fandomhighdorms | The Back Deck, Tuesday

At least the cold meant that Raven and Hanna would likely have the deck all to themselves, today. Raven didn't much care, and from what she'd heard from Hanna so far, she had no doubt that the girl was used to running around in all weather, too.

She came out onto the deck quietly, not wanting to interrupt Hanna mid-form -- and not wanting to lose the chance to watch her a bit. She'd always been at least a little fascinated by how other people moved; it was a big part of impersonating them properly, if nothing else. She found herself automatically falling into a semblance of some of Hanna's stances, trying the positions out for herself, and soon was mirroring the other girl as best she could.

Which was pretty good, really. Not perfect, but Raven had always had a good body-sense, and, well. Imitation was what she did.

Hanna had realized Raven was there midway through the form, but she wanted to finish first. And Raven imitating her was good-- this was a stretching series, and both of them would be warmed up by the time they were done.

She brought her arms down from a sun salutation and turned to smile at Raven. "You learn quickly."

"At the very least, I'm good at faking it," Raven said. "Copying other people comes pretty naturally."

Hanna nodded, thinking of that-- she still slightly envied aspects of Raven's gifts. "What do you want to work on most?" she asked. "We talked about throwing your weight in different ways to fight, or defend yourself; but you would need to learn the basics first. I know aikido and karate, so... one is about grappling, and holds. The other is more about striking or trapping someone."

"I think we did a little of both of those in my self-defense class," Raven said. "I mean, we did some grappling and some hitting. Which one do you like best?"

"The karate," Hanna said immediately, balancing on one foot with ease. "You don't have to be as close to someone, and speed is essential. There is some grappling too, but it's better designed for women fighters."

Raven nodded. "Let's do that one, then. I'm good at speed. "

"Balance first." Hanna took a breath, thinking of her Papa, then let it out, assuming the first position. "Centerline is essential, and all of the attacks in wing chun karate are uncommitted." She shifted her balance back and forth, from her heels to the balls of her feet, making sure Raven was paying attention. "This way, no one can get you down on the ground as easily."

Raven followed her lead again. She had no idea what a 'centerline' was, or what made an attack 'uncommitted', but balance she got. "I like no one being able to take me down."

Hanna stopped, then moved forward again, then stopped again, then stopped to frown in thought. "You remember what you said about gliding, during class? This is... rooted, different. Your balance needs to be centered a little lower. Men's balance is in their shoulders, ours is closer to our middle."

"Lower?" Raven tried bending her knees a little more, but she didn't feel very rooted. "Can you show me?"

Hanna was trying to figure it out, and then she realized what part of it was. "Your legs need to be further apart. Like a balance for your shoulders. And yes, bending your knees. So." She adjusted her own stance, hips squared with her shoulders, arms close in like wings. "So?"

Raven spread her feet out a little more, straightening her spine and pulling her arms in. It did feel a little more stable. "So," she agreed.

Hanna gave her a relieved smile. "I've never tried to teach this before," she admitted. "It's more difficult to explain than I thought it would be." She smiled a little. "So, I think, punches first? Try to punch me, and then I'll show you how to block. And how to punch correctly."

"So you want me to fail to punch you," Raven said with a small smile. She shifted to face Hanna, squaring her fists the way she remembered from her self-defense class. "Any preference where I aim?"

Hanna shook her head, starting to look like she wanted to laugh. "You won't hit me. I promise."

"Oh sure, crush my dreams," Raven teased. She took a deep breath, rechecked her stance, then tried to be sneaky by punching really fast at Hanna's shoulder just after looking down.

Hanna could have dodged it easily, but instead she jabbed her arm forward and up, brushing Raven's arm back and leaving her torso exposed.

But she didn't want to hurt her, so... she reached forward to boop her nose. "Beep beep."

Raven wrinkled her nose with a small scowl. "Is that a technical karate term?"

"It's from a cartoon!" One that Hanna really liked. Then she hastily said, "I don't want to hurt you, but you see what happened? If you extend your arm, so--" She copied what Raven had done, punching out without standing slant-wise, her arm not close enough to defend, "you leave the rest of you open, if someone is quick enough to block or deflect. That is why the forms are important, so they can become muscle-memory."

