"Hey," Ananias lazily greeted as he made his way to Gerome, who had been busy trying out the training weapons, giving each one a few practice swings before shaking his head, putting it back in its place, picking up another one, and repeating the process, with Minerva sitting besides the stand holding the said weapons and watching her master intently.

Gerome glanced towards Ananias for a moment before letting out an exasperated grunt, looking forward, and muttering a, "Greetings," before returning back to whatever it was that he was doing. Minerva let out a small, acknowledging shriek of her own.

Ananias gave Minerva a small wave hello before looking back at Gerome, watching him for a bit, folding his arms, and monotonously asking, "So… what exactly are you doing?"

Gerome returned the training weapon back to its appropriate place before grabbing another one and answering, "If you must know, I plan on training today. I am simply looking for the appropriate weapon to train with." He shook his head as he let out an annoyed grunt. "Honestly, who's bright idea was it to NOT label each of these nearly identical sparring weapons? One would waste too much valuable time simply looking for the appropriate weapon that they were looking for than actually training with it." He took a few practice swings with the current weapon he was holding before shaking his head, letting out an exasperated sigh, and muttering, "Not this one either."

As he placed the weapon back into its proper place, Ananias dully commented, "No offense, but out of all of us, I always sort of considered you one of our best weapons experts. Do you really need to train yourself in a field you already know you've mastered?"

"Warming up and conditioning the body is always important," Gerome answered as he continued to look through the vast display of weapons. "And a true warrior must always do what they can to prevent his skills from dulling, just as much as a true warrior should always do what they can to make sure that their weapon remains sharp." He turned back to Ananias and added,
"I would've thought someone like you would've understood that."

"Hey," Ananias said, raising his hands up to signal for Gerome to slow down, "I wasn't suggesting that you not train. I'm just suggesting that maybe you should try training differently for once."

Gerome raised an eyebrow out of mild curiosity and surprise. "Oh?" He folded his arms. "Then how do you suggest I train differently then?"

Realizing that he hadn't really thought this all the way through, Ananias sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he averted his gaze away from Gerome's, blushed lightly, thought hard, and said, "I don't know, maybe… training without a weapon or something?"

Gerome held his chin and took a moment to think about Ananias' suggestion. "Interesting, are you suggesting that I work on my hand-to-hand combat today?"

Ananias nodded quickly and awkwardly. "Yeah, sure, let's go with that," he murmured.

Gerome considered it for a moment before folding his arms, nodding his head solemnly, and saying, "Yes, I suppose that could come in handy." He then looked at Ananias and asked, "Would you mind sparring with me then?"

Ananias' eyes widened in mild surprise. "YOU'RE asking ME?" he asked incredulously.

"You're the one who suggested it, therefore it's only logical that you are the one who sees it through," Gerome answered matter-of-factly. He then walked passed Ananias and towards an empty spot on the sparring grounds. "Now…," he took a fighting stance, "come at me!"

Ananias took a hold of one of the practice swords before making his way towards the spot Gerome was standing on, and asked, "Weapon or no weapon?"

"Weapon," Gerome calmly answered. "Chances are that my enemy will not be so willing to give me a fair fight if they have succeeded in disarming me. Now, I will not ask you again! Come at me!"

Ananias hopped in place and twirled the sword in his hand a bit to psyche himself up a bit before saying, "Alrighty then," and charging at Gerome, sword in hand and with the intent of taking Gerome down. Gerome watched Ananias carefully as he charged towards him and just when it looked like Ananias was about to land a hit, Gerome swiftly moved out of the way, tripped him, got on top of him, grabbed Ananias' sword hand, pried the sword out of it, and roughly held the sword against Ananias' neck. "Ah," Ananias said as he saw the sword come dangerously close to his neck.

Gerome nodded to himself, satisfied with the results of this particular training exercise. "Yes, this will do." He then helped Ananias up, offered him back the sword, and said, "Your swings are still far too easy to predict. I would've thought that you'd have fixed that by now."

Ananias dusted himself off before he took the sword out of Gerome's hands and muttered, "Yeah, I'm still working on that."

"Well I suggest you double your efforts," Gerome replied. "If you insist on trying to help change destiny, then the least you can do is improve your fighting prowess." It was then that the two of them heard the lunch bell. "Ah, lunch appears to be ready. How about I fetch lunch this time? As recompense for last time?"

