video; @damen

[goldcuffed]

[The video clicks on to the face of a young man with dark olive skin and unruly dark curls, damp from a shower. It's strangely unfocused, and shifts around for a moment before he realizes how to hold it best to get the right angle - he clearly isn't used to technology like this.] Is this- Yes, the flashing light means 'recording'... [He mumbles to himself, eventually setting the device down on a table in front of him.

When he smiles, it's brightly, pleasantly.] Hello. I'm Damen, I'm... newly arrived, within the last couple of weeks, as many others are, and I admit I am not quite used to this city yet, nor all it has to offer. Back home, I'm a soldier, but here...

I keep remembering when I was young. I cheated once, when my tutor was to test me on my history lessons. My friend Nikandros gave me all the answers beforehand, so that we could go to the training yard sooner. My tutor was very impressed with my knowledge, but my father knew immediately. I could never trick the King.

He said to me, Damianos- [And here, he says something gravely in a language that has similarities to Greek, in the nouns and verbs, though a different grammatical structure. After, a translation,] Only a fool pretends to know what he has the opportunity to learn.

[His smile takes on a slightly sadder note, but he banishes it quickly.] So, I am searching for a combat instructor and sparring partner, one who can teach me the things that my world has not yet discovered. There are so many weapons here I do not recognize, and I'm sure techniques I have never seen before. I am no beginner, however, and so I would prefer someone experienced. You will be adequately compensated for your time. Thank you.

Comments

[goldcuffed]

[That is certainly not a move they use in wrestling, and he isn't entirely used to close up combat without a sword in his hand. The only thing that makes it slightly difficult to get him onto his back is his weight and how he throws it around like he's used to it. Weight, though, is not enough to evade.

He ends up on his back and pinned, though he fights the pin, aiming to flip their positions with bulk and brute strength.]

[advanced]

[It's a good attempt, Damen obviously has a fair amount of brute strength on his side, but Bucky has decades of training and the serum to enhance his own strength. It takes effort, though, to try to keep him pinned down.]

Where's your technique?

[It's a surprisingly casually asked question in the middle of the fighting, but he wants to know if Damen is all strength or if he has something else to him.]

[goldcuffed]

[It's definitely hard to keep him pinned. He fights it for a few moments, before deciding on some distance. He shoves, and twists away, feet sliding apart into a ready stance when the other inevitably comes after him.]

I haven't been disarmed in years. [Six years. Marlas. Auguste had let him pick his sword back up again, and he'd- He fights that memory down.] And wrestling has rules. [A wry smile comes onto his face despite his losing position.] I haven't been challenged like this in a while.

[advanced]

No, it doesn't.

[Bucky's ready stance looks much more relaxed, almost like he isn't preparing for an attack at all. No good being an assassin if you give away your intentions to the crowd, after all.]

Wrestling's for play, that's not fighting. Real fighting has no rules, forget that.

[goldcuffed]

[Damen stands back for a moment, raising a brow. It feels a bit like a dismissal of what, in his culture, is an important sport, more than just 'play'. And he isn't sure he agrees with the next statement either.]

Honorable combat has rules of engagement. I'm not particularly interested in learning to fight dirty.

[advanced]

Then you'll die the first time that someone actually tries to kill you.

[He says it with perfect certainty. He knows that there's no such thing as honourable combat, that war and battle make people fight the dirtiest, and Damen is never going to survive if he doesn't realise that.]