Raven kept scowling, but it went thoughtful. "Okay," she said. "Show me how to do it right."

"Yes, hmm..." Hanna had to stop and think, to make sure her instinctive reactions wouldn't wind up with Raven getting hurt. She nodded to herself, and sliced her hand forward, going by Raven's ear, very fast. Then slower, at about a quarter speed-- without drawing her arm back, without making a fist, her other arm crossed in front of her, ready to defend. "It goes, oh... yes. One." Move the arm forward, angled. "Two." Straighten it, hitting over her ear. "Three." Pulling back very fast to defend herself again.

Woah. That was fast. Raven jerked to the side automatically, her head moving independently of her shoulders or the rest of her body as he neck lengthened.

"Maybe we could try it side by side? Get the form before I try hitting things?"

Hanna had blinked and stared as Raven's head had moved, and her neck lengthened, but she didn't comment on it right away, still thinking.

"That is a good suggestion," Hanna decided, and took a few steps to stand next to Raven. "Ten times with the right hand. Ten times with the left... I would feel easier about sparring with you," she said, starting to strike forward, back, forward, back. "If you were bigger than me. I have never fought someone my own size."

"Bigger, huh?" Raven asked, trying with the right slowly first, trying to make sure she had her arm going the right way in reference to her body. As she pulled her fist back, she grew.

"Does it count as muscle memory if my muscles are in different shapes?"

Hanna turned her head, and startled, visibly, then settled back down. "I -- do not know. That's an excellent question." She didn't stop the exercise, looking up at Raven-as-a-large-intimidating-man. "The muscles, your muscles... do they feel the same? That is, are they just as strong, only larger?" Then: "Where did you get this disguise from?"

"Doctoring class." An answer that only made sense if you'd ever met Navaan. "I am stronger this big, though probably not as strong as someone who really looks like this would be. I can make bigger muscles or turn my fingers into bone spears or grow bigger ears to hear farther away. I can copy anything I see, so long as it can be made of people parts."

Hanna hadn't had the pleasure yet, nope.

All those possibilities left Hanna speechless for a moment, but she kept doing the exercise, then switched hands. "I think, that if you -- perceive the difference in how tired you are, then you are still learning it. Part of muscle memory is your mind, and your nerves..." She was thinking aloud. "Those would not change, I suppose? ... you could make fangs. For the intimidation factor." Hanna looked up a good ways. "I could try to fight you like this? A large skilled man can defeat a small skilled woman. But skill can always defeat lack of experience, even with size differences. And speed, speed is the best of all advantages, I think."

Raven had seen how fast Hanna moved, and didn't doubt that she could take her down eventually, even if she turned into one of the big diver-suit men from Rapture. "Sure," she said. "It's probably good to get used to getting hit, too, right? And this way, I'll have a little more padding."

Padding that still bruised. Raven had not thought that bit through too well.

A little more confident now, Hanna nodded, turning toward Raven and setting her feet when she had finished the set. "Yes. Now. I will try to knock you over-- hands only-- and you need to set yourself, in this form, so that I can not. You can punch out at me, too, if you see an opening." She smiled. "Are you ready?"

Raven sank a little deeper into the balls of her feet and widened her stance, automatically adjusting for how much more top-heavy this form was. It wasn't anywhere near her usual look, as far as known disguises went, but she'd used it a fair amount, and felt she had a good grasp for how it worked.

"Ready."

Hanna lashed out, punching toward Raven's left side, then fast toward the right side of her chest. Watching for the arms' swinging, mostly trying to drive her back and make her lose her balance-- which might be easier, she realized, in an unfamiliar form, even one as massive as this one.

Strike! Punch!

Raven tried -- rather ineffectively -- to block a few times, before any sort of form sort of devolved briefly into flailing. Then she went over backwards. She lost her conversation and with it her shape, seeming to explode into overturning blue scales as she hit the floor.

