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Atlas Gym, Sunday Evening

Tyler seemed cheerful as Fight Club gathered tonight, which might have been enough to make people worry if it hadn't been for the fact he was always happy when they got together after a few weeks off.

"Welcome back," he said. "No snow, no gremlins, just punching. Ghanima, got anything to say before we start picking matches?"

"You remember the rules," she said simply. "You with her. You two, and you with him."

"And him with her, him with her, and her with her," Tyler finished. "Questions? We'll be around."

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It certainly was--even if she did take a half-second to appreciate said naked arms.

Bad Cindy!

Fortunately, instinct overran appreciation and Cindy was already sliding out of the way of the punch. Zack aimed for her shoulder, so she pivoted on her heel, bringing her fist up to slam into his side as he ran.

Oof!

Zack exhaled sharply at the fist to the side, and was catching his footing and turning to face her that same instant. He'd felt the impact, of course, but he'd also spent the week being clawed and pummelled at by monsters. It was probably going to take a few more swings to slow him down.

He grinned as his other fist swung out, aiming for her ribs in turn.

~~Meanwhile, the mun used the icon that showcases the arms the best. Rrrrowr.~~

~~That's a dirty trick! I'm gonna call foul just as soon as I look away!~~

Hoo boy. He hadn't been kidding when he said he was stronger and faster than normal. Cindy was gonna feel that later. Cindy danced backwards and as soon as she had enough room, lashed out with a swift kick towards his knee.

Zack's reaction to that was... Unorthodox, perhaps, but hitting the floor and rolling out of the way of the kick seemed to mean that his knee remained intact, and so was anybody going to fault him for going to such an extreme measure just to dodge somebody's foot?

He was sort of like the master of the barrel roll, really. It saved his life back home. Frequently.

This, of course, meant that he had to get close to her again, and so there he was, running at her once more. This time, he was aiming a punch to her stomach.

~~WITH HIS VERY LOVELY ARMS.~~

Yay momentum! Cindy loved momentum! She waited until Zack was nearly upon her to dodge out of the way, spinning around and jabbing her elbow at the back of his neck.

And there went Zack's hand, rubbing the back of his neck as he came to a stop, turning to smile at Cindy sheepishly.

"That's just going to keep not working for me, isn't it?"

"Third time could be a charm?" Cindy said with a grin.

Zack seemed like a bright boy. He could probably get the 'no' from that.

"Your ~~arms~~ speed is terrific, but also exactly what Aikido was invented to counter," she continued. "As long as you keep lunging at me, I'll be able to use your own weight and momentum against you."

"Then..." He stepped toward her cautiously, his mouth still quirked into a smile. "What I want to do is stay close and keep my focus," he reasoned.

And now he was sidestepping, trying to find an opening. Barring that, he supposed he was going to just have to make one. All at once, he fell to the floor and swung a foot out toward her ankles.

Cindy circled in place, following his movements. "I would be okay with--whoa!"

Okay, that was a move she hadn't expected. His foot connected solidly and Cindy went down. Like Zack had before, she rolled a bit from where she'd fallen, getting her feet back under her and hopping up. Her ankle stung a bit still, it had been a solid kick. "Much better," she said.

Zack bounced back to his feet, and from there? He pretty much continued to bounce, yes. He couldn't help it. He was spring-loaded, or something.

"And you're okay?" He had to check. It was a Zack thing. His arms slipped into a ready stance, and now he was circling her, trying to find another opening, should there be one to be found.

"I'm good, don't you worry," Cindy said, keeping her defenses up. Boy was quick, strong, and had good instincts. She couldn't beat him with the first two, not while keeping her Mundy cover, but the third...

She kept his bouncing rhythm in mind as she darted forward, feinting with a punch towards his face. There was enough weight behind the punch that it would hurt if it connected, but she was really interested in snaking her leg around his, trying to deliver a light tap on the back of his knee just as he went to bounce again...

The wild thing about leaning backward to avoid a fist to the face was that it meant that Zack was just that much more unbalanced as his knee buckled underneath him, and he hit the mat backwards with a "Gah!"

