11109/Stealth Training!

Stealth Training!
Date of Scene:	22 February 2020
Location:	Fogwell's Gym, Clinton
Synopsis:	Katsumi attempts to get some nice, quiet training under cover of dark. She doesn't expect an interruption by Mon-El!
Cast of Characters:	Bakeneko, Mon-El

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Bakeneko has posed:
Friday nights at Fogwell's sees fighters hit the ring. It isn't glamorous. It isn't glitzy. But it's real, and it couldn't be more grassroots if Rocky Balboa founded it. But in attendance was one Katsumi Oshiro, enthusiastically cheering, and happily blending into the spectators thanks to a black (and admittedly feminine) hoodie. She really didn't want the publicity right now, even if her celebrity status was pretty far removed from household name status. She just wanted to take a little time to not fret about things, and maybe forget herself.

The gym did give her an idea, though. And after the fights were over, she slipped away to a bathroom wherein she hid. Following a long pause, she crept out into the gym once more; now dark and eerily silent. It was close to midnight. Everyone else, to her knowledge, had to be gone by now. And with the doors locked, she won't be interrupted or interrogated.

Katsumi hits a switch, triggering a series of lights. She doesn't have nightvision, after all. Then she makes her way towards one end of the room, brushing back her hood and shaking her head to loosen up silky black tresses. Her destination? A punching bag.

And that is where she spends the next period of time: punching a hanging bag; straining herself to pull back on her force and reduce swing; learning what it feels like to not go overboard, to commit it to muscle memory. Repetition, like with all things, will get her through. She hopes.

Mon-El has posed:
    Despite spending most of his time traversing the cosmos, Lar does make it a point to come to this particular corner of the galaxy every once and a while. After all, there is plenty of yellow solar radiation to be had here, so might as well use it as recharge time.

    He'd been watching the boxing matches too. Apparently it was a fairly popular sport here on Earth and didn't just refer to friendly sparring. But he also finds himself hanging around after everyone else has gone, just wanting some time to himself. Practice tuning out the world without having to go all the way up into orbit, maybe. Or punching one of the bags without sending it across the room in pieces. Instead of hiding in the bathroom though, he's hanging around up in the ceiling rafters. Because no one usually thinks to look up, right?

    But apparently, he's not the only one looking for some 'me' time. As Katsumi beats on that bag, Lar descends slowly from the ceiling and lands nearby. "You make it look so easy." he remarks casually.

Bakeneko has posed:
"AAHH HOLY S***!," girlishly squawks the Japanese femme as she springs several feet to the side like a startled cat. And once she's landed, she has immediately assumed a defensive posture: right foot back, body angled, and hands raised to shoulder height with fingers splayed. Not a traditional martial artist's stance, some might note. Those vivid magenta eyes blink twice, trying to mentally process how he got in without her noticing. The place has to be locked, right? She didn't hear any doors open!

"Who're you!?," she asks quickly. "What do you want!? A-and what do you mean!?"

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar holds his hands out in a placating fashion. "Hey, calm down. I mean you no harm." he assures her. Other than being here when she didn't expect anyone, he doesn't really look unusual, as he is just wearing street clothes tonight. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." he says, leaning against one side of the boxing ring. "Just needed some time to myself. But I guess I'm not in the right place." he finishes with a chuckle.

Bakeneko has posed:
"How-.. buh-.." Katsumi takes a moment to compose herself, straightening her posture and running her hands through her hair. It's a nervous tick, a sort of self-comfort. She's been doing that a lot lately.

"Okay, how did you get in here? Did you teleport?" Her palms drop from her face, expression suddenly exasperated. "And I'm not even joking about that. Did you f***ing teleport? Is that something you do? Be straight with me."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar chuckles. "No, actually, I was here since about the middle of the boxing match." he tells her, then points toward the ceiling. "Up there."

    "I didn't think you were joking." he says with a shake of his head. "So what're you doing here anyway? Same thing? Just wanting some time alone, away from people in general?"

