Christian panted a little as he shook himself out, having spent the last ten minutes or so with the punching bag.
"Ready to put some of your newfound skills to work?" he glanced over his shoulder at Hugh.
"You should be ready to fight by now without my dictation."
Hugh
Hugh nodded.
"Okay," he agreed.
He took a deep breath in anticipation.
Christian
Christian gave a nod to one of the guards, letting him know they wouldn't be fighting for real.
"Now I'm gonna go easy on you," Christian warned Hugh, "but don't think I won't actually strike. It's the only way you learn."
He stepped around his apprentice, before faking one way and aiming a punch at his lower left rib.
Hugh
Hugh mentally berated himself for not catching the fake and getting punched in the ribs. He felt back a couple of steps and recovered enough to aim a kick at Christian's stomach.
Christian
Christian grabbed his ankle, and spun him to the ground.
"Saw that one coming. Never show your preparation, remember," Christian gloated on purpose, to try and stir him up.
Hugh
Hugh hit the mat with a thud. He took a moment to get his breath back then stood up.
He aimed a punch to the left side of his chest.
Christian
"Oof!" Christian grinned as he took the hit.
"Nice. You're getting faster."
He grabbed Hugh's wrist and twisted it behind his back.
"But are you fast enough?"
Hugh
Hugh grunted.
"I'm guessing not," he replied.
He tested Christian's hold on his wrist and quickly determined he couldn't wriggle out of it.
Christian
"Where's that stubborn attitude, huh?!" Christian breathed down his neck.
"Lean into the twist and elbow in the neck, remember? Or have I taught you nothing in all these weeks?"
Hugh
"Oh, umm, right," Hugh said.
Hugh leant into the twist and elbowed Christian in the neck. He had to stop thinking about these things and start making this fighting business second nature - like Christian kept telling him.
Christian
Christian grunted and fell to his knees.
"See? You've got the skills. Mostly," he said, looking up at Hugh standing over him, "you're just slow."
And to prove his point, he fell to his hands and kicked Hugh's legs out from under him. In an instant he leant over and hand a hand softly over his throat.
"You'd be dead by now. Your skills nee to be instinct, not just tools. Prove to me you're actually worth spending my time with, ok?"
Hugh
Hugh swallowed and nodded. It had to be instinct and he had to be faster. Right. Okay. He could do that.
"I can do that," he said aloud, and got up slowly.
Hey he didn't want Christian's hand to accidently jar his throat or something.
Christian
Christian shook his head.
"You should have kicked me down, Hugh. Maybe you're just not ready for this part yet," he shrugged, leaning down to grab a towel to wipe sweat from his forehead.
Hugh
A pained expression appeared on Hugh's face. He would get this eventually!
In what he hoped would surprise Christian, he abruptly lashed out with his fist to Christian's upper right chest, almost right on the shoulder. It was the closest target.
Christian
Christian stumbled, grabbing a nearby chair to catch his balance. A grin spread across his face as he turned back to him.
"That's what I'm talking about. You strike hard, fast, use distraction and weakness to your advantage. And always kicka man when he's down."
With that, he lashed out with his right leg at Hugh's thigh.
Hugh
Unable to dodge in time, Hugh stumbled awkwardly to the side. Determined not to be felled for long (and further disapoint Christian), he attempted to use his momentum, such as it was, to strike back at him with his elbow. He felt it hit something, but what, he couldn't tell.
Christian
Christian lurched forward fom the hit behind his shoulder, but spun and came down with a blow to Hugh's hip.
"Don't keep your arms up like this," Christian mimmicked Hugh's stance, "keep them down. You need them to defend yourself."
Hugh
Hugh grunted as once again he tumbled to the ground.
Argh.
But, spying his opportunity, he swung his leg out in an attempt to trip Christian over.
Christian
Christian jumped, missing the trip. Keeping momentum, he launched into a roundhouse kick, intentionally missing Hugh's face but aiming just to scare him a bit.
When he landed, he spun to punch Hugh in the shoulder.
Hugh
Hugh automatically lifted his arm to block Christian's blow, and then aimed a punch at his stomach as he got to his feet.
His fist was already on the way there when he realised what he had done.
Christian
Christian took the hit with a grunt, but grinned the moment he took it.
He fired off some boxing punches.
Hugh
Hugh managed to block most of the punches, but a few still managed to hit him. Each one that got through forced him back a step or two.
His foot felt the edge of the mat behind him and decided that would probably be a good time to move forward. He tried to time his punch for the same time he blocked another punch from Christian.
Christian
"Keep your strength up!" Christian called over the noise of the gym, moving backwards a little so they coud stay on the mat.
"Take everything that comes your way! If it hurts, let it go numb. Just make sure you can give more than you take."
Hugh
"Okay," Hugh said, refraining from complaining that that's what he had been trying to do.
Then he attempted to take advantage of the fact that Christian was walked backwards to get a few punches in wherever he thought he could land them.
Christian
Christian took the hits, a little surprised at how hard Hugh's adrenaline was making them.
Finally, after a solid couple of minutes of punches, he stopped suddnely. Spying Hugh's next hit, he reached out and caught his wrist.
"Not bad. I take it you only learn by doing," he mused, sweat trickling down his face.
Hugh
Hugh took a moment to catch his breath before replying. He shrugged a little.
"The other telepaths could only teach me so much - I had to figure out most of what I can do with my power on my own," he replied. "I guess maybe learning-by-doing is something well ingrained in me by now."
Christian
Christian shrugged, letting go of his wrist.
"It's not always such a good thing you know," he began, going back for the towel again, "you can't learn certain thigs by doing, like spontaniety. Expecting the unexpected. Being able to decide in an instant which is actually the right path to take and not regretting it later."
He wiped himself down and had a drink before checking his watch.
"And of course, it's harder without your power. Which you won't always have."
Hugh
"So I've noticed," Hugh remarked dryly.
He had a quick sip of water before towelling off the sweat he'd worked out.
"How do you learn spontaniety anyway? Isn't that some kind of oxy-moron?"
Christian
"You just have to be surprised more often," Christian shrugged, pulling a shirt over his shoulders.
"I'll see if I can have a talk to some of the other kids. Maybe I could get them to jump you without warning nd we'll see then if you really can defend yourself."
He sighed, leaning over to pick up his bag.
"But if someone does come at you, don't automatically think I sent them. There are some pompous jerks in here. I mean, that's why we're here after all."
Hugh
Hugh chuckled wryly.
"To hang out with pompous jerks?" he joked. "Hey what do you think the pompous jerks think of people who aren't pompous jerks?"
Christian
"Try 'fresh meat'," Christian mused.
"I've gotta jet, it's class time. See you tomorrow afternoon."
Hugh
"See ya," Hugh replied.
He drank some more water, then dumped the towels in the used towel bin before making his own way to class.