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Post by xander on Oct 20, 2009 21:40:30 GMT -5
He listened to her instructions nodding after each one. Xander adjusted his stance and tried to relax his shoulders. The tensing part could be hard for him to get over, and he made a note to be aware of it.
“Telegraphing?” he tilted his head but continued listening.
Xander did his best to mirror Nineteen’s movements without hitting the bag yet. He first mimed the punch but then twisted experimentally a few time with just his body. After getting used to the movement he tried it with the punch again. The locking joints parts he figured he’d be good with, after all it wasn’t a good idea to lock them in parkour. Had to keep them from getting injured and never helped movement.
He tried to punch the bag once but frowned when it didn’t feel right. Closing his eyes, Xander rolled his shoulders and tried to relax some more. With his head tilted back he thought about what he was used to, and looked for a way to compare it. The image of a ledge or bar came to mind and he thought about how he would reach for it. With his eyes still closed tested the movement, reaching for the invisible bar and grabbing a hold twisting at the last second like Nineteen had told him.
He opened his eyes and looked at the bag. This time after he hit the bag they felt much more solid and he could feel the impact travel up his arm.
“How was that?” he asked as he rolled his shoulders.
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Post by Nineteen on Oct 21, 2009 19:16:08 GMT -5
"Telegraphing is like... S'when you do something that makes it obvious that you're 'bout to attack. Like pullin' back for a huge punch s'a major telegraph. It's like a tell when you're playing poker. Except instead of losing some money, you end up getting punched in the face."
Nineteen watched him work through a set of punches. He definitely improved. She'd have been worried if he didn't, though: Nineteen was convinced that fighting in general was pretty simple. It took a lot of getting your ass kicked, slightly less kicking-ass, and eventually you had it down enough to scrape by.
"It was all right, not bad," she said. "You gotta do it a lot if you want it to be strong and fast, though. Train for speed 'fore power, and accuracy 'bout the same as speed, since you'll get more accurate the more you try. Speed's what's really important though, 'specially if you're just doing your best to create an opportunity to get away."
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Post by xander on Oct 22, 2009 21:30:34 GMT -5
“Kay,” He nodded at her explanation of telegraphing. Made sense in a way, and personally he didn’t want to get punched in the face. Wasn’t a fan of tells either.
“Speeds not something I have a problem with,” Xander smirked, “Once I know what I’m doing. Til then, figure it’s best to take my time.” He punched the bag a few more times and switched his stance trying it with the other arm.
He also fancied the idea he had the power and accuracy as well. At least the accuracy had to know where you were landing and stick it. When your target was smaller than a paper plate you couldn’t be close enough for government work, more along the lines of needing to be spot on. For the strength, he liked to think he wasn’t a weakling, pulling your body weight up over a wall or hanging from a ledge didn’t sound enjoyable for most people. Xander did it every day on the obstacle course, or tried to. Classes did dictate his time upon occasion.
Learning to apply what he already had would be the challenge. He could pick up things quickly or he’d fail at it for months, or just never got a hang of (like the coffee maker). As of yet he hadn’t figured out how things fell into each category. Another concern was learning something wrong. Once he learned a move it was extremely hard for him to correct himself.
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Post by Nineteen on Oct 25, 2009 0:26:51 GMT -5
Nineteen watched him for a little while, before asking. "What d'you mean 'bout speed not being a problem?" She eyed him for a moment. He looked like he could be fast. Light on his feet, or whatever.
"Are you a runner or somethin'?" She began to drag a second target over to the general area. She wasn't getting much of a workout herself so far, but she'd come to find a moment of familiarity in a strange place, and the training room did provide that. Plus, Xander wasn't bothering her.
She practiced her own jabs at the target. Nineteen's movements were smooth and quick, and solidly connected with the target each time. She welcomed the sensation of impact on her knuckles. Figuring she'd let him work on the jabs for a few minutes, she tried to set up a routine of her own, making sure to watch him out of the corner of her eye in case she had any pointers to offer.
