[1v1] Practice Makes Perfect (Xavier & Leo)

[Ephebe]

Leo spent a lot of time at the gym lately, working on her battle skills as well as she could. Hel's orders were law, and it wasn't like she couldn't see the good sense in honing her fighting skills - especially if she one day hoped to become a boogeyman.

But she'd had enough of training solo with a dummy for today; it wasn't nearly as fun as sparring with someone else and it didn't teach her one whit about predicting her opponent's moves, either.

So here she was, on the lookout for a sparring partner. Speaking of which - "hey!" Leo sidled closer to the dark-haired boil, beaming happily. "You wouldn't happen to be on the lookout for a sparring partner too, would you?"

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

Xavier was, alas, still pathetic when it came to anything physical whatsoever - but he was determined to at least not be totally pathetic, even if he was just mostly pathetic. And not only that, but Hel's voice kept ringing obnoxiously in his ears, something about breaking out and being confident.

So, he was in the gym, looking terribly woebegone, but still there, at least a tiny bit determined to do something good with his day.

The voice that called to him as he stood there, somewhat awkwardly, was unfamiliar, but Xavier lifted his head and blinked, squinting in confusion at the ghoul. He was momentarily flustered, glancing behind him because clearly she must have been talking to someone else - but then he realized that she was, in fact, speaking to him, and Xavier sighed.

"Erm," he said, tapping his claws together. "Erm...yes...?"

It was kind of a question. "Yes," he said, a bit more firmly, or at least not as wobbly.

ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Great!" Leo gave him a thumbs up, slightly worried that she'd been too forward. He looked, well... not quite enthused, if she was any judge. "You don't have to spar if you don't want to," she said, forehead slightly wrinkled and smile worried, "I mean, I don't want to push you into it but it'd be cool if you wanted to, you know?"

The last thing she needed was a reputation for strong-arming creeple into fights, or the guilt of it, for that matter. It felt a bit like kicking a baby giant spider, this.

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

Xavier waffled some more because, well, that was what he did, he waffled. But the ghoul was looking kindly at him, which just made him feel more guilty, and now he felt kind of like drooping into an Xavier-sized puddle on the floor and melting away.

"Erm," he said hastily. "N-no, no we're good, I don't mind at all."

He took a breath and tried to smile, which probably came out a little awkward.

"I'm okay, really."

ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

((DISREGARD, I ALREADY ROLLED ahahaha I forgot )))  

[Ephebe]

"Alright..." The word trailed off, Leo still not quite convinced. But if he said he was good, she'd trust him; he'd be a better judge of that than her, anyway. She put her hands on her sides, shifted on her feet and gave him another beaming smile; "anyway, I'm Leo! It's nice to meet you."

Stepping back a bit, she surveyed this area of the gym; it seemed pretty ideal for a spar, honestly. "Do you want to just jump right into it and get started?"

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

He gave her another smile, this one a little bit stronger than his first. Xavier took a deep breath and tried to relax, tension easing away from his shoulders, and then gave the ghoul a small nod. Leo, he thought to himself, Leo, that's her name.

"I'm - I'm Xavier," he said, and then nodded again.

"Y-yes, please feel free to, erm...go ahead."

He awkwardly got into position, arms raised, claws curling together in some semblance of fists.

ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Xavier - that's a cool name!" She gave him an encouraging thumbs up; he really looked like he could use some encouragement. She was feeling kind of bad about badgering him into a spar now, but she might hurt his feelings if she backed out. Maybe she could just like... start off slow?

Yeah, she'd start off slow.

"Okay then, if you're sure!"

Waiting until he was in position, she darted in to get into range, pulling back an arm and then punched him. Right in the mid-section. And a lot harder than she'd been planning to. "Oh jack, are you alright?! Sorry, that was a terrible start! I should've, um, been more careful. All this strength you know, it's hard to gauge sometimes," she laughed, a bit awkwardly. So much for starting off slow.

((Leo's HP: 40/40
Damage: 10))

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

No one had ever told him that his name was cool. Xavier was slightly taken aback at the compliment, blinking rapidly and blushing a little, face tinging red. Slightly flustered, he said quickly, "T-thank you. I, erm, I like yours too." And it sounded a little pathetic in return, but, well, he was trying.

