Kyle and Angelo
Dec. 28th, 2021 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAfter Kyle gets his ass kicked by a lizard man at the fight club, he and Angelo have an unexpectedly serious talk.
The cut over Kyle's eye was throbbing, and he half imagined it was in time to the thump of the bass from the music playing in the background. Despite the sting and the momentary dizziness, he grinned at his opponent, spat, and then rolled out of grappling range. "Come on, when are you gonna really step up here?" he laughed, though the laugh turned into a grunt as his opponent moved, snake-like to pop Kyle under the chin with a kick. He shook his head again, and punched back, a three-tap combo before tackling the man around the waist to carry both of them to the ground.
The taunt didn't even seem to phase the scaly-skinned mutant he was fighting, and Kyle ended up on his back, swinging his fists wildly. "No I fucking don't yield, you dick." He mumbled around the mouthguard.
With Kyle on the ground, his opponent could lean back and dodge most of the blows Kyle was throwing. A few clipped him on the sides of the arms, but he waited, using the weight of his body to keep Kyle in front of and under him before letting his weight drop behind a folded elbow aimed just below the feral's solar plexus.
The blow struck, and Kyle's yelp was cut off by the gasp and suck of air as he tried to get control over his lungs again. He rolled, protecting his chest and stomach with his back and for a moment it looked as though his hand was raised to smack the mat - and then he scythed a kick into his opponent's thigh.
He knew the feral wasn't tapping out, but he'd still allowed himself to get sucked out of position by the roll. The kick was placed perfectly to collapse his knee as he had started to rise from the mat. The scaled mutant managed to turn the stumble into a shoulder roll, coming up inside Kyle's guard as he was rising, wrapping his arm around Kyle's waist and driving him back into one of the pillars holding the ring in place.
A 'motherfuck' barked out of Kyle, head ringing with the impact as he slammed into the pillar. He kicked wildly, opening a cut on his opponent's bare chest, and tried and failed to kick the scaled man away. The blows to his head were finally getting to him. He shook his head sharply, licked away the blood on his lip and roared as he pushed hard with his feet, putting his strength into the shove.
Wild strikes meant the feral was getting frustrated. Good. The shove moved the scaled mutant back, but he managed to use the distance to get back to a more centered stance. He could already see Kyle starting to kip up, but he didn't plan to allow him a chance to get his feet under him. He closed in with a flurry of punches against Kyle's guard to keep him occupied, then used his shoulders as a support to launch himself up into a rising muay thai-style knee to the floating ribs.
Angelo grimaced in sympathetic pain as the knee connected and Kyle fell back to the ring, and stepped up beside his head to speak quietly to him. “Kyle, come on, buddy. Enough.”
Kyle took another hard blow to the ribs before heaving out a frustrated growl and smacked the mat three times. "Kay, kay, geez." He muttered around a swollen mouth. "Only cause you're bugging me though."
"Okay", Angelo agreed easily, having got what he wanted, and offered a casual hand. "Let's get you some ice."
"I'm good." Kyle took the hand up and his claws dug into Angelo's skin for just a moment before he pulled them back in. "Could use a drink, but this'll shake off as soon as I get some food in me." He got to his feet, and swiped blood off his chest. "Shit, where's my shirt... Bro, you seen my shirt?" He asked, over his shoulder at his opponent.
The scaled man pointed out the shredded remains of the shirt Kyle had entered the ring in. From the pattern of tears, it was hard to tell whether Kyle's claws or the other man's scales had caused more damage. He shook his head and reached into the duffel he'd stashed just outside the ring. He fished out a gray T-shirt that looked like it would work, if a bit small given the several inches Kyle had on him. "I got you, bro," he said in a raspy voice, tossing it over.
"Cool. You cool? We cool?" Kyle slurred. "We cool right?" He shook himself, stumbled a bit, and then shook again. "Shit, I think I am punch drunk. Fuck, man, I think I'd rather be drunk drunk."
"Neither one lasts long for you, though, right?" Angelo was keeping close enough to catch him if the stumble looked like turning into a fall, but not so close as to be hovering. "If all's normal?"
"Yeah naw, I'll be fine in a few." Kyle wiped his mouth with his hand. "Man, next time I need to like. I dunno. Not have two drinks before a fight, who let me do that? Me. It was me. I let me do that."
"Not like there's any prizes for winning", Angelo said with a crooked grin. "'Cept maybe your pride."
