Populate ILUMinati | Ilum Aftermath Thread | GA Populate of Lahag Erli

[Sion Lorray]

Cordé Sabo

He moved like water.

Water did not fight, it did not struggle, it moved with you and filled the gaps. As Cordé moved to disarm him? She'd surprisingly notice that his hand went with her easily, the saber dislodging out of his grasp and presumably settling into her grip. The open spot where she moved into, where his weakness had been strongest, suddenly shifted.

Just like water.

All of a sudden he was rotating around her and his elbow would move to smack into the back of her head. The speed of which blinding and all surprising.

If it connected he'd use the Force to regain control of his saber.

"What's wrong with standing here all day?" Sion asked curiously as he created distance between the two of them again. "I enjoy chatting with you while standing."

 

[Cordé Sabo]

Sion Lorray

It happened again!

Except this time it was physical. Her expectations were unmet and he disarmed her.

Where resistance should have been, there was only fluidity. And then resistance popped against the back of her head so fast, way too fast, and her surprise took over from there. For only an instant she'd had his weapon in her hands.

It was impossible for her to conceal her shock. More slack-jawed than before, she stared back at him.

"Yeah?" She asked, and rubbed her head, just going through some sort of motion while humility crept it's way back to her bones "What would you want to stand and chat about."

 

[Sion Lorray]

Cordé Sabo

A little shrug there.

"You got any hobbies?" He threw out there while remaining guarded. While Sion liked the chance to get to know her better, he knew that they were drastically different people. Cordé? She was a predator. Any signs of weakness? A gap in his armor? She'd immediately pounce on him and make him regret it.

This was a sobering realization, but it was the right one.

He lowered his lightsaber.

The saber itself remained unignited however. This didn't mean anything. He didn't have a saber in his hand entirely and still had managed to get on top of her regardless.

"Again?"

More quiet and subdued now.

 

[Cordé Sabo]

She smiled yes to his invitation.

“Hobbies?” Cordé repeated the word with a toothsome grin, and took one, two, three quick steps to close the space between them again. His lacking an upper garment eliminated a few moves from her rolodex of ideas — mostly because she didn’t feel right about seeing her footprint on his chest. Especially when he was so on the defence. He was careful, calm, and fluid. She’d have to be more cautious this time around and give him less to work with.

Or, have more prepared for when he worked with what she gave him.

“I have a few.” She frivolled, shrugged, planted her foot, and poked her other forward behind Sion Lorray 's shin to test his stance. This time, she kept her hands freer to riposte his reaction.

“What are yours?”

 

[Sion Lorray]

Cordé Sabo

A soft chuckle there as he kept an eye out for her next move.

Wasn't long before Cordé kicked him behind the shin to test... his reflexes? And his stance he supposed. He became solid for a moment as the foot connected firmly with him. He grimaced, suppressing the urge to gasp in pain. "Got a firm kick there..." Sion threw a punch to her face and as she inevitably he tried to sweep her legs from under her.

"And your favorite hobby must be being evasive." Sion teased there.

How does a person say they have hobbies, NOT divulge what those are and then ask him for his!

"Well, you know, meditating, gardening, reading mystical scrolls." He numbered them as he began to circle around her. As if Sion wasn't just naming every Jedi stereotype in town to make a point.

 

[Cordé Sabo]

A click sounded from tongue against cheek, responding to his observation as a compliment.

"And your favorite hobby must be being evasive."

“What makes you say that?” Cordé grinned back and, like a rascal, upkept her inconclusive dialogue and arched away from his punch. Only a puff of breath warmed his fist instead of physical purchase. Her riposte was to extend her own arm toward his throat, but he altered his direction and evaded before it happened.

Instead, her palm pushed out to grab hold of his wrist to counter her weight. She allowed the leg he targeted to go along with the sweep, while planting her stable one, keeping her balance and shuffling to shove him back and away. Not unlike his fluidity earlier.

Sabo had always been a quick study, and while he circled, she watched for another opening.

"Well, you know, meditating, gardening, reading mystical scrolls."

Some of it, he was joking. She rolled her eyes at that much. But he’d already given her an indication once before — he’d admitted to spending hours and hours and hours in the Jedi archives. Particularly, the medical section. Which he’d helped her find once upon a moon ago, so the mystical scrolls weren't entirely untrue.

Regardless, she played into it.

“Knew it.” She kept her eyes on his circle, eager to see if his rules of attack changed once he was in the exchange “Jedi have no fun."

Wait, was that dismissive of gardening? Because she actually didn't mind tending to greenery. Her apartment had a few flourishing pots. "Except for maybe the gardening."

 

[Sion Lorray]

Cordé Sabo

"Oh, nothing at all...." Smirking in return to her tease. "Just intuition."

She deflected and used his own technique against him.

Impressive.

Moving like water without any prior training in that particular stance. Clearly whatever they were doing at the SIA, it was having quite the effect on the girl and then some. Was this what it meant to be trained to handle forcers? Being able to switch your technique at the drop of a hat and use their skills against them?

A sobering thought.

