Insult to Masculinity (OPEN)

Actions speak louder than words - those are the words Sean's father drilled into his head from a young age, and New Rome had done nothing but solidify the purpose of that phrase. Sean believed in these words so much, he was willing to do anything to prove their truth.

Anything, including jeopardizing his man-card privileges.

Back at the 4th's barracks, the son of Ceres had made a bet with one of his mates that he could sink a basket into the wastebasket without hitting the rim. And when he tossed the crippled up piece of loose leaf paper, nothing but floorboards was the sound Sean head ringing through his ears. The punishment - he was going to have to initiate a fight wearing the ever so eloquently named "p**** shirt" - a black Twilight - Breaking Dawn tee that someone had brought back from a quest a few years back. It was one of those ones with the picture of Bella and the wolf guy on it (Sean wasn't into Twilight, mainly due to the kinds of chromosomes he was born with) hugging or something. It was all very, very girly.

But being a man of his word, Sean threw the t-shirt on and headed out with his hasta to the Field of Mars, considering stoping along the way for a Frapachino or Pumpkin Spice Latte to go along with the shirt. He ultimately showed up to the Field lacking a PSL, but that wasn't enough to spare him from the laughter of his fellow Romans. "Al'right y'all, very funny." He said, the Canadian accent very clear in his voice. "Laugh all y'all want, but that don't mean nothing if I can kick one of y'all's a**ess, ya know."

((For Romulus this takes place Before the topic I posted earlier))

Benched. He was tossed to the side, forgotten, left to ‘rot’ as it were. Sure, he had been seriously injured with a broken ankle, torn MCL, and concussion that left him on medical leave practically bed ridden as per ‘doctor’s orders’ for the past two months; but, that did not mean that he was actually going to completely listen. He usually followed orders, did what he was told and made damn sure that if he was doing something he gave a 110%. This was not one of those times. Sitting around and doing nothing while everyone else was still out training and preparing themselves for whatever was to come next? That just wasn’t the type of person Romulus Emanuel Mercury was.

So, instead he had come out to the Field of Mars to do what he always did in any situation when he felt powerless. He attempted to lash out at himself but pushing his mind and body to the limits in whatever way he possibly could. For the past week he had come to the Field and attempted to do just that in any possible way he could. Whether it ranged from training with four or five other legionnaires (it was damn hard to find ones that were willing to train with him AND didn’t know who he was), running an obstacle course or two, or whatever else the Field had to offer that he believed was sufficient enough to test him both mentally and physically. He had to prove that he was still the same man he had always been. That one failure wouldn’t change anything.

Today he had chosen to start with a spar before hitting an obstacle course or two but that was easier said than done. As he was not supposed to be doing any legion sanctioned activity it had become slightly harder to follow the schedules of the cohorts and find out when each had their off time and it appeared he had arrived during a time when very little had that magic off time. Sure, there were a few here and there sparing with each other, going over battle strategies and the like but none that truly interested the Son of Quirinus. Until of course he heard a resounding chorus of laughter coming from his fellow legionnaires interrupting his stretching. Unslinging his Verutum from his back he quickly turned to find the source of the laughter before smirking at the challenge thrown out by the Child of Ceres, if the Legion Tattoo was anything to go by.

Noting the hasta he wielded just confirmed Romulus suspicions that he was going to be the person he challenged today. He would be the individual who would help him push himself today before he moved on to press his mind and body elsewhere. “Is that a challenge?” The Opito of the 1st Cohort asked positioning his Verutum over his shoulder with one hand while the other rested on his hip while he made his way over to the Twilight Shirt wearing Legionnaire. “If so I’d gladly take you up upon it.” He hadn’t fought anyone one on one in quite some time and to do so against another Spear/Javelin user would be interesting. Sure, when people thought of Romulus they probably didn’t expect him to be a spear user especially because, at least before his injury, he taught one of the sword fighting classes but as it was his father’s sacred symbol he was very well versed in it and loved the versatility it gave in a fight.

Around Sean, the laughter all but stopped when Romulus opened his mouth. What was once the sound of jubilant chirping had turned into whispers of "Oh s***" and "oh that kid is so dead".

As for Sean himself, he turned to face Romulus, a smirk plastered on his face. He knew who Romulus was - and was glad he was the one to take up the challenge. If his reputation was anything to go by, then Sean was going to be back in a flannel by the end of the hour.

"Ah, if it isn't an honor to have the vegetable takin' up my offer." Vegetable; it was probably an overstatement given that his injuries had not left him in a bed getting meals from a straw, but it was something to stir the pot up. Build the hype and everything. "If you're down, then I'm down, Romulus."

The vegetable? Was that supposed to be a dig at his injuries? Did the guy actually think it was supposed to get him riled up? Sure, it was a tactic he had seen used countless times; you got the opponent angry, poked and prodded, made them lose their head so they rushed in without thinking. But the Ceres honestly expected it to work against him? Usually he just took comments in stride and rolled past them like they were nothing drowning out everything that wasn’t important. This time however . . . well the entire camp had been treating him like he was some sort of broken object or an expensive piece of china that would break at the slightest touch. He was here to prove that was not true.

