroke. Make sure your knife is pointed right at your target. Now you bring your arm down so it's straight again, and let go real quick. Keep your wrist stiff. Do not stop. Let the knife go while your arm is still moving, okay? Now try again."

If Alfons was frustrated, he didn't show it at all; as a scientist and an engineer, he'd had to sit through experiments and projects being destroyed and starting from scratch... so at least this didn't carry any such penalties. It was just a matter of getting enough practice to get it down, right?

...and it was at about this point that Alfons finally started realizing that he and Maes were... close. Not that there was anything bad or lewd in his mind, just that it was reassuring to have someone there with him, and who felt entirely fine with touch when it was okay to touch.

Unfortunately, those thoughts meant that he only caught the tail end of Maes's explanation. Namely, the 'while your arm is still moving' part.

This time the blade bounced off of the wall, Alfons having put a lot of oomph into it, and the boy flushed just a little at the fact that he was further off the mark than he had been.

"Alright, you've got the general motion down, you need to fine tune it." Maes smiled reassuringly. "It took me a while to get it down, too." he handed the knife back to Alfons once more.

"Don't put so much force behind it this time. You want your arm to move naturally, you don't want to strain it or force the muscles. Here, I'll show you." He took up the other knife and demonstrated, having to remind himself to throw simply. He lifted his arm up, bent at the elbow, and threw the knife in a gentle arc that landed with the blade buried in the pillow.

"See how I did it? Nice and smooth, and I didn't snap my arm to a stop after I let the knife go. That'll kill your joints, let your arm stop naturally. Now you try again."

At least he had the general idea? Alfons nodded as he watched the older man, trying to learn how to throw the knife properly. Maes made it look so easy, like the blade was nothing but an extension of his arm. Alfons didn't harbor any illusions that he'd get to that level of skill anytime soon, but he'd hopefully at least be able to live up to the man's time and effort.

"No strain," Alfons muttered under his breath, trying to commit it to memory, "nice and smooth, do it naturally..."

This time the knife managed to nick the pillow, Alfons's arm still a little jerky when it came to stopping but learning the motions fairly quickly. And it really did feel nice, having Maes's attention and being treated solely for himself and his own merits.

"Alright!" Maes grinned at the small success, and clapped Alfons on the shoulder. "You're getting it! You've just got to work on keeping your motions smooth. Like... like you were dancing. Think of the knife as a woman - you want to be smooth and gentle with her, and move her with you. Guns are like men, you can be a little rougher with them and let them do most of the work. With knives, you have to lead."

That was how he looked at it, anyway.

"Give it another try."

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/75642.html?thread=4296058#t4296058).]

Elena had run on the assumption that the patients that had been here the longest were in the digits when it came to room numbers, and while she wasn't entirely sure her assumption was the right one, it paid off this time. She only had to walk a few feet down the first hallway before hearing Hughes' voice from behind one of the doors on her left.

She knocked. "Excuse me? Mr. Hughes?"

Oh... that was so not the imagery that Maes should have used, as it made Alfons turn a bright shade of red at the mental image of that. Being rough, letting them do the work... and Alfons had one man in particular he was thinking about, and and and...

...thankfully there was a knock on the door at that moment, and Alfons managed to keep from giving an undignified squeak. "Ah, go ahead and deal with that, Mr. Hughes? I'll, um... keep practicing. Yes."

And try not to blush so very hard as he did so...

Okay, maybe that hadn't been the best analogy. But that had been all he could think of!

Elena's arrival destracted him, though. What was she doing here? Oh, probably returning his knife. Which he was extremely thankful for - he was down to his reserves as it was!

"Alright, great Alfons. What can I do for you, Elena?"

Elena held the knife out to him. "Just wanted to return this," she told Hughes, smiling. "Thanks for letting me borrow it. Hi, Alfons!"

The girl walked over the boy and watched him practice throwing. "Can I have a go?"

"Hello, Elena. Did you and Reno decide what you were going to do tonight?" Alfons smiled at the girl, honestly glad to see her again; she had been nice to him before, and showing such concern over the bulletin board had been... well... touching. It wasn't often that Alfons got that, and it made him feel good inside.

So he nodded at the question, retrieving from the pillow- and resisting the temptation to beam at finally hitting his mark- and offering it to her, handle first as Maes had told him to do so. "Sure, feel free! I've been practicing for awhile, so giving my arm a break would be nice."

