Wax On, Wax Off

[Bato Golden]

Ord Mantell City, Ord Mantell​

(again)​

​

As he strolled through the streets of Ord Mantell City for the second time in less than a month, Bato was starting to consider renting out an apartment here. While it wasn't actually enough visits to call a pattern, the horrific heat that hung over the entire planet made the thought of investing in somewhere with air conditioning an alluring option. He darted under a nearby canopy to catch a reprieve in the shade, and sighed.

Even though he had ditched his leather jacket and typical outfit for more practical attire; a fashionable scarf, breathable grey shirt, and light brown khaki's, it was impossible not to sweat in this heat. He took a glance a scrap of paper in his hand. On it, the address of his new martial arts trainer, of whom his agent claimed was "highly recommended". Considering the climate, he hoped she was right.

With the sparse clouds now finally obscuring the sun, Bato took his chance, and headed back out on his way. After several minutes, he arrived at the address, and after several more minutes of making himself look presentable, he knocked on the door.

[member="Artemis Vahl'Nyx"]

 

[Artemis Vahl'Nyx]

Finding a house in Ord Mantell city that fit her needs hadn't been hard. Finding one that fit her needs and was for sale, however, had proved more difficult than the woman had originally anticipated. If not for an unexpected run in with one of her father's old employees, she might have ended up having to rent a tiny apartment. But Aeito had pulled a few strings, shuffled a few documents around, and gotten her a reasonably sized house for a decent price. It was a somewhat new addition to the city, with mostly up to date furnishings, nestled snugly between a local business office and a public library. Luckily it wasn't terribly far from the marketplace, meaning Artemis rarely had to go far for what she needed. Perhaps the only 'drawback' was the fact that didn't have enough personal belongings to fill the space. Most rooms were rather sparsely decorated, with only a few items here and there, and the spare bedroom was completely empty. Part of her wanted to remedy that, but she hadn't had much spare time since she purchased the home.

Of course, the extra space was also going to come in handy for one of things that was keeping her so busy. In lieu of immediately returning to high stakes work, as she had initially wanted to do, Artemis had opted to do small jobs for awhile, mostly to help her get back into the swing of things. On this particular day she was going to be instructing a young actor. Admittedly she wasn't terribly thrilled about it, but she couldn't afford to turn the credits down. At this point I might as well open a gym, she thought as she walked down the stairs, recalling the others she had started teaching over the past few weeks. Most of them came to her place for training, with only one having space of his own to work in; so she had ended up converting her living room to a work out space. Mats were stacked up by the far wall, and a few punching bags were lined up on the adjacent one. Due to the room's location, being just to the left of the front door, as well as connected to the open-style kitchen, there was also quick access to refreshments available.

Taking a quick second to glance over the space, Nyx double checked to ensure everything was in place, pulling her hair back into a basic ponytail as she did. Once she was satisfied she stole a glance at her watch. Right as she did she heard a knock at the door, letting her know her new client was right on time. Pleased with the fact she made her way to the front door, took a look at the security feed, then opened it up. She'd give the man a simple look-over before gesturing for him to step inside.

"You must be [member="Bato Golden"]. Come on in."

 

[Bato Golden]

As the door to the house opened, the first thing Bato noticed about his new trainer was her height. With the woman standing at a staggering six foot four, he actually had to tilt his head up to meet her gaze at this distance. Still, Bato Golden was not one to be deterred by tall ladies, and certainly not after walking in this heat.

"And you're Artemis, right?" He offered his hand for her to shake, and gave his best smile. "Hey, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for helping me out."

Stepping through the threshold, Bato could only wonder if his new instructor had just moved in. While there weren't any boxes or still-wrapped furniture, there also weren't any pictures or other personal effects, at least from the door. Still, a quick glance to his left revealed an impressively kitted out workout room. Not as impressive as his, of course, but there was no need to be a snob. Not everyone had his kind of budget.

"I've gotta say, this is a pretty well done work out room for one person," he commented. "You do a lot of instruction?"

 

[Artemis Vahl'Nyx]

If the woman was surprised or unimpressed by her student's height, she hid it well. Truthfully, she made no note of it, instead sparing a quick glance at his general physique. Not bad, she thought, definitely in better shape than my last client. Should make this chite easier. A moment passed, and she gave a brief nod at the mention of her name. Then Bato extended his hand. There was a pause, a second of hesitation, as Artemis fought against every asocial urge in her body. In the end she accepted the handshake, though kept her grip fairly firm. Can't have anyone think I'm going soft, she thought. Strength, evidently, was a quality she admired. Just one of the many reasons why she had started tutoring others in martial arts. The credits, of course, was still a primary factor. That fact was one she reminded herself of when the man flashed her a smile, and she gave a small one of her own in return. Gotta keep him happy, she thought, or else I might lose the biggest source of income I'll have this year.

