the gym; thursday afternoon

[flickofthewrist]

If Flick wanted to be a Shadowhunter, he figured he'd have to really work on changing his fighting style. Being vicious had worked for him all this time but apparently, that wasn't going to work where he was headed. He'd been working with Isabelle over the past few months but he still hadn't really completely let go of what he'd learned.

Today, he'd taken a run around the island and was now in the gym, practicing targeted shots on the heavy bag. The focus was on striking places on the body that could take a person down and not just beating the hell out of them for the sake of it.

It was harder than it sounded. His focus was good but he continued to feel almost clumsy and, in the end, ended up getting frustrated and falling right back on bad habits.

Time to beat the heavy bag.

[Open]

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[seveninchmotto]

As many times before, Isabelle paused at the door when she found Flick in the gym.

Wasn't often she got to observe him.

[flickofthewrist]

"Don't watch me," he said, sounding frustrated and irritated. "You won't like what you see."

He wasn't doing it right and he knew it.

[seveninchmotto]

"You're not the judge of that." But he wasn't doing what she wished he'd been doing, no. She left the doorway, and walked in, since she'd already been spotted. "Stop."

[flickofthewrist]

"I'm not done," he muttered, slamming the bag a few more times and frowning. "I need to finish this round."

[seveninchmotto]

"No, you don't," she replied, shaking her head. "You need to stop and think."

[flickofthewrist]

"That's too distracting," he told her, shaking his head. "Thinking means I'm slow."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle pointed at the dummy.

"Your opponent isn't actually going anywhere. Your speed isn't of the essence here."

[flickofthewrist]

"This is a heavy bag," he pointed out, slowing his pace and frowning. "Speed will be of the essence when it's a real person. Or thing."

[seveninchmotto]

"Correct," Isabelle replied, albeit in a mildly exasperated fashion. "But this is practice. You have the luxury of time here. And I don't mean that you should use that to be slow forever. I mean that here you can stop and think and make yourself learn things so that they become second nature to you and you don't have to think about them when the time comes."

[flickofthewrist]

"I've been trying," Flick told her, punching the bag hard one more time before stepping back. "I was clumsy and the most amateur of fighter would have killed me. I'm not getting it."

[seveninchmotto]

"Okay, so you would have lost," she said, crossing her arms. "Now stop, and think. What do you need to change?"

[flickofthewrist]

"Everything, apparently," he said sullenly. He rubbed his knuckles and shook his head. "I know what I need to do. Doing it is not easy. I'm uncomfortable."

[seveninchmotto]

"No one said it would be easy. Or comfortable." She was sure he knew that, but sometimes it paid off to state the obvious. "Being a Shadowhunter isn't either of those things. Fighting, with a purpose, is not either of those things."

[flickofthewrist]

"It's not working for me," he told her bluntly. "I'm trying. I'm not getting it. I don't feel comfortable when I'm trying to do that. I don't know how to change that."

[seveninchmotto]

"Then you haven't found the right way to try yet," she told him, stepping closer, keeping her arms folded. "I get it, it's hard. Your world taught you to survive, and I'm trying to teach you to fight like you have a purpose beyond that."

[flickofthewrist]

"Isabelle, I'm not trying to be harsh here but you telling me this is all known information," he said, shaking his head. "I know that. But words aren't helping me get this anymore."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle leveled a gaze at him.

"Would you rather hear this over and over, or be told you're not going to cut it, and that you can just give up now and stop doing things that make you uncomfortable?"

[flickofthewrist]

Flick looked right back at her. "No, I don't want to be told that but words aren't helping. At this point, I need action."

[seveninchmotto]

"Like what you were doing when I got here?"

Because action didn't seem to be doing it for him, either.

[flickofthewrist]

"At least it's fighting," he said, sighing and rubbing his face. "It's something physical."

[seveninchmotto]

"Well, we're not going to do that right now." Not right away, anyway. She gestured at the floor with one hand. "Sit down."

[flickofthewrist]

Flick thought about being petulant and asking her to say 'please' but didn't. Instead, he sat down and stretched his legs out, leaning back on his hands.

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle sat down opposite him, her legs crossed. She unhooked her whip from her belt, then settled it on the floor next to her.

Then looked at it for a moment.

Then looked up. "Were you ever taught to use weapons?"

[flickofthewrist]

Flick glanced at the whip too before meeting her gaze again. "Some. Not much. I know how to use different weapons but not because I was trained."

[seveninchmotto]

"I think we should get you training with a weapon." Not her whip, obviously, but something. "Shadowhunters rarely fight without one unless we have no choice."

Because they fought to win. Also, they had Angel-boosted weapons.

"I think it could be good for you. It could be easier for you to adopt a new idea about fighting if it comes complete with different technique."