You Lack Technique (Saisei/Locke/Johanna)

The warmth of the sun licked away at the pallid skin of another, as Alastair Eisfluch found himself with some downtime between his duties and no place to spend it except for lounging about the DC base. The days and weeks had begun to roll together of late, making a moment of relaxation as valuable as gold dust and yet there was little peace to be had in the camp today.

Fresh-faced recruits were hardly an oddity to the Vandenreich, which took on Quincy of all ages and experiences, but, to Alastair, they were still rather novel. They reminded him of home at a root level, however, it was equally jarring that these trainees were being rushed out into what had until recently been an active warzone. What were they expected to do when faced with a real threat if the limit of their Reishi manipulation could hardly ruffle the white cape that wrapped around his shoulders? He did not mean to belittle them, for he had certainly been at that stage himself once upon a time, but it passed the time at least.

Eventually finding a position on the sidelines, Alastair soon found himself leaning upon a railing doing his best to appraise the trainees without drawing their attention. Each was perhaps a unique talent, though there was one in particular that caught his eye. He was not the star of the show, perhaps the opposite if Alastair had to be brutally honest, but there was something refreshing in watching his drive to succeed at that which his very body seemed to resist. When the time came for each recruit to demonstrate their control, he found himself silently willing for the pink-haired boy to flourish - though even that was not enough this time around.

As Saisei retreated from the training field to take a seat nearby, appearing at least to be humble in the face of defeat, Alastair found himself shuffling along the railing until he was within a pleasant range for quiet discussion. He hardly wished to shout across the camp, and there was something more to this one, so inquisitiveness won out against caution at that moment.

"Are you the lucky one, or perhaps the unlucky?"

He called out, loud enough for it to be clear who he was talking to, hopefully without alarming them. Giving his quarry a moment to face him before gesturing towards the other recruits that were still running exercises with a nod of the head. There was no smile upon his face, instead perhaps a look of mild concern, as his amber gaze sought to meet with Saisei's own to best gauge his temperament.

"Either way, I suppose you are in one of the best places to hone those rough edges."

The corners of Alastair's lips had begun to turn upward, in perhaps the closest the aloof Quincy could get to a smile, as he watched Saisei come to terms with his own fault rather bluntly. It was one of the fairest measures of character, to see someone at the bottom of a low rather than riding a high. He didn't have a response ready to roll off the tongue, but he was beginning to formulate something to assuage the boy's concerns when he caught the blur of another shade of red approaching from beyond.

The self-proclaimed Mad Dog took a different approach to leadership from Alastair, that much took all of a second for him to decide as the words began to tumble from her mouth. His face quickly returned to a resting expression of neutrality, not an eyelid batted at the flippant comment, as he straightened out from his hunched position and corrected the fit of his cloak. He'd no intention of escalating matters any further, but, equally, he was not one to bend before he broke.

"My name is Alastair Eisfluch, of the Sternritter."

His gaze did not falter as it moved between both Saisei and Johanna, eventually settling on the latter.

"I would apologise for my interruption of your lesson - Mad Dog - but, if you are meant to be responsible for training these recruits, can you be confident that it is not your teaching methods that are at fault?"

Even under the heat of the spring sun, his words were delivered with an icy cool that certainly did its part to temper the mood. An invisible gauntlet had been thrown down for the woman to accept if she so wished.

"So, your trainee has asked for guidance. What do you have in mind?"

i'm crazy but
you like that i bite back

"Shut it, bubblegum."

Johanna quickly shushed the recruit, he can wait, he wasn't the issue right now. Well, he technically was, but that's because he's a loser. The problem lied in this cherry that had the nerve to challenge her, because what, she looked like small fry? Walking closer, Jojo sized up her opponent and gave him a dirty look. People like that type always had something to prove and normally she would have attacked and tried to assert her dominance. It was tempting, really, more than anything to just jump his bones like a wild animal.

But alas, Jojo knew that doing any of that right now would just get her in trouble. So instead she just flips Alastair the bird and told him to kiss her ass, before turning back to the loser. The kid who wouldn't even do what she could do at one years old, what kind of person couldn't just grasp the most basic of quincy abilities? She snorted in amusement as she pulled up a chair to drape herself over and observe the pinky. "Ok, now you can talk. Why do you suck?"

Alastair had half expected Johanna to throw a punch as she stepped forward, eyes burning with a fiery tenacity that painted a clear picture of disrespect for authority. A quiet voice in the back of his mind wished that she had gone for it, but he was quick to bottle that arrogance up behind a wall of apathy. Instead of attacking, though, she just swore at him and marched off to find a chair of her own. Satisfied for the moment, he let his shoulders sag and turned his focus back to Saisei.

"Your name is what you make it, Mister Sato, don't go losing sleep over it."

Alastair smirked a little at that comment, resuming his original stance of leaning against the railing, and watched as the boy began to demonstrate his issues. The sudden shift of reishi took him by surprise, drawing more of a reaction from him than Johanna's provocations had managed, and he could feel the energy building higher and higher until suddenly it was gone. All-in-all the experience was a strange one, like a bottle of pop bubbling up until it was ready to burst and then dissipating into nothingness. Even he could not help but feel some level of frustration, but it seemed like he was on the cusp of a breakthrough.

But it was not his place to speak now and so, as Saisei looked back to him for some semblance of guidance, he nodded his head back in the Mad Dog's direction and waited to see what wisdom would be proffered.