Agni, a loud and sarcastic astronomy student from the University of Chicago, is suddenly transported to another world filled with mythical creatures. Unfortunately, fulfilling the role she's brought there for is difficult in ways she never expected...
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Shock paints my face and all I can do is stare at him with my mouth wide open. I've probably caught over ten flies in my mouth at this point, but can we just talk about the nerve it takes to preach about not playing around and then pulling that stunt.
It feels like hours that we've been staring at each other and instead of apologizing, like he should be, he's standing there, leaning on his sword like a cane. He has this 'what are you gonna do about it?' expression and it's causing my temperature to rise.
A hand on the small of my back causes me to jump and turn to look at at a kind faced Madoc, holding my sword out to me. "Here you go Ni. You were doing a good job, just needed a little bit firmer of a grip." He places the hilt back in my right hand, a smile of encouragement arranging his face. My knuckles start to turn white as I hold on tightly to the hilt. "That's good. But, you don't want to hold it too hard, just securely. The goal is to have control and just because you tighten your arm doesn't mean you have that."
"Doesn't holding it securely mean I would be gripping it tightly?" This is all so confusing. I honestly thought I had a good hold on it before, but Cai acted like I had the grip strength of a fucking gold fish.
Madoc places his hand over mine and smiles. "Here, I'll show-"
"Lessons over. It's getting dark. Put your sword up and let's go." He hasn't moved from his spot, but his stance seems to have tightened some. Control freak much?
Madoc obviously knows what he's doing and is perfectly capable of giving me some pointers. I think that I'm going to reinstate my request for a transfer in teacher. He removes his hand from on top of mine and steps back a few inches. "Good lesson today, Ni! I can't wait to see your improvements in our next lesson."
"Thanks for your help, Doc." Hopefully Cai can hear this and takes some pointers on his teaching style. "Your support meant a lot to me and I can't wait to learn more from you!"
"Anytime, Agni. Let me know if you need more help, even if that's just conversation about the history of sword fighting." And with that, he walks away.
Of course, that leaves an opening for a pissed off Cai to come storming over.
Bracing myself for the impact of his attitude, I take an offensive stance. "What the hell is your issue Pouty Patty? If anyone should be upset, it's me."
He reaches down and unsheathes my sword from my waist, pulling it out and handing it to me.
"You said lessons are over for today?!"
"I know what I said. Grip it."
"But, I want Madoc! I like him more than you and if we're continuing lessons, I want him to do it!" There's no sign of acknowledgement from him. "Why did you say we were ending lessons if we're not?!"
