[1 v 1] I'll Make a Man Out of You (Yin and Alex)

[NeoSeussi]

Yin caught Alex's hand, and Alex stopped, somewhat surprised. Had his swing really been that awful that it was so easy to grab a hold of? The answer was obviously yes, since they were standing there like this. Alex just hung his head, feeling defeated, but since he was so much taller all that really meant was that he was looking down at Yin.

"I'm really sorry Yin. I'm just..not feeling like myself today .I know you think this is a good idea, and I want to do this, or I wouldn't be here but...Jack damnit why can't I just feel like myself again?" He sighed, stepping back, bringing his fist down so that Yin either had to let go, or put his own hand down with it.

And then he saw something strange out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his head back towards Yin, staring at the boil straight on.

"Yin are you...sparkling?" He suddenly glanced up, half expecting to see some kind of nightmarish glitter fairy flitting about the room dumping her ghastly shimmering sparkles of doom on the boils from above.

Hm..nothing up there.


HP: 8
Damage:  

[ramenli]

It pained him to hear the zomboil talking like that, to hear him admitting that things just no longer felt the same. It was true, things had certainly been different since the trial, but he did not like admitting it. Like saying it out loud somehow made it more true or something. Apparently when the sparkle had been pointed out the ability decided that it was no longer random and stopped. Yin glanced down, and saw absolutely nothing.

When he looked back at Alexander there was worry evident in his eyes. "Alexander are you...are you okay?" Maybe that fall earlier had effected him more than he thought, or maybe...had he hit him too hard? Was the zomboil seeing things? It was time for the age-old question. "Alexander, how many fingers am I holding up?" He held up three fingers, hoping that the zomboil's eyes would be able to focus and he could produce the right answer. No, he was not attacking right now, the possibility of his bonded seeing things meant that the spar could go on the back burner.

For now.

HP: 9
Damage: Waiting to make sure that Alexander didn't get knocked in the head too hard.  

[NeoSeussi]

And then the sparkling just...stopped. It stopped at the exact time that Yin chose to look down at himself and see that it had stopped.

"Yin I..no..you were.." He stammered, moving in closer to the other boil suddenly, grabbing his arms and inspecting them, tilting up his chin, then moving his head from side to side. He grimaced at the large lump, already starting to bruise, on the other boils face. He'd have to use some of his special healing on that later.

"You were seriously sparkling!" He exclaimed, pleading with the other boil to just believe him. He then rolled his eyes at the weremantis when he held up his fingers.

"Three..fingers, if that's what you call those things. They're more like claws though." He frowned, hands crossing over his chest as he stared at the other boil, almost daring him to sparkle again so that he could some how prove to Yin that it was true. But Yin just kept looking at him like he was crazy. Alex knew he was not crazy. He had enough crazy going on without seeing his boilfriend sparkle on top of everything else. Muttering curses under his breath, he suddenly moved more towards Yin, grabbing his shoulders tight and moving a foot behind his ankle as he pushed the boil to the floor, going down with him, riding him to the ground and ending with himself straddling to boils waist with his hands still gripping his shoulders.

"I'm not crazy." He growled, suddenly looking almost dangerous. Because crazy people didn't do that, right?

HP: 8/40
Damage: 3  

[ramenli]

Something had changed in the zomboil. Something that Yin seemed to know and something that he did not trust. His eyes widened slightly as phantom teeth ghosted over his shoulder, a feeling that had never fully left him and even after all of the trauma of the trials was still one of the worst sensations that he could imagine. That look...that look was familiar. And it scared him. Not that he wanted to admit it or let it show.

To him Alexander with that glint in his eye, that one that seemed like he had been pushed too far, over the edge somehow, was worse than anything that any hunter could do to him.

Trying to sound brave and not give away the terror that was coursing through him Yin spoke up. "Of course you are not crazy, I just thought that maybe you had suffered an injury. I am confident that you are fine." He could not, would not let Alexander know what he was thinking about. About the fact that right now the zomboil might just choose to drive his hands into his chest, might start working at pulling the flesh out. Might try to taste that flesh while it was at it.