"Thank you, Elena. And you're more than welcome, I hope it helped you." Maes took the knife gladly, and it disappeared into his clothing. He watched the two of them, curious to see what Elena could do.

He really was standing by, beaming like a proud father. Alfons was shaping up alright with the knife, and he was feeling better about the teen going out at night. He could at least defend himself.

"Give it a go, Elena," he said, nodding. "I wanna see what you've got."

Elena laughed. "We're certainly doing something, but I've no idea what. I just know that we're getting together with our boss and some new guy...I'm actually going to go there as soon as I finish in here." She gave another huge grin to Hughes and tucked the file that she had been carrying in her waistband to leave her other hand free. Of course she was Elena. There was no way that the Regina Ellis that she had spent dinner reading up on was anything but another trick concocted by this place to get her to doubt herself even more. "I never got to do anything with it, but it was nice to have. Thanks again."

Taking the knife from Alfons, she did her best to copy his movements exactly. The pillow was an easy target, but she'd have to adjust for angle to compensate for the fact that it was on the bed and not higher. Oh well. "Here goes."

Elena aimed and let the knife go, praying that it would hit...

...And hit it did. The knife buried itself in the pillow, handle up.

"Ah, then I hope that you get far and stay safe; I'm sure that after Maes has his talk, then we'll be exploring too."

If Alfons had been a more competitive sort of boy, or if he hadn't known that Elena had faced a situation where he himself had failed so badly in, then he might have been insulted that she could throw the knife so much better than he himself could. But seeing as how she was probably stronger than himself, and with better training... well, it just made him determined to get better.

But first he had to smile, impressed at her skill. "Good job, Elena! I've been trying for awhile, but I still haven't quite gotten the hang of it."

He trotted over and retrieved the knife, going back next to Elena and shifting into the proper stance, aiming carefully. It had to be possible, if she did it! Stiff wrist, control, let his arm relax to a stop, don't strain or choke it, angle down...

And the knife impacted with the edge of the pillow, edge down. Not a perfect hit by any means, but it made the boy beam and look at Maes, all bright grins and happiness. Hah, he was getting it! He wasn't useless anymore!

"Well, I guess I shouldn't worry too much about you two, huh?" Maes grinned and shook his head. "Elena, I don't think you need me to teach you too much, you've got a good hand. And Alfons, you're picking this up real quick! I'm impressed. You'll be throwing like a pro in no time."

He placed a hand on each of their shoulder's, looking at the knife. They were just kids... but had he been much older when he joined the academy? No, he hadn't been. And how old had he been when he was assigned to the investigations division? Just twenty.

"It's a shame you guys have to be here, but I'm glad you're gonna be able to take care of yourselves."

"I hit it!" Elena squealed. "I hit it but I didn't think I was going to...I thought--Oh! Great job, Alfons!" She clapped her hands gleefully, looking for all the world(s) like a child half her age. Thank God. She wasn't totally helpless without a gun or materia. If only Reno could have seen this...

The girl clapped her hand to her forehead and groaned. "Shit. Reno! I'm totally going to be late--I forgot!" Damn it. And she'd been having so much fun, too.

She hugged Hughes around the middle, planting a kiss on his stubbly cheek. He'd become like a favorite uncle to her. "I need to go now. Good luck tonight!"

Turning to Alfons, she repeated the process.

"Bye!!"

[dashing over here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/72522.html?thread=4272202#t4272202).]

Between Hughes's praise, Elena's applause, and his own success, Alfons had been feeling much better than he had been. And then?

Then Elena kissed him. On the cheek. Just like that.

The boy turned a soft shade of pink as the girl ran out the door, and he tenderly felt the spot where those lips had pressed against him, a small but warm smile on his face. That had been so sweet of her, and after two years of dealing with Edward "I Am Totally Oblivious" Elric, even more surprising than it otherwise had been.

...yeah, he might have been a little useless for knife-throwing for a while after that. But who would have thought that he'd find such affection in Landel's, of all places?

Well, wasn't that something? Maes just grinned and squeezed Alfons's shoulder. Elena was a real sweet girl, he was glad he was able to look after her. And she seemed to be taking a liking to Alfons...

