The Gym [Saturday Afternoon]

[longislandiceme]

So, Bobby had spent the last week or so reading up on basic self-defense. He knew how to fight, but he'd never actually had to teach anyone else before, so he was doing his best to make sure he was doing this right.

After dragging out some mats and arranging them on the floor, he leaned up against the wall and waited for Sookie.

[ooc: Bobby is here for le aformentioned, but post is open, sure.]

Comments

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

And Sookie had never had to learn before, so she was fairly hesitant as she poked her head into the gym, tying her hair back in the process. "Hi."

[longislandiceme]

"Hey," Bobby greeted, looking rather relieved as he caught sight of her. "You're all... you-shaped. And not yellow and made of plastic." Because, yes, it had been a concern.

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I have no idea what's going on," Sookie admitted, her eyes wide. "I mean, I'm sure you'd make a very nice plastic person, but this is weird even by Fandom standards."

[longislandiceme]

"Plus, it would make what we're here for sort of... difficult," Bobby pointed out.

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"I'm generally a little more...pliable?" Sookie ventured, trying to find the right adjective. "Plus I'm pretty sure these plastic people come apart at the hinges." She shook her head. "But! But, since I'm not plastic, I'm totally good to learn this stuff."

[longislandiceme]

Yeah, Bobby was just gonna Not Think about that particular adjective in relation to Sookie, because hi, telepath.

"So... I guess we should start with, well. What do you know, self-defense wise?" he asked. "Even if it's something you saw on TV or whatever. Or," he added, after a moment, "something that worked when you were fighting off- that guy." He couldn't even remember the asshole's name. Probably a good thing.

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

Sookie thought back on the fight with Rene, crossing her arms around herself unconsciously. "I tried to hit his ribs," she said, nodding a little. "Which I mostly knew hurt 'cause of, um, what the Rattrays did to me? And I tried to hit his head against a tombstone, but he caught my arms, so I um, tried to knee him. Other than that, I...mostly know not to keep my thumb in my fist if I'm throwing a punch, 'cause Jason's best friend broke his thumb that way when we were kids."

[longislandiceme]

Bobby nodded thoughtfully along with all of that, reaching over to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Okay, first thing? You probably want to avoid punching altogether, really. Grabbing and tearing at skin'll work better, especially in softer places like the underside of the arm."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Ow," Sookie winced, just thinking about that. "But -- am I actually strong enough to do damage, just pulling like that?"

[longislandiceme]

"Enough to get someone to loosen their grip on you?" Bobby said. "Yeah. Your elbows, too," he added, stepping backwards and twisting as if to elbow an imaginary assailant in the ribs. "Aim for the ribs, throat, or groin. Those are pretty, um. Vulnerable spots." He repeated the motion, and then moved behind Sookie and grabbed her upper arms, firmly but still somewhat looser than an actual attacker would. "Okay, now give it a try."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Won't hurt you?" she checked, pausing just a little before jerking an elbow back towards him far more gently than she would if he was actually attacking her.

[longislandiceme]

"I'll be- fine," he said, as her elbow connected. "That was good, but you'll get more power if you use the strength of your lower body too."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"I don't want to actually hit you. At least not hard," she fretted.

[longislandiceme]

"I can take a lot," Bobby said with a bit of a shrug. "But it might be easier if we go through the motions slower than you would in a real situation, anyway. Just to get your body used to the movements."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

Sookie obediently repeated the motion, much more slowly. "Better?" she asked, biting her lower lip and trying to peek over her shoulder at him.

[longislandiceme]

"Better," he nodded. "You've got the right idea. Now try that again, but aim for my throat?"

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

Sookie angled her elbow a bit higher this time. "Wait, what if my attacker isn't...you know, not Bobby-sized, but like, a foot and a half taller than me? Would this still work?"

[longislandiceme]

"In that case, you're probably better off aiming for the ribs, or diaphragm," Bobby admitted. "Although if he's bending down enough that his throat is vulnerable, go for it."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"What about his nose?" she wondered. "They're always hitting people in the nose on TV. Jason broke his a couple times, actually."

[longislandiceme]

"Nose is a good one too," Bobby agreed. "It's pretty fragile. An elbow there would work- or even your head."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"And it'll just...bleed a bunch and catch 'em off guard," she said, not quite wanting to get into how she knew that but figuring he might be able to put it together. "Ribs are okay targets, too? If they're tall? Those hurt, and it doesn't seem too hard to break them."