Kyle's face twisted up in anger. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have some of that."
Angelo studied him for a few seconds and nodded quietly. "So we figure out how to get you some back. Does winning the fights help?"
There was a long pause while Kyle got himself a beer, and sat down on one of the benches not far from the fighting ring. "You know, I don't think it does. I just don't have any better ideas. Getting my ass kicked, X-Men mission shit doesn't get to me like this usually but... " He shrugged, wincing as it pulled his bruises. "I dunno. It's just been a mess."
"Everybody's got something that gets them where nothing else would", Angelo pointed out. "Sometimes you see it coming, sometimes you don't."
"Well, I sure as shit didn't see any of this coming." Kyle leaned into the wall, and drained half the beer quickly. "I mean I totes saw Gustaf kicking my ass coming, just everything before that."
"Gustaf kicks almost everybody's ass", Angelo agreed. "But really... how could you see the whole demon lord thing coming?" Never mind the rest, but he was steering clear of bringing up the details.
"That's what I'm sayin'. " Kyle agreed. "At least this I can like, understand. That shit I can't. Fucking magic, Gar dying, the whole thing just. What do I even do with that?"
"What would your therapist say you should do? I'm gonna guess take it piece by piece, as small a piece as you need to at a time."
"Uh." Kyle rubbed his head. "Yeah. I ... kinda haven't told them."
That got him a Look. "You know that's what they're for, right?"
Kyle let out a long huff. "Yeaaaaah, I just. I was fine like, okay? And like. How do I go into there like, okay, no I'm actually not fine, I got ... " His voice left him. "Ange, I can't even say it out loud. It's so fucking weird."
"So you talk around it. Use whatever words you can, until you get to making them understand. They can't help you until they do."
"Yeaaaaaaah." Kyle said, a little plaintively. "I know. I keep meaning to and then... don't."
"Maybe try writing it out? Then you could email it to them, or bring them your journal pages, or whatever. Not have to worry about saying it on the spot."
Kyle laughed a little darkly. "Man, you'd think I'd have thought of that." He let his head tilt back and thunk against the wall. "Masters fucking degree in education. What the fuck, me."
"I guess sometimes it takes somebody outside your own head to make the obvious suggestion", Angelo said with a brief crooked grin. "We've all been there, one time or another."
The cut over Kyle's eye was throbbing, and he half imagined it was in time to the thump of the bass from the music playing in the background. Despite the sting and the momentary dizziness, he grinned at his opponent, spat, and then rolled out of grappling range. "Come on, when are you gonna really step up here?" he laughed, though the laugh turned into a grunt as his opponent moved, snake-like to pop Kyle under the chin with a kick. He shook his head again, and punched back, a three-tap combo before tackling the man around the waist to carry both of them to the ground.
The taunt didn't even seem to phase the scaly-skinned mutant he was fighting, and Kyle ended up on his back, swinging his fists wildly. "No I fucking don't yield, you dick." He mumbled around the mouthguard.
With Kyle on the ground, his opponent could lean back and dodge most of the blows Kyle was throwing. A few clipped him on the sides of the arms, but he waited, using the weight of his body to keep Kyle in front of and under him before letting his weight drop behind a folded elbow aimed just below the feral's solar plexus.
The blow struck, and Kyle's yelp was cut off by the gasp and suck of air as he tried to get control over his lungs again. He rolled, protecting his chest and stomach with his back and for a moment it looked as though his hand was raised to smack the mat - and then he scythed a kick into his opponent's thigh.
He knew the feral wasn't tapping out, but he'd still allowed himself to get sucked out of position by the roll. The kick was placed perfectly to collapse his knee as he had started to rise from the mat. The scaled mutant managed to turn the stumble into a shoulder roll, coming up inside Kyle's guard as he was rising, wrapping his arm around Kyle's waist and driving him back into one of the pillars holding the ring in place.
A 'motherfuck' barked out of Kyle, head ringing with the impact as he slammed into the pillar. He kicked wildly, opening a cut on his opponent's bare chest, and tried and failed to kick the scaled man away. The blows to his head were finally getting to him. He shook his head sharply, licked away the blood on his lip and roared as he pushed hard with his feet, putting his strength into the shove.
