even if it's gonna kill me {Gwyn}

[Costin Dracula]

Costin had agonized for at least an hour over what he was supposed to wear to practice sword fighting. One didn't sword fight in a suit, that he knew, but the pair of jeans he owned was also not entirely comfortable for that sort of thing. In the end, he had gone shopping, and had purchased a pair of what he had been told were workout pants. They were very comfortable, and they were black, so at least he wasn't entirely out of his element. He had also gotten some black athletic shoes, which he could pretend were his usual Oxfords if he didn't look down at them too often. He had been pleasantly surprised to find that the shop he had visited also had a matching black zip-up top, which he was wearing over a white undershirt in the event that it got chilly out.

Despite the fact that he'd double-checked the time of their meeting, he arrived fifteen minutes early and found himself looking around anxiously. Someone was going to see him here, in these clothes, and they were going to mock him, he was sure of it. Gwyn might even mock him, but that wouldn't be so bad, because it was different when Gwyn did it, somehow. She didn't seem to mean it cruelly, and it didn't drag up the irrational spike of rage in him that it did when other people mocked him.

He decided to do some stretches, because that seemed like the sort of thing a person wearing what he was wearing ought to do in a place like this. The only problem was that he didn't really know any stretches, so he started to bend in various directions in what he hoped was a methodical manner. It felt like he was stretching, anyway, he thought, before nearly toppling over into some kind of strange crab-walk. She would have to be at least a little proud of him for trying, right? And that was the goal here, for some reason.

Costin was not in the habit of praying; that just wasn't one of those things vampires raised their children to do, but he breathed out a quiet plea to whoever or whatever might have been listening that he managed to make it through this outing without completely embarrassing himself.

[Gwyn Locksley]

Gwyn was nervous. While that might not have been so offensive to most people, it was highly irritating to her as Gwyn Locksley did not get nervous. Gwyn Locksley also did not play practical jokes on people, which brings us back to the original statement in explanation of why she was nervous.

Why had she thought this would be a good idea? Costin had been mortified about the silly fanfic thing, so what if joking about it upset him? What if he got angry with her? It wasn't like she had a lot of friends that she could afford pissing them off, and Costin was the only one who was just her friend, with no ties to Camelot nor any history together.

It wasn't too late, she had actual swords for training too in the dufflebag she carried at her side. She could just forget the whole thing and have a straight lesson. But... Gaston had thought it would be a good idea, and everyone loved him, so clearly he knew a thing or two about friendship.

Cresting the hill, Gwyn stopped when she saw Costin waiting for her, dressed surprisingly casual. She hadn't been aware he owned anything other than a suit, and the one pair of jeans he disliked wearing. For her part she had chosen similar attire in black leggings and a green zip-up sweatshirt. His attire, of course, did not explain the fact that he seemed to be flailing about a bit strangely. Maybe he did yoga, which sounded utterly boring and useless to Gwyn but a lot of people were into it for some reason. Shaking her head, she approached him slowly. “Don't hurt yourself before we get started,” she said, nodding in greeting. “I know of a nice secluded clearing that should be perfect.

[Costin Dracula]

She didn't seem to be put off by his outfit, nor did she seem to be dressed all that differently than he did, although as usual, Costin had a little less color in his ensemble. He was utterly oblivious to Gwyn's nervousness, mostly because he was preoccupied with his own, and he was also pretty sure he was not doing the stretching right, although she didn't mock him for it. She even seemed like she might be...worried that he would injure himself, which was nice, although it definitely assured him that he had been doing something wrong.

"Lead the way," he said, eager to leave the scene of his folly. Maybe he could still salvage his image if they got away from here quickly enough and he had the opportunity to do something else that was more impressive, or at least significantly less embarrassing. "And also, a belated hello and good evening. That was...impolite of me to have neglected."

There was a significant part of him that was already regretting this. Whatever he could possibly hope to gain from this, could it be worth the potential humiliation? The thought of Gwyn shaking her head at him, telling him that he was a disappointment, well, that just made him feel nauseous. What if he threw up while they were doing this? Costin thought he would rather die.

"You're sure no one will be able to see us in this clearing of yours?" Maybe he should ask her if she would be able to see him. Maybe she could coach him with her back turned, so she wouldn't have to see the failure he imagined was imminent.

[Gwyn Locksley]

Gwyn needed no more prompting and started into the woods, Costin quick at her heal. As he spoke of politeness she winced, having entirely forgone it herself. This was why she didn't do stupid things like she was planning on doing, because it distracted her and caused mistakes. “Hello, Costin,” she said, throwing a quick smile at him and hoping he would forgive her rudeness. “It is okay, I spoke first, so the onus was on me to make the proper greeting.”

