She looked at Jez and shrugged slightly, "i don't think so…but I'm not sure.. not exactly the best at reading people and social situations.." she shrugged again, offering him the water, and the bread as well figuring he was probably hungry. She pulled her beanie down on her head, the only thing that fit her.
Jez sighs, keeping his eyes on the doorway Gus had walked out of before turning his attention to Jasper, taking the waterbottle.
He twists off the lid and takes a sip, his mind elsewhere now.
Though after a few seconds he looks back to Jasper "so" he stars off "how long were you in that hotel?" He asks
She flinched slightly at the question, and looks down at her sleeves again, and what's behind the sleeves, she fidgets with her fingers and pulls on loose threads.
"i don't…i d-dont know…it's just…b-been a really really long time…"
.png)
Darius blinked and shrugged, having no idea the last thing he said, or what he was talking about a minute ago.
June was just kinda existing somewhere.
%20pngg.png)
Gus coughed, counted to ten, and pushed aside his confusion for later. "Say, Darius, why don't we go talk to June fer a second? I wanna teach you how t' fight, but you mentioned somethin' about her not likin' that idea. I guess we should ask her why before we do much else."
Jez realizes that probably wasn't the best question to ask her. Especially after the "talk" they just had.
He cringed and cursed himself on the inside for being so insensitive.
"Ah-sorry. You don't have to talk about it. I shouldn't have asked." He takes talking a sip of the water.
.jpeg)
Elodie nodded and stood up slowly, her knee's a bit wobbly, she shook her head in response and then turned her chin downwards, to look at Jesse.
"Yeah, feeling fine." She said as she rubbed her closed eyes with her fists.
Darius nodded, "all right".
June was sitting on the floor with the nametags, drawing on them.
"Hey June," Gus greeted her. "Got a little question for ya real quick." He crouched down next to her and gestured at Darius. "I been thinkin', and I'm kinda worried our pal here don't know how t' fight. I know you watch out for 'im, an' I can help with that too, but what if someday he wanders off 'n gets attacked? Or what if he's the only guy left standing and he has to protect us? I'd feel a lot better if he could defend 'imself in a pinch. I dunno if he'd remember anythin' we taught 'im, but there's one way to find out. Anyway, I asked 'cause I Darius said you maybe weren't too excited about that idea, and I wanted t' know why. Since he's your friend first 'n all."
June sighed and set the pen she was writing with down, "I am afraid he will end up hurting himself, after all he has avoided sharp objects his entire life, and I am not sure how he would work with suddenly using weapons" she shrugged, "however if you want to try, be my guest, but I am not helping you." She went back to drawing, "I understand your point, and to an extent I can agree, but I also know that if he was our last resort, he would fail. He would forget that he was the last resort and he would fail. And besides, he has a nack for avoiding danger."
Gus pursed his lips. "Well, thanks for givin' me permission t' try. My thinkin' is, he's better off knowin' how t' safely use a weapon than he is pickin' one up with no training. If I'm wrong, I'll let it go fair 'n square." Bracing his hands on his knees, he stood up and glanced at Darius. "C'mon, I think I know where we can find you a good knife t' start with."
June rolled her eyes.
Darius nodded, 'ok" and followed Gus.
Gus gave him a smile and led him to the checkout counter, behind which was a locked display case containing more expensive and dangerous items. In one section was a row of hunting knives, some plain and practical, others finely made but mostly for show.
"With a good knife," Gus said, starting to sift through the large bundle of shop keys for the correct one. "You can do a whole lot of stuff. Hunt, fish, work with wood, build campin' gear 'n shelters, and acourse fight. It ain't th' best weapon since it's short 'n close range, but it's good fer beginners. Hard t' hurt yourself with it unless you fall on it or somethin'." Finally unlocking the case, he scanned the knives with a shrewd eye and selected a mid-sized one with a wooden handle and serrated teeth along the edge of the blade. "See this? 'S called a clip-point 'cause the points a lot narrower 'n more curved than the rest." He found a tough leather sheath for it and handed both to Darius. "Lesson one, put it in th' sheath 'n clip it to your belt. Don't pull it out unless you need it, clear? Knives ain't toys."
Darius nodded and put it in the sheath and attached it to his belt before pulling out his notebook and writing something in it. "Knifes ain't toys- …aren't." he said crossing out a word and re-writing it. "thank you for helping me with this" He smiled.
Gus grinned. "No trouble at all. Now, lesson two: How d'you know when t' draw your knife? For a fight specifically, I mean. The answer is, if somebody's pointin' a weapon at you, that's prob'ly a good time. But don't act like you wanna fight just yet. They might just be scared 'n won't attack if y'give 'em a nice smile 'n say you ain't here to scrap. Clear?" He was sort of simplifying it for Darius's sake, but these rules had worked for him many times in the past.
Darius nodded, "I mean, if I saw someone holding a weapon i would think they want to fight..like June. She always has a weapon in her hand."
"Mmm, well some people like to be prepared for th' worst. And some people jus' like to pick fights. But that don't mean you gotta be one of those types." Gus shrugged. "Use your own judgement too. You'll get a feel for it and figure out how to tell when somebody means business, eventually. Now draw th' knife and let's see how you hold it."
Jez realizes that probably wasn't the best question to ask her. Especially after the "talk" they just had.
He cringed and cursed himself on the inside for being so insensitive.
"Ah-sorry. You don't have to talk about it. I shouldn't have asked." He talks taking a sip of the water.
"i-its..its okay.." she mumbled, still playing with her sleeves, "i-its…j-just been..all i can…remember is just, being there…w-with t-them…" she didnt seem to get anything else out, but her eyes were downcast, almost afriad.
Darius drew the knife, holding it sideways "this…is not right is it?" He frowned slightly.
Gus winced. "Uh…..naw, that ain't it. Here." He drew his own knife, flicked it open, and held it so the blade faced backwards, sharp edge out away from his arm. "Reverse your hold on the knife like this when you're fightin'. It's better for stabbin' and slashin' than if you held it like you were cuttin' taters. Also, brace the blunt side of th' blade against your arm so you can protect it. Now watch this." He held the knife as he'd described, tucking it tightly against his arm and covering the handle with is hand. Then he let his arm drop to his side and angled it so the knife disappeared completely from view. "There. Now you can have your knife ready, but nobody will know until you show it to 'em. Let's see you try."
Darius nodded and copied Gus' motions, he did it exactly like Gus did, as he had learnt how to copy people long ago, it helped him act like he hadn't forgot things. "like this?"
"Yup! That's perfect. Now keep doin' that over 'n over, so you get used t' how it feels. Maybe if you do it enough, your body will remember even when your brain don't." It was a shot in the dark and Gus wasn't sure it would work, but he figured it was worth a try. "Now, always keep track of where the sharp end of the knife is. Very important. Even when you don't think there's any chance you'll get cut, it pays to be careful 'cause accidents happen. The more aware you are of your weapon, the better you can control it, see?"
Darius nodded, he agreed with the muscle memory concept, after all that was how he knew how to write and walk and basic things like that, after a while he just remembered how to. " that makes sense" He said practicing with the knife.
"Good. You're doin' great." Gus clapped him on the back. "Make sure to write this stuff down too, if you gotta. That notebook of yours seems like a great tool. I'm thinkin' of rustlin' up a blank book and pencil for myself, t' be honest."
Darius smiled, " it was my..dads? idea I think, I don't really remember but I think so, " he said writing stuff down, his notebook was almost full and had a few sketches of people so that he could put a face to the name so to speak.