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 Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 6:02 pm
They’d picked an obscure location to practice; Michel didn’t trust that any of the parks wouldn’t be populated and he really didn’t want to risk Ilse getting into extra trouble because she was seen with him. He knew the reputation he’d cultivated with the Negaverse, and while she had her own history with them he didn’t see any good reason to make things worse for her.
He could handle himself; he had a weapon. He had his strength. He had a summon. She had magic.
When he left the Negaverse, he’d made sure he kept the new him quiet. She didn’t really have that luxury.
“Here’s good,” he decided; they were in an old, run down district in Destiny City. Bad piping had run out the residents, and better places to build to build had left the area uninspiring for developers. Most of the buildings were boarded up, but he seemed to know his way through what appeared to be an old apartment complex and guided her to a courtyard in the middle.
If anyone snuck up on them, they’d have plenty of time to get out of there without being spotted. It wasn’t a pretty place; there was graffiti on the wall and a bit of litter spread around, but the only part that would have really affected them was that the grass and weeds were a little overgrown.
It wasn’t anything that would slow them down or affect their practice session.
“I can’t teleport like the Negaverse can, but my weapon’s got enough reach that you’ll have to get creative to avoid it. I’ll try not to hit too hard, but.” He shrugged and gave her an apologetic look. “It’s not like they’re going to go easy on you.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 4:53 pm
The place Michel had found fort hem to practice wasn't exactly the type of place Ilse ever thought she would want to be willingly, but maybe it was the type of place she needed to go more often. Or places like it. This one seemed pretty abandoned, which made it unlikely that the Negaverse was lurking, but...still, the theory was probably sound.
For now, though, it was her, and Michel, and a need for practice so that she could maybe suck just a little less next time she got caught up in a fight. So she nodded, fervently.
"Okay! Come at me, and I'll do my best to dodge!" At least she felt pretty familiar with her magic; that was the easy part, and she didn't have to sling something so...mean, at Michel, when it would only hurt him.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:28 pm
Michel briefly gave her a look, like he was just a bit exasperated already, and sighed loudly as he lifted his weapon. “All right,” he said slowly, as if there were doubt in his heart.
Not in himself, he just didn’t think she was as ready to deal with him as she wanted to be.
But, better she practice dealing with him and not an agent with a sword.
His clockhand had reach; he didn’t even need to dream about teleportation as he lunged at her. He was fast, and strong enough that he could wield his weapon with what seemed like ease. It had length enough to reach her even before he swung, but he wanted to give her a good opportunity to react.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2022 8:58 pm
Ilse was glad for magic-powered quickness. It meant that she was light on her feet, and anyway, he'd all but broadcast that swing at her, and so she could skip backwards and to the side, moving away from that massive clockhand.
"Come at me for real," she said, and there was an edge of a whine in her voice. "I don't care if you hurt me. Faustite was going to burn me alive. Some bangs and bruises are nothing compared to what he and his gaggle of jerks will do, given the chance. So just...take me seriously."
She knew she'd given him, and everyone around her, plenty of reason not to do so. She wasn't very smart, wasn't a very good Senshi, wasn't a lot of things that made her a useful ally. But she wanted, so badly, to be better.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:17 pm
“I don’t think you mean that,” Michel said, with a sternness that implied he knew what he could do to her. He wasn’t willing to take her up on her offer completely. She should know her limits, and she should know that she needed to work up to being stronger.
“You’re not going to get any better at this if I leave you bruised and broken after every round.”
But, she wanted him to take her seriously, and he wanted her to know what she was up against. He might have been pulling his punches, but he gave her a little more of his full effort. He spun to face her and used the weight of his clock hand to propel his momentum towards her. He was faster now, and he swung at her with a bit more force and speed. There was less time to dodge, and he already seemed like he was planning his next move.
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 2:55 am
"I do," Ilse said. Okay, maybe she didn't want him to beat her into the ground every time, but...she wanted to try. "But okay. I'll trust you. Just...I know I look really delicate, but I can take a couple hits, okay?"
