Logan and Lil: Sparring

[x-diamondlil.livejournal.com]

Logan and Lil meet on the mats.


Logan wasn't in the business of training people in the art of hand-to-hand anymore. School got some one new to take care of that little chore. But Lil was different, so he didn't mind giving her a few tips here and there. So here he was in a wifebeater and jeans, cigar clenched between his teeth, waiting for the girl to show up. Truth be told, it'd feel good to indulge himself a little, and nobody could tell him he was endangering a student or any of that bullshit. Lil was damned hard to cut and so long as he kept the claws in everything'd be fine.

She breezed in a few minutes later wearing little besides a sports bra, cut off cloth shorts and a pair of trainers. Golden hair was pulled back in a long ponytail and smirking at Logan, the giantess dropped her bag and water bottle then pulled the elastic band out to re-do it in a tight bun; giving her a look more suited to a dancer than fighter. Still, despite appearances, the blonde was ready for the sparring session they'd arranged and even found herself looking forward to it, especially given her mood the last few days. Grappling was just what she needed. "Just like old times," Lil reminisced. "You gonna lose the stogie before we start this? Otherwise, I can't imagine it would taste very good when I ram it down your throat."

Logan just grinned at her. "You're certainly welcome to try." he said, making sure that he took a nice deep drag from it before grinding it out against his palm and setting it aside. "But for you, I'll put it out." he said with a grin. "Good look for you, darlin'." he said with a grin. "Be a shame to beat such a pretty girl into the ground." he taunted.

"Good thing I don't bruise," the tall woman returned after executing a playful yet sarcastic beauty queen turn. Stretching her arms over her head, Lil rolled her neck and took a few steps closer to him. "Been outta practice for three years so I guess we'll be on even footing, you being as old as you are and all. Consider it a one-time handicap and gesture of goodwill along with the promise of me not running through the halls afterward singing ' Logan got beat by a girl.' Next time, you won't be so lucky, though."

"You're too nice to me." he said with another grin. "Should respect your elders." he said again, cracking his neck to a series of horrendous metal grinding noises. "Now how about you quit flapping your pretty little gums at me and hit me. If you can." he said.

Lil's shoulder rose then dropped as she sighed "Since you asked so nicely," she replied then dropped into her stance, leading with her right foot for a brief moment before striking out with a back leg roundhouse.

He just smiled at her thinly and blocked her leg with his forearm. It would have felt like kicking a metal bar. "Pretty move." he commented before he struck back, stepping forward and unloading his right elbow in the neighborhood of her chin, swinging upwards.

"I try." She countered with a step back as she blocked with her own left arm then made a quick jab at his stomach with her right fist.

Good. There was a time not too long ago when she would have eaten that elbow. He twisted hard to avoid that strike - which was mostly successful - and then tried to take the fight to ground. Since she had her striking hand right there, he grabbed for it to apply some torque.

Cursing to herself for not thinking his response through, the Amazon broke his hold on her wrist then dropped to one knee. "Did I ever tell you that these sparring practices really used to piss Maddy off while we were dating? Probably didn't help that I'd say things like 'shorter men have better leverage.'"

Logan just grinned then, since she was much closer to his level anyway, fired off a right cross aimed right for her chin. "That's because we do against you oak tree types." he commented.

Lil managed to deflect the blow just inches from her face, using his momentum to guide it over her shoulder as her other arm twisted completely free of his grasp then maneuvered to grab his elbow and with a slide of her knee in the same direction, tried to bring him down. "The bigger they are... the easier it is to crack your skull."

Logan didn't fight the move - he went with it, adding his momentum to her energy, throwing himself right out of her move and out of her grip. He rolled out of the throw and back to his feet, facing her with just a fractional bow of his head to indicate a move well-done.

Smiling a little smirk that was full of pride, the blonde hopped up to her feet once more. "I'm not nineteen anymore, Logan," Lil laughed, still crouched in a fighting stance. She didn't trust him, knew better of it after years of lessons and practice. "I have learned a little even if it's been a while. Like riding a bike, huh?"

"You like goin' for rides, don't you?" he said, and then exploded into action. He threw two punches at her head, one-two like lightning, but the real business technique was the low scything kick that came arcing in low and hard, aimed right for her knee.

