xp_logs | Logan and Marie: A Punching Bag, A Piece of String

Logan and Marie have yet another training session early Friday morning. Keep in mind that this is less than 48 hours after the mansion invasion.

Logan came back from his walk in the woods feeling refreshed and calm. He headed straight to the Fencing Hall and settled himself in to wait for Marie's arrival. He hadn't felt this peaceful, this /good/ in a long time.

"Hi there." Marie let herself into the hall and kicked off her shoes. "Ready to work?" She wasn't quite as dishevelled as usual, she just hadn't been in the mood to fly this morning. It wasn't a bad mood, she was just seeking normal, whatever that was -- trying to keep her feet on the ground literally and figuratively. She pulled her jacket off and ran her fingers through her hair to get it back out of her face.

He eyed her, standing. "D'you need a warm-up?"

"Want to check?" Marie held out her arms, posing briefly as though for inspection, and then laughed. "I think I'm fine." She arched backwards into a graceful walkover. "See? Still remember how to do that."

He allowed a few wayward thoughts, then reigned himself in. "Very nice." He grinned. "So, wanna start at the beginning, then? Chon-Ji Hyung."

"Beginning's the best place to start, Master Logan," Marie said lightly, coming over to stand in front of him in the ready position. "Let's get to work."

He settled into the ready position and let her begin the form. Twice through and he nodded, satisfied. "Tai Otoshi?" he asked, making sure she felt ready. It wasn't as though she'd had much chance to practice since Wednesday.

"As you wish," Marie said with a smile. "I'll be gentle." A hint of her usual mischief shone in her expression but she was far more focussed on the task at hand today.

He grinned, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders in preparation, then settled into position. She threw him and he landed with a thud. He nodded. "Again."

Marie reached for him again and threw him easily. With the right technique, she hardly needed extra strength and he had to weigh twice what she did, at least. Idly, she wondered about whether she could do it with her feet off the ground. "It's getting easier," she said, offering him her hand to help him up.

He grasped her hand, letting her pull him to his feet. "I can tell. You're not tryin' as hard, not worryin' so much about hurtin' me. You're startin' to trust yourself."

Marie shrugged and gave him a wry smile. "It was a while coming. Myself and I got off to a bad start on the trust thing with all the sleeping on the ceiling and ripping security doors off their hinges. Couldn't do it without you." She pulled him close enough to give him a quick hug before stepping back. "What next?"

"Sleepin' on the ceilin', huh?" He shook his head. "I'm thinkin' we should push that trust just a little more. Chasse. We'll start low, from the front."

Marie laughed. "You missed the whole me being cuffed to the bed thing." Her grin was wicked, and then it was gone. "Seriously, though, it was a pain." She watched him carefully, waiting for him to demonstrate.

He raised an eyebrow, but pushed away all the inappropriate comments that came to mind. "Right." He settled into place and raised his left foot, kicking sharply at her right thigh with the bottom of his foot, but stopping just before the blow hit, executing a perfect frontal chasse. "There's a lot of variations, lots of heights and positions to start from, but that's where we'll start."

Marie's brow furrowed as she took in his balance and posture. "Again," she demanded, going over the shift of weight and angle of the kick in her head. "I'm going to need to learn this all over again with my feet /off/ the ground when we're done," she said, mostly to herself.

He repeated the motion, again stopping just before he made contact. He remained there, leg raised, letting her see his body's position during the completion of the kick. "It's all about balance." He grinned. "Well, strong thighs help, too."

Marie gave him a little smile at that but kept her peace, moving her feet into the position his had been at the start of the motion and shifting her weight a little as he had. "This right?"

He dropped his leg and nodded. "Yeah. That's good. Now, you wanna make sure you use the /bottom/ of your foot, or it'll hurt more'n it should." He settled in, waiting for her to move.

Marie nodded and moved through what he had shown her, frowning slightly as she did so. "Legs are harder to control with new things still, I think," she said when she'd returned to standing. "They're a little jumpier than the arms, especially when I'm off balance. I have to try not to over-compensate." Her focus was almost entirely inward, on her body and the task at hand.