While she was perfectly capable of giving genuine smiles, Artemis wasn't exactly prone to doing so. Spending most of her (and not Drapeam's) life inside of a coma had left her fairly bitter. Few things seemed to actually please her beyond 'simple gratitude', further making her hard to deal with for many, considering her additional sarcastic tendencies. If not for her expansive history in multiple forms of combat, one would surely wonder how she managed to keep any clients at all. If Mr. Golden was lucky, then his agent would have informed him of Artemis' reputation, hopefully preparing him for the coldness she was likely to display.

Some of that chill showed in the way her smile quickly disappeared as she moved further into the training room. It was her nature to focus on the task at hand, and her tolerance of being idle was as low as ever. But when Bato spoke up again she gave pause, turning to look at him, quietly wondering how to best answer his question. Instructing others has seemed to become my only stable job these days, she noted to herself, frowning slightly. For once she managed to catch herself making the expression, however, and it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. To make up for her hesitance, she gave a casual shrug before speaking.

"Sorta." 'Twas a simple answer, really, but she had never been one for drawing things out. Still, her conscience nagged her for being so abrupt. If I satisfy his curiosity, maybe he'll ask less questions later, she wondered. "Used to be in the military, 'til chite went to hell and they sent me home. Never really got the hang of much besides fighting, and there's always people wanting to get better at it," she added, tone almost blank. "It keeps food on the table, and clothes in the closet, so it works for me."

[member="Bato Golden"]​

 

[Bato Golden]

"Oh, alright. Sorry to hear that." Despite having questions, Bato let it go. He figured that the big pause before she finally answered meant it was a sore subject, and it wasn't in his nature to pry. Plus, as an actor, he was used to seeing fake smiles, and the way this one vanished seconds later made it pretty obvious. Maybe she was just having a bad day?

His agent certainly didn't mention this. Or, at least, he didn't think she did. He wasn't really paying attention to the message she left, but he did get the gist of it. Though, there might have been some important bit on the end. Bato shook the thought out of his head. If it was important, it wouldn't have been on the end, right?

As they walked, he gave his outfit a quick once over and pulled off his scarf, wrapping it instead around his arm, where it wouldn't be a hazard. While his outfit wasn't exactly the best for a workout, at least now it wouldn't be a hindrance.

Bato did his best to keep quiet, and wait for further instruction, he really did. But to him, this silence was uncomfortable and unbearable, and just a few seconds into it he had to break it.

"So, what are we gonna be doing today? Exercises or something?"

[member="Artemis Vahl'Nyx"]

 

[Artemis Vahl'Nyx]

When the man didn't question her past further, Artemis felt a twinge of relief. Truth be told, she hadn't been in the military, although she had trained for it. It was her half-sister Drapeam who had actually spent several decades as a soldier. They did technically share a body now (or at least their souls did), but they were anything but the same person. As easily as Artemis could have pulled memories from her sibling, it would have been uncomfortable to do so, as well as been likely to weaken her mental defenses. Risking letting the woman gain control was something she wasn't willing to do; especially in the middle of a training session. If Bato had continued his line of questioning, she might have had to string together a series of falsehoods, which she would have then had to remember for as long as she associated with both him and his colleagues, just in case they ever spoke of it again. Perhaps she was over thinking things- scratch that, she was. Paranoia was, at times, one of her defining traits.

"So, what are we gonna be doing today? Exercises or something?" [member="Bato Golden"] chimed, pulling the woman back to the present moment. Feth, she thought, how badly did I space out? Brushing off the last of her thoughts, she made her way to the center of the training room.

"First things first we'll do some stretching- I doubt your agent would want you to pull a muscle, eh?" Artemis said, shifting a bit as she did. "Why don't you let me know what kinda stuff your interested in learning while we get warmed up? We'll stick with basics for today, but I'll want to have a lesson plan done before our next session." With that said she'd start stretching, enjoying the feeling of getting her blood flowing.

 

[Bato Golden]

"Sure, alright. Let me think for a sec..." Bato dropped into a squat, and started stretching out his legs. His agent had given [member="Artemis Vahl'Nyx"] a glowing review, but as per usual, she neglected to go into specifics of what his new trainer knew and specialized in. Or maybe she did, and that was what she said at the end of the message. He really should have paid better attention. Regardless, it was too late to listen to it now, so he'd have to work on what he already knew and improvise.

After finishing his leg stretches, he stood up and moved on to his arms, crossing his right arm across his chest, hooking his left arm underneath it, and pulling back. "Honestly, I'd just like to get better all around. I'm decent at grappling and striking, but I haven't done much with weapons, so I'd like to work on that. Tournaments that allow them tend to be on the sketchy side, y'know?" He finished with his right arm, and switched to his left. "I'll take whatever you can teach. If you've got a specialty or style you like, I'd love to learn it."

He hesitated for a moment before he asked his next question. Her military work seemed to be a rough topic, but it was pertinent to the discussion. He'd have to bite the bullet. "You pick up anything special in the military you wouldn't mind sharing?"