Even better that he knew who he was. Romulus generally made sure to know the name of every legionnaire in case he was somehow put in charge of them or vice versa but there were just so many people in the camp now that it was becoming progressively harder and harder to do. That and he had not been able to go about a normal schedule for the past two months which made keeping up with things that much harder. He’d have to ask the other man his name after this spar was over, after he wiped the floor with him. Even in the state he was currently in Romulus was pretty sure that he’d be able to take the arrogant Son of Ceres.

“Good.” That was the only indication that they had started. It was a normal spar, first to yield would be the victor. Romulus was not in the mood for a cheap ‘first to bleed’ or any other variation. That was to be a straight up spar, mimicking that of an actual battle. The first one to yield would be the victor and nothing short would get Romulus to stop . . . unless of course he came anywhere close to actually fatally wounding the boy and he foolishly tried to continue fighting. Then, and only then, would he knock him unconscious and have the fight end that way. Taking a step forward the Verutum slung down into both of Romulus’ hands who jabbed the spear built for ‘close quarters’ combat at his opponent. An easy opening attack that he expected to be blocked, but as they say ‘he was just getting started’.

There wasn't much time for Sean to react, as Romulus quickly jabbed his spear at him. The was enough time to block the attack, which the son of Ceres quickly turned into his own offensive jab at the near-legendary demigod-legacy.

Good. The fight continued which meant this Twilight fan was not all just hot air. He expected nothing less of course as he was in the Legion and not some random camper from Camp Half-Blood who wandered into New Rome. The deflection and returned offensive jab were also expected. He may not have been completely 100% back to normal but he was still mentally the same person he had always been. He could read people like a book and with his adaptive muscle memory it only added to his knowledge on fighting styles. A quick step that positioned his body sideways and an upward motion with his Verutum intended to lift the hasta in the air was all he needed to do before quickly slicing the spear down at the other leigionaire’s unprotected legs. Intending to stab the spear head sideways into one shin before ripping it out backwards towards himself. He hoped it didn’t completely work. No reason to end the fight so soon. He wanted a challenge.

OOC: Spear combat isn't really my thing, so...yeah. If the laws of physics are broken or anything, feel free to call me out on it.

BIC: Sean fell to the ground, quickly getting up though. Romulus' slice to the shin had sent a whole new world of pain through the Canadian farmer's leg, but didn't do enough to put him out of the fight for very long. Seconds later, he quickly grabbed his hasta and jabbed at the legs of Romulus. He wasn't expecting a hit; just some time for him to get back up if Rom decided to step back.

The kid was reckless, lashing out. Not calculating or anticipating his opponent’s movements. He expected better and was completely and utterly disappointed. It seemed as if the entire world was trying to disappoint him. The son of Ceres had talked a big game, made a scene tried to provoke anyone into a fight and for this kind of display? Still standing off to the side of the fallen Twilight Fan, Romulus was able to easily use his own spear to stop the forward stab against the shaft of the spear as he took steps forwards towards the other fighter. Closing the distance enough to put the spear head up against the older kid’s neck if of course he didn’t back off. With the injury to his leg though Romulus calculated that his movements would not be quick enough to allow him to do so. “Yield.” He hoped he didn’t. For his sake. Beaten by a ‘vegetable’ this quickly? Where would the fun in that be?

Sean had two choices: give Romulus the win and no longer wear the shirt, or keep fighting and quit wearing the shirt later. Despite him wanting to go on, he had on an embrassing graphic tee, and that was enough to justify tapping out.

Sean looked up at Romulus, making a slight nod and smirked. "Yield."

Shame. He had expected the other legionnaire to continue fighting. To keep attempting to fight back after the big spectacle he made. Until of course he spotted the smirk on his face which started Romulus brain rolling. Removing his spear from the other boy’s neck the son of Quirinus held out his other hand to assist the son of Ceres up. All the while the cogs in his mind were turning yet it wasn’t until his eyes rested on the shirt once more that things started to fall into place. This was all a dare. Go to the fields, make a big scene and fight someone, possibly until he lost too. All the while wearing the Twilight shirt. More than likely that was why he was so quick to fight Romulus and so quick to yield too. Fool was lucky Romulus wasn’t anywhere near 100% or he would have bested him even quicker, embarrassing him much more than he had already been.

“What Cohort are you in? Do your superiors know that you are out here making a fool of yourself and the legion? I want the names or name of the person who dared you to do this. You’re lucky I’m on medical leave and not your Optio.” Harsh? Possibly. Romulus wasn’t in the mood for jokes, never really was and this was usually something he’d let go, maybe give a couple of pointers or something along those lines but not this time. People needed to be prepared, needed to train. Not joke around making dares or bets or things of that sort. They could have very well lost the War against Gaea and things were still acting all kinds of crazy even now. The added effect of no one telling him what it meant that Monsters and Demi-Gods were seemingly working together didn’t add to his cheery mood.