"Okay," she said, panting a little. "Wow."

Hope you weren't weirded out by blue scaly nudity, Hanna. Raven's clothes did not go with her.

Weirded out, no, since she'd seen the blue before-- but very definitely surprised and confused.

"You're not wearing clothes? Aren't you cold?" Hanna blurted out before she could think about it. "Are you hurt?" Was that why there were no clothes?

Raven shifted quickly back to her usual shape -- complete with a jacket and pants and boots. And a hat. She was maybe overcompensating.

"Clothes don't shift." She tried to keep her embarrassment and frustration out of her voice, but couldn't entirely succeed. "I lost my concentration. I never do that anymore."

Stupid blue shifty body. Never stayed the way she wanted it to.

"Oh." Wait. Um? "You're never wearing clothes?" Blink. Blink. Not the point, but still. Interesting. And yet... "Maybe it would be easier for you to learn this the first time, if you are not shifted."

Although, it was easier for Hanna to strike out at her while she was larger.

"I'm not going to fight people while I'm blue."

Why not? Because . . . reasons. Yeah.

Raven stood up, dusting herself off a little. "Back home my brother always insists I wear real clothes, and he can always tell." Stupid telepaths. "Around here, no one knows the difference."

Hanna frowned, concerned now. "But what if you have to? Aren't you ever blue sometimes? It would cost you time, to change, if you weren't ready." She cocked her head. "If you're not cold, I suppose it doesn't matter."

It was a little-- startling, but Hanna didn't see a difference. She'd never lived anywhere that was so warm that 'no clothes' was an option, anyway. "... you don't mind if people see you naked?"

It was still a little boggling, admittedly.

"Only if they're going to yell at me for it." Raven still put a lot of stock in how other people reacted to her. "I don't really get cold. Or hot." She shrugged. "Maybe I'm cold blooded. It'd go great with the scales."

"If it isn't something we'll get in trouble for, or that will cause a scene..." Hanna consciously shrugged. It was none of her business, was it? Then she paused, a little concerned again with her confusion. "If you are not feeling the cold right now, I don't think you can be cold-blooded..." Was there an opposite to that, somewhere? "Truly, I did not hurt you too badly?"

Raven gave her a rueful smile. "Just my ego. I can take a lot of punishment."

It took something along the lines of a giant drill to the gut to take her down for long.

"Hmmmm." Hanna was already mentally revising the training schedule to account for that. Be happy, Raven. "Then, if you do not mind-- I think it would be better to learn first, in this-- configuration?" What else would you call it? "And then in the different forms you will be fighting in... the hat is part of your head?"

How did that work?

Raven wiggled the edge of the brim at her, which had to be disconcerting. "I might've overcompensated a little. I just -- I haven't lost full control like that in ages."

Hanna had to giggle quietly at that. "It's a very nice hat." She took a breath. "So. Forms, so you get the movements, and training through sparring in your blue form. Then training in bigger forms, so you know how to compensate for differences in size, or weight. Does that make sense to you?"

"You want me to practice while blue," Raven said. Maybe she should pick up some exercise clothes when they went shopping. In case anyone walked in on her. "It makes sense, I just." It still felt so weird, just being blue. Like the way other people probably felt just being naked.

"To do two things at once, to be holding a form, even the one you usually use, while trying to learn a new thing for your body..." Did not make sense to Hanna. "Unless I am wrong; but. You turned blue when distracted, and hurt."

See the point she's very gingerly making?

"Which would be easier?"

Dammit, Hanna, why'd you have to have a point? Raven nodded slowly. "Not today, though? I don't have any exercise clothes, and I don't think people would be too happy if they happened to walk by and see me blue and naked out here."

If anything would get Fandom to go all pitchforky, in Raven's mind it was that.

"Ah. Okay." Hanna nodded, although she wasn't totally clear on the difference; maybe she needed to read more about customs and nakedness? "Why don't we stick to more forms then, so you can get used to them. And you can practice them later, however you wish."

Raven nodded. "And I can get some of the right clothes when we go shopping later."

The Back Deck, Tuesday

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