He nodded, understanding. "Kicks ain't easy for anyone to learn. You'll get it." He eyed her stance. "Try movin' your legs apart some more. Might help."

She did as he suggested. "That helps some. Part of my head wants my feet off the ground and it does that once in a while. Used to do it all the time in the fall, send me off in one direction or another like a damn pinball. I'll get it pinned down soon enough. I wasn't sure I'd ever get walking right." She looked up and flashed him a quick smile. "I can even chew gum now. How hard can this be?"

He laughed, knowing it was supposed to be funny. Really, though, he just felt guilty that he hadn't been there. "Just keep doin' it 'til it starts to feel right," he advised.

"Yes, sir," she said and gave him a wink, then obediently got about the business of learning what he'd shown her.

They went on like that for a while. He knew Savate was very different than the other two styles he'd taught her so far and let her practice for quite some time to get the relatively simple move ingrained in her mind and body.

When he thought she'd practiced enough, he let her begin the kick one more time, but spun at the last second, grabbing the left side of her collar and pressing his back squarely against her front, blocking her momentum. He pulled forward and up with his left arm and tucked his right elbow under her right armpit. Pulling on her arm and lapel, he dropped to his knees, but the floor wasn't there anymore.

She was moving through the motions as she had repeatedly and the need to leave the ground had almost faded completely when, suddenly, everything changed. He moved and grabbed her and she reacted instinctively, grabbing for his upper arms as she flung herself upward. It was so fast, her willpower driven by residual adrenaline and anxiety, that what she needed to do to make him /stop/ was the only thing in her head other than a flash of anger. She twisted to ensure that he hit the ceiling full on, ramming her knee up into the small of his back to make the impact count.

/Crack./ He groaned -- there were going to be bruises from that -- and then the ceiling wasn't there anymore either.

The moment she heard the impact, Marie flipped them both and let go of him, shoving him down and away from her. With her back to the ceiling, she pressed herself into the cool surface and watched him fall with narrowed eyes.

/Thud/. He very carefully did /not/ try to move, letting his back heal itself, slow as it was. He waited until his body was healed enough to speak -- dislocated ribs are a pain in the ass, he thought -- and then said, "Thanks. Never was much for heights."

Marie landed in front of Logan, resisting the urge to kick him while he was down. "I suppose I forgot to mention that I'm still a little stressed," she said icily, looking down at him.

He raised an eyebrow, still not getting up. "Think I figured that out, thanks."

"You thought I was kidding about the whole not working with other people thing, didn't you?" Marie asked, her voice still cold and angry. She hugged herself tightly as she paced away from him, body tense.

He rolled carefully to his feet, wincing. "I knew you weren't kiddin'. But I'm not gonna treat you with kid gloves just because you could hurt me, either."

Marie stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder at him, taking in the bruising on his face and the pain in his movements with an odd blend of guilt and satisfaction. "I appreciate it too." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Lesson over, Master Logan?"

"Yeah." He waved toward his midsection. "This'll take too long and I don't wanna make it worse, fightin' like this." He paused and then, slowly, grinned. "You done good, hon."

Marie's expression saddened a little and she shrugged. "I don't think so. I shouldn't react like that when I get scared, I don't think. Bad for people's health."

He snorted. "Bakin' cookies'd be better for your health, y'think?" He shook his head. "Reactin' like that's good for /your/ health, least until you know more about defendin' yourself other ways."

The cookies remark made her laugh in spite of herself and she came back over to Logan, embracing him carefully. "Idiot," she said tartly.

"Spitfire."

Marie rubbed his back very gently with one hand. "Nice word for a bad temperered girl," she said quietly against his shoulder, feeling rather tired all of a sudden as the adrenaline drained away.

"Nice word for a girl who knows how to take care of herself," he corrected, giving her a little squeeze.

"Think you're gonna survive me?" Marie leaned back enough to look at his face, brushing her fingers over the fading bruises.

"Maybe." There were a lot of layers to that question and he didn't know how to answer them all at once.

"I hope so." Marie looked at him with a dark, worried gaze for a long moment before putting her head back on his shoulder and closing her eyes.