bakerstreet | Growing Closer

Growing Closer

GROWING CLOSER

On occasion, the fun in playing a romantic relationship is not actually playing the relationship proper, but the build up. The characters grow closer, frozen hearts can thaw, emotional barriers may fall, and insight is gained, both about self and potential partners...

...plus, it can be entertaining as all heck to play either a. awkward dancing around the subject, if your character is that type, or b. embracing all that warming up. A little of column A, a little of column B may scratch an itch you never knew you had.

Play one little vignette in time. You may find yourself craving some more.

Comment with your character, preferences, info, etc.
Reply to others & thread it alll out.
Have fun, guys!

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[Well this sounds adorable]

[crosscanon welcome]

The spot they soon agreed upon was a gym not far from where Makoto Kino lived. Leo and his brothers had convinced a gang away from using the neighborhood as their turf; in return the grateful landlords considered them good omens and let them stay in the building whenever they were in Japan. They had access to the gym, so Leo had arranged for Makoto to take some one-on-one ninjutsu lessons.

They started with basic stances, then went on to breathing exercises, then ninja rolling. After a couple of sessions, Mako was ready for an introduction to basic fighting techniques. "First, show me how you punch."

It was a bit far, but Mako made the trek, following his orders and picking some old workout clothes: a pair of shorts with leggings underneath and a tshirt.

The basic training wasn't too hard. It wasn't unlike judo and he could probably see she was learning quick, but--

"Punch where? The air?"

--seemed a stupid question, but in her defense, she hadn't really practiced proper martial arts since... other things overtook importance.

He was delighted by the progress Mako was making, but he wasn't particularly surprised. She was a natural athlete, and her prior judo training gave her experience with weight shifts, rolls, balance, and other aspects of the early training.

This step was going to be wildly different than what she was used to. "Your target won't be the air. You're not going to punch one of these punching targets, either." He gestured to some foam striking targets hanging on one wall. "I want you to try to punch me. It'll be my job to get out of the way."

"...you're kidding, right?"

Speed was a definite weakness of hers and one she wanted to work on, but not like this! Either she was going to prove how slow she actually was or throw a pretty damn hard punch at her new trainer.

"I'm serious about this," Leo replied. "I realize that's a scary step to take, especially early in your training, but there's something I want to show you that's best illustrated with this exercise. I've been in a lot of fights, so you don't have to worry about me, okay?"

He held her gaze. "Also, I promise I'm not doing this to embarrass you or make you self-conscious."

He got into position, standing in a relaxed posture that didn't look at all like a fighting stance. "So. Are you ready?"

Mako hesitates for a second, finally taking a deep breath.

At least a jab would be relatively weak, something he could hopefully get his point across with. So, in a quick fluid motion, she positions her body properly and heads straight for it. If he was good, he could probably tell she was holding back.

Leonardo was excellent at reading body language, at least in martial arts situations. So when Mako lined up for the jab, he knew exactly what she was throwing and where. He sidestepped it easily, then told her. "Follow it up. Throw another. And another. Hold back the strength, but not the technique."

His goal was to not only examined the way she fought, but also the way she fought under pressure. That would expose any bad habits of hers so they could work on it. He didn't reveal this yet, of course.

Each punch she'd throw and each time he easily moved away made the competitiveness in her snap.

He said 'hold back the strength', but he was messing with an already sore spot for her: how well she could fight.

Luckily, she didn't kick. Makoto was still enough in training mode to not fall into that, but her pace quickened and her technique quickly changed, throwing in a cross punch between her jabs.

Leo could tell she was getting frustrated, and her punches became more difficult to avoid. He raised a palm to block one of her punches, and he was surprised at how much strength she was putting behind them. She seemed a lot stronger than a girl her size.

After he sidestepped and deflected a couple more punches, he gently pushed at her shoulder at a point in which she had heavily committed to a punch. That slight push should adjust her balance just enough for her to tip over. He was curious to see whether or not she would remember to roll out of the fall.

"Okay, that's enough," he told her, bowing. "The purpose of this exercise was not to embarrass you. Instead, it was to examine your form and see what your habits are, especially under pressure. When one is pressured or frustrated or panicked, he or she forgets any recent training. I wanted to see what I'm working with, so I can determine the best way to train you. So please don't be upset with me, and more importantly, don't be so hard on yourself."

That last part was something he still struggled with.

She went down with a thud, falling on her back. At least the floor was lightly padded so the injury wasn't grave. Her pride, more than anything, was what was sore.

"Yeah... I'm sorry."

Rolling up, she gave him a bow. His words, no matter how sweet, only proved to embarrass her more.

"I could be better, yeah."

"And you will be better with time," he replied. "I'm not expecting you to be perfect. You're still learning, and a large part of training in any martial art is unlearning what you've learned, and letting go of preconceptions. As the saying goes, 'to fill your cup, you must first empty your cup.' And I will help you do that, if you'll let me."

He handed her a bottle of water. "Take five, take a breath, and we can continue."

Makoto bit her lip. He was right, after all and it was still embarrassing. She was the strength and the brawn of the group. It... really bothered her.

"Thanks."

Taking a sip, she capped it and began to stare off into space.

Edited 2016-09-02 02:06 (UTC)

Taking a sip of his own bottle of water, he watched her stare off into space, obviously troubled. He sat next to her, as unobtrusively as possible. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"You ever..." she pauses to wipe her forehead, "...I don't know. Like, you ever feel like you're known as being great at something and you realize you're not?"

Makoto plays with the bottle in her hands, awaiting his reply. They hadn't known each other for long and she was already opening up to him.

Leo paused for a long while, considering her words. "It's happened to me more often than I can count," he admitted. "You punch like my brother Raphael, but everything else about you reminds me of myself. I strive for perfection, but when I see imperfection in myself, that becomes all I can see."

He looked at her. "But it's a trap. Don't ever tell yourself you're not great, because you are. Some people are more skilled, but you, Kino Makoto, are great. You've made regular trips here to learn something new, so on some level you already know that more skilled people exist. It's a matter of being at peace with not knowing everything, which can be one of the hardest things to learn."

Now he was staring off into the middle distance, recalling past battles. "Believe me, I've experienced that first-hand. I've been hurt and humiliated, and I've found that the mental scars are much slower to heal than the physical ones. I've found out the hard way that there's always someone more skilled -- one in particular is my family's arch-enemy. I've felt worthless and useless because my brothers count on me and I couldn't deliver. I've blamed myself for every misfortune."

He shrugged. "But again, it's a trap. Shortcomings were all I saw because they were all I looked for. My focus was too narrow, and I missed the bigger picture. I put too much of my self-worth in my ability to succeed, but not enough in my ability to adapt and learn. I don't want you to fall into the same trap."

Smiling to lightne the mood, Leo gestured at the training room that surrounded them. "Luckily for us, this ... is a learning environment."

She looked away, listening to his words but embarrassed to acknowledge them.
But he was right.

"I... I want to be the person I know I can be."

It was a simple reply compared to his strong words, but it was hard to say. Admit weakness and defeat even for the sake of rebuilding again.

Grace Ford | OC

EOBARD!WELLS | THE FLASH | OTA

Rey | SW:TFA | OTA

Tom Cummings | X Company

Elliot Alderson | MR ROBOT

Athrun Zala | Gundam SEED | M/F

Xander | Fire Emblem: Fates | M/F

Eve Baird | The Librarians | OTA

Leonardo | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | m/f

Training Montage (closed to yukitohogo)

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