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Post by xander on Oct 26, 2009 16:32:10 GMT -5
“I got experience in relocating myself in a hurry,” he smiled and tried a few more jabs, “to your question of me being a runner or something, the best answer would be both.”
After he figured he was doing the jabs right, or so he hoped the girl hadn’t corrected him lately, he increased the speed some. Not enough to be a “look at me” show off, just to get comfortable with it. Xander preferred to show off in things he was proficient at instead of what he was just learning. It was thing to be cocky, no need to be an idiotic ass on top of it all.
“I’d show you, but,” he stopped and held the gloves in front of him and sent her a goofy grin.
“’Sides,” he turned back to the bag, “couldn’t really show you in here.”
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Post by Nineteen on Oct 26, 2009 22:52:12 GMT -5
Nineteen arched an eyebrow at him. Relocating in a hurry? Part of her interpreted it as a challenge and weighed the option of taking a swing at him. She decided against it. It wasn't really a nice thing to do, and she couldn't tell if the kid was just being arrogant or if he really meant it. For that matter, she didn't know what would have deserved being hit more.
"There somewhere else you could show me? I asked for a gym and they pointed me here. I don't really know if there's somewhere else to work out, really. I end up walkin' across the whole damn ship each time I have to take a leak 'cause I can't find anything."
Nineteen upped her pace for the jabs, as if to encourage him further. She wasn't switching back and forth, but rather seeming to go at random. "Try strafin' 'round the target," she suggested. "If you're a fast one you probably don't got much problem with trippin' over your feet, but it's always good to practice." She began to follow her own advice.
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Post by xander on Oct 27, 2009 0:48:28 GMT -5
“Well,” Xander said between jabs, “there is the obstacle course. All of us have to run it. Goal for you is to get through it in under thirty seconds.” A small smile appeared on his lips as he continued, “None of us got to see it before running it, unless the later recruits got lucky. Showing you would be an unfair advantage.” He looked up at her and smirked, showing his likeliness of following the rules of etiquette, and a few of the official.
He listened to Nineteen as she made her suggestion and nodded. When he first started moving he slowed down his jabs trying to find a rhythm. Growing comfortable with the new movements he increased his speed back to the level he was at standing still. It was hard not to notice the girl’s impressive pace but he remained at his. Yeah, he wasn’t going to try and piss her off, not while his hands were constricted any way. Also he could appreciate someone who could take care of themselves, and going slower just made that easier to do.
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Post by Nineteen on Oct 27, 2009 19:33:47 GMT -5
Nineteen snickered about his comment about the obstacle course. "Obstacle course? Please. If you bunch've kids got through it, I'm sure I won't have any trouble." She smirked, emphasizing 'kids' to show she wasn't entirely serious. It wasn't like she was that much older than any of them, if she even was older. Hell, someone the teachers seemed younger than anyone else.
After a couple minutes of the jabbing, Nineteen stepped back. She was definitely breathing more heavily now, and she felt sweat beads standing out on her forward. She quickly retied her hair with the rubber band. Looking around for a water fountain, she headed over to it, calling back over her shoulder, "Can try out hook punches next, if you want. Less you're gettin' bored or something."
She wouldn't really blame him if he was. Somewhat mindlessly knocking around a punching bag wasn't everyone's cup of tea.
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Post by xander on Oct 28, 2009 1:06:17 GMT -5
“Sorry not all of us have your wisdom and the time that comes with it,” he joked. Nineteen couldn’t be too much older than him. For all he knew she could have been younger, he’d never been spot on with guessing ages. “We may have gotten through it but doesn’t mean it’s was cake for everyone. But if you so up to it, wish you luck, I’ll be waiting at the finish. With popcorn.”
He threw another jab and glanced over at her, “Nah, not yet. Give it time, you’ll learn the Academy has it’s own definition of what it is to be bored.”