[longislandiceme]

Yeah, the image how they'd found Sookie and Rene that night was pretty much burned right into his brain, so he could figure that out easily enough.

"Ribs break easily," Bobby said with a nod. "That's one I know from personal experience."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Me too," she said, quirking a humorless little smile. "There's not a trick to doing it, is there?" Yeah, she was thinking back and all Rene seemed to do to her ribs was push her to the ground.

[longislandiceme]

"Just make sure you're putting the strength of your whole body behind the move," Bobby advised.

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I should start lifting weights or something," Sookie mused. "I don't have Bill's blood anymore, and hopefully won't ever need it -- or any vampire's -- again. So now I'm just...teenage-girl strong. I've got my lightning if I can access it, though."

[longislandiceme]

Bobby made a face at the mention of Bill's blood. "It couldn't hurt, the weights," he admitted. "And we could go running a couple times a week or whatever. If you want." It was kind of strange, really, how easy it was to fall back into the old pattern of a regular training routine.

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Will you go slow for me?" she asked, smiling a little. "I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up with you just yet."

[longislandiceme]

"Of course!" Bobby said. He was definitely no Pietro Maximoff when it came to speed, anyway. "It wouldn't be fair of me to drag you out and then make you go on your own, anyway."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"I wish there was something I could teach you in return for this stuff. I mean, we could try cooking again, but that's...not as crucial as this stuff, anyway," she noted thoughtfully. "Plus, you know, it would probably call my sanity into question."

[longislandiceme]

"Not to mention the safety of the dorms," Bobby pointed out. "But seriously- the fact that it's gonna help you stay safe- in Fandom or... wherever, is a pretty good return as far as I'm concerned."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

Sookie smiled at that. "You're sweet," she decided, leaning to kiss his cheek before dropping back into the stance she'd been in before. "So, okay, show me how to hit someone in the ribs the right way."

So romantic. Really.

[momslilassassin]

Ben normally got to the gym in the morning but stupid plastic legs didn't bend the way they were supposed to and he'd had to roll down the stairs (embarrassing) and then his right hand had popped off (even more embarrassing) and so yeah, even if his arms didn't bend correctly, he wanted a workout.

He got to the gym and sighed. "Am I the only one who woke up plastic?"

[longislandiceme]

"You're not the only one," Bobby assured him. "It just... skipped us. Thankfully." Awkward pause. "Um. No offense."

[momslilassassin]

Ben sighed. Sort of. It was hard being plastic. "My hands are little c's today," he complained. "And pop off!"

[longislandiceme]

And of course Bobby had to take that opportunity to glance down at Ben's hands. "But you can put them back on!" he said brightly. "That's... good, right?"

"...How did you even manage to open doors?"

[momslilassassin]

"I've been trying to get to the gym for four hours," Ben griped.

[longislandiceme]

"Well, you're, um... dedicated?" Bobby said, taking a moment to search for the right word there. "If you're plastic, do you even have muscles?" he had to wonder.

[momslilassassin]

"I have no idea," Ben said, wishing he could smile, "and I figured if I stayed in my room, it'd only be a matter of time before Ender decided to find out."

[longislandiceme]

"And so here you are," Bobby finished. "I have to admit, I'm kind of curious to see how working out- works- when you're made of plastic."

[momslilassassin]

"The range of motion leaves a lot to be desired," Ben admitted. "If I move my arms too fast, they pop out."

[longislandiceme]

"Ew," Bobby made a face. "There's no blood or anything, right?" he checked. Blood all over the gym floor would be hard to explain.

[momslilassassin]

"Nope," Ben said. "It's creepy, but for today at least, kind of convenient. I could whack a door open with my leg."

Savor that visual for a moment.

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"How do you grip things?" Sookie wondered, tilting her head at him.

[momslilassassin]

"It takes a really long time," Ben admitted, sounding annoyed even if his expression was incapable of changing.

He'd give a lot for a pair of angry eyes today.

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Do you drop stuff a lot?" she asked sympathetically. "Poor Ben."

[momslilassassin]

"Once I found a cup that fit, I was okay," he said, "but there was a lot of spilled coffee. Fortunately, I'm plastic and wipe off easily."

He paused. "That's a weird sentence, even for here."

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"How are you talking?" she wondered, staring at him. "Your mouth is like, painted on you. Sorry, that's rude. Um. It'll probably be gone by Monday!"

One could hope.

[momslilassassin]

"I wondered about that for a while too," he admitted, "but finally decided that as long as it works, I'm happy." Another pause. "I'm happy. I just can't smile."