He was going to think this was stupid, wasn't he? He would think it was all stupid and that she was stupid for thinking it would be funny. And then he would never take her seriously again, and would never want to actually train with her for real, and would go back to wallowing because she made a mockery of this whole thing.

Oh god, were these the kinds of thoughts everyone else at this school had on a daily basis?

She shook her head to shake off these thoughts, which luckily also served as an answer to his question. “Unless someone else has discovered it and decides to use it the exact time as we do, we should be well protected.”

[Costin Dracula]

Oh, dear. She probably thought he had been scolding her for her own manners. He was really going to have to work on that; poking at his own shortcomings was one of the ways he dealt with his awkwardness in social situations, but more and more lately it had seemed like people were taking that sort of thing as personal criticism. Shockingly, Costin wasn't good with people.

"No, no," he said hastily. "It wasn't..." He closed his eyes for a second, pressing both hands to his face. He really had to get it together here. He had been so sure he would embarrass himself physically, he had obviously not done nearly enough preparation for the conversational stuff. "It is good to see you," he said, hoping that something pleasant might do at least a little to alleviate the awkwardness he had already caused not five minutes into their interaction.

He was also suddenly a little nervous that someone else might have taken their spot, but she did make it sound like that was unlikely, and as they walked into the trees, he didn't hear any sounds, like other people were fighting with swords or having conversations that were in all likelihood much less awkward than any conversation Costin had ever participated in.

"We will have to chase them out if they are," he said, giving her a smile that was just a little too big, in case she didn't realize he was joking. He had to be getting better at this by now, didn't he?

[Gwyn Locksley]

It seemed that she wasn't the only one feeling awkward right now, though she wasn't sure what Costin had to feel strange about. He didn't know about the joke she had in store, but perhaps it was just nerves. Learning something new could be nervewracking, especially to someone with any amount of pride. He had a self deprecating sense of humour, but at the same time dressed impeccably and carried himself as if he thought himself above people, so if he was terrible at swordsmanship it would likely sting. She really hoped he wasn't the type to give up after one lesson. “You may regret those words once we get started,” she replied with a grin. “And I'm sure we would have a good chance scaring them off.”

They reached the clearing and Gwyn walked to the centre before setting down the bag. Okay, it was time. Last chance to back out. “I thought perhaps we should start with something you may be familiar with.” Oh god, she was going for it. Okay, remember the lines, she could do this. Keeping her back to him, she unwrapped the light sabre Gaston had bought for her, then the one she had borrowed from him. She knew how to handle any weapon so had no worries about damaging the one she weilded, so it was her own that she held out to Costin when she turned around. “I heard this was the Space Pirate weapon of choice.” She managed to deliver the line with a straight enough face even though her heart was hammering with the very foreign feeling of nervousness. Flicking the toy on, she moved it enough to make that 'vrrr'ing noise.

Please get the joke. Please don't be offended. Please don't think me an idiot.

[Costin Dracula]

Costin was the sort of person who managed to feel awkward even when he had nothing to feel awkward about - or at least, when the only elements to a situation were ones that other people wouldn't have even raised an eyebrow at. Side effects of being raised in a situation that made it impossible to relate to other human beings his own age, probably, if he thought about it. He could handle the banter, though, and when she warned that he might regret his words, a little bit of the uneasiness fell away, replaced by a much more comfortable feeling of amusement. There was a reason he wanted to be here, doing this, with her, and it was because when he was around her, he felt a little bit less like he would never belong anywhere.

He stood still as she set her bag down, looking down at his fingernails as if he were inspecting them, just to give himself something to do that wasn't staring at her backside (not that she didn't have a lovely backside, but...well, that was the sort of thing that got you slapped if you were caught looking. When Gwyn turned back around, though, Costin found himself momentarily speechless. He took the....weapon, as it were, that she offered, but it took a solid four seconds before his mind registered the things she was saying.

Space Pirate. Space Pirate. She was making a joke, she was making a joke at his expense about that terrible fan fiction he had reacted to so melodramatically, and...he stared down at the lightsaber for another few seconds, trying to determine how he felt about that. It took only a few more seconds for him to figure out that he wasn't angry, but even as his mind was catching up to that, a little snicker slipped past his lips entirely without his permission or intent. He put his free hand up to his face, covering his mouth as another laugh, louder this time, threatened to escape.

"Space pirate," he murmured, between quiet, undeniably awkward laughter. "You...fiend." He hit the switch on the lightsaber, and took a whack at her shoulder with it. "I ought to fight you to the death, Gwyn Locklsey, but I will not. Primarily because I am sure the death in question will be mine."