It took him all of a heartbeat to roll to the side to avoid any possible follow-up attack that might happen now that he was on the floor, and then he was rocking once, on his back, curling his knees to his nose and then rocking forward again to throw himself to his feet.

"Okay, you have got to teach me this stuff," he laughed.

Cindy laughed. "It's the bastardized version of several different forms of martial arts," she said, eliding over the truth just a little. "A kind of anything can go style that would probably get me drummed out of any real dojo. It's a lot of watching your opponent closely and seizing the moment when you can. But I'll be happy to teach you a couple of throws and blocks and things."

"Seizing the moment is pretty much what I have to do on the job," Zack replied, beaming at her reply. "Anything you can show me would be great, you know? It might get me home in one piece someday that I might otherwise not!"

Eager puppy was eager.

... And bouncing again.

Cindy nodded, once. "Getting home in one piece is an important goal. You're a soldier of some kind?" she asked.

"SOLDIER, 2nd Class," Zack replied, nodding. "Which where I'm from means that I'm... almost elite, but not quite there. I take on everything from monsters to soldiers from enemy nations, usually on my own. So any edge I can find..."

He shrugged. "Nobody's really got my back out there, mostly."

That didn't sound familiar. AT ALL.

"Every little bit counts," Cindy said, with a short nod. "That's what I assume, anyway."

Good cover, Cindy. Glad to see you using those secret agent skills right there.

"Aikido is actually really useful for defending yourself against multiple attackers and getting good at disarming people you'd prefer not to have weapons. I could ~~oh-so-handwavily~~ teach you some of the beginning forms and things. They're then integrated into advanced moves that end with your attacker flinging himself into the air and onto the mat," she suggested.

See, that was totally how a person could make Zack's day in a paragraph or less!

"That would be awesome," he replied, more than just a little thrilled that she wasn't shooting him down right off the bat. "I mean, any time that's good for you, I don't want to put you out or anything. But I'd appreciate anything that you can teach me, at all!"

~~No matter how handwavily! Yay!~~

Edited 2010-02-01 22:29 (UTC)

Cindy moved into a teaching stance. "Here, let me show you a few things. You can practice them during the week, okay?"

She ran Zack through the opening first stances. "Can you repeat them with me?"

"Right!" It took Zack a great deal of effort to refrain from clicking his heels and shooting off a salute before mimicking her stances, going slowly and being careful to get his posture correct as he went. "Like this, then?"

Actually, he wasn't half bad. For a beginner to Akido, anyhow.

"Not bad," Cindy said with approval. "Not bad at all." She made a few minor corrections and adjustments, mostly little things like where his feet were situated and how he was distributing his weight. "Now again?" she suggested.

"Now again," he agreed, eager to do this right. This time when he went over the steps, he was paying careful attention to the placement of his feet, making certain not to lock his knees and to stay balanced just-so.

"You know, this is actually kinda fun?"

"Just wait till you get to the part where you start flipping people over your shoulder," Cindy said, chuckling. "That's always been my favorite bit."

She watched his movements closely, nodding as he corrected himself. "Good. Very good. Wanna run through it again? Faster this time? And then I'd say you're good."

Once more, from the top and a little more quickly, and Zack was pretty much certain that he'd gotten the hang of it, now.

He was smiling like the cat who had gotten the cream by the time he was finished running through the forms this time around.

"That," he decided, "is awesome. Really different from what I usually do, but I can already see where something like that might come in handy for me back home. Thank you."

"Absolutely," Cindy said, giving Zack a smile. "I'm a teacher, right? It's one of those things I do."

And if it kept him alive in the field wherever 'home' was, so much the better.

She just hoped she wouldn't see him using these moves against her anytime soon.

"Same time next week, then?" Cindy asked.

Re: Match: Zack Fair v. Cindy Perrault

puppy_fair - 2010-02-01 23:41 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Match: Zack Fair v. Cindy Perrault

steel-not-glass.livejournal.com - 2010-02-01 23:59 (UTC) - Expand

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