[ open ]

[mindtricks]

CHARACTERS: cassandra anderson + you
LOCATION: gym
WARNINGS: none as of yet
SUMMARY: anderson offers self-defense classes. people who need no classes are welcome to come spar.
NOTES:



[ anderson divides the vast majority of her time between gunnery and the gym, where she gives self-defense classes both to people that she has a standing appointment with as well as to those who just wander by and express an interest.

in the moments between lessons, she can be found stretching, or having a go at a punching bag. ]

Comments

[mindtricks]

[ he leaves himself open and anderson exploits that openness, landing punches to his middle and side even if it means ducking under his arms or taking a punch to land one of her own.

he doesn't pull his punches and so she has to work not to let him hit her full-on. she's good enough to do it and her mutation gives her the edge, but it still means continuous focus and speed. both are exhausting, but better than the alternative.

he's aggressive, so she fights more defensively except to exploit the openings he leaves, unwittingly.

smaller fists to his stomach. ]

[sorrycharles]

[ Erik has to take a couple of solid shots to the gut before he’s driven to wise up. He edges back, haggard, turns a wrist down in time to deflect the next punch and promptly catches Cassandra’s opposite fist with his liver.

He hunches, splutters, successfully stifles the impulse to rear back and plow her skull off her spine with a haymaker, not that he would succeed.

He sinks to a knee instead, casually indignant. It doesn’t hurt that much. He’s just tired. Lost a contact lens, checking the mat for trip hazards, etc. ]

[mindtricks]

( she doesn't add insult to injury by asking whether he's all right. instead, she waits, patiently and calm — though the fight has left her breathing harder than usual, has pushed her as much as it has him. )

Do you want to keep going?

[sorrycharles]

Yes, [ Erik … rasps. Convincingly. ] Just -- time out, [ endorphins are taking their time, slow to flood out the ache in his side, ] for a moment.

[ He could repay the favor. The silver coin crosses his mind again.

As soon as it does, he looks at her and away, knowing that she knows. ]

[mindtricks]

All right.

( and then he thinks of the coin and the smile that was beginning to form drops off her face immediately, replaced with something that is not quite anger, closer to disappointment and disapproval. )