Most people here tend to neglect practicing how to fight without magic. Makes some amount of sense, given how they're all scrawny teenagers, but it also seems pretty dumb to Bobbie. If your mouth is too full of teeth to cast a spell, you don't want to be helpless. If you're low on mana, you don't want to be helpless. If a mundane's around, you don't want to be helpless (not that that one's going to come up much here). If a maleficer's coming after you and expects you to use magic to defend yourself, kicking him in the nuts instead can give you an edge. Kind of dumb to throw all that away.

That girl, on the other hand, has a head on her shoulders. (And her butt looks good)

Bobbie waits until she's done to introduce herself. Don't want to interrupt.

"Nice form. Bobbie Draper, New Zealand."

"Hey!" Destiny is breathing hard. She lifts a hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Destiny Williams, Oakland." 

"Ha.Technically I'm from Auckland, should've led with that this time but nobody outside of New Zealand knows where that is. I have no idea where Oakland is besides somewhere in America probably. How long've you been practicing?"

"Like, in general? Or just with this?" She holds up her kukri. "Bought this on Ebay when I was twelve, so - two years, I guess? Been practicing in general since, god, probably as soon as I could walk, I don't even remember." 

"It shows. Complements your affinity?"

".....God, I wish. My stupid affinity is for...sneaking around stealthily? As far as I can tell? It's dumb as shit– I mean, it's useful in its place, I guess, but - you know, I wish I could just fight mals?" 

What kind of crazy person wants to fight mals?

- Well, OK, stupid question, Bobbie likes fighting mals, but she is aware that she is weird in this respect!

"That sounds very useful in fact. Sensible of you to pick up some martial skills even without a related affinity, though. Do you do any unarmed martial arts? Need a sparring partner?"

“- Yeah, I’d love that! I’ve done, um - Krav Maga? Apparently it’s the martial art that the Israeli army invented to be better at unarmed fighting. Um, I’m not Israeli or Jewish they just had a dojo near the enclave. And I did taekwondo for a bit but then a mal attacked the instructor - and, like, it was fine, but my mom said I had to stop.” Eyeroll. “You know, parents.”

Her father was her Krav Maga instructor so she really doesn't.

"Yeah, parents. I do Krav Maga too."

“Ooh, wanna spar some time?”

- Destiny pauses. Looks Bobbie up and down. 

“…I mean, you’d beat me in, like, three seconds, because you’re a beast.” She says it affectionately. “I mean, just, wow! ….I’d still spar with you though. Sounds like a fun time.”

"Yeah I was not expecting to find serious human challengers who aren't, like, five years older than me. Still good to get some practice in. No offense."

“Yeah, I get it.”

She frowns. “…Though it’d be neat if we could come up with some handicap to equalize it. Not sure what - hmm, what if you weren’t allowed to use one leg - you’d have to literally tie it up bent, but I feel like that could even it out a bit?”

"...I could try that. We'll have to be careful about sweeping for mals first, I don't want to get jumped with one leg tied behind my back. Could try with an arm instead, easier to just hold it there. I don't know what my schedule's like, I've got escort duty which might keep me busy during work periods."

“Fair enough! And, yeah - I mean, I think you’d still flatten me even down an arm,” though it’d be really hot and she could make Morty watch, “- but that does seem safer, for mals and all. ....Who're you doing escort duty for?" 

"...El. She's over there. Didn't have much of a choice."

Destiny looks suspicious. "....You didn't, or she didn't?" 

"I didn't."

"....Doesn't seem great?"

Okay wow that was probably so unhelpful! 

"I, just, I mean - I'm sorry you were stuck and had to agree to something...?" 

"I'll be fine, it just makes scheduling inconvenient for a bit. I knew what I was getting into before I came here." Didn't know her best option for clothes would be a probably-maleficer, but she's not going to be caught unawares and can probably take El if it comes down to it.

"Yeah, fair enough. - Anyway, you should meet the love of my life! Hey, Morty!" 

"- Hey? What?" 

"This is Bobbie! She's cool and also cute and I'm maybe gonna spar with her later on!" 

Morty sighs and gets up from his table. "Hi, Bobbie!" 

...cute? Bobbie does not get called cute.

"Pleased to meet you. Little early to be shacking up, isn't it?"

"Oh, we've been together for almost a year! See, he saved me from mals, like, ten times, and then I saved him, and then he was super cute right there in front of me and, you know, what's a girl supposed to do -?"

She tousles Morty's hair. 

"- I mean, don't worry, we're not gonna be dumb or anything. 'Cause neither of us is stupid." 

But he's pretty sure that Destiny is, in fact, the love of his life. 

Morty does not say this out loud, since it would sound stupid and he's apparently supposed to be acting like he's not-stupid. 

Wow they are so fucked. Or - not, apparently, but there is no way that lasts four hormone-addled stress-filled years. Still not making choices quite as bad as the hat girl who wants to hang out with all the maleficers. She doesn't say that. Instead,

"Well, got the core of your graduation team already, sounds like. What've you got, Morty?"

"- Uh, I'm artificing track. I'm pretty all right at killing mals but it's not my favourite activity?"