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WHO: (

kampfgeist)
WHAT: The practical applications of fisticuffs (sparring)
WHERE: Whichever City block Heine's last fight club was at
WHEN: 08/17
WARNINGS: N/A

[It's two days later that Alhaitham sends another message to Heine confirming if he's free for today and the time of afternoon that they can have another mock bout. He's had plenty to think about and work on from their last bout, so with another wave of people getting trapped and the City shifting again, it seems like a good time to put that training to the test.

So, an hour after lunch he sets out to meet Heine at the same City block as before. Nothing's changed, though he gives it a cursory glance around in case it has anyway, and at Heine nods his head in greeting.]

Kaveh says "hi" by, the way. He wanted me to pass that along.

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[ it's funny how so many things in this place can change, and yet it somehow also stays exactly the same. all of the marks of the previous fight club have vanished, which heine expected—the mailbox is back to its usual undented self, and all the scrapes and gouges taken out of the cement are perfectly paved over.

sort of weird, to feel like nothing you do can leave a lasting impact.

heine lifts a hand in return, then straightens up from where he'd been looking at the corner of one of the buildings, where he was positive his fight with ichigo had taken a chunk out of the stone. ]

Oh, does he? [ heine hums, one corner of his mouth turning almost imperceptibly up. ] He seems like a good guy. Bad at tetris, though.

[ heine is even worse at tetris, but he doesn't feel the need to bring that up. ]

You practiced since last time?

[What the hell is tetris.

No, he can ask about that afterwards. There is another agreeable nod and hum at Heine's assessment of Kaveh. He is a good guy, so much so it's troublesome.]

I have. There's training equipment around, but the best test for this is always another person. We'll do the same as last time, then?

[First too the ground, try not to break any bones. Kaveh wouldn't let him live it down if he actually did break something.]

[ heine had sort of forgotten there might be any way to train other than with another person, but he nods like he agrees anyway. alhaitham seems like a quick study, generally speaking, so he's interested in seeing what improvements he's made. ]

Works for me. [ no broken bones is certainly a noble goal. he's not trying to get his ass kicked for real, either by kaveh (for breaking alhaitham's) or by badou (for breaking his own).

now that heine knows alhaitham's style a little better, and doesn't need as much time to assess, he's less hesitant about drawing his fists up into a defensive stance as he waits for alhaitham to ready himself. ]

[Two guys being kept in line by their fussy roommates.]

Then let's begin. [Heine goes on the defensive, so Alhaitham shifts to the offensive before lunging in for the first strike. This time, he knows Heine's skill better. He knows he's faster than Alhaitham, stronger, and recovers quicker.

It's not really the point to win, but Alhaitham puts himself two-fold to the test: his actual form, and his ability to calculate around a stronger opponent in the middle of such close combat. So he aims low, first, trying to trip Heine up to make an opening with a mistake. The initial efforts are, still, conservative, but more natural than before as they've sunk into muscle memory.]

[ almost immediately heine finds himself impressed—he'd known that alhaitham was taking their first fight as an academic exercise, figuring out his own strengths and weaknesses, but it's impressive to see how quickly alhaitham has adjusted.

heine is still faster as they trade blows, still probably a little stronger, but alhaitham is clearly more used to calculating around what he knows of heine's style. they each get in a few good hits, and when alhaitham aims low and gets one good against heine's ribs, it earns a low cuss as heine pushes away to reassess his opponent. ]

You really have been working at it. [ his eyes narrow a little, not in irritation but in consideration. heine's going to have to hold back a little less this time around, probably. ]

[In the moment, Alhaitham thinks less about his performance before and more about navigating the now. He'd hate to get knocked down early for a distraction. The flow stays relatively equal with both of them braced against the blows they can't defend against, until Alhaitham lands a punch of the ribs that sends Heine staggering back.

He gives him the chance to recover, huffing out a breath.] Did you think I wouldn't?

Honestly, yeah. [ heine has low expectations of people in general, though, so don't take it too personally! a lot of his life has been people promising to do this or that and then making up excuses why it can't be done, so the fact that alhaitham actually came back for round 2 is weirdly invigorating.

he rubs absently at his ribs, grinning slightly the way he only ever does when he's fighting. ]

Guess I can't take it easy on you this time. [ he's teasing, actually. he didn't really take it easy on alhaitham last time either. ]

Is that so. [Whether that says more about him or Heine doesn't matter.] Normally I'd consider underestimating me an advantage but in this case, feel free to take me as a bigger threat.

[That's enough of a breather, if he remembers Heine's healing right. But he lets the tell that he's about to move be obvious before going in for another round of strikes.

He decides at first to remain on the offensive and see how he holds up if Heine does have another level of violence between 'one month ago' and 'murder' he can jump to. Rather than block, he tries to dodge entirely to keep swinging the momentum around.]