HP: 6
Damage: Not while being ridden?  

[NeoSeussi]

Yin must have been very convincing, because Alexander almost instantly let out a sigh, slipping his hands away from Yin's shoulders as he sat up straight, gazing down at the other boil with his pale gray eyes. "I'm not injured." He insisted, but decided not to press the sparkling issue any further then he already had. Pushing Yin to the floor had maybe been a little bit overkill, but for some reason, the momentary excitement had made him feel quite a bit better.

Yin had never been in any real danger, Alex had been in control (mostly) the entire time. The growl in his voice had been more from frustration then anger, as well as the look he had been giving Yin. But now that Yin said he believed him, that frustration had melted away, and he almost looked..happy. At least, as close to it as he ever got, these days, which was a major improvement towards how he'd been throughout this entire sparring session.

If he knew what Yin was thinking though, or how frightened the other boil currently was, he'd likely be completely devastated.

"While we're down here...you uh..wanna show me how you would get out of this position? In case I find myself pinned like this?"

HP: 8/40
Damage: Not attacking this turn.  

[ramenli]

So how would he get out of the position of being flat on his back, straddled, and barely keeping himself in check while he was almost terrified out of his mind as flashbacks of one of the worst moments of his life was playing through his head, despite Alexander's new-found smile?

Not nicely. Not nicely at all.

It was all instinct at this point. with the zomboil's hands simply resting on his chest his right one reached around, grabbing Alexander's right wrist, his left hand shooting up to his bicep, tightening, pulling him down. His left elbow came down quickly, driving into Alexander's leg, his left foot trapping his leg before he bucked up, throwing him off balance and rolled him over to the side, sitting there between the zomboil's legs but looking down at him laid out flat on his back. Okay, some semblance of control had been regained. "Like so."

HP: 6
Damage: 7  

[NeoSeussi]

He'd been expecting Yin to make a move, but what he hadn't been expecting was it to hurt so jack damned much. Normally, pain didn't really bother the zomboil. Sure it was uncomfortable, sure it weakened him to a degree, but he was normally able to push past it. Zombies had great resilience, after all. He felt like he was perhaps getting a taste of his own medicine, from his earlier swing and hit against Yin's jaw. It wasn't pleasant, not at all, and pain resonated from every part of him that Yin hit or touched as he somehow swung the other boil off of him and onto his back on the floor.

As his fear shield took it's last battering, as he laid on the floor with Yin sitting between his legs, Alex found himself blinking, his eyes unfocused, his vision clouded with fuzzy black dots so that he could barely see what was happening. He shifted his left leg slightly, because something just felt off, and the bones came apart, his fear opting to not bother with holding them together anymore.

"I think...you may have..." He started to say, a little slowly and dumbly as his brain tried to comprehend what happened. But wait, no! It wasn't over yet. Wouldn't Yin want him to fight until he couldn't fight anymore? He was still conscious, so he should still be fighting. Pushing himself up to one elbow, he groped blindly with his other hand grabbing for the larger of his two leg bones, he rapidly swung it towards Yin, not knowing if he was aiming for his head, his shoulder, his neck...not a clue, couldn't really make the other boil out.



HP: 1/40
Damage: 2  

[ramenli]

Yin really did appreciate what Alexander was doing. Which was apparently angering him.

He was doing a great job.

So when the leg bone hit him in the shoulder he reached over, extracted it from the zomboil, and shoved it back into place, letting some of the remainder of his fear flow into the joint. "Really Alexander?" The zomboil knew how Yin felt about his leg being used as a weapon, how just pulling it apart like that freaked him out. He was not impressed.

HP: 4
Damage: -4  

[NeoSeussi]

"It's not like.... I have many options... left available to me." He said, his voice sounding oddly weak. "Besides, you're...the one...that broke it.." His eyes fluttered shut, then reopened, but only about half way. This was horrible. He felt so weak, so helpless. He was completely at the other boils mercy. Yin had taken away his weapon and...was reattaching it to Alex's leg? But how..why...

