Audience - Koharu

[holyspirits]

Comments

[holyspirits]

[ they decide not to correct her because it's probably just easier and better. ]

I like keeping busy enough. [ but they wave a hand. ] Although I do believe I promised to teach you how to throw a punch when you came by.

[cupidsammo]

[ :'> ]

—Oh, yes! Whenever is good for you, of course.

[holyspirits]

Well, as you can see I'm very busy. [ kind of dry in tone, but they do put the darts down. ] I've got the time. I'd rather know you guys know how to defend yourselves if something comes up anyway.

[cupidsammo]

Yeah... Yves told me the same thing earlier. So I'm ready when you are.

[holyspirits]

[ sliding out from behind the counter, they gesture for her to follow. ]

C'mon, we'll go out back. Have you ever had any kind of self-defense lessons before?

[cupidsammo]

[ and follow she does ]

Mmm... Only a little. I've gotten into a few tussles with my seniors before too, but I don't usually stand a chance against them.

[holyspirits]

They're that strong? [ tell them about your seniors. we are going behind the bar where there is some more open space... they are moving some things out of the way though to make sure she has room to move. ]

[cupidsammo]

They are, but they have way more experience than I do, too. Years of it, even.

[holyspirits]

Well, I can't guarantee I'll get you but their level right away but I'll do my best. [ they stop to face her. ] Okay. Show me how you would make a fist.

[cupidsammo]

[ She stares for a second before she lifts her hand, balling it into a fist. ]

[holyspirits]

[ they move to adjust her hand a little. ]

Good start. The most important thing is you want to make sure you're not tucking your thumb into your palm because you're just as likely to break it as you are to make contact with your target. Keep it on the outside right along your index finger. When you're striking, you want to drive most of your force into the two bigger knuckles on your hand. Make sense?

[cupidsammo]

[ ... !

With a nod, she adjusts her thumb, then tilts her hand until her knuckles and pointing forward. ]

So I'd hit them right with these—like this?

[holyspirits]

Right, like that. Remember the placement of your feet, too. You're gonna wanna pivot your entire body from the side to the front to follow through with the punch. And keep your elbow up close to your body before extending. Never let that drop.

[ they take a few steps back, adjusting their stance before demonstrating with a swift, fast punch to the air. ]

It's all power-driven. [ and they approach again, holding out their hands. ]

Give it a shot. [ punch their palms. ]

[cupidsammo]

[ Experimentally, Koharu goes through the motions in slow-mo, settling on what feels right according to what she's been told. Then: ]

Okay, got it. Then...

[ She gets into stance, eyes between her fist and their hands, and throws her first swing. Her form is passable as she goes through it with more of her might, landing a hit that goes about as hard as regularass-teenager-landing-a-punch would. ]

[holyspirits]

[ and they are watching her go through the motions, assessing her movements and waiting patiently for her to be ready.

their eyes drop to check her stance before they're back up and they lean on their back foot to ground themselves for that swing. the hit connects, and it doesn't hurt because she's a regular teenager who is doing this for the first time, but they seem pleased. ]

Good. That was a good first attempt. Don't think too much about getting the set-up perfect because you'll lose time in a real fight, but as long as you know how to position your hand and where to concentrate your strength you'll land a solid hit. You can apply the same idea for an uppercut, too.

[cupidsammo]

So upwards...

[ Again, she motions through it slowly against an imaginary opponent, lifting her fist upward. ]

Then it just has to become second nature, so long as I do it enough times.

[holyspirits]

[ they demonstrate as well, motions slow and clear so she can see. ]

Right. Not that I want you to have a reason to have to do it enough times, but right. It's a good skill to have, one quick strike is enough to get yourself out of trouble to run if you have to.

[ her specifically. gabriel would stick around and keep throwing punches, but that is neither here nor there. ]

[cupidsammo]

I'd say even if I hope to avoid any trouble while I'm here... I think I'm going to end up in more fights once I'm back home anyway, so I need to learn eventually.

[holyspirits]

Aren't you a cupid? [ they are continuing to go through the motions of showing her different kinds of strikes, slow and easy to follow. ] Or is this fights with your supervisors or whatever?

[cupidsammo]

[ and she is studying intently!! she WILL learn these punches ]

Well... Apparently it's pretty common for cupids to get into fights over targets.

[holyspirits]

[ she'll be the best little fighter when they're through here. ]

So tell me more about how that whole thing works. I'm curious. Do you, like, have a hit list and you just go down the line to set these people up?

[cupidsammo]

[ yay ♥ ]

Mm, we do choose our targets from a—task board, you could call it, but it doesn't exactly mean we get dibs. So if another cupid is going for the same person as you...

[holyspirits]

It becomes a race to see who actually gets the target. Yeah, I can see where you'd have to fight to stake your claim. But that also means you can pass on whatever targets you want, right?

[cupidsammo]

Yeah, it does... There's no one telling us we have to take on certain tasks, so we're pretty free to do what we want.

[holyspirits]

That's... kind of nice. You have a job you don't mind doing, but you still get a choice in the people you work on. You've probably seen some really interesting people.