He was in position, but Leo came at him a lot harder than he had expected. Xavier let out a gasp and a wheeze, staggering backwards and clutching his chest, his heart in his throat.

"N-no," he managed to get out, stumbling back upright and waving a clawed hand. "No, don't w-worry about it, I p-promise I'm all right. I w-want to keep going, just...just keep d-doing what you w-were doing, a-all right? I p-promise I'm f-fine."

He wasn't technically fine, but Xavier gave her a reassuring smile anyway, even if it was a little tentative. He squared his shoulders and tried to figure out the best way to counterattack.

It came in the form of a quick, sharp strike across the ghoul's front, surprisingly strong.


hp: 30 / 40
dmg: 8

ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Alright, well, just let me know if you want to stop," she nodded but didn't look entirely convinced that he was fine - at least up until he sharply struck at her front, much more strongly than she'd thought him capable of.

"Yeouch!" Leo took a step back, rubbing her front and sending him an admiring glance, "that hit hard! You're good at this!"

In retaliation she went for a swing at him but it was a bit of a rubbish swing, truth be told.

((Leo's HP: 32/40
Damage: ZERO))

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

He felt bad that she felt bad that he felt bad - so it was a giant circle of the both of them feeling bad about something or other. And they probably wouldn't have gotten very far, had it not been for Leo's initial sharp strike and Xavier's return one, the both of them surprising themselves with their strength.

He felt strangely, unusually proud of himself, the compliment making him blush furiously.

"T-thank you," Xavier said, trying to sound confident, and he swung his claws towards the ghoul in a little arc.

...and completely missed as well. Oops.


hp: 30 / 40
dmg: HAHAHA

ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Leo couldn't help herself and laughed, mirthfully, for a good few seconds before holding up a hand in remorse; "ah sorry, sorry, I wasn't laughing at you specifically! It was more the two of us, starting off all awesomely and then each ending up taking rubbish swings at each other afterwards." Her smile was lopsided and warm, hoping he didn't take the laughter too badly. "I guess sometimes the fortune of battle is with you and sometimes it just isn't, right? Not that I'm discounting experience or skill or anything, of course!"

Maybe she wasn't the best at explaining herself. The Mare huffed, moving some locks of hair out of her face - "right, anyway, where were we?" Moving back into battle position, she gauged his readiness before coming at him with a high kick - well, high for her, anyway.

((Leo's HP: 32/40
Damage: 9))

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

He was starting to relax a little around the ghoul, even if she was veritably kicking his butt from here to the human world. Xavier stumbled backwards at her hard swing, her fist clocking the side of his face and sending him reeling, a squawk escaping him.

"In m-my case," he said weakly, "It's - well, the fortune of b-battle is never with me, sadly."

He tried to smack her again - and finally he felt his claws connect.


hp: 21 / 40
dmg: 7

ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"You say as you hit like a gargantuan monster," she said with a grin, feeling the claw marks out with her fingers. It had been a good hit, one that would definitely smart for a while but not to the point of breaking her Fear shield. Yet - though probably it wouldn't come to that in a friendly spar. The last one she'd done she'd kicked a** but there'd not really been much challenge - this was a challenge. A good one, too; they both seemed to be around the same level of fighting so far and she found the toe-to-toe battle much more exhilarating than just one-sidedly whooping the opponent.

Moving to follow up his attack, she went for a punch to his side, determined to do her best in this spar.

((Leo's HP: 25/40
Damage: 1))

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

He flushed, slightly embarrassed; but the ghoul was smiling at him in a way that suggested she wasn't angry or upset that he'd hit her so hard. It gave him a little boost of confidence, even if it wasn't much, some of the tension easing from Xavier's shoulders.

"T-thank you," he said, tilting his head away, and a few feathers flitted free of his hair. Leo's next punch grazed his side, a glancing blow, and he curled his claws, trying to catch her side.

"Y-you're, erm...doing w-well yourself."

An awkward compliment, but a compliment nonetheless.


hp: 20 / 40
dmg: 6

ephebe