Ananias heaved out a sigh before shrugging his shoulders and answering, "Do what you want."

Gerome nodded his head dutifully. "Then I'll be on my way then."

Once Gerome was out of earshot and once Ananias and Minerva were the only ones left on the sparring grounds, Ananias looked back down at the spot where Gerome had taken him down, shook his head, and bitterly muttered, "Even when he's unarmed he's still an expert."

He then noticed that Minerva was watching him intently and calmly asked, "What are you looking at?" Minerva let out a small shriek in response. "Yeah yeah, I know. Your master's the best, even at things that he reasonably shouldn't be." He gave the ground a little kick before he began pacing around in an attempt to help him quell his frustration and anger. "Doesn't help the fact that he can be pretty insufferable about it." Minerva let out a calm shriek. Ananias stopped pacing, turned to her, and said, "Well he is, alright?"

Minerva calmly and curiously watched as Ananias went back to his pacing, muttering to himself as he did. Despite what one might've naturally concluded upon watching the two of them talk to each other, Ananias couldn't actually understand any of her shrieks, no more than anyone besides Gerome and Cherche could. He would always just pretend to understand, guess what Minerva was actually trying to say, try to make a conversation out of it, and hope that he was guessing right about the whole thing. It had all started back when she and Gerome had gotten separated once. Her wings had been damaged, and with Ananias being the only ally with her at the time, she had panicked, much to her shame, due to the fear of losing yet another master, and began to go into a panicked frenzy, crying out desperately to Gerome as she tried desperately to find him on foot. Ananias had tried, and eventually succeeded in calming her down, and, as the two of them began their search, more calmly this time, Ananias had continued to try and make casual small talk with the anxious wyvern the entire time, probably to keep her from going back into a desperate and worried frenzy. When she and Gerome were finally reunited, she had happily and unabashedly ran up to Gerome and pounced on him, giving her master a couple of relieved and happy nuzzles as Ananias explained to Gerome how worried Minerva was and as Brady healed her wings for her.

Despite the entire ordeal having long since passed, the small talk between Ananias and Minerva had, for whatever reason, stayed, which Minerva honestly had mixed feelings about. On one hand, it annoyed Minerva that Ananias was putting words into her mouth that she was not actually saying, but on the other hand, it amused her, and it was nice to know that someone besides Gerome and Cherche was willing to at least try to understand her, as others would usually either not bother trying and ask either Gerome and Cherche to translate for them or remain clueless unless Minerva made the effort to convey what she was trying to say through physical means. Take this "conversation" for instance. In truth, she had been trying to reassure the red-clad trickster that he had nothing to be ashamed about, the complete opposite of what Ananias thought she was saying, but at the same time, she was amused over the fact that the man she had commended for being completely calm, collected, and unshakable the last time Gerome and Ananias had spent time with each other, due to what he assumed she was trying to tell him, was showing the exact opposite traits. In a way, Ananias and Gerome had a lot in common, but whether to tell them that or not, that was the question; however, whatever the answer to that question was, she was pretty sure that out of all the times to tell them, now wasn't a good time.

"Just once, I'd really like to see him struggle with something he really wants to do, you know?" Ananias asked. Minerva let out a short grunt. "I know that's mean, but it's just so darn frustrating sometimes, you know? I just can't seem to catch up to him, no matter how much I try." Minerva let out a long shriek. Ananias heaved out a heavy sigh and hung his head as he placed his hands on his hips and murmured, "Yeah yeah, you don't have to rub it in."

"Here," Gerome called as he carried his, Ananias', and Minerva's lunches. He gave the two their lunches and said, "Dig in," before all three of them did just that. After they were finished with their meals, Gerome returned the plates, waste, and utensils back to the lunch area, came back, and asked, "So, shall we continue our training then?"

Ananias simply shrugged. "If that's what you want, then sure, why not?"

"Okay then," Gerome said as he and Ananias got into fighting stances. "Come at me!"

Author's Note: Have you guys ever tried to have a conversation with your pets, if you've ever had one, that is. I've tried with... limited success. Darn dog wouldn't stop barking no matter how much I tried to talk to him. :P