fandomhighdorms | Preserve, Monday Afternoon

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Preserve, Monday Afternoon

Kathy had foregone rainbows and ribbons today; sticking to a sports bra and workout shorts. Anders would be flinging fireballs around, this was not the time to be in loose clothing. She had pulled her hair back into the tightly coiled braid she wore as Banzai, for that same reason. She could handle a few burns, maybe a bit of minor frostbite, but if Anders burned her hair all off, she was seriously going to have to reevaluate their friendship.

"This place look good?" she asked, moving into some easy warm-up stretches. She'd tried to find a spot that had enough still-healing trees that she'd be able to bounce off of and maneuver around, while still being open enough for Anders to be able to get off some spells with decent line of sight. "And any thoughts on how we should do this before we begin?"

[For he who is lovingly mentioned, but also open if anyone wants to hear them/wander by/whatever]

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Anders, meanwhile, was in a t-shirt and shorts that showed off a rather skinny set of legs. He didn't care; it was finally warm again, and he was going to enjoy the sun on his skin in a way he never had in Thedas.

"Try not to kill me?" he suggested, twirling his staff between his hands. "No, I've got nothing. I think we may need to feel out rules as we go."

"Says the kid with the literal fireballs," Kathy snarked, bouncing around a bit. It had gotten much harder to contain her energy after getting her powers. "What do you say--we start with a timer maybe? Five minute bout and then a pause to check in?"

"All right," Anders agreed readily. "And if someone falls over, we quit right away?"

It was hard not to stare at Kathy's bouncing. He got very interested in a nearby squirrel.

In a few moments, he'd probably be too busy dodging to be uncomfortable? Did that help?

"Definitely yes," Kathy said, nodding once for emphasis. "And I brought some water and snacks so we can stay hydrated and not fall over."

She bounced one more time, then came down flat on her heels. "You ready for this?" she asked, pointing at him?

Anders pointed back with the blunt end of his staff, stepping back a bit to give himself room. "I was born ready, Banzai."

He thought he was so smooth.

Oh honey. Honey, no.

Not that Kathy was any judge. "Then..." She did a back handspring to get herself into position and shouted, "GO!"

And then she was dashing towards him, zig zagging back and forth to make it harder for him to target her.

Anders laughed in surprise before his staff was even up. He knew intellectually what Kathy could do, but seeing it in practice -- it was surprising, was all.

And then his mouth narrowed in concentration as he cast spirit in Kathy's direction, sacrificing precision to get more bolts off more quickly.

And she hadn't even worked her way up to full speed yet!

Kathy managed to dodge the first bolt, bouncing up into a high somersault to spin over it, and the second as well, writhing to the side as it zipped by, like something out of bullet time.

The third bolt caught her in her hip, feeling like a sharp punch to the bone. "Dammit!" she snapped, before adding, "I'm okay!"

Anders was astonished he'd hit her at all, to be honest. He'd been so distracted by her acrobatics he knew his aim was off.

"Good," he called back. "Should I switch to fire now? That was spirit."

Because being burned was much more fun than being punched!

She'd dodged into it, honestly.

"Do whatever you want!" Kathy said, putting her weight on her leg to test. Pffft, it was fine. "That's the only one you get!"

Kathy took off towards him again, only halfway there, she flung herself left to bounce up a tree, running across branches towards him.

Maker's breath, she was fast. Anders gawped up that the blur that was Kathy before he remembered they were supposed to be sparring and threw up a shield over his head.

He kept sending sparks out from his staff, but between the shield and his efforts not to set her on fire they likely wouldn't have hurt her even if they had hit.

Kathy bounded from one tree to the next, even the thinnest branches providing enough support for her to run across. By the time the leaves rustled with her passing, she was already in another tree.

And then she was landing on the ground behind him. Watch out, Anders. She was coming for you!

Anders heard her coming an instant too late; by the time he could see her, she was too close to use a staff on and closing fast.

"Hi?" he tried.

Kathy winked at him. Because she was there, in his personal space, and ready to see if she could get up to nine blows in a second. Could she?

Her hands blurred out to smack him several times. And then she was using him to launch herself into the air to land behind him yet again and smack him around some more.

Sorry, Anders.

Anders yelped briefly in pain, and then remembered his staff was -- among other things -- a very large stick.

Which he was going to use to try to shove Kathy away right about now. And add a tiny bit of eletricity to, um, make sure she gott he message.

Sorry, Kathy.

"Gah!"

Kathy danced backwards, shaking her arm until the tingles subsided. It had felt like getting a shock from a very large battery--unpleasant, but not debilitating. Still, avoiding a second one of those seemed like a sound plan. She swept her leg, hoping to knock Anders flat on his ass.

Anders was so proud of himself he forgot to watch Kathy, and he tried to dodge her kick too late. It caught him square in the knee, leaving him to sit down hard on a rather muddy patch of earth. He wanted to laugh and he wanted to say ow and it all came out in an annoyed grunt.

His hair had come loose from its tie by now, and it hung haphazardly around his face as he jerked himself to his feet.

"Nice one," he said, and then let loose with more electricity -- still at a relatively weak strength, but enough that he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end.

Kathy was already out of range by the time Anders started flinging electricity about, getting the hang of fighting against distance weapons that weren't actually projectiles. She darted behind a tree, just in case she'd misjudged the distance, and then charged back towards him once the distinctive crackling noise had dissipated.

Anders' ability to watch Kathy had improved, and he was able to get up a shield just as she closed in. His staff swirled, blue mana building up around him to block her blows.

Ahh, but could he block all of them? Kathy was constantly in motion, never still, bouncing from place to place to place, now behind him, now in front of him, now to the left, the right, above.

And then the five minute alarm went off and Kathy broke away, panting a little. "You good?" she called.

He could block nowhere near all of them, and she slipped through often enough that he was panting and grateful for a break when she called time.

Not that his pride let him admit it. "I'm perfect," he said. "But if you'd like to break for a drink, I'd go along with it to keep you company."

Kathy burst out laughing. "You're too kind," she said, walking over and offering him an hand up off the ground. "I hate drinking water my myself. I feel all lonely."

"I could throw fireballs over your head while you drink,"Anders offered, a smirk playing around his mouth. "You know, just to add that element of danger."

He stretched his arms out and stashed his staff against his back again. "Maker's breath, that was something. I've never sparred anyone that fast before."

"I could go faster," she admitted, tossing him one of the water bottles she'd brought along. "But it's harder to pull my punches that way. And there's not really enough room here for me to build up that much speed."

"Thanks for being a slowpoke, then," Anders teased, catching the water bottle one-handed. "I think I'm good -- good enough, anyhow -- but I have a lot of work to do to be able to fight someone who can get close to me."

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