[open] Catch-All for the Remainder of August

[tempredmental]

who: Keith & YOU
what: Various things... training, exploring town, Perimeter Guard stuff, whatever! Open to backdated amnesia stuff if desired, just let me know.
when: Can go all the way back to the beginning of August if desired, but definitely carries through until September 1st.
where: Around town!
warnings: None right now, but will edit and add if needed.

Top levels below for things I already know are coming. Feel free to make your own if you want something specific! Hit me up if you want to plot. I'm open! duches77

I can thread in just about any style. I'll match yours. :)

Comments

[de_evilise]

"I'm glad you have faith in me, at least~!" She chuckled.

Yeah, in all seriousness she at least wasn't a hopeless case. And, she should have expected the touching, since any instructor would do the same, but she still jumped in surprise the first time he reached over and adjusted her stance, giving a little embarrassed blush as she corrected herself.

She was taking his instruction very seriously - this would be an actual instruction, after all, and she never had a person officially show her anything. So this would actually help improve herself, and she was all for that, "Like this?" She asked anxiously, standing properly this time, though she was still a tiny big tense.

[tempredmental]

He nodded.

"You're a quick study," he said. "That's good." He noticed the tension, though. "Try not to be nervous. If you tense up like that, you could hurt yourself. Try to stay loose."

After showing her a few basic moves and positions, he wanted to teach her how to aim. So, he grabbed a couple of pads for himself to put on his hands so she could take a few swings without hurting either of them.

Hopefully, she'd pick up on targeting her hits as quickly as getting the right body positions.

[de_evilise]

"Right, sorry." Marinette cleared her throat, doing a few more stretches to shake off the tension and ending with a little bounce on her toes.

Aiming was easy peasy - she couldn't fake that if she tried. Well, unless he asked her to throw a ball or something. She looked thoughtful for a second, and then took one of the stances he taught her - untensed again and tossed the first punch which -barely- connected. The second one had barely any weight behind it.

Turns out she didn't -have- to fake throwing punches - she was concentrating so much on trying not to hit properly, she wasn't really hitting properly anyway.

[tempredmental]

Keith nodded as she worked on staying loose, and then took his own stance to brace himself against the hits... that he didn't really need to brace for... He watched her make a few attempts, trying to see what the issue might be. She seemed to be concentrating really hard, though.

"Okay... hang on." He backed up a bit. "You're thinking too hard. You have to get out of your head."

[de_evilise]

That.. was easier said than done! Though she exhaled, scratching her head, "All right.." Yeah, focusing on trying to fake her punches and swings was definitely not working. "Let me try again." She took a few breaths, trying to loosen up. Get out of her head, huh? It was hard not to think about what she was doing, but she'd make the attempt at least.

[tempredmental]

Keith nodded, and settled in again, ready for her to start.

"It's easier to let go," he said. "Trust me. Follow your instincts, and it won't be as hard as you think." Without knowing, Keith had just basically given Marinette the green light to do what she wanted without him suspecting otherwise about her abilities. He was visibly confident that she could do this if she wasn't thinking so hard. He didn't know she was thinking so hard to avoid revealing a secret that she could actually potentially do this because of some secret identity, but rather he thought she was nervous about making sure she got it right on the first try.

[de_evilise]

Follow her instincts, huh? She had to fight to keep from laughing at that realization. WELL that made things easier at least. And, to be fair, she -hated- to let people down in anything she was participating in so she tended to focus extra on it, even if it was just training for the first time.

"O-okay," it should be fine, right? She closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath and let it out again. Right, totally fine. This time she opened her eyes again, taking the loose stance Keith showed and brought her hands up, ready to begin training again, giving him a small, nervous nod. "Ready."

It must be a combination of his lessons and natural talent, because there was a visible difference in her performance this time. She was still pulling her swings a little, mostly out of habit, but she was at least on point with her aim and hits.

[tempredmental]

Keith wasn't going to press about her pulling her swings in practice, but he might point out to her later that she shouldn't be afraid to go full force in a real situation. He smirked a little as he noticed the improvement.

"That's it," he said, encouraging her to keep going. It had been a while for him since he'd trained with someone else like this, without some sort of robotic drone fighting against them. It was kind of nice to go 'old school', so to speak. It was like practicing with Shiro again when Keith had first joined the Garrison. It was nice moment of nostalgia for him, and he couldn't help the small smile in response.

[de_evilise]

She couldn't help but smile back - partly because he had a nice smile, and partly because she was pleased she was so far not being a total lame and hopeless case. He was a good instructor.

Even her hardest punches weren't all that though, but she at least felt okay about hitting a little bit harder. "So have you trained others like this before too?" It felt like he was experienced in this kind of thing, though they never really discussed it at length last time they spoke.

[tempredmental]

Keith shook his head.

"I haven't trained someone before, but this was how I learned," he said. "I don't mind sharing what I know, though." He'd learned a lot informally before getting trained officially as part of the Garrison. "Shiro taught me."

A lot of Shiro's base style could be seen in Keith's base style as well, but obviously they both had adapted other moves in based on the experiences, strengths, and weaknesses that varied between them over the years since Shiro had first shown Keith how to fight. It was those base moves, though, that he had started showing Marinette. Anything additional could easily be adapted to fit her own needs and abilities down the road.

Mostly, though, Shiro had started training Keith as a way to get him to focus and expel some extra pent up energy to avoid Keith getting into trouble somewhere else for blowing up at someone.

[de_evilise]

"Especially since you're getting home-cooked meals in return, right?" Marinette teased. Though she slipped up a bit - and not even intentionally this time when he mentioned someone else. Surprise distracted her and she swung a little over-hard, whiffing the pad and over-extending her balance, "Whoops-!" Yea, maybe she should pay more attention when she's chatting during training too.