The smart remark died on her lips when Lil saw him charge. The first blow was blocked but the second landed squarely, distracting her enough for the kick to send her crashing down to the mat. "Fuck," the blonde groaned then looked up at him with a frown. "Okay, lesson learned. Don't get too big for my tree trunks 'cause there's still a lotta rust to work out," she muttered, extending a hand for some help up.

He took her hand and helped to pull her to her feet. "It's a whole 'nother world out there, kid." he told her in all seriousness. "You're strong and tough. But there are stronger, tougher, and more ruthless out there. Ready for another go-around?" he asked her.

Lil rolled her neck again and gave a shake of her arms. Damn rust. Definitely been too long. "Yeah, yeah. Big bad guys who are gonna try to rip my head off my shoulders. I remember," she grumbled and with a little sigh, nodded. "I am if you are, Old Man."

"I don't get tired." he commented. "And if they only rip the head off your shoulders, you'll be lucky. If you're really unlucky they'll toss you around, then go break your team or some civvies into little pieces." he said, a somewhat cruel reminder of Garrison's and Pete's encounter in New York. "Now, let's try this again."

A hard swallow and the Amazon nodded once again, sobering up. For all her big talk, Lil'd never seen any actual action beyond rescue missions and knew it would still be awhile before she'd proved herself capable of handling it. "Right," she answered then dropped back into her fighting stance with green eyes blazing seriously. "I'm a big girl; stop taking it easy on me."

That earned her two eyebrows and a very small grin. "All right." he said, moving forward, perfectly balanced, one hand extended towards her, the other held loosely at chest-level.

Lil's gaze flicked from his face to his hand and back quickly though she held her ground. On the balls of her feet, both her fists at the ready though she refused to be baited and rush into an attack without thinking. The ante had been upped and the blonde was going to play a smarter game this round.

She didn't bite. Interesting. He was almost close enough to grab her bra at this point, get a hold of her to throw or to grapple or to strike. So he upped the ante and committed. He pushed off his back leg, exploding into action with his leading hand aimed as a backfist for her nose. He knew she'd barely feel it so he put a lot of English on the move - all the power in his legs, his torso, and his arm concentrated on a point the size of his knuckle, aimed for the bridge of her nose.

Feigning indecision, the blonde shifted her weight from foot to the other then dropped to her butt at the last possible second with both legs shooting out towards his stomach.

Mistake on her part. The double-kick was easy enough to avoid, even with recoiling from his strike, by simply stepping wide enough to let the kicks go by. As she recoiled her kicks, he came in hard and fast, stomping at her knee.

She growled, deep and low in the back of her throat more in reaction to her mistake than any actual pain that came from his foot. In return, she rolled onto her side and grabbing a hold on his closest wrist to pull him off balance, drove her other knee at the back of his.

Damn, she was one tough cookie. She wanted to take him off his feet but his legs were strong and her leverage was not great. He fought her hold, tempted for a second to pop claws and skewer her where she sat. Well, if she was anyone else she'd have been skewered. Lil being Lil, she'd probably just be annoyed.

A long list of curses flew through her head and battled to come spewing out of her mouth though somehow Lil managed to bite them all back as she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. Spouting off would accomplish nothing but probably amuse him and only piss her off more. Twisting uncomfortably, the Valkyrie contorted until she could plant her foot against the knee of the leg still pinning her down and pressed hard to try and free herself while continuing to pull down and forward on his arm.

He, uncharacteristically, didn't fold with the hold or try to move out of it. He held his ground and started to apply vicious percussive strikes over her liver, her kidneys, anything he could get to. Not that it'd hurt her, but he'd be scoring on her and making his point. She'd only immobilized him in terms of his legs and one hand.

Okay, now she was really pissed. Pissed at him for the shots but more so pissed at herself for getting herself into a position she couldn't get out of. If he was anyone else, she would have bitten him by now as the blonde was certainly not above fighting dirty. A little growl of "bastard" slipped past her lips as she let go of his arm with one hand but instead of moving to block his blows, reached for the zipper of his jeans as a means of distraction.

