And I Do [open]

Deacon grinned as he climbed off of Cori and offered her his hand, “I never said you had to win to learn my name, Sergeant.” He laughed, shaking his head, “You just had to earn it.” Think back on their fight for a moment, Deacon nodded, “You fight well, which is a good thing, but what is even better is that you lose well.” He decided his statement warranted further explanation, “Some people cannot lose gracefully and, in doing so, show their weaknesses more clearly making them easier to beat in a second fight.” With a smile he added, “Deacon, Deacon Jacoby.”

Cori took his hand and let him lift her to a standing position. She cocked an eyebrow at him as he explained how she had in fact earned his name by her skill and her ability to not be a sore loser. She smiled, her eyes squinting a little. "That's a good point, some people are very ungraceful when losing. Though, those people are often ungraceful with winning as well," she commented. When his name was added on to the end she nodded, "Nice to meet you, Deacon."

She sighed, placing both hands on her hips and glancing around the arena, "So, how long have you been out here mutilating poor dummies?"

Deacon took in a deep breath, pulling his hand away from hers more quickly than he had originally intended. His fingers were blue from the cold, despite the fact that it was nearly sixty degrees outside. He looked from his fingers to the girl and raised his eyebrow before burying the frozen digits into his pocket in a sad attempt to warm them. He made a mental note to go see Taze later and get them looked at.

At her question, Deacon shrugged, "Longer than I would care to admit, honestly." He said shaking his head, "I had some things to think through and this seemed the better alternative to whacking one of my soldiers in the temple with a mace."

When Deacon took a deep breath at pulling her up, she immediately started blushing. It wasn't like her to let someone touch her so easily, but she must have been wrapped up in the moment. "Oh Gods, I'm sorry. I took a chance not wearing my gloves today," she made an apologetic face as she shoved her own hands in her pocket.

"A mace?" her eyes widened at the thought and she smiled, "Well, in that class I'm glad you were out here. Well, maybe you need a break." She hoped he'd be able to work through whatever had caused him to torture the dummy in that way.

Still feeling the chilly tingle in his fingertips, Deacon nodded, “Yeah, but I am certain the trainee will do better tomorrow. Surely no one is that clumsy all the time…” He shook his head, not convinced by his own words. With a deep breathe, Deacon thrust his sword into the ground and shift as arm so his hand would go deeper into his pocket. If he was being honest, the cold tingling was beginning to spread up his arm and he was starting to get worried that he might need to go to the hospital, or course he would never admit his weakness to the sergeant, “I think I do need a break, actually. Maybe we can fight again soon.” He smiled at her kindly and waved before walking toward the exit.

"I'll hold you to that," she smiled as he said they could maybe fight again soon. She waved goodbye and turned away from him, getting ready to do a little more practicing herself. She hoped that he would be okay because of the ice touch thing... she really had been stupid. For a moment she felt herself shrinking back into her shell, back into that girl who wore gloves and scarfs twenty four seven and never spoke to anyone. She shook it off, making a new ice sword to tackle some dummies.