trans_9 | Roaming, restless [After Dungeon Keeper]

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Roaming, restless [After Dungeon Keeper]

Morgan was restless.

When restless, he tended to roam the ship, checking on things he knew of, or seeking out places he didn't out of curiosity. Today was a little of both. After the pitched battle in Hydroponics, he felt a particular obligation towards one plant in particular: the apple tree he'd helped Applejack grow from a seed. For all that he'd done his best to contain Hydroponic in the fight, he hadn't been able to do anything specific to protect that plant.

Done there, he headed back down in the City, off to one particular place that had caught his interest when he had heard about it: an 'air temple'. Not on the map, not listed in the directory, or he'd have wandered over just to take a look a long time ago. Now that he'd heard about it, well...

Time to investigate.

[OOC: Just say where you find him; it can be pretty much anywhere, since his trip covers a lot of ground across the ship.]

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So anyone with half a brain would have known that, herself included. But she knew one of her failing was wanting to increase her strength in the quickest amount of time, and that would be a downfall when she was so hellbent on doing things the best way possible.

"So basically, what I'm doing." She sighed. "So it was stupid to think I could just find some answer that would get me where I needed. Serves me right, I guess. You can't fast forward actual experience."

"The journey is every bit as important as the destination. If you just got to where you 'needed' to be, you wouldn't have the benefit of learning it, and there's value in that, too." His eyebrows narrowed slightly, the only sign that he knew he was getting into dangerous territory. "And you don't have to be perfect tomorrow."

It might as well have been taken from a plethora of wise old Asian guys, but it was just as true, considering how much she;d been trying to rush it. But she wanted to be honest, of all people, to Morgan.

"Morgan, its my eventual destiny to be a demon overlord. I got my own reasons for that, and I don't intend to back away from it, no matter what anyone says. But while I'm me, here, I want to be the strongest I can be, in mind and body. I don't make that decision lightly, and I know it means I'll be put through a lot. But I want you to be my teacher there, because I think you are one of the strongest and best people I can learn from, because you've been where I've been and more. I know I got an ego in my ability, but that's because when it comes down to it, I work my body to the bone for what I have to. What you say always kinda throws me for a loop, and its so different and new, but I always want to know more."

In large part it had been knowledge learned from a wise old Asian woman, who Morgan respected and loved like a mother.

He let the whole 'demon overlord' thing pass because he didn't even know HOW to start dealing with that. "That's understandable, but look at it this way: strength isn't a single quantity. Right now you're struggling for a new kind of strength, because for all your physical capabilities, you can still be hurt mentally, or emotionally. If your mind, your emotions, and your body are out of balance, then you're weaker for that, so all of those things need to grow. And you can't force or rush everything, only some things."

Congratulations, Morgan You were now the wise old non-asian guy that Mindy respected and cared about.

That was good too, because if there was one that Mindy was sure about it was the Overlord thing. "Yeah, that is a ting. The worse thing is, what happened with dad was horrible, but I know in time I'll get over it. When I fight and laugh and kill, that's me, his Babydoll, carrying what he taught me until the day I die. But when I found out Sasami and Negi were gone, friends I made and knew since being on the ship, I looked to find something of theirs to hold onto. Losing dad was horrible, and losing them was a punch in the goddamn gut. That was why I opened the cafe: I wanted to prove they existed, and would still have their touch somewhere on the ship still."

She could manage that much.

Hey! He's not old! He's still in his prime!

"Let me ask you this... what do you do for fun? What are you learning to do that isn't combat, physically and mentally?"

He had an old soul then?

"Well, I did go to amusement parts and shit when Sasami was around. Now? Uh...I go on dates where we do random crazy shit, or I hike. Oh, and now I'm running a cafe. It's kinda fun, like you're a bartender but without the alcohol."

Or an experienced one. "You ought to pick a couple of things and learn 'em... if you want my advice," he said with a shrug. "Something educational or intellectual or something, and something physical or artistic or whatnot. Rounded growth is one of the principles of Do."