"She's a real nice girl," was all he said, with a small wink. "You can keep that knife, take it with you tonight. I've got two, those will do me fine." But somehow, he got the feeling that the boy's mind wasn't exactly on throwing knives.

"Mm? Ah, yes, she is." Alfons was still blushing a little when he felt that warm hand on his shoulder, a little grin on his face when he looked up into Maes's eyes. It had been completely unexpected, but it wasn't like it had been a bad thing. It was familiar, reassuring, and it had felt kind of nice. More than he thought a kiss from a girl could feel.

"And thank you for the knife," Alfons added after a moment, though just a tiny bit of doubt crossed his mind after he had said that. "...but shouldn't you keep it anyway? I'm getting better at knife throwing, but I'm not going to be able to kill much of anything in just one hit, whereas you might need more to finish one off."

Ah, to be that young again. Hughes almost missed the raging hormones and uncontrollable reactions at inappropriate times.

Almost.

As to the knife... "I've got plenty - these two plus the ones that haven't been modified. And you won't get any better if you don't use it. You have to be comfortable with it and you have to get used to using it. Best way to do that is to actually use it. Hitting a living thing is a lot different than hitting a pillow." He gave a wry grin.

"You don't need to kill anything, just hurt it. I'd hope you wouldn't be in a position where you were the only person going up against a monster."

There was a little bit of a frown at that, but Alfons nodded to the points that the older man raised. He'd never even gone hunting or anything, let alone fighting monsters; he had the horrible sinking feeling that, when the time came, he wasn't going to measure up to what was going to be needed. But... if Maes said that it would be all right... then Alfons would trust his judgment.

And at least he was hitting the pillow reliably with his knife, now; that was a good sign. "I hope I won't be in that position either. I'm really not soldier material, so while I'll do what I can..." The simple fact of the matter was that, with his build and his condition, fighting alone against a monster would almost guarantee the boy's death. It was a good thing he'd be with Maes for the night, then; the older man was very obviously capable of handling a lot.

"You should never, ever be in that position." Hughes's expression turned serious. "Never go anywhere by yourself, Alfons, I mean it. Going from room to room at the start of night is one thing, but anything else..." he shook his head.

Speaking of... they'd finished their knife lesson, Elena had come and gone, and still no Ed. What part of 'before you do anything else' hadn't he understood? Of course, he was a teenager and what teenager wanted to be lectured? He was going to have to track him down, wasn't he?

"Well, looks like Ed's blown me off again." He shrugged. Roy hadn't shown up, either. There were voices in the hall, of course.... "Or at least taking his sweet time."

"I know, I won't." Alfons nodded, and he had no intentions of going anywhere by himself any time soon, or at least not anywhere where monsters were likely to show up. After hearing about a demonic little girl, he was quite certain that he wasn't going to be doing so unless he absolutely had to.

As for that latter part? A shake of his head at that, and an exasperated- yet fond- sigh. "Yeah; knowing him, he's probably found some other situation that 'needs' his attention, and he's entirely forgotten to meet with you. Or he's gotten into a fight... though I hope that's not the case."

"Or he's avoiding me." Hughes chuckled. "Which I guess I'd do, too, if I was him. Ah well, I'll grab him when I can to talk to him." Eventually. "I'm sure he's fine - Ed can handle himself pretty well here."

But... Maes had been planning on sending Alfons and Ed off together, so he and Roy could have some time alone. And with Ed not showing up, that idea was out the window. And there was no way in hell he'd let Alfons wander off on his own.

Things always ended up working this way, didn't they? He sighed internally and didn't let any of his aggravation show - he wasn't aggravated at anyone, just in general.

"Well, no sense hanging around here all night."

"Well, you did seem a little upset..." He chuckled softly at that; if it had been him, he probably would have obediently trotted over and gotten lectured, and have that be the end of it. Then again... he probably wouldn't have kissed...

Oh, he did not want to think about that, and he made a point of cleaning off all the cotton fibers that remained on the knife, just so he could duck his head and clear his mind of that thought. Edward kissing another boy... well, it had to be possible, otherwise Alfons would never have hoped it would happen, but...

Alfons straightened up, and tried to offer a reassuring smile to the older man. "Right, we can't waste too much time. So, if you want to lead the way...?"

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felled-hero.livejournal.com - 2007-03-14 23:41 (UTC) - Expand