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**A Theory Lesson**

**//Hendrix - The Courtyard//**

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave pedals calli's cart into the castle, and parks in front of the Dining Hall. He leans back and stubs his cigar out, tossing the butt into a wastebasket.

Paste-pot calliaphone detects that the cart has stopped moving. Cautiously, she pokes her head out from underneath a blanket. "uhh, where's this?" she stares around. "ohhh. Hendrix! Hullo Dave!"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave grins back at calli as he lights a pair of cigs, passing one back to her. "Howdy. So, hiding from your masters, eh?"

Paste-pot calliaphone beams, and takes a cigarette. she puffs, and then sobers a little. "yeah. they're bloody persistent though." she winces. "i just . . . i know i gotta see them, to find the drive an' all. . ."

Paste-pot calliaphone continues, ". . . but some days, you just can't deal with yet another thing beating up on yer. that last bowl of spaghetti-monster was . . . savage."

Paste-pot calliaphone shakes her head. "it's not as easy as everyone makes it look. finding the drive. an' all i wanna do is talk to it. it's like . . . so defensive. hiding behind monster i'm thinking Serious Issues."

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave nods thoughtfully, and stretches. "So fight back. You've definitely got the spirit for it. I've seen that." He leans backwards to grin upside-downly at calli.

Paste-pot calliaphone hiccups, having a swallowed a bit of punctuation there.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave nods. "I think, maybe it wants to make sure you're ready to find it? I've never given it that much thought, really. Read some of the papers coming out of WISE a while back, though. . ."

Paste-pot calliaphone looks at upside-down Dave. "fight back? but . . . how? i only have to pick up my glue-gun to get stuck to it. an' the dress-sword wasn't any better."

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave ponders a moment. "Well, clearly you're a bit of a mess when it comes to weapons. . ." No judgement there, just statement-of-fact. "What'ya feel about hand-to-hand?"

Paste-pot calliaphone nods. she can't argue with Dave's assessment. he should hear how her masters put it. she studies her hands. "well, er. . . i don't usually let 'em get close enough for that."

Paste-pot calliaphone says, "i'm quite good at roaring, though."

Paste-pot calliaphone demonstrates. "RRrrraarghhhh!"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave nods. "Makes sense. But consider, you can be quick and acrobatic when you need to be, and you're small, which means you've got a shorter reach than many of the jungle monsters."

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave grins at the roaring. If he were a jungle monster, he might be frightened. Or at least confused. "There you go. Scare 'em into submission." he chuckles.

Paste-pot calliaphone considers this, as instructed. "i can turn somersaults! i'd like to see the spaghetti-monster do that. is a short reach good or bad?"

Paste-pot calliaphone once nearly scared a zombie-puppy by roaring at it. but then it yipped back and she ran away.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave shakes his head. "It's neither, if you know what to do with it. It means that if you're closer, you have more options." He gets to his feet, tossing the butt of his cig 

Paste-pot calliaphone has also tried timing her hits. but she gets bored waiting! and sometimes forgets how to count, also.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave makes a "follow me" gesture, and hops into a small hole in the air.

Paste-pot calliaphone follows. She wants to hear more!


**//Hendrix - The Coliseum//**


Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave steps through the crowd, grinning about as some of the balloons recognize him from the victory against the HUMONGOUS DRAGON OF DOOM. He finds an empty spot by the railing, and points down.

Paste-pot calliaphone stares round at the crowds. oh man she loves crowds. NOISY! she follows Dave's gesture.

In the arena currently are two gladiators. The Taller one seems to be having a bit of trouble keeping theshorter one at arm's length, where it can try to swing at him.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave leans over to calli. "See how the red guy can duck under the Bigger one's sword, and make it harder to hit? It's 'cause he's smaller, he doesn't need as much room to maneuver."

Paste-pot calliaphone boggles! "but what if the big guy chops his head off! isn't he better to run away now, while he can?"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave shakes his head. "Not necessarily. Remember, the bigger guy has a longer reach, and longer legs. It's easier for him to catch up."

Paste-pot calliaphone says, "ohhh. yeah. that . . . i know about that." oh so well.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave nods. "Also, see how much more effort the big guy has to put into his movements? He's big, so he has to move big. Burns more energy."

Paste-pot calliaphone gulps, as the implications of this sink in. "but . . . but that means . . . s'better to. . ." she turns a bit green.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave places a hand on calli's shoulder. "Sometimes. It all depends. But especially against your masters. Quickest way to get them to leave you alone is to beat them." He nods sagely.