[Gwyn Locksley]

He slowly reached out and took the weapon, staring at it for what felt like a very long time and saying nothing. Why wasn't he saying anything? He hated it, didn't he? He had been genuinely upset about the whole fanfiction thing, and here she was poking fun of it. She was needling his pride and throwing it in his face for the sake of a joke and he was going to hate her for it. This was why she didn't have friends, she didn't know how to handle them. Gaston and the others didn't really count as they had grown up together, their families were close, and they knew what she was like. Costin was new, the first friend she had made on her own, the one friend here that was hers, who belonged to her and not her brother, and she had just blown the whole thing. She had made him angry for a joke. Why had she thought this would be a good idea?

Gwyn felt frozen in place, unable to do anything to stop it. Part of her felt indignant that he would get angry over something so silly, and another part of her actually wanted to apologize and explain and plead for him not to hate her. The former was familiar, but where had that latter part come from? She didn't know it, and she didn't like it, but she liked a lot less the thought of losing Costin, especially due to something she had done.

“Costin, I...” she started to speak, to say something, anything, and she hated that uncertainty in her voice, that note that bordered on fear. And then he was laughing. It was awkward and constrained, but he was laughing; laughing and striking her with the toy, and joking back. Now it was Gwyn's turn to simply stare, unable to comprehend for a moment. He didn't hate her, she hadn't ruined everything. He... actually found it funny.

When she finally laughed in return it was one so full of relief and joy that her entire face seemed to light up. “I don't know about that. You are apparently the expert while I am merely just awesome in an unspecific way.” She couldn't keep the relief out of her voice and at this point didn't even try. She was far too happy this had worked to care.

[Costin Dracula]

She looked so incredibly delighted and relieved at his reaction, Costin wondered what she had been expecting. He wondered if he had given her reason to think that he would have treated her cruelly for a joke that had done him no physical harm, and all at once, he realized that yes, he probably had. He had probably given her many reasons to think he wouldn't take this well, but she had chanced it anyway, just...to make him laugh? A peculiar expression passed over Costin's features, and he looked down at the lightsaber, then back up at her face.

Gwyn Locksley, he decided, was one of the bravest, cleverest people he had ever met, and he did not hate spending time with her. In fact, he was forced to admit in that moment that he very much enjoyed spending time with her. It was undeniable; here he was, doing things he would rather have died than let anyone else drag him into, laughing at a joke that had been made at his own expense, and he had no desire to leave at all.

Which was, of course, why he suddenly decided he needed to leave immediately. He couldn't very well tell her that, though, or she would think he hated her, which he didn't want at all. He just...needed to not be so happy, not about something so incredibly human. And as he went over all the possible excuses in his mind for leaving, he dismissed them one by one, not because he thought they were unbelievable, but because not a single one of them seemed like an adequate reason to walk away.

He took another swing at her shoulder with his lightsaber, a smile still tugging upward at one corner of his mouth. All those other things could wait. He could be a vampire another day. He could yell at his fathers about the ways they had failed him later, he could cut ties with all his human relationships some other time. Nothing would be especially derailed by him deciding to enjoy today, to let go of his angst and bitterness for just a few hours here with this girl. It wasn't as if his parents were here right now saying choose now, Costin, choose between Gwyn and immortality, you must decide now.

"The trick to laser swords," he said, putting on his best space pirate voice, which was essentially just his normal voice but with the most proper-sounding English accent he could manage, "is mostly that you've just got to try not to amputate your own leg. Trust me, my young apprentice, I learned that the hard way."

[Gwyn Locksley]

Costin didn't seem to know what to do with the lightsaber, just kept tapping her arm with it in an awkward yet playful way, all the while still smiling. He had a nice smile, Gwyn decided, and she was glad to have brought it out of him. It had been tense for a moment there, and she certainly didn't want to feel that overwhelming fear and regret ever again, but right now it seemed worth it.

“Oh, a peg leg, have ye?” she responded, shifting her grip on her own weapon and giving him a nod to indicate he should mimic her. Just because they were fooling around didn't mean she couldn't start the lesson. Perhaps not all training had to be deathly serious, they could have some fun with it. Not that she thought serious training wasn't fun, but she knew she was in the minority with that. And Costin had seemed nervous when they'd first met today, and that was all gone now. A rocky beginning but ultimately a great idea. “A true pirate.”

It was silly, really. Gaston and Eddie and Meredith often dressed up and acted like fictional characters, and Gwyn had always found it rather silly, yet here she was, acting like these lightsabers were real, and they were pirates. It was silly and not at all logical and... kind of fun. Setting her feet and taking a proper stance, she again waited for him to do the same before swinging the lightsaber in a slow manner, more to demonstrate the proper movement than actually attack.