Logan just grinned as she went for his groin. "Easy now, girl." he taunted as he used his free hands to take a pair of cheap shots to her chest - one-two, right then left. After all, if she was going for his groin, she opened herself up to a whole new world of dirty tricks.

"Thought someone like you would like it rough," she muttered between clenched teeth, grabbing both his wrists now to stop future blows. Lil's leg was still pinned and she was quickly running out of ideas and patience. Grunting, she leaned back to give herself more leverage and force for the foot was still planted against his knee.

"You have no idea." he said with a disturbingly feral grin. She'd grabbed his wrists but that just left him with one weapon left.

One adamantium-coated skull.

Head, meet face.

"Dammit!" Lil hollered, releasing her hold on him and sprawling back out on the mat, covering her face with her hands. "Fucking bastard." It took a lot of force for her to feel pain and apparently Logan's hard head fit into that category. "Fucking bastard!" she repeated, kicking at his knee again out of frustration while she continued to lay there, more stunned at the pain than in agony.

Logan kept the pressure up and moved up to keep himself up close, going in for the choke this time. He took the knee shot - which hurt - but he was close enough to apply some pressure across her throat, make her life difficult indeed.

The new attack spurred her into action. Green eyes popped open, lit with anger and adrenaline as she clawed at his with diamond-hard nails now that his face was close enough.

He just kept the grin going, the wounds gouged by her diamond-hard nails healing almost as soon as they were made. But he kept the pressure on as an object lesson.

Determined, she pressed her thumb into one of his eyes while making a grab for the arm still putting pressure on her neck. "Fucking bastard," she growled again, thrashing slightly as she kicked at his knee once more with all her might.

He pushed one more time on her throat - hard - before he backed off and climbed to his feet and let her climb to hers. By the time he was back to his feet, he looked like she'd never touched him. "Need to work on your ground game, darlin'." he told her as he waited for her to get collected.

She lay on the mat a minute more before rolling onto her knees then standing, muttering to herself as she stalked over to where she'd dropped her stuff. Picking up the water bottle, Lil took a long draw before frowning at him. "I told you it's been awhile since anyone's nailed me to the floor," she bit then took another sip.

"Damned shame, that." he said with a smile. "Ready for another go-around?" he asked. "Or do you need a smoke first?"

It almost made her grin. The corner of her lip twitched and it took all her self-control not to give him the satisfaction. "You're not that good," Lil returned, pulling out the elastic band that barely held her bun in place then shook her hair loose before twisting it up again. "Cigarettes come after multiples."

"Again, you have no idea. I get done with you here, you'll be smokin' a stogie and wondering what hit you." he grinned. "Now then, get off your butt. Time for Round Two."

"Already got one of your stogies without the orgasms," Lil pointed out, dropping the water bottle and heading back to the spot where they were grappling. Stretching out her knee, she watched him cautiously, not trusting him to take another cheap shot. "Besides, despite what I told Maddy, you're too short for me."

That got another eyebrow. "Huh." he said, then let it go. That explained a few things. He cracked his fingers - with more horrific metal crackling noises - and waited for her to decide to continue or not.

Twisting her neck, Lil knelt down to tie up her trainer then quickly lashed out with a sweeping kick to try and knock his feet out from under him.

He blocked again, this one a more punishing block, meeting her foot with his shin. He developed a fairly spectacular bruise which promptly faded back into nothingness. Stepping down from the block, he returned the favor with a kick of his own, aimed for just below the knee on her balancing leg.

Jumping back, Lil avoided his kick just barely and followed through behind his swinging leg with hers again to force it further than he'd originally intended while aiming a punch to his chest.

Her strategem worked - somewhat. Logan's center of gravity was low so he didn't go over with the force of her kick. He definitely grunted, though, and the punch he deflected off to one side without thinking.

Planting the foot that she just swept, the blonde continued her assault by lifting her other knee, aiming for his stomach while simultaneously attempting to deliver a blow to the side of his neck with her opposite hand.

Logan blocked the strike for his neck, but the knee to the stomach he was forced to eat. He grunted again, but that was his only reaction. Now she was close enough for him to get planted and drive his own elbows into things, a left-right combination aimed right for her head.

