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(no subject)

Who: Natasha Romanoff
Broadcast: Text
Action: Iskaulit
When: Now-ish or tomorrow morning

W4MW4Friendly Fight

Woman seeking sparring partner for morning workout. Call it cabin fever, but looking for new challenges. Normal human to moderately enhanced welcome. High skill level preferred, but beginners welcome if they're interested in a lesson.

Reply here if interested, or see Natasha Romanoff in the gym, tomorrow morning 8am.

[True to her word, Natasha can be found at the gym on the Iskaulit in the morning. She's already dressed and warmed up. She looks like she means business, but less angry or troubled—not like some of her other recent turns at the gym—but she's serious enough to give someone second thoughts if they weren't entirely sure in the first place.

Who's up for a few rounds?]

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[ kate's got a sweet clint-shaped quip chambered, but she thinks better of it. no reason to needle the highly-efficient hand-to-hand fighter before going toe-to-toe.

so, instead, she gives her arms a sprightly stretch above her head. fingers locked. and she heads to the mat. ]

As I'll ever be. How should we do this? Count down? Just -- go for it?

[That is what we call having a healthy sense of self-preservation.

Natasha's smile changes tenor somehow and she tips her head in a quick half shrug as though consider—and then comes in for an attack, moving quick and sure as she fires off a kick toward the girl's midsection.

Spies are very rude.]

Whoa, nelly!

[ but it's all awe as she's left scrambling backwards with only milliseconds and millimeters to spare. she can hear the air whuff lightly with the power behind that kick. already, she's on the back foot. so kate plays it safe, dropping down to one knee and sweeping her leg in a wide arc: a predictable attempt to trip natasha and drop her shoulders to the mat. ]

[It's a conservative counter attack, and one Natasha is ready for with some quick footwork when it comes. Her evasion turns into another attack so smoothly that they might be the same move—or might as well be.

It is very quickly apparent that Natasha's style is characterized by efficiency.

It's also very clear that while she's not going to fight as though this were a real, life and death situation, she's not going to go easy on Kate either.]

[ although she understands she's likely outclasses, kate appreciates how natasha doesn't patronize her. they're both big girls -- and kate can bruise a lot before she cries uncle. natasha's attack connects solidly with kate's arm, and she feels the muscles go dead. briefly. so she lashes out with her off-hand: stepping past natasha and cracking down with a hammer-fist against the back of natasha's shoulder. ]

[Natasha respects the aggressive move. It's a good strategy, all things considered. Kate is recovering from an injury, she's younger so it's safe for her to assume less experienced. And she probably had ideas about Natasha's skill level based on he experiences in her own world—definitely has ideas. In a spar, she doesn't have to worry about caution the same way she would in a real fight.

Might as well come on strong, see if she can surprise Natasha and take the advantage back early on.

That doesn't mean Natasha's surprised, though. Kate's fist makes contact but doesn't go as deep as it could have, Natasha dropping her weight low as pivoting into a sweep.]

[ unlike others, kate's skill-set was born in the hokey community college class circuit: fencing, at school. jiu jitsu on the weekends. kickboxing, 'cause why not? although it means she's far from a professional fighter, she does well to make her peace with simple sparring -- she understands that neither of them are out for blood.

kate is still shaking off her dead arm when the sweep comes. she doesn't fall, but she does stumble into a retreat. she's starting to get a peek at natasha's relentless efficiency. it's something to admire, really.

finding her feet again, she twists 'round into a high kick. in a real fight, she might have gone for the face. today, she aims for a shoulder instead. ]

[Should have gone for the face, really. Natasha catches the blow coming at her shoulder and twists Kate's foot and ankle, using the momentum of her own kick against her.]

[ -- there's little else to do aside from 'lean in' to the twist, and let herself be diverted. for a moment, she's in free-fall. kate catches herself with her hands on the ground. there's a grunt of pain from the shock of it, but then she's kicking out like a mule. lower, this time.

she isn't holding her own, per se, but she is far from giving in. ]

[Natasha is ready for the kick, letting it hit her in the body, and it's no picnic, but she's ready for it, catching Kate's leg and twisting it into a hold.]

[ kate taps out. not from the spar at large, so to speak, but certainly from this particular round. once natasha had gotten her in a hold, she knew all else was academic. she could squirm and bite and kick and maybe get away, but it wouldn't be sporting.

better to fall back and try again. breathing heavy, she laughs: ] Man, I gotta try and remember some of these moves.

[Natasha rolls free when Kate taps out, coming to her feet and rubbing one shoulder.]

I could show you again, if you need some help with it.

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