Paste-pot calliaphone narrows her eyes, focusing hard on the big guy's movements, until the panic goes away. she's still thinking . . . "but Bishop . . . he runs away. . ." she tails off, thinking about Bishop's height

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave ponders this a moment. "Bishop, I think, is an odd case. He really doesn't know his own strength. Or at least, he doesn't trust himself enough in a fight, at least outwardly." He's not sure here

Paste-pot calliaphone nods slowly. "He thinks he's a coward. But it's not that simple." Nothing ever is. She leans forward, watching the gladiators with renewed interest.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave nods. He watches, too. The Big gladiator seems to be slowing down, making mistakes. The smaller one looks tired too, but suddenly manages to score a decisive hit. Toothpick meets balloon.

A loud *POP* echoes around the stadium, and the crowd goes wild. Bets are payed out, and a team rushes the field to collect the gladiator and bring him back to the Balloon Master.

Paste-pot calliaphone startles at the POP! and then suddenly cheers! "YAY littleguy you GO!"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave gives an almost imperceptible nod to the gladiator as he takes his bows, beaming at calli's praise. "Thank you."

Paste-pot calliaphone beams back. "that PROVES it! little guys are the bestest!" she does a victory dance. and then stops. "so, uhh, why do i get beat all the time?"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave smiles. "Well, that's a good question. I think it's probably just that you've never been taught how to use your natural advantages properly." He grins. "You're quick, you're smart."

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave leans against the railing. "You just need to look at Fighting like. . .an engineering problem. Where to apply the right force to get the results you need."

Paste-pot calliaphone transfers her beam to Dave. "i am?" she struts a little. and trips over her feet.

Paste-pot calliaphone says, from her newly seated position, "huhh. leverage, an . . . such."

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave catches Calli before she faceplants. "Yep. One of the smartest people I know."

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave was clearly slower on the grab than he thought. He nods. "Leverage, and proper use of tools." He grins, and offers calli a hand up.

Ace or Ari follows voices into the coliseum

Paste-pot calliaphone accepts the hand. "oh! tools." she's not necessarily joining all the dots here, but oh she's listening.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave nods as he helps Calli to her feet. "Not all tools are hammers, or wrenches, or torches, or the like. Your hands, your legs, your mind. All of them are useful in a fight."

Paste-pot calliaphone looks at her arms and legs with new interest. they are tools? well, //that// is a new thought.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave spots Ace and flashes a grin over at her. "Ah, hullo Ace. How's tricks.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave briefly argues with a gremlin over the proper punctiation of the previous sentence, but the gremlin is adamant, and holds onto its question mark and end-quote fiercely. Dave gives up, and shrugs.

Paste-pot calliaphone is trying to look at her mind, but she's not sure where it is. At Dave's words though, she looks round at Ace instead. "ooh, hello Ace! have you come to Do Terrible Things?"

Ace or Ari looks over the tiny fellow "Accomplice? Did a evil-good guy shrink you?"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave shakes his head. "Nah, shrunk on account of a pun, to be honest." He grins.

Ace or Ari grins and shakes her head "not right at the moment, maybe I will let out the prisoner to play though"

Paste-pot calliaphone says, "Dave's does that from time to time. Shrinks, i mean." and people wonder why she's wary of baths?

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave gives calli a small nudge, and Teh produces a sign at her.

Paste-pot calliaphone tugtugs at a spare apostrophe-s. "now, where'd that gremlin get to? he can have these if he's still hungry."

Paste-pot calliaphone looks at the sign and boggles! "ohh" she says. and then, "er. just like this fellow here, in fact. who isn't Dave at all. perhaps they shared a bath. i mean, er. . ." she shuts up.

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave snnnnnrks.

Ace or Ari tilts her head "so whatcha both doing?"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave tilts his head. "About to teach calli how to beat her masters, so she can go have a conversation with Horatio."

Paste-pot calliaphone is suppressing giggles right now. but she gets it under control. she says, "we're watching littleguys beat up onbigguys."

Ace or Ari blinks "ooooh thats fun"

Ace or Ari looks over her shoulder towards the door "I should go let the prisoner out to play"

Paste-pot calliaphone is curious. "you really have a prisoner?"

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave nods. "Make sure she got the coffee I left her this morning. Wouldn't want her to be too weak to be useful, eh?" He grins, and nudges Calli. "Let's head to the Gym, I think."

Paste-pot calliaphone says, "okay." staring at Ace in admiration. now that's badass! and she's a little guy too!

Ace or Ari grins "yep got her locked in the ball pit, I'll make sure she got the coffee"

Ace or Ari runs off to fetch the Rikki

Small-Arms Dealer Teh Dave admires Ace as she runs off with a grin, then nudges Calli. "Let's go." And he's off, guestroomwards.

Paste-pot calliaphone follows Dave out

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