Not that she would enjoy it, not that she wanted to get punched or smacked, but it was what she had to do to be stronger. And anyway, the way he move din this fight--it was like a dance. One she was still learning the steps to, sure, but she was pretty sure she'd been a dancer before, for how it came easily to her.
So she moved, and while it was much closer this time, she still managed to dodge, and she prepared for the next set of steps.
She could do this. She had to do this. Had to go up against someone that wasn't trying to kill her, so she'd be ready for the people that were.
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:15 am
It didn’t matter that she could take a couple of hits, Michel didn’t quite trust himself. He could hold back for now, but there was a switch in him that he couldn’t always control.
It was easier when he was fighting someone who didn’t matter; if they got hurt, who cared? But if he hurt her? Would Lysithea forgive him?
Ilse needed the practice. He could tell himself it was better that she fight him because he wouldn’t try to kill her. She could practice, she could get better.
She could still get hurt.
She dodged the first swing, but he used the momentum he’d built up from the lunge to spin himself; the clock hand swung back towards her again. This time, he’d lunged closer to her and used its weight to swing at a diagonal angle up from the ground.
She said she trusted him. Probably a mistake.
He didn’t use more force in the swing than he could counter; he wasn’t going to let her take a direct hit. Even if it made contact, he was already waiting for the split second to know to pull back. He was ready to redirect the force.
Just in case.
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 2:55 pm
Ilse had to admit, sparring with Michel felt good. She actually felt like she was sort of keeping up, even if she suspected he was probably still holding back. And maybe that was okay. She was holding back too--hadn't even touched her magic, because the hurts it could inflict were....unpredictable, to say the least.
So maybe the kindest thing was to remember that this wasn't a real fight, and to stop demanding he give it his all, since she certainly wasn't either.
Her first dodge was successful, but her second--well, she wasn't quite as prepared for the followup, and she stumbled, and while she didn't fall, she had to do just enough flailing to right herself that she knew she wouldn't get out of the way in time. So, she tensed for the hit.
It didn't come--or at least, not as hard as she feared.
"...Well, that wasn't...a total failure?" She offered, hopefully.
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Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 8:52 pm
Michel drew his weapon back and watched her with something almost like amusement. She’d done okay. Not the best, there was room for improvement. But she wasn’t starting from square one.
“I don’t think the Negaverse is going to give you time to flap around like that. What was that thing you just did there, the flailing around? Does that help your balance or did you panic?”
He almost sounded like he was going to laugh. His lips were pressed together to keep it in, but the damage was done.
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Posted: Thu May 25, 2023 12:36 am
"Probably not, no," Ilse acknowledged, a little sheepishly. "It, um. It does help, but mostly I panicked." No point in being anything but honest with him; Michel had witnessed her general performance, and....well.
Alas.
"But I guess that's good practice? Screwing up here so I don't screw up against somebody that really wants to do me harm?" Relentless optimism, that was the way. Probably. Maybe.
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Posted: Tue May 30, 2023 10:41 pm
Michel’s lip twitched again and he hummed just a bit before he shook his head.
“I guess it was good practice,” he said, but given the state of things he was probably just humoring her. It was something, all right.
“At least it’s something you know to work on for the next time you’re in trouble. You should practice some of that in your free time. We can meet up again and do this again, but I think you’ve got a good starting point at least.”
And, it was getting late. Probably wouldn’t hurt to get home before some of the real trouble showed up, anyway.
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 2:27 am
Ilse nodded. It was vague praise, but it was praise enough, and it made her smile, just a little.
"I'd like that. To work together some more. You really know what you're doing, and I, uh. I don't." To say the very least. "But you've been a huge help already! It's nice to know what to work on specifically, rather than, you know. Everything."
It was, she hoped, a step in the right direction. And at least Michel hadn't declared her totally useless.
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