✨ you only get one chance...

[liltuna]

THE FIRST IMPRESSION MEME   You only get once chance to put your best foot forward. Screw that up, and you'll be forever seared in someone's mind as the person who had spinach in their teeth, or worse! ✨HOW TO PLAY 1. Drop a top-level! 2. If you have previous CR with someone, you'll have to let them know what your first-impression of them was. If this is your first time meeting, you'll be compelled to share what kind of vibe they give off. It's okay to be honest! Are they gross? Do they seem approachable? Do you find them incredibly hot?  3. Find out if your first impression was correct! Maybe that strange loner actually has a heart of gold? You'll never know unless you talk to them!

Comments

[flamescion]

Now? All right. But you got a reputation, don't you? I won't go easy on you to spare that, you know!

[Kiana is curious to see what could make a bunch of smarties run for the hills. Or maybe the scholars of Akademiya are just noncombatants compounded with cowardice.]

[punnyshment]

It's adorable that you think that you have to go easy on me. I hope it's not because of my height.

[ His polearm weapon materializes in his hands, even though he's not planning to charge just yet. ]

[flamescion]

Why would I need to pick on your height when your waist is what's actually small?

[Hey, he opened himself up to that one.

Normally Kiana would use her gun kata, but with an opponent using a polearm, she'll utilize her subspace lance and flechette set instead. She takes her stance, but doesn't make a move on him just yet.]

[punnyshment]

[ Emotional damage taken. But yes, he deserved that one. ]

Are we going to fight with words or with our weapons? Show me what you've got.

[flamescion]

What, you can't multitask?

[But he's given his taunt, so she wont leave it without an answer. Kiana summons her Void Flechette. Darts the size of his arm materialize in the fashion of lances. They hover behind her, and with the flick of a wrist one shoots at him like a bullet.]

[punnyshment]

Do you want to see for yourself?

[ Talking during a spar is counterproductive in his eyes, but it's not like he cannot maintain a conversation while at it. One of the darts is coming his way at an alarmingly fast speed which prompts him to swiftly dodge—without knowing her strength, parrying it would have been foolish. ]

Not letting me anywhere close near you with that weapon, huh?

[flamescion]

As someone who's also short I know what we need to make up for in a fight.

[One part the natural strength that comes with being bigger, and one part the range that taller people have. A smaller person must push harder for strength, and the need to eliminate the advantage of range.

Which is why Kiana creates range here. He'll have to get through her flechettes if he wants to use the spear on her directly, and if he wishes to throw it? He'll have to bargain with the risk of losing it to her.]

[punnyshment]

Then you should be aware that being short also has its advantages.

[ It's going to take a while to close the distance between them, but Cyno can be patient. He charges forward, avoiding the projectiles which has one major downside—it slows him down greatly and gives Kiana more than enough time to move back. ]

It looks like I've been mistaken again. I thought it was going to be melee combat.

[flamescion]

[Kiana still holds her regular lance. She doesn't expect the subspace darts to hold him off forever. The young woman may not a bright test taker, but she isn't stupid either. He'll break through that first line, she's sure of it. And when he does she'll have to face him directly.

For now she'll watch him closely. See how he handles himself and what his footwork is like. If he should get too close too quick she'll always have her Void Space.]

I think we both know you're too strong to take head on at first.

[He might overwhelm her with something clever, or an unexpected skill.

As he charges forward she circles him like a shark. Creating obstacles for him as she tries to work out the best way to meet him in the middle — and possibly give him a fight worthwhile.]

[punnyshment]

Now I'm strong? I thought that I'm short with a small waist.

[ He might be saying that, but he really struggles with forcing Kiana to turn the fight into a close combat one. By the time he closes the gap between her and himself, Cyno's used up quite a lot of his stamina. When he's finally close enough to reach Kiana with his polearm, Cyno swings it above her head, forcing her to dodge or block. If her strategy is the former rather than the latter, he's going to chase her, piercing the air with the sharp tip of his weapon. ]

[flamescion]

You are! But you know what they say about small packages, don't you?

[She dodges the first, but has to block the second. Unable to counter in this position, Kiana puts in enough force into her lance to shake off the spear. Up close he'll probably realize that her melee combat relies mostly on her inherent strength rather than any well-thought strategy. After all, she was built — no, she was specifically engineered to be strong. As if Kiana herself is a weapon.

Because that was, in the end, Otto's intent in making her. Crafting her in a test tube like one would do so for a blade in a forge.

Cyno is bright; or at least more so than Kiana since he is a member of the akademiya. After a few rounds back and forth he may even be able to predict her move-set. But she's holding back. Truly it would ruin the spirit if she were to start using Void Space to teleport either of them wherever she pleased.]