spira_rp | I know it's a shame

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I know it's a shame

It had not been hard to see how long it would have taken to devise a way to call on his scythe without Zexion's assistance. Marluxia had been better placed than others to learn, since mist manipulation and chakra control were already a part of his repertoire, but the process had still been slow at times, and frustrating. Zexion had guided where he could, and Marluxia had made sure not to let his frustration with the rate of progress show.

The first time he'd succeeded, and Graceful Dahlia had taken her familiar form and weight in his hand, there had been... comfort. It had felt as though a missing item had been returned to its proper place.

It had lasted a frustratingly short spell, and further practice had lengthened the time Marluxia could maintain the weapon by mere seconds. He required, according to Zexion, a sparring partner. Someone Marluxia could trust to push him in a fight, and help Marluxia train his control of the scythe under more trying circumstances.

He'd known the moment would come, of course, and it made Marluxia wary. The only person he could consider for such a role was Lumi, and Lumi was....

Marluxia did not like admitting his own weaknesses, but Lumi was in a league somewhat above Marluxia when it came to physical combat. They acted as partners, and Lumi was the closest thing to a partner that Marluxia had on Spira, but Lumi was the stronger. In some ways it was like having Larxene assist; Lumi was very much his own agent, who worked with Marluxia for his own purposes, but Lumi was more dangerous than Larxene because Larxene had been simple. Simple was not something that applied to Lumi, and Marluxia afforded Lumi the careful respect adopted by one who swims with sharks, which anyone who associated with Khamja did.

When it came time to bite the bullet, Marluxia ensured they were not in the Palace, or otherwise in range of anyone from Khamja. Though he was distantly aware that L likely had spies no matter where they went, L was not a problem. Aizen, Gin, and even Kuja, however, were not to become aware that Marluxia was currently at a disadvantage compared to the Order's members, or that he currently bore any difficulties. He was too strong to acknowledge a weakness, unlike Kadaj, who was too weak to be a real problem. Khamja was a dangerous place to occupy any of the intervening ground between those two points, and so Marluxia did not want the fact he was training in something to become public knowledge.

They'd gone on a journey to deal with a mark which, for them at least, would pose no real danger. It was in the Travel Agency, away from civilisation centres, and the Palace, that Marluxia had made mention of his need of a sparring partner to Lumi. Lumi could, if the mood so took him, erase Marluxia when he was vulnerable in such a session. Marluxia knew that, and yet Lumi was the only one Marluxia even trusted halfway. He was, at least, reasonably sure that Lumi would not take the opportunity to end him.

"It would require you to hold back," he said, knowing that holding back was something Lumi was more than capable of, but it was something Marluxia thought needed to be stressed. He wasn't sure if Lumi might realise how much he may have to hold back, although the possibility of sustaining injury was something Marluxia had made his peace with. "When it comes to combat prowess, I am good, but you are better," though he wasn't fond of admitting that, either, but Marluxia's advantage, up to now, had been in the magical aspects of combat, "and I require you to push me, but likely not yourself."

He hadn't told Lumi what ability he was trying to practice, as yet. That information need only come if Lumi seemed amenable to the idea of helping Marluxia train at all.

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One thing Marluxia liked about Lumi's company was the refreshing lack of questions. He noticed things, Marluxia was aware of that; Lumi was almost frighteningly observant, he was just disinclined to ask about things if he didn't think they were of concern to him. Marluxia wasn't sure if it was lack of curiosity, or simply nonchalance because anything serious enough to affect Lumi would inevitably make itself known before it became unmanageable.

There was definite nonchalance in the reply, Marluxia noted. A simple 'very well', suggesting that Lumi was fine with being mildly inconvenienced. Marluxia wasn't sure how he felt about the implications of that, but he wasn't about to fool himself into thinking that Lumi was agreeing out of camaraderie and friendship. Their relationship was more complicated than that, and at the same time simpler. They worked together, and both trusted each other slightly more than the rest of Khamja, but rather less than was required to classify them as friends. Marluxia was fine with this, or had been up to now, and he expected the same was true of Lumi.

But now he had to expose a weakness to Lumi, which pushed at the boundaries of Marluxia's trust. Lumi had less to lose, and Marluxia disliked being at a disadvantage.

He nodded his head just the once when Lumi agreed. "I have been re-acquiring an ability I had lost on our arrival here," he said, "but the technique must be worked on under combat conditions to be truly mastered." He looked at Lumi, momentarily sincere as he said, "Your assistance is appreciated."

Not just a sparring partner, then. He was training in something not entirely new, but that required Marluxia to bare his throat to his too-capable fangs in order for him to learn to control it to the fullest. That was ... interesting. Lumi was, of course, more than capable of holding back enough to not kill him, but he had no idea what to expect from the sparring session.

Or sessions.

Marluxia had an interesting skillset already, many of his abilities being those that Lumi, utterly unskilled in magic, could never hope to learn, but now there was something new? Lumi didn't feel apprehensive at all, but not knowing exactly what he wanted his help training in did put him on his guard just enough to strip him of any feelings of complacency.

He nodded in response to Marluxia's thanks. The only question left was: "When?"

"As soon as practical," Marluxia answered, looking at Lumi with his mouth set in a line and his expression serious. "The rest of Khamja are not to know that I am developing this ability." Marluxia was understandably cagey about explaining details of any of his abilities to the others in Khamja; that was merely the intelligent thing to do. Revealing a vulnerability to Khamja members was absolutely off the cards, but it was necessary to expose that to Lumi. "As such, I would prefer to do so away from their eyes and ears."

