[center][h2][color=f7976a]David[/color] & [color=darkgoldenrod]Nicola[/color][/h2][/center]
[hr][hr]A collab between [@ZakAttacks] & [@SouffleGirl123]
[b]Location:[/b] David’s house ---> Training room.
[b]Date:[/b] 2nd August 2017
[b]Time:[/b] 7:00AM[hr][hr]

David had a shitty attitude and Nicola didn't like it, she didn't like it at all. Sure [I]she[/I] tended to not have the best attitude at times but at least she would do what needs to be done, David was just full out lazy and unresponsive and Nicola had had enough. She decided to take responsibility into her own hands, she knew Salem trusted her enough, and at 7am sharp Nicola was pounding on David’s door. Sharp, loud knocks that probably woke up the neighbours in the process as she yelled a gruff, [color=darkgoldenrod]”David, you better get out here now!”[/color]

David, despite the loudness, was not the quickest to rise up out of bed. Oh, sure, he was quite easily woken up by her, but his own attitude didn’t let him get out of bed quickly. [color=f7976a]“Give me just a moment to shower.”[/color] He explained, yelling at the door as he made his way towards said shower, yawning loudly and turning it on and discarding his night clothing proper. There was nothing that couldn’t wait for a good shower, and there was no way he was going to do what she asked without one. Cleanliness and all that. He took the time to wash his hair, his body, everything that was necessary, not even bothering to hurry. She could freaking wait, for all he cared. She woke him up far before his shift. She could deal with those consequences, and frankly put, she woke him up in a rather bad mood. He was even more sure that this was nothing to hurry for.

Nicola was considering going in right then and dragging him out but decided to give him the liberty of a shower. She waited. And waited. Then looked at her watched, a couple of minutes had passed, long enough for a shower. She banged on his door once more. [color=darkgoldenrod]”David! That’s it! That’s long enough, shower’s over!“[/color] she yells through the door, banging once again on the door. 

He groaned, hearing the banging. He was tempted to make her further wait, sighing before moving to turn off the shower, grabbing a nearby towel, drying it off, and draping it over his neck, before moving to put on a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt laying on the floor nearby. He wasn’t really organized, due to a lack of energy. He soon moved to the door, finally unlocking it and then opening it. [color=f7976a]“...Fine. What did you want?”[/color]

[color=darkgoldenrod]”Your attitude is appalling and if you took your time like that come an attack you’d likely be dead by now,”[/color] she replies, arms crossed. [color=darkgoldenrod]”Next time I’m just gonna come in and drag you out by the throat. Follow me,”[/color] and with that she turns on her heel and leads him back to the Guild, turning every few moments to ensure he was behind her, snapping at him for being far behind. No matter if Nicola  initiated it, 7am was 7am and she was grouchiest in the morning. She lead him through the corridors and around the headquarters once more to bring him to the training room.

Oooh great. Miss Grouchypants was here to drag him into training. Well, best not to incur Salem’s wrath. He followed her nonchalantly, taking note of her barking nature and finally doing a little bit to keep up with her, just enough to avoid getting yelled at. It was annoying, to be sure, but David wanted none of her yelling more than he had to. Surely, this would be typical. Another opponent to beat him, and he would simply allow it. Simple and easy, and no one would bother him afterwards. Even Nicola must run out of steam in this regard, right? Once they arrived in the Training Hall, he discarded his towel on the ground nearby, before making his way towards the center of the arena in question, already prepared for a repeat of yesterday. [color=f7976a]“So, who’s going to beat me up this time?”[/color]

[color=darkgoldenrod]”Turns out the others have better attitude than you. And can defend themself against a single hit,”[/color] she replies, grabbing the stick from the previous day from against the wall. [color=darkgoldenrod]”Why are you even still here? How? As someone’s guard of all things? If Aliira was attacked today I bet everything I got that you couldn't defend her,”[/color] Nicola says. Bringing up Aliira might have been a long shot but she seemed to be all he cared for here. She hoped that would elicit some response from him other than grunting and taking the beatings.

The young man...paused. For once, he lifted an eyebrow. A little caught off guard. She wasn’t immediately striking him? How very odd. He took a step back. [color=f7976a]”I’ll answer that with more questions. Why does a child go to school when he doesn’t want to? Why does a businessman go to work, despite it making him miserable? And why does a prisoner stay in prison, even if freedom is literally bars away?”[/color] He asked, sounding a little bit more firm this time. A little bit of passive-aggressiveness in his voice seemed to leak through, no doubt. Clearly, it was a sore spot, but one he clearly had a lot to say about.

Nicola puts the end of the stick on the ground, holding it upright, gripping on it tight, ready to launch it into attack when she needed to. [color=darkgoldenrod]”But they still do because they need to. You have a job. We’re not here to skip around and play with our powers like fairies, we’re here to protect. It’s not a nice job, not even a good one half of the time but it’s what we need to do. Your attitude isn’t going to change that,”[/color] she replies, lifting her stick a bit. [color=darkgoldenrod]”One of these days there will be an attack, Aliira can only do so much. Do you really want your laziness and attitude to be the reason she’s killed?”[/color] And with that, Nicola swipes at David’s legs with the rod.

