Better living through cathartic full-contact brawls!

[cutting_edgex23]

There is something to be said for practicing katas. X rarely has much patience for it.

She is better at remembering her own combat experiences and replicating them, minus her opponent.

Or in adjusting her own approach to said remembered opponent.

it is not entirely ineffective at mimicking the uncertainties of combat.

Or at least it is better than hitting a stationary target.

X has not had to worry about muscle memory in a long, long time.

Comments

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor has seen X in action, of a sort -- but an impromptu popcorn battle is different from serious training. Telling enough, in its way, but different.

He slows to watch. She's very good.

(And it's a distraction from his thoughts. He feels guilty for that, and for being relieved by it; he's grateful for the distraction, all the same.)

[cutting_edgex23]

X drops into a sweep that puts her facing Thor.

Then she pauses, though still poised for movement.

His scent is similar, but not the same.

His clothes are different, too. And he has a hammer.

"Thor."

It is only a little bit of a question.

[mjolnir_retriever]

"X," Thor returns, gravely courteous.

His voice is the same. But there's a subtly different air to him now -- not so much a luminousness as an oversaturation, as if he's just a hair more brightly colored than the rest of his surroundings.

Thor was always an Asgardian, deep down, but his power and nature isn't locked away from him now. He's no longer bound to a mostly-human form.

He doesn't look as cheerful about it as you'd think, though. No matter how shiny he is.

[cutting_edgex23]

X studies him a little more carefully, then relaxes from her tensed position.

She is still ready to move, but less ready to advertise it to all and sundry.

It is like a step forward.

"You do not smell the same."

He looks weird, too, but that is less relevant.

Beat.

"You are okay?"

[mjolnir_retriever]

"Do I not?"

Huh.

Well, it makes sense. Smell isn't a sense Thor uses much more than humans, but other species do; he's not disconcerted by the comment.

"I have returned to Asgard," he tells her, "and am no longer bound to mortal form."

[cutting_edgex23]

"Oh."

X absorbs that, slipping a few steps closer.

"But you are not non-corporeal."

Later she might pat his shoulder. Just to check.

[mjolnir_retriever]

...Uh.

"I am not," Thor agrees.

Did she... think that was likely...?

[cutting_edgex23]

"Okay," X says, closing the distance a little more.

"Good."

And now that that is settled . . .

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor's glad that's been established!

Or something.

(His heart is heavy. It's hard to find gladness about anything, right now, even much larger matters.

But X is a friend, and that's something.)

"Are you training for a purpose?" he asks, after a moment.

It looked like just regular training, the sort any sensible warrior practices frequently, but you never know.

And it's that or standing around in silence, or small talk. Thor prefers small talk about hitting things.

[cutting_edgex23]

"I do not have a mission," X offers.

"Now."

Beat.

"I like to practice. And sometimes it is easier. Not to have to worry."

She hesitates, looking for the right words. And eventually --

"About being careful."

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor slants a curious look down at her.

After a moment: "For your opponent?"

Or for property damage?

Or for herself? (Unlikely.)

But there are a lot of pretty fragile people here. And non-warriors. The two categories aren't the same, but they overlap a lot.

[cutting_edgex23]

"Yes."

X's response is prompt.

"Even without my claws, it is different."

Beat.

"You will have to be careful, too? Now."

[mjolnir_retriever]

"It depends on who I'm fighting."

Naturally.

Most of his friends hold up pretty well! And some of the others of his father's warriors. And there are some other worthy opponents kicking around various realms.

"With many here at Milliways," he allows, "I would."

[cutting_edgex23]

X weighs that in silence for a few moments, gaze fixed on Thor.

Then --

"It would be better if you did not have to. All the time."

It is kind of like a question.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor studies her in return.

She said she was... something. A mutant, he thinks. But she didn't explain what that meant, and he was too preoccupied at the time to ask.

It's useful to practice holding back -- Thor is a man who knows his own strength to a hair, and demands that his body do exactly what he asks of it -- but not all the time. In battle, that's often the last thing you want to do.

"You are more resilient than most humans?"

Because it sounds like an offer, but if she's not superhumanly tough, Thor is most definitely going to hold back.

[cutting_edgex23]

"I am more resilient than all humans," is where X chooses to start.

"Radiation will not kill me. Or bombs."

Beat.

"Broken bones and missing limbs are also not problematic."

You know.

If that helps.

[mjolnir_retriever]

...So that's a yes!

Thor blinks.

And then he laughs.

"You are indeed, my friend!"

Differently than Thor, from the sound of it. Asgardians heal pretty well, with the right help, but usually it's not much faster than humans. It's just that it's really, really, really hard to injure them in the first place.

[cutting_edgex23]

"It is useful," is X's response.

She is not grinning in return, but she certainly looks relaxed.

It is almost the same thing!

Clearly.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Close enough!

Thor grins again, in response. Hey, he's friends with Hogun; he's not bothered by X's general impassivity.

[cutting_edgex23]

X just keeps watching Thor.

And, a moment later --

"Now is good? To try."

He seems a little less different, now.

She is not sure if that is a good thing. But it could be.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor hesitates, assessing her.

He doesn't really want to hurt a friend, even one who will heal from it. Injuries that heal still hurt.

But the idea of hitting something sounds really good right now.

The idea of fighting someone who's not his brother, not spitting bitter brittle insults, not going to break and not going to hurt him back beyond maybe an honest bruise or two -- yeah.

In the end, he inclines his head to her, slightly and formally. "If you wish," he says, readily enough.

He'll still start out easy. Just in case.

[cutting_edgex23]

The speed and ferocity of X's initial rush suggest that this may be her way of saying 'fuck easy'.

Or she is just checking how not-careful they are talking about, here.

Whatever the cause, she comes in with a spinning back-kick that turns into an elbow to the jaw.

[mjolnir_retriever]

'Easy' means, if nothing else, that his hammer stays on his belt.

At least for now.

Thor darts back, evading and setting his weight low and planted. He catches her elbow in one hand before it hits his face, and punches towards her jaw with the other.

He's still pulling the punch some, because he's still testing at this point; it's not that he disbelieves X, but this is friendly sparring, and it would suck to accidentally kill her with the first blow. (He'll stop that soon. Especially once it becomes clear that death is not permanent for her.)

[cutting_edgex23]

X takes the hit.

In part it is to prove she can.

And in part it is to take advantage of the fact that, with one hand blocking her elbow and another hitting her jaw, his midsection is exposed to her feet.

Even as she is moved by the force of his strike.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor, in turn, takes the hit -- in part because X is fast, and in part because 'let things bounce off me' is often part of his defensive strategy.

And, indeed, the kick lands solidly, but it doesn't seem to bother him.

But X doesn't seem bothered by the punch, either, for all that he felt something crunch under his knuckles, so: good to know!

Even as her leg rebounds off his side, Thor is twisting his weight sharply back the other way, shifting his grip on X's arm with the intention of throwing her over his shoulder. If it succeeds, there will be air time.