And scientists. Saix could do it; they'd all seen that, and the damnable idiot had done it so brazenly it suggested he made a habit of it. Still, it had let Marluxia know it was possible, and Aizen and the others did not necessarily know, at least yet, that anyone other than Saix was capable of it. For now, Marluxia wished to maintain a careful silence on the matter around Khamja, and allow them to come to their own conclusions. Marluxia would use that time to develop the ability himself, and intended to be fully adept at the technique before the matter had the chance to rear its head.

Once he was adept, of course, he didn't plan on flashing it around. Abilities the rest of Khamja did not know about were a useful thing to have, after all.

"Of course," Lumi said, inclining his head a fraction in understanding.

It would be interesting to see what this new ability of his was, especially if he found it necessary to keep it from everybody else. Khamja was a dangerous collection of people to be associated with. That said, even if Marluxia was looking to re-master an ability he had apparently lost during the transition from their old lives to the one they had now on Spira, he was no weaker for it than he was before his decision to reclaim it.

Marluxia was still a capable Mage, even if he had to re-learn ... whatever this was, Lumi knew that. That meant that, as well as the temporary vulnerability of re-acquainting himself with an old skill, something that should be apparent only on the training field, he wanted to keep the nature of the ability he sought to regain from Khamja for other reasons.

"I will keep my silence," he said.

Marluxia being targeted by them for one reason or another would be almost as detrimental to his own position within the Clan as it would be to Marluxia's. He was curious about his reasoning, but he opted not to ask, nor to speculate.

Marluxia allowed himself a twitch of a smirk at Lumi's answer. That they had an alliance wasn't in doubt, for Marluxia. The issue was that their alliance had untested boundaries, and the approximation of loyalty was undiscussed up to now. Neither of them had bared their throats to the other, neither had, yet, truly exposed a weakness.

Marluxia was forced to be the first to do so. That fact made him uncomfortable. If Lumi really wished, he could destroy Marluxia at his weakest, and Lumi was, when they sparred, inevitably going to see such opportunities.

That was, realistically speaking, the greater threat than Lumi running his mouth off. It was a pleasant change from working with Larxene.

"You have my gratitude," he said.

Still no question about what he was training, too, Marluxia noticed. Lumi's disinterest likely stemmed from a number of factors, one of them being that he'd see for himself anyway, and another being Lumi's well justified self confidence.

"You and Zexion are the only ones who currently know about this," Marluxia explained, quietly. "Zexion developed the technique, and has agreed to share the knowledge," Marluxia smirked faintly once more. Zexion was in need of allies, and Marluxia had found an opening, but protecting this information was in both their best interests. "The rest of the former Organisation are capable of it, but only Saix has thus far been witnessed making use of it." Which had been lucky for Marluxia. "Hopefully it will remain that way for some time." Time enough for Marluxia to master it himself, but should they run into any current members of Xigbar's reassembled Thirteenth Order, it would be best if the use of it did not come as a surprise to Lumi.

"Hopefully," he said softly. There was always the chance that they may run into his old allies and be forced to use whatever technique it was, but the chances were mercifully slim.

It didn't escape Lumi that Marluxia and Zexion, the new Ryoka, had been in discussion. That was certainly interesting, for it meant that Marluxia had made an ally of an old enemy. It was a turn out for the books, especially given what he knew about Organization XIII's past, but it was not something that he would openly concern himself with. Zexion would have to be careful, since Marluxia already had two allies, albeit one more trustworthy than the other, and Marluxia would have little reason to be wary around Zexion. It was an alliance of convenience that worked more in Marluxia's favour than otherwise.

Even so, it was an alliance that he would have to keep in mind. Post-Organization XIII politics weren't his main concern, but it would not do to forget that Marluxia's safety, and potentially his own, could be compromised, depending how things went. Still, he had a more immediate concern -- Marluxia's request.

"Will I require a weapon?" He asked, moving back onto the more pressing issue.

He had no idea what type of technique it was, but he had the ability to competently use a range of weapons, so it was prudent to ask.

Marluxia inclined his head, slowly. "A weapon would be prudent," he said. He wondered, briefly, if Lumi was going to be familiar with the sort of weapon he was helping Marluxia with, and then decided that was highly unlikely. They hadn't run into one on Spira, and from what Marluxia could gather, Lumi's own world wasn't the type to favour that sort of weaponry.

He'd probably be unfamiliar with the style of combat, then, but Lumi was very adaptable in that regard, and at any rate, would not be at the disadvantage.

"Something which can defend against a bladed weapon," he said. Lumi was adept with numerous weapons, but some of them would be less suited to this task than others, "As well as attack." Up to now, Marluxia had concentrated on magical attacks; Lumi would need to know that was not the intention here.

A sword, then. He nodded, wordlessly.

That came as something of a relief. A bladed weapon he could deal with. Magic, less so. He nodded. Guns, while his preferred weapon, had an annoying tendency to run out of ammunition when you relied on them for long periods of time. As such, he felt it necessary to carry a back-up weapon or three, a sword among them. A sword, though not his favourite option, did afford him more reach than a dagger, and had more heft than a razor, if a less keen cutting edge.

A guaranteed sharp bite to the blade, thankfully, wouldn't be an issue in a training session.

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