She kept an eye on his circling and in turn Sion kept an eye on her.

In that split second he seemed to be shifting towards the right. Then Sion became a blur, using the Force to magnify his speed, and came upon her from the left. Even if she caught that speed and managed to turn towards him, she'd be surprised by his action. It was no punch or kick. Nothing so easily dodged indeed.

Instead Sion stepped into her defense, intent to capture her wrists and pin her back against the wall.

"What do you like to grow then, Cordé?" Asked so calmly as if nothing had happened at all.

 

[Cordé Sabo]

She was prepared to block on the right, but it was her left that was in peril. He leveraged her imbalance against her, and on uneven grounds, found herself swept up in the speed and sheer might of the phenomenon she did not understand. She braced, barely, for an incoming kick – but her clench was stretched and forced backward into a more compromising position. A kick to the ribs, no problem, she’d been trained to recover from that with a grapple and a knee of her own. But a rush that forced her longer and up? That put her reactions on ice. A surprised breath hopped out, and was sharply drawn back into a silent grimace.

Cordé was in trouble on two accounts. One, the physical predicament. His grip wasn’t hurtful or bruising, but firm enough to keep her from squirming away. She tried and failed. And kicking him in the crotch seemed a little much given the pretences of a comradic scenario.

Two, the psychological. Sion’s demeanour and entire self was alarmingly pacifying and calm. His hands seemed full of intention, focused on one thing—peace.

With a heavy frown, Cordé squirmed to test the resolve of his hold one final time, but instead of being bothered, or violent, he persevered in clemency and asked her about gardening. For a heartbeat, she was wordless and still, only aware of how his eyes were to hers. Amber and soulful. And close. Close enough for her to almost lose her poise.

Almost.

“Grow?” She laughed despite her predicament. How oblivious of the Jedi! Surrounded by endless gardens and beautiful flora, how could they have a grasp of what the world was like for regular folk?

It was just what she needed to feel hardened against his kindness and disassociate from the magnetism of the present. With his tranquil eyes on hers, the stillness of his self, she’d almost forgotten her spite. Sion Lorray 's perceived and predetermined ignorance was enough to disrupt his enchantment. She slumped lower, working with what she could against the wall and worming to get a little more angle to her advantage so she could…just…try to..get…

“As if. I’m just trying to keep bought Watto-Mart plants alive.”

….even if she did succeed, how many more times would she end up in this position? How many more times would he end up this close? How far would they truly get in this spar? She was holding back, and she didn’t like how it felt. But the idea of hurting him, for some reason, felt worse than restraining.

So she blamed him for the impending denouement. Because it felt better than exploring her own hesitation.

“So this isn’t a hobby of yours.” She deduced, and huffed heavily with a chin nod up to his hands on her wrists. “You don’t like sparring, do you.”

 

[Sion Lorray]

Cordé Sabo

Sion blinked at her reposté.

Expectations had settled about anticipating a blow to the gut, knees or groin. Not something verbal however. Once again he had proved himself to be ignorant of... ah. She immediately filled him in on his ignorance. "I am sure you are doing a good job of it." He murmurs gently. Somehow even outside of the combat scenario he managed to become water.

Letting a hard punch glide off of him like he was slippery ice.

"I think I missed my green thumbs somewhere, maybe you can teach me a thing or two."

Her denouement didn't do much to break through the watery surface. Not even a ripple. "Not... really." It was the first time Sion lied to Cordé, but it was such a rarity the hints of it would be imperceptible.

There Sion let go of her wrists and took a step back.

"It becomes hard to focus. Your body begins to move automatically. Governed by instinct and reflexes. I can't..." Stop feeling every beat of your heart, every twitch of emotion and it magnifies mine. Until I don't know where I cease and you begin. Sion coughed as he felt himself flush. Maybe some of it would flicker over to her, before he could stop.

"Well, I prefer to be in control of myself." He shrugged a little and picked up his robe. "Thanks for stepping by... and sharing your name. I hope my explanation helped you somehow."

About the Imperials Sion had desired to heal... and maybe more.

 

[Cordé Sabo]

With her wrists back in her control, she rubbed them while Sion Lorray explained his perspective. The motion was mostly to distract herself, because belatedly, Cordé became aware of a low fluttering sensation rolling through her body. Where had it started? Her stomach? Her chest? Her head? Either way, it was horrifying. Emotionally, it felt as though she were magnetised to that fluid kindness, and she should stay, but intellectually…

This was over. It had to be.

“That sounds hard to manage.” Cordé attempted to empathise as she moved around him, to pick up her jacket and shrug it back over her shoulders. And dangerous. That's why Jedi were were a threat! They weren't even in control of themselves.

Gratefully, Sion all-but dismissed her and gave her an out — about the same time as she heard the distant sound of footsteps, perhaps an entire class.

“It’s not what I expected.” Cordé admitted quietly, and glanced over her shoulder to the approaching group of students. “I’ll see you around." She hoped not. "Thanks for this.”

With all those Jedi approaching, and that one in particular that kept defying her expectations, she couldn’t get out of the temple soon enough.