aaron paul without the swearing

[servitor]

( Since we're all supposed to be real close and buddy buddy around here, anyone care to fill me in on your skills or training?

I'm not going to drill you and ask you to run laps, I promise. Not today at least.

... Unless you're with me, then you better be on the tenth lap and not a nap )

[You know who you are.]

Comments

[huntsmachines]

[ To Aloy, this seems a good idea. It's better to know what they can do then to be wondering. ]

( I can hunt, track, fish, and live in the wilds. I was raised to the bow, I can fight with lance, knife, or warclub. )

[ A pause, then a cheeky little addition. ]

( And I bet I can run you into the ground. )

[servitor]

[This is the kind of confidence he can get behind, and the bright grin echoes through the link.]

( When you start making bets like those, it makes me think I've got good odds. )

[huntsmachines]

[ Oh, Aloy has confidence in spades. ]

( I don't know about THAT. )

[servitor]

[So it seems this is a disaster in the making, excellent.]

( I tend to surprise people when the odds are bad. Don't tell me you don't like to play the odds. )

[huntsmachines]

[ She's normally not so boastful but she's feeling pretty comfortable saying she's tougher than these strange folks from much more comfortable places than her. ]

( Usually I don't gamble. I just do what needs to be done. )

[servitor]

[Sounds familiar.]

( I can respect that. Not a lot of people do that. )

[huntsmachines]

[ There's something akin to a mental shrug from Aloy. ]

( I don't think I'm really anything special. It's just how my life ended up. )

[ No big deal, just born to save the world and all that. Not that she likes to think of it that way. ]

[servitor]

[He hums thoughtfully. He'd just ended up at this point in his life as well.

To think years ago he'd been a bartender before all of this.]

( Don't sell yourself short. You might think it's obvious but I know a lot of people who wouldn't do anything even with the chance. )

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy exudes a sense of not resignation, but acceptance. Nyx's words spark a sense of confusion. ]

( I don't sell myself at all. What does that have to do with anything? )</em

[servitor]

[Maybe some small part of him is jaded by the people he's seen back home that just roll over and take it, that accept the awful but easy alternates.

Case and point, Drautos.]

( Don't worry about it.

Now, are you going to show me that run of yours or am I supposed to just trust you on that? )

[huntsmachines]

[ Amusement. Let's see if this man can match his words. ]

( Where would you like to meet? I'm still new here. )

[servitor]

[All things considered, he's, at the very least, not a pushover.]

( We'll make it easy and go to the training areas. )

[huntsmachines]

( See you there, then. )

[ True to her word, she's waiting for him in the training area by the time he arrives, already discarding most of her gear. She won't need it for this, after all. ]

[servitor]

[Which is the opposite for Nyx, who's looking casual as ever in sweatpants and his standard issue uniform tee. He's been pretty lax as of late about his Kingsglaive uniform, as he's yet to find a way to really mend the tears, holes, and burns.]

My name's Nyx. I should've probably started with that.

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy nods as she shakes her limbs out a little and jumps in place to get her blood flowing. She's going to need to focus. This will be like running down a boar or a machine. Though machines don't get tired, so you have to be quick on the uptake as well... ]

Aloy. And it's alright, I didn't give my name, either. Do we just circle until we can't go any longer?

[servitor]

[He's now fully expecting to get his ass kicked in all honesty, just by the sheer fact she looks younger than him.

The unfortunate realization that he's just not quite what he used to be.

If it means getting his ass handed to see what she can do, so be it.]

We can call it that way, or we can make it interesting.

[So he can at least go out in style.]

[huntsmachines]

[ Hi, this is Aloy. She's 18 and she WILL fight you. ]

Interesting? What did you have in mind?

[ She rests a hand on her hip and looks back at Nyx with a small smile. Sure he's older, but she knows not to underestimate someone based on their age. ]

[servitor]

How do you feel about obstacle courses?

[Because he's got this thing he's good at, it's called free-running. Run up walls, somersault over fences, that kind of thing.]

[huntsmachines]

[ That question makes Aloy grin as if she's cat who has just caught a very fat mouse. ]

I've run a few in my time.

[servitor]

How about this, to make it fair. You set some up for me and time me, and I set some up for you and time you. We won't get in the way and we're not trying to give ourselves any advantages.

[earthborn]

[Shepard throws Aloy a laugh for that one, because as much as she prizes her much-vaunted N-7 designation, one doesn't challenge a career endurance hunter to a marathon. Outrun? No, she wouldn't win in a sprint. Outlast?

Aloy could outlast this guy without even pushing for it.]

[huntsmachines]

[ There's mostly a sense of contentment in reply. Amusement that someone else is amused for the most part. Then she tries to reach out, still new and fumbling a little. ]

( What is it? )