the gym - sunday morning - 6/8

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir should have been practicing. It was why he'd woken up early, why he'd gotten dressed and warmed up. He'd spent most of yesterday practicing his various skills in one way or another to the point where he hadn't actually seen another soul for most of the day, but he still should have been practicing.

He wasn't.

Instead, he was sitting on the ground, grinning his head off, feeding and playing with some of the tiny albino monkeys that seemed to have scampered onto the island last night. There were a couple on his shoulders, one on his head, and another one swinging between the broom handle and his arm. He spoke to them, told them all about Chistery and the others even as he knew they were animals and (probably) would not understand, and wondered absently if they were there to stay for a time or if they leave come the next day.

[open for all your gym or Liir needs]

Comments

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

No hesitation.

He dipped down and aimed a kick to knock out the remaining foot on the ground.

[intraspective]

That requires a bit of quick twisting and a few moments where she's not touching the floor at all to avoid being knocked down, but she landed lightly enough and spun, sinking into a stance.

His turn. She raised her eyebrows challengingly.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He didn't 'reply'.

Instead, he paused and watched her.

[intraspective]

She could wait. Squashing her impatience, saying nothing, not moving an inch.

Ino waited.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

As did Liir.

He wanted to see.

He took in her stance, her stillness. He avoided her eyes since they would distract him.

Not hesitation. Patience, now.

[intraspective]

She hated waiting games. Ugh. Seriously.

Ino squashed her impatience and just... waited.

Ugh.

Any time now, Liir.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir was one of the most patient people one could meet.

And he smiled.

[intraspective]

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Shikamaru would says she was being stupid, that obviously she was being baited and she knew that and...

Didn't care.

Ino darted forward, resisting the urge to up her speed with chakra (this was Liir, this was Liir damnit, not a real fight you stupid girl) and lashed out first with a fist at his stomach, then with her feet for his knees.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

From stillness to movement; sometimes, there were advantages to how Liir functioned.

The fist was dodged with a turn that became a spin as he dove into a low stance to avoid her feet. The momentum from that was put behind an elbow aimed at her own stomach.

[intraspective]

Yeah, now that? Had it been Cassandra...

Would've hurt. A lot.

But Ino had far more training than Liir and she'd already fucked up once letting him touch her, she wasn't doing it again. Ino easily went over him, twisting so she'd land facing him.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

...he was actually kind of thankful, not that it kept him from drawing back and away again.

Ino had every advantage but size and what she didn't have there was more than made up for by the rest. Liir was quite aware that if he tried to keep up with her, he'd never even have a hope.

But he did have patience. And a very good accounting of his own abilities (even if he judged them unfairly most of the time).

So he retreated again.

[intraspective]

Ino darted forward then sideways moving in for a kick from the left.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

She clipped him as he moved to dodge, one of his feet falling out of stance. More importantly, though, it threw him off balance for a moment. Instead of trying to correct himself, he dove into a roll away.

The pain was left in his leg. He wouldn't deal with it until it became a functional problem.

[intraspective]

She darted after him, moving low and fast, and going for a punch to his shoulder this time.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Minimum movement. He turned to let her fist go past and went for her stomach again with his fist.

[intraspective]

This time, she went to grab his fist, stronger than she looked, and used that as a temporary anchor as she went to sweep his feet out from under him.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He knew his feet were going as soon as her hand went around his fist. His feet went out, but he threw his weight at her and tried to grab her shoulder to stay up.

[intraspective]

A rough twist of her shoulder and she was free of his grip, but that was going to hurt later. She didn't let it show on her face though, following that up with another kick at his knees.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He pushed away from her using the other hand, the one she was holding, away and up with a jump to avoid her kick to his knees as he swung at her face.

[intraspective]

Yeah. Ha. As if he was touching her face.

Ino ducked easily, shoving him away and letting go of his hand, and kicked out at him again. And again.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He was using those falls as much as he could, since he'd practiced them so much. Also, because he was having his backside handed to him.

He dove away into another roll but the second kick caught him on the hip. Making a split second decision, he let out a cry of pain though it affected him no more than the leg. It would hurt later, when he let it hurt, but the slight favoring of the hip as he sprung back up was entirely exaggerated.

[intraspective]

Her expression didn't change, too busy thinking in attack mode for that, but the sound filtered down slowly into her thoughts, her head and though she was half way through another kick Ino wondered if maybe she was going too far.

He'd say something, right?

Ino finished the kick, twisting away and watching warily. Hi, not home right now. Leave a message and the nicer part of me will talk to you later.

She wanted to fight. And Liir was utterly the completely wrong person for this.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He waited again, letting his eyes go a little distant as if he was having trouble dealing with pain. He needed to fake her out. It was the only chance he had. He had to outthink her, which to be fair was going to be just as hard as outfighting her since she had more experience thinking in battle as well.

But he had more of a chance in that direction than in the other.

[intraspective]

He might not, she realized, already twisting into another kick followed by an punch--and what was she supposed to do then?

Stop?

She didn't want to stop. But this wasn't... right either.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He dodged the kick in a turn that was almost too slow but blocked the punch, taking the shock of the blow in what looked like a desperate defense.