David frowned. Wait. David...frowned. He showed an actual emotion. Whether it was grouchiness on his end, maybe the fact that she had called him out for Aliira’s sake, or maybe…

Maybe it was just that he was being compared to those he hated. Those who she claimed protected. Protected -who-, though? He continued to frown, and for once, the built-up, pushed away emotion of anger took a real connection to mind as he leapt back ever-so slightly. Still lazily, but it was still enough to avoid the predictable swipe, the stick only managing to hit his pants. Odd. When he wanted to, it seemed he could avoid one strike. He lifted a finger to her, as his formerly emotionless voice let out an anger-burden reply, no longer calm, but sounding almost gruff, like he wasn’t used to speaking in this manner. [color=f7976a]“Let me explain one thing to you. I may be a lazy person. But you got my questions wrong. Its not because they need to. Its because they have no choice.”[/color] He explained firmly, grasping his hand into a fist, and a tight one at that. [color=f7976a]“...Your stupid Guild gives me no choice. You think I -want- to be here? It should be fairly obvious that if I had a choice, I would have left a long time ago. I wouldn’t be a guard. Maybe you ought to do some damn research...if you can.”[/color] He noted, his frown turning for a smug smile for a brief moment. Maybe in this way, he could exact his revenge. Make this Nicola woman think...and then...they would disregard his point, and he’d get a beating from Salem. Suddenly, this realization hit him. It was all pointless. His momentary courage shrunk into nothing but a hollow shell, as he took another step back, his smile fading back into a blank visage of what he usually was. How typical for such a lazy man, to give up so quickly.

David actually showed emotion… a fire at least. Nicola smirked as he gave her the finger, good, that was what she needed from him, something to show [I]some[/I] potential to retaliate. Then he stopped, his guard lowering once more as he put on the blank persona once more.  [color=darkgoldenrod]”Something you need to realise is having no choice in doing something is virtually the same as doing something out of necessity. You’re not the only one doing this beyond your own choice! You know what the difference is between you and the rest of us? We keep our heads up and we keep going,”[/color] she replies, throwing the stick to the side and delivering a single punch to David’s gut. [color=darkgoldenrod]”Many of us didn't plan or [I]want[/I] to be here but we are. We don't give a shit about your mopey story, we just look at to the job we have. Yours is protecting Aliira and, at this stage, you’re not gonna get far doing it!”[/color] she snaps. If nothing got to him she was sure the mention of Aliira did. She kept her fists up in an attack stance, awaiting David’s response.

David himself grunted hard as he took the punch to the gut. Normally, during a moment like this, he was crumple back and hit the ground so that he wouldn’t be attacked further. But what she just said...about having no choice? That everyone was like that? And beyond that...with all these mentions of Aliira, he was beginning to get really pissed. He grunted. As soon as she finished, he focused hard, his body actually standing right back up straight.[color=f7976a] “You really don’t get it, do you? When I mean no choice, I don’t mean this is my job. I mean that I can’t leave, even if I tried, you...magi!”[/color] He yelled out finally, darting forward and aiming to slam his right fist right towards her face with a punch. Not a lazy punch. An actual, honest punch with a great deal amount of anger behind it. [color=f7976a]“I know because I have tried! And I can’t escape. You don’t get it. This might be your job, but this is my fucking prison, and you idiotic, self-centered, human-bigoted, self-serving and self-righteous magi can’t even see beyond your own interests! You say you protect?!”[/color] He yelled out.

 Oh, he was on a roll now, and even if some doubts were in his mind, he was fueled by years of held back emotions and a great deal of hatred for the magi. He was going to be beaten up one way or another, so he might as well take his chance to let them know what he truly thought of these stuck-up idiots! He quickly brought back his other fist, aiming to thrust it at her lower left shoulder, hoping to displace it. [color=f7976a]“Who?! If you mean magi, yeah, sure, but don’t even begin to think you do anything for non-magi! If it wasn’t for you damn magi, I would have been able to live a normal fucking life!”[/color] He yelled out in anger...before pausing and widening his eyes. Did he just...say…

With that, something changed. The immediate realization of what he had done came to mind. He remembered what he didn’t want to of those times. The things he had been pushing away. His emotions. Those emotions of a normal day of school...of worry, and then loss. That feeling of loss had consumed everything he had. He lost his parents. His home. And his own rights as a human being. He lowered his head, his hands still clenching.[color=f7976a] “...You magi. Took everything away from me. You have no right to any sort of higher moral ground. You’re the same as the Dark Shadow, you still hold yourselves over the fucking populace. You just have prettier words and make less of a mess, that’s all.”[/color] He firmly stated, before turning around and walking away from Nicola. He had nothing more to say to this woman. He was done.


Suddenly, David fist flew at her face as the kid just snapped. Out of nowhere there was screaming, yelling and attacking. She’d gotten a response, even if that response was him being pissed it was a response, finally. She let him have his left punch also but shift to the left for it to hit her side other than her shoulder. She let him scream and yell and finally he stormed of. As he left she yelled after him, [color=darkgoldenrod]”If you think everyone is here by their own choice you’re an idiot!”[/color] She considered her own circumstances. Chances were she would never be in America let alone the Guild had her grandparents not been so persistent on keeping their lineage in the group. She let him go with that. Maybe he did train little but she gotten a response out of him, she found his trigger point and that was enough of an achievement for her.

He considered facing back to her, and yelling about how wrong she was. About how the magi had taken things from him. From others. But he didn’t. He saw no point, and beyond that, there was a bigger issue at hand. These swirling emotions in him didn’t just go away, as much as he wanted them to. He had to find a way to fix them. To cut them off again. It wouldn’t be easy, but he had to, or else face that vortex of pain and loss again. And that was the thing he wanted to do least. If Nicola had succeeded in anything, she had brought the pain of the past back and present. And she had gotten himself to think. If others were truly here in circumstances they couldn’t control...why didn’t they act like him? He would have to consider this later...but for now, he marched straight home. Despite trying to get her to think differently...she had managed to bring that same feat about on him. How odd.