Bakeneko has posed:
"Up there?," asks Katsumi, nonplussed. Her neck cranes to look up into the rafters, and her focus immediately snaps back to the normal-looking dude in front of her. "Ninja or something?," she asks. "Or do you fly? Or just a creepy rafter person?"

Katsumi delays on answering his question, shooting a conspicuous glance to the punching bag she'd been thumping her fists into moments ago. "...Trainin'. On the cheap," she posits. Not exactly a lie. Not entirely true.

Mon-El has posed:
    "Fly." Lar answers, levitating off of the floor ever so slightly before touching back down. "Well I hope I'm not creepy. I really didn't intend to startle you."

    He walks over to the punching bag she was pounding on just now, nodding. "Makes sense. So do you go in the ring yourself, then?"

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro involuntarily inhales a gasp when he lifts into the air in a decidedly inhuman way, and shrinks back a step. No, she's still very much not used to that. But she's seen it enough to regain her footing after only a second longer. "No. It's- it's whatever. It's fine," she relents. "I guess. Whatever's normal." Or passes for it anymore.

The question sees a small, subtle twinge in her expression - a slight intake of her bottom lip, hurt. "I used to," she replies a little more quietly.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar arches a brow at her as she says it's fine but shrinks away from him as if it's not. "Huh. Aren't Terrans around these parts supposed to be accustomed to seeing strange things?" Maybe he's just too used to hanging around planets inhabited by more space-faring races.

    He noticed that hint of bitterness and regret in her voice. "But not any more? Why not? And if not, what are you training for?"

Bakeneko has posed:
"Terran- oh god, you're an alien," Katsumi concludes. Bewildered, she takes just a moment to rub a palm against her face. She would've had a full-blown freakout not long ago. Now, she's almost experiencing 'weird-fatigue'. It isn't familiar enough to be casual. It isn't strange enough to cause panic. She's at an awkward in-between.

"I'm not /from/ here. I'm from a place that the rest of the world usually thinks is weird. The land of tentacles, underwear vending machines, and food that's sometimes still squirming." Her head lifts again, hand dropping. "Japan? Do you know Japan?" She's too counter-culture as it is to be offended by garish stereotypes; in fact, she often leans into it.

"And I don't anymore because," Katsumi pauses to step up to the punching bag again. She gives it a half-hearted whallop with her left fist, sidelong. The impact curves the bag inwards and causes it to swing up to a near-vertical on its chain. As it swings back down, she steps back from it to avoid. "-that. Out of nowhere. And that s*** right there was effortless. Hurting people was part of the job, but I don't wanna, uh.. /kill/.. anyone." Or hurt anyone more than she really needs to. But that feels weak to say. "So I'm here to try'n get that under control."

Mon-El has posed:
    "That I am." Lar confirms when Katsumi states the fact that he is from Earth. "Japan, right." he nods. Underwear vending machines? Really? "So I take it you haven't been in this city for long, then?"

    He watches her demonstrate on the punching bag, as it swings up almost 180 degrees, then comes back down. Instead of getting out of the way, he reaches up with one arm and catches it mid-way down, then gently returns it to its normal hanging position. "Oh, I get it. You're learning to pull your punches so you can get back into the ring without accidentally crushing someone. Seemed like you were doing a pretty good job of it up until just now." he remarks. "Certainly better than I did at first."

Bakeneko has posed:
"Ah- yeah," Katsumi says upon watching him just catch the bag. So another super strong person. Noted. "More or less, anyway. My old federation won't have me back. I mean, whatever, right? It doesn't matter. The important thing is that I not squash someone, period. Whether it's in the ring or if I'm just having a really f***ing horribad day, if I'm gonna hit someone, I don't want their head popping off like a pez-dispenser."