Wild strikes meant the feral was getting frustrated. Good. The shove moved the scaled mutant back, but he managed to use the distance to get back to a more centered stance. He could already see Kyle starting to kip up, but he didn't plan to allow him a chance to get his feet under him. He closed in with a flurry of punches against Kyle's guard to keep him occupied, then used his shoulders as a support to launch himself up into a rising muay thai-style knee to the floating ribs.
Angelo grimaced in sympathetic pain as the knee connected and Kyle fell back to the ring, and stepped up beside his head to speak quietly to him. “Kyle, come on, buddy. Enough.”
Kyle took another hard blow to the ribs before heaving out a frustrated growl and smacked the mat three times. "Kay, kay, geez." He muttered around a swollen mouth. "Only cause you're bugging me though."
"Okay", Angelo agreed easily, having got what he wanted, and offered a casual hand. "Let's get you some ice."
"I'm good." Kyle took the hand up and his claws dug into Angelo's skin for just a moment before he pulled them back in. "Could use a drink, but this'll shake off as soon as I get some food in me." He got to his feet, and swiped blood off his chest. "Shit, where's my shirt... Bro, you seen my shirt?" He asked, over his shoulder at his opponent.
The scaled man pointed out the shredded remains of the shirt Kyle had entered the ring in. From the pattern of tears, it was hard to tell whether Kyle's claws or the other man's scales had caused more damage. He shook his head and reached into the duffel he'd stashed just outside the ring. He fished out a gray T-shirt that looked like it would work, if a bit small given the several inches Kyle had on him. "I got you, bro," he said in a raspy voice, tossing it over.
"Cool. You cool? We cool?" Kyle slurred. "We cool right?" He shook himself, stumbled a bit, and then shook again. "Shit, I think I am punch drunk. Fuck, man, I think I'd rather be drunk drunk."
"Neither one lasts long for you, though, right?" Angelo was keeping close enough to catch him if the stumble looked like turning into a fall, but not so close as to be hovering. "If all's normal?"
"Yeah naw, I'll be fine in a few." Kyle wiped his mouth with his hand. "Man, next time I need to like. I dunno. Not have two drinks before a fight, who let me do that? Me. It was me. I let me do that."
"Not like there's any prizes for winning", Angelo said with a crooked grin. "'Cept maybe your pride."
Kyle's face twisted up in anger. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have some of that."
Angelo studied him for a few seconds and nodded quietly. "So we figure out how to get you some back. Does winning the fights help?"
There was a long pause while Kyle got himself a beer, and sat down on one of the benches not far from the fighting ring. "You know, I don't think it does. I just don't have any better ideas. Getting my ass kicked, X-Men mission shit doesn't get to me like this usually but... " He shrugged, wincing as it pulled his bruises. "I dunno. It's just been a mess."
"Everybody's got something that gets them where nothing else would", Angelo pointed out. "Sometimes you see it coming, sometimes you don't."
"Well, I sure as shit didn't see any of this coming." Kyle leaned into the wall, and drained half the beer quickly. "I mean I totes saw Gustaf kicking my ass coming, just everything before that."
"Gustaf kicks almost everybody's ass", Angelo agreed. "But really... how could you see the whole demon lord thing coming?" Never mind the rest, but he was steering clear of bringing up the details.
"That's what I'm sayin'. " Kyle agreed. "At least this I can like, understand. That shit I can't. Fucking magic, Gar dying, the whole thing just. What do I even do with that?"
"What would your therapist say you should do? I'm gonna guess take it piece by piece, as small a piece as you need to at a time."
"Uh." Kyle rubbed his head. "Yeah. I ... kinda haven't told them."
That got him a Look. "You know that's what they're for, right?"
Kyle let out a long huff. "Yeaaaaah, I just. I was fine like, okay? And like. How do I go into there like, okay, no I'm actually not fine, I got ... " His voice left him. "Ange, I can't even say it out loud. It's so fucking weird."
"So you talk around it. Use whatever words you can, until you get to making them understand. They can't help you until they do."
"Yeaaaaaaah." Kyle said, a little plaintively. "I know. I keep meaning to and then... don't."
"Maybe try writing it out? Then you could email it to them, or bring them your journal pages, or whatever. Not have to worry about saying it on the spot."
Kyle laughed a little darkly. "Man, you'd think I'd have thought of that." He let his head tilt back and thunk against the wall. "Masters fucking degree in education. What the fuck, me."
"I guess sometimes it takes somebody outside your own head to make the obvious suggestion", Angelo said with a brief crooked grin. "We've all been there, one time or another."