Alex felt a sudden warmth, and then coolness as Yin's fear helped to heal some of the damage. It wasn't much, though, and he still felt incredibly weak. But though he felt like he had almost nothing left to give, he wouldn't quit. He was still propped up with one elbow, and he lashed out with a slap, towards the side of the boils head.

"Why did you do that?" He asked, sounding mildly miffed, though he was suddenly grinning up at the other boil.

HP: 5/40
Damage: 1  

[ramenli]

"I am just making sure that I remembered how to do it correctly," he all but groused at the zomboil. He prodded him in the chest with a long finger, possibly hitting him in a place that he had already been injured so that it would hurt enough to do three damage.

"You do not have to keep busting your leg apart every time you are not sure what to do. I can teach you other things." He felt ridiculously weak, but he was holding himself together. He had to get this point across to Alexander, and for that reason he would hold himself together until he was finished. "What if a new enemy showed up and you had just surrendered the use of your leg? You would be better off going with another tactic."

HP: 3
Damage: 3  

[NeoSeussi]

Alex gasped in pain at the prodding and winced away from the pressure of that long, clawed finger. Everything just hurt right now. He felt battered and beaten, and he could feel that the small bit of fear healing that Yin had done was already starting to wear off. "But I..didn't break it. Already broken." He mumbled, closing his eyes and turning his face away from Yin. Was this over now, were they finished yet? Could they just go back to Yin's room, where Alex could just curl up and let himself heal, or possibly die? Dying didn't sound so bad at the moment.

But no, Yin seemed to have more to say, adding in that he could teach Alex other ways. That sounded fine with the zomboil, and he nodded his head slowly, opening his eyes and giving him a small smile. "Okay.." He said. He understood, he would stop using his leg bones as a weapon...

...as long as Yin was watching, anyways.

He also understood that this battle wasn't over. Yin wasn't going to let it be over until it was really and truly over, was he? The zomboil wasn't sure if this was meant to be some kind of test or what. If he didn't attack Yin, as his boilfriend had been urging him to do throughout the entire spar, would he be completely disappointed in Alex? It was so confusing, and he didn't know what to do, and he likely took far too long to decide. But mixed in with that confusion was irritation. He didn't understand what Yin wanted from him. When Alex had been doing well, the other boil had been smiling like it was the best thing in the world that Alex was hurting him. When Alex didn't hit him, or couldn't, the other boil almost seemed to get upset. All of these thoughts and emotions were waging a war in Alex's head, and so on top of everything else, he was just getting a raging headache as well.

"Would this be a better alternative?" He asked, the smile slipping away as he suddenly swung his fist towards the side of Yin's head, putting everything he had left behind it. He thought Yin would block it, or move. He wasn't nearly as hurt as Alex, or so the zomboil thought. He expected Yin to catch his fist, as he had earlier, and then possibly end this fight since it was so obviously over for Alex.


HP: 2/40
Damage: 6 QQ  

[ramenli]

((I bet that headache wasn't the only thing that was raging Alex))

When Alexander spoke Yin could sense that an attack was coming. In face he could see it, see the fist coming toward his head, turning his head slightly to try to avoid it somewhat because for some reason his hands just would not move fast enough. But no, the fist connected solidly with his head, first crumpling the remainder of his Fear shield and then going on to deliver a decent amount of damage and forcing him to fall backwards.

The weremantis was not unconscious, no, there had not been enough damage for that. But he was finding that he could not move. He had fought until the end, held himself together, and now the fight was well and truly over and he could not move anymore. "Exactly like that," he murmured, glad that the zomboil had found the energy to finish things off.

And it was not like being defeated again would have any lasting effect on the mantodae.  