Deflecting the first (but missing the second) by stepping into his body and the initial blow, Lil again brought her knee up; this time aiming for his exposed side.

He had a little surprise for her this time. She went for the knee again, and he grabbed for it and hoisted with everything he had.

Momentarily thrown, the blonde let him draw her closer and up. The leg he held went around his waist as the other drove hard between his legs as she gave him her complete 160 pounds to hold while having to fend off a vicious - though completely girlie - yank of his hair.

The hair-pull he ignored - it'd grow back anyway if she ripped it out. But since she had her legs wrapped around his torso, more or less, he let her take the full two-hundred-fifty-plus of his weight as he just pitched forward to slam her into the mat. For some reason this girl just had a thing for the nutshots. He was trying really hard not to take it personally.

Grunting under the brunt of his weight, Lil drove her foot against the back of his knee even as she chuckled. "Maddy used to really get pissed off about this, too." She'd found it funny at the time - still did, really - how her then-boyfriend would scowl and mope because she was pinned beneath their instructor during lessons. Planting both feet, she made another noise of effort as she thrust her hips up in an attempt to reverse their positions.

"Gotta admit, it was a comfy landing." he said with a wink. Mostly because she had two excellent shock absorbers to help cushion the blow. But he wasn't going to just lay there like a lump. Nope. He had to move, to bend her in ways she didn't wanna bend. She was trying to bridge, which made it easy for him to scoot around into a T with her for the arm bar. His legs across her torso, her arm extended out, him pulling with a goodly chunk of force to hyperextend the elbow again and make her tap out.

She was determined not to lose this time despite knowing it was all but guaranteed she would if he locked her arm like she knew he was trying to. One round would have been nice but Lil would have killed him if he'd thrown it. As he started to move, Lil locked both her legs around his one, denying him the chance to throw them over her chest. "Not this time," the blonde said, aiming a sharp jab of palm at his nose.

He snugged his head in close to deny her the nose-shot. She could beat on the side of his skull all she wanted - it wouldn't bother him overly-much. Unfortunately (or perhaps not) this effectively meant he had his face buried in her cleavage. He kept trying for the arm-lock, trying to worm his way free of her legs and to put the hold on her.

Ceasing her opportunity, Lil continued to twist and grabbed a hold of his arm as much as he was holding hers. More shimmying and scooting, she managed to bring one long leg up, over his shoulder and the other around his torso as she held his head to her chest in an attempt at the triangle choke he'd showed her years ago.

Well, this was unexpected. And very not-good. Even with his healing factor she could choke him out with a triangle. He worked very hard to get an arm in the way of the choke, to give him some breathing room. All the skin-on-skin contact, sweat-slicked flesh and small-ish workout clothing was forgotten. This was officially Serious Business. He scrabbled to get his body out of the way of her choke, to eventually rise to his knees and perhaps even his feet.

"Oh no you don't," Lil grunted, holding on for dear life as she panted softly and continued to crush him against her. "You said you liked it rough." Legs were locked tight around him, pressing on the carotid artery so she fought hard to dislodge his arm and resume the hold and finish the day with one round to her name.

He couldn't waste the breath for talking but he did grin. Finally he got one leg out, but he was still in danger of the triangle. He hadn't quite wormed his way out of it quite yet. He was also resolved to keep this at least somewhat clean - he had pretty good shots at sensitive bits of her anatomy, but he didn't take them. He was starting to get that slightly fuzzy feeling, which was definitely a danger sign.

Gasping with her own effort, Lil bit down on her lower lip and squeezed him tighter. No way was she giving up, not when she was this close. "Tap out Logan and I still promise not to tell everyone you got beat by a girl," she teased, arching and squirming to match his own.

He roared silently and heaved upwards to give himself some room to breathe. He was strong enough to get himself _and_ her off the ground completely. Admittedly, he was only on his knees, but it was progress. Chest heaving, desperate for air, he made like Bam-Bam and slammed her against the ground to get her to break up the choke.

"Not what I meant," Lil snarked through clenched teeth and only held on tighter. She was determined and her legs squeezed harder as their bodies battled, using all her pent up frustration over Maddy and Alpha Flight to fuel her strength instead of the out-of-practice muscles that had gotten her whooped before.

