Katas?

[Freddie Marinov]

Freddie grinned and nodded. "Yeah, they're cool. I've never had one though. I had a dream that I had one, it was grey and called Norman... it was such a strange dream. I knew a guy once, his dad's patronus was a lion. How cool would that be? And the guy that was my friend, everyone thinks if he was an animagus he'd be a lion. I'd probably be something completely rubbish... are there any animals that cry too much, get really jealous and can do the splits?"

He giggled, then managed to return to the question. "Why d'you ask?"


((OOC: I really did dream I had a grey cat called Norman!)))

[Reiji Shimamura]

'Um...you might be a small primate,' he said, grinning. 'I'd probably be something lazy and talkative. Maybe a parrot. Or a crow, or maybe a magpie.' He was beginning to like this guy's sense of humour a lot.

'Oh, I ask everyone that. I'm such a cat lover, it's not even funny. My friends tell me that when I'm old, my wife and I will sit around in rocking chairs reading old novels, and have lots and lots and lots of cats. I have a whole bunch at home, but we're only allowed to have one pet per student in the dorm, so my mum got me a brand-new kitten for school. Her name is Benihime.'

He laughed, and lay back on the ground, arching his back to get the kinks out. 'She's a total spaz, always getting into trouble. She likes chasing my roommate's ferret, too.'

[Freddie Marinov]

"I've met that ferret before, it came into my room, then it's owner came to find it. Keiji, I think the guy's name was - he likes me because I gave him cookies." Freddie giggled at the memory of the boy who had come in searching for the ferret but had ended up getting distracted and talking to Freddie and eating cookies.

"We haven't got any cats, my step-dad has dogs though. I've always wanted an owl but I'm not allowed because apparently they're the symbol of evil here..." He huffed as he finished, showing his annoyance at this fact. He then stood up and lifted one foot up, held onto the foot and pulled his leg up to almost a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree angle, so that it was next to his face.

[Reiji Shimamura]

Reiji almost winced when Freddie moved his leg. 'Yeah, they're a symbol of death. But I hear they're all the rage everywhere else. They have been for years, you know, for carrying mail and stuff. We've got other birds to do that, here. Our family has this really beautiful kestrel we got in Europe, and my grandfather actually used to have an eagle.'

He grinned. He could certainly imagine Keiji's ferret running off, and Keiji getting distracted by cookies. His roommate was rather spastic. 'Yeah, Keiji's my roommate. He's funny. I like him.'

[Freddie Marinov]

Freddie was picturing the bird Reiji had described, and drifted off into thought momentarily. After shaking his head to bring him back to the present situation, he managed to formulate a reply.

"Me too, heīs kind of cute as well. I think heīs straight though, he said something about girls, canīt remember what it was but I remember thinking that he must be straight. Itīs annoying that all the cute guys here seem to be straight. I think the universe is conspiring against me..." he pouted for effect, before letting go of his leg and sitting back down on the floor, this time cross-legged.

[Reiji Shimamura]

Reiji was a little taken aback by Freddie's frank observations, but laughed it off. He wasn't sure himself about his own orientation. He knew he liked girls, but the idea of fooling around with a guy had held some appeal as well. Perhaps he was...what was that called again? Bisexual, that was the word.

'I suppose you'll find someone,' he said. 'We're really open about that kind of stuff. I think there's a someone in my class who's flaming, but I haven't seen him around lately. Maybe he's starting late, or something.' He gave Freddie a sidelong glance, and thought about what he'd said. Maybe Freddie thought he was cute? He turned slightly pink, and looked away. He'd never been crushed on by a boy before, or at least not that he knew of. Maybe it would be interesting.

He stretched his own legs out in front of him, wincing as his back popped yet again. 'And you're probably right about Keiji. I think he might like Etsu,' he ventured, voicing a passing thought. He wasn't sure at all, but they did seem to be friends.

[Freddie Marinov]

Freddie giggled as Reiji blushed, marvelling at how cute the other boy looked when he did so. He stretched his legs out in front of him, then opened them sideways into the splits. As he reached forward to lie his body flat on the floor, he heard Reiji start to speak again.

"I still find Japanese names so interesting - some are cool, some make me laugh, and others just seem strange. I think it comes from me growing up in another country so I'm not used to them." He lowered his head to the floor until his nose pressed against the floor but the rest of his face hovered an inch above.

"Stupid nose... the end of my nose always gets in my way - doing exercises, kissing... I was bullied a lot for it when I was younger... still, it makes me look like my dad more." He sighed and raised his head a little, reaching his hands out touch his toes.

((See the middle pic of my signature for what I mean about his nose! I think it's cute. ))

[Reiji Shimamura]

'Our names are very interesting, I suppose. I mean, they don't seem anything out of the ordinary to me, but I like how they mean things. I know English and other names are supposed to mean things too, but it's just not as apparent.' He sat up straighter, and curled his legs in under him so he was once again sitting tailor-style.

'Your poor nose,' Reiji joked, looking at the offending appendage. It looked okay to him, kind of cute and upturned, like a pixie, maybe. 'Doesn't seem like it would get in the way to me,' he muttered quietly, and covered up with a grin.

[Freddie Marinov]

Sitting up again, Freddie chose to remain in the splits for a little longer as he looked at Reiji. "It's just annoying, I hate how it looks." He scratched the tip of his nose, before moving his legs together and standing up. A second later, he was upside down on his hands, walking across the room. "Well, at least it can't get in my way from here," he announced as he lifted one hand from the ground and flipped from one hand back onto his feet.

"Wow..." Landing with one foot on the edge of a mat, his balance was thrown for a moment and he took a few seconds to let the feeling pass. "I think that one needs more practise..." He looked back at Reiji and smiled, noticing that the crush he'd had on the boy before was growing rapidly.

[Reiji Shimamura]

Reiji hid a smile behind his hand, and then stood up, stretching his body. 'I'm going to go do another kata, if you don't mind,' he warned Freddie, and stepped out into the centre of the dojo floor. Placing his hands in front of himself, he called out the name of the kata.

'Teno Kata!'

Going through the opening motions, he reviewd the kata in his mind. Side, punch, side, block... Confident in his motions (he didn't want to mess up in front of his new friend, though he didn't think Freddie would know the difference if he did) he started in on the kata.

Since he was still a low-level belt, his motions weren't as graceful or tight as a more experienced artist, but he was getting better. With as much practice as he put into the katas, they had to get better. He was quite happy with this one, as it were, and practiced it more often than the other three that he knew (not counting weapons katas, of course).

He finished with a bow, and trotted back over to Freddie. Even in a normal session with his sensei, he wouldn't be working nonstop, so it was good to take breaks between katas. 'Do you think I did a good job?' he asked Freddie, wondering what the younger boy would think of his movement.