[NeoSeussi]

Alex didn't know what to think. Yin hadn't moved to block, hadn't tried to dodge, hadn't done anything. His fist connected with the side of Yin's head, and the weremantis fell backwards to the floor.

And then he just didn't move, save for the breathing and speaking so quietly that Alex could barely make him out.

That last attack...Alex had thrown all of his reserve strength into it. He knew he had hit the other boil quite hard, and now he was just scared of what he might have done. "Nonononono, Yin!" He pushed himself up, adrenaline taking over as he first got up to his knees, his whole body trembling faintly with the effort, and then moved so that he was by Yin's side, next to his head. He touched the weremantis gently, where his fist had struck. He felt panicked, he chest suddenly so tight, breathing would have been impossible.

"Why did you let me do that?" his voice was strangled. He had hurt Yin. He had seriously hurt Yin and now the other boil wasn't moving. What was he supposed to do? Should he get the nurse? Try to move him?

Well, first maybe he could try some basic healing, though without knowing what he was fixing that was a little difficult. He tried anyways, concentrating his fear on that last place he hit Yin, trying to do something, anything, to make it better. When he was finished, he drew his hand away, his eyes suddenly feeling quite wet, and if Yin could see them, he'd notice that they were looking quite red.

Nope, not going to cry. That's ridiculous, you don't just cry over nothing like this. Hell, up until recently you couldn't cry, so don't you dare cry now.

"Yin please, please..." He pleaded with the other boil, as he swallowed back his tears, tried to regain control of his emotions. "Please just be okay."

If this is what sparring was going to be like with Yin, Alex was never going to do it again. Ever.  

[ramenli]

No, Alexander was not supposed to be this upset about it. He had just won, he had proven that he was the better fighter and he should have been happy. Or at the very least he should not be as upset as he was. His touch was cooling, but it was also numbing as his Fear began to spread through Yin, strengthening him slightly, though he could tell that his Fear shield was not in place.

But it was enough that he could move again. He reached up to grab the zomboil's upper arm, though really it was all he could do to rest his hand there. "Please do not be upset Alexander, I shall be fine." He did not feel like he would be fine, not all all. His jaw throbbed, his leg throbbed, his face throbbed. Everything throbbed. But this was normal, he had dealt with injuries before and he would again. "Please just...give me a moment?" He tried to smile at him, showing him it was okay which caused a twinge of pain to run through his jaw. "You did wonderful. Perhaps next time you will be the one teaching me." He said it as lightly as he could, but something in the back of his mind was whirring along, pointing out that it really was not so ridiculous a notion. Alexander was a superior fighter, and there was something to be found there, though at the moment he could not quite think of what.  

[NeoSeussi]

Alexander could be upset about it, and he clearly was. He did not for a second think he was a better fighter. Just because he had brute strength on his side didn't prove anything, and Yin had taken time to stop and heal him, to stop and tell him to fight with everything he had, instead of attacking when he should have. So many times Yin had skipped an opportunity to take Alex down. How was he supposed to feel like the victor?

Yin's words did nothing to soothe him, though he did manage to force back the tears that were threatening to fall. That was good, at least. None of that ghoulish nonsense here.

"Take all the time you need.." He smiled back, trying not to look quite as horrible as he currently felt.

"I'm here, and I'll help you in anyway you might need it but..Yin, why did you let me win?" He blurted out. "You could have taken me down, I know you could have. And you healed me once as well when you could have finished me off instead---" He stopped, Yin's next words leaving him cold.

"I...I shouldn't be teaching you anything..." he protested weakly, not sure if Yin was joking or not.

And then it was just a matter of waiting for Yin to be feeling up to leaving, though Alex could use some time himself. He tried to use some healing to ease the swelling in Yin's jaw, though it didn't help much, and tried to remember any other place he might have hit the boil so that he could apply healing to those areas as well. It really wasn't much, since he was so weak and he had to spread it so thin, but he hoped it helped a little.

Eventually they were both able to stand, and able to then leave, together. (And no, Alex didn't forget to grab his tie on the way out.)