He was rapidly losing coherence, his rational mind giving way to the feral beast inside of him. Impossibly, he rose to his knees again, reared back to lift her higher into the air, then slammed her down again hard, looking to drop her head-first onto the mats.

The blonde grunted her displeasure at being dropped in such a manner and her hold loosened some in response. "Tap. Out." Lil demanded as she fought him to regain it, knowing if she let go completely she'd never regain it again. Stalemate she could live with but she was most certainly looking for victory. "Do it, Logan!"

She loosened her hold, he got more air into his lungs, his rationality came ebbing back to the forefront. Still in a bad place, but instead of playing Bam Bam this time he got smart. Since she had her legs hooked around him he reached around trying to get to her feet. Ankle, toes, anything he could get his grip on. He wasn't quite sure where her hands were.

"Dammit," Lil cursed as she tried to keep her feet from his grasp, though with his hands busy, it allowed her to reach around his head once more and crush him to her chest again, forcing more pressure on his carotid artery. "We'll call it a tie... if you tap out now," she tried to compromise, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold him forever and with him on top of her, it wasn't as if she could just get up and walk away like he had earlier.

Ah, that's where her hands went. He grabbed for her fingers, looking to find one and bend it way, way, way back.

Fists were clenched tightly as he was to her against the back of his head, not giving him the chance. White-knuckled, Lil continued to pant and twist, absolutely amazed at how long he was managing to survive the hold. She'd all but passed out the first time he'd done it to her. "Good way to go, huh? Face to tit?"

He didn't answer that one either but he kept trying to pry one of her fingers up to bend it back and free him from the hold. Failing at that, he started for percussive strikes to her wrist, looking to hit the nerve cluster that controlled small things like her grip strength.

"Stubborn. Old. Bastard," Lil growled and giving a hard lurch of her hips, released her hold on him completely as she bucked his body off of hers. Rolling the opposite way, the blonde crouched and panted hard while staring him down. "Can't take being beat by a girl?" Lil asked as she regained her breath. "I'm not letting go next time." That was a promise.

Logan was rolled off of her and when he came back to his feet, there was little of the man and much of the feral in his expression. But then he blinked hard and rationality came flooding back. "Good hold." he told her. "A little ragged on the technique, but we can fix that." he said, already having his wind back. "Good tenacity. Very good tenacity." he said with a smile.

"Yeah, well, my stamina's a little rusty from lack of use," Lil returned as she stood with chest still heaving slightly. She gave him a wide berth as she walked to her water bottle, again advertising her distrust, and choked down a few sips. "I'm done for today."

He just watched her avoid him. It pissed him off for a second or two, but hard on that came the realization that he'd greyed out and gone a little feral in trying to break her hold. "Sure." he said with what he hoped was a reassuring grin. "Good work. Anybody else'd be taking a little nap in a choke like that." he offered by way of conciliation. "You had me on the ropes, kid."

It wasn't the feral she was concerned about but her own physical reactions to their grappling. "Good to know I remember something from Beta training beyond how to rescue a kitten from a tree," Lil joked back; her own little way of showing both her acceptance and gratitude. "Anybody else and I'd probably be on my way back to Canada with a big rejection letter for Heather saying I'm a danger or loose cannon or something."

"She collects those. Usually they got my name on 'em." he said with a grin. "Puts 'em on her fridge. Come find me if you want to lock that triangle choke technique down." he said. "Might want to go talk to the new girl too, see what she's got." he suggested. His nostrils flared and then he grinned quickly before schooling his expression. "Smoke?' he asked, retrieving the remnants of his stogie and his box of matches.

Hazel eyes narrowed slightly as she looked from the cigar to him. "Not supposed to smoke indoors," Lil said with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest. "And you're only suggesting I go to Callisto so you can watch some girl-on-girl grappling like an old pervert."

"Fine." he said, sticking the stogie between his teeth. He hadn't met this Callisto girl yet, but anyone teaching hand-to-hand had to have at least a little steel in them somewhere. "What makes you think I really wanna watch you and some girl roll around?" he asked with a sly grin. "You think the two of you got something I haven't seen?" he teased.

