Twin Roses Mingle

[passingthrough]

Who: Twin Roses crew, visitors, stowaways, who knows!?
Broadcast: Nada
Action: Twin Roses of course!
When: All of August and what remains of July

[Since we last saw this crew in action it has been joined (or rejoined) by Yuri, Mikuno, Vision, and Wanda! Will there be growing pains? Drama? Intrigue? Tune in and see!]

(OOC: The Yaugur System until August 5. Drifting and then MYSTERY!)

Comments

[candothat]

Yes! You promised to not go easy on me, if I remember correctly.

[sassy_assassin]

I intend to keep it, too.

Are you doing anything now? We can go over the Iskaulit.

[candothat]

Yes, good. I promise that I'm not very delicate.

Other than bothering you, no. Let's do that.

[sassy_assassin]

You would have to work pretty hard to bother me. Let's go.

[ she gets up and gathers some relevant items and heads toward the bay ]

So remind me of your experience so far?

[candothat]

What a relief.

Eh. Basic Academy training seven, eight years ago, but I focused primarily on marksmanship. Conflict deescalation as well. Friends have tried to teach me more since, but they have generally been unwilling to spar with me and the lessons never lasted long before they disappeared.

[sassy_assassin]

Right, well, I'll get you into shape.

[candothat]

I look forward to it.

[Having to the Iskaulit?]

[sassy_assassin]

[ sure thing! once they're at the gym she sets up a sparring dummy ]

Okay, so show me what you got.

wow, my brain really condensed 'handwaving' there huh

[candothat]

[He looks from the dummy to Sara.]

What, specifically, would you like me to do?

[sassy_assassin]

Punch it? Or reason with it. Whichever one you feel like you're better at.

[candothat]

I suspect that reasoning with it won't be effective. [Punching it is! He takes a few jabs at it. He's had some generalized instruction, clearly, but he won't be winning any awards for form... or beating anyone in a fist fight.]

[sassy_assassin]

[ she starts to give him instruction. put your weight back, bend your knees, rotate your hips, feet wider... etc. her style is matter-of-fact and measured, peppered with "nice" and "good job" but only when he's earned it. she's not here to bolster him unnecessarily—he won't learn that way ]

[candothat]

[He takes instruction well and adjusts accordingly. Most of it is at least vaguely familiar, but he's far from graceful and is too in his head, calculating moves before making them.

And he's not about to stop attacking this dummy until Sara tells him he can stop. Bad fighting, good endurance. Surely it evens out.]

[sassy_assassin]

[ Sara picks up on the fact that he's in his head and after watching him quietly for a bit speaks up ]

Okay, break.

You need to relax.

[candothat]

[He stops, mops his forehead off his his sleeve, and gives her an incredulous look.]

Relax? I haven't done that for twenty-five, twenty-six years.

[sassy_assassin]

Well you're going to have to figure out how to fake it. A blind astronaut could see what your next move is going to be, and you're overthinking it.

[candothat]

I'm a tactician. I am trained to think. [So that sounded a little petulant.] Do you have advice for not overthinking?

[sassy_assassin]

[ you asked her to be real with you, boo. she doesn't perpetuate the tone ]

Well, sometimes getting really drunk will help you loosen up, but it's not great for baking training into your brain.

You have to practice, like with everything else. I'll point out when you're tense, and then you consciously relax.

[candothat]

I suppose not. [Fine, no more petulance, he did ask for this.] Yes, okay. I will try to be relaxed.

[He has another go at it and... nope, now he's thinking too much about trying to relax, which he manages to do in addition to overthinking moves. A truly impressive display of unnecessary mental multitasking.]

[sassy_assassin]

Okay, okay stop.

Let's try something else. I think you'll hate it, but trust me on this. You need to breathe.

You can't hold your breath and sing at the same time, so think of some stupid song that you want to sing and try again. We're the only ones in here.

[ she puts her hands up, palms out ]

And practice on me.

[candothat]

...You want me to sing and try to punch at you.

[Not even he is sure which of those he dislikes more.]

[sassy_assassin]

You can't hurt me.

You could also recite poetry.

[candothat]

Somehow, singing seems less terrible.

[It takes him a moment or two to work up to singing (very very quietly) and throwing some (soft) punches at Sara. The punches become more confident as soon as he sees that no, he definitely can't hurt her... and hey, singing-related mortification has distracted him from mentally broadcasting every movement.]

[sassy_assassin]

[ They do this for a bit, and she quietly encourages or adjusts him as needed. when he starts to flag she takes a step back ]

There, see? You've already improved.

[candothat]

[He's hardly even embarrassed by the time they stop. Tired, yes. Pleased? Yes, a little. Sara wouldn't say that if she didn't mean it.]

My enemies will be so confused when I begin to sing at them. [He will not be singing at anyone.] Thank you, Sara.