Her arms fold against her bust, lips in moue. "Been like a month here or something. I dunno. Lost track of time. All my s*** back home is probably already sold..."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Uh, sure. A pez-dispenser. Sounds flimsy." Lar hadn't heard that one before. "But I get it. I still remember when I couldn't open a normal door without crushing the handle into a clump. A friend of mine told me to try folding tissues without ripping them." he scoffs slightly at the memory. "It wasn't easy, to say the least."

    "Anyway, I know a thing or two about learning how -not- to absolutely destroy everything you touch. So maybe I could help? What exactly can you do? Is it just superhuman strength?"

Bakeneko has posed:
"I'unno," says Katsumi. "I think I'm extra tough, too. Had some.. err.. /vampires/, I think, try to bite me earlier, and they couldn't. But a lot of this crap is untested. Because, like, what'm I gonna do? Play in traffic? See what happens if I get shot?" Her hands raise in a broad, animated shrug, before going right back to having her arms crossed.

"Someone else already said they'd help with that. I need to get better at doing it my way. No weird visualization junk, no meditation, just Oshiro doing Oshiro." There's a beat before she realizes she should probably clarify. "Name's Oshiro. Katsumi Oshiro." She exhales a puff of a breath to tussle a few hanging bangs from her face.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar nods at the introduction, and sticks out a hand for her to shake. "Lar Gand." he says, reciprocating.

    "Extra tough, huh?" he muses, studying her. "Well how about this. I can use my enhanced vision to examine your physiology, and tell you if I can see anything out of the ordinary. "Then maybe we'll have an idea of how hard you should try hitting me in order to get a gauge on your strength level." he offers.

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro crinkles her button nose at the suggestion, and her arms bundle a little more securely around her chest. "No, I don't want you perving at me and, like, checking me out with 'enhanced' vision!," she barks. "And someone already had me punch'em. It didn't tell'er much. I'd love to use one of those pressure reader things. You attach'em to a punching bag or whatever, then hit it, and it gives a readout on how forceful you were."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar arches a brow at her and retracts his hand when she refuses. Well, fine. He rolls his eyes. "I wouldn't be 'perving' at you, just looking at some internal structures." Having grown up on Daxam, he has a fair bit of medical knowledge. A shrug. "Sorry, I don't have an impact gauge with me. Unless you want to go up to the cruiser. Otherwise, if you have any other ideas, I'm all ears."

Bakeneko has posed:
"The cruiser?," asks Katsumi with the quirk of a slender black eyebrow back at him. "Anyway, it's fine! I don't need help with this! I've been fighting long enough that I know how much a punching bag should be moving. I just have to get it worked out. Be fast, but not hit like a cannonball."

Her shoulders hunch forward, still firmly defensive and on guard. But she relents with a stubborn stare towards her feet. "I'm not trying to be a b****. This is just weird, okay? And I'm not... chill... with all this. I dunno if that makes sense or not, but I don't want to just..." She pauses, floundering with the wording. "...give myself and my situation over to someone I have no clue about."

Mon-El has posed:
    "The ship I live on." Lar explains. "Well, most of the time anyway." Then he shrugs as she refuses the offer of help. "Fair enough, I guess I shouldn't expect you to just trust me, especially since we just met."

    He steps back and starts toward the door. "I'll stop bothering you, then. And sorry again for startling you earlier."

Bakeneko has posed:
"It's fine. All you weirdos make me jumpy," says Katsumi dryly.

Does she comment on what is obviously a reference to a /space/ ship? No. Small doses. Easing into the craziness as much as she can. She doesn't get many opportunities to take it slowly now. Gotta keep her feet on the ground as much as she can. It's /very/ easy to get swept up, she's found. And despite her refusal, she really does hope it isn't coming across as rude. It isn't intentional, at least.

"Anyway, uh..." There's nothing witty to offer here. Her mind blanks. "..err.. bye."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Reasonably enough, never quite know what to expect, I guess." Lar says on his way to the door. "It was nice meeting you, Katsumi. I hope you can get your powers sorted out and under control."