"So what? Maybe I should go talk with Lash about more battle simulations? I guess that would make sense. But artistic? I don't know. I never thought of doing something, you know, without purpose to what I do."

"Not battle. The point is to learn something outside of just fighting, and then apply it to your life. Martial arts is a way of life, and a way of doing all things. There's something to learn in anything, if you can see the lesson properly." More mystical philosophy, yet again.

"But I don't mean like a real one. Actually, I'm sorta not that great at it, and I think it'd be a little interesting to learn more about it, you know? To be honest, that kind of shit calms me down, makes me really use my head, you know? But the artist thing is actually a new one for me. Got any suggestions?"

Well, if she didn't want to listen, he wouldn't push on the educational side of things. "I recommend instruments, myself. They're very useful for unity of mind and body. Painting, sculpture, or similar classical arts are pretty popular, and oration and rhetoric can be pretty useful if you master them."

Hey, learning battle tactics involved using your head, and that equaled education! Besides, that was something of a sore subject to her anyway...

Here, though, Mindy did look a little lost. "Oration and rhetoric? What do you mean?"

"Speaking and persuading. Learning how to deliver a speech, how to be persuasive in your words, and if you get really good, how to persuade people to the opposite of what you're talking about, without ever seeming like you meant to."

Mindy thought about this a moment. The last time she talked was with that one chick during the council meeting but...that hadn't really gone as well as she hoped.

"I dunno if I can convince people of shit because of how old I look. You know people on the ship: 'what does that child know' and shit like that."

"Not the way you're doing it, of course you can't," Morgan said. "You're blunt force and brute tactics. There's no subtlety to you at all, so you're working against yourself rather than with yourself. Balance, you see?"

Damn, he had a point. "I never thought of it as working against myself. I just figured that I was doing what I had to to get the job done. But I guess there's no harm in trying something like that."

Who would teach THAT though?

Maybe this was a teachable moment itself. "Well, think of it this way -- when you realized your efforts weren't working, and more to the point, you knew why, what did you do?"

"Honestly? I stopped giving a shit. I know my strength isn't with words, and you can already tell when some fucker is thinking to themselves 'why should I listen to this little kid?' So I just didn't bother. They have their code of honor and I have mine."

"I'm a little surprised you'd give up so easily." Just a statement to prompt her to talk further, really, to try to draw out more insight.

"I'm not big on talking, and when it comes down to it, I have less patience for dissension bullshit. All I hear half the time from people is them blaming the Council or Stacy for their lives not being better, when they can do it for themselves. And I'm a KID. If I know this and they don't, can you picture me trying to explain why arguing and bitching is unproductive to the actual mission? They'd pretend I had a point but I know damn well they don't think much of it."

She was definitely underselling what she COULD say, but Mindy cautious when it came to things she knew needed work. She hadn't gone to school like most people, so she knew enough not to try and and overstate herself.

"So far you don't seem like the kind of person who would give up no matter how trivial. Especially if it was because of your age." After all, she didn't do it in fighting, right?

"When it comes to fighting? Fuck no. I give it a hundred percent. But I'm not miss speechmaker with the flowery words and the inspiring messages that get burned into your soul. At most I'm probably better at inspiring a handful of people. But now that I think about it...in the future, I wanna be commanding armies and bringing people down, so maybe there's something to actually doing this kind of shit."

She paused. "Is this something you're pretty good at too?"

He lifted a hand to wave it in the universal 'so-so' gesture. "I can give a speech or sound good for the media, but that's not something I chose to explore in-depth. Then again, I have the unfair advantage of being a twenty-something Caucasian male with money. That all does more speaking for me than I'd frankly like."

Mindy laughed. "Well, at least you admit it. But you make a good point. Expand my options, see what else I can do besides training all the time, and managing the cafe. Might as well: it'll be good for me, give me a chance to put some weight behind what I say."

Roaming, restless [After Dungeon Keeper]

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