[ heine does indeed have somewhere between one month ago and murder—several somewheres, in fact, not that he's gotten to the point of categorizing them into levels. he just holds back a little less now that he knows alhaitham is more capable, dodging more quickly and letting his natural flexibility be of use. the only thing heine still holds back on is how hard he punches, because he really still isn't trying to do any lasting damage.

appreciative of the obvious hint even if he doesn't strictly need it, heine lets himself be pushed onto the defensive, narrowly avoiding as many of alhaitham's strikes as he can. he still takes some—several, in fact, more than he had the last time they fought.

even one to the jaw, which results in a split lip that has heine spitting blood onto the street. his next grin is a little garish because of it, but he's clearly having fun.

but now, for something a little different—as he dodges one of alhaitham's punches, heine drops one hand down to the cement so he can lever a high kick up instead, seeing how well alhaitham will do deflecting something that isn't just fists. ]

[Heine dodges more smoothly than before, which leaves Alhaitham at a bit of a crossroads. In the interest of testing his limits he pushes harder on the offensive, accepting when a fist slams into his collarbone or his ribs in an effort to land one that throws Heine off.

And then he drops, and Alhaitham's gaze shoots down with it. At first he thinks Heine is going for a side swipe, and he twists to prepare to leap over it--but no, the foot is coming up at a speed that Alhaitham's a little too late before the sole slams into his cheek. He bites the inside as his jaw snaps shut, staggering back. He barely stays in his feet, raising his arm to shield his face as he's pushed onto the defensive.]

[ heine's not surprised he lands the kick—what surprises him is that he had to resort to that. while he had been upfront that he was no teacher, and that he didn't plan to instruct anyone in the art of street fighting or whatever, it had been an exercise for heine to know who he could rely on to carry their weight in case shit got bad—so the knowledge that alhaitham came, got his ass kicked, then went off and actually worked on his weaknesses is more than enough to earn heine's respect.

not that alhaitham necessarily is looking for heine's respect, but you know. ]

Sorry. [ he's grinning a little, because the fight itself is exhilarating, but there's also a touch of real concern in his eyes. ] You good?

[ kicks to the head... probably not the best idea, realistically. heine shouldn't have done that, even if he's a little impressed with himself. ]

[He wasn't looking for it, but even Alhaitham can't be denied that mutual respect will make relying on each other easier if it comes to that.

But that's a concern for "if it comes to that". Right now, it's a sparring session, and Heine looks a bit demured at the result. So Alhaitham opts to test his jaw, spitting out some specks of blood before he rubs his cheek.]

I'm fine. [He lowers his hand with a nod as he looks at Heine.] But I'm not on the ground yet.

So I see.

[ well, if alhaitham says he's fine then heine will take his word for it. he darts back in for another volley of punches, pressing his advantage as much as he can. heine keeps his legs to himself for now, although in a fight back home he would absolutely use everything he has—

he's not trying to stay alive here, just trying to hold his own. trying to avoid letting alhaitham take him down while also trying to take alhaitham down in the process. and if he's restricting himself to not kicking, then maybe what he'll need to do is angle alhaitham towards a curb he can trip on or something.

joking, but also not joking, because that's exactly what heine is gonna do. ]

[Alhaitham, for his part, does realize he's getting backed into something and makes a solid effort to avoid getting twisted that way. It's a bit of a dance between close and blocked blows as Alhaitham refuses to be backed up in a straight direction.

but, ultimately, a hard enough blow to his side forces him to stagger back right into the edge of the curb. The heel of his boots hits it and it causes his balance to stagger further--he's prepared to block but the force of another hit will surely knock his feet from under him.

So, instead, he lashes out a hand to try and grab Heine's arm and try to use their momentum to spin their positions to knock Heine into the curb instead.]

[ that's the kind of move that heine would make—some sort of hail mary, last-ditch effort not to be the one hitting the concrete first. for that reason he should probably see it coming, but he doesn't, and that means alhaitham's hand wraps around his wrist and tugs before heine has a chance to fend it off.

he does at least manage to roll into it, getting a shoulder under him instead of making contact face-first with the cement, but heine hits the ground hard and briefly knocks the wind out of himself.

when he gets his breath back, after what feels like a year but is probably only five or ten seconds, he laughs out loud, exhilarated. ] Shit.

[Alhaitham stumbles to keep his own footing as he releases Heine. It was a long shot, since if it didn't work he'd be completely vulnerable to whatever comes next. But sometimes a bold risk is the best strategy.

But there it is. They both stall in the silence, and then Alhaitham lets out a spent breath with a bit of a smirk tugging his lips.] Looks like this round is over. It was a good match.

[He takes a few steps closer to offer Heine a hand up.]

[ heine reaches up to take that hand, still grinning as he lets alhaitham lever him up into a standing position. ] Looks that way.

[ a good match, indeed—better than last time. heine shakes his arms out, then stretches them up over his head, working out the tension from his muscles. ]

We gonna turn this into a monthly thing?

I wouldn't be opposed. [He retracts his hand. Skills have to be maintained after all, and Heine is a suitable and educational sparring partner. It's fun, even.

He rolls his shoulders to encourage the rest of the tension to release. And then, as if this is at all the most logical next thought after a thorough bout of clobbering each other--] What's tetris?