She has to take a step to recover though, sheepish, "Sorry -- Shiro? Is he a pilot too?" Or family or mentor or -- it could be anything really.

[tempredmental]

Keith saw her over-swing and his instincts made him lean back automatically.

"Woah!"

He blinked at her surprise, wondering why that was so shocking as he nodded in response.

"Yeah, like me. We've known each other for a while now. It's because of him I joined the Garrison."

[de_evilise]

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Marinette hastily backed up, looking sheepish. And embarrassed. Mostl embarrassed. Frankly it wasn't really that surprising a statement, but she'd for some reason thought that Keith hadn't gotten trained himself - which was an even sillier thought, now that she considered it. Everyone -- well usually -- got training from SOMEONE. Eventually.

But what really threw her off is the fact that her follow up question would have been if his friend was here as well, and that had potential of being an unpleasant topic.

[tempredmental]

"No, no... it's okay." He chuckled. "You didn't hit me." He settled back into his stance, and nodded for her to keep going if she wanted. "It's fine. We can keep going if you want."

He didn't seem to out of sorts to talk about Shiro if she wanted to, either.

[de_evilise]

She was still a bit embarrassed, but she let out a relieved sigh that she hadn't hit him by accident. Still, at the encouragement she slipped back into her stance again, resuming her punch-swings more carefully.

"So you've known him that long - I guess he's like your mentor or something?" Even more cautiously, "Is he..here?"

[tempredmental]

"Something like that," Keith said. "He's become a good friend, though. He got me out of a tough spot back home." He nodded at her question. "Yeah, he is. He's up on Floor 15 at the apartment complex, though we've been considering getting something a little more private. It's a bit much for both of us to be crowded into those communal units like that." He shrugged a bit. Their reasons were different, but Keith didn't feel right giving Shiro's reasons.

[de_evilise]

She could understand that. She wouldn't press on that matter anyway, they had their reasons after all. "That's pretty lucky, having someone from back home here too. Did he show up after you, or was he here already..?" She asked curiously, refocusing her attention on the punchpads.

She glanced up at him curiously, "Really? Huh, I've been saving up to do the same, actually. My roommates are nice and all but..."

[tempredmental]

"We got here around the same time, actually," he said. "Probably within a few days of each other."

Keith nodded a bit at her comment about her roommates. "Yeah, it's nothing personal, really. Most of the people on my floor are okay. I just need some space, you know?" Keith was something of a loner. It was awkward being so crowded in with that many people so often and not having any real area to close off to himself. "And, well... Shiro and I know each other. And we work together back home. So, it won't be so bad sharing a place with him to cover the costs."

[de_evilise]

"Wow, that's REALLY lucky then." What are the odds of showing up within a few days of each other?

Her aim has been pretty good the whole time they've been talking, luckily - er, aside from that earlier flub, she only misses a throw rarely, and when she does she quickly reorients herself again before glancing back at him, "Oh no, I know what you mean..! If my best friend Alya showed up here, I'd..." Actually it would be ...really awkward if she showed up, what with the secret identity. Never mind if _ADRIEN_ showed. Good god. "I'd probably invite her to get an apartment together too."

She laughed a little, "My first day here was -extremely- awkward. All my roommates were guys, so it took a while to get used to the whole.. sleeping arrangements, plus it being a bunch of strangers, PLUS them being male on top of that." Ahaha.. She was definitely not a loner type, so she'd probably miss running into random people in the living area, a little. "But getting my own place will at least let me have a little more room to work." What with her clothes making and certain other things. "Oh! Will you let me know when you and Shiro move? I'd like to make a house -- or apartment -- warming gift for you."

[tempredmental]

Keith nodded. "Yeah, it was." It was less awkward for both of them, anyway. It was easier to have someone else here right away while still getting used to the place. He chuckled, though. Her comments about an apartment, having her friend as a roommate, more room to work, her first few days being completely surrounded by guys, he nodded.

"Sounds like you had quite the start here." He nodded again when she asked about him and Shiro moving. "Yeah, I'll definitely let you know."

[de_evilise]

She laughed, "Yeah, you could say that. The roommate I had when I first arrived here - he's not here anymore," lucky bastard. "But he must have come from a pretty backwards time or something, because he didn't believe that I was assigned to their room." That had been kind of scary if her own roommate wouldn't let her in the room. "Luckily someone cleared that up."

She grins, "Great! Then you guys can look forward to something." She doesn't know what it'll be yet, but it'll be something~!

[tempredmental]

"Wow," he said with a small chuckle. "Yeah, that sounds frustrating." Keith might have exploded at someone trying to keep him out of his assigned apartment. He did have something of a temper, after all. "I don't think I would have been all that calm about something like that."

He smiled a little sheepishly. "You don't have to, but thanks."

[de_evilise]

Marinette was unnecessarily patient at the time, otherwise she would probably have gotten annoyed. Though not so much she would blow up at someone the way Keith might have. "Ahaha, I... tried to see where he was coming from. I think that helped. A little."

She gave him a grin, "I know I don't have to, but I want to. It's the least I'd do for a friend - and we are friends aren't we...?"

[tempredmental]

Keith nodded. It probably did. And was probably a lot more successful than Keith's reaction would have been. He looked a little surprised and then smiled a little at her second statement.

"Yeah," he said. "I guess we are." He liked the sound of that.

[de_evilise]

Marinette's smile widened, thoroughly pleased by his agreement. "Good~!" She leaned back into a more relaxed stance, "Now that that's settled -- I think I need a break from pad punching." Her arms were starting to ache from the swings.