fandomhighdorms | The Salle, Friday Afternoon

Kathy had been getting ~~handwavy~~ lessons in knifework from Eliot for several months now and she was starting to get pretty good at it. They still spent more time sparring with markers than they did with even practice blades, but she had fewer and fewer streaks of ink across her skin and clothing when they finally broke for the day. So--progress?

While Kathy had yet to figure out how to practice actual knifework by herself (save for practicing reversing her grip until her wrists hurt), a lot of her lessons were actually teaching her a martial art--Krav Maga, she thought. Unleashing a flurry of strikes or kicks would do her just as much good in a knife fight as whipping a knife around--and possibly more, considering Kathy wasn't sure she'd actually be able to use a knife on a real person. Not unless she was trying to save someone else, too, probably. So Eliot seemed to mostly be teaching her the most brutally efficient way to take down someone who was holding a knife and only some of those lessons actually involved using a knife of her own.

Which, honestly, Kathy was pretty okay with.

Today her assignment was to practice her kicks and strikes while pulling her knife out and changing her grip on it--without losing the rhythm of her strikes or dropping the knife.

"One-two-three-dammit!" It was harder than it sounded.

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"And now you're about to be off and meet more people who aren't awful," Kathy told him, having a slightly rosier view of what Flick was in for at the Shadowhunter school than was accurate. "Well, okay, some probably will be, because people are people, but you'll know how to do with those assholes already."

She gave him an encouraging smile. "When you've already dealt with the worst, the little things people try don't really even faze you anymore."

"I'll definitely be fine," Flick said, nodding. "No doubt about that. I might have to throw a few punches or kick some ass but it'll all be worth it. I'll be fine."

"So long as they're the type to accept a few punches with good grace and not try to come back with friends afterwards, you'll be fine," Kathy said. "I don't suppose you wanna spar a bit with me? Umm, no knives," she added quickly, because she wasn't good enough to spar with anyone who wasn't a professional yet. "It's been awhile since you showed me some moves, remember? Feel like seeing what your roommate's been up to?"

Flick had been the first person to teach Kathy a bit of self-defense. That concern for her well-being had touched her and made him a lifelong friend.

Flick hesitated for a second for reasons that had nothing to do with Kathy and everything to do with him.

"Sure," he said after a moment. "I've been doing some tweaking on how I fight so we shouldn't go full on but I'd like to see what you can do these days. I've had to work on some things when it comes to how I fight."

"Then we'll take it easy," Kathy said, fixing her ponytail so the flyaways wouldn't get into her face. "Make sure your new moves are working right?"

She moved back a little and eyed him. Flick was stronger than she was, no doubt. Her best bet would be to stay out of his reach as much as possible and to dart around and hit him from behind. She was betting she was faster than he was--thanks mutant superpower--but she didn't want to come at him full force and full speed.

"Whenever you're ready?"

Flick hadn't really sparred against anyone in awhile so he was still going to be hesitant. He didn't think he really had the hang of what Isabelle had taught him but he figured he could stop if anything.

He took a few steps forward and threw a few quick jabs, just starting things off slowly and simply.

Kathy blurred out of the way of both punches, then ducked under his arms to kick out at his ankles. Her style was a weird mashup of gymnastics, Krav Maga, and dirty tricks she picked up in various places. She didn't intend to use the latter on Flick, though. That was purely for heroing.

Flick jumped out of the way of the leg sweep, stepping back and reassessing his opponent. She was quick, that was definite, but he could keep up if that was the extent of it.

He came forward again, a little quicker and feinted left, trying to distract her so he could send a sharp kick at the joint of her knee.

The extent of it? Oh no, that wasn't even the tiniest fraction of it.

Don't watch the eyes, Eliot whispered in her mind. Don't even watch the hands. Watch their hips. The shift in weight will tell you what they're doing.

She saw the feint for what it was and watched his leg tense in preparation for a kick. Flipping backwards, she did a back handspring out of the way, and then put on a burst of speed to run up a nearby wall and flip over Flick's head and leap behind him.

Flick took a few steps back and raised his eyebrows.

"I can't really compete with that," he said, shaking his head. "No flipping in my arsenal."

Kathy had been in mid-punch when Flick paused. She stopped her fist, holding it in mid-air for a second before dropping it back to her side.

"Well, I can't really stand around and duke it out with people, so flipping around is kind of my M.O."

"Oh, I'm not asking you to," Flick said, shaking his head. "Just making an observation. I'm not used to people that can flip all around me. Pretty advantageous thing."

Kathy couldn't help but grin at that. "Yeah?" she asked. "It's pretty much how I operate when I'm in Baltimore. But a lot faster."

"Operate in Baltimore?" Flick asked, tilting his head. "You do a lot of fighting in Baltimore? Some underground club?"

"Oh, I, uhh, never said?" Kathy gave an uncomfortable chuckle, tucking her arm behind her head. It was a move she'd copied from a thousand animes. "You know those nights I don't come home till almost dawn? It's cause I'm out. Patrolling. As a costumed vigilante. Named Banzai."

Yeah.

"Well, that's a lot more exciting than what I thought you were doing," Flick said, scratching his chin. "A lot more dangerous too though it seems like you can handle yourself just fine."

"I've been doing for about a year now," Kathy said, ducking her head and smiling at the praise. "Your lessons provided the backbone of everything I did out there. So, thank you."

"Sounds like you did the hard stuff," Flick said, smiling slightly. "I just gave you a blueprint. Be careful doing what you're doing but good job."

The Salle, Friday Afternoon

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