"In this last century? Plenty," Lil snarked then took another sip of water. "Besides, you've got a dick and those all work the same. Unless of course, you'd rather watch me grapple with Jean-Paul, then that's another story." Lips pursed, her eyes flashed deviously. She'd always enjoyed this banter with him, maybe even more than the hand-to-hand work and was glad they were getting to spend sometime together once again.

"Keep dreamin', kid. Paul ain't exactly my type." he confided in her. "And lookit you, all grown up and thinkin' she knows what the score is." he said teasingly. "You go around the block with one repressed geek and you think you know how the game works?"

Grown up or not, Lil responded in a very juvenile manner by sticking her tongue out at him. "I know plenty when it comes to men and what gets a rise outta them. I had Maddy wrapped around my finger before we even had sex; after only made it easier to get whatever I wanted outta him. Your class actually gave me a lot of fodder for that."

"Great. Glad you got somethin' out of it." he said with a wink. "Toss me that towel, will ya?" he asked, motioning to one she had with her. "One thing that still bugs me, kid. If you had Maddy wrapped around your little finger, why'd he throw you over for the machine?" he asked with a teasing look. "You that crappy in the sack?" he teased.

Lil flung the towel at his head as hard as possible. "He 'threw me over for the machine' because the damn robot got into his fucking brain." The playfulness had disappeared, replaced instead by the fury of a woman scorned. Her failed marriage was not a subject she liked to be teased about, especially when it was implied it was her fault, jest or not.

He looked at her, and more importantly, got a lungful of her scent. "Hey, kid, settle down." he said placatingly. She had some English on that towel. "Poor joke on my part, OK? I'm sorry." he said, then wiped his face of sweat - and not coincidentally got another good lungful of Eau de Lil. "He's an idiot, OK?" he said.

"A fucking idiot," the Amazon spat before kicking her water bottle across the room hard enough to make it crack against the wall. At least she hadn't punched something this time. "He's a fucking idiot and I hope his brain fucking rots. And for the record," Lil continued, jabbing a finger in Logan's direction, "I am great in bed. That had absolutely nothing to do with what happened between us."

"Take your word for it, kiddo." he said, looking at the water bottle. "You want to hit something, fine. We go outside, hit the quarry, and you can do what you gotta do to feel better." he said, moving up closer to her, draping the towel across his shoulders. "Try not to break the house when you're here as a guest." he said calmly.

"Beating the shit outta Maddy would make me feel better," Lil grumbled as she pulled a tank top out of her bag and slipped it on before looking back at the wall. "I already warned Kyle I'm prone to causing damage," she replied. Once again the elastic band was yanked out, though this time, it was slipped over her wrist, leaving the long blonde mane unbound. "I've been on good behavior so far. No major damage and what I have done I've offered to pay for."

"All right." he said, accepting her answer for what it was. "Look, Lil..." he said, and then trailed off. "You're a good kid. It wasn't your fault." Well, probably not entirely. He offered her his hand and a hug if she wanted it.

She looked at his hands, still frowning, then up to his face as the scowl deepened. She'd already gotten ta talk from Gar and wasn't really in the mood for any more pity. "Was both our faults 'cause it's exactly like you said: we're kids. We weren't ready for it and I dunno if either us will be when I go back, either." Lil's shoulder rose and fell again dejectedly then gave his hand a squeeze, forgoing the hug; it wasn't their style though she certainly appreciated the offer. "As much as I bitch and complain about him and that damn robot, I know some of it lies with me, too."

"Tell you what, Princess." he said with a grin. "Go hit the showers, get cleaned up, we'll go get a beer. Make you feel a little better. Sound good?" he asked her.

Lil snorted a little chuckled at the nickname but nodded anyway. "Sounds good," she repeated, giving his hand another pulse before retrieving the broken water bottle and stalking back to collect her things. The blonde yanked the towel from his shoulders and stuffed it into her bag. "Give me an hour."

"Meet me in the garage. We'll take the bike." he suggested, pausing to light his cigar. Then, mission accomplished, he moved past her to head back to his own rooms - but not before giving her a very definitive swat on her ass as he passed by.

Eyes going a little wide, the Amazon laughed to herself as she shook her head and started for her own room. It was going to be some night, of that she had no doubt.