Xander rolled his shoulders then swung at the bag with what he thought was a hook. He hit the bag at face level, and toward the side.
“What do you like to do for fun? Just knock a defenseless target around?”
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Post by Nineteen on Oct 28, 2009 22:02:29 GMT -5
Nineteen watched the hook. It wasn't awful -- it was kind of hard to mess up throwing a hook, as far as she figured. She smiled sardonically at his comment about defenseless targets. "Rather knock 'round defenseless teenaged boys," she replied without missing a beat.
She stepped in, and adjusted the position of his arm a little, before patting him on the shoulder he was swinging with. "Just remember to keep this loose, no telegraphin'." Stepping back, she gestured for him to continue.
"I like movies, I guess. There wasn't really... even if you had down-time, you didn't get much leisure-time, back where I was." There was no hint of a complaint in her voice, though her tone became a little strained, as if it made her a twinge uncomfortable to talk about. "There were a few movies, a little bit of music. Lots've booze," she added with a small snorting-chuckle.
"You?"
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Post by xander on Oct 30, 2009 21:00:40 GMT -5
“I know a couple,” Xander responded pointing over his shoulder, “I can get them if you want me too.”
He nodded and tried the swing again, this time including her corrections. The glove was defiantly beginning to grow annoying. It wasn’t very heavy but it he did not appreciate the extra weight. Figured he’d just take it out on the glove by punching more.
“Sounds like a blast,” he laughed. In fact, except for the having to fight part, he could relate. Not so much with the boozing, except when he was with the ERA. Xander had been amazed at how much that lot could down before they started to appear intoxicated. Enforcing their stance one free human at a time, and enforcing the Irish stereotype one drink at a time. Well, at least Xander was able to up his tolerance while he was with them.
“Let’s see,” he tried the hook with the other arm, “Run around a bit, chat with some of the blokes, sometimes mess with them, anything that’s amusing.”
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Post by Nineteen on Nov 15, 2009 15:09:16 GMT -5
Nineteen shrugged. "If it's no trouble, I wouldn't mind. I'll watch practically anything at this point. Big budget stuff is preferable, but beggars can't be film elitists, right?" She watched his swing closely as her mouth ran. He didn't look very comfortable with the glove, but they were hard enough to get used to, she supposed. And better to have uncomfortable hands now than bruised and bleeding knuckles later, right?
Then again, could he just morph those small injuries away? Nineteen shifted her weight uneasily for a moment.
"Amusing is good," she replied evenly. Simple entertainment -- and human interaction that didn't have a Yeerk as a go-between or involve trying to beat the living hell out of someone -- had been in scarce supply for the past few years of her life. Maybe it desensitized her sense of danger, but that didn't mean it stopped her from wanting to enjoy little things like chatting or pranks or anything.
Not for the first time, Nineteen wondered if she should have been more distraught and hollowed out by her experience than she was. As usual, she pushed the thought away rather than deal with it.
"Anybody I should watch out for 'round here? Teachers, other Ani- other students or whatever?" Nineteen turned back to her own target, letting out a few quick punches and a kick or two.
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Post by xander on Nov 20, 2009 19:56:05 GMT -5
Xander frowned slightly at her last question. He hit the target a few more times, a little concerned she may have more paranoid than he was. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to be cautious, alien invaders tended to create an atmosphere for it, but maybe he was vain enough to think he had it the most and just hid it better. Like for instance, Gage was the only one that had told his hometown in almost half a decade. Then again he may have just been paranoid about her paranoia. Bloody hell he needed to stop over thinking.
“Unless you have an aversion to getting flirted with, I can’t really think of a threat,” he shrugged, “We have a crazy teacher for combat but he doesn’t do it to be cruel or here’s to hoping. Uh, no can’t really think of anything.” He landed another hook, “Apologizes for the lack of helpful on my part.”
“Hey, you got the grand tour yet? If not I could show you, unless you want to punch all day,” Xander smirked before leaning up against his own punching bag.
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