[ that—is such an unbelievable non sequitur that heine can do nothing but blink for a couple seconds as he processes the question. eventually it occurs to him that kaveh probably mentioned something, and heine huffs an amused noise. ]

Computer game. You rotate shapes to fill space, when you fill a row it vanishes. I'm bad at it, Kaveh's worse at it.

[ okay honestly kaveh wasn't terrible at it, heine is just ribbing him ]

[The inner workings of his mind are an enigma. An offhand comment by Heine has been carefully held in Alhaitham's until the opportune moment, the key point of interest: Kaveh is bad at it.

And what Heine describes sounds so conceptually simple he has to wonder how. There's a possibility it isn't the game and just that Kaveh was distracted, mind on some other future or concept or conversation as it often is, and that if he dedicated proper attention he would breeze through it.

There's also the possibility that some factor of the game prevents Kaveh from being able to manage its moving parts and Kaveh is just really bad at it. And that's a fascinating concept, because there is very little Kaveh can't achieve when he puts his mind to it.

So Alhaitham needs to find and try this tetris.] I see. I didn't look through any computer files for games. Was this at the bank?

[ the game itself isn't difficult and kaveh was most definitely distracted—by heine calling alhaitham magic plant man, no less. given a real crack at it, kaveh would undoubtedly be tetris king of the city.

but damn alhaitham u whipped. ]

Yeah, one of the desk computers. I'd point it out to you, but me personally, I'd die before I walk back into that building.

[ and heine can't even die so that's saying something!!!! ]

[And his love language is starting a passive aggressive tetris war. Trying to coax Kaveh to the bank again will be a hassle, but he can at least check it out there and then see if there's some sort of portable version similar to the little devices they have. He has to find a normal camera as it is, so it's not out of the way.]

That's fine, I'm familiar with where they are. [Ideally he won't have to check every one.] What you found was that bad?

All you, then. It's the one on the end, on the left. [ there, he'll make it a little easier on you.

the question makes him grimace, then shake his head a little. it's not easy to talk about, but distance and forgiveness have softened the edges somewhat. ]

Not exactly. What I found was just a memento, but I... uh, kinda lost control and tried to kill Badou.

[ which is what led to heine's twelve-day stint running away from home, culminating in badou's infuriated, desperate posting of heine's likeness to the network in an effort to flush him out of the hole he'd been hiding in. ]

Is that "Nails"? [An educated guess given the guy was beat to hell on the network and trying to find Heine in the aftermath of all that.

Though, slightly more of a concern despite the measured tone he continues to ask it in:] Is that usually a concern with you?

Nails, yeah. Friend from home.

[ badou's network post had certainly left an impression, it seems. even now, heine meets people for the first time and finds them surprised to realize that he does, indeed, have eyebrows, just pale ones.

heine sighs, reaching up to rub instinctively at the back of his neck. ] No. I mean—I told you about the implant. Right? The one that makes me heal?

[ the first time they fought, when heine explained the science of his home city and how it made him strong and fast. ]

If I'm in... extreme psychological distress, the implant takes over. It isn't easy to trigger and doesn't happen often.

Is that a side effect or does it have some mind of its own? [Either one is a possibility he can grasp, and depending on its disposition either can be better or worse of a possibility.

At least "extreme psychological distress" should be an easy enough trigger to identify. Heine says it isn't easy--is it just because he's harder to shake after what he's been through?]

Mind of its own. I call it the Dog, on account of the implant being called the Kerberos spine.

[ he pauses, realizing that "kerberos" as the three-headed guardian of the underworld is not a mythological reference that is gonna land for someone who comes from a totally different world, and then adds: ] Legendary three-headed dog.

[ extreme psychological distress is extremely easy to identify, lucky for alhaitham and indeed for everyone who may one day encounter the dog in control of heine's body. ]

It doesn't take me by surprise when it happens, so—you'd know. You're not in danger, if that's what you're worried about.

[Ah. He was, in fact, about to ask what Kerberos is.]

It's helpful to know our sparring sessions aren't a risk all the same. [And in general, if the experiment of this place is meant to push their emotions and morality. The bank probably won't be the last time.] So, how do you get back in control when it happens?

Nah. [ heine can't help but huff an amused noise at that. ] Might be fucked up to say but sparring is when I feel most myself.

[ something about being that aware of his own body, his reactions, his center of gravity—it grounds him in a way few other things do. badou makes fun, calls him a freak, but heine is who he is. ]

Depends. Sometimes I come back on my own. [ that was easier when he was younger, though. ] In the bank, Badou knocked me out with the safety deposit box.

[ sort of an unconventional approach, but it's not like he had a lot of other options. ]

It's not likely you'll ever meet him, but if you do, just knock me out. I'll be okay.

[Whatever works, right?

Alhaitham hums at that.] Then let's continue meeting up. These fights also teach me more about your abilities so, if the time comes, I'll be more prepared to knock you out.

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pirouettes into here

Twirls you

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